My buddy in HR dropped a stat about ghost jobs that has me questioning everything

He told me over 40% of job listings on big sites like LinkedIn are fake or already filled, and I found an article from 2024 backing that up. On one hand it makes sense companies want to look like they're growing, but on the other hand it wastes hours of people's time applying. Do you guys think we should just ignore online listings and only network instead, or am I overreacting?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbarahill1mo ago

Oh man, that stat hits hard. I spent three hours last week tailoring a cover letter for a 'Senior Marketing Lead' role that I'm 90% sure was a ghost job. I even had my cat help me pick out a professional Zoom background for the interview that never came. At this point, I feel like networking is the only way to go, but I also have zero charisma and my idea of networking is sending a LinkedIn message that says 'hello' and then panicking.

the_lucas1mo ago

My cat helped me pick out a professional Zoom background" is the most relatable thing I've ever read.