Dear Readers: With Halloween upon us, it’s only fitting we talk about a trend that will hopefully become a passing fad at some point: ghosting. Employers do it and job seekers do it, but even as they behave badly, it still happens. How can you bounce back?

Ghosting, the act of abruptly disappearing and stopping communication, became a household term regarding dating, but when it comes to job searching, unfortunately, it happens, too.

For employers, it occurs when job seekers interview, express interest in the company and role, and vanish. They don’t return the employer’s request for a follow up interview, and they don’t withdraw their candidacy. Instead, it’s radio silence. (When I worked in recruiting, a candidate ghosted us on his first day of work! He interviewed, landed the job, negotiated…we onboarded him, had his technology ready, set him up on payroll and much to the surprise of the hiring manager, he never showed up! He didn’t even respond to us out of concern that something may have happened to him!)

So, if you’re a job seeker, know that ghosting happens to employers, too. Being on the receiving end is not fun, especially when you’re looking for a new job and interviews go well and then all of the sudden — crickets. Other times, candidates occasionally thanked me for rejecting them. They expressed gratitude by indicating at least a rejection meant they could move on and knew either way with a yes or a no rather than that dreaded state of limbo and not hearing a word from the employer.

If you are ghosted, there are several ways to protect your mental health and outlook as you try to remain positive. If a company isn’t communicating with you to at least close out your candidacy, even if it’s via a tech-driven email rejection, that’s a red flag. How would they communicate to you when you’re on the job?

“This can really affect a candidate’s mental health by triggering them to feel uncertain of their professional worth,” said Nicholette Leanza, LPCC-S, therapist at LifeStance Health. “This can also make them feel more stressed and anxious and cause them to doubt and blame themselves when it’s really more a reflection of the company’s lack of professionalism.”

Leanza said quickly bouncing back depends on how you frame the experience. “The candidate should not take this personally or see it as a personal rejection; it reflects the company’s lack of professionalism. The way to bounce back from this is to see it as a dodged bullet. An employer’s communication style during hiring often mirrors their workplace culture; so if this is how the culture is, then it’s probably not the best place to work.”

Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist licensed in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and author of “Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days,” advises clients to not get too excited about prospects of new employment or even an offer until they actually start the job. “Way too often I’ve heard of offers being rescinded for various reasons, or no reason at all. The fact is, nothing is final and real until you are doing the work.”/Tribune News Service