This is a question that comes up now and then but I dont think there is a thread about it so I thought it might be useful to get some discussions running.
At different points during a job seeking process you may need to say no thank you to a position. This can happen very early wif you are for example contacted by a Company or a recruiter for a position that you are at least not currently interested in pursuing or it can happen later in the process up to saying no to an actual offer.
In all of these situations yYou want to say no thank you in a way that allows you to have future contacts with that same company or recruiter for other positions or maybe even for the same type of position but at another point in your life or career.
What are some of the strategies that you have used successfully yourself or that you as a hiring manager would look at as acceptable in a way that you will consider that same candidate for another position in the future. These strategies probably have to be different depending on how far you have gone in the process so please try to specify when you think that your suggested strategy is a good one.