Drive by Friday

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Drive by Friday –

STOP THE CAR – SOMETHING SPOOKY IS GOING ON AND IT’S NOT HALLOWEEN …

IT’S CANDIDATE GHOSTING

Yesterday I answered a question from a client about why a candidate ghosted them after the first interview. It’s an interesting question and quite often we don’t know why candidates decide to take this approach and literally vanish into thin air.

All ghosting is sh*tty behaviour by candidates and by those hiring (yes, it is known to also happen in the reverse where an employer/recruiter will ghost the candidate) … let’s put a stop to it!

Why do candidates ghost employers or recruiters … there are various reasons candidates will ghost you:

They have received another offer
This is very common, especially in a competitive market where candidates may have multiple job offers at the same time. If they receive another offer from a company they prefer, they may ghost another potential employer/recruiter without explanation.

Salary or benefits are not meeting expectations
If a candidate learns that the salary package is not what they were expecting, they may ghost the employer/recruiter.

Having a negative experience with the hiring process
If a candidate feels the hiring process is too long, complicated, or disrespectful they may ghost the employer/recruiter.

Poor communication from the employer/recruiter
The employer/recruiter is slow to respond to the candidate or is not transparent about the hiring process, the candidate may become frustrated and ghost the employer/recruiter.

No longer interested in the job
After learning more about the role or the company, a candidate may decide that they are no longer interested in the position and ghost the employer/recruiter.

None of these are acceptable. As employers/recruiters, we can refine some of our processes to stop this type of activity/behaviour from happening. There is also no point in chasing after a candidate who is not interested in the job. It is time-wasting and benefits no one.

Candidates – if you decide not to proceed for any reason just send a brief email and ask to be removed from the recruitment process. Ghosting may seem like a quick out or easy way to avoid an awkward situation BUT it’s totally unprofessional and can burn bridges. This type of behaviour might just come back to haunt you!