In recent months, a new term has emerged in the job market landscape – “ghost jobs.” These are job postings which appear to be active but aren’t real. As recruiters, it’s crucial to understand this phenomenon and adapt our strategies to ensure we’re providing real value to both candidates and clients.

A Forbes survey of over 1,000 hiring managers revealed some startling statistics:

•     68% admitted to keeping job postings active for more than 30 days
•     1 in 10 had kept a job opening for more than 6 months

The top reasons given for maintaining these “ghost jobs” were:

1.   Wanting to be open to new talent
2.   Keeping current employees motivated
3.   Giving the impression that the company is growing

Interestingly, maintaining an active pool of job applicants was the least cited reason.

So how can we, as recruiters, differentiate ourselves and ensure our job postings are taken seriously?

1.   Provide detailed information: With ghost jobs often featuring vague descriptions, we need to offer more specifics about our openings. Consider creating a link within the job posting that leads to a comprehensive description on your website.
2.   Emphasize authenticity: Clearly state that this is a real job posting from a legitimate recruiter. Include your name, website, and contact information prominently.
3.   Encourage direct contact: Advise candidates to reach out to you directly, countering the trend of ghost jobs where applicants often hear nothing back.
4.   Stay current: Regularly update your job postings and remove filled positions promptly.
5.   Be transparent: If a position has been open for an extended period, be prepared to explain why to interested candidates.

It’s also important to be aware of the signs that may indicate a ghost job, as reported by The Washington Post:

1.   The job has been posted for an unusually long time
2.   The posting lacks detailed responsibilities
3.   The listing is inconsistent with the company’s own website
4.   The company has recently announced layoffs
5.   The position seems too good to be true
6.   There appears to be a strong internal candidate

While some companies may see benefits in posting fake jobs, such as increased revenue and employee morale, we as professional recruiters have an opportunity to elevate our industry. By clearly communicating the authenticity of our job postings and the value we provide, we can stand out in a market increasingly cluttered with ghost jobs.

Let’s commit to transparency and excellence in our recruiting practices. Not only will this build trust with candidates, but it will also strengthen our relationships with clients who are genuinely looking to fill positions with top talent.

The next time you post a job, add a link to an extremely detailed job description on your website, and also call out specifically you and your role are both real. We might even use this as a selling point for why they should be working with a recruiter! Check out this example Jason made and steal the bits you like best.

You don’t need a resume ready to have a conversation. I’m Jason (at) mooreessentials.com. Email me to get started or if you want the detailed job description. You can also look me up online. In an age of AI and Ghost Jobs, I’m a real person who turns dream jobs into real jobs.

Tales from the Hiring Office, thoughts from Jason

I worked my way up at my college job until I was in the Central Hiring Office, my first real taste of recruiting and not having to stand for an entire shift. Thanks to a great cast of characters (whose names I did not change for this) it was an amazing and fun place to work. This is a lesson I learned with my team there. 

Being young and in college, we were all relatively fit. Come summer, someone (not me, Allison, I think) had the idea that we should all compete in a triathlon. Before you go thinking we were amazingly fit, this was a mini one: 500m swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run. Okay, now I’m tired just thinking about that, but clearly not an Ironman.

Anyway, we all had bets on who would win the different segments. MaryClare was training for a marathon, she’d be the fastest runner. I may have been favored on biking thanks to long legs, but didn’t own one and borrowed a cheap Walmart mountain bike the day of the race. Heather swam in High School and made State, making her our fastest swimmer.

I took training runs with MaryClare, and swam with Heather. I stopped once on a stationary bike, just to see if I could bike 12 miles straight. I could, but that’s arguably insufficient training.

This isn’t the Olympics. The race starts as a mass lake start. The water is cold and a hundred people are flapping all over each other trying to get into water deep enough to swim, which isn’t currently overwhelmed with other swimmers. It’s a mess and this was our first time competing so we had no idea what to expect.

I’m basically swimming over people. I have no glasses and everyone looks the same. I’m following the flow of traffic, with no chance of ever being in the lead, which is fine. I wouldn’t have known which way to go.

Then I spot it. The light blue swim suit Heather wore everyday. Maybe 20 or 25 feet ahead of me. I kicked it up a notch trying to catch her. 15 feet. Then 10. She glanced back on a breath stroke, and swam ahead faster. Suddenly, we’re back at 15 feet or more.

I dig deep, and increase my thrust as much as the water will allow. It’s enough that I’m gaining on her again. Soon, I’m less than 10 feet back again. And then, easy as pie, she looks back, sees me… and increases her lead again.

It hurts at this point. Normally, I breathe every third or fourth stroke. Now I’m popping my head out of the water despite the extra drag, trying to get enough oxygen to fuel another attempt. Losing is not something I like, so I find another burst of energy. 20 feet becomes 10… and yes. She pulls away again.

With the shore in blurry sight, I give it my all. By the time the water is too shallow to swim and she’s getting out I’m barely behind her. As I run towards the bikes, I see her turn towards the wrong bike! Now, I’m calling out to her as I veer toward our stuff. “Heather, Heather, our bikes are over here.”

From behind me I hear, “Bote! Bote!” It’s Heather (calling my nickname for those who don’t know.) I left off a detail, because I completely forgot it at the time. We had both bought racing swimsuits. She was behind me in a black swimsuit (don’t imagine me in my black speedo) and with 20/20 vision had spent the race struggling to catch up to me. Every time she thought she was close, I seemed to magically know and speed away. Her story was the same as mine in many ways, only the mass start was harder for her.

The life and recruiting lessons abound.

Sometimes we feel like we’re losing when we’re winning. Sometimes we fail to properly see the future. Often we’re going through something which is hard enough on us, we fail to see how hard life is on others. Also, train with the best. Don’t road race on a cheap mountain bike (a story for a different day.) But mostly, the only thing you can control is your effort. How hard do you train, practice, and bring it every day? That’s where the win comes.