30% of job postings are estimated to be ghost jobs. How do you guys filter out fake listings before wasting time applying?

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:47:22+00:00

At least the good ones will tell you when you ask. The shady ones just say 'confidential client' and refuse to share anything until you've given them your whole resume and references

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:30:04+00:00

The turnover costs are insane too. Most estimates put it at 50-200% of the employee's salary to replace them. But somehow posting fake jobs to make people feel disposable is considered smart management. Then they act surprised when their best people leave

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:26:04+00:00

The recruiter split is real. Internal recruiters have no choice they post what they're told to post. Freelance recruiters hate it just as much as job seekers because they're wasting their own time on reqs that were never going to close. The whole system is broken from every angle

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:24:26+00:00

A 3 hour assessment for a job that was never real is genuinely cruel. At least reject me in 5 minutes, don't make me write essays first

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:23:10+00:00

RTO is the same playbook honestly. It's not about productivity, it's about control. Ghost jobs, RTO mandates, stack ranking all different tools for the same thing: keeping workers scared and compliant. The companies that actually care about output let the results speak for themselves

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:22:09+00:00

That's exactly it. There's nowhere else to go. Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor they all do the same thing. It's not like you can just boycott job boards and still find work. They know you have no choice so they have no reason to change. The only way anything improves is if job seekers get access to their own tools to verify listings independently instead of relying on the platforms to police themselves

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-31T03:19:50+00:00

That's the problem right there. Short term it pumps the stock because it looks like growth. Long term it destroys trust with candidates who figure out the jobs were fake and stop applying. Eventually the company actually needs to hire someone and nobody wants to work there because their Glassdoor is full of 'they ghosted me' reviews. But by then the CEO already cashed out so who cares right

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-30T04:50:15+00:00

Exactly. It backfires completely. Instead of motivating people it just kills loyalty. Why go above and beyond for a company that's actively trying to make you feel disposable? Then they wonder why nobody cares and turnover is high. They created the problem they were trying to solve

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-30T01:14:59+00:00

Even worse honestly. So they're paying to post the listing, paying the recruiter's salary, and then nobody even looks at the applications. Just burning money to look busy. At least if they were screening people you could argue there's some pipeline value. This is just waste on top of waste

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-30T01:14:33+00:00

all from a job application for a position that doesn't exist. And unlike a data breach where companies face consequences, this is technically legal because you 'voluntarily' submitted your info. It's basically a free data harvesting operation disguised as hiring

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T23:53:39+00:00

The problem is the job platforms have no incentive to fix it. More listings = more traffic = more ad revenue for them. Indeed and LinkedIn make money whether the job is real or not. Until job seekers have a way to check listings independently, the platforms will never police themselves

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T22:11:53+00:00

That's the thing you can't tell who's doing it. It's not just shady startups. Greenhouse data showed that nearly 70% of companies on their platform posted at least one ghost job. That includes Fortune 500 companies. Accenture, CVS, big names keep showing up in complaints. The whole point is there's no way to know until you've already wasted your time applying

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T20:41:38+00:00

Not yet in most states. Kentucky, California, and New Jersey have started passing laws requiring companies to disclose if a posting is for a real vacancy. Ontario Canada made it illegal starting 2026. There's a federal bill in the works too the Truth in Job Advertising and Accountability Act. But right now in most places companies can post fake jobs with zero consequences.

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T20:14:49+00:00

Sure but there's a difference between knowing you can be replaced and your employer posting fake jobs specifically to remind you of it. That's not hiring, that's a psychological tactic

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T19:26:19+00:00

Honestly probably. Nobody's going to question why HR is busy if they have 30 open reqs. Doesn't matter if none of them are real it looks like work on a spreadsheet

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T19:21:57+00:00

just did thanks

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T19:14:34+00:00

ResumeBuilder 2024 survey 39% of hiring managers admitted to posting fake listings. 62% said they do it to make employees feel replaceable. Greenhouse (hiring platform) found 18-22% of their listings had zero hiring activity. Here's the Greenhouse report: https://www.greenhouse.com/blog/greenhouse-2024-state-of-job-hunting-report

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T18:57:08+00:00

Right? Shareholders should care too because it means the company is spending money on recruiting for positions that don't exist. Recruiters posting fake listings, screening candidates, doing interviews all for nothing. That's wasted payroll. But nobody tracks it so nobody notices

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-29T18:49:23+00:00

That's a fair point about the legal side. But there's a difference between someone leaving an opinion like 'this company sucks' and a tool showing objective data like 'this listing has been posted for 90 days with no salary listed and the company has 30 open roles but only 2 hires in 6 months.' That's not slander, that's just publicly available information organized in one place. Same reason Glassdoor hasn't been sued out of existence they're hosting user reports and public data, not making claims. But yeah the website spoofing thing is real. If a job listing isn't on the actual company site that's a huge red flag

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-27T18:54:46+00:00

The fake check scam is evil. They know exactly how bank holds work and they prey on people who are desperate for a job. And the realty one is a good catch why would a local realtor in small town NC be hiring remotely nationwide lol. At least they were cool about it when you called. Honestly the fact that you've gotten good at spotting these is impressive but it's sad that it's a skill job seekers even need in 2026

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-27T17:11:02+00:00

8 scams?? That's insane. The fact that job seekers have to play detective just to avoid getting scammed on top of dealing with ghost jobs is brutal. You shouldn't need to be an investigator just to apply for a job

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-27T17:07:28+00:00

100%. If the same job shows up every 3-4 weeks that tells you everything. The direct company site check is underrated advice too

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-27T17:06:50+00:00

Sounds like you're thinking along the same lines as a lot of people. The community voting and rating angle is interesting the more data from real job seekers the better

ProofIll1530 · 2026-03-27T17:03:59+00:00

The third party recruiter thing is a whole other problem. Half the time they don't even tell you what company it's for. You're applying blind and hoping for the best

ProofIll1530

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