HOUSTON – Jobseekers are noticing a troubling trend, as a growing number of job ‘opportunities’ don’t really exist. They’re called ‘Ghost Jobs’: postings for positions where there’s no intent to hire. It’s not a new phenomenon, but it may be getting worse.

A new survey from the online hiring-platform GreenHouse finds three out of five job candidates say they suspect they’ve applied to a ghost job, and the company says a review of postings on its platform found one in five of them, 20%, was fake.

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It gets worse. A similar survey from Resume Builder finds 40% of hiring managers admitted posting fake job listings in the last year, and 70% of them viewed the practice as perfectly acceptable.

So why do it? Among the top excuses hiring managers cited for using a fake job posting was to alleviate employee workload concerns and giving the ‘perception’ of company growth. They also suggested fake job postings led to a boost in revenue, morale and productivity. A local job expert says there’s also a more reasonable excuse. 

“Think of it terms of competition,” says Houston Community College Employment Expert Margaret Castrow. “Employers, big companies are bidding on contracts and in anticipation of winning that contract, they know they’re going to need new talent. So, oftentimes, in order to hit the ground running, those employers will post those jobs so they can have that ready pool of talent.”

Whatever the reason, it can be maddening for someone just trying to find a job. Here are some things jobseekers can do to limit wasting time on a Ghost Job posting:
– Look for fresh postings that are no older than two to three months.
– Verify that postings found on a public job site are real by looking for it, directly, on the company website.
– Use your networking skills to learn what details are available about an opening, such as how soon they want to fill the role.

Finally, keep applying. While there are discouraging stories of some people applying hundreds of times, with little success, you will lose out on every job you don’t express an interest in.