Do you send applicants a rejection email or do you ghost? I interview eight to ten people a day and we hire one out of twenty or so people we interview. I don't have time to send emails to everyone. So, I'm sorry to say, I ghost. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

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I recruit for a school and everyone that we interact with and do not move forward with gets a message. We do not utilize a fancy system like ADP or ICIMS, we simply use Indeed and it is set to send a rejection email or message after we click an x. It’s just best practice. No one likes a company that ghosts people.

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Exactly this. You will get what you give. We like to treat people the way we want them to treat our clientele. Since we are in a more rural area, we may need that relationship in the future.

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Why would you ghost people? If they took the time to interview with your organization, then you should have the courtesy and professionalism to send a rejection email, even if short and simple.

If you have the time to interview them, then you should have more than enough time to do that. I am in your same position and interview just as many candidates.

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5/5/26 0947am
do we really care?
the application process is filtered via computer, anyway...so why place much store in what a damn computer thinks?
key words and applicant monikers seem to be the basis of the application process.
if they have blackened your name then it's a dead cert the computer and digital software is gonna reject you. irrespective of what the M. D thinks.
maybe get on to who is feeding the company or job search website information regards your persona?

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What you wrote doesn’t reflect a heavy workload. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the job you hold. If communication with candidates feels optional to you, then you’re not doing Human Resources — you’re doing administrative triage and calling it leadership.

Ghosting isn’t efficiency. It’s negligence dressed up as time management. Every applicant you interview is a person rearranging their life, their schedule, and their hope around the process you oversee. If acknowledging them feels like an inconvenience, the issue isn’t volume. It’s your regard for the people you’re evaluating.

When someone in HR openly admits they don’t have time for basic professionalism, it’s not a confession. It’s a disqualification

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Any decent ATS should make sending a rejection letter the easiest thing you will do all all day. If you don’t have that option you need to make an effort. Draft a short note you can copy/paste. But do something! Ghosting is the worst and will give your company a bad rap.

If you’re aware that you’re going to ghost candidates, do us all a favor and don’t say “we’ll get back to you” when you know you won’t. That’s just lazy and cruel.

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If a candidate gets an interview, they will get feedback from me. If they just apply and are not selected for interview, I don't typically reach out to them.

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100% send every single Applicant communications as I move them through the hiring process. I look at every single application and resume. NO AI. I do not believe in ghosting. If someone takes the time to apply, they deserve a response, including a rejection email....every time!

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Create a template in your drafts folder with a standard email response thanking the candidate for their time and interest. Wish them the best in their future endeavors and invite them to apply again in the future (if applicable). Think of it this way, these folks will talk to several people about their experience with your company, it's an opportunity to support your brand and reputation.

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I live by the Golden Rule - treat others as I'd like to be treated. I want to know where I stand. I want to give the respect back to our applicants. With all of the Talent technology out there, it only takes seconds to generate a response to someone. They will appreciate it. In the future when there are other openings they may be qualified for, they'll be happy to apply and feel good about the company.

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Wow that’s awful on so many levels. After someone spends their time preparing for, and takes the time to interview, the least you could do is let them know they haven’t been selected. I once worked for a company where the CEO wanted us to offer feedback on why they weren’t selected. That would not only be very timely but also risky. A simple template rejection email would go a long way.

There's a difference between "applicants" and interviewees. I can not possibly respond to all of our applicants, that would be almost a full time, but if we interview someone I let them know our decision. I do my best to ensure our company does not get a bad reputation. Also, who know, the person you hire may not work out and you'll have to go through the process again - the other good candidates you "ghosted" will no longer be interested.

It is simply bad form to ghost people. As others have noted, the candidates took the time and effort to apply to your position and your company - depending on your hiring system, that could be a significant amount of effort. Be a good human and at least communicate something back to every applicant letting them know they didn't make it. Or if you cannot be a good human, at least do some good PR for your company and communicate on their behalf.

So, you somehow have the time in your life to interview 20 people for 1 role, but can't find the time to close the loop for people, and you do this repeatedly.

Just cause the market is getting used to getting ghosted, doesn't mean the people involved aren't actual humans with hopes, bills, goals, and took the time to apply and interview. How does it feel for you when you offer a job and they just ghost you?

We've reached the point where candidates can't even get feedback anymore so they can improve, or maybe even understand why they weren't chosen. The least you could do is open a single email - assuming you don't have an ATS or HRIS that can handle that for you, and copy 19 emails into the BCC section and send out a generic, "sorry, not this time". It sounds like "sometimes you got to do what you do" is screaming to people "why would I even want to work there".

The current market is horrible for people. HR is and has been cut/merged/running so lean no one can even have time to breath, and you're over here doing the least possible common decency thing you could do.

I am of the opinion that companies that ghost applicants—that is, cease communication after engaging with them—engage in institutional betrayal. This practice is detrimental to the employer's reputation and can suggest a corrosive, dysfunctional culture, as it violates trust by demonstrating a disregard for the applicant's humanity and time.

I'm happy to see all of these responses. Ghosting seemed to be a thing forever and very frustrating to the candidate. With ATS systems, I never understood why it was so hard for the recruiter not to push out a rejection email. I always made a point to do send them, even when ghosting was more fashionable.

Worked as an HCMA for the state. Pipeline and regular positions received thousands of applicants and I absolutely sent them an email through Taleo. The fact that you even have to ask is mind boggling. But I guess it won’t affect you until you’re on the non email receiving end.

Yes. Because for me it’s only 2 seconds out of my day and our system automatically does it when I mark the position as filled. I’ve used multiple systems so I don’t understand why companies don’t have the automation set.

If I reject it auto sends an email. If I mark someone else as hired everyone else gets a sorry email

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