K9 Mission Application Video Earns Ghosting

In July I applied for a Senior Copywriter position at K9 Mission, a nonprofit based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts that provides well-trained Service dogs to Veterans suffering from PTSS. I'm a veteran and familiar with PTSS.

The organization was advertising for a copywriter with 5+ years to create marketing materials, website copy, e-mail newsletters, sales presentations, press releases, media pitches and alerts, and brainstorm visual and copy ideas with creative team members.

I'm a copywriter and very familiar with these communications tools.

Krysta at K9 Mission responded quickly and enthusiastically with an email that requested I submit a 3-5 minute video about why I believe I'd be a "great asset" to their team and why they should hire me to join their mission. 

Hi Bruce, Thank you so much for your interest in joining our team and our mission! At K9 Mission our mission is to place as many K9s with Veterans who suffer from PTSD as possible, with the help of our donors, we are working towards this goal. The next step is to submit a 3-5-minute video about why you believe you would make a great asset to our team and why we should hire you to join our mission.

After researching the organization, I wrote a script; With some help from a friend who has professional video equipment, I recorded this video and sent it to Krysta on July 24th. The process of scripting, editing, and producing the video took a couple of hours.

Since sending the video, I've followed up with Krysta three times in August, four times in September, and three times in October. My follow-ups have been short inquiries about where the organization is in the hiring process and reiterating my interest in the position. 

As is increasingly common practice among employers, K9 Mission neither acknowledged receipt of my video nor responded to my subsequent queries. I got ghosted. Here's why this bothers me. 

Most likely there are perfectly reasonable explanations for K9 Mission's unresponsiveness; the organization is certainly not obliged to share any information with me, a mere applicant.

Here's something K9 Mission might consider: In many cases ghosting indicates future behavior (or is at least a sign that things would have eventually ended badly). So, shame on K9 Mission for ghosting me, but I'm counting my blessings and moving on to find a employer who appreciates what I offer.