Ghosting in the job market

I’ve been dealing with Ghosting for years.? Sure, it was in my dating life, but I never thought it would start happening in my work life as well. ??

How are we getting ghosted at work?

?

People talk about it, but I want to define what’s ghosting and what’s maybe not the best behavior.

?

Ghosting is:???

Not showing up for a planned interview – this happens on both sides.? Recruiters ghost candidates, and candidates ghost recruiters.? Stop it.???

Going through multiple interviews and not getting any feedback or follow up – that candidate’s been ghosted.

Going through multiple interviews and now can’t get in touch with the candidate to provide follow up/feedback and potentially an offer – the candidate has ghosted the company.

?At any point while you’re in the interview process – passed the recruiter and have had one additional and you cannot get anyone to give you feedback – also ghosting.

?Making a verbal offer to a candidate and then disappearing – horrible and ghosting.

It's also when you've scheduled a meeting with someone and they don't show up and don't bother to cancel - ghosting happens outside of the hiring process as well.

?

Ghosting is not:

?

Applying online and not getting a response – you could be one of hundreds or even thousands of applicants.? Sometimes companies don’t have the capabilities to respond to everyone and they aren’t obligated to, especially if you aren’t a match for the job. possibly bad behavior at most, but a lot of companies will put into their ATS that only qualified candidates will be contacted.

?

Sending an email to someone and not getting a response – if I had a dollar for every cold outreach email/InMail I sent to a candidate that didn’t respond to me – I’d have some cash.? I don’t expect everyone to open a message from me – while I’d love for them to, they are also getting many emails.? If your cold outreach message to HR/Recruiting or a hiring manager doesn’t get a response, don’t take it personally, because you are one of many, and it absolutely doesn’t count as ghosting.

?

?Talking to a recruiter who says you’re not right for the role you were speaking for, but they will keep you in mind…and then you don’t hear from them, is not ghosting – they probably don’t have anything and it isn’t a bad idea to reach out again – now you’re networking. checking in with people on a regular (not daily, every few weeks-months) is absolutely fine and even encouraged to grow and nurture your network.

?

A word about recruiters.

There's a few different types of Recruiters.

Agency Recruiters work on behalf of multiple companies - they get paid to fill the jobs they are given - some recruiters may be attached to only one outside company, some may support multiple. Some may be industry specific. Some may be local to your area, region, country or global.

These recruiters could be working on temporary roles, full time roles, temp to perm, etc. you may hear of their companies being called staffing firms.

Executive Recruiters also work on behalf of multiple companies, but at a higher level. They are recruiting the senior level, typically director through C-level, and it's a slightly different skillset - you have to be comfortable presenting to and working with executives. Executive Recruiters also get paid for the people they hire.

Then there are Corporate recruiters - they work directly for a company and only recruit for them. They may partner with agency or executive recruiters when necessary for more challenging or specialized searches.

The one thing about recruiters that I want all non recruiters to know, is that our whole job is to fill positions. no matter what type of recruiter we are.

We want to hire the best person - whether there is a commission component - (agency and executive there usually is - not always with corporate)

We get frustrated when hiring takes too long and we can't provide any feedback to candidates

Recruiters, for the most part, at least the ones I’ve known in the 25 years that I was doing it, really love their jobs.? They love the people they work with, interview and hire.? They love the people they talk to, and speaking for myself, they love creating relationships with those people, because you never know when you might run into those people again.? I feel lucky to have quite a few people in my network that I’ve interviewed but not hired, hired, or worked for or with from years ago.? I know recruiters have been getting a bad rap but I’m wondering if they are the junior ones that don’t realize that they are literally shooting themselves in the foot.

?If you’re a recruiter and you’re reading this thinking, "of course Michele, this is recruiting 101", then this article is not for you.

If you’re a recruiter and you’re reading this and feeling slightly guilty, then it is.

If you’re a candidate or a hiring manager or anyone else that identifies with this article – I hope it helps.

?

Let's start treating people with respect no matter where they are and what they do.