Reasons why you may have been ghosted!

Reasons why you may have been ghosted!

Have you ever been ghosted by a Recruiter?

Yes. This is uber unprofessional.

Yes. There is no excuse.

Now that we’ve gotten that out the way, we can begin to try to understand this phenomenon in order to assist you in possibly preventing it and/or how to maneuver or deal with it.

For some context…

Ghosting…is a haunting word that was selected to define this action for a purpose. In this context and most when referenced, it refers to receiving or being in contact with someone and then the ultimate shade…they disappear with no warning or explanation.

Here are my top 3 reasons that a Recruiter may Ghost you? It may seem ridiculous but the mindset of a Recruiter, especially if a third-party Recruiter, is that once a posting or message is sent out about a potential opportunity that anyone truly interested will jump on it.

Untimely Responses

It may seem ridiculous but the mindset of a Recruiter, especially if a third-party Recruiter, is that once a posting or message is sent out about a potential opportunity that anyone truly interested will jump on it. Though it is innately understood that there could be several reasons that a person is unable to respond quickly, in this market there are several others who will.

On to the Next

I call it the “Recruiter Brain”. Often times Recruiters are faced with multiple job requisitions if internal or for staffing/third-party recruiters, they are working with multiple clients with multiple job requisitions, simultaneously. Once a Recruiter sets their eyes on a specific role/job post, their focus can be very short lived. How this manifest is that while the Recruiter is focused in on this role you have their attention and outreach is sent. After all candidates of interest have received outreach…they are “on to the next…” role. If not responsive in a quick window of time, by the time you respond the Recruiter is on to something else. This in itself presents a challenge however what complicates it and swings it even more out of your favor is if 10 others have already responded, fit the bill of what the Recruiter is looking for and meets the magic number of candidates they were looking to forward along to their client.

By the time you respond, and the goal has already been met, you then run into the challenge of the number 1 reason why you may be ghosted by a Recruiter.

Sheer Volume

Recruiters are human too! Surprise. There is the ability to just be overwhelmed. The goal of the Recruiter is to meet their goal and satisfy their client, which is usually not the job seeker. Once that is complete then the rest is considered the aftermath. There are some great systems and tools that can and are being used to be more accommodating to candidates throughout the application process, however, some Recruiters don’t even have time to update the system to trigger the communication at that moment. Yes. It sounds like this should be a required part of the job and has increased as a focal point for most people-first organizations but especially if a third-party Recruiter, and there is no guarantee of placement in play, there is really no priority to responding back to share that a role has been filled or that the goal number of potential candidates has been reached. Not comprehensible from the job seeker perspective, but think about the current market and the number of applicants that you see have already submitted applications. If there are over 100 applicants for each role and a Recruiter is working on 100 roles, that’s 10,000 applicants to 1 Recruiter.

So now that we’ve examined “the why”, let’s talk about some ways to prevent!

· Be responsive

· Respond quickly, even if it is simply to state that you are interested

· Be transparent…responding to share that you are interested but currently away from your laptop, or in a meeting, etc. Is perfectly acceptable.

· Provide a timeframe…sharing when you ARE able to submit your resume or set up a call is very informative. There is no guarantee that the Recruiter will still be accepting candidates for the role at that time but it is better than not responding or responding with an open-ended response to a call to action.

· Be prepared in advance. Set yourself up to be able to respond quickly. Having your resume saved on your phone, having a 5-min vetting process (referenced below), having quick access to your calendar and availability or already having an idea or script prepared to be able to jump on quick calls with Recruiters are all good steps to be able to be on your toes.

Warning - It is recommended that you develop a 5-minute vetting process. Once a new opportunity arises and you have received a communication expressing interest in your skills or wanting to move forward in the interview process, you should be able to vet the source, company, role, etc. very quickly before you respond, as unfortunately there are also job scams out there. Look at the LinkedIn profile, company website, Glassdoor reviews or posted testimonials, etc. If you even get the feeling that something seems off, then abort mission.

Hopefully this helps lend a little understanding in a job search market where the applicant pool is increasing. It's my guess that these occurrences may also trend in the same direction.