Why a job candidate ghosted company after checking CEO’s social media

What causes some candidates to cut off all communication with prospective employers?

"Ghosting", or the act of suddenly cutting contact with someone without explanation, is an all too familiar term in the modern world, in dating as well professional exchanges.

In recent years, recruiters have been reporting how the candidates they selected went silent after interviews, or taking it a step ahead, didn't show up on the first day of work.

It happens the other way round too, recruiters ghosting job candidates during the selection process, instead of sending them proper rejection letters.

Some professionals openly acknowledge that they are habitual "ghosters". Most of them are Gen Z and millennial employees, Insider reported.

One such professional, a 27-year-old woman, said she was very conscious about what she did and didn't like.

The woman, a London-based professional, told Insider she once cut off communication with a recruiter after going through the online profile of that company's CEO.

She said the boss had liked a comment disrespecting women on LinkedIn.

In other instances, she said she abandoned recruiters who made fun of other candidates' resumes in front of her.

Younger employees said they check reviews about companies on platforms like Glassdoor and go through their senior leaders' profiles, to check if their values are aligned with them.

In 2021, a survey by job portal Indeed revealed that job seekers were  ghosting employers more than ever.

Indeed surveyed 500 candidates and 500 employers across several industries in the US. 77 percent candidates said they had been ghosted by prospective employers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, 28 percent job candidates ghosted potential employers, the survey revealed.

Only 27 percent recruiters said they hadn't ghosted a candidate.

The Indeed survey suggested that strong communication and transparency were key to resolving the problem.

"Being empathetic and authentic can go a long way in building more comfort and trust into your relationship with the candidate," it said.

Meanwhile, In India, amid the rising instances of ghosting, a company started an initiative to calculate a "candidate ghosting score" and "joining propensity", something similar to a credit score for borrowers.

Read: With their ghosting record on a dashboard, job hoppers may soon learn the value of commitment