Have you ever ghosted a candidate? Now, we’re not talking about white sheets on Halloween and shouting boo! at trick-or-treaters; rather, we’re referring to a scenario where you’ve interviewed a potential employee and then dodged their follow-up calls, emails, and notes like the plague.
Maybe you got cold feet or realized you didn’t have the resources to support a new hire. Perhaps time slipped away because life happens and you genuinely forgot. Regardless of whether you had the best intentions, ghosting a candidate can hurt your small business.
The Origins of Ghosting
With every generation comes a new vernacular — familiar words are given a makeover based on cultural and societal trends. Enter ghosting, the preferred term for abandonment, coined by millennials and Gen Z. When we hear the word ghost, we may think of Casper and haunted houses; however, its new form is a verb that signals an abrupt end to all communication.
People ghost to avoid conflict, according to Psychology Today. No one wants to have awkward conversations or be responsible for hurt feelings, so the employer stops all communication with the candidate without explanation, in hopes of dodging discomfort.
Although people have been technically pulling the disappearing act since forever, it’s become even more challenging in today’s tech-dependent world, where we’ve come to expect immediate responses — just like hitting refresh on our Instagram feeds. It’s also painful because social media is such a part of our culture that you can actually see the “ghoster” communicating to the world — just not to you. Ouch.
Ghosting isn’t just a candidate issue — it’s a two way street. Employers are also disengaging mid-process, often without any explanation. In a recent CareerPlug report, 53% of candidates report being ghosted by employers. When it comes to hiring for your small business, every decision you make could have consequences. Knowing why candidates ghost and how to prevent it can help you build a stronger, more respectful hiring experience.
Why Candidates Ghost
- Slow or impersonal processes: Long delays to hear updates, generic emails and lack of feedback are major turn-offs. Candidates want transparency and timely updates.
- Remote work expectations: Candidates expect flexible work arrangements. If your job listing doesn’t offer any opportunities to work remotely or hybrid options, you may miss out on top talent before the interview process even starts.
- Better offers elsewhere: With AI-powered job matching and salary transparency tools, it’s easy for candidates to quickly find a better opportunity — and they’re not afraid of walking away.
Reasons Not to Do It
Here are a few ways that ghosting a candidate can hurt your small business:
Candidates talk, and word-of-mouth can be killer.
Everyone’s a critic, and with a few clicks your business report card is in clear view. A whole crop of employer review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed offer honest takes on everything from the hiring process to how the owners run their business — and employers can no longer ignore them.
Glassdoor is proof that potential candidates want to know everything about a company before their first interview. Perception is everything, and your ghosting could create the perception that your company is disorganized, disrespectful, unprofessional, or lacking in leadership. Accountability is key in business relationships, and ghosting implies that you haven’t been accountable and responsible for your business decisions. Even if this isn’t the case, the way you treat candidates is a reflection of your business and personal brand.
You waste time.
The recruiting process for candidates can be costly — not only from a dollars and cents perspective but also in terms of time. All the coordination, meetings, follow-ups, feedback sessions with your team, job listings, and recruiters cost both time and money.
Ghosting wastes productivity, resources, and potential hires. Say you wanted to hire a candidate but didn’t have the budget and you left them waiting in agonizing silence. A couple of months later you land a major contract and you suddenly have a windfall. That candidate you wanted to hire? Consider them gone. You have to start the process all over again because of your bad business etiquette.
People have long memories.
You can’t afford to breed ill will with candidates, because the world is small and you never know how and when you’ll meet the candidate again.
Today’s job seeker could become tomorrow’s lucrative client, vendor, or potential partner. Impressions are lasting and people travel in similar circles — you never want negative feelings attached to your business, even if it wasn’t your intention.
How to Stop Ghosting
Ghosting goes both ways, but don’t worry — it’s not all gloom and doom and 1-star Glassdoor and Yelp reviews. You can fix a ghosting situation through these simple steps:
- Streamline your hiring process: Use automated tools and clear timelines. Be sure to inform candidates at each stage of the process.
- Personalize communication: Address the candidate by name and share what they can expect.
- Be transparent: Include salary ranges, work location and role expectations up front. Be sure to let candidates know when they’re no longer being considered for a role.
Responding to a candidate late is better than radio silence. It gives them closure. Apologize, own the communication delay, and tell them where you’ve landed in your search. You could write something along the lines of:
Hey, Mike,
So sorry for the delayed response. I should’ve written you sooner. Unfortunately, we’ve decided to go with another candidate, but I appreciate your time and our chat, and would love to keep in touch about future opportunities. Best of luck in your search!
More and more companies are ghosting job applicants — even after hosting multiple rounds of promising interviews. After the ignored phone calls and emails, candidates are left wondering what happened and they end up frustrated and disappointed. More importantly, they’ve issued a Scarlet A on your business.
Even if the communication breakdown wasn’t intentional, every decision and action you take is a reflection of how you manage your business. Don’t be a ghost; be the leader who picks up the phone or writes the email and takes responsibility for their actions.
Great article and responses. Thank you.
Thanks Lisa!
if an applicant “applies” on indeed. is it ghosting if we don’t respond? what is your advice on that?
@Paul Jeffko – Most people can move on from a no-reply or not being part of the first round, but ghosting is different. Ghosting implies initial interest, exchanges and an abrupt dead-end. The moment you make contact, you have to be responsible enough to explicitly mark the end. It’s common courtesy. If you had gone to a few interviews, discussed how well you fit with the team, I’m sure you would at a minimum appreciate a simple note telling you of the end of the courtship. Millenial or not. The point of the article was for you as a small business owner to avoid ghosting, not to try to explain an abhorrent practice. As a small business owner myself, I try my best to always treat people with a high dose of decency.
Exactly what Tina B. said. They seem so offended when told they didn’t even make the first cut, but is there a nice way to let them know they simply need to follow directions and do some proof-reading?
Ok-I am one of those that never ghost. I follow up with everyone, and I let them know that I will, and when I will.
Instead however, I want to take it to the other side. I want a way to tell all those people with horrible resumes how to fix their resumes. I want to tell them the details of why they didn’t even get an interview. I wish there was a way I could do that without offending them. For instance: “Please read the ad, we were asking for a cover letter, but because you did not send one, we don’t feel you can follow directions, nor have attention to detail, therefore you were not selected for an interview.” Or: “Please read your own resume or run it through any word processor and fix the typos before applying anywhere else. You seem like a great person with a solid background, but those typos are going to kill your chances anywhere!”
This same rule should be applied to sub-contractors as well. Too many people solicit bids for services, pick the one they want to go with and never let the other proposals/quotes know. It is so easy to call or write and say “Thank you for your proposal, I appreciate the effort that it took to do that but we have decided to go with another vendor/supplier/etc.” When you are back in the market for the same services they will remember and be much more receptive to putting in the effort to quote again.
Thank you for your feedback, Henry.
Courtesy is a two way street. Employer rating websites set up by entitled brats, should not bother hardworking, honest small business employers. Stick to your craft, be kind, work hard and care less what the internet thinks of you.
Back in the day, the first thing the interviewer would tell you is, “there are 25 applicants for this position; we’ll contact you if you are the one.” Apparently “millennials” are much too fragile to be made aware that the world does not orbit around them. However the straight-up truth is the best way to communicate, and hopefully speed up the learning process for these folks. It’s interesting that this article does not touch on the real issue…and that is personal, individual responsibility needs to be taken by the applicant to better themselves, become competitive, but instead young society tends to place blame in a third party…and that’s why we need Yelp and Glassdoor.
Managing your small business’s reputation has often focused on marketing and sales. Today, especially with social media and employment websites (Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.), you have to consider the employment market and what prospective candidates know about you and you company, as an employer. Thank you for the excellent advice, Felicia.
Thanks, Pam!
Like this article said:
This is a small world so, you never know if one day you got out of business and have to be interviewed by a ghosted candidate.
Much agree with this, but such “radio silence” has unfortunately become the norm for many.
This is a really good article with sound advice. I have done this both unintentionally and intentionally and been on the receiving end as well. After reading this I wouldn’t think of allowing it to happen again. I think you have to check on anybody working for you as well, which I would probably not have thought of before reading this.
Thank you for your feedback, Joe!