Eh, sure. So in that sense, professional courtesy is only important while there's a potential interest in establishing a relationship. I disagree. A rejection

Eh, sure. So in that sense, professional courtesy is only important while there's a potential interest in establishing a relationship. I disagree. A rejection doesn't need to be a reason to burn bridges. The candidate could be rejected for any reason, even when it's out of their control. By not having the decency to inform them of the rejection, you're effectively closing the door on them applying ever again. And word goes around about companies with shitty hiring practices, so it's probably not in the company's best long-term interest to treat rejected candidates unprofessionally. I don't see anything wrong with going beyond the generic rejection letter and being honest about why they were rejected. This doesn't mean you need to be negative or go into too much detail, but most decent people would appreciate the honesty. Those who don't, and start arguing, or post that kind of rejection on Reddit or a .lol site are just boosting the signal of why they indeed shouldn't have been hired. And the same goes for the people who ridicule such companies. Being unprofessional and shitty is worthy of ridicule. Not honesty and transparency.