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Without a doubt, it’s been a job seeker’s market for the past few years, and many people feel it’s perfectly fine to ghost a prospective employer. In a survey from the business review company Clutch, 41 percent of people looking for work said ghosting a potential employer is a reasonable thing to do.

But this job seeker’s market won’t last forever, and being unresponsive is a bad habit to fall into. If you’ve been unresponsive to a number of companies in your industry, these employers may not be as open to speaking with you when opportunities are tight. Furthermore, ghosting shows a lack of business acumen. Time is money and when you take your time, you’re wasting money.

Responsiveness Defines Your Personal Brand

We often pick whom we want to work with based on their responsiveness. Your communication with a business during the application period speaks volumes about you as a potential employee.

Ghosting also shows a dearth of professionalism. If don’t respond to emails for several days, you are costing the recruiter time and money. As an employee, this lack of responsiveness would also waste money. Companies want people who will help navigate roadblocks, not become them. Bottom line: The professional thing to do is to be responsive.

This isn’t to say you should respond to every automated recruiter email. However, if you are having interactions with an actual human being, you need to be a consummate professional.

How to be More Responsive to Recruiters

Sometimes, not being responsive simply comes down to being busy and forgetful. Setting calendar app events is a great way to make sure you get back to people in a timely manner. You could also set aside time during the day to respond to all job search emails.

A lack of responsiveness could also come down to not knowing what to say. In this situation, it’s important to start with a clear understanding of how you feel about the opportunity.

• If a recruiter reaches out to you about a job you really want, your response should simply convey enthusiasm and appreciation. Consider something along the lines of: “Thank you so much for contacting me. I’d love to talk more about this great opportunity.”
• If you’re on the fence about an opportunity, let the recruiter know you’d like to learn more about it and the company. A good response would be something like: “This opportunity sounds very interesting to me, and I’d love to learn more details.”
• If you’re not interested in the opportunity, politely inform the recruiter and let them know you appreciate their consideration of you for the role. This type of response would be something like: “Thanks so much for reaching out to me, but I’m not sure this position would be a good fit for me at this moment.”

In all three situations, you’re leaving the door open to further communications and building a potentially valuable connection. It doesn’t take much effort to be responsive, and the payoff of that minimal effort could be landing a dream job.

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At ZDA, we’re driven to help folks find success in the supply chain industry. Please contact us today to find out how we can help you.