Here’s how to respond.
Photographs: Pexels
Text: Leslea Petersen
In Denmark, interviews are often more like a conversation over coffee, and clients can leave feeling that the job is in the bag. The conversation went well; you answered all the questions, and it was relaxed and, dare I say it, a fun experience.
Then, tumbleweed. Nothing. No response and no follow-up from the hiring manager. You feel demotivated and wonder what happened.
Did I say the wrong thing? What did I miss out on? Did I ask the right questions? Did I offend the recruiter? All these questions are running through your head, and you wonder why you can’t get a response after what felt like the perfect interview.
Sadly, ghosting candidates is alive and well in the land of the Vikings.
Over 61% of job candidates have been ghosted after the first interview (According to the hiring platform Greenhouse). That’s a lot of hopeful job seekers being treated appallingly by any organisation. Recruiters, it takes no effort to send out a follow-up email saying they won’t be taken further in the hiring process. Even if it is that informal, at least let the candidate know so they can move on.
So, what can you do as a job seeker to gain the best response and follow-up?
Here are a few rules to follow in any interview process:
Be polite
I always tell my clients to follow up after an interview where possible and thank the panel for their time. Even if you don’t want the job, you never know if something else will come up in the future, and you want to leave a good impression. This also shows your desire to work for the organisation and your appreciation for the opportunity. If you want the job and don’t hear back within a week, send a further email enquiring about how the interview process is going.
Evaluate your performance
Were you prepared? Nothing worse than turning up to an interview without spending time researching everything you can about the role and company. Even better if you know who will be interviewing you! Find common ground or a mutual contact if that will help. It’s a perfect scenario if you have an old colleague or connection who can put in a good word for you with the interviewer.
How did you answer the questions? Were you concise, or did you take too long and add irrelevant information? Practice questions and examples from your work experience so you are ready for any eventuality. If you need a few ideas about what to ask at your interview, read my previous article, How to nail that interview.
Always finish by asking about the next steps in the interview process (if they don’t clarify). This gives you an idea of whether you will go to the next stage and allows you to follow up if you don’t hear back. Try and ask for an exact date when you should receive confirmation, and will it be a call or email?
Keep applying
Don’t wait after what feels like a successful interview and not apply for other jobs. Until you have signed that contract, it isn’t yours, even after a verbal agreement. Keep looking for the right roles, send off applications while you are waiting to hear back. Maximise every opportunity and maintain the momentum. Just getting to an interview can feel like success in Denmark, so use that excitement, as it will show in your next application.
But I was still ghosted
And after following the rules, feeling positive and hopeful and getting the right vibes, you still get ghosted - it’s not your fault! It might be a red flag for that organisation, and you can feel relief, or they may have filled that role internally, put the job on hold or cut the budget. It could be any of those reasons. Nothing you do or say can change that.
But - and this is a big one - never send an angry email telling the organisation they stink if you don’t hear back! I know it hurts, and you are full of disappointment, but Denmark is a small country. You might end up at an interview with another company, and the same hiring manager has now moved to that organisation! Ouch!
Remain professional, put your shoulders back, and look forward to the next opportunity. Your job is out there, and after a few disappointments over the years, it really was great that I never ended up in any of those companies. I breathed a sigh of relief a few times when I heard about either the work environment or who would have been my boss.
Focus on you and what you can learn from this experience, and find an organisation that will benefit from you and your expertise. Their loss job seeker!