There will be a couple of times in your work life where the recruiter himself will send an invite to you for an interview and obviously, there is a fair possibility that the job description offered by the employer does not match your job requirement. You may feel like there is no need to be a part of the interview process when you know in the first place that the role offered is not a perfect fit for you. In such cases, you will need to turn down that interview offer in a very subtle and polite way.
In this article, we will be covering
- Reasons why a candidate declines an interview invitation
- Tips to politely declining an interview invitation
- Examples of such formal letters or messages that mention the right way of turning down an interview invitation
Reasons Why a Candidate Declines an Interview Invitation
When a candidate receives an invitation for an interview, he may feel an obligation to be a part of that interview as the employer has made the first move towards the hiring process. It may seem that turning down that offer is not the right thing to do. But trust us, it is the right to do when
- The job description does not match your job requirements.
- You are offered less salary for the same job that you already have been doing.
- When you have already got an interview with a company offering better salary and other benefits.
- You did a research about the company and found that the working environment and values are not compatible with that of yours.
- You think that your qualifications and skills deserve a job at a higher level.
- The company which invited you isn’t doing well financially and not making profits.
- You are already doing a job at a better level and you cannot risk that.
- Some of your friends working in that organization or the former employees of the company have recommended you not to accept the offer due to the workload that they give to an employee.
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Tips to Politely Declining an Interview Invitation
Think thoroughly about the invitation
Make sure that you have a strong reason to turn that invite down. You should be sure enough to let such an opportunity in your hand go. Take your time to think about the invite and take the right decision after researching the company.
In case if you are unsure about whether or not you should go for it, then remember that an interview will do you no harm as it isn’t the same as a job offer. You can also accept the invite, to get a clear picture of whether or not you want to do that job.
Always reply to the invitation
A candidate may feel that when you don’t even want to be a part of the interview process then why care to reply to that invite. This is extremely unprofessional behavior. How would you feel when you apply for a job and the employer does not care enough to revert you back? Sounds unprofessional, Right?
Being a part of the working industry, it is one’s responsibility to maintain professionalism and follow the same kind of approach. A candidate should send that decline e-mail as soon as he gets sure that he does not want to accept the interview invitation because even the employer needs time to consider and invite other candidates for the job position.
Keep future possibilities in mind
The tone of your application or the e-mail should be very courteous as there might be a future possibility that you reach out to the employer in the future for some of the other business purposes. Be polite with your reply to the invitation and it is absolutely normal to not mention any reason for declining the invitation as stating a reason reduces a chance to be able to get employed by the company in the future.
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How to Politely Decline an Interview Invitation
Through a Withdrawing Application
The format with an example below is a way to decline the interview invitation politely by sending a formal letter.
[Your Name]
[E-mail Address]
[Date]
Subject: Reply to the Interview Invitation
[Body of the letter]
Example 1:
Respectfully, I wish to state that I am thankful for the invitation and for considering me for the position of [position of the job offered]. Your invitation means a lot to me. However, I would like to withdraw my name from the applicants for this position.
Once Again, thank you for your invitation.
Regards,
[Name of the candidate]
Example 2:
Dear [Name of the Employer],
I am grateful for the opportunity to interview for your company for the position of [Position Name]. I applied for this position at another company and I was offered the job position. So, I am respectfully sending this withdrawing application as I no longer could be a part of the interview process. I hope that you get a perfect fit candidate for this job in your search.
If you have a any further questions, please do not hesitate to get back to me, you can contact me anytime at 9009009XXX. Again, I am thankful to you for considering me as a potential candidate. Thank you for your time for reading this application.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Through an E-mail
Example:
To: [The E-mail id of the employer]
Subject: Interview Invitation – [Your full name]
Dear [Name of the Employer],
Thank you for your invitation for the interview and for the opportunity to work with your company. Your time and consideration mean a lot to me. I appreciate the invitation, however, unfortunately, I have to withdraw my name from the list of applicants.
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I hope you find a candidate that will be a great fit for this position and adds a great value to your company. I also hope for a chance to work together in future.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Contact number]
Conclusion
In this way, you can politely decline an interview offer. You can also recommend to them another person that is looking for the same job and whom you think can be a good fit for the opportunity. Keep an eye on the tone of your text and remember to remain a professional communicator in order to maintain a positive relationship with the employer and respond to the invitation quickly without delay.
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
All the team management, content creation, and monetization tasks are handled by me. Together with the team at PrepMyCareer, the aim is to provide useful and engaging content to our readers.