Ghosted by HR, Now What?

My Interviews Went Well, Now it’s Radio Silence

You completed three rounds of interviews, a technical case study and a super day. The MDs said that they loved you and you would be a great fit. HR said they’d get back to you within two weeks. No they’ve gone dark.

What happened?

It’s not you—it’s you.

Among millennials, ghosting means cutting lines of communication abruptly. Although the term is often used in the context of Tinder dates, it has become common practice during the investment banking recruiting process. You go out a few times, things seem great, and then … silence.

In recruiting, as IRL, ghosting is NEVER a good sign. If you have not heard from HR, a hiring manager or the recruiter within a week of your last interaction, you probably won’t be getting an offer. If you do eventually hear from the firm, you probably were NOT their first choice. As you start to negotiate an offer, their lukewarm vibes will be apparent. I understand this is NOT what you want to hear. In investment banking recruiting, no news is most likely bad news. 

Unfortunately, it is very challenging to break the cone of silence. Although you may want closure, banks are very unlikely to give bad news. They typically don’t provide “what went wrong” feedback. Not sure emailing the HR manager will get anywhere. The one exception is if you work with a recruiter.

Sometimes, recruiters do receive specific candidate feedback from the employer. Unfortunately, the feedback they receive is often way too brutal to share. Although you may be looking for something constructive, they may not have anything constructive to share with you. Silver lining: If a recruiter starts bringing up other opportunities, take this as a sign that they like you and although you did not receive an offer from Target Firm A, they are willing to continue working with you to rehome you. 

How to Handle Being Ghosted by HR 

Scenario A 

A recruiter or HR manager recently reached out via Linkedin or an email and told you that they have a fantastic opportunity at Bank ABC. Although you expressed interest, said recruiter has not gotten back to you. What is going on?

Recruiters and HR managers use software and boolean search to help “identify” potential candidates for open roles. If you respond that you are interested, they will quickly screen your Linkedin profile to see if you are a suitable fit. If you do not hear back for the role, don’t take it personally. Feel free to reach back out with a copy of your resume to show that you are serious about making a move. Even if this role is not perfect for you, the recruiter or HR manager will more likely than not add your resume to their database.

Stating that you want to make an eventual move or asking to hop on the phone to introduce yourself in a hot market may or may not elicit a response. Recruiters and hiring managers are interested in filling their open roles. That is how they get compensated. Be respectful of people’s time. 

Scenario B

You recently took a modeling test, completed a technical interview or case study. Unfortunately, now your hot relationship with the bank has gone cold. You keep going through the scenario in your head and upon reflection you realize that you screwed up on the technicals. Your balance sheet didn’t balance. You had spelling errors and your grammar sucked. No amount of apologizing is going to fix this. You are done. Understand your mistakes and move on. 

If all else goes well and you screw up the case study, the recruiter will likely continue working with you. This is a good sign. Don’t be defensive or argumentative. JUST MOVE ON!

What Are “Case Studies”?

There are 2 types:

1. “Take-Home” Case Studies – You get an extended period (a few days to a week) to work on these, complete your analysis, and then present your findings.
2. “On the Spot” Case Studies – You do these on the spot at interviews or at home and you only have 1-2 hours to create a coherent presentation.

Usually the case study centers on a question such as:

• Company X wants to acquire one of these 3 companies. Which one should they acquire, and why?
• Company Y needs to raise capital – should they raise debt or equity, and what’s the best way to do it?
• Company Z wants to expand – should they acquire another company, merge, or continue to grow organically?

As you might have guessed, you need to make a concrete decision to succeed with case studies. Practice makes perfect. Don’t screw it up. 

Scenario C

It’s finally time to meet the Group Head. You’ve been told this is the last hurdle and it’s really just a “check the box” interview. Maybe you had an off day, maybe he had a pitch blew up. Whatever the reason, the interview was off.

Although you may have been their bae, you just got bumped to the friend zone. You aren’t out but you are definitely no longer their first choice. You may or may not still be in the running. They have not decided what to do with you yet. I strongly recommend that you go on other interviews and continue the process elsewhere. If you get another offer, you can socialize it and see if you can shake something loose. Without another bid you may just be SOL. 

Job Seekers are Ghosting Employers as Well

Employers have “ghosted” applicants for years. But in a display of economic karma, we are seeing job seekers cut communication with potential employers once they get other offers or lose interest. They can pull it off because job market is hot.

According to Human Resources Magazine, more than half of candidates ghosted because they realized the role wasn’t right for them, while 40% claimed they received an offer elsewhere.

There were also those who didn’t like the offer from the recruiter, either finding the salary (22%) or benefits (15%) underwhelming.

Other reasons included the following:

• They weren’t comfortable telling the recruiter they had changed their mind (26%).
• They had general communication problems with the recruiter (13%).
• They just didn’t know what to do so they ghosted (11%).