I read Work Therapy on the subject of writing cover letters last week and sympathised with the reader. I am tearing my hair out trying to find a job. I must have submitted 35 applications over the past six months and have heard back from just two companies. TWO! If I’m not what a company is looking for, fine. But the silence after I apply is crushing.
I was ranting to a friend about it, and they told me I was likely applying for a lot of “ghost jobs”. I had never heard of such a thing before and, when my friend told me about them, I was shocked. Why do they exist and do you have any advice for avoiding them?
Feel like you’re going around in circles applying for jobs? There might be a simple explanation. Credit: Simon Letch
Silence from a prospective employer comes across to most people as a tacit “you weren’t even close”, so I can understand why you feel crushed by the lack of responses.
A constant refrain I hear from readers (and friends) who have had a run similar to yours is words to the effect: “How can I be missing the mark so badly and so often?” The fact is, most people aren’t. But ghost jobs are one of the major reasons why the search for a new job can seem so much harder and more futile an exercise than it ever used to be.
I asked Dr Will Felps, an Associate Professor in the School of Management and Governance at the University of New South Wales, about your question. He said that ghost jobs are usually defined as ads for roles that either don’t exist, are already filled or that the employer has no serious intention of hiring for in the near term.
“They are the labour market version of catfishing. The ad looks perfect, but the relationship was never really on offer,” he explained.
Organisations may leave a job ad up because they’re happy to wait for just the right person to fill a valuable but not urgently required role.
“Ghost jobs waste applicants’ time. Candidates may spend hours tailoring CVs and selection criteria for roles that never had a real budget attached. Then, they get their hopes up, imagining an appealing role, only for the phone never to ring.”
Felps said that ghost jobs are now widespread, making up as many as 20 per cent of all advertised positions.
