Candidates ghosting potential employers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1. This is, unfortunately, more common than not in my experience. It is beyond rude to me to not send a rejection to someone that took their time to interview with you.

[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.

Its incredibly rude not to send a rejection letter to every job applicant you don't interview.

Maybe you should read an etiquette book.

You are dreaming. When your small business receives 300+ applications through Indeed, and 85% don't meet the requirements in your job posting, and clearly haven't even read your job posting but just clicked "submit," we are not responding to each

Nonsense. It takes ten seconds to send a polite form rejection email en masse and that's propoer business etiquette.


You are choosing to be rude AF to people who took their time to apply to your position. Yes, it makes you look bad.

[Anonymous]

The companies I have worked at keep files and notes on job applicants. We were asked to provide feedback about the interview, how it went and general impressions. There were comments from the hiring department that it took the person X number of times to respond to an email or that a particular candidate was very prompt in replying and very polite. An applicant that ghosted to recruiter was noted. We were all reminded that the notes needed to be kept professional and with concrete examples from the interview if there was a concern.

I would not be in the least bit surprised that those notes were retained in an individual's file and if they applied for a different job that the notes would be consulted. If someone is given an offer and then ghosts a company, it could decrease the likelihood that the company is willing to interview them for a future position.

I don't like how companies ghost applicants; I have applications that I submitted 6 months ago now that I have not heard back on. I know who those companies are and I am less likely to apply to them in the future. I do wish that the generated responses were less a form letter, but I am not sure how feasible it is for companies that receive a multitude of applications for one position to be able to provide anything other than a generic "you were not selected" email.

I can only control what I can control so I aim for prompt replies to companies who call or email, polite in my responses, and as clear in communication as I can be. I had one company call me for three separate positions because the first two ended up not being fits but the recruiter commented that I was a pleasure to work with so they were actively looking for a contract I would be a good fit on. I am working for that company now.

Companies do keep records, and you can burn bridges by being rude to recruiters or ghosting them. It is your choice but I don't see it as hard to reply to a company and say "I appreciate your interest, but I received an offer for a job I think is a better fit." The company will understand and you leave the door open for future opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The companies I have worked at keep files and notes on job applicants. We were asked to provide feedback about the interview, how it went and general impressions. There were comments from the hiring department that it took the person X number of times to respond to an email or that a particular candidate was very prompt in replying and very polite. An applicant that ghosted to recruiter was noted. We were all reminded that the notes needed to be kept professional and with concrete examples from the interview if there was a concern.

I would not be in the least bit surprised that those notes were retained in an individual's file and if they applied for a different job that the notes would be consulted. If someone is given an offer and then ghosts a company, it could decrease the likelihood that the company is willing to interview them for a future position.

I don't like how companies ghost applicants; I have applications that I submitted 6 months ago now that I have not heard back on. I know who those companies are and I am less likely to apply to them in the future. I do wish that the generated responses were less a form letter, but I am not sure how feasible it is for companies that receive a multitude of applications for one position to be able to provide anything other than a generic "you were not selected" email.

I can only control what I can control so I aim for prompt replies to companies who call or email, polite in my responses, and as clear in communication as I can be. I had one company call me for three separate positions because the first two ended up not being fits but the recruiter commented that I was a pleasure to work with so they were actively looking for a contract I would be a good fit on. I am working for that company now.

Companies do keep records, and you can burn bridges by being rude to recruiters or ghosting them. It is your choice but I don't see it as hard to reply to a company and say "I appreciate your interest, but I received an offer for a job I think is a better fit." The company will understand and you leave the door open for future opportunities.

OP here and 100%. Also, the people that recommended them have reached out and I did let them know the situation so they the type of person they are referring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Candidates are wailing about having to write cover letters when they are required for applications, but they have no idea how hard it is on the hiring side when you have an avalanche of applications from people who aren't truly serious.

I mean, really, you can't handle a polite form rejection letter?

[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.

Why, because you are on the receiving end of the ghosting this time?

There's more to consider when you think about why you may have been ghosted. Did you respond immediately upon receipt of this person's application informing them about the timeline and process for selecting interviewees? How long did it take you to get back to this person with feedback about the interview and more information about timeline and process expectations? How long from interview to offering a job? Did you offer the job verbally, and if so how quickly did you follow up with written information like a contract or letter of employment and concrete information about benefits that you offer with the job? Is your salary offer reasonable or are you low-balling?

OP here. We have been very responsive and provided lots of updates. She was scheduled for an interview almost immediately. She was one of our first interviews, so we shared with her that it would be a few weeks to get through interviews and then she's been updated weekly since. It was about 4 weeks from the first interview to job offer. I responded within 24 hours of her questions (EVEN when it took her a week+ to respond to me). Salary is what she asked for.

And, did you meet her salary request?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why, because you are on the receiving end of the ghosting this time?

There's more to consider when you think about why you may have been ghosted. Did you respond immediately upon receipt of this person's application informing them about the timeline and process for selecting interviewees? How long did it take you to get back to this person with feedback about the interview and more information about timeline and process expectations? How long from interview to offering a job? Did you offer the job verbally, and if so how quickly did you follow up with written information like a contract or letter of employment and concrete information about benefits that you offer with the job? Is your salary offer reasonable or are you low-balling?

OP here. We have been very responsive and provided lots of updates. She was scheduled for an interview almost immediately. She was one of our first interviews, so we shared with her that it would be a few weeks to get through interviews and then she's been updated weekly since. It was about 4 weeks from the first interview to job offer. I responded within 24 hours of her questions (EVEN when it took her a week+ to respond to me). Salary is what she asked for.

And, did you meet her salary request?

See bolded. We offered her what she asked for.

[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.

Companies pull all kinds of shenanigans with job boards. For example, there are laws that many companies fill out LCA's. Labor Condition Applications, they are just testing the job market. There is no legitimate job there. They are just *seeing* what people are willing to do that job for. Often times they are trying to prove there are no able or willing candidates. EG they are intentionally engaging in hostile interview tactics unbeknownst to the naive job applicant, making it more difficult to submit an application. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/permanent

Companies trying to get a green card will do this repetitiously until no one responds to the listing.

I didn't know about this until the high-profile DOJ v Meta or DOJ v Apple cases where they showed that these companies were intentionally hiding the Native applicants from managers. I make sure to fill out these applications whenever I can. They are listed in the Wapo job boards or in Maryland you can do an advanced search for Foreign Labor Applications. You can also go to the USCIS to look at the PERM data: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance

I have found that in some cases where employers treated me particularly poorly. For example, giving extended take home quizzes, they were actually doing perm searches. You can report these behviours via the email in at the bottom of the DOJ settlement: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-labor-departments-reach-settlements-facebook-resolving-claims-discrimination-against

The point is it isn't just efficiency or convenience that companies treat you that way. They are being actively hostile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Companies pull all kinds of shenanigans with job boards. For example, there are laws that many companies fill out LCA's. Labor Condition Applications, they are just testing the job market. There is no legitimate job there. They are just *seeing* what people are willing to do that job for. Often times they are trying to prove there are no able or willing candidates. EG they are intentionally engaging in hostile interview tactics unbeknownst to the naive job applicant, making it more difficult to submit an application. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/permanent

Companies trying to get a green card will do this repetitiously until no one responds to the listing.

I didn't know about this until the high-profile DOJ v Meta or DOJ v Apple cases where they showed that these companies were intentionally hiding the Native applicants from managers. I make sure to fill out these applications whenever I can. They are listed in the Wapo job boards or in Maryland you can do an advanced search for Foreign Labor Applications. You can also go to the USCIS to look at the PERM data: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance

I have found that in some cases where employers treated me particularly poorly. For example, giving extended take home quizzes, they were actually doing perm searches. You can report these behviours via the email in at the bottom of the DOJ settlement: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-labor-departments-reach-settlements-facebook-resolving-claims-discrimination-against

The point is it isn't just efficiency or convenience that companies treat you that way. They are being actively hostile.

OP here. I don’t even understand half of what you said. We are just a small business of less than 20 people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Companies pull all kinds of shenanigans with job boards. For example, there are laws that many companies fill out LCA's. Labor Condition Applications, they are just testing the job market. There is no legitimate job there. They are just *seeing* what people are willing to do that job for. Often times they are trying to prove there are no able or willing candidates. EG they are intentionally engaging in hostile interview tactics unbeknownst to the naive job applicant, making it more difficult to submit an application. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/permanent

Companies trying to get a green card will do this repetitiously until no one responds to the listing.

I didn't know about this until the high-profile DOJ v Meta or DOJ v Apple cases where they showed that these companies were intentionally hiding the Native applicants from managers. I make sure to fill out these applications whenever I can. They are listed in the Wapo job boards or in Maryland you can do an advanced search for Foreign Labor Applications. You can also go to the USCIS to look at the PERM data: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance

I have found that in some cases where employers treated me particularly poorly. For example, giving extended take home quizzes, they were actually doing perm searches. You can report these behviours via the email in at the bottom of the DOJ settlement: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-labor-departments-reach-settlements-facebook-resolving-claims-discrimination-against

The point is it isn't just efficiency or convenience that companies treat you that way. They are being actively hostile.

OP here. I don’t even understand half of what you said. We are just a small business of less than 20 people.

DOL never cleaned up there act. Apple and Meta are doing it, but you can go to the Sunday edition of any major newspaper, and see all of these crooked small businesses, with misspelled job listings, mail in your CV just like the big businesses. That was Meta's argument. "But it's the standard in the field."

https://jobs.washingtonpost.com/job/250787564/it-professionals/
https://jobs.washingtonpost.com/job/250784984/it-professionals/

The HR companies have to treat everyone the same, so even if you aren't STEM they use these methods.

[Anonymous]

People might do that if it’s a crap job as others pointed out. No or crap benefits, or benefits you have to partially pay for, mediocre pay, unstable hours, hard or unpleasant labor.

And yes employers ghost people which makes people less courteous to employers in return. Someone I know was desperate for a job, finally got hired by a company, but was never given a start date and did not respond when contacted multiple times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Candidates are now treating employers the way most employers treat candidates.

Yes. Oh, well.

[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?

What does "reply to a job" mean? Candidates not returning your emails is not ghosting. Ghosting is not showing up for job interviews. Boo hoo. You are way too sensitive about this. You sound 25 years old and you're not going to get a positive reception here as people in DC are getting laid off in the thousands and the White House is destroying the local economy.

[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?

Months? Low pay and bad moral is my guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME the standard is for employers to ghost interviewees they don't hire. I've certainly had it happen to me. If candidates are doing this they are just treating you the way potential employers have treated them.

Yes, I don't understand why the employers were butt hurt.