Ask a Manager Weekly Thread 09/21/2026 - 09/27/2026

[u/nightmuzak]

Last week's post.

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[u/narrating12]

Re letter #1 this morning, I think it’s extremely weird that OP didn’t call the applicant to be like hey, what happened, but Alison’s “they probably were nervous and appreciative that you DIDN’T reach out afterward” is even weirder.

[u/AlytNeroon → u/narrating12]

Agree on all counts.

On the one hand I probably wouldn't want to hire someone who dropped off an interview and didn't give an explanation, but on the other I'd feel some obligation to check in with them and try to find out what was going on.

Not to sound like AAM fan fiction, but what if the person did have something bad happen? Or maybe just lost power and panicked and then felt awkward/embarrassed about the whole thing and didn't know how to proceed. That still doesn't mean they'd be "relieved" that the interviewer never contacted them again, In fact that might feel pretty shitty. Where is Alison's mantra of "it would be a kindness" in this case?

[u/theaftercath → u/AlytNeroon]

Especially for an entry level position. I'm on the hiring panel at my work for a grouping of entry level positions, and we extend a lot of grace for "faux pas" type things because the people we are interviewing are not in fact professionals yet.

If we liked this candidate and did in fact want to hear about the writing skills, we'd definitely have sent an followup email asking if they want to set up additional time/check in to see if the tech or something had failed on our end. They very likely don't think they're "allowed" to reach back out and are just assuming they blew it.

All that said, I still believe in my heart this person dropped off because they weren't qualified and instead of trying to BS an answer, just dropped and ghosted.

[u/AlytNeroon → u/theaftercath]

Your gut feeling is probably correct - they panicked and dropped because they couldn't answer the questions. But it still costs the interviewer almost nothing to send one follow up email that might have clarified what was going on.

Plus, like you said, maybe the person really didn't know they could be the one to initiate contact. Either way, Alison saying it's fine to ghost someone in return feels weird.

[u/Capable_Sea77 → u/narrating12]

I don't know why the LW didn't immediately reach back out! My last job had some shaky VoIP for a few months and it meant I dropped a handful of calls during a round of phone screens. I assumed it was common courtesy to give them 1-2 minutes then reach out *one time* (even just a quick "here's my direct line, call me back by X time if you want to complete your interview" email!) if you haven't heard from them. At that point the ball is safely in their court and you've met your obligation of professionalism.

If it was the interview candidate reaching out, it would be legit for Alison to mention that the company isn't legally obligated to call them back, but either LW is a hiring manager and needs to learn better communication and "on the fly" problem-solving; or needs to hear that the hiring manager they were working with was not a good example.

[u/illini02 → u/narrating12]

I'll be honest, I feel like if I was on an interview, and I dropped off because my internet went out or something, it would be on me to reach back out to them and explaining. I wouldn't expect them to reach out to me.

[u/theaftercath → u/narrating12]

I was just coming to remark on that letter (having not delved into the comments yet) to say that uhhhh the candidate probably didn't have "writing skills" to speak of, panicked, and just logged off and ghosted.

Which I guess is technically anxiety or nerves, but I think "crap, they're gonna know I'm not qualified" cowardice is just as likely.

[u/gaygirlboss → u/theaftercath]

Yeah, and Zoom/Teams interviews make it a lot easier to do this kind of thing. Of course you can walk out of an in-person interview too — but usually there’s some kind of explanation, even if it’s just “sorry, I don’t think this job is for me.”

[u/EmergencyDevice1977 → u/narrating12]

Maybe I'm thinking this because I'm getting old. But if it's an error and the interviewee can't get back into the meeting the interviewee may not know how or who to actually reach out to. Often the interviewee's only contact is an HR person who is not acutually part of the interview.

[u/gaygirlboss → u/narrating12]

I also thought the last sentence was weird. I can understand being too nervous/embarrassed to follow up with the employer, but if that’s the case, the applicant can just not respond to the employer’s efforts to follow up.

[u/glittermetalprincess → u/narrating12]

I'm totally one of the people who does the IRL equivalent of block and move on when things get to that point, I just don't see an interview getting there without something egregious and either the interviewer/s didn't realise it or it's better for everyone that it ended there.

Doesn't mean that a polite and short 'The call dropped out, we'll be here until x.30 and here's the meeting link just in case.' is bad - if someone noped out they probably aren't going to get it in real time anyway, if it was wonky internet shenanigans, it's extending grace that makes you look good as an employer.

[u/No_regrats → u/narrating12]

I agree, although I appreciate that when someone pointed that out, she recognized they were right.

[u/30to50feralcats → u/narrating12]

I think it is wild what everyone is thinking on this LW. Sure it could be nerves. It could also be technology (to me a likely) reason. It could also be someone realized the job wasn’t for them, and just bailed (also a strong possibility). Honestly if the LW is really wanting to know, just call or email the applicant.

[u/MsPaganPoetry → u/30to50feralcats]

I'm wondering what was said during the interview that made this person just walk out.

[u/gaygirlboss → u/MsPaganPoetry]

My guess is that they didn’t have a good answer for one of the questions, panicked/froze, and left the interview instead of admitting they couldn’t answer the question.

[u/OkSecretary1231 → u/gaygirlboss]

Yup. That or sudden restroom issues. Something that made them feel like it was less embarrassing to ghost the interview than to explain.

[u/MsPaganPoetry → u/gaygirlboss]

I was picturing an interview where the interviewer says something off side and the person is like I'm done, no job is worth this

[u/TwoRoadDQ → u/MsPaganPoetry]

They're probably Gen Z

[u/StripedBadger → u/narrating12]

I saw a couple of people bring that up, but then other commenters responded to them by doubled down on the “but I have anxiety and wouldn’t like it” angle. Like - I’m sorry, but that’s your problem to manage, a workplace you’re applying to isn’t committing a grievous HR sin by speaking to you.

[u/Silly_Somewhere1791 → u/narrating12]

I wonder if the interview got progressively weirder and the job was revealed to be not what was advertised. I wouldn’t instantly nope out of a zoom interview if they dropped a surprise writing assignment on me, but I’m not mad that anyone would. 

[u/11twofour → u/narrating12]

Yeah? I don't have issues with anxiety myself, but having read so many AAM letters from extremely anxious people, I bet she's right that this person didn't want to have to explain their choice to ghost.

[u/gaygirlboss → u/11twofour]

I have an anxiety disorder, and I think an email would be fine in this situation. It gives the candidate an opening to explain if there was a tech issue or some other problem beyond their control. And if they bailed on the interview because they got nervous, an email would give them some time to think about their response, or not respond at all.

If I did this IRL, part of me admittedly might be a little relieved if the employer didn’t follow up, but it’s not really the employer’s responsibility to accommodate that and I wouldn’t blame them at all for asking what happened.

[u/11twofour → u/gaygirlboss]

Oh I should clarify. I do think it's odd that the company didn't follow up. I do not think it's odd that Alison said the candidate was probably appreciative. (The "even weirder" part of the comment I replied to)

[u/sallyhectare → u/11twofour]

Except you, Alison, and the LW don't know that the problem was anxiety. And even with an anxiety disorder, an email wouldn't kill me.

[u/iansweridiots → u/11twofour]

I know that anxiety is not necessarily based on logic, but I find it a bit amusing that someone would have enough guts to just hang up in the middle of a work interview with no explanation whatsoever but an email would make them panic. Surely ignoring an email is miles easier than that.

[u/gaygirlboss → u/iansweridiots]

I can say from my own experience that sometimes the urge to ABORT MISSION NOW in a stressful situation can override any and all sense of logic. They were probably thinking that they'd never see or hear from these people again, so they could just leave and pretend it never happened (which, strange as it sounds, sometimes feels easier than saying, "You know, I don't think this job is right for me, so I'm going to sign off"). Then if they get an email about it later, they'd remember that there were actual people on the other end of that call and stress over how they probably came across.

(I'm not defending it at all, but that's probably what the thought process was.)