Ah, ghosting. 👻 It's made its way off Tinder and into your job search! 💔 According to research, the number of job seekers complaining about being ghosted after an interview was up 208% since 2019. 😧
Although you can't force an employer to get back to you, there are ways to make the post-interview waiting game less of a black hole. 🕳️
Here’s Five Fast Facts on how to handle hearing those post-interview crickets🦗🦗:
- 🗓️ Great Expectations - Before you leave an interview, make sure you grab a timeline from the recruiter or the hiring manager. Ask when you can expect to hear back about next steps in the process so you aren't left wondering. Also, ask how they'll notify you so you can plan accordingly. If they say they'll call, you might want to take your phone off "do not disturb" mode.
- 🕵🏾 Light Stalking is OK - Once you have a timeline, it's OK to follow up if they don't get back to you when they said they would. Send a quick email and keep your note short and sweet. Let the recruiter or hiring manager know you're looking forward to hearing from them soon. Pro tip: it also helps if you send a thank you note right after your interview. Although some people still send an actual note via snail mail, these days email works just fine.
- ☎️ It's Who You Know - If you landed the interview through someone in your network, ask them if they can help you get to the bottom of things, especially if they work for the company. They might be able to do a little inside digging or get in touch with the folks you interviewed with. Sometimes companies have referral bonuses, which would give your pal a reasonable incentive to follow up on your behalf.
- 😅 Keep Your Cool - If you still don't hear back after you've exhausted all your options, don't go full on “toxic ex” on them. Keep your rants to yourself and off social media. The last thing you want to do is burn any bridges or earn yourself a bad reputation. If you had a particularly poopy experience you absolutely *must* share with the world, consider leaving an anonymous review on a site like Glassdoor.
- 🧘🏼♀️Free Your Mind - Getting ignored sucks, no matter how you slice it. If you get ghosted by an employer, try your best to not take things personally. Also, unresponsiveness is a major red flag. If you have to bug a company for feedback before you're even hired, it might not be the best place to work anyway. The sooner you move on, the sooner you can get back on the horse and apply for more opportunities.
🔥Bottom line: Interviewing for jobs can be stressful and the waiting game? Brutal. Hopefully these tips will help you along the job journey. If you need to tweak the ol' resume, check out this article. Are you a Gen Z job seeker? Check out these top jobs for Zoomers.
Have you been ghosted after an interview?
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