Can someone please explain to me why employers ghost job candidates: DESPITE explicitly telling them they will get back to them at a certain time and date!?! Had this happen 3 times now and don’t understand what benefits it brings to either the candidate or the employer themselves as surely it’s just gonna create more work for them when candidates, rightly, are going to follow up because they haven’t been given the information the company said they would by the time the company said they would. After a bit of a Google I have found the top excuses reasons why companies do this, but am I being unreasonable to think that all these can be easily sorted in a way that’s convenient for both the employer and the candidate and let everyone know where they stand.
Here are the top reasons and I’ve included some reasonable ways to ensure everyone is kept in the loop with what’s happening.
1.The company no longer needs to fill the position.
At most they should: email the candidates to explain this and apologise for wasting their time.
At least they should: email a standard rejection letter.
2.You were so bad you scared them into not wanting anything else to do with you and not wanting any more Communication (for this I don’t mean not giving a good interview, I am talking about saying or doing something that concerned the employer and/or doing something that could be considered offensive).
At most they should: Reject the candidate through email, and give them feedback (subtly) on how they could improve in the future, as it is more than likely the candidate didn’t realise how their comment/behaviour could be perceived, regardless of whether that was their intention or not.
At least they should: email a standard rejection letter (Block the email address afterwards if they really feel that threatened).
3. You were the second choice and they didn’t want to reject you until the first choice was confirmed and by the time they had The employer forgot to let you know.
At most they should: explain to the candidate that because they are sorting out a few things there will be a delay in their decision, but let them know they are still being considered for the position. However, if they haven’t heard after a certain date (first choice start date) they have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
At last they should: reject the candidate but inform them that they will consider them for positions in the future.
4.You’re decent enough to do the job, but they want to see if they can find someone better and are still interviewing for the role and by the time they had they had forgotten about you.
At most they should: explain to the candidate that because they are sorting out a few things there will be a delay in their decision, but let them know they are still being considered for the position. However, if they haven’t heard after a certain date (better applicants start date) they have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
At last they should: reject the candidate but inform them that they will consider them for positions in the future.
- They can’t be bothered they haven’t got the time to email you, despite Corporation email systems taking seconds to write up and mass send (they can even have a Standard version of the letter pre-saved if they really are that short of time).
At most they should: do what they said they were going to do an email a rejection letter if unsuccessful!
At least they should: instead of lying and promising communication that you’re not going to receive, explain at the end of the interview that if you’re successful they will be in touch but if you haven’t heard anything by x date you have unfortunately not been successful on this occasion.
6. It’s not their job to do so!
At most they should: if they have promised to let you know at a certain time and date, then it is their job as they have promised to let you know something in a professional capacity!
At least they should: instead of lying and promising communication that you’re not going to receive, explain at the end of the interview that if you’re successful they will be in touch but if you haven’t heard anything by x date you have unfortunately not been successful on this occasion.
7. it doesn’t matter if the company looks unprofessional to rejected candidates as they are not the ones going to be working there.
At most they should: if you work for a business, then employers should probably should start caring how they are going to get received by people who may of been a customer/client of their business and stop as they think they are unprofessional or just down right rude!
At least they should: be heads up that they are a bunch of 💩s that don’t care about people!
8. They are trying to avoid conflict.
At most they should: as everyone is a least 16, while likely finding it disappointing most adults/almost adults will take it and move on when receiving a rejection letter.
At least they should: instead of lying and promising communication that you’re not going to receive, explain at the end of the interview that if you’re successful they will be in touch but if you haven’t heard anything by x date you have unfortunately not been successful on this occasion.
9. They are trying to hide the fact that they are illegally discriminating They are worried it’s going to look like discrimination against a protected characteristic.
At most they should: consider why a candidate might think that, and maybe consider if any preconceived biases were at play during the application process so you can be more considerate in the future.
At least they should: give constructive feedback in the rejection letter, following with a quick sentence recognising the equality act of 2010.
10. They are testing the candidates to see who really cares about the job and or is self-motivated enough to follow up.
At most they should: if they want to do this, they still should let others know they are not successful when the job is filled.
At least they should: instead of lying and promising communication that you’re not going to receive, explain at the end of the interview that if you’re successful they will be in touch but if you haven’t heard anything by x date you have unfortunately not been successful on this occasion.
AIBU, that these are reasonable compromises especially considering that the applicant has not only spent time, they often have spent money on this interview. The least an employer can do is tell them thanks but no thanks.