Ghost Job Ads - Do They Exist?

With Halloween approaching, we need to talk about ghost job ads.

Do these ghosts really exist?

I've heard many stories about job ads for positions that don’t actually exist. Even more often, I hear that the employer already knows who they want to hire but has to advertise due to some regulation.

As a candidate, it’s understandably frustrating to apply for jobs that aren’t genuinely available, but how common is this?

Fake Job Ads

I believe it’s actually quite rare to advertise for jobs that don’t exist. I've only heard of one instance where someone posted a completely fake job ad to make it look like the company was growing and create an image of success. That strategy didn’t work, and the company no longer exists today.

The Employer Already Knows Who They Want

So, what about jobs that are advertised even though the employer already knows who they want to hire?

I think that's actually quite common, especially in public sector jobs, where there’s a legal obligation to post all positions. At the same time, these organizations are held to high standards when it comes to evaluating all applicants and making objective selections.

Private employers aren’t required to hire the best-qualified candidate, nor do they need to advertise. Still, it’s entirely possible for them to post job ads where there are strong internal candidates who are likely to get the job. Why?

Well, it could be company policy to publicly advertise open positions. It might be that they want to make sure they get the best candidate; even if they think it’s a certain person, they’re not completely sure. Another reason is to increase internal acceptance for promoting this person, as they were the best candidate in open competition.

Ghosts Exist!

So, do ghosts exist? Yes! But they’re rare and not that scary.

Happy Halloween!

P.S. There are also scams that involve offering a job and getting the victim to pay some sort of fee. Phishing also happens. That’s not what I mean by ghost ads, though I do find this type of fraud genuinely frightening.