Ghosting: A Haunting Trend in Hiring

Want to hear a scary statistic?

Over 47 percent of applicants who have sent in their resume are still waiting to hear back from the company two months later. Many applicants are ghosted by companies after they’ve been through one (or, the horror, several!) rounds of interviews. Ghosting is a term borrowed from the dating world, but it essentially means that the potential employee sent in their application or even went through an interview and never heard from the company again. Yikes!

But, employers are not the only ones ghosting. Ask most hiring managers or recruiters, and they’ll share a story of a candidate who didn’t show up to the interview or who accepted an offer only later to never arrive on their first day. Calls, emails, and texts all go unanswered. The candidate has, in essence, disappeared.

What can you do to turn this trend around:

Spell It Out – Provide ongoing communications. Being proactive and responsive in when and how you communicate with a potential employee will solidify your relationship building. Don’t leave any hidden surprises throughout the process. Provide a Career Growth path for the potential employee.

Offer More – Get creative around offerings. Pet Insurance? Housing Stipend? Quarterly Bonus instead of Yearly? Weekly Catered Meal? 3 or 4 Day Work Weeks? There are many ways to get creative when putting an offer together!

Don’t Be Afraid of Them Going Dark! Try to view the causes of ghosting as areas to improve and grow your company communication skills with potential employees and mentor the candidate regarding communication skills.

Posted by Tonya Christensen in Advice, Interviewing, Resumes.