GHOSTING phenomenon
Employee Perspective
“I never heard back, pure silence”
“I applied through the job portal, showed ‘Application Submitted’ no email, no call, nothing. Weeks passed.”
“I even sent a follow-up, just asking if the role was still open. No reply. Silence.”
“It wasn’t about rejection I just wanted closure. Some acknowledgment.”
I felt invisible, told my friends, “Don’t bother applying there they ghost candidates.”
Employer Perspective
“We’re too busy to reply to everyone.”
“We don’t have a recruitment team, replying takes too much time.”
“If they really want it, they’ll follow up, we only contact shortlisted ones, the rest no need lah”
Here’s the thing when you GHOST applicants
Damage-Kill your employer brand
Top talents may never apply again – stay away
Rejected candidates become vocal critics on LinkedIn, on Glassdoor, everywhere
You lose out on future-fit candidates who just hope for a better timing / role fit
The Truth :
Candidate experience starts before they’re hired.
Even if you don’t select them, how you treat candidates says a lot about your company culture.
What businesses can do improve candidate communication
1️⃣ Set up an auto-response
Simple “Thank you for applying, we’ll contact shortlisted candidates within X days” is already respectful
2️⃣ Give realistic timelines
If your hiring process takes 3 weeks, let them upfront, don’t leave them guessing
3️⃣ Send a polite rejection
One-click email templates via JobStreet, LinkedIn, or Gmail can do this in bulk
4️⃣ Communicate interview outcomes
Even a short WhatsApp message like “Thanks for attending, we’ve gone with another candidate” makes a huge difference
5️⃣ Leave the door open
Let strong but unsuccessful candidates know you’ll keep them in view for future roles and mean it
Real Example
A firm I helped had 200+ applicants per job ad but never responded to non-shortlisted ones.
They didn’t have time + didn’t understand the repercussions.
Through time, applications declined, quality CVs dwindled.
Then we…
> Created a simple thank-you auto-reply, leverage HR Tech
> Schedule 30 minutes weekly to send out status updates & rejection emails
> Add kind message “Please stay connected for future roles”
we created more goodwill, more referrals, better-quality applicants.
Final Thought
Not replying doesn’t just look unprofessional it looks disrespectful.
You don’t need a big HR team to treat people like people.
Simple process + HR Tech.
Because today’s rejected applicant might be tomorrow’s best hire or even your future client.
I am Kevin Goh, Empowering People & Businesses | Building Modern HR for the Evolving Workplace
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn by Kevin Goh – Director. You can read the full post here. Adapted and shared with permission.
