The Respect Index tracks bad hiring behavior because it's common and costly. It also tracks the companies doing it well — because that's the point.
Most coverage of the hiring market in 2026 reads like a damage report. Ghosting up. Interview rounds up. Offer-to-start timelines up. Candidate confidence down. The receipts are real and the frustration is justified.
But there's a version of this story that doesn't get told, because it doesn't generate the same engagement, and because the platforms that could tell it have a financial incentive not to embarrass the companies buying ads on them.
Some companies are genuinely good at this.
Responsive within a few days of application. Three rounds, defined in advance, no surprise additions. A decision communicated within the window they promised. Rejections sent with a note rather than silence. Take-home work that's scoped to an hour and actually relevant to the job.
These companies exist. Candidates who've worked with them know it immediately — the process feels different from the first contact. And until now, there's been no place to document that difference in a way that compounds, that builds a record, that makes it findable by the next candidate considering whether to apply.
That's what the Honor Roll is for.
How a company earns an A
Grades on The Respect Index are computed from confirmed candidate reports across four dimensions. Communication accounts for 30 percent of the score — did they respond, did they explain the timeline, did they follow up when they said they would. Transparency is 25 percent — was the role accurately described, were the compensation parameters clear, was the process what they said it would be. Efficiency is 25 percent — how many rounds, how long, how decisive. Respect is 20 percent — the quality of rejections, the handling of candidate questions, the tone throughout.
A company reaches an A grade when it lands in the 80th percentile or above across all tracked companies on those dimensions, with enough confirmed reports for the score to be statistically meaningful. The grade isn't a reward for good PR. It's a measurement of what candidates actually experienced.
The Bayesian smoothing in our scoring model means you can't get to an A on five enthusiastic reports from new hires. You earn it over time, across a range of candidates, including ones who didn't get the job.
Why positive reports matter
Most review platforms suffer from selection bias so obvious it borders on embarrassing. People who had a good experience got the job and moved on. People who had a bad experience have time, motivation, and a browser tab.
We built the contribution flow to fight this directly. Candidates who track an application through The Respect Index can log it from day one and publish when they have an outcome — including an offer they accepted, or an offer they turned down for a better one. The draft system follows the process in real time rather than asking for retrospective memory.
A confirmed report from a hired candidate carries the same weight as a confirmed report from a candidate who was rejected with grace. Both reflect the company's process, not the outcome.
The Honor Roll is visible on the homepage right next to the ghost postings data because we mean it equally. We're not here to shame the worst offenders. We're here to document the difference between them and the companies doing this right, and make that difference findable before you decide where to spend the next three months of your search.
What certification means
Companies that maintain a B grade or above can apply for certification. Certification grants the right to display a badge in job postings and on careers pages — a signal to candidates that the process has been independently assessed, not self-reported.
The criteria are published. The grade is the grade whether a company is certified or not. Certification is the right to say so publicly, and the accountability that comes with it: if the grade drops, the certification lapses automatically.
No company can buy a grade here. That's the whole point.
If you've had a hiring process that actually worked — one where they treated your time like it had value — log it. It moves the grade. It moves the Honor Roll. It gives the next candidate information that didn't exist before you submitted it.
Search scorecards for companies you're interviewing with.
Search Company Scorecards →The Respect Index editorial team analyzes hiring and separation data submitted by verified candidates across the US. Our research draws on 14,000+ firsthand reports to surface patterns in ghost posting behavior, hiring process quality, and separation practices. We publish data as we see it — without editorial bias toward any company.
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