Getting Ghosted by Job Applicants? Here’s What You Can Do

Maybe that scenario is not hypothetical at all, and you are one of the millions of Americans who quit their jobs in 2021. With the “Great ResignationOpens a new window ” at the top of every employer’s mind and plan for 2022, more and more leadership conversations now revolve around employee happiness, retention and major workforce gaps.

This is for a good reason: with the amount of change we have each experienced over the past few years, it is no surprise that people are eager to explore new and better opportunities.

But when it comes to hiring, many companies are encountering a new hurdle: job candidates “ghosting” potential employers. While we typically reserve this term for our love lives, it is a fair way to describe the increasingly common custom of dropping out of a hiring process without a word. This scenario is more common than you might think. According to a recent Visier survey of 1,000 US-based workersOpens a new window , 84% of job seekers ghosted an employer/potential employer at least once in the past 18 months.  

Ghosting adds friction and frustration to the hiring process at a time when HR is under intense pressure to fill vacant positions fast. Fortunately, taking a closer look at your hiring and HR data can help you identify who ghosts when and why and help you make key improvements to your talent acquisition (TA) funnel.

Why Are Job Candidates Disappearing?

One reason for the rise in ghosting is that job candidates are more likely to be playing the field. The hot labor market has emboldened workers to shoot for the moon and often leaves candidates fielding multiple opportunities at once. A March 2022 surveyOpens a new window by the New York Federal Reserve found that 3.7% of job hunters had received at least four job offers within the past four months, triple the rate at the start of the pandemic. 

In our survey, 55% of job hunters cited this increase in available job opportunities as the top reason they are more likely to ghost companies now than pre-pandemic. So when a promising job candidate suddenly goes silent, it could be a sign they have simply decided to go steady with someone else. 

There is a glimmer of hope for employers, though. While ghosting is an accepted reality of today’s hiring process, many job seekers still want to avoid this outcome. Two-thirds of employees (67%) who would ghost an employer shared concerns about the potential negative impacts of their actions. Many employees want to make things work, and it is your job to echo those feelings. That means taking the time to show them you care and getting to know them and their preferences a little better is likely the best first step.

See More: Great Expectations: What Employers Need To Do To Attract Gen Z Talent

How Analytics Can Reduce Ghosting

If you are hiring for many jobs simultaneously, tracking and leveraging candidate information may feel a lot like dating in a big city — too much at one time. But imagine hiring a matchmaker who can point you in the right direction. Sure, you can probably navigate things on your own over time, but doesn’t some help sound nice?

This same thinking applies to improving and protecting your TA funnel and preventing ghosting. The right data and analytics tools can help you handle meaningful prospect information and make connections for your team that are otherwise hard to surface and act on. Below are a few questions to explore as you dive deeper into your hiring and general HR data.

1. Are our offers competitive? According to our survey, a low salary was the top reason employees ghost. With many fielding multiple job offers at once, today’s applicants come to the table with a strong sense of what they are worth. For many HR professionals, however, understanding market rates has become more complicated, thanks to the rise of remote work throwing factors like geolocation into the mix. Modern analytics tools enable you to track shifting compensation trends and understand how they apply to a particular role. With that information in hand, you are more likely to make an offer worthy of a quick response from the applicant.
   
2. When do prospects ghost? Lack of communication from an employer is a top job candidate’s pet peeve. In our survey, over a third of employees (37%) said they would be angrier if a potential employer ghosted them than if a date did so. Analyzing data on when candidates exit your hiring process can reveal where communications breakdowns occur so you can head them off before things turn sour. For example, if many candidates ghost before an interview is even scheduled, they could be losing interest when they do not see their application immediately progressing. Consider sending automated updates on application status to keep candidates engaged. 
3. Who ghosts us? Our survey found that men were more likely to ghost than women (90% vs. 68%), and senior workers like directors (91%), VPs (93%) and C-suite executives (96%) were more likely to have ghosted on job opportunities than others. But demographic trends like these can vary from company to company, and examining them can reveal key areas to improve in your TA funnel. For example, if your analysis shows entry-level job candidates are most likely to ghost your company, it might be worth re-examining the salary bands for those positions or checking for kinks in the hiring process.

With the US job market tighter than everOpens a new window , you need every available advantage when supporting top candidates across the finish line. Leaning on your existing hiring and HR data helps your team better identify where top candidates come from and aspects of your recruitment process that send job seekers running — a match made in heaven between new talent and your hiring team.

Have job candidates ghosted you? What steps have you taken to reduce this phenomenon? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

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