Ghosting an employer, or simply not showing up to work, has become a phrase that everyone recognizes because the practice gained in popularity over the last few years. It’s a common practice; candidates ghost recruiters all the time, although it may be less likely when unemployment is so high.
Ghosting is a bad idea, no matter your situation. If you're a job seeker, disappearing from the hiring process, even if you get a better offer, is not a best practice we would recommend. Here's why.
Never Burn Bridges
A recent survey shows that 41% of job candidates think it’s actually okay to ghost an employer. Wrong! The last thing you want to do is burn a bridge with a company. This is especially true with recruiting teams who have your resume in a database. If you ghost them, the chances are very high that they will flag your resume for your actions and you’ll never work for that company again. That’s not to mention staffing agencies that work with dozens of companies every year. Ghosting one company with one recruiter will spread your reputation to other recruiters, hiring managers, and companies. This reputation could follow you around and make it hard to get your next interview, let alone a job.
This is especially for smaller industries and in specific smaller job markets. Recruiters, HR managers, and hiring teams network with each other across an industry. Being blacklisted isn’t worth it. Too, hiring managers may move between jobs and the bad taste you left them with on one job may follow you.
Finally, two words: Social media. Bad news travels fast in an era of digital messaging. While no professional recruiter would ever put your name out there as a ghoster, what if they did? It’s just not worth the risk.
Ghosting is particularly cruel to a hiring team because they spend hours working on your candidacy. Recruiters in staffing agencies stick their necks out on your behalf, sharing your credentials with employers over all the other candidates they could have selected. When you have a hiring professional that believes you are the best fit for a job, and you turn your back on them. Put yourself in their shoes; would you ever recommend someone that ghosted you?
Alternatives to Ghosting
Candidates and recruiters have a two-way relationship based on communication. Failing to communicate with your recruiter that you’re interviewing and looking at other positions, or, even worse, disappearing from the process after the recruiter has worked hard to help you find a job, is unacceptable. Even if the news is difficult to share, candidates have an ethical responsibility to pick up the phone, send an email or do a Zoom call to let their job partner—their recruiter—know what is happening. The alternative is simply not the kind of reliable candidate that most hiring managers would consider.
People Plus works closely with top employers to match them with strong, skilled, and reliable candidates. We have positions available and we are open to talking with you about opportunities to change your career and life. Start the conversation with our team.