Candidate Ghosting Is a Product Problem

Let’s Stop Blaming Candidates

Ask any recruiter what’s broken in hiring right now, and somewhere in the first two sentences, you’ll hear it:

“People just ghost now. It’s out of control.”

But what if it’s not the people?

What if the ghosting epidemic is actually a design failure? What if your candidates are dropping off, not because they’re disrespectful — but because the system you’re using was built to be ignored?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Candidate ghosting is a product problem. And most recruiting tools are designed to produce it.

Ghosting Is the Natural Outcome of a Bad Experience

Think about the typical journey a candidate goes through:

1. They find a generic job post.
2. They fill out a multi-step form.
3. They upload a resume that no one reads.
4. They receive a templated email saying “Thanks for applying.”
5. Then? Silence. For days. Sometimes forever.
6. Or worse, they get a link to a one-way video interview that feels like a chore.
7. If they engage, there’s no human follow-up. No feedback. Just limbo.

Would you stick around for that?

Of course not.

We talk about “candidate engagement,” but everything about this experience says: We don’t respect your time, your energy, or your story.

The drop-off isn’t a mystery. It’s a rational response.

Candidates Don’t Ghost People. They Ghost Systems.

At Asendia, we’ve studied this across hundreds of flows. We’ve talked to candidates, reviewed data, and run experiments.

Here’s what we found:

• Drop-off rates on traditional ATS flows are often 50–70%
• One-way video interviews get 30–45% completion on average
• Candidates are 3× more likely to reply on WhatsApp/SMS than email or InMail
• Personalized outreach increases conversion by 4–5x

In short: When you treat candidates like humans, they act like humans.

When you treat them like entries in a pipeline? They disappear.

We break this down in more detail in our post: AI Recruiter Outreach Strategy: How We Hit 80% Completion Rates

So What Actually Works?

Here’s what we’ve learned at Asendia by running Sarah — our AI recruiter — across 4,000+ talent sources.

1. Meet Candidates Where They Are Email is crowded. InMail is ignored. But everyone checks their phone.

Sarah reaches out via WhatsApp, SMS, and async video — and starts a real conversation.

2. Make It Conversational, Not Transactional Instead of forms or “upload your resume,” Sarah asks questions naturally, gives context, and builds trust — all without the friction of logging into anything.

3. Give Candidates Something in Return Sarah provides structured feedback at the end of every AI interview — clarity, scoring, and next steps.

This is critical. Ghosting doesn’t happen when people feel seen.

4. Eliminate the Resume Step Resumes slow everything down. We explain why in The Resume Is Dead.

Instead, Sarah builds structured candidate profiles based on real conversations, so you’re not chasing people who were never serious.

This Isn’t Theory. It’s Happening Right Now.

Here’s what teams using Sarah are seeing:

• 82% AI interview completion rate (via mobile channels)
• 4× higher reply rate to first outreach message
• 50% faster time to shortlist
• Lower ghosting in final stages, because the intent is real from the start

Ghosting doesn’t just drop — it becomes rare. Because the people in the process actually want to be there.

For more data, check out: How AI Recruiters Are Transforming the Hiring Landscape

What You Can Try This Week

Here’s a play you can run right now:

1. Identify a high-drop-off role in your pipeline
2. Run that role through Asendia
3. Let Sarah handle outreach and interviews via SMS/WhatsApp
4. Track: completion rate, time to shortlist, and follow-up engagement

Compare it to your legacy process. The difference won’t be subtle.

Final Word

Ghosting isn’t a moral failure. It’s not a generational problem. It’s a design problem.

Most tools were built for applicant volume — not candidate experience. They optimize for control, not trust. Efficiency, not engagement.

At Asendia, we decided to build something different. Sarah doesn’t chase. She connects. She doesn’t spam. She listens. And that’s why candidates stay.

You can keep blaming ghosting. Or you can fix the tools that cause it.

Your call.

— Badis Zormati

Co-Founder, Asendia AI

Builder of Sarah. Exorcist of ghosting.

Further reading on this topic:

• AI Outreach Strategy: Hitting 80% Completion
• The Resume Is Dead
• 50 Demos Before Launch

Want to see how this plays out in your pipeline? Launch your first role →