Whether you realize it or not, your recruitment team has experienced candidate ghosting. Also, This situation has been a major recruitment trend to watch for in the last two years.

According to the iHire online recruiting report, ghosting is an emerging issue in the recruitment process. It is also now rated as the No. 1 challenge by nearly 6 percent of employers.

LinkedIn research also confirmed that ninety-five percent of recruiters say they have experienced “candidate ghosting.”

 

What Is A Candidate “Ghosting”?

Haven’t you heard of the term yet? The term is synonymous with online dating by Millenials. However, the word became more common and made its way to the recruiting world.

It happens when a recruiter unexpectedly loses contact with an applicant. Additionally, ghosting can mean stopping communication after extensive back and forth with a recruiter.

Ghosting can occur at any stage of the hiring process. In this case, candidates don’t show up for the interview or respond to your call/email.

Besides, applicants may accept job offers but never come to the office. In extreme cases, an applicant may stop coming for work without any notice.

It may seem unusual, but it happens, especially in today’s competitive hiring market. Ghosting has increased during pandemics, and it turned into a big problem.

Based on a survey by Indeed, 77% of employers admitted to being ghosted by job seekers.

Moreover, up to 28% of candidates ghosted a potential employer last year from the same report. That’s up from 19% in 2019.

 

Why Do Candidates Ghost?

Potential suddenly leaves employers for many reasons. It can start from bad talent experiences, other career opportunities, avoiding conflict, until disloyalty to a company.

Despite the pandemic’s impact on recruitment, only 4% of job seekers claim COVID-19 as a reason for ghosting.

Regardless of the reason, applicants will ghost you if “you’re not their top choice.” Besides that, ghosting costs your company a lot and makes the employer frustrated.

 

 

Tips To Avoid Getting “Ghosted” By Job Candidates

Candidates’ ghosting can happen to any recruiter. It is nearly impossible to avoid. 

Thus, keeping your talent engaged can help you to minimize this problem. Here are some tips to effectively combat candidate ghosting

 

Read also

Good Recruitment Process, A Guide For HR Team

 

• Be Honest About The Job Role

Clicking on your job opening is most likely a candidate’s first interaction with your company. Therefore, the job ads have to explain the roles as clearly as possible.

Applicants tend to ghost because the job description isn’t accurate during the interview process.

According to the HR research, 72% of hiring managers say that they provided clear descriptions. Nonetheless, only 36% of candidates accept that statement. 

As a result, talented applicants will know if they are suitable or not. To avoid candidate ghosting, the recruiter shall ensure job ads reflect the job description and the company culture. So, they know what to expect.

 

• Actively Communicate With Talent

Communication is the key to avoiding candidate ghosting. Reaching them regularly may keep candidate engagement.

Moreover, transparency regarding timeline and updates is the key to keeping talent expectations.

Applicants will appreciate your honesty. In the end, it will reduce the possibility of them ghosting you.

 

• Simplify Your Recruitment Process

Every organizations’ hiring process is different. Nevertheless, lengthy recruitment processes can lead to candidate ghosting. Hence, making your application and interview process as simple as possible is critical to securing talent.

Top talent is often interviewing for multiple roles at the same time. Timing to offer may also be one of the deciding factors.

In today’s job market, qualified applicants don’t have to wait a few weeks for position status. They’re more likely to go with another company that’s willing to make them an offer after two interviews. 

Furthermore, HR can avoid prolonging the search for someone better. It will make the process quick and painless. 

 

• Share A Timeline To Applicant

Candidate ghosting isn’t necessarily intentional. Instead, it could be a miscommunication about the recruitment timeline.

A recruiter can tell applicants the timeline and an overview of the future step. It also helps applicants to have certainty in the recruitment process.

Maintaining transparency and sending updates promptly avoid losing potential candidates. Even if it isn’t a significant update, it is still an update.

It makes candidates appreciate that you haven’t forgotten about them.

 

Read also

Recruitment Mistakes We Should Avoid. Better Late Than Never!

 

• Speed Up Your Responses

It’s either yes or no. If you don’t move quickly, someone else will.

Trends show that top talent is off the market within ten days. A survey found 46% of candidates start losing interest in a company within a week of no contact. 

Therefore, uncertainty could cost you the chance to hire the ideal talent. Once you’ve found a talent who meets your criteria, you don’t leave them hanging.

Besides the potential candidate, the team shall inform the applicant who may not be selected. 

You never know when that applicant may want to reapply to your company. Thus, leaving a positive impression is essential.

 

• Move Quickly To Onboarding

A smooth onboarding process is the best way to avoid ghosting.

Once a job offer has been accepted, the hiring manager can prepare a welcome note and set up an onboarding call.

The team can invite the new hire to group emails. So, they will feel directly as one of the team members.

Remember, it will be better if HR doesn’t take months to onboard a talent. The longer it takes to start, the more likely they are to leave and seek new opportunities.

 

Read also

Different Types Of Recruiters, Which One Do You Need?

 

Based on the previous story, candidate ghosting is a new trend issue that affects recruiters globally. Therefore, don’t let ghosting become a habit.

Using these tips can help reduce ghosting and improve the talent experience.

We can take notes. Even with great communication and a great hiring process, some people will still not show up.

Hence, professional recruiters’ consultation can prevent “ghosting” and assist you to hire the best employees for your company.

At Elabram, we have managed this issue based on our experiences. Elabram is designed to simplify the recruitment process.

If you’re struggling with candidate ghosting, we’d love to help. Contact us now!