"I'm sorry to let you know we've selected another candidate."

December 19, 2007 10:14 AM

What's better/less worse: Telling someone now that they didn't get a job, or leaving him/her hanging until after the holidays? I want to do the humane thing here.
posted by Sweetie Darling to work & money (37 comments total)

Don't leave them hanging.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

I would advise telling them now, just so they don't go all crazy with their Christmas shopping thinking "I'm a cinch to get that job, so I won't have to worry about paying for all this."
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

Let them off the hook now.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

Tell them as soon as possible. A friend of mine is job-seeking now, and nothing is more terrible than the waiting.
posted by schroedinger at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

I'd want to know now, before the holidays. Not knowing during the holidays would just make me anxious and/or get my hopes up.
posted by rtha at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

The sooner the better. They need to get on with their life and finding another job.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2007

Get it over with quickly, is my advice, based purely on my own feelings. Better to know right away than to get your hopes up/tell Auntie Beryl at Christmas and her ask later on how things went.
posted by different at 10:16 AM on December 19, 2007

Tell them now, so they may plan accordingly. I can't see any real advantage to them in waiting. You could argue it'll stop from ruining the holiday, but on the other hand you could argue just as strong that the holiday would make them forget.
posted by Phalene at 10:16 AM on December 19, 2007

No matter what the news is (good or bad), I always appreciate being told as soon as possible. Being left hanging is the worst feeling.
posted by jmnugent at 10:19 AM on December 19, 2007

Purely antecdotal:
I had a friend in the reverse position who was told they didn't get a job right before Christmas. He and his friends bitched , "The nerve of them to tell me right before the holidays! They could have at least had to decency to wait till' afterwards!!"

FWIW, I thought they were full of crap and would have complained regardless of when he got the "no."
posted by jmd82 at 10:20 AM on December 19, 2007

Don't leave them hanging. I've actually been told that I didn't get a job (that had been all but promised to me) on Dec 23rd. Although I was rather bitter and upset at the time, and was spewing the "why on earth would they do that to me right before the holidays??!!?" rant to anyone who would listen, at least I didn't have to spend the next week wondering what was going on. Given the news wasn't good, that definitely would have been worse.
posted by cgg at 10:24 AM on December 19, 2007

When you're job-searching, especially while unemployed, being left in the dark is the worst. Even though you're supposed to keep looking, when you think you have the job in the bag, it's easy to slack, or at the least get your hopes up.

Much better to dash fledgling hopes now, than to let them grow, waste time, and leave someone in the lurch.
posted by explosion at 10:25 AM on December 19, 2007

I am currently in the situation of waiting to hear back from someone re: employment. I would really rather hear either way before the holidays, so I don't have to obsess over it during them.
posted by that girl at 10:26 AM on December 19, 2007

I'm in that situation right now, waiting for word on a job interview I did recently. I would want to know ASAP, regardless of whether the news was good or bad.
posted by LN at 10:26 AM on December 19, 2007

that girl, great minds think alike!
posted by LN at 10:27 AM on December 19, 2007

Not to mention, they might be considering another job offer as a second choice, and just waiting for you to get back to them.
posted by mikepop at 10:28 AM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I can think of no consequences of knowing except perhaps feeling bad (hey, I've done interviews where being told I hadn't got the job was like a sweet Christmas present as far as I was concerned).

Possible consequences of not knowing include making bad financial decisions based on assumptions (or just hope), not taking necessary actions to keep the job hunt rolling, trying to make decisions about another offer without this essential information... I'd vote for always telling a candidate the outcome of a hiring decision as soon as possible. Better informed than (mistakenly) hopeful.
posted by nanojath at 10:31 AM on December 19, 2007

Spare them telling all their family over the holidays about this great job thy applied for, and you will spare them having to meekly field questions about it a couple weeks later.
posted by hermitosis at 10:31 AM on December 19, 2007

For the love of god, TELL THEM NOW.
posted by sperose at 10:34 AM on December 19, 2007

Wow, a unanimous AskMe. A rare thing indeed! Thanks, all; I'm off to make a few phone calls.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 10:36 AM on December 19, 2007

As someone who was once strung out over the holidays, thank you for sparing another poor soul.
posted by tkolar at 10:51 AM on December 19, 2007

and thank you for having the grace to actually let the candidate know - period - instead of never responding and pretending like you don't know them.
posted by canine epigram at 11:02 AM on December 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

hermitosis brings up a very good point. Please tell them now.
posted by drezdn at 11:15 AM on December 19, 2007

Now. For sure.
posted by chunking express at 11:17 AM on December 19, 2007

Never leave them hanging.
I've had that happen to me. Made it through the 3rd interview (including a meet-n-greet lunch with the whole department) then...nothing. No word for two weeks. Finally, I contacted them, only to discover that, for budgetary reasons, the opening had been put on-hold. Gee...thanks for letting a guy know.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:19 AM on December 19, 2007

Tell them now and tell them why you're telling them now.
posted by cashman at 11:43 AM on December 19, 2007

Thank God you are telling them now. Just imagining being left hanging during the holidays was making my stomach all twist up in sympathy agony. You're doing the right thing.
posted by tastybrains at 11:59 AM on December 19, 2007

Tell him/her as soon as possible.
posted by emd3737 at 1:05 PM on December 19, 2007

Wait until after...

No, actually, a hundred times tell them now. And yes, thank you for actually getting in touch with them. Good for you.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 1:15 PM on December 19, 2007

Not to answer a question with another question, but in what context is leaving someone hanging considered to be humane? I've never heard of such a thing.
posted by rhizome at 1:53 PM on December 19, 2007

Do it now!
posted by iguanapolitico at 2:47 PM on December 19, 2007

Now.
posted by lalochezia at 3:33 PM on December 19, 2007

Telling them immediately is the kind thing to do. Also, though not entirely relevant, you can't be sure that the upcoming holidays are celebrated by or mean anything to this person.
posted by defreckled at 6:13 PM on December 19, 2007

Don't leave this hanging, especially if there is any chance that your candidates will spend extra over the holiday in anticipation of getting the job.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:19 PM on December 19, 2007

Tell them pronto...I HATE "smile and pretend nothing's the matter".
posted by brujita at 11:14 PM on December 19, 2007

Vote for telling them now. It's the decent thing to do, they may pss up other opportunities if they think they are in with a chance for this position.
posted by arcticseal at 10:23 AM on December 20, 2007

I'm in the same position, and for all my applicants I've gone down the "tell them sooner rather than later" route. It's only fair. Not one bad response yet.
posted by Rubyspicer at 5:13 AM on December 21, 2007