Have you been ghosted after a job interview? What should you do next?
Have you been ghosted after a job interview? Find out what you can do next, and how to stay positive.
Most people know what it means to be ‘ghosted’. On a personal level, you can consider yourself ghosted if a friend or partner completely cuts off contact with you, often for no apparent reason and without an explanation.
Did you know that you can be ghosted after a job interview too? If you’re waiting for an employer to respond post-interview but a couple of weeks or more pass with no communication, you may well have been ghosted.
So what can you do if you think you’ve been ghosted after a job interview? Here are five actions you can take.
Consider the reasons why you’ve been ghosted
The first step is to think over why the employer hasn’t contacted you. It might be because:
- You were unsuccessful and your application has been rejected
- They’ve decided to hire internally
- The position has been made redundant
- The recruitment process has been halted while the job requirements are reconsidered
- The recruitment process is still active
Ideally, a response in any of the above circumstances would be helpful, but some employers will only contact successful candidates. This is especially true where the job advert has attracted an immense number of applications.
Give it some time
Maybe you haven’t been ghosted and the recruitment process is still ongoing. There’s no set length of time for how long it takes to:
- Complete a recruitment drive
- Decide on the best candidate
- Respond to candidates
It will depend on the company, the recruitment format, the number of applications, the job, and availability of relevant staff members.
Reflect on your interview
With no response from the employer, you can only reflect on your interview from your own personal perspective. These questions are a good starting point:
- What’s your gut feeling about how well the interview went?
- How pleased were you with your performance and the answers you gave to questions?
- What answers did you receive to the questions you asked the interviewer? Were these
the right questions to ask? Were they relevant to the job? - Did you demonstrate your suitability for the job?
- Was there more information you wanted to provide in the interview?
- How could you have performed better at interview?
Whether you land this job or not, reflecting on your job interview will provide pointers to how you can improve your future performance.
Follow up with the employer
It’s always recommended that you follow up with the employer after a job interview as a way to say thank you, express your enthusiasm for the job, and to remind them of who you are. This section, however, is about contacting the employer when you think you’ve been ghosted.
If more than two weeks has passed and you haven’t heard back from the employer, it’s perfectly acceptable to get in touch. If you’ve previously communicated by email or telephone, use that method again. Keep the query polite and upbeat and if you find out that you haven’t been successful in your application, ask for feedback.
If you find it impossible to get hold of the interviewer or hiring manager, try contacting another relevant member of staff involved in the recruitment process. If all else fails, contact the company’s HR department.
Stay positive
There are many reasons why an employer might not contact you after an interview. They might have felt that you weren’t the best candidate for the job, or they may still be working their way through a pile of applications. They may contact you at some point in the future or you may never hear from them again unless you follow up.
Whatever the reason, don’t take it personally. You may be one of many candidates who received no response from the employer after their interview.
Once you’ve followed up with the employer, get on with your job search. Explore other opportunities. Being ghosted doesn’t remove any of the value you have to offer to the right job and company.
Take constructive steps if you’ve been ghosted after a job interview
Ghosting after a job interview is an unfortunate practice of many employers. If you feel that this has happened to you, there are constructive steps you can take.
Try to understand why the employer hasn’t contacted you; you may have been unsuccessful at interview or the recruitment process may be ongoing. Be patient. If the employer has a lot of candidates to interview, it can take a while for them to contact you.
Reflect on the interview to discover whether you could have done better and to build an impression of how it went. After a couple of weeks or more have passed with no contact, follow up with the employer. Finally, stay positive and move on.
