Candidate stories

I had five back-to-back interviews. Starting at 10am and finished at 5pm. After the long process, they said they’d be back in touch by the end of the week – I never heard back from them, despite following up four times. The senior employee who had headhunted me and gave me all the encouraging noises disappeared is no longer a connection on my Linkedin. I also contacted him by email and got ignored.

I got in such a state with it all. What is wrong with me? Did I say something incredibly thick? Will I ever work again? It triggers a trail of thought that makes you question everything. I nearly gave up, I didn’t want to go outside.

The HR department asked me to come in for the first interview with them, and it went really well. For the second interview, I went to meet the owner of the company who asked if I could set up a project management function at the company. He offered me the job on the spot. He followed up with an email and asked about my availability for starting. It was very positive.

When I followed up the owner stopped replying to my emails. The HR team got back to me asking for a brief on how I’d set up a project management function for the company. I put a half day into producing this and showcased to them – then, I never heard from them again.

In the first week, I rang once to follow up. The week after that, I rang twice, and in the third week, I rang three times – and then I gave up. Don’t put yourself down like I did.

We had a phone call and then I met them twice. The first time was just with the hiring manager, and the second time also included a person from its communications department. The conversations had been very positive and it was going really well.

It wasn’t a ‘maybe’, it was we ‘will’ be in contact. While I was away I contacted them three times to arrange the third interview – and I never heard from them ever again. They just completely ghosted me.

It really affected my mental health – had I done something wrong? I just didn’t understand. It knocked my confidence and also made me think poorly of the company. It really tarnished the brand for me. It really knocked my confidence for future interviews as well – what if it happens again?

My first interview was with the UK manager in the London office. The second interview was a round with my peers and would-be equivalents in different regions across the world. I got the green light, and it was very exciting to proceed to the next stage. They were really positive and were talking to me like I already had the job. For the third interview I had to travel to the hotel they were staying at and meet them at 7am before their flight. It went really well and I was told: “they absolutely loved you”.

I never heard anything again. I followed up the day after the interview. Neither of them wrote back. I emailed the UK Manager – heard nothing. I waited another week and followed up again.

I wasn’t sure what to do; what if they come back to me? I was in total limbo. People advised me that I needed to move on. It was very hard to do that mentally because I hadn't received a response.

I got headhunted for a job at an international well-known food company. I went for the first interview and really loved the team and the people who interviewed me – the job sounded good and I was excited about it.

I got down to the last two people, so for my fourth interview, I met the CEO. It took a lot of my time. I got positive feedback after each stage and I had all the skills suitable – everything had been going well.

They said they’d be in touch. Then I heard nothing. The job was through a recruitment agency and I asked them what was happening – they didn’t even know. The recruitment agency didn’t want to chase them too much because they didn’t want to damage their relationship. I never heard anything again.

It was stressful enough anyway but then never to hear anything made it worse. I had really invested in the company. It really made me lose faith in the business, really disappointed. You wonder how they treat their staff. I have warned many people against applying to this company.

At the end of 2020, I had applied for an opening at this really hot start-up in Berlin. As I have an acquaintance working there, they helped me by making sure that HR reviewed it. A few weeks later, HR contacted me for an interview. We had the first interview. It was supposed to be for only 30 minutes, but we got to talking, and it extended to almost an hour. HR seemed to be pleased. They said they would contact me again for a second round.

A few weeks after that, they wrote me an email explaining that they were making some changes in the department. They requested to keep my information to contact me in January (Christmas holidays knocking at the door) as I, and I quote, "had made a very positive impression". I gave my consent.

In January, I wrote a follow-up email. Silence. I thought it was odd, so I looked up the person who interviewed me on LinkedIn and saw that she had changed companies. I then wrote to her supervisor. Silence. A few days after that, the position was published once again on LinkedIn. I applied once again, explaining that I already had had an interview. Silence. Mind you that during this follow up process, the Big Boss in New York had checked my LinkedIn profile. I never received an answer.

It's fair to say that during those first weeks of 2021, I went through all stages of grief:

1. I couldn't believe I was ghosted; it must have been a mistake, right?

2. Then I got mad: why won't you say, "We don't think your profile suits the position".

3. Then, of course, I was feeling demoralised: "I'll never get another job in my life"

4. I almost wrote them another email asking them to reconsider

5. Finally, I flipped them the bird. By the beginning of February, I enrolled in a programme that helped me pivot into Data Analytics. And even so, it took me months to recover my self-worth.

This rejection was the best thing to have happened to me. I got into a new field that I am very enthusiastic about. I wouldn't go to this company now. I think this situation is a reflection of their work atmosphere. To be honest, I can't even be bothered.

I got 5 interviews into the interview with [global creative software brand] for a very interesting position. The response from two recruiters and 3 interviewers felt positive. The interviews all happened over a three-month process only to be ghosted by the executive recruiter. Even the last email from the person requested a follow-up but he/she did not follow up. I wondered if I was on some type of recruiter blacklist all of a sudden. It also gave me a negative perspective of the company, though I'm aware things can move fast and people get distracted. I decided not to make much of it accept it took up my time. It took me about two months to rebuild my confidence though I'm wondering if I care much about being in corporate America any longer. There are too many politics at my level.

I went through the whole recruitment process and did my final interview. I was told I should know in the next few days with the decision. I didn't hear anything back from the company talent team. I even sent emails and texts, as the recruiter preferred text to get updates, but no response.

I felt disheartened as I worked hard to be prepared for the interview process and felt discouraged after not hearing back from them.

I still think about what might have went wrong but I also feel that I am glad I didn't get the offer from that team because not responding to provide any updates show that it's not worth working for a company like that.

I was interviewed by a recruiter from a family-owned insurer out of California for work out of a Phoenix area call center. Recruiters have a tenancy to call candidates towards the end of the month, to meet their call and contact goals more so than actually recruiting qualified candidates. And then they ghost. I actually was asked to reach out to references to respond to the employer about their thoughts about me, and they invested their time in providing those reference remarks. It felt like the company and recruiter wasted all of my and my references' time. It turned out they had actually already selected their candidate. I felt like all the years I acquired in experience were being spat on, as well as I was an older candidate. I felt depressed and frustrated. I reapplied, got an interview, and then got ghosted again. I figured this company wouldn't care about it's employees and their efforts if they treated prospective candidates this way, so I moved on to other job searches.

I was ghosted after receiving an offer from the job itself! I had submitted my resume and applied per request of the company, and then I was asked to make a 1-2 minute video introducing myself and explaining why I would be a great candidate. I did all of this, only to hear nothing from the employer, not even a "We're sorry but you weren't chosen for the position." It made me feel taken advantage of in a way - I had spent hours scripting my video, waiting for perfect lighting, retaking it over and over to smooth out any errors, on top of going through the initial process of hiring. I had given all of my personal information to this company to be left with no response afterwards. It took a few weeks to get myself feeling the confidence I needed to look for a new job. The whole experience just left a sour taste in my mouth!

Applied for seasonal remote position I was well qualified for. Did application + online assessments and got invite to video interview. Signed up for 1st day available. Received multiple reminder emails, including the day before, and checked out the site and site tools in advance as suggested. Logged on early and waited and waited and waited. No one showed up. Emailed the corporate contact from the reminder emails (who wasn't the interviewer) and she said she thought this had been rescheduled and did i mind doing so. Ok fine. Except there was no way for me to do so and I sled for a new link which was never sent. I followed up the next day and nothing. Stood up by Interviewer then ghosted by corporate recruiter. Awesome.

I really wanted to work for this retail company known for exceptional customer service, so I applied to a very similar position to see if I'd get another interview link. No automated invite this time. Instead, at 9am on a Fri someone texted, stating he was a recruiter and when could I speak about the position that day. Ok last minute on a Friday is a little rude, but I wanted the opportunity so we set it up for 1pm. I gave a range of time and let him pick. He was going to call me. 1pm came and no call. I waited 15min and texted to ask if we were still on, and nothing. I waited a few more minutes before seeing the writing on the wall and realizing this position and company was wasting my time and no longer worth my time. I wasted a huge amount of time with them. Fun fact: neither potential interviewer seems to actually work for the company. They may be farming out the hiring info to random unmotivated recruiters. I am now wasting time trying to remove my information from the hiring site, because I'm unsure who they share it with.

Their hiring page says "We treat each other with respect and kindness... We create a welcoming environment helping people feel connected, valued and part of one community" Apparently that doesn't apply to candidates and I have doubts it applies to employees after my horrible experience.

Description The interviews went well. My final was with the hiring manager and I thought it went well. He said that I would hear back form them in 1-weeks. 3 weeks later, I emailed the recruiting manager and heard nothing back. 4 weeks later, I emailed HR and heard nothing back. In their job tracking system, my profile still says "under consideration", but the radio silence tells another story.

Needless to say, my confidence was dented. At the minimum, they could have responded and said they have decided to move forward with another candidate or something. My opinion on the this company is extremely low. They made themselves out to be a different type of firm, but I realized how dysfunctional they are and how badly they treat their potential hires.

I have been ghosted so many times that it's hard to pick just one out to tell my story. The worst part, for me, about being ghosted is that there's no feedback received to learn from the experience. Not receiving any feedback as to why another candidate was chosen over you can really mess up your head. I've always felt that it's difficult to learn from what you did wrong if no one tells you what it was that was the deciding factor in which you weren't the chosen one. Then add to that seeing the same position listed again on job sites. Why wasn't I good enough? What did I say or do that was wrong? My resume was impressive enough to get me the interview so how did I blow the interview? I'm still searching for those answers. I know I don't interview well but exactly what am I doing wrong? I don't know. I prepare, I research the companies I'm applying to. Sometimes I think these companies are looking for their Cinderella to fit their "glass slipper" without considering giving the qualified applicants a chance to prove themselves. I have been looking for my next career adventure for almost 6 months. I am not a salesperson and being ghosted and/or a generic "moving forward with other candidates" rejection email have continually pushed me down into this hole of depression that I can't find a way to climb out of. If only there was a job post looking for a candidate who successfully tanks at interviewing. I would nail that interview and not be sharing my story here.