Abridged: Marketing Headhunter

ATLANTA, GA -- A disgruntled job seeker sent a nasty email to the HR department of a company he interviewed at. It's understandable how dehumanizing a job search can be during a recession, but a negative email can only come back to haunt the sender. Believe it or not, HR managers know each other, and you can bet your life that emails like this get laughed at -- then emailed around.

Additionally, many companies are owned by a single holding company, so when you kill your chances with one HR team -- you automatically kill your chances with their parent company. At a minimum, the email will get filed under your name in the client's applicant tracking system, and you will be tagged as a jerk long after the HR manager has been eliminated in the next round of job cuts.

But there's good news: If you are a good sport about the hiring process, there's a potential benefit in that, too. Being civil to HR managers and recruiters spreads good karma. Really. So the next time you get rejected, send the HR manager a thank you letter or email saying ... "Thanks for the opportunity to meet with you. I'm so sorry things didn't work out. If your situation changes and you see an appropriate role for me, please let me know."