Ghosted after a trial shift: how long to wait, what to send, and when to move on in Sydney hospitality
You did the trial, they said they'd be in touch, and your phone has gone quiet. Here's a day-by-day wait schedule, three messages you can copy, and the point where you stop waiting and start chasing pay instead.
You did the trial, they said "we'll let you know", and it's now day four of checking your phone between other shifts. Being ghosted after a trial shift is one of the most common things that happens in Sydney hospitality, and it almost never means you did badly. It usually means the manager is busy, the decision sits with an owner who isn't around, or they've given the spot to someone else and never told you.
The fix isn't to wait longer. It's to wait on a schedule: one question before you leave, two short messages, and a hard stop. Keep applying from the day of the trial, not the day you give up.
Quick answer: ask "when should I expect to hear?" before you leave the trial. Send a thank-you the same day. If you hear nothing, follow up once on day 3 (or one business day after the date they gave you), once more on day 7, then move on by day 10. If the trial ran longer than a skills test, the pay question doesn't expire just because the job offer did.
The best follow-up happens before you walk out
Most ghosting starts with a vague goodbye. Before you leave, find the person who ran the trial and ask two things: when they'll decide, and the best way to reach them. A manager who says "Thursday, text me on this number" has given you a deadline you can hold them to. One who says "we'll be in touch" has given you nothing, so ask again, politely, for a day. Get their first name and number, not just the venue's Instagram.
The day-by-day wait schedule
Count from the day of the trial. If they gave you a decision day, slide everything to start one business day after it.
| When | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0, before you leave | Ask when they'll decide and how to reach them | Turns "we'll let you know" into a date |
| Day 0, that evening | Send the thank-you message (below) | Puts your name on their phone while they still remember your face |
| Day 1 to 2 | Nothing. Keep applying elsewhere | Owners often decide on the next quiet day, not the next morning |
| Day 3 | First follow-up, sent between 2pm and 4pm | Mid-afternoon is the lull between lunch and dinner service |
| Day 4 to 6 | Nothing. Take any other trial or shift that comes up | A second message this soon reads as pressure |
| Day 7 | Final follow-up, with your availability for the next week | Gives them an easy way to say yes, or a clear reason to say no |
| Day 10 | Move on. Note the venue and the date | Past this point the silence is the answer |
Never message during service. A text that lands at 7:30pm on a Friday gets read with one hand on a tray and forgotten. Mid-afternoon on a weekday, or mid-morning for a cafe after the breakfast rush, gets read at the pass with time to reply.
What to send: three messages you can copy
Keep each one under 60 words. The manager is reading it on a phone between jobs, so lead with your name and the day you trialled.
The same-day thank-you
Hi Sam, it's Priya from today's bar trial. Thanks for having me, I really enjoyed the team and the pace. I'm free Thursday to Sunday nights and can start straight away. Let me know if you need anything else from me.
The day 3 follow-up
Hi Sam, Priya here, I did the bar trial on Saturday. Just checking in on where things are at. Still keen, and still free Thursday to Sunday nights. Happy to come in for another chat if that helps.
The day 7 close-out
Hi Sam, Priya again from last Saturday's trial. I've had a couple of other offers, so I wanted to check if the role is still open before I lock in my week. If it's gone to someone else, no worries at all, I'd appreciate a quick yes or no either way.
That last line does the work. "A quick yes or no either way" makes a no easy to send, and a lot of managers go quiet only because writing a rejection feels awkward. Don't send a fourth message. If day 7 gets nothing, you have your answer.
Reading the signals at the end of the trial
| What happened | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| They asked for your tax file number, bank or super details | You're very likely in | Send the thank-you and wait for the roster |
| They gave you a decision day | Genuinely deciding | Follow up one business day after it |
| "We'll let you know", no day | Undecided, or already leaning to someone else | Follow the full schedule above |
| They asked you back for a second unpaid trial | They want free cover, or can't decide | Ask for the next one to be a paid shift |
| The same ad is back up on SEEK or Facebook | The spot's still open, but probably not for you | One day 7 message, then move on |
When the silence is about pay, not the job
The Fair Work Ombudsman says a work trial can only be unpaid if it's needed to see your skills for the job, tests only those skills, lasts only as long as needed ("usually from an hour to up to a shift, depending on the job") and is directly supervised the whole time. If it doesn't meet those conditions, you must be paid the correct minimum rate. Four hours running food on a Friday night isn't a skills test. Our guide to whether you get paid for a trial shift prices what those hours are worth.
If the venue told you the trial was paid, the job decision doesn't change that. Under Fair Work rules, workers must be paid at least monthly, and a payslip is due within 1 working day of payday. If nothing has landed and nobody's answering, send one message in writing:
Hi Sam, Priya from the bar trial on Saturday 7 November, 6pm to 10pm. I haven't received pay for those four hours yet. Can you let me know when it will be paid? I can send my bank details again if that helps.
Keep the date, the hours, and a screenshot of any message that set up the trial. That record is what the Fair Work Ombudsman will ask for if it comes to that. This is general information, not legal advice.
Moving on without losing a week
The real cost of being ghosted is the week you spent waiting instead of applying. A few habits stop that happening again:
- Run trials in parallel. Book two or three in the same week. Nobody expects you to wait on one venue.
- Log every trial with the venue, the manager's name, the date and the day you'll follow up. It takes a minute and stops you double-texting.
- Don't burn the venue. A short, polite close-out often turns into a call three weeks later when their new hire leaves.
- Widen the net. Our guide to finding casual bar and cafe shifts in Sydney ranks every channel by how fast it gets you working.
Shifts with an answer built in
A trial and a week of silence is how most casual work has always been found. Shiftly works differently. Venues use it for free to run their roster, and when there's a gap they post the shift to the On-Demand network, available along the east coast of Australia. You see the venue, the hours and the pay before you apply, and the venue accepts or declines your application in the app, so you get an answer instead of guessing. The venue engages you as an independent contractor for that shift, at rates at or above award minimums plus super, and Shiftly charges workers an 8% service fee. It won't make every venue quicker to decide, but there's no unpaid trial to sit through first, and you can check in the app whether your application has been accepted.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I wait to hear back after a trial shift?
Send a thank-you the same day, follow up on day 3 (or one business day after the date they gave you), follow up once more on day 7, and treat no reply by day 10 as a no. Keep applying elsewhere the whole time.
Is it rude to follow up after a trial shift?
No. Two short, polite messages a few days apart are normal, and most managers appreciate a candidate who makes it easy to reply. Sending more than that, or messaging during service, is what reads badly.
Should I get paid for a trial shift if I didn't get the job?
Whether you got the job doesn't decide it. The Fair Work Ombudsman says an unpaid trial must be a short, supervised skills test, usually an hour up to a shift depending on the job. Anything beyond that must be paid at the correct minimum rate, job or no job.
What does it mean if they asked for my TFN and bank details and then went quiet?
It usually means you got the job and the roster just hasn't been written yet. Send one message asking when your first shift is likely to be. If you worked paid hours and nothing arrives, chase the pay in writing.
Co-founder of Shiftly. Milan works with hospitality businesses across Australia to make rostering, timesheets and award-based pay radically simpler.
