Weekly Voice Insights #69 -Dear Applicant, Thank You for Your Time: Why That’s Not Enough
How small details in communication reveal more than we intend
It starts simply enough. You apply for a position, gather your materials, and send them off. In some cases, you even have a brief conversation with someone involved in the process. You come away thinking the exchange was steady and respectful. You wait for the next step.
Eventually, a message appears. At first glance, the tone seems warm. It acknowledges the work you submitted, references the strength of the applicant pool, and expresses appreciation for your interest. I read one such message recently and thought: That was considerate. It sounded as though someone had taken time to look through my CV and reflect on my experience. For a moment, that felt grounding.
Then I noticed a small detail. My name was in a different font than the rest of the letter. A slight shift in typeface, but enough to show the message had been assembled from a template. The wording suggested personal attention; the formatting suggested something else. My reaction shifted immediately. Not anger—simply the awareness that what I had read as personal was, in fact, a standard message made to sound personal.
Epictetus reminds us:
“We are not disturbed by things, but by the views we take of them.”
The letter itself had not changed.
What changed was what I understood it to be.
At first, I read care into it. Then I saw the seams, and the meaning reorganized itself. The disappointment wasn’t about the rejection. It was about the realization that the tone and the mechanics didn’t match.
Another question followed. If the intention was to write in a personal tone, why not check the details? The font mismatch isn’t a major flaw, but once you see it, it’s hard not to wonder how closely the rest of the communication was handled. Not because the writer was careless, but because the presentation didn’t fully support the message it aimed to send.
Then a practical thought arose: if an institution is going to send a message that sounds individualized, why not include one sentence that truly reflects the CV? It doesn’t need to be elaborate. A single reference—international teaching, a particular production, a unique program—would anchor the message to the person who receives it. Without that, the compliments are broad enough to apply to dozens of applicants and specific enough to sound personal without actually being personal.
This pattern is familiar from voice work. Over time, a singer learns the subtle match between the body and the sound—how a vowel feels when it fits their natural production, and how the breath settles when they’re aligned. It’s not about high-level technique. It’s about noticing. When the physical cues don’t match the sound they think they’re making, something is off, even if they can’t hear it themselves. That’s why listening—real listening—matters. Seeing the font shift in the opening line of the letter felt similar. A small detail revealed that the outward tone and the underlying structure weren’t working together. And as in singing, that small detail changed the way the entire message landed.
Professional communication is no different. A brief, direct note that reflects the actual exchange—even if it was a single conversation—often carries more steadiness than a polished paragraph meant to soften the message. Clarity is not unkind. Distance is not neutral. We hear these mismatches, even on the page.
Rejection itself is not the problem. It’s the way it’s delivered. We’re professionals. We don’t need flattery in rejection—we need clarity. We don’t need brand-safe empathy—we need real communication.
So to the organizations drafting their next round of emails: if you truly value people, write to them like people. Not just “applicants,” not as a collective, not as a category—but as humans who took the time to show you their work.
That would be enough.
Related Posts
Weekly Voice Insights #48 — What Tone Reveals Before Words Begin
https://dyavwithelias.blogspot.com/2024/11/weekly-insight-48-what-tone-reveals.html
Weekly Voice Insights #54 — The Subtle Work of Noticing
https://dyavwithelias.blogspot.com/2024/12/weekly-voice-insights-54-subtle-work-of.html
Weekly Voice Insights #61 — Epictetus and the Difference Between What Happens and What We Tell Ourselves
https://dyavwithelias.blogspot.com/2025/02/weekly-voice-insights-61-epictetus-and.html
Further Resources
From Hope to Silence – Ghosting in Recruitment
https://mypivot.substack.com/p/from-hope-to-silence
6 Toxic Candidate Experience Tales: Applicants Deserve Better
https://getleadline.com/blog/6-toxic-candidate-experience-tales-applicants-deserve-better
Elias Mokole | Keynote Speaker, BA & Beyond 2025
Voice, Breath, and Clarity | Developing Your Authentic Voice Newsletter
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