Rejection letters don't have to be dry, meaningless, and lacking in personality. Or do they? Dear Bob … I wrote you awhile back regarding a ManagementSpeak-filled rejection letter I’d recently received. You challenged me to come up with one that was better than the form “we had many qualified candidates and we picked one that wasn’t you” letter that, if one is lucky, one gets at the end of the process. Here’s my recommendation. I’ll be interested to see what you and your Advice Line readers think of it. – Rejected but not dejectedDear R but not D … We want to thank you for taking the time to submit your resume for the position of global project manager with Global Mega Enterprises. After an exhaustive search internally and externally, we were fortunate that the “purple squirrel” came bounding out of the underbrush from within our firm. Since we prefer to promote from within, this leaves us with a senior project manager opening within a well-mentored division, and with your permission, we would like to consider you for that opening at once. In addition, there are five other openings we have due to a steady increase in our business, as well as our “right-shoring” of operations within the United States:Project Manager (0123456)Sales Project Manager (1234567)Senior Project Coordinator (2345678)Other Senior Project Coordinator (3456789)Microsoft Project Support and Database Lead (4567890)I encourage you to log on to our website under careers and review the requirements for each, and let me know by next Friday your interest in these positions before they are released to the general job-hunting community. Sincerely, Joe HR GuyDear R but not D … It’s a great rejection letter, once you assume the company you talked to (1) really does want to hire you, and (2) is expanding and has additional interesting positions. In modified form, it can address most other situations, by inviting you to keep an eye on their Careers page but without an invitation to apply for anything specific. The tough one is left undone: How to reject an applicant when the interviewers conclude the applicant has no place in the company. One possibility: “We’ve concluded you’re a poor fit for our company, or any other that prizes competence for that matter. Please don’t bother monitoring our Careers page, because we’ve added logic to recognize you so you don’t see any opportunities here.” I’m guessing there’s a better approach. Any thoughts, anyone? – Bob Technology Industry