job rejections and vitriol

My organization emails rejection notes to all applicants we don't offer a job to. It's a pretty damn nice letter, and we send it within a few days of knowing that we're not moving the applicant forward in the hiring process.

Sometimes we hear back from people thanking us for the notification since apparently more and more companies aren't bothering to get back in touch with candidates, but every once in a while a candidate sends a nasty email back.

I'm not sure if these applicants are just venting or if they genuinely feel a sense of entitlement to the job, but here are three real-life emails I've received in response to rejection notices.

1. "I am a graduate of [school redacted] with an excellent academic record and a degree in political science. I have over 6 years experience working with nonprofits in a leadership role at [redacted]. I would like to know what is wrong with my qualifications and why they do not even warrant an interview to get to know me. I am sure that I will not hear a response to this, but you should know that you passed up a candidate who is qualified, with excellent references and who would work hard for this organization. I am insulted because I know that I would be a fine asset who would fit in well at your organization."

I wrote back and explained that we were fortunate enough to be faced with a large number of qualified applicants for the position, and we interviewed only those in the top tier. (What I didn't mention is that receiving an email like this one confirmed we made the correct decision.)

2. "How disappointing to realize that I spent time interviewing with you when you were more interested in another candidate."

Does anyone really not know that the hiring process is competitive and someone else might end up getting the job?

3. "I'm not going to get into it now because it won't do me any good to pester you about it, but this just sounds like some BS you tell someone because you can't interview everyone. Perhaps you could have been honest with me instead of leaving me hanging these past few weeks."

Well, it's true that we can't interview everyone. But no dishonesty involved, and it's weirdly paranoid to assume there was.

I know it sucks to not get a job that you want. But we make a good faith effort to keep candidates informed about where we are in the process and let them know if they're not in the running. I can't figure out what these people think they're accomplishing, other than burning bridges and making themselves look naive and entitled.