Candidate ghosting, the process of disappearing from the recruiting process, is fairly common. It’s a two-way street; 70% of candidates that apply to jobs never hear back. But in some companies, up to 90% of the candidates disappear into the ether at some point during the hiring process. What’s driving this uncomfortable and frustrating trend? Even more to the point—what can you do about it?

How Can Organizations Reduce Candidate Ghosting?

Ghosting, Communication, and Your Recruiting Process

It takes the average company eight days to respond to a candidate application. This tells us one important thing about the processes for most companies; they aren’t using automation. Modern applicant tracking systems (ATS) automate the communications process. For example, you can tell the software to send an email to every candidate who applies to thank them for their response and to share the next steps. In today’s candidate-driven markets, if you haven’t responded to a candidate in eight days, the good ones have moved on to someone else. So, this isn’t ghosting on the candidate’s part at all—it’s a broken communications process on your end.

What are some of the other reasons a candidate may disappear on you? It could include:

  • They’re too nervous about the interview so they’re a no-show.
  • They’ve done some research and found your company not to their liking.
  • They have other interviews that interest them more.
  • They’ve had an emergency of some sort.
  • They accepted another offer—or they’re close to it.
  • They’ve decided they need more money than you can offer.
  • They’ve gotten some red flags early on and decided your culture isn’t a fit.
  • Their current employer made some changes, such as a raise, so there’s no longer a need to move on.

Any of these reasons come to mind for candidate ghosting, and you may think of a few others. The best way for you to forge through these kinds of interruptions and keep the candidate engaged is to form a tighter bond with the applicant, so they feel comfortable and accountable for keeping you informed. How can you increase candidate communication in a way that reduces the risk of ghosting?

  • Be upfront about the salary and the financial goals of the candidate. If you don’t address this in the job ad and during the first phone screen, you may lose the candidate early on or, worse—make an offer that isn’t even what they consider a living wage.
  • Increase the volume of candidate touches. Phone, email, text, in-person, and video conferencing are all tools to keep you in front of a candidate. Use them and automate your processes as much as possible to keep candidates interested.
  • Shorten your hiring processes. Look for the bottlenecks and actively eliminate them. 
  • Sell why this job is a good opportunity. In a market where competition is the norm for most types of jobs, the best recruiters know how to “sell” as much as they know how to source. Approach the recruiting process from the perspective of what’s in it for the candidate, and they’ll be less likely to walk away. 

What Strategies Are You Using to Reduce Candidate Ghosting?

Exelare offers your hiring teams the modern tools to help you engage candidates. Our ATS can help track important data like the time between candidate interactions. Then you can improve the candidate experience by automating scheduling, communication, and other processes. Find out how our software can help you improve candidate ghosting. Call on us today.