Candidates ghosting potential employers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP has ghosted this thread.

Sorry, I was working haha.

The benefits and pay are above industry standard. That's fine if they found a better offer, just say so.

Probably 99% of employers believe this to be true. But when they can't get quality candidates, perhaps it's time for them to re-examine what "industry standard" they're looking at.

[Anonymous]

I am a senior/executive level Fed who is job hunting now. Out of the number of applications I have submitted (probably about 30), I have had 6 interviews and received approx 8 flat out we-are-pursuing-others form email rejections and that leaves 16 that are still either pending or ghosted me.

It’s definitely tough out there and I wish HR was more communicative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP has ghosted this thread.

Sorry, I was working haha.

The benefits and pay are above industry standard. That's fine if they found a better offer, just say so.

Probably 99% of employers believe this to be true. But when they can't get quality candidates, perhaps it's time for them to re-examine what "industry standard" they're looking at.

+1,000,000. Just dropping that tired phrase is already a red flag.

[Anonymous]

If your pay and benefits were truly above industry standard then you wojld have no
issues filling the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The benefits and pay are above industry standard. That's fine if they found a better offer, just say so.

Imagine the candidates who took the time to apply for your job and got neither an interview nor a rejection letter. "That's fine. If they found a better candidate for the job, they should say so."

Your company didn't, and neither did this candidate.

Both sides are wrong, but OP is effectively the pot calling the kettle black here.

+1. Seriously just have a shred of decency. It's bad enough companies make you upload your resume and then completely retype it and reformat it in their shitty system they can't even be bothered to send a form rejection email.

We are a small business and don't do this. We just have people email or they can load it into LinkedIn (no re-typing or formatting, takes 10 seconds). We also don't have an HR department to send a form rejection email. It would take half my day to respond to every candidate we rejected (the vast majority of whom don't even meet the requirements stated in the job description so would never be seriously considered - ever).

[Anonymous]

Recruiters often ghost candidates. Or are delayed in responding. It’s pretty common for them to only communicate with you when they need something.

Now the standard is ghosting. Someone young who has only been treated this way might not know any differently. They might think it’s how you’re supposed to behave.

[Anonymous]

We also don't have an HR department to send a form rejection email. It would take half my day to respond to every candidate we rejected (the vast majority of whom don't even meet the requirements stated in the job description so would never be seriously considered - ever).

Your company gets no sympathy from me. Responding to job applicants is part of the responsibility that goes with posting that a job is available. You need to make time to do this, or your company needs to hire someone to do it. Or, at the very least, you need to stop complaining when job applicants treat your company in the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We also don't have an HR department to send a form rejection email. It would take half my day to respond to every candidate we rejected (the vast majority of whom don't even meet the requirements stated in the job description so would never be seriously considered - ever).

Your company gets no sympathy from me. Responding to job applicants is part of the responsibility that goes with posting that a job is available. You need to make time to do this, or your company needs to hire someone to do it. Or, at the very least, you need to stop complaining when job applicants treat your company in the same way.

Just having been on the other side, I never took offense if I applied and never heard anything, so never occurred to me that was a big deal. Now if I'd had an interview and never heard back, that would be considered rude in my book. Interesting outlook, I'll take the time today to send rejection messages to all.

[Anonymous]

I think candidates are getting fed up with employers. If you watch the job boards, you will see a recycling of certain positions. In my experience one isn't sure if this is an actual job or just a way for employers to load their database with resumes to use maybe "one day". After tirelessly applying and talking to recruiters that are "super excited" about your resume and are going to "pass it along to the hiring manager", its frustrating when you are ghosted. Maybe this applicant has been through the same thing and figures "eh, the shoe has been on the other foot, so I will do what has been done to me". Do they sound bitter? Yes, but when you routinely get excited about the possibility of getting hired only to be ghosted, it's hard not to. Maybe this candidate has been burned too many times, and whatever you communicated in the last conversation gave her pause to think maybe this offer isn't what it seems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been trying to hire for a couple months now (junior level) positions and I am shocked at the amount of candidates that have ghosted us. The latest one took a week to reply to a job, then emailed and asked questions about benefits, we responded and then she's completely ghosted us. I even tried to call her and nothing. We've had multiple people apply for roles and then not respond when we try to get them in for an interview. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Someone else made a better offer. That's business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think candidates are getting fed up with employers. If you watch the job boards, you will see a recycling of certain positions. In my experience one isn't sure if this is an actual job or just a way for employers to load their database with resumes to use maybe "one day". After tirelessly applying and talking to recruiters that are "super excited" about your resume and are going to "pass it along to the hiring manager", its frustrating when you are ghosted. Maybe this applicant has been through the same thing and figures "eh, the shoe has been on the other foot, so I will do what has been done to me". Do they sound bitter? Yes, but when you routinely get excited about the possibility of getting hired only to be ghosted, it's hard not to. Maybe this candidate has been burned too many times, and whatever you communicated in the last conversation gave her pause to think maybe this offer isn't what it seems.

I appreciate all of these perspectives. We aren't a corporate machine, so I'd like to think we are different, but I probably do need to stop and remember the slog of job searching especially with the big corporations.

This particular candidate though, came highly recommend by 2 industry colleagues (though she was the one that applied, we didn't reach out to her, the recommendations came after the fact) and we have been very communicative this entire time. The process dragged out longer than expected (weather and sickness) and I updated her along the way so she didn't think we were ghosting her. There seemed to be good back and forth, so I'm just surprised it's gone down the way it has. If she has another, better offer on the table, I just wish she would tell me. Or if she was unhappy with something in the offer, tell me. With us being a small business, we do have a bit more flexibility on salary and benefits, because we don't have some corporate machine telling us no. Plus it caused us to be in limbo land for a couple weeks, losing precious time. We are a smaller industry in a mid sized city (not DC) and this is just a really short sighted approach. People will eventually find out if you conduct yourself this way.

[Anonymous]

Could be a stretch, but maybe something happened to her? Family emergency, illness? Maybe it can be easily explained...I know most of us immediately jump to "what did I do?", but sometimes it's nothing we did at all - maybe life got in the way. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There is a lack of trust and it's unfortunate.

This. Does your company send rejection letters to all rejected applicants?

If we bring them in for an interview and don't move forward with them, yes.

But you don't otherwise. So you are ghosting most people.

I suppose. I think that's totally different than ghosting a job offer though.

How so? There are two parties: one needs someone to perform a job and the other party wants to be paid to perform said job. You are not superior to the job seeker.

NP but the “how so” seems so obvious here.
If you’ve had a job interview followed by an offer with a company, and then ghost them, you are burning bridges in your own industry and they know you by name. To that HR department and any potential supervisors and colleagues you met with that day, they’ll remember you as that guy/gal who rudely dropped communication. It leaves a bitterness in the air. So when you run into them again, at a conference or at another company down the line, you may not remember them (bc why would you?) but they will remember you because ghosting is a hostile act that feels like a slap in the face when an appropriate response of “I appreciate the time I spent with your team, but after some consideration, I’ve decided to go in a different direction. Wishing you all the best of success” is quick, easy, and professional.

When a company ghosts a candidate, it’s highly unusual that this occurs after the candidate has been called in for an interview.
Just because you send in a resume and cover letter and they don’t follow up to contact you for an interview doesn’t mean you were “ghosted.” That’s like saying you were “ghosted” by everyone who didn’t choose to initiate contact with you on match.com

[Anonymous]

No one owes employers any bit of honor at all these days. It's simply a response to what businesses think about their workers, which is basically nothing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There is a lack of trust and it's unfortunate.

This. Does your company send rejection letters to all rejected applicants?

If we bring them in for an interview and don't move forward with them, yes.

But you don't otherwise. So you are ghosting most people.

I suppose. I think that's totally different than ghosting a job offer though.

How so? There are two parties: one needs someone to perform a job and the other party wants to be paid to perform said job. You are not superior to the job seeker.

NP but the “how so” seems so obvious here.
If you’ve had a job interview followed by an offer with a company, and then ghost them, you are burning bridges in your own industry and they know you by name. To that HR department and any potential supervisors and colleagues you met with that day, they’ll remember you as that guy/gal who rudely dropped communication. It leaves a bitterness in the air. So when you run into them again, at a conference or at another company down the line, you may not remember them (bc why would you?) but they will remember you because ghosting is a hostile act that feels like a slap in the face when an appropriate response of “I appreciate the time I spent with your team, but after some consideration, I’ve decided to go in a different direction. Wishing you all the best of success” is quick, easy, and professional.

When a company ghosts a candidate, it’s highly unusual that this occurs after the candidate has been called in for an interview.
Just because you send in a resume and cover letter and they don’t follow up to contact you for an interview doesn’t mean you were “ghosted.” That’s like saying you were “ghosted” by everyone who didn’t choose to initiate contact with you on match.com

Tell me you haven't recently looked for a job without telling me you haven't recently looked for a job.