[CM30]

Yeah, the tendency to 'ghost' people is a huge problem in society now, and companies seem to prefer it to just saying 'no'.

But it's especially bad when you've already gone through most of the application process beforehand. Being ghosted after a job application? Annoying, but possibly understandable if the demand was really high. Being ghosted after going through multiple interviews, a coding test and everyone basically implying you've got the job in the bag?

Now that's awful. If someone's spent hours/days/weeks of their time going through all these steps, you at least owe it to yourself to tell them if they've got the role or not. Even just saying 'Sorry you don't have the job, we chose another candidate' is better than radio silence after all that wasted time.

[dylan-m]

I was ghosted by an employer after sending them a "few days/hours" technical homework assignment (kindly assigned before any kind of interview). Granted, I sent it to them near the deadline and it was barely complete, but it still took an afternoon. If I have a chance to deliver karma in their direction I probably won't hesitate.

[ShabbosGoy]

> Yeah, the tendency to 'ghost' people is a huge problem in society now, and companies seem to prefer it to just saying 'no'.

What do you think this is attributable to? Is it that technology has shortened our attention spans so much that we no longer encode the memories of recent experiences?

[techsupporter]

I think it's two reasons:

1) People are becoming super averse to conflict and, by extension, confrontation. I think it's for myriad reasons. Not wanting to deal with the possibly-negative response; being accused of something; the other party exacting some form of retribution; and so on. I think the perception is that if one party says "[not-preferred reply]," the other party feels maligned instead of just that "it didn't work out."

2) Along the same lines, I think not saying "no" is also seen as responsibility shifting. "Well, I didn't tell them 'yes' so they'll figure it out soon enough." And then the ghosted party is then held as being responsible for their own feelings. "Not my problem you felt bad that [a possible employer | an acquaintance | some other interaction] never called you back. Those are your feelings, not [mine | ours]."

[shanghaiaway]

Interactions are low touch and large in number. Since relationships are weak ghosting is seen as acceptable and frankly reaching out to every person may take too much effort. Not saying it's okay because I hate it too. Just explaining this phenomenon that appears to have been caused by digital communications.

[krapp]

If a company doesn't hire you, then by definition they have determined that your time is of no value to them, so it would literally be a waste of their resources to interact with you further.

[staticautomatic]

Unless you consider the company's reputation and good will a resource...

[krapp]

Except this is already standard operating procedure for most companies, and it doesn't seem to have affected them.

[meowface]

It probably does affect them, though, whether they're aware of it or not. Some of the best talent they can get probably reads HN threads like these. A prospective great employee could easily read this thread, see stories of company X ghosting people, and decide to avoid them.

[staticassertion]

Not necessarily. Companies should be assuming false negatives in their process and should be encouraging reapplication in most cases. It is in their best interests to provide feedback to the developer and a good experience.

[ThorinJacobs]

This may be internally consistent, but what of applicants following up on their applications? A sizable portion of the workflow believes - and is advised by job search coaches - that the correct response to being ghosted is to follow up on the application. Do you not waste more time fielding and diverting followup calls than simply sending (at minimum) a quick form email to remove all doubt?