Ghosting: How to be haunted by a bad reputation

Ghosting is a topic we’ve touched on before, but I think it’s time we revisit the issue for the sake of clients and candidates alike. 

As recruiters, we see the practice at every stage of the hiring process, from employers in need of talent vital to the success of their business to candidates who have been taking the steps toward positive career development. Both parties stand to take a step forward, making benefits in productivity, gaining invaluable perspectives, gaining precious high-level experience and forming relationships that elevate the professional ecosystems and one’s personal life alike.

So, why ghost? Why burn the proverbial bridge? The answer to this rhetorical question is that there is none—there is no good reason to ghost. It is immature. It is unprofessional. It is a gigantic waste of potential resources in your particular professional circles.

Lose a reputation. Gain another.

As an employer and a business, reputation can make you or it can make you radioactive, unclean, untouchable … persona non grata. Even before the connectivity of the digital age professionals in any space communicated and kept in contact as s consequence of doing business. Ghosting candidates send and spread the message that, as an organization, you don’t respect talent enough to formally end the process, airing on the side of plain laziness.

In any industry, without any of the tech, the emails, the zoom meetings or the good old-fashioned phone call—take all the mediums away and the conversation is still the most important tool at our disposal. Ensuring solid and reliable lines of communication, following protocol and genuinely being courteous to every professional you touch builds the reputation you want in hiring markets where sought-after talent can be rare.

Relationships > Instant Gratification

As a candidate, you need to understand that opportunity is not a singular event in your career path. The recruitment process is about making good matches and at times it takes a fair amount of research and reflection, as well as engaging multiple businesses, to find the place that’s right for you. The more time a recruiter spends with you, observing how you approach your career and their client partners, the more proficient they will become at placing you within a position that benefits all parties. Ghosting eliminates many of these opportunities for discovery. 

Why deprive yourself of a capable and resourceful professional advocate just because “you weren’t feeling it?” Take the time, make the call, write the text and let them know you’re not interested. It allows recruiters to deliver efficient service to you and the businesses they represent.

At The James Allen Companies, we are interested in getting to know clients and candidates. Cutting that process short and ghosting us serves no one’s best interests. Work with us on your terms—just make us aware of what those terms might be.