Jobs Boards Are Filled With Ghost Jobs
Let’s talk about how to avoid them.
Here’s something I’ve learned about the last month of job hunting: there are a lot of ghost jobs out there.
What are ghost jobs?
Jobs that appear online, but are either already filled or don’t exist.
Sometimes employers keep these ghost jobs up for a long time. A survey of 1000 hiring managers showed that 68% had job postings active for more than 30 days. One in ten had job postings for more than six months.
When asked why they keep these jobs up even when they have no intention of filling them the most common response was: “They’re always open to new people.”
Other common reasons were:
It keeps current employees motivated
It gives the impression that the company is growing
It provides an active pool of talent in case of turnover.
For the last month, I’ve applied to so many jobs I’ve lost count. Every single time I’ve researched the particular company and tailored each resume and cover letter to match the job description.
It’s a real kick in the balls to discover that some of these jobs I’ve been applying to were ghost jobs. What a waste of time and energy.
