03/16/2022

Why Ghosting is Problematic for Employers, Job Seekers

Ghosting is becoming an increasingly common practice by too many

When Laura was invited for a final-stage interview at a multinational music corporation based in London, she thought she was on the cusp of landing her dream role. After passing a first-round phone interview and meeting team members in person, all Laura had to do was meet a senior-level executive. “It was presented to me as a formality,” she says. “The interview went well, and I was later told I’d got the job.”

And then – nothing. Despite receiving initial guarantees she would be joining the team, the email formally confirming Laura's role never arrived. She’d send occasional follow-ups to the firm’s HR department only to receive non-committal replies. “It was always me instigating the conversation,” says Laura. “The last message I received said they promised to contact me as soon as they had more information on my new role. I never heard from them again.”

Laura had been ghosted. Rather than sending her a formal rejection or an explanation of what had happened, her potential employer ignored her. It’s a practice that’s common in the recruitment process; one recent study of 1,500 global workers found that 75 percent of jobseekers have been ghosted by a company after a job interview. Employers openly acknowledge that they do it; only 27 percent of US employers surveyed by job listings site Indeed said they hadn’t ghosted a candidate in the past year.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The BBC.