I used to tell people directly that I wasn't interested in them and why. I realized that they had traveled to come see me and I would offer to answer their questions if they had any.
ML/NJ
I found Dick Cheney’s interview in 1969 with Don Rumsfeld illustrative, though I can’t remember if Rumsfeld had left Congress at that point to work in the Nixon administration.
The young Cheney traveled all the way to Washington to meet with Rumfeld to apply as a staffer. He had to walk several miles in the summer DC heat and humidity while wearing the only suit he owned, a wool winter suit, because he didn’t know the city and parked too far away.
When he finally got there, only a minute or two before the appointed time, he was soaked with perspiration to the point his shoes were making squishing sounds. Before he even had a chance to find a bathroom and towel off, the door to Rumsfeld’s office opened at the exact appointment time and he was ushered in for a half-hour appointment.
In a city known for making people wait, this was remarkable.
Cheney talked for 25 minutes, at which point Rumsfeld politely said something like “Thank you for coming, but I don’t think you are the right person for the job”, stood up and shook his hand, after which the door opened at the exact ending time for the meeting and the young Cheney was ushered out.
Very straight and to the point.
Poor Cheney stood blinking in the office foyer thinking “What the heck just happened?”