Silent Rejections: The Ghosting Epidemic in Recruitment
Remember the nerve-wracking first date? The endless waiting, wondering if you blew it? Well, the current job market feels eerily similar.
Can you recall the agonising anticipation before a first date? You spend hours getting ready, before heading to meet your special someone. You sit and talk about yourselves, trying to put your best foot forward and win them over with your charm, talents and achievements. Now, fast forward to after the date. The endless replaying of the conversation, all the what-ifs circling in your head. You wait hours, days, or even weeks to hear from them — but you don’t. Do they want to see me again? Did I talk about myself too much? Did I say anything weird? Did I laugh at their jokes too hard? Did I snort when I laughed?
The current job market feels eerily similar. Interviews are the new first dates. You spent hours crafting your CV to perfection and finally got given a chance to prove yourself in an interview, only to be met with radio silence. Poof! You’ve been ghosted by your recruiter.
Gone are the days of a post-interview call, which feels like an old-school practice in today’s fast-paced hiring landscape. Instead, you’re left in dreaded uncertainty, wondering if you said something wrong or if your qualifications were simply not good enough. This phenomenon of post-interview ghosting has become an epidemic. Just like the dreaded first-date silence that leaves you questioning your game (or lack thereof), recruitment ghosting can leave you feeling frustrated, demotivated and questioning your professional worth. A 2023 study by the hiring platform Greenhouse, revealed a staggering 67% of candidates in the UK have been ghosted after an initial conversation with a recruiter¹.
Let’s dive into the world of recruitment ghosting, the impact it has on candidates, why employers may use this tactic, and what companies can do to employ more respectful and transparent hiring processes.
The sting of the post-interview ghost
Picture this. You are two rounds into a recruitment process with a company and have spoken to both the recruiter and hiring manager. You’re feeling good. The initial phone screening left the recruiter seemingly impressed with your skills and experience, and the interview with the hiring manager felt like a conversation, not an interrogation. You answered their questions confidently and showed your passion for the role. You’ve spent almost 2 hours in interviews, not to mention the hours you spent preparing. After the second round, you receive a “we’ll be in touch soon to discuss next steps!”, and so you wait. But days turn into weeks, and still no updates.
You follow up with the recruiter, sending a polite email on the expected timeline. Crickets. Disappointment starts to creep in. Did you say something wrong? Did a more impressive candidate swoop in? The initial optimism you felt after the interview slowly fades, replaced by nagging uncertainty. Or, was it something deeper? It has been found that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds face an almost 25% higher chance of being ghosted than their white peers¹. Knowing this, many of us are faced with more existential questions that are out of our control.
You’re left feeling deflated, frustrated by the lack of communication and just like a post-date disappearance, wondering what you did to deserve this. Surely, you at least deserve an explanation? After all that time, effort and false hope, it’s inhumane to leave someone hanging. Dating or recruiting, let me know if you want to see other people.
The impact of ghosting on candidates
- A blow to your confidence: Investing time and energy into a company’s hiring process only to be met with silence is exhausting, and a major blow to a candidate’s self-confidence. We often start to question our abilities, wondering what went wrong during the interview. A lack of feedback can leave us replaying the interview in our mind, searching for an explanation for where we went wrong and feeling like we have no game.
- Wasted time and effort: This is not about not getting the job. This is about the time spent perfecting your CV and cover letter, researching the company and preparing for interviews. It all feels like a waste when there’s no follow-up communication or feedback to learn from. Today’s market makes job hunting difficult enough, and to be left hanging after investing effort is the icing on the cake of disrespect.
- Lingering uncertainty: The lack of closure from ghosting creates frustration and a lingering fear around future interactions. We are left wondering if we’re still an option, should continue looking for other opportunities, or should reach out for an update and risk appearing pushy. This is extremely stressful, causing us to constantly second-guess our skills, abilities and strategy.
The ripple effect
In the age of social media, bad news travels fast. When ghosted by a company after an interview, candidates become walking cautionary tales. Platforms such as Glassdoor are tailored to report on such negative corporate experiences, which may deter future candidates from applying.
The main drive behind this article, besides my own experiences, was the countless stories I have heard from both family and friends who have been ghosted. Of course, when experiencing something like this, you are unlikely to stay silent. You want to vent to everyone you know, shouting from the rooftops, “Company X are disrespectful and unprofessional!”. This word of mouth — particularly when circulated online — paints a picture of a disorganised and inconsiderate workplace, ultimately driving away great future candidates. Their loss? Yep.
For many companies, ghosting may seem like a harmless shortcut in today’s age of fast-paced hiring. However, the long-term damage to a company’s reputation should long outweigh any short-term benefits. As highlighted by Daniel Chait, CEO of Greenhouse:
Drawn-out interviews, misleading job descriptions and ghosting only make for a frustrating candidate experience. Big companies are making basic and costly mistakes.²
Building a positive employer brand requires consistent effort and a commitment to treating not just employees, but all potential candidates with respect — regardless of the final hiring decision.
Why go ghost?
Whilst all negative emotions fall on the candidate, there are several reasons why recruiters may ghost after interviews, often stemming from internal inefficiencies (much like the person who ghosted you after that Tinder date).
- Internal delays, restructures and misalignment: In today’s versatile economic climate, internal changes such as company restructuring to changes in hiring priorities can leave interviewed candidates in limbo. Recruiters might be hesitant to communicate these internal delays, leaving candidates hanging without an update.
- Playing the numbers game: Recruiters often have a high number of candidates in their potential pool, particularly when a role is high in demand. Due to this, they might prioritise communication with the highest contenders, whilst the others fall into the black hole known as the inbox. In addition, today’s digital age may mean these “virtual” relationships in the form of online applications and interviews are often seen as less serious and thus more appropriate for ghosting³. We also see this in interpersonal contexts, in combination with an unwillingness to communicate⁴.
- Fear of feedback: This is one that is actually quite difficult to acknowledge, as I find it the most frustrating of all. But, delivering negative feedback can be a daunting task. Recruiters might worry about damaging the company’s employer brand or upsetting the candidate. Fearing a negative reaction, they might choose the path of least resistance: silence. But ghosting has been shown to have worse outcomes than direct rejection, leaving victims feeling more excluded and perceiving the end as less expected and fair⁴. Do we see the same thing in the dating world? Absolutely. Is this right? Absolutely not.
- Lack of communication protocols: Companies without clear communication guidelines for the interview process leave recruiters scrambling. Without such guidelines in place, ghosting might become the default. This creates an unstructured culture of silence that leaves candidates feeling disrespected, and recruiters stuck in a cycle that they are not being encouraged to break.
- Overworked staff: Recruiters can be overwhelmed with the processes of multiple roles coupled with other responsibilities, reducing their capacity to maintain communication. On top of screening CVs and scheduling interviews, they might be responsible for additional tasks such as onboarding new hires and managing external initiatives. This leaves them feeling overstretched, and once again, communication with some candidates falls into the black hole of unread emails.
Breaking the cycle: a call for transparency
This cycle doesn’t have to go on forever. There are steps that companies can take to create more respectful and transparent hiring processes, more beneficial for all those involved.
Establish clear communication protocols
Without defined company guidelines, recruiters might default to ghosting as a way to manage communication with candidates. Providing recruiters with training that outlines a structured and clear approach to hiring communication ensures they have a framework to follow, preventing confusion and resulting in a more transparent experience for candidates.
Shine a light on the process
Don’t leave candidates in the dark. Let them know what to expect at every stage, and follow through on your promises. This includes setting realistic timelines for feedback and continuing to provide updates, even if it’s just a brief email acknowledging their participation and outlining the next steps.
Ghosting might seem like a quick way out, but it sends a negative message about your company culture. This year’s Candidate Experience Report by Greenhouse reported a 22% decrease in post-interview ghosting since last year, signalling companies are getting better at responsiveness, but it’s still happening and still calls for improvement². We should be empowering recruiters to communicate with candidates after an interview, even with a brief email thanking them for their time and letting them know they haven’t been shortlisted for the next round. A simple message shows both respect for the candidate and professionalism.
Make use of technology
Technology can be a powerful tool in promoting transparency after interviews, helping to fast-track the process for recruiters. In today’s automated age, there is almost no excuse for a lack of efficiency. Some examples of tools might be:
- Applicant tracking systems (ATS): ATS systems are no longer limited to resume sorting and interview scheduling. These can be used to send automated yet personalised rejection emails or updates to candidates, where templates can adjust the stage of the hiring process and application status. This reduces the workload for recruiters, whilst keeping all candidates in the loop, and still leaving time for more 1:1 communication with top contenders.
- AI-powered tools: While personalised feedback and emails are of course preferred, AI can offer great support in situations where there is an abundance of candidates to communicate with. In a similar way to ATS systems, AI tools can help to generate personalised messages for candidates based on the input of feedback from hiring managers, saving time phrasing emails but still ensuring candidates feel respected in their rejection. Whilst AI can automate many aspects of post-interview communication, recruiters must review the messages before sending them out. A human touch is crucial, particularly in situations that require empathy, such as when complex feedback is delivered.
- Candidate portals: Some companies have a self-service candidate portal that allows candidates to track the progress of their applications and view updates. This portal can be integrated with the ATS to automatically provide updates as the application moves through different stages, empowering candidates to stay informed and reducing email outreach to recruiters that may clog email inboxes.
By implementing a combination of these solutions, companies can ensure a more transparent post-interview experience. This not only benefits candidates but also demonstrates the company’s commitment to open communication and professionalism, which can only benefit their employer brand in the long term.
Offer feedback
While offering detailed feedback to every candidate might not be possible due to the already large recruiter workload, consider providing brief insights that candidates can walk away with. A quick email highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement can be a valuable learning experience for the candidate and demonstrates your commitment to ensuring a positive hiring experience — regardless of the outcome.
Consider implementing a system where hiring managers briefly summarise key feedback points after second-round interviews, which could be easily passed onto recruiters to be forwarded to candidates in a simple email. By prioritising post-interview feedback, companies can create a more positive and respectful hiring process for everyone involved. I have had great experiences with a handful of companies, who provided great feedback after being involved in their process. It left a great impression on me, showing me that they value me as a candidate and still want me to succeed, even if I wasn’t a fit for that specific role. After all, as candidates, we take every interview as a learning process, wanting to carry our best moves forward and leave the bad ones behind.
It’s not you, it’s them: moving forward
Yes, being ghosted can be disheartening. Heartbreaking, actually. But just remember, it’s not a reflection of your skills or professional worth. By focusing on your strengths, you can navigate the mess of today’s job market with confidence and land the job you deserve. Together, we can advocate for more transparent hiring processes, and gain traction from companies in changing approaches. Things weren’t always this way, and I believe with time, we can get back to a hiring world that isn’t soul-crushing to navigate.
Share your ghosting experiences below. Have you ever been ghosted after an interview? How did it make you feel, and how did you navigate it? Did it impact your view of the company?
