Ghosting: Maintaining Your Personal Brand Through Boom & Bust

I've been recruiting in civil engineering for 16 years now. Long enough to have seen many people's careers develop and them become senior managers and long enough to have seen and worked in more than a few recession and boom cycles.?

Sounds like a great time to be a candidate looking for a new job and it is.

We're in a boom now - salaries are skyrocketing, most companies are in hiring mode and it's challenging to secure top talent when the competition is so fierce. Sounds like a great time to be a candidate looking for a new job and it is. I wouldn't advocate against taking full advantage and securing your perfect role with the salary and package you want.???

I titled this piece 'Ghosting' but I suppose what I'm really referring to is poor behaviour from candidates in general during the recruitment process. Before I get shouted down with the challenge that Clients and Recruiters don't give feedback, take a look at Trust The Process. In any case, as the saying goes 'two wrongs don't make a right'.???

I've seen many posts and articles from Recruiters complaining that candidates don't come back to them or have ghosted them, centring themselves and how difficult this makes things for them. I'm not going to do that here. Rather I'm going to encourage people to think about why it's important in terms of their reputation and personal brand in the industry.??

I remember the dark days of 2008/09 which were really bad. Very few companies were recruiting. Every role that was open was oversubscribed with applicants. Top-quality people left or paused their careers in the industry as the opportunities weren't there for them. Thankfully the market turned and things improved. The lesson here is: no downturn or boom will last forever...not even the boom we're in right now!

Civil engineering is a VERY small industry.

So why is this important in the context of how you handle your job search? Civil engineering is a VERY small industry. I find myself coming across the same people over and over again. So what happens when you've found your ideal job and you need to tell 2 or 3 other companies you were in discussions with that you're off the market? Are you upfront (which is always the best approach)? Do you contact the Recruiter/Company and let them know promptly? Or do you string things out for weeks and then send a coward's email or text?

Let's say you've strung things out. Maybe you weren't that keen on the role or the company to start with and you could've perhaps made it known much sooner that you weren't interested. Instead, you took an age to get back to people or maybe you didn't bother at all and this may not matter at the time or possibly for a while afterwards.

What happens though if the market changes (and it absolutely will)? Fast forward 3 years - we're in a recession there are no jobs. Maybe you get made redundant or you hate the changes in your company and are desperate to leave. What if the best role or the only role is with that company you ghosted? Maybe that Line Manager who was desperate for you to join that you let down badly at the 11th hour moves jobs themselves and is the hiring authority for your dream job. Think they won't remember? Think again.?????????

Your reputation is your personal brand and is vitally important to maintain. Don't be remembered as that candidate who messed everyone around and couldn't be bothered to communicate with people. It's absolutely in your best interests to exit a process gracefully. All parties will respect you and (arguably more importantly) if a role comes up in the future with that company or that person as a hiring authority, you won't have burned any bridges.???