Ghosting a Job. Do you know anyone guilty?

In the past several months, I have read several articles about ghosting, where individuals blow off interviews or fail to show up the first day of work. In fact, when I surveyed hiring managers in the Fall of 2018, "not showing up" was one response when asked about interview pet peeves.

So why do people ghost? For some, they may not feel strongly enough about a position or perhaps they received a better job offer. Because they may have been treated poorly by companies in the past when they were interviewing (never heard back from them) or because they have an "I don't care" attitude, they never contact the employer.

Whatever the reason, ghosting is unprofessional and reflects poorly on an individual. Further, a person never knows what lies in his/her future. Maybe someday he/she will cross paths with the person who they ghosted and that person has the memory of an elephant and didn't forget.

Instead of ghosting, all a person has to do is send a brief email or call the human resources department. Depending on the situation, the message may be slightly different as to why they are withdrawing their application, but always thank them for the opportunity and wish them good luck in the selection process.