How to Stop Recruiter Ghosting: 5 Strategies to Save Your Employer Brand
- Lauren Deats
- Jan 2
- 2 min read
Let’s have a heart-to-heart, HR besties. We’ve all seen the posts from candidates crying into the LinkedIn void because they haven’t heard back after three rounds of interviews. We usually roll our eyes and blame "the system," but let’s be real: Recruiter ghosting is the ultimate industry ick.
At Career Bloom, we’re all about growth, but you can’t bloom in a garden full of dead silence. If your "candidate experience" is just a black hole where resumes go to die, you aren’t just being "busy" you’re being a brand assassin.
Here’s how to stop the ghosting and start acting like a professional.
Silence Isn't a Strategy (It’s a Red Flag)
We tell candidates to be professional, to follow up, and to "hustle." Then we leave them on read for three weeks? The math isn't mathing. Ghosting isn't just rude; it’s a direct hit to your ROI.
Your Glassdoor is Bleeding: Candidates who get ghosted don't just go away; they go to the internet.
The "Top Talent" Clock: Great candidates stay on the market for about five minutes. If you aren't talking to them, your competitor is.
Energy Leak: Managing a messy inbox of "Is there an update?" emails takes way more time than just sending a "no."
"If you’re 'too busy' to send a rejection email, you’re too busy to be hiring. Let’s stop pretending silence is a recruitment strategy, it’s just bad manners." - Lauren Deats
How to Kill the Ghosting Habit (For Good)
If you want to be a top-tier recruiter, you need a process that actually works. Here’s the Bloom-approved way to fix the loop.
1. Leverage the "Auto-No"
If you’re manually emailing every person who applies, you’re doing it wrong. Use your ATS (Applicant Tracking System). Set up a trigger: as soon as you hit "Reject," an automated, polite email goes out. It’s not "cold"; it’s closure.
2. The 48-Hour Feedback Rule
If a human being took time out of their life to put on a blazer and talk to you, they deserve a human response. Set an SLA (Service Level Agreement) for your team. Every interviewed candidate gets an update within 48 hours—even if the update is "I don't have an update yet."
3. Manage Your Hiring Managers
Half the time, we ghost because the Hiring Manager is sitting on feedback like it's a state secret. Don't let them hold your reputation hostage. If they don't respond in 24 hours, you have permission to send the "Still waiting, but I haven't forgotten you" email to the candidate.
4. Stop Fearing the "Awkward" Conversation
We ghost because we hate delivering bad news. Get over it. Use a script! "We’ve decided to move in a different direction" is a complete sentence. Copy, paste, send, and move on with your life.
5. Measure What Matters
Stop tracking just "Time to Hire." Start tracking Candidate Experience Scores. Send a survey to everyone you didn't hire. If your "communication" rating is trash, your process is trash. Fix it.
The Bottom Line
Human Resources requires you to actually be human. At the end of the day, a "no" is always better than "nothing." Let’s clean up the industry and start treating candidates like people, not just data points in a portal.
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