People hate to get “ghosted” in any situation, personal or professional. But for job seekers who may already be struggling with self-esteem, it can be particularly devastating. Ghost Reply is a new online service that will help you compose and send an email nudge to the ghoster, sending a “kind reminder” telling them how unprofessional it is to leave someone hanging like that.
Ghost Reply wants to help you reach catharsis in all of this stressful mess of finding a job. Almost all of the problems and feelings are compounded by this confounded pandemic that has decimated areas of the workforce and taken jobs and threatened people’s financial security. It is understandable to want to lash out at those in power, and sending a Ghost Reply email to the recruiter or HR person may make you feel better in the short term.
In the long run, though, will it solve anything? Ghost Reply suggests it may make the HR person or recruiter reevaluate their hiring processes, indicating this type of email may help them see the error of their ways and start replying to all potential candidates. If it helps them reassess and be more considerate in the future and helps you find closure in the application/interview process, that would be the ideal outcome on all fronts. It is not likely this will happen, though.
The Ghost Reply sample email has the subject line “You have a message from a candidate!” Then it begins, “Hi, (name), You’re receiving this email because a past candidate feels like you ghosted them unfairly.” It then has a space for said candidate to add on any personal notes regarding the recruiter or process while remaining anonymous.
I get it. It’s upsetting to have someone disappear after you’ve spent time and energy applying, possibly even interviewing, only to hear nothing but crickets back from the recruiter or HR person you interacted with. It’s happened to me more than once, and it’s no bueno. We all want to be seen. We all want to be valued. Ghosting is hurtful. The frustration and disappointment, even anger, that you feel is certainly relatable. According to several sources, being ghosted after applying for a job is one of the top complaints from job seekers on the market today.
Will an anonymous, passive-aggressive email achieve your end? Will the chastened company representative suddenly have a lightbulb go off over their heads, creating a wave of change in company policy? I don’t see it. The first sentence of the sample email, in fact, is not going to be well received by HR.
When you start talking about what’s “unfair,” most HR people will tune out immediately. That kind of language in itself is unprofessional and is a red flag to many people. Once you work at a company and know its culture and have built relationships, then, maybe, just maybe, can you start talking about your work-related feelings. I believe in talking about our feelings, but rarely is a work scenario the best place to do so (I speak from experience). Calling it unprofessional is better, less about you and more about the other person’s behavior.
However, it’s unclear how productive Ghost Reply actually is. Or how anonymous, frankly. By process of deduction, the recipient of the email may be able to figure out who sent it, if it even makes it through the company’s spam filters. Even if they cannot pinpoint the exact person, it may cast doubts on several applicants or leave a bad taste in the recruiter’s mouth. It sounds like sour grapes, which is never a good thing.
There may be any number of reasons you didn’t get the job offer or interview, and they may or may not have something to do with you. Recruiters answer your burning questions, including why you may have been ghosted in this recent article in The American Genius.
Ultimately, you will never know why they ghosted you. If it makes you feel better or at least see the issue from both sides, the amount of job candidates ghosting recruiters after applying and even interviewing is equally high. Some people simply either have awful time management skills or awful manners, and at the end of the day, there’s not much you can do about that.
Focus on your own survival while job hunting, instead of these disappointing moments or the person who ghosts you. It will serve you better in the long run than some anonymous revenge email. There are other ways to deal with your frustration and anger when you do get ghosted, though. Try the classic punching your pillow. Try taking a walk around the block. If it helps to put your frustration into words, and it very well may, then do so. Write it on a piece of paper, then burn it. Or type it all in an email and delete it. For your own sake, do NOT put their email address in the “To” line, lest you accidentally hit “Send.”
The sooner you can let it go, the sooner you can move on to finding a better job fit for you.
Beth Skinner
April 24, 2008 at 8:53 am
!!!YES!!! I have had to create more and more filters on my email account just to gather all the spam I get from Realtors, Title folk and Mortgage Brokers. The generic spam “buy viagra for 10 cents each!” doesn’t bother me as much as the people who purposely sit down and send me their listing/title/mortgage junk to the email address they either stole off my blog or got from my local board (which is another issue altogether).
And then there’s my boss who forwards the SAME spam to me as some sort of educational announcement I guess. Arrrrgggghhhh!!!
One company in the area who sends me agent spam all the time, recently emailed me and asked me to click on a link to verify my “subscription.” Since I never “subscribed” to begin with I didn’t click on it. Of course they still send me emails. Although I no longer see them because they’re set up to head directly to the trash now.
Sigh. I feel a little better now.
Irina Netchaev
April 24, 2008 at 8:54 am
Matt, I can not agree more with you. What a disgrace! It’s amazing how many properties show up on the MLS (forget the emails from agents) without pictures (yes… I know how hard it is to pick from a huge range of digital cameras!) or even a description of the property. I bet the seller of this home would be excited to know that everyone and their mother has access to enter their home. Very, very sad!
As far as the actual emails from agents – yes… they can be annoying. Although, once in awhile I get an email that is so well presented that it makes me look at the property again.
Julie Emery
April 24, 2008 at 9:17 am
The percentage of properties with no or one photo, no measurements and no school info is astonishing. In a tough market it’s actually rising! I understand that agents listing REOs and short sales are often choosing to work for a lower commission to work in volume. But do the banks and the sellers of these properties understand what bad service they’re getting?!
You’d think basic professionalism would require some minimum standards of information provided!
Matthew Rathbun
April 24, 2008 at 10:06 am
Julie – I happen to think that MLS shouldn’t allow listings in MLS without a photo, but what do I know!?!?
At a minimum agents should remember that MLS is usually a database. If I do a search for homes over 2000 square feet and your listing matches all other criteria and maybe over 3000 square feet – but if you leave that field as zero or empty, it won’t come up.
Nick Bostic
April 24, 2008 at 10:33 am
I’m on the email list of an agent for a development that I am seriously interested in. She sent out a PDF flyer (annoyed already) of the last house to sell. I looked it over multiple times before finally emailing her and saying “Maybe I just missed it, but I didn’t see a price, bed/bath count or square footage. Did I overlook something?” The response was “Nope, here is the info you requested.”
Is it just me or are these things no-brainers if you want to move a listing?
Danilo Bogdanovic
April 24, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I used to work for a team that sent out email blasts every time someone had a new listing and when there was a price adjustment on any of the listings. The thing I heard most often from other agents was “You’re on that team that spams me with emails about their listings!”
As for the missing information…I guess some people just don’t get it.
John Lauber
April 24, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I’m with you on this one Matt. Now there’s a new “service” that will blast everyone in surrounding states. I’m in PA, they’re in NJ. I guess they want my referral since I’m not licensed there? As if I wasn’t getting enough of these things already, I need to get your Sunday open house announcement from NJ.
Full disclosure, I did use one of these services once. I regretted it, knowing CAN-SPAM, etc., and knowing how I feel about receiving them. Similarly, I’m not sure how the paper fliers are worth anything either. The trash can over the weekend gets filled by agents stopping in the office. I’m not sure how this archaic practice still sells homes (if it does). If my client search finds your home, I’ll show it. If my broker tour has your house on the list, I may be stopping by to see it. I think it’s a seller thing. The listing agent can say, “Look how technology savvy I am as I can email all the agents in the area about your listing.” And then they can forward the email to their seller. The seller thinks “wow”, while the agent that actually sells the house didn’t even see the email because it went to their junk folder, but they did find it on their MLS search for their client.
Like Danilo said. Some people just don’t get it on the details and lack of photos.
Glenn fm Naples
April 24, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Matt – glad you posted the questions. 🙂 I don’t mind getting e-mails announcing a new listing – I could have missed it from the hot sheet.
What I do dislike is just listed email from some real agent or real estate brokerage thousands of miles from their market! Guess with the cost of e-mail lists the agents or brokerage can justify the cost of acquisition of the list by sending to everyone on the list? However, imagine the seller hearing during the listing presentation “I send an e-mail announcement of your home to 50,000 real estate agents. Now, can another real estate agent beat that type of promotion?” LOL
Unfortunately today, the accuracy of the information is not as good as it could be and often times, the very information lacking could affect the DOM.
Melina Tomson
April 25, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I never understand sellers that hire people like this…don’t they realize that they have choices?
I love my delete button.
Eric- New Orleans Condos and Lofts
April 25, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I do not like getting most e-mails of properties from most realtors. However there are some very creative ones that I enjoy looking at. I do read them if its something of interest. To have no photos and decent copy is a disserive to the seller. In a way You should be glad we have some competitors like that since it means more business for us.
Jon Griffith
May 26, 2008 at 2:03 pm
E-mail is dead, in my opinion. The best way for me to get my information is to subscribe to it. If you intend to market through e-mail, you will, as consistently as the recipient tries to stop the mail, be looking for ways to make sure that they get it, and that’s a complete waste of time.
E-mail marketing campaigns, in order to be effective at all, need to be targeted campaigns focused on specific criteria. It also needs to be of value to the recipient. Nobody wants junk in their mail, and most people don’t have time to sift through what seems to be junk to find that diamond in the rough.
If I’m looking for a property for my client, I start with the MLS. If your property isn’t in the MLS, then perhaps you aren’t really a REALTOR, in which case, I’m not so sure I want to do business with you, unless choosing not to do so isn’t in the best interest of my client.
If I want specific information in this day and age, I go to the feed. I don’t rely on e-mail for anything more than specific, targeted communication designed to respond to the recipient’s previous request for information. If I send out any blanket e-mails, I always provide a way for the recipient to opt out.
RSS Feeds solve the problem of receiving crap in the inbox. When I want information about an area, I subscribe to the feed. When I want to know if someone posts a comment on this comment thread, I subscribe to the feed. I don’t mark the “send me an e-mail every time someone posts” checkbox on anything as long as there is a feed to monitor. That way, my feed reader can keep track of what I have and have not read, and I don’t have to fill up my mailbox with absolute useless junk.
I was recently added to some e-flyer database and I began receiving those idiotic flyers and I hadn’t initiated contact with the company to begin with. GRRRRR! No bueno.