What to Do When You Get Ghosted by a Candidate
If you’ve ever had a talented candidate become completely unresponsive with no explanation, you’ve probably been ghosted. Ghosting is a term that comes from the dating world and it was named for the phenomenon of ending a relationship by abruptly cutting off all communication with the other person. In recruiting, ghosting is becoming more common as candidates opt to disappear rather than have an uncomfortable conversation about accepting another offer or losing interest in a role. Here is what you can do if you’ve been ghosted by a candidate.
Streamline Your Hiring Process
A slow hiring process will cost you top talent every time. Talented candidates have options, and if they feel they are being made to jump through too many hoops if your process is disorganized, or if they feel they are being ghosted by you due to lack of communication, they will accept another offer.
You can make your process faster by setting a timeline in advance, making all interviews non-negotiable meetings for decision-makers, adhering to your timeline and staying in contact with your top choices.
Use Relationship-Based Recruiting
Today, people are bombarded by emails. You can stand out to top candidates and reduce the chances of getting ghosted by engaging in real communication with them that shows your interest, sells the position and keeps them informed about the timeline and the process. It helps to have a dedicated person on the hiring team who is appointed to reach out to top candidates by phone or even to set up a password-protected website that candidates can use to read about the hiring process and understand what they can expect from you.
Have a Passive Recruiting Strategy
Establishing relationships with talent who might not be looking for a job at this moment can lay the foundation for a smooth transition when a position opens. When you build relationships with potential candidates months in advance, you have plenty of time to assess their fit and interest level, you can have conversations about salary early on and you can increase the chances that your ideal candidates will accept your offer and show up for day one.
Ask For Feedback
You can identify potential sticking points for candidates in your hiring process by asking them for feedback along the way. Send them brief surveys after each step of the process from application through final interview asking for their input on how simple the process is, whether they are still interested after having each experience and whether they’d recommend their friends to apply. Include an open-text area at the end, asking them to share whether there is any reason why they would consider dropping out of consideration. Assign someone to study the feedback and identify any patterns that could lead to future ghosting.
Ready to Banish Ghosting and Land Your Ideal Candidates?
If you are looking to improve your hiring processes to eliminate the chances of being ghosted, contact the staffing experts at The Reserves Network today.
