A few years later got another Google recruiter after me. Ended up getting hired in 2008.

Looked up the previous recruiter. Her last day at the company was the day she promised she would book phone screens, or the day after (can't remember exactly, this is quite a few years ago). I can only assume she was suddenly let go.

Ever since, I keep wondering how many ghostings happen because the person holding the strings disappears for some reason, and there's a lack of system to follow up on that.

Chances are if they ghosted you, you didn't do as well as you think. You nailed a tech interview, but you only nailed part 1 of 3 and the interviewer didn't have the heart to tell you there was 2 other questions.

It happens to everyone. We've all done these interviews with nice candidates that just aren't right for that job. Don't worry! You'll find the job that works for you.

Covid was going full force, so I assumed something happened to her, especially since she was older. Emails and text went unanswered. I was worried... Until I checked LinkedIn and saw that she was posting daily.

Full story: https://idiallo.com/blog/dont-ghost-me

I signed the required NDA.

At 3:00:55 I received an email saying thanks for your time but you're not being considered anymore.

I emailed the recruiter and heard nothing back.

---

Jerred,

Thank you for your interest in Figma! We know that applying for jobs takes time, and we appreciate your interest in joining our team. After reviewing your application for Software Engineer, Full Stack, we've decided not to move forward with your candidacy at this time.

Your resume is in our system for future opportunities, and we hope you'll keep an eye on our careers page. Best of luck with your job search!

Best, Figma Recruiting

---

Jerred Shepherd's interview with Figma!

M_____ F_____ canceled this event.

Anyway, I never attributed any kind of malice to it, just poor management and poor candidate handling. I suspect that's often the case, especially with smaller start ups with likely overwhelmed employees wearing many hats. If anything, it's good signal that it's maybe not a great place to work. Imagine how they treat the people who work there if that's how they treat candidates.

One time, way back in ~2012, I did an all-day onsite interview with several people, lunch with the team, and everything. A full 8-hour gauntlet, and they ghosted me after it.

In my experience, I was usually ghosted (sometimes, rather brutally). In a couple of instances, I was able to get the companies to confirm that I was toast, but only after I bugged them.

  - Instances they ghosted
  - Interviewer behavior
  - Scope of work and funding red flags
  - Generic red flags found on Glassdoor, Team Blind etc.

https://ghostjobs.io/ (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43853401)

I would always get the usual "Unfortunately, we have decided..." charades. At least no ghosting.

I can think of only one situation, and it was kinda peculiar in its own right (they called me 8 months after my application because they were in a jam and I said I won't be able to start in such a short notice they wanted, and they warned me in advance they would ghost me because the HR was I presume in a crunch).

As for the ghostings BEFORE they even respond to the job application, I'd say that it is around 40% of job applications that I never get a response after "We have received your job application yada yada yada".

Again, this is just my anegdotal experience. Maybe my experience in EU job market is a rarity.

I never received the formal job offer. I called after a month and was told not to worry, it was still happening. I think I called again after 3 months, but stopped thinking about it after that.

Eventually I went to work for an internet company (which also delayed the formal job offer for several months. Deja Vu! But only because the background checking firm was having trouble completing the background check).

This was in the mid-aughts.

As a candidate, though, I have learned not to take offense to being ghosted or the million other indignities that one is subjected to in a modern interview pipeline. It’s just a part of the modern economy, and far from the worst one. As terrible as it is, it’s not a hill worth dying on, suck it up and just move on with your search.

We should also reward and encourage positive behavior by companies.

https://www.reddit.com/r/theprimeagen/comments/1tkgml2/bolt_...

I can imagine a lot of situations where it'd be unfair, so maybe giving them an opportunity to explain their side before it goes up might be important... but also fuck you if you ghost someone trying to find a job.

what am i supposed to gather from this?

Robert Half ghosted someone they were actively trying to find a job for? Why would they even do that? They have more clients, the recruiter loses if they don't get you somewhere.

If you got "ghosted" from a recruiting company, there was probably a good reason for it.

1. Recruiter 2. Second-hand car salesman 3. Realtor 4. Mechanics 5. Lawyers

Nvidia ghosted me some years ago after a full interview. They said they'd get back to me in two weeks. After three weeks I pinged the recruiter and she said "definitely by the end of the week".

Never heard from them. Two months later the site showed it was still pending. Some time later it finally changed to "rejected". Not even an automated email.

I stopped applying and responding to their recruiters. Some years later a manager reached out to me saying I'd be a good candidate but I need to formally apply to schedule. I applied. Crickets.

Amazon routinely ghosted me prior to scheduling the full interview. They'd do a screening round that I'd pass. Then they'd say they want to go ahead with a full interview and that I'll be called for scheduling. They never called and the recruiter never responded. Probably happened five times.

I ignore Amazon recruiters.

And fraudulent job ads should be handled the same way a fraudulent advertisement for a good is handled: you either make good and prove hiring, or you're tried for felony fraud.

Wait until you get an overly smug rejection letter that the author seemed too eager to write, and took too much joy in writing.

Some people love to reject, and would never miss an opportunity.

Another angle is -

If you've been ghosted, you still have not been told no. That means there's no record of you ever getting denied for the position.

(and maybe you really haven't been)

It's kinda better IMO

Thank you for the site. I shall make good use of it as I am constantly getting ghosted :)

What that even means? What’s a “factual account”?! The story/events? The account you used to apply? Or what

That being said, ghosting and generic rejections are alike, usually when you don’t hear from a company within a week (or within the time you ask them when you would hear back), you know they went with someone else, going back at you after that time is a major redflag, either they are chaotic, or the other candidate ditched them in the negotiations because they don’t know how to negotiate and are looking for bargain not a skillsets.

Also, I think instead of the company only, the recruiter/HR name should be there plus the company, public shaming is needed for those individuals, maybe other recruiters are good on following up, which is not fair for the good ones while the bad ones are hidden.

I don't know how many times I had this conversation:

Me: Hey boss, you know how Matt quit last week and we're down a guy? We really need someone in that role. The project is going to slip if we don't replace him.

Boss: The project can't slip. My bonu... I mean, it will make the whole team look bad if it slips.

Me: Great. When are you scheduling technical interviews?

Boss: There's a company wide hiring freeze. We can't replace anyone.

Me: So... the project is going to slip then.

Boss: No, the project can't slip.