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Haunted by candidates “ghosting” you? There is help.

Michelle Gaba | | October 10, 2018

Haunted by candidates _ghosting_ you_ There is help.

Are you haunted by candidates who are “ghosting” you? If you have candidates who do not show up for interviews or worse abandon an accepted job, then you have been ghosted.   

Why is “ghosting” happening now?  

Many corporate recruiters ask why this seems to be happening more often right now. The simple answer is that today’s job market is extremely tight. For the first time, there are more available jobs than people who want them (money.cnn). For years it has been the other way around. Candidates fought for positions and had to be on their best behavior at all times or risk being dismissed from consideration. Now, the tables have turned. Candidates feel they can easily walk away from positions that don’t interest them as there are plenty of other options.   

In addition to facing a tight job market, there is a sense that millennials, Gen X, and Gen Y workers find “ghosting” to be acceptable. The original term “ghosting” actually comes from being suddenly dropped by someone on social media. Younger generations are perceived as not considering this type of behavior to be unexpected, but to be the norm.   

What can you do to fight it?  

The key to fighting “ghosting” behavior is simple. You need to build strong personal relationships with your candidates. It is more critical than ever in today’s tight job market to begin your relationship with each candidate by having a face-to-face or a webcam interview. By establishing this visual connection early on candidates see you as a person, not just another name in their email. Let them know that you are genuinely interested in them.  

Be sure to stay in close touch with the candidate every step of the way through the hiring process. Let them know it is important to you to keep in touch. Check in before each interview. Make sure they are prepared and have all the information they need about who they are meeting with next in the process. Talk to them by phone afterward and see how the interview went. See if they feel the job is still aligning with their goals and needs.  

If you establish a personal relationship with candidates and are careful to place candidates only in positions that match their goals and needs the chances of job abandonment will drop as well. Fitting a candidate into a position that is less than ideal for them never pays off in the long run.  

So this October, avoid “ghosts” by building personal relationships with talent and ensuring you are placing the right candidate in each role. You won’t be haunted by “ghosts” anymore.