Crossword Genius

Blunt note about a job seeker (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

candidate

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'seeker' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'blunt note about a job' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'blunt' could be 'candid' (synonyms) and 'candid' is found in the answer.
'note' could be 'te' (musical note) and 'te' is located in the answer.
'about' could be 'a' (abbreviation in Chambers) and 'a' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for candidate that I've seen before include "Person seeking office or appointment" , "Person who seeks appointment to an office" , "prospective employee?" , "runner" , "who tries to get elected?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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