'She ghosted me': Job candidate asked to come in for an interview, recruiter bails, candidate gives their supervisor a piece of his mind

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Aug 31, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

No one likes being stood up, especially if it's a job interview. In this case, the job candidate was actually contacted by a recruiter from the company, who was interested in him for a potential position and therefore asked if he'd be willing to come in for an interview. Well, he did and the recruiter ended up bailing entirely.

This is arguably worse than being stood up by a date. Sure, the circumstances are similar: you blocked off a certain amount of time in your schedule, you took the effort to prepare, and you tried to present your best self to the table. Well, if the person standing you up is a date, it's easy to conclude that this person is awful and not worth seeing at all. When the person standing you up is a potential employer, it's harder to stomach. After all, you're still out of a job, so it's hard to feel the relief of having a dodged a bullet. 

This candidate did find some satisfaction after he decided to take matters into his own hands. After he waited over ten minutes and sent an email to the recruiter with no reply, he went so far as to contact the recruiter's manager to tell them exactly what happened. He said that the recruiter was representing the company poorly and that they should be ashamed of their lack of organization and follow-through. As someone who also once was ghosted during a job interview, I can say that I admire this author's commitment to speaking his mind, even if the long-term consequences aren't looking so great for him.

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  • "We confirmed the time for 1:30 my time."

    An adult man sits in front of an open laptop at his personal desk.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • As several members of this online community pointed out, it's not such a great idea to burn so many bridges with a company. You never know when those words might come back to bite you on the behind. As tempting as it is to school this recruiter and teach them a lesson they won't forget, the more mature thing to do would be to swallow your pride and move onto the next opportunity.

  • I got a message on LinkedIn yesterday for an interview today. They sent me all the information, the company's name, and also the name of the VP who they said was interested in me.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • We confirmed the time for 1:30 my time. At 1:40, I sent them an email (I work in sales, so it's normal for me to be late). No one replied.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • So, that was it. I decided this was way too much. I told the recruiter I would inform her manager/the company owner that she ghosted me after she was the one who contacted me in the first place.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • And I told her manager that she represents his company and that it was a very bad look for them.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • And I told the hiring manager/CEO at the hiring company itself that they were dealing with a company.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • To be honest, I was more eloquent in my wording, but my God, what a feeling I felt.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • Within minutes, I got a call from someone more senior, apologizing profusely and asking me if I would reconsider and do the interview.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • I don't remember exactly what I told him because I snapped like Will Ferrell in the movie Old School, but his response was, "Yeah, I understand. We really sc d up." Yeah, I'm still unemployed, but oh my God, what a feeling.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • An adult man sits in front of an open laptop at his personal desk while taking notes.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • No-Lifeguard9194. You would've done better to find out why the person was late to the interview, rather than going nuclear
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • I'm a recruiter and I have occasionally missed interviews. Just the other week my Internet and cell phone all went down at once - it was a provider issue and it lasted several hours. As a result,
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • I missed a couple of interviews and I could not get a hold of anyone because I do not have a landline.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • Both candidates were very understanding when I explained what happened and apologized. One of them ended up getting the job.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • It doesn't hurt to be nice to people. And how you handle things like this will affect not only the view you're held by only the recruiter, but everyone else in the hiring team.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • Sure, definitely flag to someone else if the person doesn't get back to you. But give them a chance to explain. I know that going nuclear is going to leave a bad impression with their manager and the hiring manager.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • Fit-Mathematician-91. Hired for a position, showed up in the lobby first day and sat there for an hour because the hiring manager forgot me. I was gracious, we became good friends, don't bit off your nose to spite your face.
    via Electrical-Koala7206
  • vankastanka • I don't think you handled this well. You could of potentially gotten the job, or at least kept some references, but it sounds like you burnt a bridge. You were in a good position to use their up for your benefit, but you used it to hurt the company instead of helping yourself. Yes the company SCI up, yes you felt good talking bad about them, but how did you actions help you in the long run?
    via Electrical-Koala7206

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recruiter workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work company job interview interview toxic-work-environment
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