For those not familiar with the term, ghosting is the act of
suddenly ceasing all communication. More
and more job seekers are presenting with a uniform complaint – they suddenly
haven’t heard back from a company; they have been ghosted. Sometimes even after
rounds of interviews and worst of all sometimes even after a verbal offer has
been extended.
This shocking and egregious behavior has sadly become a widespread practice.
Indeed.com – one of the largest job search aggregators has confirmed in a
survey what every job seeker, HR professional, recruiter, and hiring manager
has long suspected – ghosting job search candidates is on the rise. In fact, according to this survey, 77% of job
seekers say they have been ghosted by a prospective employer since the onset of
Covid-19; 10% reported being ghosted after a verbal job offer. Very
unfortunately, ghosting has become a standard part of the hiring process, even
though it leaves job seekers feeling confused and defeated and also creates bad
press for a company potentially threatening their brand with pools of
applicants.
What is causing this increase in ghosting?
The job search has become more impersonal over the years. The large number of
job search aggregators and sites like LinkedIn have made it easier than ever to
find and apply to jobs, which in turn has left the main work to technological
algorithms to sort through candidates. Applicants that get through the first
computer filter make it into another huge stack and it seems recruiters and
hiring managers are swamped with applications.
What can a job seeker do?
If this happens to you, try not to give up. It is perfectly acceptable
to follow up with respective parties regarding your candidacy, especially if
you have interviewed with them. Try to approach the interactions with polite
persistence and even though you have a right to be angry, try not to come
across as indignant. Rather present as simply curious about updates. Hopefully,
more employers will start doing the right thing and following up properly with
applicants, especially those they have interacted with personally in an interview.
Ultimately, being ghosted by an employer is more of a negative reflection on
the company and not you so try to stay positive as you continue along in your
search.
