It’s fun for a hiring manager to extend an offer to a candidate, but calling those who were not selected can be stressful. The temptation is there to say too much — to try and offer appeasement or an explanation — anything to make the difficult conversation less uncomfortable.
I always come back to the advice one of my supervisors gave me about the task — utilize this line: “In my judgment, the other candidate/chosen candidate was a better choice for our organization.” This wording makes the statement “argue-proof” — it’s not saying that the other candidate had more experience or better qualifications, but it simply relays that when you as the hiring manager considered all the factors, you believe that the chosen candidate is the better choice. Period.
You may opt to provide advice on how the one not chosen could improve their interview skills or where they are weaker in experience, but in most cases, less is more in this tough conversation. You have no obligation to justify your choice to them, and it will likely still sting no matter what you say, so brief is usually better.
In my judgment (and experience), this wording works.
