Did they ghost you? • Hacker News Board

Re: Did they ghost you?

#71

Post by dasil003 » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:50 PM UTC

As a hiring manager I take candidate experience seriously because I know it’s easy to get wrong and leave people with a really bad taste in their mouth at a sensitive time.

As a candidate, though, I have learned not to take offense to being ghosted or the million other indignities that one is subjected to in a modern interview pipeline. It’s just a part of the modern economy, and far from the worst one. As terrible as it is, it’s not a hill worth dying on, suck it up and just move on with your search.

Re: Did they ghost you?

#72

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:53 PM UTC

This should include the hiring manager, recruiter or other point of contact. Particularly at large companies. That aligns individual incentives with the goal of reducing this behavior.

Re: Did they ghost you?

#73

Post by sampli » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:53 PM UTC

sccvcxv wrote: post #70

brandall10 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had this happen at the beginning of the pandemic. Did well on the full loop. The Friday of that week the recruiter reaches out to get references. A week goes by, I hear nothing. I contact one of my references, they heard nothing. A month later another recruiter from the company reaches out and explains the recruiter I was talking to was let go that day. Told me in the system that I was approved to hire, but unfortuna…

It should be illegal to ask for references - the purpose of the interview is to understand your capabilities and abilities. If they couldn't suss all about you in that process then they have a shitty interview process.

You sound like someone that is frequently calling in sick!

Re: Did they ghost you?

#74

Post by sccvcxv » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

sampli wrote: post #73

sccvcxv wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be illegal to ask for references - the purpose of the interview is to understand your capabilities and abilities. If they couldn't suss all about you in that process then they have a shitty interview process.

You sound like someone that is frequently calling in sick!

[flagged]

Re: Did they ghost you?

#75

Post by okasaki » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:56 PM UTC

rubylimetea wrote: post #20

Is ghosting really such a big deal? Wait until you get an overly smug rejection letter that the author seemed too eager to write, and took too much joy in writing. Some people love to reject, and would never miss an opportunity. Another angle is - If you've been ghosted, you still have not been told no. That means there's no record of you ever getting denied for the position. (and maybe you really haven't been) It's…

Yeah, I don't get it. I think nothing is about the same as getting a generic "unfortunately" email.

And I actually prefer nothing to unsolicited feedback. I don't give a shit about what someone who can't even spell principal thinks about me.

Re: Did they ghost you?

#76

Post by SoftTalker » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:56 PM UTC

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #38

arcade79 wrote: post #10

Anecdotal, I know, but I was ghosted by Google back in 2004-2005 or thereabouts. Back and forth with a recruiter, who promised me that she would book phone screens. Then heard nothing. Pinged her repeatedly. Nothing. A few years later got another Google recruiter after me. Ended up getting hired in 2008. Looked up the previous recruiter. Her last day at the company was the day she promised she would book phone screen…

A few years ago I was "between roles" and applied for a developer position at Roku. For a short time they seemed moderately interested, and I exchanged a few emails with a senior in-house recruiter. And then they went completely quiet - no response to my follow-up emails. So I just put it behine me and got on with looking for a job. Just over a year later I received an email from another in-house recruiter at Roku, t…

And they didn't address the delay at all in their response to you?

Re: Did they ghost you?

#77

Post by ethagnawl » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:57 PM UTC

I've been meaning to write something up about this myself but, suffice it to say, I've been asking myself this question a lot lately.

Re: Did they ghost you?

#78

Post by enos_feedler » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:57 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Did they ghost you?

#79

Post by fHr » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:57 PM UTC

Nice name and shame

Re: Did they ghost you?

#80

Post by paulddraper » Sat, Jul 25, 2026, 11:59 PM UTC

sccvcxv wrote: post #70

brandall10 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had this happen at the beginning of the pandemic. Did well on the full loop. The Friday of that week the recruiter reaches out to get references. A week goes by, I hear nothing. I contact one of my references, they heard nothing. A month later another recruiter from the company reaches out and explains the recruiter I was talking to was let go that day. Told me in the system that I was approved to hire, but unfortuna…

It should be illegal to ask for references - the purpose of the interview is to understand your capabilities and abilities. If they couldn't suss all about you in that process then they have a shitty interview process.

> purpose of the interview is to understand your capabilities and abilities

And the purpose of the reference is to understand your actual performance.

If you’re lazy or cruel to coworkers, they won’t want to hire you.