Nothing!

If you’ve ever job hunted, you know how brutally tiring the job hunting process can be. It’s not easy. You will need to be thick-skinned and mentally prepared because applying for jobs will be mentally taxing and at certain points, you will feel like giving up.

Some weeks, your motivation might plummet so low because you haven’t heard anything after applying to so many jobs. Other weeks, it might feel like you’ve got job interviews lined up.

Not to mention! There are recruiters who will contact you just to ghost you! It’s so frustrating and annoying! 

For example, you might log on to LinkedIn on a Monday morning and notice that you’ve got an email. You clicked on the tab and it opened to a generic and computer automated email that might say something along the lines of:

Hello, my name is Karen. I have a client who is looking for [Position Name]. I thought your profile looks great and think you might be a great fit! Please let me know a time and phone number to reach you if you are interested!

Here’s a tip for you. Whenever a recruiter says, “Your profile looks great” it’s a sure-fire way of them saying, “I just found you online and didn’t even bother reading too much about your profile. You’re desperate so here, just read this generic message I am sending to you and 1000 other people.”

Those Times I Got Ghosted on LinkedIn

Here is an actual play out of one time I got ghosted from a recruiter on LinkedIn. The recruiter sent me a message on LinkedIn and she copied and pasted this in the chat box:

Entry Level Finance – Job Opportunity – Downtown Minneapolis

Hi Kia,

I hope you are having a great week! I am reaching out regarding a Security Ops Service Specialist 3 (entry level finance position) that I have available with our premier financial client in downtown Minneapolis. Judging by your profile, I think your experience looks great! If you are in the job market, I would love to connect. Feel free to reply with an updated resume and the best number to reach out. Look forward to hearing from you!

Karen Baskin—[Made up name cause you know I so respect the integrity of recruiters who had shown me the same respect.]

Associate Account Manager

By the way, please don’t be so happy when recruiters say “GREAT FIT” or “I love your profile” because they are probably sending an automated and generic message. If you’re just starting the job hunting process, it can take a while to recognize automated messages from authentic ones.

Being the respectful person I was and hoping for an interview, I replied:

Hello Karen, 

Thank you for reaching out. Yes, I’d be interested in this opportunity as I am in the job market right now. Please find attached my updated resume. You can reach me at 123-456-789.  I look forward to talking with you soon!

Kia

That was the reply I sent the day I received the message. Two weeks later, Karen still hadn’t responded. That’s when I knew I got ghosted.

Over the next three months, I will eventually get ghosted by five more recruiters.

So, What Next?

But that’s not the point of the article, is it? You’re here to learn what to do when a recruiter ghosts you, right?

You’ve seen the answer at the top and you will see it here again: Nothing! You can spend 30-45 minutes drafting a polite message to remind the recruiter to give you a reply and receive nothing in the end. Or, you can move on.

Yep. Move on. Yes, it sucks when you get ghosted. But here is something you need to know:

You can choose to get angry, or you can choose to refocus your energy on something productive and move on. Would you rather waste the next few days of your life brooding over how ungrateful these people are, or would you rather spend that energy looking for your next opportunity?

There is no right or wrong answer because it’s your life and your choice. At least you’ve earned that much. But just know that there are other opportunities out there for you. If you don’t get this one, it’s simply because a better one is out there waiting for you…or this is a sign that you should start your own thing.

Your own business.

On a side note, let’s end this article with an important question for recruiters: Why would you reach out to folks if you’re just looking for leads? Like, everyone knows you make commissions off of people you help get hired (if you, the reader, didn’t already know this, you should look it up on Google). Don’t message folks on LinkedIn if you aren’t even vested in their future!

Alright, that’s all. Good luck out there folks! You can do this!

I’d love to know your recruiter ghost story or anything you want to add to this thread. Comment down below.