I had an initial call with HR for a UX role that started out normally. The recruiter walked through the position details, salary expectations, and travel requirements. When we reached the part of the conversation where I was supposed to talk through my experience, the recruiter said they had to jump to another meeting and didn’t want me to rush. They told me they would call me back at 12:45 to continue.
12:45 came and went. No call.
I emailed afterward to reschedule and received no response. The following day I called and left a message. Again, no response.
Things happen and schedules change, but setting a specific callback time and then completely ghosting a candidate shows a lack of professionalism and basic respect for someone’s time. If the role was no longer a fit or priorities changed, a quick email would have taken less than a minute.
Instead, the process ended with silence.
Candidates invest time preparing and making themselves available for interviews. The least a company can do is follow through on the commitments they make during the process.