As the saying goes, everything old is new, and “ghost homework” is no exception. Over the past decade, we have seen favorable employment markets for employers and job seekers at different times. Since then, as candidate ghost employers, employers have posted fictional work to mislead candidates.
There are many reasons why employers can choose to take this route. Most commonly, establish a pipeline of candidates to backfill future job openings, give the impression of company growth and stability, or appease overworked employees. There are others who might just choose to post jobs that don’t exist instead of seeing prepaid posts posts that aren’t used, or find that posts that delete filled jobs are too time-consuming.
Unfortunately, the challenges faced by employers and their choices to deal with can negatively impact job seekers, especially those who have applied for numerous jobs without receiving any response. So, what can candidates do to help recognize and avoid ghost work while leaving the best impression on employers who may be employed in the future? Here are some suggestions.
Filter by date
While it is impossible to distinguish real job opportunities from 100% certain fake job opportunities, the longer posting time, the greater the possibility it is. If a job has been published for several months, it is a good idea to show that holding the position is not a priority or that the employer is ignored after hiring. Whenever possible, candidates should filter job search results by date and determine the latest list. This doesn’t eliminate all ghost jobs, but job search is usually a digital game, targeting the latest opportunities first increases the chances of candidates receiving a response.
View the company’s career pages and social media profiles
While employers may be motivated to post ghost jobs, they may not actively promote and recruit them. Not only does this waste their time, but it can seriously damage their employer brand when negative comments and comments about their (missed A) recruitment process by disgruntled applicants. Job seekers should visit the company’s career pages and social media pages to determine their roles they regularly advertise and most eager to fill.
Contact the hiring manager or recruiter
When visiting the company’s career pages and social media pages, candidates should be careful whether the hiring manager or recruiter’s name and contact information are attached to the job posting. If not, they might search LinkedIn to find employees who work in recruitment or professional fields. Candidates can then email these employees or contact them on LinkedIn and ask for public positions. Even if employees are not recruiters or hiring managers, they may still be willing to help identified job seekers, especially if their company has a referral program.
Click on your network
The network cannot be completed at the last minute in a desperate situation. It should be part of the regular behavior of employees and job seekers to build a trusted source of experts and allies. If a candidate applies for a job, they think it’s appropriate, but the employer is still unresponsive, a quick search of their network will reveal whether they are connected to the company’s current or past employees. If not, publishing a query can generate the potential customers the connection may provide. Of course, there is no guarantee that this will produce results. But considering that 30-50% of new employees come from referrals, it’s worth maximizing all resources.
Showcase your expertise
Regardless of how tenacious the job seeker is in purchasing potential clients, applying for roles, and contacting employers, it doesn’t matter if they don’t have the skills and experience the employer is looking for. These qualifications should be obvious during job search. Candidates should ensure that their LinkedIn profile is updated with work history, certification, projects, publications and media samples. Additionally, they should join the group and share news, blogs and articles with their network, related to their industry or target roles. When deciding which candidates interview in dozens or hundreds of similarly qualified candidates, employers may pursue those who have expertise and share them regularly.
As we have seen over the past decade, ghost assignments won’t disappear anytime soon. In fact, it is clear that the surge in recent fictitious work releases may lead to the Fed’s overconfidence in the strength of the U.S. economy. While many employers will continue to hedge their bets in an uncertain economy by posting jobs that are not ready to fill their jobs, candidates who know what to look for and take proactive networking and self-promotion can avoid ghost jobs while increasing the chances of landing real jobs.
