What to Do When a Candidate Ghosts You

In the current candidate-favoring job market, it is not uncommon for candidates to apply for multiple positions while on the job search. As such, remembering that you are not always a candidate’s number one pick is key throughout the hiring and interviewing process – and as a result, you might get “ghosted.” 

Ghosting is the act of unexpectedly cutting communication without any clarification. This can be time-consuming and wasteful to hiring managers because they spent unreciprocated time and resources on a candidate. There are many reasons a recruiting or hiring team can be ghosted, such as the candidate being disinterred in moving forward; however, it is important to make sure a candidate’s ghosting is handled professionally and with minimal disruption to the current candidate search process. Hiring managers need to prioritize communication and transparency to minimize their risk of getting ghosted and be trained on what to do when it happens. 

Why Are You Being Ghosted?

First, it is important to examine why you might be ghosted. Of course, the candidate may ghost you because they have accepted another offer or lost interest in the role at hand. While these factors are not always preventable, there are ways to minimize the risk of ghosting. Some reasons why employers are ghosted are because of poor communication or a poor interviewing process, or the candidate feeling misled or receiving unexpected news. In fact, 29% of candidates report they ghosted an organization because the recruiter or hiring manager took too long to get back to them and 23% say the job wasn’t what they expected. Being ghosted results in a loss of resources, so employers need to focus on communication and transparency during the hiring process to decrease their risk of being ghosted.  

What to Do if it Happens

Unfortunately, companies might be ghosted if a candidate decides to accept another offer and does not provide any type of warning or communication. However, how do you know you are being ghosted – is the candidate missing your emails, or have they simply lost interest? Below, we outline a few best practices and considerations for hiring mangers when it comes to dealing with a candidate who may or may not have ghosted you:  

Communicate Well and in a Timely Manner

Making sure you respond to candidates within an appropriate time frame is important, as a lack of timely responses is a very good reason for a candidate to ghost you. It is also important to craft a message that will require a clear response from the candidate. For example, “I’m free to chat at 2 o’clock on Tuesday, does that work for you?” If you still haven’t received an answer, consider sending them a text. With today’s pool of younger candidates, sometimes email is not the best method of contact. Emails can get lost in a sea of junk and spam messages, so if you feel your candidate has taken too long to respond, shooting them a text can get that message through much faster.   

Prioritize Your Qualified Applicants

Wasting time and resources is never good for an organization, so it’s important to prioritize certain applicants, and focus on the candidates best fit for the job. This is especially true as there is a risk of candidates ghosting you. Continually reaching out to a candidate that didn’t seem like an amazing fit for the position or didn’t seem eager for the role is not worth the effort. As such, if a candidate has ghosted the organization in the past, it is key to keep a record of no-shows for the future. If they didn’t value your time the first time around, chances are that they will do it again. Save your future time and resources, and record occurrences of ghosting. 

Cut your Losses

If the candidate still ignores you after reaching out again and constructing a message that requires a response, it’s best to cut your losses. First, accept that they are simply not responding and not that they haven’t gotten your messages. After coming to that conclusion, it’s important to move on in the process, cut your losses, and invest your time and resources into finding the next candidate. 

Conclusion

Ghosting can be an inconvenient and annoying experience for hiring managers and talent recruiters. However, it’s important to handle it professionally and move on. By minimizing your risk of being ghosted through improving your hiring process, and following the steps above, ghosting should be only a slight hiccup in your recruitment strategy. Finding the right candidate is crucial to organizations, and ghosting is often a part of that process – as such, it is best to be prepared and know how to handle it when it happens. 

For more hiring best practices or guidance, contact our team at BCTG today. 

Contributions from Leah Harding