Job Seekers Ghosted After Interviews
Job seekers consistently report a frustrating lack of communication and follow-through throughout the hiring process. This includes recruiters initiating contact, promising timelines, and then abruptly disappearing or failing to provide updates, leaving candidates in limbo and feeling disrespected. The experience is marked by broken promises and a general disregard for candidate experience.
SOURCES (60)
“Hey guys, I recently did an interview for an IT support position and it seems that the company did like my resume and my first interview as it seems they’re asking for a second one. The thing is I have had two other IT jobs…”
“I got contacted last week to schedule a pre-screen interview with a recruiter after an internal referral. I selected the earliest available time that they had, which was for this week on Tuesday. For reference, the recruiter is based in London and I'm in the US. However, the recruiter contacted me again asking me to schedule the interview. I tell them I already booked time for Tuesday and ask them if that's still okay while including confirmation of the appointment. They reply back sayin”
“I’m still trying to see if it is even that hard to get the “Complete your application for the EWOR Fellowship” email after the initial application, at this point in the job search I don’t even get excited…no point in getting hopes of etc., and wouldn’t be the first time that something turned out to be shady or a scam…seems to be the trend of 2026”
“Actually.. this could very well be that they HAVE to list the job.. but they built it IDENTICAL to you.. so that they can claim "this is the only candidate that matched all this". Still.. there should be no harm in you asking them about it.”
“Why would they add a line in the ad about business travel being short and infrequent if they were looking for someone to travel 24/7 without complaining? Wouldn’t they add a requirement about there being a lot of business travel and keep everything else the same if they’re looking for someone who’s willing to travel? To me it sounds a bit more like someone was typing up the notes from your interview and maybe did it in the wrong box or hit the wrong button of their recruiting tool. Some of them”
“This. Currently dealing with an HR department ghosting me. I took a day off of work to spend half of it with the company interviewing. I’m owed updates at a reasonable interval.”
“Same here. Dude got on the phone with me and promised to follow up within a week; never heard from him again even after my follow-ups. Like ok why did you waste my limited break time in the first place?”
“I had Purdue University ghost me after asking when I could interview for a position. Just fuck them.”
“The system probably just auto renewed the role since the recruiter didn’t close it yet.”
“I’ve gotten 2 rejection calls in the past week. Both times I missed the call, and had to call them back. To be honest, both were a relief. They were below what I was looking for, and both wanted RTO. But still, could have been an email. Both said I impressed everyone and offered no feedback, even when asked.”
“I feel like the title pretty much says it. I applied and had a phone interview a few weeks ago for a position (really didn't do my best in that interview if I'm honest) and I just noticed that they reposted the job, would it be worth a shot to just reapply? submitted by /u/No_Space4655 [link] [comments]”
“There was a recruiter for the industry I was in, who would ask me to do a phone interview, take my resume, say "your perfect for this position, I'll get back to you soon" and then NEVER RESPOND TO ME AGAIN. When he reached out to me the third time, I told him I didn't appreciate getting ghosted and to take me off his contact list, and he threw an absolute toddler tantrum, telling me I was burning bridges, and I told him I don't care, because if they work with him, I don'”
“Hello everyone, I recently snagged a phone call with a principal at Catholic school right next to me. The call went great and an interview was immediately set up but then the next day, I got an email saying, "After further consideration and recent developments in our hiring process, we have decided not to move forward with the interview at this time.." Needless to say, I feel very discouraged and quite gutted honestly. I'm terrified that something on my socials or in my past caused”
“So I have a interview on Monday..Well I am working this "gap job" at a UPS Store. What do I tell my current employer? I have a interview on Monday 10am. I have 2 more on Wednesday...What do I tell my employer? I have already put in 2 week notice. My last day is the 28th submitted by /u/ForBirmingham205 [link] [comments]”
“I’m curious to know if this has happened to anyone else. I spoke with the hiring manager/ team leader (tech sales) about 2 days ago and after our call I immediately get an assignment request. Mind you the assignment says complete in 60 min, it’s 9 different parts with at least 5-10 instructions per part. Including math, accounting mapping, basically becoming an expert on their company, their customer base etc. I’m not trying to complain I’ve just done about 4 of these projects already and this s”
“I applied to a local company through an Indeed posting about a week and a half ago. As part of the application there was an AI interview that took about 20 minutes and I completed it. On July 9th, I received an email from the person I would be reporting to, asking if I’d like to set up a Zoom meeting for an interview. I replied back yes, asked when would be good for them, outlined my availability for such but also said I could make any time work that was convenient for them. I never heard back,”
“I’ve had the same recruiter reach out to me again for the same job literally the day after I was already rejected for it. I’ve also had a recruiter reach out to me about a job after I was already working in that company.”
“Something similar happened to me. Went through 4 rounds of interviews, all went great. Recruiter said I did great and the team loved me. Then went silent for 3 weeks. Recruiter finally responded to my emails and said that the company can’t hire in my state. Granted this was a fully remote job and the recruiter was the one to reach out to me about it.”
“So I recently applied to an entry level IT job for a local defense contractor, and about a week after I applied for the job I was contacted by a recruiter saying I was a good match and wanted to set up an interview asking for my availability. I responded quickly yet didn’t hear back for a week even after I sent a follow up email. After a week he finally responded and we set up the call, then he said he was going to send my information to the hiring team and they’ll reach out to me. I’ve yet to h”
“I was contacted by a recruiter for a position and after passing the screening call, we started the process. He then ghosted me, I emailed again asking for any updates, never heard back from him. I was then contacted by a different recruiter from the same agency for a different position at (I believe) the same company. The recruiter in question didn't have too much info on his LinkedIn page and didn't have a profile picture on LI either. At that point, I was fed up with this agency, and c”
“I don’t understand why HR treats candidates like this. If I were to get this position, I would be the head of the organization. submitted by /u/InternetFinalBoss1 [link] [comments]”
“she interviewed me for a position after which told me on the phone that the position was mine and then completely ghosted me. Then reached out to me 3 months later. submitted by /u/mrboringg [link] [comments]”
“My dad was supposed to do a remote interview for his US company. We live in another continent so because of the time difference, he accepted the interview without realising it was scheduled at 3 am and not 3pm. So when the candidate logged in, my dad was sleeping. So yes the candidate was stood up, but not on purpose, this kind of things happen. I would think that this is a good opportunity to change the dynamics with the recruiter who has to apologize after rescheduling. I guess the candidate d”
“I'm a recent graduate, and this is my first professional job search, so I'd really appreciate some advice. I interviewed for a job at a large multinational company. I passed the HR interview and then had a long interview with the hiring manager, who later gave me positive feedback according to HR. After that, my application was sent to higher management for approval. I've followed up twice over the past 6 weeks. Each time, HR answered my call and told me the process was still ongoing”
“I got a reference request for an employee that I had met once (I am a manager but didn’t hire this person). I didn’t respond right away and got pinged again so I reached out to her for more information or to pass it to her supervisor. She was so embarrassed and didn’t think they would request a reference…. College student, definitely a learning moment 🤪”
“Quick question. I'm 53, have a job, so I'm in no rush. Looking around for PM jobs. Recruiter reached out to me, she' works at what I can see is a reputable recruuting firm , had a quick phone call, scheduled zoom for 2 pm next day. At 130 said could I do 3pm. Then at 3 said had to postpone, how about Monday. Is this something that I should get accustomed to? Is it normal submitted by /u/christrab [link] [comments]”
“I applied for a position and after a brief email exchange with the clinic manager, the next day was called by the her. She was very eager to chat with me about my application, and we had a great 30 min conversation about the role, and then scheduled an interview for 2 weeks out because it turned out she was going to be on PTO the following week. Not to toot my own horn, but I got the impression she liked me quite a lot. Well, at 12:53am following our call, I got an automated email from their app”
“Ohhhh I see, yea that is seriously fucked up if the case. I assumed it wasn't the case maybe because that is not a contributing factor but a whole issue init of itself, thanks for explaining that to me.”
“I had my interview a week ago but have not received an email confirmation that my interviewer (an alumnus and not adcom) has submitted their feedback. I’ve read that usually candidates receive a confirmation - can anyone confirm that this still is expected? submitted by /u/Status-Arm-4392 [link] [comments]”
“Recruitment Advisor emailed me saying the director of the program who I had interview with will connect back with me for feedback and results of my admission. Does this mean, I am being rejected from the grad program? submitted by /u/dark-555 [link] [comments]”
Yeah but OP was told they'd hear back by Monday, and they waited until Friday to send the message. They asked for an update. Why couldn't a recruiter just send a message…
“What it says on the tin. I went in for an office manager position. I did the interview and it turned out really well. When I left it was with a firm handshake and an understanding I had the job. To the point I had submitted I9 documents. I call after not hearing from him for a few days to ask what's going on. He says he'll get back to me at the end of the week, he's interviewing other candidates. I think that is hella strange but stay polite. I call back when no contact today (Friday”
“Isn't this kind of ridiculous? I have been in the post interview waitlist for CBS since Round 1 of last year. I've sent multiple updates, including one that says I need to hear from them soon so that I can make my plans. No correspondence back from them. No rejection, no acceptance. Are they just going to keep me on the waitlist until the first day of classes and never give a rejection? What's going on? Should I just forget about them? submitted by /u/Glittering_Fly_8937”
“This one stings. I applied on 6/18/2026 and received the rejection email today. I really thought I'd at least get a first round interview because I had a literal executive referral. I'm trying to transition out of the automotive industry after 7+ years (sales, sales management, and F&I). I have a BBA in Finance from a flagship university in the SE and have been applying to sales, AE, business development, and related roles. For those of you who've successfully made a similar care”
“I had three interviews, one over the phone with the hiring manager, one zoom with the Director of the department, and another in person with two managers. I sent an email two days after my interview person interview thanking them for their time, and asking if there were any updates. The hiring manager sent an email four days later thanking me for reaching out and said the Director was on vacation until the following week and that he had to meet with his team but ended the email with “from what I”
“I did a interview for fast food and i called them to schedule it and the interviewer asked me normal questions but instead of saying she’ll call back she said she’ll call back at specific time, date and time. She also referenced that i need an id and ssn? Has this happened to to you, did u get it, do u think ill get it? submitted by /u/Longjumping-Sir2274 [link] [comments]”
“Hey buddy. Wanted to circle back on this. I was rejected 14 hours ago. So I guess maybe 45 days after my application.”
“Don't overthink. It was somehow similar with the job I got the offer from in the end. Could be that key decission makers are busy, so recruiter has to wait to align with them. It'd be nice if they rewponded to your emails, yes :p”
“I sent a job application for target around the end of June, called on June 29th to check up on the application and found out the position I applied for wasn’t hiring, that being the electronic section, was told during the call that the position wasn’t hiring, but they gave me a virtual interview for clothing, fast forward that night I get an email telling me I got rejected, called the next day to find out what happened and well my interview was still active for clothing, just that the email I ha”
“It varies depending on how big or small your company is and whether it's local or MNC. I did several interviews with a local, relatively small (5-15 staff) team, and heard back from HR within 1-2 days and got the offer within a week. Whereas I also did an interview for 2 expat roles and it is a relatively slow, more demanding process. Best of luck!”
“Second, they sent a questionnaire (which is a standard response for some companies) then said you're hired. This happened in just a few days”
“Well in this case, how long was the process before submitting application / resume and being given the job?”
“I always heard about people going through multi-step/stage interviews but ive never had one before. I had three interviews (all on Microsoft Teams) all of which went well and they legitimately told me they felt really good about me and the third interview one of the people on the call said "well this was a great interview" during the wrap up. Two days later I got the email saying "although we were impressed with your qualifications" etc. Sucks because it was a job in the indu”
“Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/comments/1uhgh4j/boss_is_emailing_me_asking_about_my_first_shift/ TLDR: This spring, I applied for a seasonal job I had worked for the past two summers. I was never sent a job offer or given indication I had been hired. Checked with friends who were hired for the job and they confirmed they had received emailed offers. I accepted that I had not gotten the job. I got another job and moved on with my life. A few weeks ago, I got an email from my old bos”
“Pre interviews. Over the phone at least a day or two in advanced. Pros do this all the time. It helps you understand what the guest is good and/or interested in talking about. Also, during the interview, listen really closely and ask followup questions. Show youre interested. If youre truely interested and engaged, your audience will be too.”
“What was the interview process like? Currently completed 2 rounds for IM role. Been three weeks since the interview but haven’t heard anything. I even sent a follow up just to show my interest”
“But you never declined...you just left them hanging. I see two unprofessional people.”
“https://preview.redd.it/wt2qitzswfdh1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9806c52653d32631eccf78f22efccd250f700eed this is 485 i had interview on june 9 then no update, and start today july 14 i got this change, not sure what this mean submitted by /u/ImpactAdventurous436 [link] [comments]”
“Not sure what I’m looking to get out this post, maybe some reasoning to why this happens or reassurance. I was in a month long interview process with PracticePanther, a well established company/product in Legal Tech. Pre-recorded video interview, a role play interview i had to prepare 2 hours+ for, another interview with the Director of Sales, and after all that and nailing it all, one final call with the CEO. We vibed well, shot the shit over sports, went through how I’m (over) qualified for th”
“I have a phone screening in 40 minutes where I'm supposed to call the screener. I've been preparing I've got some printed out notes. This is a literal phone call not a virtual meeting. I really want this job. It's a Linux shop with apache, squid, my SQL, redis. They want Python and ansible. Every job I get ends up being this very broad general rule where I'm doing three jobs and I'm getting paid for less than one. This job would be literally titled infrastructure Engineer”
“pot-pandemic this is common. the teams knows when offers are made to new candidates. the start dates are told sometimes. sometimes it gets changed by a week and no one is told.”
“I had a virtual 1 way interview 2 weeks ago and haven’t heard back yet. I know that there was the holiday but I would have expected to hear back by now. Right after the interview I sent a follow up email to thank them for the opportunity to interview. Would it come across to desperate/annoying to email again asking about the job? Or, would it come across as determined? It is cut throat out in my area right now. I have applied to several jobs and have been denied an interview for a lot of them. I”