Why Recruiters May Not Be Calling You Back (And How To Change That)
Whether in your personal life or during a job interview, nobody wants to be left in the lurch after several meetings, aka “ghosting.” Candidates put in a lot of time and effort crafting their profiles, preparing for interviews, researching companies and often get attached to a role if they think it’s the right fit.
Unfortunately, it’s become increasingly common for job seekers to go through the motions, only to get crickets from the people they’ve been meeting with. In a survey conducted by Indeed, 83% of recruiters have stated that they have ghosted candidates (though most of these instances are unintentional).
At PRSG®, we avoid ghosting candidates at all costs, as it’s disrespectful to the time and effort invested by job seekers, and it can negatively impact the reputation of recruiters and the hiring company. But there’s more behind the scenes of the recruitment process that can often lead to ghosting, whether intentional or not.
We’ll explain some of these causes and how you can avoid or limit interview ghosting in the future.
Interview Ghosting
What We Mean by Ghosting
Before we discuss the causes, let’s clarify what we mean by interview ghosting. As unfortunate as it is not to get a response after applying online for a position, it is far from uncommon for recruiters not to respond at all.
On average, every job posting receives 250 applications that require qualifying and advancing them through the application process. That alone can take days, sometimes weeks, with recruiters often operating under a tight timeline to move candidates along. As a result, they may not be able to respond to every single person to let them know their application wasn’t accepted.
When an application is accepted and a candidate has started interviewing, however, there can be a number of reasons why they don’t hear back from the recruiter or a hiring manager. While it is generally considered disrespectful to those applying for the position, understanding the possible reasons can help you determine which steps should be taken.
Why You Haven’t Heard Back After an Interview
Company Restructuring
Sometimes, even though a position has been posted and approved, an organization’s priorities can shift, leading to the role you’ve been interviewing for needing to close that open position. If you don’t hear about this, it may be that the recruiter is not legally able to tell you the status of the position due to an upcoming announcement.
Long Recruiting Timeline
Between reviewing interview feedback, connecting with hiring managers, following up on references and other steps required to make a hiring decision, it can take longer than one might expect to decide whom to hire. This is often the case with large companies and high-regulatory industries. It’s very possible that there’s no update to give, and therefore, they have not contacted you.
Deprioritization
The least ideal, but likely most common reason for not hearing back is that they were busy and forgot to reach out to you. Again, this is not the goal for recruiters, but they may be currently sourcing for several positions at various stages of the application journey and may have been caught up in those other processes, which is why they are letting you know you didn’t get the position. If this happens, it may be time to follow up with your recruiter.
How to Prevent Ghosting and Follow Up With Recruiters
We can’t emphasize enough that in an ideal world, candidates never have to worry about not getting a follow-up on their interview. However, if this is a concern and you want to prevent it from happening in the future, these tips can help reduce the possibility of that happening.
Establish Expectations Early On
In best-case scenarios, a recruiter will be able to give you precise timelines for when you can expect to hear from them, regardless of whether or not you’re moving forward in the hiring process. If that information isn’t provided, ask for a timeline, even if it’s a rough estimate. If they don’t get back to you after that time, it is perfectly reasonable to follow up after 24 hours of the dates you established, either by email or phone, leaving a voicemail if they don’t answer.
Ask For Your Recruiter’s Preferred Communication Method
If, after your initial phone screening, your recruiter decides to move you along in the interview process, ask for their preferred method of communication, such as a phone call, text, LinkedIn message or email. This will indicate your desire to stay in contact and that they are aware you may follow up. If they prefer that you don’t reach out to them, they will let you know, and you both can establish communication expectations from there.
Send a Thank You Email
If you and your recruiter have established you are moving forward with your candidacy but haven’t heard from them within five business days, send them a follow-up email, thank them for their time and ask if there is any additional information you can provide. This helps you stay top of mind without being intrusive, and shows your willingness to be more helpful by providing more details when they need to validate information. Keep in mind that if a recruiter says that the hiring process will be slower, assume that’s the case and wait for them to reach out.
Be Transparent
If you’re interviewing for multiple roles and weighing your options, inform your recruiter that you’re also exploring other positions. Additionally, share the timeline for any other roles you’re considering. This lets them know that they either need to move quickly with your application (if it’s the right fit) or that you are working on a timeline that doesn’t work with theirs. It can help avoid a lot of wasted time for both parties.
Takeaways
Not following up with a candidate after interviewing for a position is something that every good recruiter works hard to avoid. Lack of transparency about the application process can lead to long-term distrust and can be demoralizing to candidates looking for their next opportunity. Even if a candidate is not ideal for this position, they may be the perfect fit for something else in the future.
At PRSG®, we prioritize maintaining trust with our candidates and keep them regularly updated on the entire hiring process, even if that means telling them the application journey has ended.
If you’re looking for a new role and want to feel fairly valued in your career, browse our current opportunities in accounting, finance, HR and technology, and visit our job board to start working with the PRSG® team today.