Originally Published on wsj.com
Ghosting, or vanishing without a trace, is one of the bad behaviors of would-be job candidates, according to recruiters who are trying to get them jobs
Originally Published on wsj.com
Chip Cutter
Crystal Romans, a recruiter in North Carolina, set up a face-to-face interview with a job candidate for a position at a large bank. She confirmed the time, 8:30 a.m., the night before and had a colleague stationed to walk the candidate into the room. When morning came, the candidate never showed.
Panicked, Ms. Romans sent text messages. She called. She left the applicant a voice mail. Silence.
“It’s a running joke here of the level of audacity,” Ms. Romans said of job candidates’ escalating bad behavior, which frequently includes “ghosting,” or vanishing without a trace on the people trying to hire them.
“We don’t forget these things,” Ms. Romans said. “No one forgets.”
These are trying times for the nation’s recruiters. Once as popular as prom kings and queens—and often overrun with hundreds of qualified job applications for an open position—recruiters find their standing has shifted in the booming economy. Instead of vying for their attention, would-be workers blow off recruiters’ calls and ignore their emails.
Recruiters report they are stood up, kept waiting for appointments and regularly ridiculed online. That’s because in the tightest labor market since 1969, job seekers have the upper hand, and they know it.
