Statistics show that the number of fake job ad scams is increasing rapidly around the world. In the first half of 2024, this type of fraud accounted for 18% of all financial fraud, and in Lithuania, 15% of fraud victims believed fake job offers.

PHOTO: depositphotos

Seeking employment in the modern digital age mainly consists of applying for jobs posted online. Anyone who’s ever done so will have received their fair share of rejection emails, but will have also experienced the indignity of having their application completely ignored. Hiring platform Greenhouse has been doing some analysis and can now provide an explanation for (at least some instances of) this phenomenon: up to 22% of online job ads are fake.

Why do companies post fake job ads?

In this case, “fake” means that either the job being advertised doesn’t really exist, or the company has no intention of filling it – not with an online applicant anyway. But why post job ads for roles that aren’t open? Companies may do this to suggest growth, or to catch any particularly outstanding candidates who could be assets too good to pass up on.

Another reason is to satisfy legal requirements around fair hiring practices, even when a candidate has already been selected from within the company or through personal or professional company connections. Some recruitment agencies may also advertise positions that don’t exist so they can build a portfolio of strong candidates to shop around to potential clients.

With artificial intelligence and budget cuts already making things hard for workers’ employment prospects, these so-called “ghost jobs” make the whole process even more soul-crushing for those in search of work.

A growing problem

Greenhouse found that of their clients hiring in the fields of tech, finance, and healthcare, between 18% and 22% of jobs advertised in 2024 never actually got filled. Platforms like Greenhouse and LinkedIn have begun verifying jobs ads in order to help job hunters identify real postings.

Companies use Greenhouse’s software to create job postings which then appear on their own websites or job boards like Indeed, so Greenhouse can see when an ad is posted and who – if anyone, is hired for the role. As a result, Greenhouse saw that the practice of posting ghost jobs is shockingly widespread.

Nearly 70% of companies using Greenhouse posted at least one fake job ad in the second quarter of 2024, and for 15% of companies, half of their advertised positions went unfilled. The sectors most affected were construction, the arts, and the food and beverage industry.

Advice for jobseekers

There are a few steps that jobseekers can take to try and avoid getting their hopes up and wasting their time on phony job ads. Look out for listings that are verified by the hosting platform, and check employer’s response rates and times, if that information is available.

Be wary of ads that have no timestamp, or have been posted months previously, as there’s a good chance the role has already been filled but the ad has not been taken down. If the job is listed on a site like Indeed or LinkedIn, but not on the company’s own website, consider it a warning. One way of finding out is to call or email the company directly and inquire about the status of the position.

The old saying of “it’s not what you know, but who you know” rings truer than ever in the current job market. Glen Loveland, a senior career coach with Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, says that networking plays a more important role in securing a job today than at any point in recent history. “Authentic relationships are the bedrock of sustainable success. The days of simply uploading résumés to job boards and hoping for the best are rapidly fading.”

- With the help from Patrick Conroy ir Silvija Aksiutinaitė

PHOTO: Depositphotos

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SOURCE: Lithuanian State Data Agency

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