What to do when you’re ghosted by potential employer

Q. I interviewed with a company and it went really well — almost too well! They offered me a job during the third round. But I haven’t heard anything since. I followed up twice and still haven’t heard anything. What else should I do?

A. First, congrats on what I’m assuming was a verbal offer! You’ve done what you could — if they changed their mind or the job was put on hold or for whatever reason, they owe you the courtesy to reach out either way.

You’ve already followed up twice, so there’s unfortunately nothing else you can do. Sure, you can keep calling or perhaps checking in periodically perhaps every two weeks, and this is all personal preference — but you may end up feeling like you’re begging for a job.

When I worked in corporate recruiting, trust me: when we wanted to officially extend an offer, we did. When we didn’t or when something else happened (like an internal employee moved into that role or the job dissolved or whatever the reason), then we didn’t extend the offer.

Yes, the company owes you a courtesy call to close the loop, but you may want to move on. Yes, it’s disappointing, but perhaps they will come back to you in the future. As for the silver lining? Your interview skills sound sharp! Go out and ace those future interviews.

Q. What exactly is a noncompete clause? I’m looking for a new job at a competitor and the interviewer actually strongly suggested I look at the noncompete. What am I looking at and why?

A. That’s kind of the interviewer to mention it. Essentially, a noncompete is a clause that’s typically in employment contracts that prohibits you from working from another company for a specific period of time after your current employment concludes. It may also prohibit sharing proprietary information/trade secrets, hiring people from your group/company into the new company once you’re there and more.

They’re typically included in your job offer, so you should refer to that and you may want to connect with an employment attorney if it’s not clear. Companies can go after you if you don’t abide by them — some will, some won’t, but just know that it’s a definite possibility. And also know that going forward you may want to also reach out to the employment attorney for your next job offer to review the wording if it’s included in your job offer to negotiate it or eliminate it altogether. It’s also something you may be able to negotiate out of your severance package if you’re let go — wording to the effect that the noncompete is no longer in effect, but again an employment attorney will be able to advise you best.

Please note that the Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule a few months ago indicating that US-based employers may not be able to include noncompete clauses and enforce them. This could take a while though if the rule is approved, so I’d just be cognizant of what your current noncompete clause indicates, like the interviewer mentioned, and be aware of new ones going forward.

Vicki Salemi is a career expert, former corporate recruiter, author, consultant, speaker, and career coach./Tribune News Service