Ghost jobs are now so common that being able to identify them has become an essential part of the job search.
In a recent survey, 86% of job hunters said they had encountered a posting that wasn’t tied to an active opening. More than a third (36%) said they had spent at least four hours pursuing openings that they now believe were not real.
And even when an application leads to an interview, it doesn’t guarantee there is a real job behind it—more than half of those surveyed (58%) said they had interviewed for a position they later suspected was a ghost job.
The recent proliferation of ghost jobs has led candidates to learn some of their telltale signs, like listings that stay active too long or look outdated (38% of respondents), positions that are repeatedly removed and reposted (34%), and suspicious employer behavior, such as no response or no clear hiring timeline.
ResumeBuilder.com surveyed 1,011 adults who searched for a job within the past two years, declaring “knowing how to spot a ghost job is now an essential job search skill”
The spread of ghost jobs has eroded trust in the job market and even prompted New York state lawmakers to pass legislation in June making them illegal.
In response, candidates are taking extra steps to verify listings before they apply, including checking when the position was posted (34%), seeing whether the opening is also posted on an employer’s career site (32%), and avoiding positions that have been repeatedly reposted (27%). Some (15%) even contacted employers or recruiting agencies before applying to make sure the job was real.
Experts also recommend thinking about whether the listing makes sense within the context of real-world events at the company or in the broader sector—like a particular project or regulatory timeline—and steering clear of “any job posting that appears too good to be true, text messages offering job interviews, or listings that require payment up front.”
