Another Letter I Have Not Written
November 26, 2003 1:10 PM   Subscribe

Another Letter I Should Have Written
posted by H. Roark (20 comments total)
 
A very timely haw-haw-haw.
posted by billsaysthis at 1:48 PM on November 26, 2003


Agreed. But can anyone with the nom-de-plume "H. Roark" ever be taken seriously?
posted by lathrop at 1:50 PM on November 26, 2003


that's good!
posted by amberglow at 1:54 PM on November 26, 2003


Brilliant!

...can anyone with the nom-de-plume "H. Roark" ever be taken seriously?

On the contrary; can we take him as anything but? I think it's a great NDP.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:57 PM on November 26, 2003


Why write it when he already did. Rip it for your next rejection. Corporate Job lesson number one: take credit for others accomplishments. It will get you far.
posted by stbalbach at 2:03 PM on November 26, 2003


I do a lot of interviewing in my current job and always find it hard to reject people. In today's job market a lot of candidates are very well qualified, but you can't hire them all. What should a well-written rejection note look like?
posted by Triplanetary at 2:12 PM on November 26, 2003


always find it hard to reject people

Wait 'til you have to can 'em!
posted by groundhog at 2:29 PM on November 26, 2003


triplanetary--

i don't know what it should look like, but i do know that if you are actually sending them, you are in the minority. in the last three years, i have only gotten letters of any sort from less than one-third of the firms i have actually interviewed with.

makes some sense to me that firms which are innudated with thousands of resumes for a single opening don't send letters to every applicant, but it makes no sense whatsoever to me that firms which actually call me in for an interview don't send letters.

i would also say that telling me how fabulous my credentials are isn't of particular interest or comfort to me. if i were writing the letter, it really wouldn't say more than "thank you for taking the time to interview with us. Unfortunately, we have hired another applicant." anything else risks sounding patronizing or bullshitting.
posted by crush-onastick at 2:40 PM on November 26, 2003


groundhog: having tried several methods, we prefer blanching and a flash freeze, to a plain old canning. You don't get to hear them pop, true, but their expressions going into the freeezer are priceless!
posted by bonehead at 3:03 PM on November 26, 2003


crush-onastick

Thanks for the advice. I guess you're right in that shorter is better.
posted by Triplanetary at 3:27 PM on November 26, 2003


It's too bad that "H. Roark" didn't write that letter. But, I don't think John Kador did either. I believe it is properly attributed to Gretchen F. Stoloff.
posted by funkbrain at 3:41 PM on November 26, 2003


What is up with the above comment?
posted by thomcatspike at 3:46 PM on November 26, 2003


Sorry, bad link. Gretchen F. Stoloff.
posted by funkbrain at 3:52 PM on November 26, 2003


Mr. Kador,
In that case, we'll expect you on the first of the month. Please bring 2 latte's, skinny, no sugar, 3 cappuccino's, 1 with sugar, 1 double sugar and 1 no sugar, 1 soyaccino, no sugar and 2 dozen assorted donuts.

ps. Bring a coffee for yourself and meet the staff!
posted by alicesshoe at 3:59 PM on November 26, 2003


if i were writing the letter, it really wouldn't say more than "thank you for taking the time to interview with us. Unfortunately, we have hired another applicant." anything else risks sounding patronizing or bullshitting.

If you wanted to be truly bullshit-free, you'd say "fortunately".
posted by rory at 4:08 PM on November 26, 2003


No, this is ripped off from UFO Breakfast. It's been around the world and back, but he still wrote it first.

Repeat. UFO Breakfast wrote this letter.
posted by gleuschk at 5:22 PM on November 26, 2003


If I received a letter like that, I'd really think twice about rejecting him or her....esp. in a creative field or law.
posted by amberglow at 5:25 PM on November 26, 2003


I saw that letter a while back at The Master .plan For World Domination (search for "04 October 2001" -- the entry date). I don't know if it was gotten from Gretchen F. Stoloff or not.
posted by thebabelfish at 6:36 PM on November 26, 2003


I don't think one specific person came up with this idea per se. Anyone who's been applying for a job/school/position/etc. for a while invariable receives so many of these "you're so qualified and we're so sorry we have to reject you even though you're the greatest interviewee we've ever had" letters that they want to write this kind of letter back to the companies.
posted by gyc at 9:31 PM on November 26, 2003


Hmm. Very strange, gleuschk... the letter seems like an obvious ripoff of an anonymous letter which appeared in Neal Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, which was published in 1986, I believe. UFO Breakfast claims a 1995 "publication" date.

Perhaps my memory is failing me completely (I went through a Postman phase around 1993 or 1994 at the very latest as I was in Uni). The letter in his book is pretty much identical to this one except instead of being about a job, it's about rejection from a University. Postman makes a point of saying that the Uni the kid sent it to would be wise to accept him/her.
posted by dobbs at 9:42 PM on November 26, 2003


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