How To Spot Fake Job Postings And Protect Your Personal Information

By: Ene Ayegba | Published: Oct 27, 2023

At one point in time, almost everyone will go job-hunting. For many, it can be a terrible experience. 

With recently evolving technology, one would think the search for jobs would get easier. But no—a current survey reveals the job-hunting process is getting more difficult.

Fruitless Job Searches

There are some job seekers that have been to many companies and submitted countless resumes but have received no response. They might feel very frustrated and also think they are doing something wrong, which is not the case. 

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Source: ShigeruTakeda/Pinterest

There is a reason why there are circumstances in which job hunters don’t receive responses, even if they have applied for numerous job offers.

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Factors Affecting Job-Hunting

A veteran recruiter and job search counselor, Bryan Creely, explained numerous factors make the job-searching process more tedious than it used to be.

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Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

Of all the reasons he mentioned, one in particular was more startling than the others—posting fake jobs! Yes, companies are posting ghost jobs on job search boards.

Surveying Organizations

Using more than one thousand hiring managers as a case study, the investment and wealth management firm Clarity Capital conducted a survey. The result showed that many companies were posting fake jobs.

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Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

The companies openly confessed to posting ghost jobs on job boards. Therefore, most of the positions that employment seekers apply for do not even exist.

Window Shopping for Employees

The survey also revealed the reason these companies were posting fake jobs. Some corporations do it in order to accumulate lots of resumes for the future. This roladex will make individuals both internal and external to the organization think the company is growing and developing. It is also a way to boost employee enthusiasm.

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Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

A large number of these companies also leave old postings that have already been filled on the job board. Their reason is that they are always open to new hires. Bryan described it as “window shopping for employees.”

Justifying the Reasons

Thirty-seven percent of organizations studied said they post ghost vacancies to amass resumes in case of prospective turnover. These companies gave more disturbing reasons why they do what they do. About forty-three percent said they keep posting fake job ads to motivate their workers.

Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

It is hard to think of good reasons why a company would use that form of motivation. It is more or less like they want to manipulate their employees into believing there could be a layoff anytime.

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Creating the Illusion of Growth

One of Bryan’s theories concerning this matter offered that the so-called motivation of the companies is a way of stopping employees from resigning. The ghost job posts will make the workers think the company is expanding, and maybe they think they would soon have a lighter workload. Besides, who doesn’t want to be a part of an evolving company?

Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

Several other companies said they post fake job ads to give the illusion that their company is growing. All these practices provide a misrepresentation of the company’s worth.

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Ever-Evolving Technology

Artificial intelligence and a shortage of recruiting staffers are also major problems. Some changes like “one-way interviews” that occurred because of the COVID pandemic are here to stay.

Source: VelvetJobs/Pinterest

Instead of making the recruitment process easier, it creates a mountain of content the hiring staff must go through. And since most staffers were laid off during the pandemic, the organizations became highly dependent on technology.

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Total Dependence on Artificial Intelligence

Heavy dependence on AI will definitely result in companies hiring fewer employees. That would cause the process of interviewing and hiring job hunters to fall on nonprofessionals.

Source: CatIon/Pinterest

We can only imagine the hiring process of unprofessional managers. This amateurism would make job hunting a nightmare. All these factors together create a high level of frustration among job seekers.

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Finding a Solution

Now that some of the problems have been identified, how can they be fixed? Creely suggests leveraging networking and the use of social media platforms like LinkedIn.

Source: BryanCreely/YouTube

If these methods are often and properly used, they can help reduce the entire issue. It would be comforting to job-searching individuals that are going in circles trying to get a job.

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