There was a recent Instagram reels trend where salespeople showed text that said “when you say you’re all in, but won’t put down your credit card to buy” while a song played that said If you’re wondering if I hate you…I do. Human resources representatives likely feel the same way about candidates that “ghost” them.
Ghosting is a phenomenon where applicants send over a job application or express interest in a position only to completely disappear with no explanation. It could look like:
- Not responding to an interview offer
- Simply not showing up for the interview in question
- Ignoring follow-up emails
- Not appearing for their first day of employment or training
As the job market continues to leave heavily in the applicants’ favor, ghosting is on the rise. Since there are so many open job positions out there fighting over applicants, applicants know that they hold the power in the relationship. If they feel a conversation is going to be awkward, like turning down a job offer for more pay, they’re much more likely to avoid the conversation all together. It becomes easy for them to delete an email, ignore a phone call, or just not show up to a planned meeting.
It’s hard for human resources professionals to put time into seeking out the right candidate, only to suddenly have no contact with them. When the applicant doesn’t even have the decency to respond to an email, they’re probably not the kind of candidate you wanted on your team anyway. But in today’s job market, when applicants have more choices than ever, it’s tricky to get a commitment from a qualified applicant. You want to do everything in your power to get a “yes”, and that means keeping the conversation moving forward.
There is a way to fight ghosting. If you find yourself constantly frustrated at a lack of response or professionalism from your applicants, here are a few things you can do to lower your chances of getting ghosted and close more employment leads.
Give Important Details Early
By giving the hard-and-fast details of a job early, you’ll help candidates decide more quickly if it’s the right position for them. The factors that usually send candidates running for the hills—low pay, not enough vacation, a lack of parental leave, etc.—should be communicated as early as possible in the hiring process. Craft a pamphlet that gives these details and allow candidates to view it before they come into an interview. Don’t assume that just because you posted this information in the job description that it’s been read; many applicants have been applying to multiple jobs and are probably skimming your description or getting it mixed up with other ones.
Why waste your time speaking with someone who has unrealistic expectations about the position’s compensation? And why waste their time continuing down a path towards a job that isn’t going to meet their needs? Communication is key to an effective hiring process. If you’re going to have people vanish on you, you want them to do that earlier in the process, not after you’ve poured hours into speaking with them and evaluating what they bring to the table.
Inject Personality into the Process
The more you can really get to know someone, the less likely they are to ghost you because they’ll feel as if you have some type of relationship. Try to avoid things like form emails, or if you do need to utilize them due to the sheer amount of applications you receive, add at least a note or two at the bottom that points out something personal about the application in question.
If someone comes to an interview, you’ll obviously be working to make a great impression. But remember that in today’s job market, the candidate is interviewing you just as much as the other way around. Think of how you can be as memorable as possible. You don’t need to wear silly clothing or crack jokes the entire time! But be a human being—don’t be afraid to share what you’re up to that weekend, give the interview candidate a tour of the office, or send a follow up thank-you email. What you’re trying to do is avoid being just another face in the crowd of interviewers.
Move Quickly
The more nimble you can be, the less likely you are to lose applicants. Job applicants likely don’t feel any loyalty to your company yet; if someone else can swoop in with a great offer, they’ll take it! By being decisive with your hiring decisions, you’ll be able to get people to put more skin in the game. It’s much more likely for someone to ghost by not responding to an interview request than to literally not show up for the first day (although that certainly does happen). Move the process along by being quick with your decisions and not letting a ton of time lapse between the interview and the onboarding.
If you feel like you don’t have the time to dedicate a week or two of focused recruitment, then you don’t have time to fill the open position. A good rule of thumb is to not let 48 hours go by between steps (the application being received, the rejection or invitation to interview, and the job offer or decline).
Follow Up on No-Shows
Ghosting will happen. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a fact of human resources. At the end of the day, sometimes the best you can do is try and figure out why the applicant abandoned the hiring process.
After a few months have passed, shoot the applicant an email and ask for their feedback. Make sure to be clear that there are no hard feelings, but that you’re just truly interested in what you could have done to make the hiring process smoother. Of course, some people will just ignore the email—they’ve already ghosted you once, after all. But you may be surprised at how willing people are to share feedback, if you’re willing to listen!
Claire Swinarski is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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