My Year Job Hunting: An Unexpected Ghost Story
Other than the opportunity to meet new people, maybe reconnect with old work friends and get to see the latest in office design (office furniture has really come a long way) there is very little that is fun about job hunting. First of all, it’s emotionally draining. The constant need to self-motivate while following every lead that arrives via text, email, WhatsApp and phone call is exhausting. Being “up” all the time, I don’t know how cheerleaders do it. Then there’s the “hurry up and wait” aspect. Instructions from friends to send a resume ASAP at which point, if I’m home, I drop everything to dash off a cover letter and resume presumably to be first — as if that increases my chances of getting the job. If I’m not home, I find the nearest quiet spot on the streets of New York City, usually a hotel lobby or New Jersey, and obsess over drafting an email on my phone. I obsess because I fear autocorrect creating some “interview” to “intercourse” word change that I won’t notice on the tiny screen until it’s too late. If I hear back and get an interview it’s either scheduled for 18 minutes from that moment or two years from next Wednesday. After the first interview there’s often a second. This used to be a good sign. It means little now. There’s also often homework. All of this is simply the cost-of-entry to a potential new job. It’s smart due diligence on the part of any employer. I like it because I like networking, relish being challenged and I love an interview process that asks more from me than simply regurgitating my work history. The tough part of the job search, the part that buzzkills the entire job-hunt process, the part that has no explanation and desperately needs to change is being “ghosted.” More on that in a minute. First, some background information and numbers from my last year.
Ghosting is the practice of ending a relationship by suddenly, and without explanation, withdrawing from all communication
I’ve officially been job hunting for 11.5 months. It’s a full-time job while I also freelance. What I do is not important, the idea that the hiring process is completely broken is very important. “Completely” might be the wrong word. Let’s say “totally.”
In the last 11.5 months I’ve sent out approximately 90 resumes. That’s roughly one resume every four days, which sounds like a lot but is really not nearly enough. Of those 90 resumes, many were sent through online job websites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed. Many were also sent directly through the career portals on the websites of the companies hiring. Applying through these “front doors,” I’ve been told by many in Human Resources, is a productive first step. Sending a resume and filling out other job and personal information officially puts you into “the system” making your application accessible to the hiring manager and anyone helping with the search. It also gets you one of those auto-reply emails which are great because these emails represents the last time positivity and good manners will be applied to your search, so I want you to cherish them. Print them and love them. Instagram them so your followers can love them for you too. I’ve considered framing mine. Of the 90 resumes I sent, I was contacted 14 times for an interview. If my math is right that’s a 15.55% “success” rate. That sounds high. I think I’ve been lucky. However, of that 15.55%, at some point in the process that followed, I was “ghosted” nearly every time. In fact, I’ve been ghosted all but once. For those of you unfamiliar with the term “ghosted” or “ghosting,” it was coined from the online dating culture and is defined as “the practice of ending a relationship by suddenly, and without explanation, withdrawing from all communication.” It’s a practice that’s made its way into business. Truthfully, many of my ghosting experiences are forgettable events after a brief email exchange or phone call but six of the 14 were after a lot of time and effort and two in particular stand out as tough experiences. Here are some general facts about those six occasions. I hope to paint a picture and at least anecdotally show there is no common thread to who ghosts and why. It just happens.
* One ghosting was from a startup.
* Four ghostings were from well-established companies with HUGE human resource departments.
* One was a company where I had once been employed.
* Four included my interviewing two or more times before I was ghosted.
* Three of them included my having to do homework (emailing ideas) after interviewing with someone.
* Of all the homework I was asked to do only one potential employer provided feedback or even acknowledged ever receiving my homework.
* Four ghosting experiences were with people who were either friends with or former / current coworkers of someone who recommended me for the job.
* Three ghosts eventually responded to repeated emails from me. Of those three, one response came from a person with whom I had interviewed with twice, one came from an assistant to the person with whom I interviewed and the third was from a Human Resources representative who sent a generic email alerting me the job had been filled.
* Three ghosts, to this day, are still invisible
Ghosting is a strange phenomenon and I have no idea what, if anything, it achieves. I absolutely don’t believe it’s a time-saver and, in fact, one could argue the number of calls and emails from candidates who don’t get hired could continue long after the hiring process has closed, thus all that extra contact is a waste of time. And let’s be honest, a quick “thank you, but no thank you” email is all it really takes to avoid being a ghoster. That’s far less hassle than having to remember who you have to avoid and why. But maybe those hiring are afraid to deliver bad news to the candidates they’ve met but didn’t hire? If that’s the case, I can assure you that no news is WAY worse than bad news and also…get a spine. Seriously. It’s business not personal. Perhaps I can help? Feel free to cut and paste the following should you ever be in a position to have to tell a candidate whom you interviewed that you hired someone else.
Dear (insert name of candidate with whom you met but chose not to hire)
Thank you again for taking time to interview with us. We appreciate your interest in (insert your company name here) and are grateful to have had the chance to meet you.
After much consideration we made an offer to another candidate but please know we were impressed with your experience and the ideas you shared.
Best wishes on your continuing job search.
(insert your name here)
So when should an email like this be sent? A general rule of thumb is if you interview a candidate but hire a different candidate AND the day of the week ends with “day” then you should send an email. So MonDAY, TuesDAY, WednesDAY, ThursDAY, FriDAY or even SaturDAY and SunDAY are good days to send a “thank you, but no thank you” email to candidates you’ve met but did not hire.
I get that this may not be as cut and dry as I make it sound. There’s a chance some doing the hiring don’t even know following up with all candidates is good form. Not everyone was raised with good manners. I remember my mother quietly educating me once to write my bar mitzvah “thank you” notes by reminding me that if I didn’t, I might never be able to watch television again. A subtle but effective lesson. Still, I appreciate that business has changed since the days I really needed Knight Rider in my life. Workplaces today are informal. More relaxed. “Casual Fridays” are every day. Offices are wide-open social spaces. And there’s a never-ending supply of free food. None of that needs to change. None of that should change. But maybe this is a good time to make other changes? Maybe the hiring process is more broken than we realize and in need of some serious repair? Starting…now! Perhaps the old way of doing things isn’t just old, it’s also better?! And I’m not even considering the actual interview itself because that’s a whole other issue. I’m addressing basic office etiquette after the interviews. If we can solve fighting over the thermostat in the workplace surely we can solve ghosting in the workplace. And a solution to this issue is something that would help both sides of the hiring process. Win-win! But, even as I write this, I know ghost-busting won’t completely fix the very necessary but very broken practice of hiring. A 2016 Human Capital Benchmarking Report estimated it takes an average of 42 days and more than $4100 for a company to fill an open position. That’s ridiculous. Time is money and too much time is too much money and could cost a company a great candidate. Ghosting people during the process could also cost future candidates. But there are far better qualified individuals than me who are ready to hack the entire hiring process and I’m sure it’ll involve some kind of A.I., blockchain and space-age polymers. But no matter the changes, let’s always respect the personal element in the process. The human in the loop. If I’ve learned anything the last year, it’s that a little more humanity and being just a tad more candidate-centric are great places to start when looking to make repairs to a hiring process that’s clearly in need of change.
