You may have heard about so-called ghost jobs, but what are they and why do they exist? More importantly, how can you avoid them?
Ghost jobs are simply postings for fake jobs. In other words, unlike scams, these are job postings from real employers, but there’s no actual job to be had. There are a couple of reasons for these postings: either the company is trying to look good or they are trying to collect a bank of resumes in case hiring resumes or increases.
And they are incredibly frustrating for job-seekers. All that time you’ve spent tailoring your application might be for nothing!
But there are some ways you can weed these fake jobs out so you’re only spending time applying for real things.
1. Check the posting date. Because these aren’t actual jobs, they aren’t being carefully monitored and taken down when there are enough applicants, so anything that’s a month or more old might be a ghost job.
2. Read the description carefully. Many of these fake jobs are very vague—even more so than a regular job posting. So if you read the info carefully and can’t get a sense of what the job would entail, toss it into the pile of things not to consider.
3. Reach out to the recruiter. This isn’t especially comfortable to most of us, but have a list of questions you want to be sure you ask: why this role is open, when they want the person to start, what the role would look like in detail, etc.
4. Talk to contacts in the org. If they don’t know anything about the role, it might not exist—but be wary. Not everyone in a single company knows every job the employer is hiring for. So if you do find people in the company, ask if they can put you in contact with the hiring manager for the position. Bonus: if it’s a real job and the employer has a referral program, both you and your referrer could benefit!
