Ghosting – WHY?
This is a topic I have wanted to address for such a long time now, but it has come to the point where the level of ghosting is becoming ridiculous!
For those that don’t know, the definition of ghosting is:
“The practice of withdrawing from all communication.”
Having been a Chief stew and worked on yachts for 14 years I am so well aware of the time constraints and pressures that can come up onboard as well as the issues as a crew member you may have not being able to get to your phone, but I do think it is becoming easier and more accepted to just ignore people these days, which I am not sure I completely agree with.
As a crew agent I know I am only ever thought about when someone needs something from me I am well aware of that, but being my best friend and WhatsApp-ing me non stop when you are looking for a role only for me to send you a position and literally hear nothing back from you for a year, until you need me to get you the unicorn job again is in my opinion a tad rude. A simple, I am not looking right now just got an amazing new role, thanks! Really doesn’t take that long to do.
But do you know what damage the ghosting is going to do for your career in the long term, as unfortunately all agents do have a memory for faces or names and some even both, we will remember that you didn’t have the courtesy to message us back, and even if we don’t, our WhatsApp thread will! As we progress through our careers, we all find our network of people in needed areas, all of us have a preferred agent, that person who got us our last job or who we just clicked with, but that agent may not always have the perfect roles for you, another agent may have it in so make sure you don’t burn any bridges. I am not saying an immediate answer is needed but an answer within a week would be gratefully received, it may also stop people trying to get hold of you as well which can be extremely annoying, I know!
It isn’t just the candidates who ghost though it is also the vessels, we need someone urgently for a temp role to only never respond back can be as equally challenging for us as agents. We don’t just need to know whether the role is filled for the sake of us knowing but we have a duty of care to the candidates, we need to inform them of their progression, some may be waiting to hear about your job that is advertised as it is their unicorn – they may even turn down other opportunities to wait for your position. We will also keep sending candidates and messaging you in turn clogging up your inboxes, something I know that no HOD needs when on a vessel. Quite often I have candidates asking for feedback, but that isn’t why I ask vessels for feedback, the main reason to ask for feedback from a vessel on the candidates is to dial down and understand what we are missing from the CV’s we have sent you that is important to you. Often the job brief will be amazing and full but someone we believe who ticks all the boxes doesn’t get a look in. It is so valuable for us to know why so that we don’t flood your inbox with more people that you don’t want. If we were to get the feedback, we would have a better idea of what you are looking for.
Now I have to be fair here and mention that there are so many of us Crew agents who also ghost people, I have to be honest and put my hand up here as a couple of times in the busy period I may have not messaged back to people due to being busy but I do try to make sure I do a Whatsapp and email sweep at the end of the week. Nobody is perfect but we can all try and make an effort her to be the best we can be in getting back to people, open communication has a massive weight in gold when it comes to all being able to do our jobs and manage and maintain relationships
I hate to be a moaning Minnie, but this is something I am struggling with greatly right now, all I would like is a 10 second answer if possible just to know where we are at.
Even though it is Halloween I don’t think I need any Ghosting anymore!
