As of 13 August 2026, AI can write a rejection email after an interview.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 15 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the interview notes, scorecards and the organisation's recruitment communications policy, then confirm the final decision with the hiring manager.
   2. Gather the candidate's name, role, sender details, authorised feedback and any approved next step, removing unnecessary personal or sensitive information.
   3. Paste those details into the prompt and ask the chatbot to draft the subject line, email and checking list.
   4. Compare every factual statement in the draft with the interview records and remove anything that was not approved for sharing.
   5. Ask the hiring manager or HR colleague to check the wording for consistency with the decision, recruitment policy and treatment of other candidates.
   6. Send the approved email from the organisation's normal recruitment system and retain the final version with the relevant recruitment records.

   Prompt

   Write a professional rejection email after an interview using the information below.
   
   Candidate name: [NAME]
   Role: [ROLE]
   Organisation: [ORGANISATION]
   Decision: [REJECTED AFTER INTERVIEW]
   Authorised feedback to include: [FACTUAL FEEDBACK THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR SHARING]
   Whether to offer feedback or invite questions: [DETAILS]
   Any agreed next step, such as keeping the application on file: [DETAILS]
   Sender name and job title: [SENDER]
   
   Requirements:
   - Use plain, respectful British English.
   - Thank the candidate for their time and interest.
   - State the decision clearly without sounding cold.
   - Include only the authorised facts above. Do not invent reasons, comparisons, scores or promises.
   - Do not mention any protected characteristic, medical information, personal circumstance or confidential information.
   - Do not make legal claims or imply that the candidate has no right to challenge the decision.
   - Keep it to 150 words or fewer.
   - Do not use exaggerated praise or a generic statement that could contradict the approved feedback.
   - After the email, list any factual detail that is missing or any wording that should be checked by the hiring manager or HR before sending.
   Return the subject line, then the email, then the short checking list.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.