As if the process for searching for a job isn’t already difficult, now job hunters have to deal with ghosts too. Employees looking for a new gig have encountered fake job listings, colloquially known as “ghost jobs.”
Deceptive job listings seem to be on the rise, partially driven by the ease of posting to digital platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed. Three in five candidates reportedly believe to have encountered one, per job platform Greenhouse’s 2024 State of Job Hunting report. On Greenhouse alone about 18 to 22% of job listings are fake. Companies are owning up to it at this point, as almost 70% admit to posting at least one ghost job in the second quarter of 2024— according to additional data reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Calling these listings a “rising problem” in an interview with Fortune, Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of Kickresume, explains that they’re born out of a number of factors. Sometimes listings are simply an accident, as a company forgets to remove the role after it’s been filed. Often, a company is looking to choose an internal candidate but is legally bound to post the role.
Other times, there’s a level of duplicity from hiring managers afoot. Perhaps employers are posting various postings to test what audience they’re reaching, attempting to build the audience pool, or give an appearance of company growth—adds Duris.
While these dead-end listings can be hard to spot, Duris tells Fortune of some main ways job seekers can identify them.
Clues to spotting a fake listing
First things first, check the time. If there’s no clear timestamp to the listing or an old one, the role is potentially like expired food— a little fishy. A job posting that is a couple months old should raise some red flags, explains Duris, adding in a written comment that “Most roles get filled much faster than that.”
Another potential tip is if the same job post is listed “very frequently,” or faster “than a company could be hiring for it.”
Duris explains that another avenue is the company who posted the job’s original website. An inactive or duplicitously posted listing might be on a job platform like Indeed or LinkedIn but not on the company’s site. Take a look at Glassdoor reviews too as someone might have left a comment flagging a hiring managers’ proclivity for listing ghost jobs.
Some extra safeguards might be on their way as the problem persists, Duris suggests that “some job boards have already rolled out some verification systems,” and label the responsible employers.
Until then, trying to get to a human might be a good call. Networking is still key to securing a job and breaking through the noise, adds Duris.
“If you’re unsure about a listing, it’s always a good idea to reach out to the company directly by email or phone to ask if the role is still open,” he writes in an additional statement. “Talking to someone at the company can help you find out how serious they are about hiring right now.”
