What is candidate ghosting?

Ghosting by recruiters or hiring organizations occurs when the employer or recruiter stops communicating with the job seeker or fails to respond to applications or other queries. Examples of scenarios where a job seeker might feel ghosted include:

• They submit an application and hear nothing in return — not even an automated receipt notice. This is commonly known as the resume blackhole.
• An employer asks for additional information after the initial application and never responds again.
• No one contacts the job candidate after an interview to let them know either way about the position.

Why might you want to avoid ghosting candidates?

Leaving job seekers hanging in the application or hiring process creates a negative experience. Searching for a job can be stressful, and ghosting them can add to that stress. Or they might be waiting to hear back from an employer so they can make other decisions about their life and career. If they don’t hear anything at all, they may not know whether to remain hopeful or to write off the opportunity as no longer an option.

This poor experience can weigh on your employer brand. People are generally more likely to share their bad experiences with others, including in online posts and reviews. If you get a reputation for candidate ghosting, it can impact the quantity and quality of applications you receive for future job postings.

Ghosting candidates can also affect how people view your company. This can impact business metrics outside of human resources — people who have felt ghosted by you during hiring processes might no longer purchase your goods and services, and they might encourage others to avoid your products too.

Candidate ghosting can also reduce how effective your hiring process is. Without a well-supported communication system, you may not connect well with potential hires, and that might mean you miss out on some quality candidates. 

Job seekers also participate in ghosting

Indeed has conducted a survey to understand the nature of candidate ghosting across the US job market each year since 2019. In 2023, employers and job candidates both said that ghosting was increasing, and 70% of job seekers said they felt it was fair to ghost employers as payback for how employers treat or respond to them during the application process.

For example, in 2023, 35% of job candidates said an employer didn’t acknowledge their application in any way, and 40% said an employer ghosted them after they’d reached a second or third round of interviews.

Employers looked at the issue differently. More than 85% said job seekers should never ghost them—even though a third of those employers said they had personally ghosted in their own role as a job seeker in the past.   

6 tips to avoid ghosting candidates

Employers can work to reduce ghosting on both sides by creating streamlined, communication-positive workflows for hiring processes. Apply some of the tips below to eliminate candidate ghosting from your application processes. 

1. Use automation in your hiring processes 

Job seekers can feel like they are dropping their resumes into a blackhole from which no reply ever comes. This lack of feedback in hiring processes can create anxiety for candidates — how do they even know the employer received their application? 

Reduce this anxiety by building automation into your hiring processes. Consider kicking things off with an automated email that acknowledges application receipt and thanks the candidate for their interest. If you have special requirements, you might build an automation that notifies candidates their application is missing critical information and prompt them to update it to be considered further.

2. Tell applicants what to expect

Include some general information about your hiring process in those automated responses so candidates know what to expect. For example, if you’ve posted a job in March and don’t intend to complete the hiring process until May or June, letting candidates know what the expected timeline is can reduce the chances that they feel ghosted if no one responds immediately. 

3. Be clear about what applicants should do

Review application instructions and in-process communications to ensure it is clear what you want candidates to do at each step. For example, if you have an automated process to review applications and pass certain candidates on to the next step, which requires them to submit a video, make this very clear. If candidates don’t realize the ball is back in their court, they may unintentionally ghost you while feeling ghosted themselves.   

4. Communicate to unsuccessful candidates too

Ensure your process involves a step for letting candidates know when they were unsuccessful. A polite note letting them know you’ve gone another direction provides closure on this application and reduces any chance they feel ghosted. 

5. Work to streamline hiring processes

Take time to address efficiency issues in your hiring processes and shorten the overall workflow where possible. If you take six months to complete hiring processes, candidates might feel ghosted even though you’re still considering them. Taking too long to hire people can also mean you miss out on good candidates, who may have taken another job in the meantime. 

6. Keep promising candidates on file

Often, you have more than one promising candidate for each role. While you have to make a choice eventually regarding which candidate to hire, you can create a talent pool and keep other promising applicants on file for the future. Let those candidates know you’re doing that and that you’ll reach out to them in the future if there is another role. Then make sure that you use that list of potential candidates in the future — when candidates know you’re the type of employer that keeps these promises, they’re more likely to be patient with you during hiring processes. 

FAQs about ghosting candidates

What should you do if a candidate ghosts you?

If you’re interested in a candidate who has stopped communicating with you, be patient and remember that you aren’t aware of everything going on in that person’s life. It’s possible they didn’t mean to ghost you and are still interested in the job but are dealing with an emergency or sudden obligation. Consider following up with an email or phone call and setting a deadline for them to respond. Let them know that if they don’t respond by a certain reasonable date, you will assume they are no longer interested. 

Why might a candidate ghost you?

Job seekers ghost employers for a variety of reasons, including getting a more enticing job offer, finding out something they don’t like during the application process, being unorganized in their job hunt and feeling that the employer ghosted them first.