Once your selected candidate has signed their offer of employment, you can inform all the unsuccessful external candidates that were interviewed of the outcome of the recruitment process. Sending external candidates a notification via email is appropriate.
For example:
Dear [Candidate Name],
I would like to thank you for taking the time to interview for the position of [Position Title] with our organization. We enjoyed meeting with you and learning about your experience and qualifications. However, we have decided to move forward with another candidate whose qualifications more closely fit our needs at this time.
We thank you for your interest in [Organization Name] and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Rejecting internal candidates
It’s important to provide internal candidates with timely feedback if they were interviewed and not successful for the job. This should be communicated over the phone or in-person. Prior to the conversation, take time to review your interview notes and prepare some constructive feedback points for the employee.
Ensure the feedback you provide is only the information that you received during the interview and based solely on the job criteria.