I can understand that frustration. An auto-decline after spending a while to customize an application probably feels bad, but frankly most people won&#x27;t feel great even with a personalized &quot;sorry not interested&quot;.<p>My comments about spending time in the application process primarily are geared towards candidates right on the border of being qualified.<p>If I get a resume from someone who is clearly very qualified, I&#x27;m going to see it immediately and schedule a call. If the resume is from someone who is absolutely no industry experience applying for a senior job, I&#x27;ll decline (with a note usually if they took the time to write anything).<p>But say we have a candidate that is slightly underqualified or barely qualified. They can spend a few minutes writing something targeted, and that will make the difference in them getting an interview.<p>I&#x27;ve had this debate here before, but if you apply to jobs you are <i>clearly</i> not qualified for, you shouldn&#x27;t expect a reply because you&#x27;ve wasted your own time and theirs now. If someone applies and is just slightly underqualified, they generally are entitled to a response (especially if they took any time in the application process). Anyone who interviews deserves a response and ideally some specific feedback, but that&#x27;s another story.