If you thought ghosts only existed in horror stories, you might be in for a surprise. Unfortunately, employers may encounter “ghosts” in the workplace from time to time. In fact, LinkedIn says that 76 percent of employers lost applicants during the recruitment process in 2023.¹
Candidates ghosting recruiters is a common phenomenon that can easily disrupt the hiring process, leading to a loss of revenue, time, and resources. In this blog, we’ll help you evaluate your talent acquisition strategies and prevent candidate ghosting.
Why Do Candidates Ghost Employers?
Job seekers end their application for many reasons. Most of these stem from their experience with the employer. It could be an unprofessional hiring manager, falsely advertised job perks like remote options, poor communication, or unhealthy work culture.²
As an employer, you are responsible for vetting candidates, determining whether their values align with yours, maintaining a reputable brand image, and offering competitive compensation packages. However, you don’t have to spend so much money and resources on this, or wait till the next candidate dodges your calls.
The following telltale signs can help you identify whether a candidate is likely to ghost you.
How to Detect Candidate Ghosting
While there are many factors regarding candidate ghosting, these early warning signs and red flags will help your hiring managers stay on top of the hiring process:
1. Generic Application
Resumes, cover letters, and application forms are the first line of defense applicants have in the hiring process. Suppose a candidate submits a generic resume with incomplete details or incorrect information. This could indicate that they’re not fully committed to the role and have not exerted enough effort to position themselves as ideal candidates for the job.
2. Unresponsive or Delayed Communication
This can easily determine a candidate’s enthusiasm for the role. If your potential candidate suddenly takes longer to respond to your emails or cannot accept calls, this might indicate they’re not fully committed to the role. While there are multiple causes for delay, unprofessional behavior like this can indicate low levels of commitment.
3. Frequent Rescheduling
Suppose your candidate responds promptly. However, they ask to cancel or reschedule interviews. It’s difficult to determine whether their reasons are valid, but frequently asking for changes could mean they’re not entirely serious about the job application.
4. No Show
This one doesn’t really count as a red flag—it’s a clear sign. You’ve set a meeting, advised colleagues, and allotted time for an interview, but the job applicant doesn’t show up. This makes it apparent that your candidate is less committed than you thought. It might be best to look for new candidates rather than chase a possible “ghost.”
5. Incomplete Information and Vague Answers
Qualified job seekers often provide clear answers in a job interview, and transparency is key in the recruitment process. If a candidate fails to provide concrete responses to your questions or discloses inconsistent information, it may indicate their lack of interest in the role or that they have other priorities they need to consider.
6. Lack of Engagement During Interviews
The hiring process is a two-way street. You have to learn about the candidate, and applicants need to learn about the company. Candidates who don’t research the company or ask follow-up questions in the interview process might not be fully interested in your organization. Of course, part of the interview is given to presenting your brand; but candidates must show curiosity as well.
7. Shifting Goals and Objectives
Varying goals and objectives may indicate a misalignment with the candidate. Whether they’re still figuring out their career or which industry to enter, this uncertainty could mean they’re not the perfect fit for the role. Even if you were to hire them, there’s a chance they will change their mind or won’t thrive in the organization.
8. Prioritizing Salary or Benefits
Compensation and benefits packages are among the main factors that job seekers consider when choosing employment. However, they should also be genuinely interested in the company, culture, industry, and overall responsibilities to succeed in the role. Even if they qualify and get hired, they might leave you for higher-paying jobs in the future.
How to Prevent Candidate Ghosting
As recruiters and hiring managers, meeting up with “ghosts” is part of the job. If you want to minimize ghosting, you have to level up your onboarding process and provide a positive candidate experience.
1. Provide Effective Communication
Keep your communication channels open and accessible. Clarify all your candidates’ concerns and provide timely updates at each step. Give clear expectations and don’t add perks you won’t provide in your job listing. Establishing a transparent communication process can help build better relationships with your candidates and prevent candidate ghosting.
Let’s face it. Job applicants connect with multiple employers, and passive candidates need more persuasion to entertain new opportunities. To create value and attract top talent, you must be transparent with the hiring process and provide a smooth recruitment experience.
Read more: Creating Enticing Job Posts
2. Make the Hiring Process Easier
According to SHRM, 92 percent of job applicants don’t make it past the application process.³ It could be that your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) takes too long to fill or is just difficult to navigate.
Streamline your ATS and recruitment process by only asking for the necessary information. If you’ve asked for a resume, the skills and experiences are almost certainly already included in it. You can also accept multiple formats for attachments, like PDF and Word files, so applicants won’t need to convert their documents.
If you want to take it a step further, you can use auto-fill to make it easier to complete an application or integrate omnichannel solutions to allow applicants to continue their application on their mobile phones.
3. Establish Your Brand
According to LinkedIn, three out of four job seekers consider a company’s image before they even apply.⁴ That’s how much your employer brand can affect a candidate’s first impression and job preference.
Today’s workforce is highly motivated by companies that prioritize social appropriation, job satisfaction, and growth opportunities. If you’re already offering exceptional employee experiences, let them show even before an applicant reaches the job offer. Here are a few things you can do:
- Align your marketing efforts with your organizational values.
- Showcase your company culture on social media pages, white papers, blog content, and your website.
- Invite your existing employees to write testimonies or start a “day in the life” campaign.
- Feature company events, team-building activities, and community involvement programs.
- Task employees to advocate for the company and share their success stories in their own social spaces.
Read more: Conflict at Work
4. Reassess Your Recruitment Methods
Aside from what we already stated, you may be able to enhance other areas of your hiring process. Are there loopholes in the recruitment strategy? What about the way you give feedback? Do your recruiters need additional training?
Understand your candidate’s expectations and ask for input on how you can improve your interview process or the whole recruitment program. If you want to prevent candidate ghosting, you may need to invest in providing an exceptional candidate experience right from the get-go.
By the way, employer ghosting is as real as candidate ghosting. While most employees don’t openly discuss whether they received a callback from an employer, it’s still not a good image. One process you can add is to explain why an applicant wasn’t chosen for the job. Even if a candidate isn’t hired, they would still leave your company satisfied, assured that you cared enough to let them know.
FIND QUALIFIED CANDIDATES THAT WON’T GHOST YOU
Horizon America carefully vets individuals before we recommend them to you. This way, we can determine whether they fit within your company or will thrive in another.
We don’t just look for the next applicant; we make sure they stick with you for years!
Contact us today and gain access to our talent pool of skilled workers.
References
- “Why ‘Ghosting’ is on the Rise?” LinkedIn, 6 Apr. 2024, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-ghosting-rise-vultus-inc–zro2e/
- Jackson, Sarah. “The top reasons say they ghost prospective employers.” Business Insider, 16 Jul. 2024, https://www.businessinsider.com/top-reasons-job-candidates-ghost-prospective-employers-hiring-interview-process-2024-7
- Maurer, Roy. “Most People-92%—Never Finish Online Job Applications.” SHRM, 16 Feb. 2022, https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/people-92-never-finish-online-job-applications
- “Employer Brand Statistics.” LinkedIn, 2016, https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/talent-solutions/global/en_us/c/pdfs/ultimate-list-of-employer-brand-stats.pdf
