Ghosting has now become more common than ever, with people seeing it as an easy way out of things such as a jobs interview process.
“Ghosting is the act of suddenly ceasing all communication with someone the subject is dating but no longer wishes to date. It's done in hopes that the ghostee will just ‘get the hint’ and leave the subject alone, as opposed to the subject simply telling them (they’re) no longer interested.”
Businesses and employers are reporting a worryingly sharp increase in the number of candidates who have not shown up to interviews or their first days or just vanished from the interviewing process.
In a world where time is of the essence and what seems like endless opportunities for jobs in a now candidate led market, it can be tempting to pick the easy option of just not communicating that you are no longer interested in a role.
To help you set the right impression when looking for a job, we have shown you all the reasons why you should never consider ghosting when in the interview process.
1. Ghosting Can and Will Ruin Your Reputation
Your reputation in business is important. Even more so when you are actively looking for a new role. You may feel like ghosting one person is not a problem but, your reputation then gets tarnished. It takes minutes, if not seconds, for you to communicate your change of mind with the hiring manager or recruiter and can save you from a lifetime of a damaged reputation.
Ghosting leaves a negative impression with the business affected, alongside any other third-party associates that may have been involved. This impression will then be shared. So, what seems like you may be affecting one person, often tends not to be the case.
2. Recruiters & Hiring Managers Know People
The jobs you apply for are commonly from similar industries and sectors, and these are what your skills and experience match. People in these sectors communicate with each other. Recruiters spend their lives speaking with both clients and candidates in your specialist sector and can and do quickly get the word about bad experiences that they’ve experienced with candidates. Ghosting is one of these bad experiences. If you are seen as unreliable, people in your chosen sector may then choose not to work with you, or at least, set you off to a bad start amongst the competition.
3. Your Wasting Other Peoples Time & Money
Nobody likes their time to be wasted, especially when money is involved. They say it costs a business roughly £3,000 to hire a new person. Don’t be the reason why this costs more than needed. Honesty is always the best policy, and this should remain in business. If you are no longer interested in a job role or circumstances have changed, let the company know and thank them for their time. You never know when you will cross paths again, so best to leave it on a positive, professional note.
Situations have been extremely tough for businesses in the past few years and are predicted to remain tough for the foreseeable with inflation on the rise. Money matters and companies are streamlining costs. Help businesses by keeping them in the loop. Your honesty will save them a lot of time and money in the long run.
4. You Are Shrinking Your Pipeline & Reducing Future Opportunities
Once you ghost a company, that is it. They are highly unlikely to ever think of working with you again. Whilst this might not affect you at present, you have limited all options of a new, even better role in the future. It is also common for companies to buy other companies out, so what seems like limiting a small window of opportunities can soon turn into something much bigger.
Recruiters use CRMs to keep track of candidates. If you have ghosted them, this will then get flagged on the system for the whole company, and the hundreds if not thousands of jobs they receive that may be perfect for you will no longer be of access to you. Whilst this is not always the case, it tends to be common to save the recruiters time in the future.
5. People Will Stop Sharing Jobs with You
18% of job seekers say they have ghosted during the hiring process, and 83% of employers say they have been ghosted. Many job referrals come from friends, family, and colleagues. If people you know are putting you forward for the jobs you later ghost, it reflects onto the referral friend. If this does happen to be a common occurrence, it is more than likely they will stop letting you know about future positions due to your unreliability.
Finding the perfect job can be a challenge. But the wider your network, the easier this will be. Don’t limit this by poor professional decisions made in the past and keep employers in the loop.
6. Don’t Start to Form Bad Habits
Start as you mean to go on. You don’t want to create a habit of disappearing from an interview process because it's easier for you than letting the hiring managers know. Create a positive and professional representation of yourself from the get-go with whoever you meet. Positive experiences with companies will pay off as you may never know when you need help from them and vice versa. It is best not to burn any bridges in business. If you are known to be a ‘ghoster’ it’s probably best to rethink your strategy before permanent damage could potentially be done.
Are you looking for a new job? Take a look at our top interview tips for sales people.
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