Draft a respectful rejection note for a decision already made

An unsent rejection message limited to approved reasons and next steps.

Choose one of three approaches. The steps for that option appear below.

Choose an option above. On a phone, swipe the tabs left or right to see all options →

Gemini Notebook: builds the map and drafts the note

Gemini Notebook separates approved feedback from panel discussion with citations, then drafts the unsent note from your checked rows.

  1. You

    Have ready: the decision

  2. Gemini Notebook

    Separate the feedback

  3. You

    Check each row

  4. Gemini Notebook

    Draft the note

  5. You

    Finish and record

  1. Have ready: the hiring decision and policy

    Use: You

    The human hiring decision, the approved communication policy and the permitted feedback points. Panel-only material stays with you and is not uploaded.

    Check

    No selection decision is inferred; no message is sent or unsupported reason added.

  2. Separate approved feedback from panel discussion

    Use: Gemini Notebook

    Ask for a cited table separating approved feedback from panel discussion, with a gaps list.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Work only from the uploaded authorized sources. Build the separation of approved feedback from private panel discussion as a table: one row per item, asking for a source citation and effective date on each row (the reviewer rejects any row without a citation), and an explicit 'not stated' entry where evidence is missing. Do not add anything that is not in the sources. Keep private panel discussion notes out of this notebook: panel-only material is separated and retained by the named humans and is not uploaded to the AI step. No selection decision is inferred; no message is sent or unsupported reason added.

  3. Check each map row and citation

    Use: You

    Check each row against the decision notes and policy; reject any row without a citation and mark gaps before drafting.

    Check

    HR confirms each row matches the human decision and contains no confidential panel details.

  4. Draft the unsent rejection note

    Use: Gemini Notebook

    From the reviewer-confirmed rows only, draft the unsent rejection message limited to approved reasons and next steps, with an unresolved-question section.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Using only the reviewer-confirmed rows of the separation of approved feedback from private panel discussion in this notebook, draft the unsent rejection message limited to approved reasons and next steps. Mark it DRAFT, ask for a citation next to each statement (the reviewer rejects any statement without one), and end with an unresolved-question section listing every open item. No selection decision is inferred; no message is sent or unsupported reason added.

  5. Prepare the review copy and record the decision

    Use: You

    Copy the saved note into a review document, re-check every reference against the originals, write the issue log and record who approved it.

    Check

    HR confirms the message matches the human decision and contains no confidential panel details. Keep it as preparation only. Your step: assemble the review copy, verify each reference survived the move out of the notebook, log issues, and record the human disposition. No real name, email, phone number or address appears in the review copy; every item is checked against the originals first.

Before you paste into any AI tool, remove any confidential information. Put it back at the end.

Tools in this workflow

Deciding between ChatGPT and Claude for this? See the comparison.

Final check

Never paste credentials or full payment details.

Recruiter and HR reviewer: Check each draft or result against your original inputs. No selection decision is inferred; no message is sent or unsupported reason added.

Confirm all changes and the authorised audience; any communication, record update or employment decision happens separately under human authority.

Preparation only: no autonomous hiring, employee rating, pay or access change, record update, external message, purchase or legal decision. Named humans retain authority.

Speed and quality are relevant user priorities, not measured performance claims; no product binding or benchmark is asserted.

Use only material authorised for this purpose and audience; cut down employee and candidate personal data.

Keep source references, effective dates and unresolved facts; do not infer protected traits or fabricate missing evidence.

Check the result against your original inputs. Approve it before sharing or acting.

What still needs checking
  • Whether source references or citations survive export into the final review document; the reviewer re-verifies every reference in the review copy.
  • Who is authorised to approve the final wording and the audience; any communication, record update or employment decision happens separately under human authority.
  • Plan caveat for the ChatGPT path: the file-uploads page says Free users are limited to 3 file uploads per day and all users to 80 files per 3 hours (possibly lowered at peak), so confirm the account plan can upload the checked map and limits.

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