Overcoming candidate “ghosting:” how to keep candidates engaged, moving forward…and showing up

Seventy-six percent of jobseekers say they’ve ‘ghosted’ an employer. From cutting off communication early in the vetting process to skipping interviews without warning to failing to show up on day one, candidate ghosting has become increasingly problematic, with 76% of jobseekers saying they've ghosted an employer in the last 18 months.

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A ghostly trend

• 76% of jobseekers say they’ve ghosted an employer in the past 18 months.
• 61% said they would still be comfortable ghosting a current or prospective employer.
• 56% of jobseekers had themselves been ghosted by an employer in the last 18 months.

Source: People Management: Three-quarters of jobseekers admit to ghosting an employer, survey finds. February, 2022.

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While ghosting may seem like a minor inconvenience, when candidates end communication, don’t attend interviews, or even miss their first day of work, it could signal a bigger issue within your organisation. For example, it may indicate that candidates don’t feel connected to your team, your organisation, or the role. Rather than communicating that they aren’t interested in the opportunity, they ‘ghost’ instead.

Beyond that, though, ghosting can have a profound impact on efficiency at all levels of the recruitment and hiring process. With 10-18% of candidates not attending interviews, your team may be wasting a significant amount of time vetting less-than-interested candidates and, later, waiting for them to materialise on interview day.

No-shows also affect productivity. The simple act of pausing work can cause sharp declines in efficiency and productivity. On average, it takes about 25 minutes to return to a previous task after being disrupted. A fruitful interview can compensate for this loss in productivity, but time spent waiting for a no-show is merely time wasted.

Ghosting and the pandemic

Ghosting isn’t a new trend – the phenomenon existed before the COVID-19 pandemic. However the scales seem to have tipped, with a rise in jobseekers ghosting employers rather than the other way round. And the problem has gotten worse: a poll by PeopleScout found a 20% increase in candidates dropping out after they’d been offered a job.

To combat ghosting, your team should implement measures to put a stop to no-shows at every phase of the recruitment and hiring process.That starts with improved communications between hiring teams and candidates – specifically, personalised instances of communication paired with automated messaging. Keep in mind that, without a ‘face’ behind your organisation, candidates may be more inclined to ghost. By introducing a human element to the process – e.g. a quick Zoom or phone call, or a personalised email – candidates may be more likely (at the very least) to contact your team if they decide to drop out of the hiring process.

Check your communication style 

It’s also important to consider how you’re communicating with, and confirming, candidates. Many Britons don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, and 75% of millennials say they avoid phone calls if they can. Even email is falling out of fashion in favour of mobile messaging.

Depending on previous candidate engagement, integrating text messaging may be a simple way of preventing some ghosting. With 90% of people opening texts within three minutes – and texting having five times the open rate and eight times the response rate of email – this communication shift should increase the odds of candidates reading critical messages.

Although texting is fast becoming a go-to communications tool among HR professionals, be sure to acquaint yourself with texting etiquette before unleashing your staff’s thumbs. SHRM offers these three guidelines:

1. Get permission from recipients first – i.e. don’t send unsolicited text messages to prospective candidates.

2. Keep messages short. Texting is best used for automated notifications, sending logistics information, e.g. interview times/locations, or asking fast follow-up questions. Use emails or phone calls for lengthier communications.

3. Keep it professional. Resist the temptation to include emojis or clever abbreviations in texts to jobseekers. Remember: your team’s texts and other communications should consistently uphold the brand.

Be flexible 

Another potential ghosting solution: offer candidates flexible scheduling, including evenings and weekends. By striving to accommodate candidates’ schedules, jobseekers may be more likely to move ahead with the process, even if their current weekday schedules don’t allow for in-person interviews.

Given the increase in remote work and the desire for flexibility in time and location, members of your HR team may be open to shifting their schedules to conduct these interviews. For example, a team member might prefer to start work later (one or two days a week) in exchange for conducting after-hours candidate check-ins.

Virtual interviews are also a good option for busting some ghosts, even if your team has already returned to the office. An Indeed survey found that 43% of UK jobseekers say being able to interview from anywhere is appealing, and 31% say they feel less intimidated at the prospect of interviewing remotely.

Ultimately, it’s about putting yourself in a candidate’s shoes. What would you want from a recruiter and hiring manager right now? What would make a business stand out from the competition, and make you want to move toward an offer? Those engagement tactics are good next steps to help prevent ghosting.