A commonly heard complaint these days is how so few companies bother to reply to the bulk of job applications (there's a revealing Guardian Careers blog on the subject). Employers, take note: even when it's bad news, a short but courteous letter never goes amiss.

But what about when that short, thanks-but-no-thanks missive extends across eight pages? That's what about 900 jobseekers on the US-based classified listings site Craigslist apparently found when they were Bcc'd into a 3,000-word bullet-pointed rejection letter from one company.

The email, written by Shea Gunther, was sent out to respondents to an ad he put on Craigslist for staff-writing jobs at his new clean tech website. In the email Gunther felt compelled to share 42 (count 'em!) bullet-pointed aspects of job applications that irritate him.



Taken individually, some points are admittedly rather witty ("Do capitalize and use punctuation: a job email int a txt mssg 2 ur bff"), and several constitute good, solid advice ("Don't get crazy with the text formatting"). But by item no 40 ("Don't email me a novella") Gunther appears to have exhausted himself to the point of contradiction. By then, any sense constructive advice feels like it has been swamped by superciliousness.

A little constructive feedback is one thing, but we can't help thinking that Gunther, who describes himself in his own advert as a "long-time green media veteran" (surely that's a tautology, Shea?) has somewhat overstepped the mark. "Egotistical and infuriating" is how one recipient described it on gossip site Gawker.com.

But perhaps you disagree. Is a 3,000-word rejection letter better than a standard corporate one-line mailshot, or even no letter at all? What are the best and worst examples of rejection letters you've received?