At various points in this book, you have been urged to consider your readers. If ever there is a time when you need to be particularly sensitive to your readers' feelings, it is when you have to tell them something that they are hoping not to hear. Most of us have at some time or another applied for a job, which has in the end been offered to somebody else. Most of us have submitted an idea, plan, article, book proposal, and so forth and received a rejection letter in return. Most of us ought, therefore, to be able to empathize with any unfortunate people to whom we have to deliver bad news.It seems to console people a little if they are at least given a plausible reason for having been passed over. Once again, you are showing basic respect. If you explain why somebody was not accepted, it indicates that you at least considered that person on his or her merits. And those merits should, if possible, be mentioned. Anything positive that you can say, you should say. It is here that the aforementioned "soft soap sandwich" comes into its own.Let us suppose, for instance, that the letter from the person who objected to the Dick Whittington Centre in London as a conference venue reaches the vice president of the parent company. He or she might reply like this:Bramstoker International
974 South Street
Edwardstown, Pennsylvania 44500-6801
(215) 387-0413 April 23, 2005 Mr. Peter Garfunkel
Director of Marketing
Bramstoker Western
West Aurora, Washington 97062-2444 Subject: Conference 2006 Dear Peter: Thank you very much for your letter of April 12. I have now had a chance to think about the excellent points that you made and to discuss them with several other members of the conference-organizing committee. We see the merits of your arguments; nevertheless, we have decided to go ahead with our present plans, for the following reasons. Although the Dick Whittington Centre is relatively new, we have received very positive reports from other organizations that have held similar conferences there. The facilities are state-of-the-art, apparently, and the staff is very helpful. The dollar-sterling is certainly unfavorable now. Who knows what it will be in October 2006? However, even assuming that it is still unfavorable and granting your point about transatlantic traffic, there remain compelling reasons for choosing London. Our European division has several times asked to host the annual conference, and, since a main plank of Bramstoker's strategy for the next five years is to open up new markets in the countries that have recently joined the European Union, this seems like the moment to show our commitment to our European operations and our Europe-based staff by granting them their wish. I have very good memories of 2004 in West Aurora and would like to thank you once again for your personal contribution to making it such a successful event. I hope it will not be too long before we have another chance to enjoy your hospitality, but we are Bramstoker International and must try to live up to our name. Sincerely yours, Laura Laura Y. Minto
Vice President, Human Resources lym-pg:018 P.S. I look forward to seeing you this October in Honolulu, if not before. This letter follows the classic pattern: a word of thanks and appreciation to the sender; a statement of the reasons for or against complying with his or her request or proposal; and a final reference to some positive factor, which is intended to reestablish or reinforce good relations.There are a few other points about this letter that are relevant to points discussed in previous subsections. Although she addresses the recipient by his first name, the writer maintains a strictly neutral style; there are no signs of informality (she could, for instance, have made the postscript See you in Honolulu … but does not). She deals with Peter Garfunkel's letter more or less point by point, countering each on his first three arguments and using the fourth to provide her with a positive closing paragraph. We can infer from all this, that there would be little point in Mr. Garfunkel's trying to take the discussion any further. The vice president has spoken, and that is that.Announcing the Failure of a Job ApplicationThe same pattern should, in most cases, be applied to letters to unsuccessful applicants for jobs:Dear Mr. Griffin: Thank you very much for coming to be interviewed yesterday. The interviewing panel thought that you gave a very good account of yourself and was very interested to hear your views on using African motifs in textile design. Unfortunately, you were up against strong competition from other applicants whose qualifications and experience were equal to your own. We were thus able to pick and choose and finally awarded the post to somebody whose specialty exactly matches the future direction in which we intend to take the company. Thank you again for giving us the chance to meet you, and we wish you every success in your career search. Sincerely yours, In the interests of saving the unsuccessful applicant's face, it is usually better to emphasize the positive factors that influenced your decision in favor of somebody else, rather than the negative factors that weighed against him or her. A sensible interviewee will, nevertheless, read between the lines of this message and modify his or her interview technique.
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