Ghost Jobs: Just another thing for us to worry about

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The laptop “DINGS” with a new email notification. You eagerly open it, only to see another rejection email. “Thank you for your application. Unfortunately…” Blah, blah, blah. (groan) “Great. Just great,” you say to yourself. “I’ve been looking for months. Every application feels like a shot in the dark.”

A thing that is not fun: endlessly applying for job after job, navigating a flurry of application portals, revising your resume, and upgrading your LinkedIn page. A thing that’s even less fun: doing all that while dealing with “ghost jobs.”

Ghost jobs are frustratingly real in the job market. Ghost jobs are postings for jobs that do not exist and plenty of companies are engaging in the practice, per a survey of 1k+ hiring managers from Clarify Capital. Think of them as job postings that are more of a mirage than an actual opportunity. They fall into two main categories:

• Unintentional listings that linger because someone failed to take them down
• Deliberate postings with no immediate intent to hire

Some are old listings that someone forgot to remove. OK, annoying, but we get it. Things can get hectic; however, managers also provided a variety of other reasons a company might post a role it doesn’t intend to fill:

• To maintain a pool of potential candidates
• To give the appearance of growth
• To “placate” overworked employees
• To motivate current employees

To me, it seems like wasted time and it erodes confidence in the system. Job seekers are starting to question the legitimacy of all job postings, wondering if applying is even worth the effort. This ghost job phenomenon has implications for the perceived dynamism of the job market. On paper, the economy might seem like it’s booming with opportunities, but the reality for job seekers (especially the new wave of graduated students) can be starkly different.

LinkedIn and other job platforms have become the modern-day arenas for the ghost job spectacle. These platforms, designed to connect job seekers and employers, are unfortunately being used for ghost job postings. LinkedIn, with its vast network, is particularly noteworthy. Its reputation as a professional networking site makes it a trusted source for job opportunities, but this trust can be exploited. Employers and recruiters are now going on LinkedIn to post jobs without immediate plans to hire.

The issue goes beyond ghost jobs. LinkedIn and similar sites are also playgrounds for more sinister scams. Fake recruiters post non-existent jobs to collect personal information from unsuspecting job seekers. Or they might use the guise of a job offer to lure individuals into sending money for “training,” or “equipment,” with no real job waiting at the end. This is very dangerous, because while ghost jobs waste your time, scams can hit your wallet and your privacy.

What does this mean for job seekers?

Well, Ontario is moving to get rid of ghost jobs by requiring companies to:

• Disclose whether a listing is for an open position, or to collect future candidates.
• Actually, respond to applicants they’ve interviewed.

As an employer, you can:

• Ensure your job postings are always current and reflect genuine hiring needs. Transparency goes a long way in building trust with potential applicants.
• Be precise and truthful in your job descriptions. Avoid using postings as fishing expeditions to gauge interest or market salaries.
• Employers can take proactive steps to address this by improving communication with candidates throughout the hiring process

As a job seeker you should:

• Check companies’ social media and websites to ensure hiring announcements match job postings.
• Check the posting date. Per Clarify Capital, 40% of managers plan to fill open roles in two to three months. Older postings may be inactive or bogus.
• Be wary of vague postings that could apply to any candidate, or jobs that offer suspiciously high compensation or excessive perks.
• Start with research. Companies with real jobs often have an active online presence.
• Be cautious of jobs that offer significantly higher pay but few requirements.
• After applying, a follow-up can reveal much about the job’s legitimacy. Companies serious about hiring will have a structured recruitment process. If your follow-up emails or calls disappear into the void or the responses are non-committal, it might be a ghost job.

We are living during a very complicated, and complex time, and the addition of technology has only made it maddening. Give yourself grace; job hunting is a taxing process, but at least now you know some of the pitfalls that exist, and you can do your best to avoid them.