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Dear Prospective Employees,
I realize that you haven’t heard from me in a while, because the lady whose job it was to terminate people got terminated herself. But now I’m back and gainfully employed, and I’ve got some things to say about you clowns who don’t show up for interviews.
At first, I thought it was just me. Maybe something about my confirmation email was off-putting and you were like just “nah.” Which, given how awesome I am, reflects more on you than me, but whatever. However, according to this article in USAToday, ghosting on interviews is now a thing. Even though no one keeps statistics on this, Chip Cutter, editor-at-large at LinkedIn, is quoted say saying that this bullshit is “starting to feel like a commonplace.”
I get it, I really do. The job market right now is pretty awesome, and there are a lot of options with unemployment at an 18-year-low. I mean, for just the second time in the last twenty years, there were more job openings than unemployed people this past May, Labor Department figures show. So if something better comes along, taking that opportunity and not showing up for your interview (or even worse, your first day) may seem like the right career move. Dawn Fay, district president of staffing firm Robert Half for the New York City area says in the USAToday piece, “You’re seeing job candidates with more options. It’s definitely influencing their behavior.” Maybe Dawn is too nice to say it, but I’m not – it’s making people be straight-up assholes.
Obviously, we all want to get the “best” job and with all of the available choices potential employees have right now, it can be difficult to commit to something without wondering if there’s something else out there. Hell, I wondered about that before taking my current job and I was unemployed and not enjoying it. But let me clue you in on something – while taking the “better” opportunity may be a good move, behaving like a dick to people is not. Yes, it may feel awkward to call an cancel an interview, or even a first day of work – who wants to be the jerk that’s like “No, thanks – I don’t need your job”? No one, but it’s worse to be known as that ass who couldn’t be bothered to reach out.
So, at the very least, leave an after-hours voicemail saying another opportunity has come along and while you appreciate the chance to meet with me/us, you feel that the other role is the best fit for you at this time – even if that’s utter bullshit. Because I can assure you of two things: 1.) there will come a time that you are looking for a job again, and 2.) HR ladies have long memories, and there’s no way in hell I’m giving someone who ghosted me another chance.
TL; DR: don’t burn your bridges, my friends. You never know when you may need to cross them back into gainful employment-land.
Loyally,
The HR Lady.
Respond
Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, documenting her love of all things cheese related, and hosting the new PGP podcast Don't Take It From Us. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
@JennaLCrowley
@donttakeitfromus
So now companies are getting upset while they’ve literally been treating their current and prospective employees like trash for the past few decades??? While I have never “Ghosted” an interview opportunity, I like that some companies are receiving this treatment. It gives them a taste of their own medicine when we never hear back from them after 1, 2, or even 3 in-person interviews that we spent time taking time off of work for.
Couldn’t say it better myself
Absolutely. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Having recently gone through the law firm recruiting process, my bitterness towards the way employers handle hiring is at an all-time high.
Law firms are literally the fucking worst at ghosting interviewees.
Hi, this is Darren from Kramer’s office. Mr. Kramer would like to schedule a lunch with you at Monk’s coffee shop.
Don’t forget to forward an invite to yours truly and Art Vandelay
A huge part of why I took my job is because of how I felt I was treated during my entire application process. I got punctual responses and follow ups, everyone was friendly and helpful etc.
Amen. Maybe they will learn.
Ugh I went through the interviewing process 3 years ago and that really irked me when I would take the time to go to their office, meet with the four people who would interview me, and then literally never hear anything back. Even the recruiter I used didn’t hear back sometimes. Like, you know your candidate had to make the time in the middle of the workday to be there and you can’t give them the courtesy “sorry, we went in another direction” response?
Granted I live in a more rural area but companies started this ghosting trend in business. Numerous friends have stories of applying for jobs and never hearing back, with follow up correspondence ignored by companies. It’s unprofessional either way, but let’s not pretend it’s a new trend and interviewers started it.
the ‘only those selected for interviews will be contacted’ concept is bullshit. The least you can do it send me an auto-populated rejection email.
One of my dream companies (relatively small) sent me a form letter email rejection after they screened my resume and determined there were enough better-suited candidates to initiate interviewing with. I had just applied randomly through their site, so I respected them taking the time to show they actually looked at the thing and let me down easy (even if it was a canned response). Made me want to work there even more.
Turnabout’s fair play, if you ask me.
I’ve had in-person interviews where I never hear back from the company. I had one a few months ago where I had to reschedule because I was sick. A few days later on interview day, I was still feeling pretty awful but they insisted I come in anyway. Then I had a second interview with them. Never heard back again after that second interview. They didn’t even answer my follow-up email a couple weeks later.
IMO, you dodged a bullet not working for a company with that little professionalism and respect for their (possible) employees.
I’m at about week seven waiting to hear back from an interview (I’m not getting it), so seems like cosmic justice that some HR Dept. somewhere gets to experience it too
I’m still waiting to hear back on a follow up email to see if I got the job after graduating in 2013. I’m starting to think they chose someone else.
did you tell them about that championship game where you scored 4 touchdowns?
I did, they apparently weren’t too impressed. Been selling women’s shoes ever since.
You shouldn’t ghost people. But companies shouldn’t either, nor should they call back 9 months after they posted a job opening to ask for an interview and expect you to not question how they run their business.
Two wrongs don’t make a right but no one that’s every waited weeks for a call back after an interview or never heard anything about an application feels bad for you
Perspective or prospective? If anyone is looking to a hire a perspective employee, drop a girl a line, I’ve got lots of perspective. I can also be prospective if you need me to be.
What about the companies that invite you for an in-person interview and then ghost you while you wait for them? Not that that happened to me last Thursday or anything…
I’m all about two wrongs not making a right. Yeah it’s fucked up not to hear back after an interview(s), but doing the same exact thing to a company brings you down to their level.
Plus, just because Company A was a dick and never contacted you again after an interview, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to let Company B know that you got a job with Company C. They could all have completely different cultures and you could be burning bridges.
Yeah my viewpoint has always you can’t control how they act, but you can control how they perceive you. Doing the little things like calling to reschedule/cancel, sending thank you notes after an interview are things that separate you from other candidates that take little to no time or effort. Worst case, they ignore you and you lost nothing.
That said, the practice of not contacting candidates that you brought in for an in-person interview is fucked up, and I will follow-up with the rabid tenacity of a bloodhound until they tell me the position has been filled.
^You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t followup.
People wouldn’t ghost interviews if you paid them lavish amounts of money. It all comes down to price, folks. Plus most corporations operate by accumulating swaths of debt through lines of credit and VC funding while sacrificing revenue for growth and then try to worry about it later and then looks to sell themselves to the highest bidder. Society is just a collection of people whoring themselves and their time out, looking for the next best trick so play the game or live in nature and actually feel true happiness for once lol
As an HR professional (read: im trying to make sure my company doesn’t get sued while trying to keep the employees from starting an uprising. Also, send help. I’m the only HR person for my entire company) I agree with this take 100.87%. I make it a point to send a rejection email at the very least, and when I can I’d even send out pointers and comments on how to interview better etc. That being said, it gets on my nerves a bit when I get ghosted for an interview because I opened up time in my schedule to deal with the candidate. Send a cancellation email. It takes 2 minutes and can be done on your phone, while in pj’s while you’re recovering from last night’s bender.
I love your job description. I am definitely the employee that would start that uprising though.
I’ll allow it only if the uprising was more of a pirate mutiny complete with bandanas and sabers. Imagine how fun the conference room duels would be.
Isn’t the ghosted interview opening up time in your schedule to browse PGP for half an hour instead of conducting an interview?
Seriously though does the HR person catch flak for a ghosted interview- picking someone who wasn’t interested or not selling them enough on the company before the interview?
I specifically got a 3rd screen so that I can still read up on Girl’s abuse of Todd’s lack of gonads while revising the handbook and making up memos regarding policies that have already been written out on said handbook. Therefore, no, it just opens up 30 minutes to address the other fires of the day.
Fortunately, I don’t catch flak for it. I do a pre-screen phone call to minimize the chances of being ghosted. When it does happen the hiring manager and I just shrug at each other and chock it up to “if they really wanted a job, they’d be here.” Having a handful of candidates makes it a little less annoying.