Ghosting Haunts the World of Work

In the early years of Rose International, I was in the trenches handling not only the management of the company but also working as a recruiter. I remember one particular candidate distinctly because I had worked with him throughout the hiring process and was proud to place him in a perfect role. He seemed incredibly enthusiastic about the position and I was certain he would be a great fit. On his intended start date I waited for him to arrive. He never did and I never heard from him again. His actions hurt me because I felt personally betrayed. This experience is one that, unfortunately, many recruiters have faced in their careers.

Ghosting – as this behavior is now commonly referred to as – is something that has been on the rise, though it’s not a new phenomenon. According to SIA, more than 40% of job seekers find it acceptable to cut off communication without notice. SHRM reports that 2.3 percent of employed workers have quit their jobs because of the tight labor market – many without notice. While much has been written about ghosting in terms of its increase in this era, one thing that isn’t often discussed is the lasting emotional effects that ghosting creates, especially its consequences in sabotaging careers and demoralizing the entire job market. This affects not only the recruiting and staffing industry but all industries.

To be successful in business – whether running a business or working as an employee for one – trust and strong ethics are fundamental. Building trust takes time and requires goodwill between parties who are working together. It can take years to build a great rapport with others, especially in our era which is marked by increasing busyness and limited time. It only takes one dishonest or disloyal action to break the trust that was built. This creates a negative ripple effect for all parties involved, including the candidate, the hiring manager, and the recruiter.

When ghosting occurs, we take it personally. You may have heard “it’s not personal, it’s just business.” In reality, everything is personal. It’s easier to dismiss someone if there is no relationship. When we pay attention to those we are working with and take a sincere interest in their career, there’s a better chance ghosting is less likely to occur. When we take time to develop a personal rapport, a sincerity is reciprocated more often with sincerity.

For the candidate who ghosts, whether at the interview stage or already working on the job, they close down the connections they were establishing with the people that hired them. We never know where our lives are leading us, but as they say, it’s isn’t what you know, it’s who you know. We live in an era of increasing connectivity. We are our own brand. How far away are we from seeing a Yelp-like platform that ranks individuals’ ethics? Uber rates both driver and passenger already. CEOs already have this rating on certain sites. There is enough technology advancement for us to easily do this. What if these job sites begin rating candidates and this rating follows you throughout your career. One ghosting incident is all you need to create a huge uphill battle for yourself.

If you develop a reputation of being unreliable or untrustworthy, then you are essentially tarnishing your own brand. Your actions have repercussions that you may not foresee affecting your future. One never knows when those connections we lost may have helped us land the job of our dreams and opened up career possibilities that are beyond our expectations.

While the onus falls on the candidate, hiring managers and recruiters can make efforts to prevent ghosting by establishing a rapport with the individuals they are working with throughout the hiring process. Good communication throughout this process will go a long way, as will empathy. When we are courteous with others, they reciprocate.  

That said, there may be a number of reasons candidates ghost interviews or job offers, and not all of them are related to communication. Ultimately at the heart of ghosting is a lack of understanding that business is personal. This personal approach to business will only increase as business becomes more automated. As I’ve written before, emotional intelligence will become a highly valued skill set. Those who possess the ability to put themselves in other people’s shoes and connect to others will be in high demand. Ghosting is the antithesis of this. It’s a foreclosure on human connection and reneging on the trust being established between all parties. Ghosting signals a lack of courtesy as well as a lack of understanding of how to do business.

For every problem we face, we can approach it looking for positive outcomes. Ghosting may have arisen as a symptom of low unemployment, or from employees’ sense of disconnection with their job. Regardless, what we can do is emphasize via our own actions the increasing need to focus on human connections in the business world. We can take responsibility for our actions, recognizing that we are not islands but social beings that thrive in healthy communities. We are interconnected in a web of people – those we know and those we may not. We must treat others the way we want to be treated. It’s not complicated. Business must be personal. Our emotions, our authenticity in our relationships, build solid bonds. These bonds are what good business is about.