I'm Being Ghosted by Employers. What Now?
I'm Being Ghosted by Employers. What Now?

We all know the old saying: no news is good news. But try telling that to a professional who’s gone through multiple interviews with an organization and is champing at the bit to get back to work — when a company completely cuts off communications. This phenomenon, being ghosted by an employer, is definitely on the rise. As a career coaching expert, I frequently encounter exasperated job hunters who’ve been ghosted and are desperately wondering what they can do about it.

While there aren’t any foolproof tricks guaranteed to resolve such situations and get the lines of communication back on track, here are a few tips for job candidates to follow when a promising job opportunity suddenly goes dark.

Tip #1: Follow Up Like Goldilocks Would

You remember the old fairy tale, right? Where Goldilocks is determined to track down a bowl of porridge that’s not too hot, not too cold, but just right? That’s more or less how you should follow up an interview. You don’t want to be so aggressive about bugging the company that you antagonize them or come across as desperate, impatient or hard-headed.

But at the same time, if you wait too long to check in, there’s a chance your behavior could be interpreted as a lack of interest or enthusiasm. Not to mention that you’ll drive yourself nuts sitting around wondering whether the job is still in play.

So, unless you’ve been given a clear timeline for a response (in which case, respect it and wait), I’d recommend checking in with the employer on a weekly basis — not more, not less — to restate your interest and inquire into the status of things. That’s generally the “just right” cadence for showing continued interest without coming on too strong.

Tip #2: Put Yourself in Their Shoes

To maintain some semblance of sanity while you play the waiting game, continually remind yourself that there’s often a lot happening behind the scenes. The communication delay might have nothing to do with your interview performance or the company’s impressions of you. They may simply have a dozen other pressing priorities requiring attention at the moment — not to mention headcount budgets being put on hold, or managers tweaking job requirements or a key executive being out on vacation. Things happen, and you won’t be privy to any of them.

So, as hard it may be, don’t forget that the opportunity you’re so focused on may not be the company’s top priority. They may just be really, really busy — or the recruiter may be stuck in neutral, waiting for further input. Sure, it would be great if they kept you up to speed, but that’s not often how things play out. In the meantime, do your best to stay patient, stay positive and realize that until you actually get an official “no” from the company, your candidacy could still be viable.

Tip #3: No Guilt Trips or Negative Energy

However tempting it might be to chew an employer out or guilt-trip them for failing to follow up with you in a timely fashion, it’s not in your best interest to do so. Going negative will usually put an abrupt end to your candidacy. 

To maintain some semblance of sanity while you play the waiting game, continually remind yourself that there's often a lot happening behind the scenes. 

Matt Youngquist

I once had a client who was so frustrated by a recruiter’s broken promises that he wrote them an angry e-mail, taking them to task for their lack of professionalism. Yes, he finally got a response from them, but it was basically along the lines of “go pound sand — we’ve moved on to other applicants.”

As much as a given employer or recruiter might deserve criticism, put your own best interests first and avoid any negative, accusatory or guilt-inducing language in your follow-ups. Just continue to check in on periodically, gently and politely, until you get a final “yes” or “no.” And if at the end of the day you really feel you’ve been wronged, you can either decide to decline the job (if you receive an offer) or steer other folks away from the company by commenting anonymously on Glassdoor.com or another review site to let others know about your experience.

Tip #4: Distract yourself with other opportunities

Don’t obsess about the situation. Don’t get tunnel vision. Move on, take action and distract yourself by firing up your lead-generation efforts and planting other seeds in the market.

Not only will this take your mind off this stalled opportunity, you’ll also be hedging your bets against the job in question if it doesn’t come through.

What’s more, you might even gain boosts of confidence and leverage, given that you’ll have some additional irons in the fire. So, again, if you catch yourself unproductively worrying about a given job opening, try to channel all of that frenetic energy back into the lead generation process — a fresh round of focused effort in networking, online applications, recruiter contacts and the like — where it can serve as a much-needed distraction and pay downstream dividends.

Tip #5: Don’t perpetuate the problem yourself

Ultimately, most of the communication failures job-hunters encounter today aren’t the result of a bunch of “evil recruiters” intentionally trying to stress them out; they’re simply a reflection of hiring managers and recruiters’ rapidly shifting priorities — and their chronic lack of resources and staff.

So, while you should definitely keep tabs on how a given company treats you in the hiring process, maintain some empathy, too: the treatment you’re receiving may be an unfortunate anomaly or not the person’s fault you think it is. What’s more, as with most things in life, make sure that you don’t become part of the problem when you’re in a position to hire people down the road.

Some of my all-time favorite stories are when my clients end up landing their next role — and commit to treating future job prospects with the utmost respect. They don’t forget how it felt to be on the other side of the desk, waiting for an answer, and you shouldn’t either.

Yes, being ghosted is no fun — and it’s on the rise. But there are legitimate reasons for it, in many cases, and the savviest professionals find just the right balance of being “professionally persistent” with employers so that a single setback with one organization doesn’t bog down and limit their options elsewhere.


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Author Matt Youngquist

Matt Youngquist

Guest writer Matt Youngquist is a recognized career coaching expert and LinkedIn trainer in the greater Seattle area. He’s the founder and president of Career Horizons, where he helps clients across the Pacific Northwest tackle the challenges of job hunting and employment transition.

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