| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Poll: Have you ever been a victim of job ghosting? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 21:18
Member (2020)
English to German
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Anytime a customer announces a large job, the chance that it will a) never come, b) come delayed, c) come with a significantly lower volume is at about 80%, which is why I always answer that I can try to keep this in mind but will always prioritize existing business and never reserve any actual capacity. In my experience, announcements are just a colossal waste of time on everybody's part.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 21:18
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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A victim? No, because I was paid for what I did. But I was contacted in the beginning of January for a large job (around 30,000 words) which would come bit by big during a few months. I did 1,000 words in January, 5,000 words in February, 8,500 words in March and 2,500 words in April. Then, I was told in the middle of May that more work was coming soon but since then... radio silence. I must say though that all invoices have been paid within the deadline. I think this has more to do with ineffic... See more A victim? No, because I was paid for what I did. But I was contacted in the beginning of January for a large job (around 30,000 words) which would come bit by big during a few months. I did 1,000 words in January, 5,000 words in February, 8,500 words in March and 2,500 words in April. Then, I was told in the middle of May that more work was coming soon but since then... radio silence. I must say though that all invoices have been paid within the deadline. I think this has more to do with inefficiency than anything else, ghosting included…
P.S. After all, the walls have ears! I’ve just heard from my “ghosted” client: We hope to send you the new copy for translations within the next week and a half…
[Edited at 2023-06-13 12:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:18
French to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
What... is job ghosting?
In the dating world, ghosting means you exchange texts, a phone call or two maybe and then suddenly you stop responding without closing the loop. Maybe things are hotting up more quickly with another potential partner, maybe you're in hospital after a near-fatal accident, maybe you lost your password for the dating app. The other person obviously doesn't understand and feels like you were probably just a ghost.
In a work context I can only assume that it refers to a situation in which a potential client talks about an upcoming project, you get excited then hear nothing more about it.
I never count on anything until I have a clear go-ahead, because all too often you send in an estimate but the client goes with someone cheaper (or more experienced, not my case after 25+ years). Clients never bother to let you know and why on earth should they? If I saw their name in my inbox I would assume I'd been given the job and it would be really disappointing to see that actually, they went with someone cheaper. The decision has been made and it's too late to negotiate, not that I would bother negotiating anyway because I'm not prepared to work for less nowadays. Clients mostly prefer not to mention that they're working with someone else, then they can come back at any time to ask for another estimate.
| | | | Paulo Melo
Brazil
Local time: 16:18
English to Portuguese
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In fact, I was just writing to an agency that made me sign an NDA and then never wrote back to schedule a talk.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 15:18
German to English
| Don't hold your breath for potential offers | Jun 13, 2023 |
In the past I often responded to offers of potential jobs, with the same expectation I had when buying a lottery ticket.
However, I was genuinely "ghosted" once.
Many decades ago when I was young and naive (no longer young, but still naive), a local agency I often worked for asked me (and doubtless others) to reserve the following month for a massive job (allegedly several hundred thousand words) that would have kept me busy for several weeks. Foolishly in the meantime I turned down... See more In the past I often responded to offers of potential jobs, with the same expectation I had when buying a lottery ticket.
However, I was genuinely "ghosted" once.
Many decades ago when I was young and naive (no longer young, but still naive), a local agency I often worked for asked me (and doubtless others) to reserve the following month for a massive job (allegedly several hundred thousand words) that would have kept me busy for several weeks. Foolishly in the meantime I turned down work that might have extended into the subsequent month. Needless to say, the job didn't materialize, and when I contacted the PM, she said they didn't get the contract. She, of course, hadn't bothered to share this information with the translators. The agency was eventually banned by Proz and – not surprisingly – went out of business. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I said no because I didn’t understand the question | Jun 13, 2023 |
If it had been written in English, I would have said yes, because we’ve all had people show an interest and then disappear off the face of the Earth.
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Luis M. Sosa
Ecuador
Local time: 14:18
Member (2018)
English to Spanish
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| This or that | Jun 13, 2023 |
I don’t think my comment necessarily falls into the ‘job ghosting’ category.
I would not like victimize myself, either, and I wonder how common this is in the marketplace these days:
Some LSPs contact and test you. A few days later you sign their onboarding agreements and you get access to their vendor portals. You share/provide them with a lot of your data along the way, and then…radio silence, no projects come in.
Was it for the data?
| | | | | Comprehension | Jun 14, 2023 |
Not "job ghosting", since I didn't know the phrase – and now I know what it means I don't think the behaviour deserves its own name, as it's the most common, or even the default outcome of such contacts.
I have a few times experienced "job haunting", which is when a potential client actually bothers to to let you know that a job you've previously discussed isn't going to materialise after all, and expresses a desire to keep communication channels open in case another opportunity c... See more Not "job ghosting", since I didn't know the phrase – and now I know what it means I don't think the behaviour deserves its own name, as it's the most common, or even the default outcome of such contacts.
I have a few times experienced "job haunting", which is when a potential client actually bothers to to let you know that a job you've previously discussed isn't going to materialise after all, and expresses a desire to keep communication channels open in case another opportunity comes along. And then one does.
Each time that happens it fills me with renewed optimism (OK, maybe not, but at least it somewhat relieves my chronic pessimism). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:18
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Kay Denney wrote:
In the dating world, ghosting means you exchange texts, a phone call or two maybe and then suddenly you stop responding without closing the loop.
Then I suppose for us it would mean a job where the hand-off was imminent (e.g. dates were already agreed to in principle and the translator had already cleared his schedule) *and* the client then disappeared and does not respond to any follow-up mails. It's difficult to know when (from the client's perspective) negotiations have reached an advanced stage. The fact that a client is very talkative may not mean that the hand-off is imminent. It may simply be an overeager project manager unintentionally sending confirmation-like signals during a drawn-out initial information gathering phase. Often, when an imminent project does not go ahead and the PM is overworked, he may forget to contact you about it, but usually a follow-up mail 2-3 days later gets a response.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 21:18
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/how-to-deal-with-job-ghosting
"Did you know job ghosting is real? And could be happening to you?
You've probably heard of “ghosting” in the context of dating: You go out with someone cute, have a great time together, and come back home expecting a second date. You wait by the phone nervously for the next few weeks to hear nothing at all, finally realizing that you've been ghosted. Believe it or not, ghost... See more https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/how-to-deal-with-job-ghosting
"Did you know job ghosting is real? And could be happening to you?
You've probably heard of “ghosting” in the context of dating: You go out with someone cute, have a great time together, and come back home expecting a second date. You wait by the phone nervously for the next few weeks to hear nothing at all, finally realizing that you've been ghosted. Believe it or not, ghosting happens in the working world, too. Job ghosting is becoming incredibly common, with one-third of candidates reporting that they were rejected from a job position by never actually getting a response in the first place.
This means hiring managers and employers are leaving candidates to wait in agony only to be ghosted after submitting their resume, after the interview, or even getting ghosted after multiple interviews. So, why would a hiring manager do this? Amanda Augustine, our career advice expert, weighs in on this practice." ▲ Collapse
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Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 00:18
Member (2018)
English to Russian
No, I never accept jobs from ghosts, vampires and other undead beings. Their ethical values are... well, too "old-fashioned" for me.
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This is incredibly common, at least from my experience.
It happens most notably during negociations. They propose a low rate, I propose something a bit more decent, and then radio silence, even after a reminder.
And even if you pass the negociation phase, take the test and create your profile, there's a good chance they'll never contact you.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:18
French to English
Lieven Malaise wrote: https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/how-to-deal-with-job-ghosting "Did you know job ghosting is real? And could be happening to you? You've probably heard of “ghosting” in the context of dating: You go out with someone cute, have a great time together, and come back home expecting a second date. You wait by the phone nervously for the next few weeks to hear nothing at all, finally realizing that you've been ghosted. Believe it or not, ghosting happens in the working world, too. Job ghosting is becoming incredibly common, with one-third of candidates reporting that they were rejected from a job position by never actually getting a response in the first place. This means hiring managers and employers are leaving candidates to wait in agony only to be ghosted after submitting their resume, after the interview, or even getting ghosted after multiple interviews. So, why would a hiring manager do this? Amanda Augustine, our career advice expert, weighs in on this practice."
I'm pretty sure that at least 95% of the time, potential employers/clients ghost all candidates they are not offering the job to, so that "one-third of candidates" is surprisingly low to me.
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