What counts as a report
A report is a structured observation tied to a specific application or interview. It records four things: which company, what happened (ghosted, replied, ran a fake role, behaved badly), how long the silence lasted when relevant, and an optional comment. Personal identifiers are stripped before storage; we keep only what is needed to compute the numbers.
Reports are tied to a fingerprint, not an identity. One person, one report per company per cycle. Duplicate or near-duplicate submissions are merged.
How we score a company
Two raw rates do most of the work: ghost rate (silent outcomes ÷ total reports) and response rate (replies ÷ total reports). Both are wrapped in a Wilson lower bound at 95% so that a company with three reports cannot outrank a company with three hundred just by being unlucky early.
On top of that we apply a toxicity penalty. Reports of hostile interactions or fake roles count more than a missed reply. A company can be technically responsive and still land in red if the responses themselves are the problem.
The four verdicts
- Responsive (green). Replies are the norm; silence is the exception. At least five reports.
- Mixed (yellow). Replies and silence are roughly even. Read the comments.
- Ghoster (red). Silence is the dominant outcome. Plan accordingly.
- Outlier (purple). Toxicity or fake-role reports outweigh ordinary ghosting. Treat with extra caution.
A verdict never appears without an icon and a number next to it. Color alone is not allowed to do the talking.
How we age the data
Each report keeps its submission timestamp. Rates use an 18-month half-life: a report from 18 months ago carries about half the weight of a report from last week. Hiring teams and processes change, so older reports gradually carry less influence.
Moderation
Every report enters a review queue. Approved reports become public on the leaderboard and the recent feed. Reports that look like spam, defamation, or personal attacks are rejected and never count toward a score.
Comments are optional and lightly edited for clarity and safety. We never publish names, contact details, or identifying claims about individual employees.
What this is not
- It is not a review site. There is no "overall rating".
- It is not a place to vent. Comments are short by design.
- It is not anti-employer. The most useful page on the site is the list of most responsive companies.
- It is not a hiring database. We do not store applicant identities or resumes.
Corrections
Companies and applicants can both flag a report for review. If a report is wrong, we remove it; if a verdict is stale, the decay handles it. Email corrections@ghostcheck.net with the slug and the reason.