Just thought about listing every rejection line that people get for unsuccessful job application?They all start with unfortunately .......

more interesting would be to invent some colourful rejection lines, perhaps individually reflecting consulting firms is anyone included to be really creative.How about..Unfortunately we regret you are not a tiger.orThank you for your application to Deloitte. To complete your application please go to www.nogreendotforyousunshine.greendotcom

The classy move I like is when at recruitment fairs the big companies hand out cards with their website URL on it.So, despite having a dozen people on their stand, the best they can say is "visit our website and apply online!"And invariably, the web URL is the top level i.e. www.xyzconsultancy.co.uk/careers - basically useless and obvious.

Here is a classic one: ''After careful consideration, we have decided not to progress your application any further on this occasion.''I am not sure why they use ''Careful'' and ''this occasion'' because I think they are meaningless!

LOL, yes the old "on this occasion" trick. Giving false hope... that maybe, just maybe there will be another time... Anybody that uses that like is an absolute B*stard in my opinion. It's effectively a way of saying "don't you think about retaliating, because you just might need us again in the future"...

Goes both ways though BEP - every applicant who gets the 'on this occasion' message is a potential client in the future, or a potential star hire in the making (or maybe a star hire when market needs shift even slightly). It would be rather odd (but evident of very good CRM indeed) if a company could differentiate between a 'on this occasion' message and a 'never going to happen' message, and the never message doesnt even need to be said anyway - not if basic requirements are made public.So what is the ideal for an unsuccessful job application? Be detailed and descriptive.....

Hi Mars, I think it's OK for recruitment companies to say "on this occasion" because it's honest: probably, there WILL be other occasions. But when some little twerp from the Big 4 or similar writes "on this occasion" to a direct applicant, you just KNOW it's a weasel phrase. It's dishonest: they're implicitly implying that there will be other occasions, which, I would imagine, in most cases there probably won't.So, in the latter case, I'd suggest they just leave out the "on this occasion" bit and advise them in a straightforward way that they weren't successful in their application "for this role" or something like that.

BEP I'm not so sure...we've all seen it, where a company doesnt have budget to hire, or the area is just not developed enough to justify a certain level of hire for example. 'On this occasion' would seem to be justified in many circumstances.But I do agree (with what I'm inferring from your post) that there is room for much more honesty in dealing with applicants who are unsuccessful - which is something we do see more of when an applicant has been unsuccessful after an interview. It's not dishonest if there actually would be other opportunities to apply in the future, so I guess it's heavily dependent on the applicant him or herself. Saying 'on this occasion' to someone who simply doesnt and wont meet the essential criteria (say academic) is probably a bit disingenuous; saying 'on this occasion' to a qualified applicant who applied for a job where the experience requirement just wasnt quite met, or where the team couldnt take on a junior hire for example, would be honest - if still useless.Sadly too much power over decisions to bring into the process or not is vested in these 'little twerps'. Who unfortunately on this occasion could do with a slap.

yes, we're describing the same thing here - the actual phrase used is less important than people just being honest with the candidate and not making false promises. the mere thought of big 4 recruitment bods sends shivers up my spine. there's something about "HR departments" that really winds me up - i can't quite put my finger on it.i also think in-house recruiters in particular are the ones that weasel their way out of things. professional headhunters/recruitment agents ALWAYS, you can be sure, genuinely want the candidate to get the job - and as such, their feedback is pretty much always intended in good spirit. in-house recruiters, in contrast, often don't care either way and just shove into a "dear john" letter whatever words it takes to get the candidate off their back.

No doubt because they are working on a requisitions or closed job orders basis. Working in house - where they dont have agency experience - inculcates into the inhouse recruiter that the brand, headhunters etc will do all the work. They become passive receivers of applications and arrogant as a result. The really switched on ones see applications to the business as part of an ongoing conversation between the company and the market - and have an eye to their own personal networks. But that is a rare animal.

How about ATOS or PA could sound like this:-Thankyou for your recent application. Unfortunately, on this occassion you have been unsuccessful. However, we would like to make you aware that as you applied at our recent career extravaganza in Blackpool your details were saved for processing on a secure USB stick. Unfortunately, during the high jinx of the post event in Blackpool our recruitement department have mislaid such USB stick we think in the vicinity of the pleasure beach If you are subsequently contacted by a Scouser with a Mexican accent saying you have won the lottery - it is possibly a scam. Your application would normally stay on file for 12 months but you'll understand on this occassion we are unable to do this.Thank you for your interest in PA / ATOS

Thank you for your application to Mars & Co. Unfortunately on this occasion your application has been lost in the contours of the battlefield and we are unable to offer you world domination.

LOL guys, what a way to end the week! I rarely laugh this much! Brilliant!!! :)

Ok someone do another - give us all one for the road!

Thank you for your application to SomeCorp.After careful asking around and checking out your FB and LinkedIn profiles, we regret that you have not passed our "fit"-ness test. Thank you for your interest and may we recommend your local Bannatynes in the near future?

Great information there, I have always wondered the right way to go about this, thanks for showing me! Some of them points are really straight forward but all too often you will over look them.Thanks so much for the work you have put into this post.www.holistichr.ca/

Dear [i]Employer X[/i],Thank you for your letter dated December 7 2012. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me a position with [i]Employer X[/i].This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of employers, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.Despite your outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of [i]Y[/i] from the 2nd of January 2013. I look forward to seeing you then.Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Fantastic, this gave me the idea of preparing similar one to hand it to the interviewer if I feel no way I am going to get the job, it goes:Dear Employer X,Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed by your senior employees. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you in advance that I am unable to accept your offer to me to join your organisation.Despite your outstanding performance the last 2 years and your high reputation , I find that your offer does not meet my career ambitious at this occasion.I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of requests to be interviewed. and I have many more interviews lined up for me, therefore it is impossible for me to even consider your offer.Best of luck in searching for a suitable candidate to take on your offer.

soz it's not u it's me hope we cn still b friends

now then now thenJim has not fixed it for you to work as a managerist consultor.

The most interesting I received was this:I am an aerospace engineer with a phd degree and I applied for a R&D position in an aerospace research company exactly on the topic of my PhD research. A young hot chick perhaps around 25 interviewed me with exactly no background of engineering, and a guy with some bachelor degree background. This guy was asking many technical questions and I was explaining in details and he was happy. questions were super easy for me. and this chick from HR department was just staring at us like she has found some Martians on the Earth. After a couple of days she called me :"Hot chick: Dear Mr Teo, you are rejected!Me: may you explain more?Hot chick: you couldn't explain your knowledge such that others can understand it, this is not good in research environment!Me: ok!!! and second reason?Hot chick: I think your expertise doesn't suit us, you couldn't convince us that we should hire your in this group!"I just hanged up the phone without saying goodbye.Later I heard that she has rejected many other PhD level professionals and has hired only nice looking guys.

[quote] I am an aerospace engineer with a phd degree and I applied for a R&D position in an aerospace research company exactly on the topic of my PhD research. A young hot chick perhaps around 25 interviewed me with exactly no background of engineering, and a guy with some bachelor degree background. Later I heard that she has rejected many other PhD level professionals and has hired only nice looking guys.[/quote]I think what she might have been trying to say was you were in an interview with 2 people, only engaged with 1, and looked down on both.

[quote][quote] I am an aerospace engineer with a phd degree and I applied for a R&D position in an aerospace research company exactly on the topic of my PhD research. A young hot chick perhaps around 25 interviewed me with exactly no background of engineering, and a guy with some bachelor degree background. Later I heard that she has rejected many other PhD level professionals and has hired only nice looking guys.[/quote]I think what she might have been trying to say was you were in an interview with 2 people, only engaged with 1, and looked down on both. [/quote]no i was talking to her too, and she was pushing me to talk more about technical details, while she had no idea about them. the subject of the research was pretty hightech, it's not possible to explain it to HR, i don't care if she was offended or not. lesson learned: some companies are just stupid and send irrelevant people to probe your expertise. some months later i talked to one of the managers in that company and he said we are still looking for somebody with your expertise, and i told him that sorry i am not interested in working in your company because you simply don't have enough control over your HR.

Great story. Kudos. You sure showed them! The fools! So they wanted you to explain something in an interview and you assumed they wouldn't understand so didn't bother. Excellent. Plus one of them dared to be a woman, the nerve! You worked hard for that PhD damn it, so why should anyone with just a scummy bachelors get the privileged of hearing you speak. The scum. And yeah, some companies are just dumb, there they are being a company, with an effing HR department, doing what ever it is they do, and daring to even think of engaging with someone of your intellect. How ruddy dare they. It makes me sooo angry for you! GGRRRRRrrrrr!

I doubt they were offended, but it seems you were. And I doubt they care either.

"no i was talking to her too, and she was pushing me to talk more about technical details, while she had no idea about them. the subject of the research was pretty hightech, it's not possible to explain it to HR, i don't care if she was offended or not."If you can't explain your research to the layman you either don't understand it well enough or you just like feeling all clever with your big words.Either way, they assessed you as an arrogant twit who will be a pain in the ass to work with.

[quote]"no i was talking to her too, and she was pushing me to talk more about technical details, while she had no idea about them. the subject of the research was pretty hightech, it's not possible to explain it to HR, i don't care if she was offended or not."If you can't explain your research to the layman you either don't understand it well enough or you just like feeling all clever with your big words.Either way, they assessed you as an arrogant twit who will be a pain in the ass to work with. [/quote]

[quote]I doubt they were offended, but it seems you were. And I doubt they care either.[/quote]no I was not offended, just didn't want to spend more time on the phone and waste my time. Just signed another contract the day after with better options. sometimes the best answer to silly people is just to walk away without a word.

[quote][quote]"no i was talking to her too, and she was pushing me to talk more about technical details, while she had no idea about them. the subject of the research was pretty hightech, it's not possible to explain it to HR, i don't care if she was offended or not."If you can't explain your research to the layman you either don't understand it well enough or you just like feeling all clever with your big words.Either way, they assessed you as an arrogant twit who will be a pain in the ass to work with. [/quote][/quote]There is no way to explain some deep subject of research and the mathematics to somebody who has no math background. it's like going 5000 years back and trying to explain quantum mechanics math to a caveman. it's simply not possible. she was asking me to explain the details of technical stuff, not the subject and application of the science. the other guy was quite ok and understanding the conversation although his education level was way below me, but he had the background. unfortunately the hot one had to decide about my knowledge not the knowledgeable one.you can't interview R&D people by hot chics who have studied history or art and then decide about their level of knowledge.

[quote]Great story. Kudos. You sure showed them! The fools! So they wanted you to explain something in an interview and you assumed they wouldn't understand so didn't bother. Excellent. Plus one of them dared to be a woman, the nerve! You worked hard for that PhD damn it, so why should anyone with just a scummy bachelors get the privileged of hearing you speak. The scum. And yeah, some companies are just dumb, there they are being a company, with an effing HR department, doing what ever it is they do, and daring to even think of engaging with someone of your intellect. How ruddy dare they. It makes me sooo angry for you! GGRRRRRrrrrr![/quote]in my opinion for certain positions, if the first interview is with HR department then you only need to be lucky to pass it, unless a higher manager has recommended you already.

[quote]There is no way to explain some deep subject of research and the mathematics to somebody who has no math background. it's like going 5000 years back and trying to explain quantum mechanics math to a caveman. it's simply not possible. she was asking me to explain the details of technical stuff, not he subject and application. the other guy was quite ok and understanding although his education level was way below me, but he had the background. you can't interview R&D people by hot chics who have studied history or art and then decide about their level of knowledge. [/quote]You still don't seem to have grasped the simple fact that the HR interview aimed to assess your ability to operate with people in the organisation beyond your core team. You were found to be incapable of this. They told you this in as many words, but you still argue it was about them not getting your knowledge and "hot chics" who penalised you for not having a sixpack and flirting with them.As for your amazing caveman analogy, I can explain my PhD in mathematical AI to my 8 year old nephew who is not a prodigy of any sort. But I'm sure it's because my thesis is just crude cave drawings compared to your magnum opus.I look forward to the next 30 years of your career, where you will watch many of those loser history BAs who are beneath you take up managerial positions above you. P.S. In the future you may want to keep your references to people above the level of "hot chick" if you don't want to lose credibility instantly!

[quote][quote]There is no way to explain some deep subject of research and the mathematics to somebody who has no math background. it's like going 5000 years back and trying to explain quantum mechanics math to a caveman. it's simply not possible. she was asking me to explain the details of technical stuff, not he subject and application. the other guy was quite ok and understanding although his education level was way below me, but he had the background. you can't interview R&D people by hot chics who have studied history or art and then decide about their level of knowledge. [/quote]You still don't seem to have grasped the simple fact that the HR interview aimed to assess your ability to operate with people in the organisation beyond your core team. You were found to be incapable of this. They told you this in as many words, but you still argue it was about them not getting your knowledge and "hot chics" who penalised you for not having a sixpack and flirting with them.As for your amazing caveman analogy, I can explain my PhD in mathematical AI to my 8 year old nephew who is not a prodigy of any sort. But I'm sure it's because my thesis is just crude cave drawings compared to your magnum opus.I look forward to the next 30 years of your career, where you will watch many of those loser history BAs who are beneath you take up managerial positions above you. P.S. In the future you may want to keep your references to people above the level of "hot chick" if you don't want to lose credibility instantly![/quote]

[quote][quote]There is no way to explain some deep subject of research and the mathematics to somebody who has no math background. it's like going 5000 years back and trying to explain quantum mechanics math to a caveman. it's simply not possible. she was asking me to explain the details of technical stuff, not he subject and application. the other guy was quite ok and understanding although his education level was way below me, but he had the background. you can't interview R&D people by hot chics who have studied history or art and then decide about their level of knowledge. [/quote]You still don't seem to have grasped the simple fact that the HR interview aimed to assess your ability to operate with people in the organisation beyond your core team. You were found to be incapable of this. They told you this in as many words, but you still argue it was about them not getting your knowledge and "hot chics" who penalised you for not having a sixpack and flirting with them.As for your amazing caveman analogy, I can explain my PhD in mathematical AI to my 8 year old nephew who is not a prodigy of any sort. But I'm sure it's because my thesis is just crude cave drawings compared to your magnum opus.I look forward to the next 30 years of your career, where you will watch many of those loser history BAs who are beneath you take up managerial positions above you. P.S. In the future you may want to keep your references to people above the level of "hot chick" if you don't want to lose credibility instantly![/quote]Since I have received too many positive HR feedbacks from all other interviews and immediate positive results, so I don't see applicability of your comments. But in general what you say is right and the best scientist without social skills is a problem at industry. I don't see anything wrong with BAs taking managerial roles if they are good. I know BAs with amazing knowledge better than PhDs, but if they get the position only through their social skills and sexual attraction then I will definitely leave that work place, since I value my expertise and performance.Good job about explaining your journal publication results to young children. I admit that I can't.

[quote][quote]There is no way to explain some deep subject of research and the mathematics to somebody who has no math background. it's like going 5000 years back and trying to explain quantum mechanics math to a caveman. it's simply not possible. she was asking me to explain the details of technical stuff, not he subject and application. the other guy was quite ok and understanding although his education level was way below me, but he had the background. you can't interview R&D people by hot chics who have studied history or art and then decide about their level of knowledge. [/quote]You still don't seem to have grasped the simple fact that the HR interview aimed to assess your ability to operate with people in the organisation beyond your core team. You were found to be incapable of this. They told you this in as many words, but you still argue it was about them not getting your knowledge and "hot chics" who penalised you for not having a sixpack and flirting with them.As for your amazing caveman analogy, I can explain my PhD in mathematical AI to my 8 year old nephew who is not a prodigy of any sort. But I'm sure it's because my thesis is just crude cave drawings compared to your magnum opus.I look forward to the next 30 years of your career, where you will watch many of those loser history BAs who are beneath you take up managerial positions above you. P.S. In the future you may want to keep your references to people above the level of "hot chick" if you don't want to lose credibility instantly![/quote]As said above. He's got you banged to rights there, there's no denying it. All highly applicable comments and observations. 10/10. Spot on.

"hot chick"!!??? even allowing for the blowing off steam after a frustrating interview experience, I think there is only one "caveman" in evidence here.That said, I'm fairly sure this is a troll.......

I'm not so sure Cool - wish it was. But this kind of attitude does prevail among a certain sub-set of PhD* holders (and I am by no means tarring all PhD* holders with this brush).Other qualifications are available.

As an American, I found the standard "your application has been unsuccessful" quite the paragon of indirect and euphemistic Britishness when I first heard it - which was in the form of a rejection letter from an Oxford graduate programme. At first I thought they were talking about some sort of technical glitch - like my documents hadn't all been received or something.

So how do you stay it in America?

I bet they say it in some wacky way. Maybe with a headset on and followed by "you go, girl... whoop!!" Gotta love our american friends hehe