"I'm a banking recruiter and I'm horrified by the treatment of candidates"

30 December 2024

2 minute read

"I'm a banking recruiter and I'm horrified by the treatment of candidates"

I'm an in-house recruiter for an investment bank, and I would like to apologize for the actions of my peers.

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I talk a lot to candidates, and I've come to realize that a lot of recruiters are quite brutal in their approach. Ghosting candidates seem to have become the norm in the banking industry.

I had no idea it was this bad. I knew that ghosting candidates happened, but not that it was the norm. In fact, candidates tell me that unless they have a stellar (read: sellable) profile, all that recruiters want to do now is to have an initial conversation. Once they realize a candidate's profile may not get anywhere, they simply stop replying to the candidate's emails!

I'm not sure why this happens, but apparently it's standard. I hear that all recruiters do it, from leading headhunters to major firms.

It didn't use to be like this. When I worked at a recruitment firm a while ago, I always made sure to go back to the rejected candidates and drop an email to say they didn't fit - even if just a one-liner. It's not difficult.

I feel sorry for candidates, but I'm not sure how to change the status quo. In recruitment, the human-connection is really a key factor! One candidate even suggested that the recruitment industry needs to be regulated to prevent such rampant ghosting of candidates.

Let me know if you have suggestions in the comments box below.

Matthew Hart is a pseudonym.

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AUTHORMatthew Hart

Insider Comment

ge
geewill
4 March 2025
Unfortunately ghosting on applications hasn't become the norm in the financial sector, but across the board whether being rejected in the first round, or not making the final cut. Its often unclear if roles have simply been pulled, or they have gone with another candidate leaving applicants wondering what is happening when a simple one line email would clarify the issue.
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si
siliconV
3 January 2025
How pen-pushers destroyed the office
'The amount spent on HR salaries have gone from 15 billion to 25 billion' since 2017
youtube.com/watch?v=Mu54ERQZZIw
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Do
DonDon
30 December 2024
A lot of recruiters wnat access to your network via linkedin. If they refuse to engage with you then remove them as connections. Remember the people you connect with on linkedin should be promoters and ideally willing to recommend you.
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Sy
Syd Candidate
8 February 2024
The problem is also endemic in Australia with private sector recruiters and some bank recruiters. Bank recruiters would either send you an auto-generated response or not bother to respond. Private sector recruiters (with a few exceptions) would typically just ghost you or not return your emails or phone calls to enquire on status of job applications or feedback on interviews. I am a candidate with years of experience and finally found a job directly with a government owned financial institution which treated candidates with more respect.
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Sa
Sarak
3 February 2024
This is what happens when the industry is not regulated, which is recruitment agency and estate agents- same treatment by both as they do whatever they want as no one is regulating them. So called "talent acquisition" team in a major IB scheduled a meeting and sent a wrong Zoom invite and when the candidate dialled in Zoom displayed the name of the previous candidate with the previous day so I guess the hiring manager was waiting on the other side while not able to open the Zoom call. This is done by "talent acquisition/" team! Things got worse with Gen Z filling the roles of so called talent acquisition probably sitting somewhere abroad and people working from home and no actual accountability.
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