What are Ghost Jobs and why are they Bad News for Jobseekers?

Jobsearch, Jobseeker / 01 July 2025

You see a job advertised that ticks all the boxes. The salary range is great. You have the required skills and experience. The employer is reputable. You have plenty of time to get your application in before the deadline. You happily polish your CV and send it off. A month or more passes and you’ve heard nothing back. You begin to doubt yourself and your appeal as a candidate. Without contact from the employer, you have no idea what you did wrong.

But maybe you did everything right. The problem is that you applied for a ghost job. A ghost job is an advertised vacancy that doesn’t exist. Research has shown that the number of ghost job postings is on the rise, making up around a third of jobs advertised in the UK and 18-22% in the US.

For jobseekers, ghost jobs can be frustrating and misleading. But why do companies advertise ghost jobs? Are they a scam or just a natural part of the recruitment process?

What are Ghost Jobs and why are they Bad News for Jobseekers?

Why do Employers post Ghost Jobs?

So are companies just being dishonest when posting ghost jobs or is there some kind of corporate method to their madness? Here are six reasons that employers post ghost jobs:

Building a talent pool: Companies collect CVs for future hiring needs.
Market research: To assess the availability of skills and salary expectations in the job market.
Boost corporate reputation: To create an impression of growth and stability in the eyes of investors and clients.
Fair hiring practices: When an employer has an internal candidate for a vacancy, they may advertise the job externally to be seen to have a fair, inclusive hiring process and avoid claims of discrimination.
Motivate current staff: To give the impression to existing staff that they can easily be replaced and that they must therefore work harder.
Testing job adverts: Companies may experiment with the wording of job adverts to get the best result.

And of course, sometimes mistakes happen. For instance, a job advert may not be taken down after a post is filled.

Are Ghosts Jobs Scams?

That depends on what you mean by the word ‘scam’. Does a scam involve criminal intent or is it simply dishonest and bad practice?

If the intent of a fake job advert is to steal money, sensitive data, or a person’s identity, then it could definitely be called a scam. However, if the purpose is to build a pool of candidates for future recruitment, the answer is less clear cut.

The one thing you can be sure of is that applying for a ghost job is a waste of your time.

Why are Ghost Jobs Bad News for Jobseekers?

Ghost jobs waste your time and energy as a jobseeker. They give you false hope in an opportunity that doesn’t exist. You can become demoralised and lose all confidence in your value as a worker, especially if you unknowingly apply for numerous ghost jobs.

There’s also a data privacy concern. In the best case scenario, the employer stores your information as part of their future hiring pool. In the worst, your data could be used for other purposes.

How to Avoid Ghost Jobs as a Jobseeker

So how can you avoid ghost jobs when looking for employment opportunities? While you may still be fooled occasionally, here are six steps you can take to reduce that possibility:

Research the employer: Investigate the company by visiting their website, searching for them on social media, and reading news stories about them. Reviews on job sites may flag up questionable recruitment practices.
Verify the job advert: Check the company’s website to confirm that the job posting exists. It it’s missing, reach out to the company or recruiter to find out whether the vacancy is genuine.
Check when the job advert was posted: Be wary of undated postings or ones that are older than a month. This could indicate a vacancy that isn’t being recruited for.
Examine the job advert/description: Vague descriptions, the absence of a salary, or unrealistic benefit packages may be red flags.
Watch out for repeat postings: If you see the same role being advertised repeatedly by the same employer or recruiter, it could point to a ghost job.
Talk to your network: If you’re still unsure about a job advert when you’ve taken all of the above steps, reach out to your network of contacts. Have they heard about this vacancy? What do they know about the company and their recruitment practices?

Following these tips will improve your chances of spotting a ghost job and help make the best use of your time and energy.

Wrapping it up

Ghost jobs are a growing and ongoing challenge for jobseekers. Understanding why employers use them and how they can negatively affect you is the first step to tackling this practice head-on. Use our five steps to spot ghost jobs so you can focus your time and efforts on genuine opportunities.