I work closely with colleagues working within HR, so every now and then I encounter this topic of ghosting. And yes, even I have some personal experiences with it.
See, every now and then, I would get contacted by recruiters from other companies, or independent headhunters working for other companies. I normally take the time to talk to these people, mostly because I am interested in what my next move would be like. In some of these conversations, the conversation would progress to the point that I would get a few interviews one after another, in the context of a particular job application.
And then they would disappear.
That sucks. I mean, imagine if I were really looking for a job actively, where I would devote a lot of time and effort to crafting my CV, my cover letter, and my other application materials, and after several rounds of interviews, you would just disappear? Don't you have the face to give me feedback and tell me which aspect of my application made me disqualified for the position?
Feedback is important, yet sometimes, there are a few people who just forget about it.
In one case, I even signed an NDA with the headhunter, as the company who hired this headhunting firm wanted the search to be confidential. And yet after some time, they just disappeared.
In another case, which was my partner's, he first had an application, which moved somewhat, and yet after several interviews, they declined him. And a few weeks later, he was contacted by the same recruiter, this time on LinkedIn, asking him if he would be interested in this position they were looking for. My partner responded, saying that he was already declined for the position, and asked whether something has changed. Of course no reply came.
This gives one a bad taste in the mouth, really. I realise that recruiters are essential to companies, and are very busy people, but these experiences just don't give me a positive impression of this group of people, I must say.
