Unfair hiring practices are ghosting top talent and leaving skilled candidates unseen. This article explains why and how to fix it.
It sounds like a fairy tale, but experienced job seekers are struggling to find employment. They updated their résumés, wrote tailored cover letters and followed every rule. Yet, they end up with nothing. They are not unqualified or lazy applicants. These are high-performing professionals who have once led teams, solved complex problems and mentored others. They have navigated challenging work environments and overwhelming workloads, yet stayed loyal to their toxic leadership. These job seekers endure endless interview rounds and follow up professionally. Unfortunately, many still find themselves unemployed, or worse, invisible due to unfair hiring practices.
Yes, the job market is highly competitive, but recurring hiring bias leaves skilled individuals unseen and undervalued. Algorithms often filter out qualified candidates, dismissing them as “overqualified” or ignoring them after final interviews. As a result of the unfair hiring practices, the hiring process has become cold, mechanical, and in many cases, discouraging. Some view it as a talent shortage. But it is a failure to recognise the readily available talent.
So, how did we reach a point where skilled professionals struggle to get noticed? Why do hiring decisions now rely more on connections than on skills? And what will it take to look beyond the résumés and restore humanity to the hiring process?
This isn’t just a hiring issue. It is a wake-up call. When we consistently overlook capable individuals, we are the ones who create the problem, not them.
The Hidden Cost of Unfair Hiring Practices.
Each résumé represents a person who often feels exhausted, anxious, and unseen. As companies increasingly automate and streamline their hiring processes, they overshadow the human aspect of recruitment with keyword scanning and vague judgments of “fit.”
Many applicants never even reach human review. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) often reject them before anyone has a chance to review their qualifications. Others are told they are “not the right fit” or “overqualified,” coded phrases that dismiss candidates due to age, salary expectations, or background. Unfair hiring practices often reward keywords and insider connections over ability or contribution.
And talking of being overqualified, another LinkedIn post provides a perfect response to employers who always see top talent as overqualified:
“Overqualified means you’ve already done what others are still learning. It means you make fewer mistakes, solve problems more quickly, and require less oversight. That’s not a risk, it’s a competitive edge,” Dr Isaiah Hankel.
Real Stories, Real People
Now let’s put faces to the story.
Consider Tola. She led high-stakes projects with confidence and precision. During layoffs, she was thanked and praised, but still let go. Thereafter, she applied to several job advertisements but received no response. Dozens of résumés sent, hours of rewriting cover letters, and yet no acknowledgement. No rejection. Just silence.
Or Mike. Twenty years of leadership experience, clear alignment with the advertised role, and a track record of delivering results. Yet he was termed “overqualified.” This label often masks age bias, pay avoidance, or discomfort with seasoned candidates who might challenge the status quo.
These job seekers are not failing. They are navigating a system that refuses to see them, thus becoming victims of unfair hiring practices. A 2021 Indeed survey found that 77% of applicants reported being ghosted by employers, sometimes after multiple rounds of interviews. For people who bring so much value, employers dismissing them without explanation is not just frustrating, it is dehumanising.
Consider Layer B (not real name). This company publicly invites “goal-getters with strong work ethics” to participate in a multi-stage, values-driven hiring process. Yet behind the polished words lies a familiar story: weeks of interviews, assessments, and then silence. No offer. No closure. Employers often promote the idea of ‘culture fit,’ a concept which has become an emotional trapdoor, revealing how far hiring has strayed from fairness, empathy, and transparency.
These examples demonstrate a broader issue. A Harvard Business Review article highlights how strict hiring criteria and algorithmic filters often lead employers to overlook qualified candidates, perpetuating bias and undermining diversity. In other words, the system creates a recruitment disconnect.
When Process Replaces People: How Hiring Bias Sets In
Organisations often claim to put people first, but the hiring experience tells a different story. Software scans résumés before humans review them, and bots automatically send rejection emails. Candidates go through three, four, or even five rounds of interviews, only to receive no feedback at all. Hiring teams often respond with silence or indifference to the effort that candidates invest in the process.
A seasoned HR professional recently shared on a LinkedIn post why the current hiring system often leaves dedicated professionals feeling ignored, ghosted, and rejected. Jennifer Speciale, the author of the post, is a former executive recruiter at Amazon, Google, and McKinsey with over 20 years of experience. Her message was clear: if you’re applying online for leadership roles and hearing nothing, the system isn’t broken. It was never built for senior professionals with 15+ years of experience.
For top roles, she stated, recruiters do not typically hire from online sources like LinkedIn. Instead, they find candidates through networking, headhunting, and referrals. Employers use their networks to fill most job positions even before the Company officially advertises the jobs. Many job ads appear only after someone is already in the pipeline, she stated. According to Jennifer Speciale, recruiters do not ignore online applicants; instead, job candidates with direct connections outmanoeuvre them. So, recruiters may never see you if you’re not in their right inner circle, even when you’re the ideal candidate.
Also Read: Forget That Job Advert: Networking Gets You The Job Faster
The example above illustrates the unfair hiring practices that many qualified candidates experience. It also raises questions about whether employers genuinely value talent and why they make it so challenging for skilled individuals to receive recognition.
From Unfair Hiring Practices to Human-Centred Hiring
Let’s be clear: employers are not facing a talent shortage; they are engaging in unfair hiring practices driven by a lack of empathy. As an experienced job seeker, you are not lacking anything. The system does not recognise you unless you fit into a predetermined category or narrative. So, we need to rethink hiring with people at the core.
Here’s how:
- Look beyond the résumé.
- Replace silence with feedback.
- Redefine “fit” to mean potential, not just pedigree.
Human-centred recruitment does not mean longer or slower processes. It means intentional ones. It means honouring the time and effort job seekers invest, even when they do not receive an offer. And if you’re in the thick of it now, feeling invisible or exhausted, hear this:
You are not the problem. The silence isn’t about your worth. It’s about a system that’s lost its way.
Have you faced unfair hiring practices? Have employers ghosted you, overlooked your qualifications, or repeatedly told you that you are “overqualified”? Please share your story, and let’s bring back humanity into hiring.
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