| |
| Based on my conversations with clients, no one wants to waste time in their job search. But guess what is happening out there on many if not most job boards? Employers are posting “Ghost Jobs.” Why? Apparently, it is sometimes to gather data on the effectiveness of job descriptions or, only slightly better, collect resumes for future job openings. Another reason mentioned in a Forbes article, Starting Your Job Search? Watch Out For Ghost Jobs, Lack Of Feedback And Intense Competition, from earlier this year was, “…to maintain visibility on job boards.”Most applications take 1-2 hours, if you’re doing them right and targeting the specific employer/job, and involve significant stress and analysis. Then, once you’ have applied, time-eating activities continue like checking email, looking to see if the job is still posted, waiting a couple of weeks with no response, trying to reach someone to follow-up and never hearing back. A lot of wasted time and effort. And for what, in these cases? To supply an employer with marketing data, help their image, or build a talent pool for down the line. Cruel? At least unkind, I would argue. How can job seekers avoid these futile job search traps?According to a recent Starboard staffing agency article, if the job description is too vague or the job has been posted for months, these are clues it could be a Ghost Job. To check your suspicion, you can go directly to the employer website and see if the job is posted there, as well. If there is no urgency in the hiring process, that’s also a strong indicator. “When a company is actively hiring, they typically move candidates through the process quickly. If you apply and don’t hear back for weeks—or get generic responses with no clear next steps—the position may not actually be open.” |
