How to Tell if a Job is a Ghost Job

If you’ve been online recently–be it LinkedIn or Reddit–then you know how many people are talking about so called Ghost Jobs. There is so much suspicion out there in the job market–especially with the rise of AI and with automated job posting sites.

So, how can you tell if a job is fake, aka a “Ghost Job”? Well, it’s more complicated than simply checking the info against a company website. If it was that simple, there wouldn’t be much online about Ghost Jobs; people would simply figure it out quickly for themselves.

But it’s not that simple. Companies post fake jobs for all sorts of reasons.

What we’ll do here is review some of the main ways you can tell if a job is a “ghost job”. Some of them are not that simple, some of them require a bit of a more creative approach.

Who Is Posting The Job: Tip #1

The first thing you want to do is check who is posting the job. Where a job is posted can be the number one indicator of whether or not it is a ghost job.

There are a lot of places where a job might be posted. Some of these are:

• Job Posting Sites (ZipRecruiter, Indeed, Craigslist, CareerBuilder, Monster)
• Job Aggregator Sites (Harri, SimplyJobs, GoogleJobs, Etc..)
• LinkedIn
• Company Websites
• Recruiting Firms
• Review Sites (Glassdoor)

If you check the posting, and look at what

Even though it’s more common for companies to post ghost jobs, sometimes staffing firms will post fake job listings as well.

There are some easy ways to spot a fake job if you know what to look for.

In fact, if a recruiter doesn’t call you back, they might have been the victim themselves of a ghost job from a company.

How Long Has The Job Been Open: Tip # 2

If a job has been posted for months–then it’s a good sign that it’s a ghost job. Real jobs don’t stay open that long.

If a job is that hard to fill, then the company would use a recruiting service and headhunters instead of posting ads online.

Most jobs get hundreds of applicants in the first week of posting. So, if the hiring team really wants to fill it–they will have no problem screening applicants and then hiring someone.

There can only be a few reasons for a job to be open that long. One, the job is hard to fill and the company is not getting the right applicants. If this is true, then they eventually close the posting if it’s on a commercial job posting site.

Job posting sites are expensive, costing employers thousands of dollars a week to run an ad. There is no reason for the ad to be live online for a role if they are not getting applicants unless they are harvesting resumes.

If, however, the job posting is on an aggregator site or a company website–then it doesn’t cost anything and the job might be dead, expired, or simply a fake job.

Always try and check the date of the posting–if there is no date, then the odds are that the job is just a placeholder and not one that is active.

What Sort of Response Do You Get? Tip #3

When you send out your application, what sort of response do you receive? Is it a form letter, or is it nothing at all?

The biggest sign that a job is a ghost job is when you don’t hear back. If you are someone who is a good fit for the job, and you apply, and you don’t hear back–then it might be a ghost job.

First, realzie that you need to be a good fit. What does that mean? It means that if you are a job hopper (leaving jobs every three months) or if you don’t have any of the qualifications, then you won’t be contacted.

But if the job is for a basic administrative assistant with 5 years experience, and you tick all the boxes, then you should get a response if you are someone who is paying attention.

Often times, if the job is posted and you are not getting a response on a timely manner–then it might be a ghost job. Perhaps it is a case of nepotism or cronyism, but it might be a dead end ghost job.

That’s why it’s important to track when you apply to a job, and when you hear back or don’t hear back.