What is Candidate Ghosting and what can recruiters do about it?

Competition for the right talent remains fierce, and recruiters find it hard to recruit the right talent in the shortest of times. As more and more opportunities open up for candidates, candidate ghosting has become a widespread issue. Candidate ghosting is when a candidate stops communication of all sorts with the recruiter during the hiring process. In place of sharing any concern with the employer whether they want to pursue this position or not, they simply disappear without any reason. This can happen across stages from the initial screening to reaching the final rounds or even after the offer letter is issued and accepted.

This can be infuriating and expensive for a recruiter, disrupting hiring plans, and wasting valuable resources. This blog looks into the reasons behind candidate ghosting, its impacts, and what recruiters can do to avoid this problem.

Why Candidate Ghosting Happens

Extended Hiring Processes

Long or complex applications and interviews are one of the top reasons why candidates abandon a prospective job position. Instead, they can always find another company that values their time more. Lengthy and repetitive interview rounds and filling in the information again that is already available on their resume are some of the big causes of ghosting.

Lack of Communication

Recruiters, while staying busy conducting interviews of multiple candidates, should keep in mind that each candidate shall be responded to with a proper update about their application status. Having inconsistent or no communication with the candidate during the hiring process makes them frustrated and disengaged.

Better Offers Elsewhere

In a competitive job market, applicants often apply to multiple positions simultaneously. If they get a better offer from another company, they may take a more attractive opportunity without telling any of their other prospective employers.

Employer Ghosting History

While candidate ghosting is on the rise, it’s important to recognize that ghosting by prospective employers is also quite common. People who were ghosted by prospective employers in the past are much more likely to disappear during an application process. A LinkedIn survey revealed that 83% of candidates say that a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once liked. Candidates can also misinterpret company communication gaps as having been ghosted and move on to other opportunities.

Impacts of Candidate Ghosting

Prolonged Hiring Time

Once candidate ghosting happens, recruiters have to start the recruitment process all over again leading to disruptions in the tentative position closing time and hiring plan.

Lost Talent

Candidate ghosting leads to unnecessary delays and increases talent acquisition costs. This also affects the hiring quality as one might end up missing other suitable candidates who have been put on hold.

Increased Workload

For business critical roles, ghosting is even worse. Empty positions put more strain on the existing employees to meet deadlines, maintain business continuity, and keep productivity at par.

Decreased Morale

Recruiters suffer the most as candidate ghosting demoralizes them and now they have to find more candidates and repeat the same screening process.

How to Prevent Candidate Ghosting

Streamline Hiring Processes

Make the hiring process simple and swift to ensure that candidates do not lose interest. As many of them take time from their current jobs for interviews, repetitive and time-consuming processes only demotivate them. Conduct interviews on time, maintain communication, and give them tentative timelines by which they will get the final answer.

Improve Communication

Open and transparent communication helps prevent candidate ghosting. At the outset, it’s essential for recruiters to orient candidates to the job role, company culture, and hiring process communication by sharing detailed job descriptions, an outline of the recruitment timeline, and clear expectations.

Transparent Job Postings

Avoid too technical job postings, and maintain transparency by clearly mentioning all the requisite key responsibilities in the job posting. Mismatched job titles and profiles also can lead to candidate ghosting, so it is better to set the expectations from the very moment of the job posting.

Use Technology

Utilizing technology can enhance effectiveness in recruitment and reduce the chances of candidate ghosting. Technology-enabled systems, such as the Applicant tracking system (ATS) and communication tools, help in making a system that is streamlined and ensures that the candidate is informed and engaged. Automated reminders and follow-ups will also ensure the candidates do not fall out or forget about the application.

The Role of Employer Behavior

Avoiding Employer Ghosting

You can not expect everything from the candidate when there are fault lines on your turf too. As an employer, you should be courteous and professional while interacting with the candidates. Maintain clear and consistent communication, inform them about the complete process and tentative timelines so that they can expect a response from you about the future course of action.

Building Trust

Try to create a positive candidate experience through clear and professional communication, set real expectations, and provide them with timely feedback in a positive way. Building trust with the candidate can go a long way and make you a reliable and trustworthy employer for future prospects as well. Candidates will feel confident in reaching out to you even if you miss out on reaching them in one or two instances.

Conclusion

Candidate ghosting is a challenging issue and makes life difficult for recruiters and employers. Approximately 67 percent of employers report that almost a quarter of new hires are not showing up after accepting a position. Knowing why candidates ghost and taking precautions can reduce its devastating effects. This includes proper communication, positive candidate experience, competitive compensation, employer branding, and technology deployment.

Employers also have an essential role to play in terms of providing realistic expectations to the candidate and a feedback loop that is timelier with a friendly interview experience.

Want to know how you can offer the best candidate experience without having to worry about candidate ghosting and saving time plus resources? Partner with NLB Services, one of the best global workforce solution provider companies that can bridge this gap by finding top talent for you and bringing a seamless hiring experience. Click here to learn how.

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