IT company’s rude rejection email is viral: ‘Do not attempt to apply again’

An IT firm's rejection email to a jobseeker is viral for its hostile tone

Hunting for a job can be a demoralising and disheartening experience at times. Rejection emails are part of the process, as any jobseeker well knows, but a good rejection will express gratitude for the candidate's interest in the position while including some feedback on how the candidate can improve. This one from Elite Software Automation did none of that.

In fact, the IT company’s rejection email was so needlessly aggressive, it has left thousands of readers shocked.

A snapshot of the email was shared on the Reddit forum “antiwork”, where it has gone viral with nearly 20,000 upvotes.

The email begins by thanking the candidate for applying for the position of a Frontend Software Engineer and informs them their application has been declined due to their failure to clear the automated online test.

So far, so good. Right? The email then warns the candidate not to apply again at least until the end of next year. “Any repeated attempts to apply for this position again before this time, or any attempts to retake the test will lead to an automated decline of your application, as well as blacklisting of your profile from any further applications,” the email read.

The company warns candidates that no excuses will work – “If you believe that you have an excuse and want to request a retake, we have to let you know that we do not accept any excuses whatsoever. If you were feeling unwell if you were rushing, or if your internet went out, or whatever other excuse you may have, it does not matter.”

A friend of mine got this aggressive rejection mail byu/iam0l4 inrecruitinghell

The only situation in which Elite Software Automation would consider letting a candidate retake the test would be if the online test platform itself experienced a glitch. “This is an extremely rare circumstance and only 0.0169 had this happen,” the rejection email said.

Next, it told the candidate that they would be “permanently blacklisted” if they “attempt to reach out to us requesting a retake in any situation.”

The last paragraph acknowledged that the tone of the rejection could be upsetting to candidates. However, the company advised them to stop blaming the company and improve themselves.

“we understand that some people may be upset, or even angry due this rejection. If you are upset at this email, we have to inform you that life is hard and part of any professional or personal development is dealing with rejection and finding ways to improve,” read the rejection. “You were provided an opportunity to show your abilities in a blind and fair test that is the same for all candidates and that is focused on nothing but skills and abilities. You have failed to score high enough at this test. Instead of blaming us, you should examine what you can do to improve those abilities and skills. Maybe you could use this self-reflection to improve and make your life better. We certainly wish the best for you.”

Reactions to the rejection email from Elite Software Automation were largely negative.

“I would make sure to apply again just to make sure I GET blacklisted by this excuse of a company,” wrote one Reddit user. “Seriously, this is like a walking red flag, imagine how they treat their actual employees,” another said.

“So companies no longer wait you to be hired to show how toxic they are,” a third user quipped.