Job Ghosting

The Rifleman came across an article about why job candidates should not "ghost" employers.  "Ghosting" is the term, coined by Millennials, which means to break off a relationship by discontinuing all communication.

It would seem that some job seekers are ghosting hiring managers. There is much irony here as companies have been doing this to applicants for years. 

Also, some employees have been ghosting current jobs as they presumably move to better jobs.  Again, the irony is thick, as the same employers have laid off people in the past, or just fired them with or without good reason.  No difference, really. 

The reality is that the article is 99% sour grapes. In the previous 16+ years of bad job market, employers got a bad case of "high & mighty" syndrome. As with everything in life, what goes around comes around.  Karma is a bitch for these same companies. 

The Rifleman can agree with one phrase in the article: "... job candidates and employees should learn how to say “no” gracefully..." In fact, just about everyone could use a lesson in saying "no" gracefully. But, given how many people get bent out of shape for the smallest things, I can almost understand.  Almost. 

Some of the best comments on the social media post:

This makes me laugh. I’d never dream of doing this and yet I’ve experienced the opposite several times during my current job search. Phone interviews that go great and end with “you’ll hear back about next steps by Friday”...then crickets. Unprofessional in both directions.

I've never ghosted a potential employer and I've also never had an employer tell me when I didn't get a job either. You just go in, do the interview, and then... nothing. I've gone as far as having two phone interviews, an in person interview, and then a site wide interview with the dozen or so employees only to then not hear anything.
So you're telling me, employers made ghosting a standard and acceptable practice, and then when the direction of demand switched, all of a sudden they're baffled and upset that they're getting ghosted? Truly, who could have seen it coming.

Sorry, but this cuts both ways. I’ve spent many hours completing intricately lengthy applications, writing cover letters and responding to essay prompts, only to find out later that the position was posted only to fulfill legal or internal policy requirements, and that an internal candidate was hired. These positions, in essence, were never really available at all. What goes around comes around.

Ghosting is something that employers have been guilty of for years. It's right up there with the "quota" interview they put you through when they knew who they really had in mind to hire right from the start completely wasting your time. This article should of been directed towards employers.

You mean like every company insists on you giving a two week notice to quit a job yet has no qualms about walking employees out the door with no notice?

last paragraph says “don’t hold a grudge” but earlier it says employers never forget. works both ways fellas.

This article is designed to help job seekers feel insecure. This is what the business sector has been going for for decades. When people feel job or housing insecurity, they are much easier to control. The business sector and HR departments are desperate to restore insecurity to the work force so that they can continue demanding more from employees while offering fewer benefits and lower salaries. This is how corporate profits have skyrocketed over the last decades. The goal now will be to sustain those profits at absolutely any cost. The reason 'ghosting' is a problem is that employers don't have the benefit of choosing, so no one need fear an HR manager or employer who "remembers" the ghoster. They have to take what they can get. Don't buy into the corporate scare tactics.

How is this going to ruin your career?  There’s a magic blacklist that everyone uses to see who is naughty? Lol....literally no one else outside the company and you will ever know.
(Rifleman's note: the folks who would "remember," wont be in that position in 3 years.)