Can you avoid ‘ghost jobs’ in your job hunt?
Last week I read Study Therapy on the topic of writing cover letters and sympathized with the reader. I’m tearing my hair out trying to find a job. I must have submitted 35 applications in the past six months and only heard back from two companies. TWO! If I’m not the person a company is looking for, that’s okay. But the silence after applying is devastating.
I was ranting about it to a friend and they told me I would probably be applying for a lot of “ghost jobs.” I had never heard of anything like this before and when my friend told me about it I was shocked. Why do they exist and do you have any advice for avoiding them?
Do you feel like you’re floating around in job application circles? There may be a simple explanation. Credit: Simon Letch
A potential employer’s silence feels like a veiled “you weren’t even close” to most people, so I can understand why you might be overwhelmed by your lack of response.
I hear a constant refrain from readers (and friends) who have been through a situation similar to yours: “How can I be so bad and miss the mark so often?” The truth is most people are not like that. But ghost jobs are one of the main reasons why looking for a new job can seem like a much more difficult and futile exercise than before.
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Management and Governance at the University of New South Wales. I asked Will Felps your question. Ghost jobs are often defined as advertisements for roles that do not exist, have already been filled, or for which the employer has no serious intention of hiring in the near term, he said.
“They’re the labor market version of catfishing. The ad looks perfect, but the relationship is never really presented,” he explained.
Organizations may leave a job posting open because they are content to wait for just the right person to fill a role that is valuable but not urgently needed.
“Ghost jobs waste applicants’ time. Candidates can spend hours tailoring their CVs and selection criteria for roles that never have a real budget. They then get their hopes up by dreaming of an attractive role, but the phone never rings.”
Felps said ghost jobs are now common, accounting for 20 percent of all advertised positions.
