Is fear of confrontation making you a ghost?

Is fear of confrontation making you a ghost?

#HalloweenIsOver so it is time for a new approach!

So... Your circumstances change and you find yourself on the lookout for a new job. You somehow find yourself in touch with a recruiter, either at a recruitment agency or someone who works internally in a company.

The recruiter tells you about a job they are hiring for and it sounds like a good match, or it doesn’t, but either way, you agree to interview for the role.

It is now the day before your interview and the doubts on whether or not you want this job set in. It is a little further than you want, the salary is a little less, you want to work a bit more remotely, it is focused more on X but you prefer working on Y... The list goes on. 

You decide that interviewing for the role would be a waste of your time because you are not that interested and if you were offered the position, you likely would not accept. 

But... Here is where it gets a little tricky.

You are someone who finds confrontation difficult and generally avoids situations where you have to let people down. You are also a little embarrassed about changing your mind in such a short time frame. You only said yes yesterday. 

In the back of your mind, you’re scared that the recruiter may try to talk you into doing the interview or be annoyed or upset with you for cancelling last minute. You don’t want to have to deal with that.

What do you do?

It is very common in situations like these that recruiters get ghosted.

I get it. You don’t want to let someone down.

Unfortunately, whilst it may seem like an immediate fix to your current situation, ghosting does way more harm than good. 

Why?

• Most companies have an internal database. If you try to apply for a position with the same company or recruitment agency, you will have a note on your file stating that you ghosted last time you were booked in to interview. This will make other recruiters at the same company or agency less likely to work with you on different roles.
• People change jobs. At some point in the future, your recruiter might move to another company that you want to work for. They’ll remember that you went silent on the day you were meant to interview and will be reluctant to speak with you again, in case you do the same thing twice. 
• Recruiters have colleagues and friends. If you ghost one recruiter, another recruiter might hear about it and be wary about working with you. Although the recruiter might not actively tell people that you ghosted them, their colleagues might be privy to conversations being had around them and decide to avoid contacting you for roles in the future. 
• You damage your chances of applying for other roles. Having a connection with a good recruiter will enhance your chances of landing your dream job. You have someone representing you that will negotiate your salary, work location, company benefits and more and best of all, it’s free! 
• You lose your chance to have someone on the inside representing you at your dream company. Most recruiters will work with several companies at once. If they know you are someone reliable, they’ll recommend you to the hiring managers at these companies. If they know you as someone who is not reliable, they won’t. 
• It’s the right thing to do. Despite the bad rep that they get sometimes, a lot of recruiters work really hard to build up relationships with the clients they work with. Having a candidate not turn up to an interview leaves a bad impression, not only on you but also the reputation of the recruiter who was trying to help you get a job you were interested in. 

The next time you have an interview lined up that you are not so keen on, instead of ghosting your recruiter, be upfront and honest. 

If you have an open conversation, the chances are they’ll likely work with you again. This time, on a role that they know you would be really keen on.

Having a good recruiter on your side can be massively beneficial when it comes to landing your dream job. Make sure you are doing your part to not burn any bridges on the way to finding your next career move.