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Hiring · Candidates

Rejecting a Candidate Application

Mark an application as rejected, select a rejection reason, add a private team note, and optionally send the candidate a rejection email.

Rejecting an application moves it to the Rejected status — a terminal state that cannot be reversed. You must pick a rejection reason (used in reporting), and you can attach a private team note and choose whether to send the candidate a rejection email.

Prerequisites#

Rejecting an application#

  1. Open Candidates in the sidebar and select a candidate.

  2. Select the application you want to reject from the candidate's application list.

  3. On the application detail page, select Reject in the header actions.

  4. The Reject application dialog opens.

  5. Pick a Rejection reason (required for reporting):

    We rejected them

    ReasonWhen to use
    Not a fitSkills, experience, or scope did not match this role
    Failed interviewPerformance in one or more rounds did not meet the bar
    Compensation mismatchExpectations and offer ranges could not be aligned
    OtherA different reason — add details in the private note

    They withdrew / out of pipeline

    ReasonWhen to use
    Candidate withdrewThey asked to step out of the process
    Hired elsewhereThey accepted another offer
    DuplicateA duplicate or test record being closed out
  6. Optionally add a Private note. This note is visible to your team only and is never sent to the candidate.

  7. The Send rejection email toggle is on by default. Turn it off to skip the email and record only an internal status change.

  8. Select Reject application to confirm.

Rejection email#

When the toggle is on and the candidate has an email address on file, Intervy sends a rejection email using your organisation's rejection template immediately after you confirm.

The email subject is: Update on your application for [position title].

The private note is never included in the email.

When the email is skipped#

The email is skipped automatically in two situations:

SituationWhat you see on the application
You turned off the toggleEmail skipped
The candidate has no email on fileNo email on file

Email delivery failed#

If delivery fails after the status is saved, the application shows an Email failed badge. The status change is still recorded.

After rejection#

Once rejected, the application detail page shows a rejection summary panel with:

  • The rejection reason chip
  • Email delivery status badge
  • The private note (if you added one), labelled Internal rejection note with a Team only badge
  • The date and time of rejection

The Reject button is no longer shown in the header once the application is in the Rejected status.

Status transitions#

An application can be rejected from any non-terminal status:

From statusTo statusTerminal?
AppliedRejectedYes
In ReviewRejectedYes
OfferRejectedYes

Attempting to reject an already rejected, hired, or withdrawn application returns an error.

Permissions reference#

ActionPermissionDefault roles
View candidates / applicationscandidates:view
AdminStaffing
Reject / update application statuscandidates:update
AdminStaffing

Troubleshooting#

Rejection reason required — The Rejection reason field is required. Select one of the reason options before confirming.

The Reject button is not visible — The button only appears for applications in the Applied, In Review, or Offer status. Applications that are already Rejected, Hired, or Withdrawn cannot be rejected again.

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