Most of our readers are HR professionals, hiring managers or others often on the hiring side of the job application process. So, it’s understandable that they may not fully appreciate the negative sentiment around what turns out to be a relatively common practice: ghosting applicants post interview.
Ghosting During the Hiring Process
Ghosting applicants refers to the act of failing to follow up with an applicant. Here we’re specifically talking about ghosting applicants post interview. This isn’t about simply failing to respond to the thousands of online job applications for an open position. It’s about failing to get back to someone after they’ve sat for an interview with the company.
According to Wrike’s exclusive study that explores the state of job hunting and hiring, more than one in four hiring managers admit to ghosting a candidate post interview and 62 percent of job seekers report being ghosted after an interview.
Negative Impact on Employer Brand
To state the obvious, ghosting applicants post interview rubs them the wrong way. They see the practice as demonstrating a lack of common courtesy after the applicant took the time and effort to prepare for and sit through a job interview. In their minds, it’s the least the employer can do to send a note thanking them for their time and letting them know the company has decided to move forward with other candidates.
The risk for employers is that the ghosted applicant tells their friends—friends who may be a better fit for a position with the ghosting company now or at some point in the future.
A company that doesn’t show basic respect for job applicants might not be high on that worker’s list of places to work.
Reasons for Employer Ghosting
So why do hiring managers ghost applicants post interview when it’s seemingly simple and easy to avoid bad blood with a short email? According to the Wrike data, there are a few primary reasons reported by hiring managers.
- Nearly half (48%) said it was because the applicant displayed unprofessional behavior.
- 40% said they found a more qualified candidate.
- 40% said they didn’t have time to respond to every candidate.
- 32% said the candidate was unresponsive to communication attempts.
If a candidate is simply not responding to outreach attempts, it’s hard to blame the hiring manager too much for not following up. But simply saying they didn’t have time is a poor excuse. And saying they didn’t follow up with a candidate because they hired someone more qualified is like saying they didn’t let someone know they were no longer being considered because they’re no longer being considered.
It’s common courtesy for employers to follow up with job applicants, and it doesn’t take a herculean effort. Companies that fail to make a small investment in this basic custom risk developing a negative reputation among job seekers.
We can all do better.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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