No matter how eloquent, how gracious or how sincere a candidate is, the bottom-line message of “Thanks, but no thanks” to an employer after reaching the altar … stings.

In today’s uber-connected world, the savvy candidate understands this dynamic and as a result, the importance of a high quality rejection. Why? Because somewhere, somehow, someway, the odds are pretty darn good that their paths will cross sometime in the future—and when they do, the career stakes could be high.