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Rose Dawydiak-Rapagnani, a San Francisco-based communications strategist, recently struck out on her own to start a consultancy. In the first months, she signed up a company that made a strong impression. But after she wrapped up the job and sent along an invoice, the client disappeared off the face of the map. She followed up with them four separate times, and eventually escalated to seeking legal counsel.
"I still have not heard back from this person," she says. "It was a perfect storm of being too generous with my time and hoping for the best." Now, she is taking a more hard-line approach with clients by asking for some money down and discontinuing work if a payment is late.
Dawydiak-Rapagnani is far from the only victim of this kind of practice, which some call "professional ghosting." "Ghosting" is a term that is most frequently used in the online dating world, and it involves a romantic prospect neglecting to respond to texts or calls after a few dates.
Career experts say this practice is increasingly spilling over into the workplace, ranging from being fairly innocent—an overlooked email in a flooded inbox—to downright nefarious, such as avoiding paying consultants after they've completed their work....
From ignored emails to unpaid invoices, a look at the phenomenon of professional ghosting and how to avoid it.