You choose a candidate appropriate for the position and call them in for an interview but when it's time for them to show up…they don’t. This phenomena is happening in various stages in the hiring process and can be categorized as candidate ghosting.
What does candidate ghosting mean?
Candidate ghosting is a phenomenon where the job seeker suddenly stops communicating with an employer or a recruiter during the hiring process without any explanation. Sometimes also known as ‘professional ghosting’, candidate ghosting is becoming a serious issue these days.
Where and How does it occur?
Candidate ghosting can occur in various ways across various stages. The stages and some of the ways in which they occur can be seen below:
| Stage | What Happens | Example |
| Application Stage | Candidate stops replying to recruiters’ messages | Candidate applies and then ignores interview invites. |
| Interview Stage | Candidate misses scheduled interview without notice | Recruiter waits with no signs of the candidate showing up for the interview. |
| Offer Stage | Candidate accepts an offer but later withdraws silently | Doesn’t show up the first day |
| Post Hire | Candidate joins briefly then vanishes. | Leaves without resignation or communication |
What causes candidate ghosting?
There are various reasons why a candidate may ghost you. This includes things you may have done or something personal to the candidates. Some of the most common reasons why a candidate may ghost you are mentioned below:
Ineffective Communication
When you reach out to a candidate for an interview, they expect you to be transparent. Ineffective communication causes a bad candidate experience which makes the candidate question your company and workplace.
Long Hiring Process
How long is your hiring process? This has become an essential question to ask yourself especially with Gen Z entering the workforce who expect efficiency with most things. A long hiring process may also cause the candidates to think that they were not selected and start looking for other opportunities.
Misaligned Company culture
Every individual has different expectations from their workplace. If the candidate feels like their long term career goal may not align with the company culture then they are very likely to ghost you.
Better Job Offer
Many candidates often apply at different places all at once. They are likely to evaluate all job offers and choose the one that is the most suitable for them.
Mismatched Expectations
You as a recruiter may have a different expectation from your candidate while they may have expected the job to be somewhat different. Similarly expectations also come into play when looking at the salary, the company culture and the long term goals of the company.
Ineffective employer branding
In this day and age of social media the candidates tend to go through your social media pages in order to get insights on your company. If your company lacks branding in this aspect then they may withdraw.
Change in Job Market
The job market is shifting rapidly especially with AI entering the job market. The rise in remote jobs and part time work has changed the way people view the workplace.
Wrong Job Description
These days many recruiters use job portals like merojob to post their vacancies. When posting your vacancy make sure to check the job description and whether it is accurate or not.
What can you do about it?
Since candidate ghosting is becoming more and more prominent day by day it is necessary to do something about it. Here are some tips that can help you minimize candidate ghosting:
Communicate Effectively
Transparency is the key when it comes to hiring. Make sure you have mentioned all the details regarding the job in your job description. When calling in the candidate for an interview make sure the time and place is stated properly.
Streamline Hiring Process
Ensure that all the unnecessary steps in the hiring process have been cut off. Using platforms like merojob also helps you streamline the hiring process as there are features like the AI ATS. Similarly it also makes sure that your job post reaches thousands of capable candidates.
Prioritize Candidate Experience
When a candidate comes in for an interview, it isn't only you who is evaluating the candidate, the candidates also evaluate the company in one way or another. Creating a good candidate doesn’t only constitute effective communication but also handling the interview professionally and conducting it in time.
Create a Brand Image
Your brand image is how the job seekers perceive your workplace. It includes thighs like reputation, values, candidate experience and how you treat the candidates, even the ones you didn’t hire. This helps to attract talented candidates and helps your company to stand out among competitors.
Clarify the Role
Things like vague job descriptions and lack of specification leaves job seekers feeling confused and unmotivated. Clarifying the role makes it easier for the appropriate candidates to evaluate the job role and makes it more likely for serious candidates to apply.
What to do when a candidate ghosts you?
Even when you do everything you can, some candidates end up ghosting you. First of all you need to understand that this is inevitable to some extent. But to do when they do so? Here are some ways that can help you deal with it if things like that happens:
Send a message that requires response
It is always a good call to do a final check first. There may be various reasons why the candidate may have not seen your message or checked their calls. To confirm if this is the case send in a final message to the candidate. Make sure it's a message they can reply to so that you can see if they are actually ghosting you or they had some sort of problem.
Try a different channel
Sometimes the channel through which you have contacted them may have some problems due to which they are unable to contact you. For this reason it is a good choice to try a different way to contact them.
Be patient
Personal life may sometimes cause the candidates to be unresponsive. Be patient and see if they will contact you later. Set a timeframe and see if they reply within that timeframe.
Keep records
Even after doing all this the candidate may ghost you. Make sure to keep a record of candidates like that so that you don’t waste your time in the near future. This also helps you filter out serious candidates from the unserious ones.
Candidate ghosting is on the rise these days but they can be minimized to some degree with the help of these tips. If you are looking to hire professionals from any field make sure to register on merojob.
