How to Fix Candidate Ghosting After Offer?
Ghosting is the practice of candidates being unreachable by recruiters after an interaction. In this article, we’ll have a look at how to fix candidate ghosting and what steps recruiters can take to mitigate this through communication and improving their talent brand.
For recruiters, this makes the hiring process that much more difficult and time-consuming. Over 50% of candidates ghost before and after an interview has been conducted, which means that recruiters have to spend their precious time with another candidate when one didn’t show. Simply put, this is a waste of time for both sides and is detrimental for businesses seeking to hire new employees.
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What is ghosting in recruitment?
Ghosting refers to a situation when one does not respond to requests or other communications, and disappears completely after an interaction.
There are two kinds of ghosting in recruitment: candidate ghosting and recruiter ghosting.
Candidate ghosting:
The term describes when a job candidate disappears after an interview, rejection or job offer. They do not respond any communication from your company. This can be done by not answering emails, or even ignoring them completely. It can also include withdrawing from an upcoming meeting, or not showing up at all.
In other cases, they might have been offered the role but decided not to take it on because of family commitments (or any number of reasons).
If you’ve ever been ghosted as an employer, then you know how frustrating it feels!
Recruiter ghosting
The other kind of ghosting that is also prevalent is recruiter ghosting. This is when a recruiter or prospective company stops responding after reaching out to candidates.
Not giving feedback of being rejected is the most common form of ghosting. There are other kinds too such as not setting up an interview after shortlisting or expressing interest, not communicating after several rounds of interviews, not sending an offer after a verbal communication.
It is equally frustrating for candidates to be ghosted by recruiters.
Do you know how talent perceivees your brand? Audit it now.
Why candidates ghost during the recruitment process
A recruiter confided, “I have been interviewing for a new role for almost a year. During this time, I’ve interviewed with over 20 different people, most of whom have not responded to any of my emails or phone calls after the interview. In fact, some candidates have even told me they never want to work with me again! This has left me feeling like an incompetent recruiter and frustrated that my efforts aren’t producing results—but what can be done?”
It’s important to remember that hiring is a process with unpredictable outcomes because the product you are dealing with is another human and to not take it personally.
Candidates ghost for several reasons some of which may be beyond your control:
- they can be scared, unconfident, and/or unprepared for the interview.
- they may also have no idea what to say if asked why they’re backing out of their rescheduled interviews.
- they may have read about your culture or checked Glassdoor ratings. If the reviews portray your brand negatively or shows a toxic culture, they may be discouraged from taking the conversation forward.
- they may not be excited by the role, peers or growth prospects.
- they may not be satisfied by the offer you have given.
How recruiters can fix candidate ghosting
There are ways to handle this situation effectively so that you can continue working with the candidate without feeling like they’re avoiding you altogether.
Here are some of the actions you can take:
- Find the right person for your company – many companies, new startups in particular, make the mistake of chasing the best talent in their sector or from MAANG for a role. Assess if they are the right fit for the stage your company is at now.
- Treat candidates with respect. As interviewers, find out how well they fit into your team by asking them questions about themselves and their work experience. Candidates should feel comfortable during this process and know that you have their best interests at heart when interviewing them for a job at your company.
- Show up on time: review your process to see if the interviewers are showing up at the scheduled time and not making the candidates wait.
- Assess the quality of the interview: ask for feedback after the interview to determine if the interview and role was as communicated to the candidate. At times, there is a mismatch in the skillset the person has and what is required for the role.
- Train the recruiters: some technical or specialist roles did not exist earlier and are constantly evolving. Train your recruiters to be familiar with the terms or what the role entails. This will gain them respect with the candidates.
- Catch the signs early on: use your intuition and engage in a conversation to see if the candidate is fishing or using the interview as a training board. You may politely communicate to have a transparent conversation or move on.
- Improve your talent brand: Ghosting percentages for companies with good talent brand are comparatively lesser. applications through referrals / inbound channels are higher as talent seeks out opportunities in such firms. Aspiring to be a good talent brand is one of the ways to fix candidate ghosting in the long term.
- Be honest about feedback: In addition to being honest with your candidates, you should also be willing to provide feedback on why they were not selected. This might seem obvious at first glance, but it’s surprising how many recruiters simply brush off candidates’ concerns by saying something like: “We have decided to go with another candidate.”
Or worse yet: “I’m sorry but we don’t have time for another interview. This type of response does nothing but make the candidate feel like an inconvenience and sets up a bad atmosphere for future interviews.
If job seekers ask questions about why they weren’t chosen or why there was no feedback given after the interview, then you need to answer those questions!
9. Keep communication lines open: this is where most teams fail for various reasons: inefficient hiring process, workload, outsourced hiring process, inexperienced team, complacency, lack of team strength etc.
10. Bureaucracy / lengthy process: does your process involve 10 rounds? Many candidates may be skeptical to go through a bureaucratic selection process that draws for months unless you are a reputable brand.
11. Unpaid assignments with too much effort: assignments as part of the selection process is not uncommon. But if it demands making a proposal or a GTM strategy or writing code with significant amount of effort, you may look at compensating or be clear that their work will not be used.
How to fix recruiter ghosting
(what to do if you’ve been ghosted as a candidate by an employer)
If you’ve been ghosted by an employer, it’s not your fault. It’s theirs.
Here’s what to do:
- First and foremost, don’t panic! You’re probably feeling a little angry and frustrated right now, but that’s totally normal. The best thing you can do is take a deep breath and remind yourself that this is a part of the job search process—a process that often doesn’t have any clear right answers or easy fixes.
- Think about why you were ghosted in the first place. Was it because they felt you weren’t a good fit? Or maybe they just didn’t like your personality or background? Either way, once they’ve made their decision, it’s up to them whether or not to tell you about it—which means there’s nothing you can do about it! If they’d told you upfront how they felt about your candidacy, then maybe things would’ve gone differently for both of you. But often neither party wants to deal with those kinds of unpleasantries.
- Ask yourself: “What are the reasons this employer may not have liked me?
- Ask yourself: “What could I have done differently?”
- Write down some new ideas for how to change your approach and make sure they’re more effective next time around.
- Contact them back as soon as possible. Make sure they know you are interested in the job—even if they haven’t given it to you yet.
Closing Thoughts
In short, the important thing to remember is that in a world of digital communication and social media, your candidate will be judging you as much as you judge them. You need to ensure that you are communicating effectively and frequently with your candidates, because at the end of the day, your reputation does matter.
Talent will always be hard to find, but if your organization is able to stand out as a fair, respectful and professional brand, you’ll be able to retain some great talent who doesn’t mind staying in touch even after an interview has finished.
FAQs / TL;DR
If candidates ae ghosting before an interview, it is an indicator to audit and improve your talent brand.
Find answers to often asked questions below:
How do you bounce back after ghosting?
When you're being ghosted by recruiters, there's not much you can do other than accept that it happened and try to find a way to bounce back.
The best thing to do is contact them immediately and ask for an explanation as to why they sent you on your way without following up with you about the position or anything else at all.
Focus on upskilling, practice interviews, and don't let it crush your confidence.
How long is ghosting without any response?
It depends. Often, interviewers communicate at the end of the interview by when you can expect to hear from them and follow through on it. If they have committed to get back within 2-3 days and have not even after a week, it can be considered ghosting. You can politely check for the status.
What to do if your job offer is rescinded?
Ask for reasons why they have rescinded your offer.
Ask for options or if they can reconsider.
Reach out to explore alternative options.
If you were interviewing with other companies, see if you can fast track.
Why do recruiters ghost candidates?
- the company has put the position on hold, or stopped taking on new hires in order to focus on existing projects or budget constraints.
- unavailability of interviewers.
- they are considering other referrals candidates.
- human psychology to avoid confrontation.
Why do recruiters reach out and then disappear?
Often it is because the candidates' profile was not shortlisted by the interviewing committee, or they found during the conversation that the candidate's salary expectation far exceeded their budget.
What is the psychology behind ghosting?
The psychology behind ghosting is to avoid unpleasant interactions if:
1) the candidate has chosen not to move forward with the interview process;
2) the candidate is not interested in the position;
3) the candidate has already been hired
4) the candidate has a better offer
Why candidates may be rejecting your offer?
The most common reasons for candidates to reject a job offer are and how you can counteroffer:
- They don't want to move or travel as much as expected (for example, if they had accepted the offer but decided that they wanted to remain in their current location)
- They want more money than you offered (for example, if they had accepted your offer and then decided they wanted more money)
- They got another job offer from another company before you made yours (this is rare)
How do you convince a candidate to accept an offer?
- Firstly, find out the reason why they are hesitant about accepting your offer. If it is reasonable and you feel the candidate is the right fit, make a counteroffer.
- If it is for other reasons like location, explore if a hybrid model would work. If they are from another city, explore if a week every 2 months may work.
- If it's about a designation, discuss internally if you can accommodate one.
- If they are concerned about the timings, work out a mutually convenient option.