Ghost jobs: how to tell if a job posting is real

To tell if a job posting is real, check how long it has been up, look for reposts with fresh dates, find it on the company careers site, read it for specifics, check company news and contact the recruiter. No single signal proves a posting is real, but several together give you a good read.

You find a role that fits. You tailor your resume, write a careful note, and apply. Then nothing. Weeks later the same posting is still up, or it's been reposted with a new date. There's a fair chance nobody was ever hiring for it.

That's a ghost job. It's a real company and a real posting, but no active plan to fill the role. It's a different problem from a job scam. A scam is a fake employer after your money or your personal data. If that's what you're worried about, read how to spot a fake job offer instead. A ghost job won't steal from you. It just eats your time.

What is a ghost job?

Greenhouse, a hiring software company, defines ghost jobs as "positions advertised with no intent to hire." In practice the label covers a few different situations. Some postings are left up after the role is filled. Some are for roles on hold because budget froze. Some are evergreen postings used to collect resumes for later. And some exist mainly to signal that the company is growing.

Not every slow or silent posting is a ghost job. Hiring takes time, and many real roles go quiet for weeks while a team reviews candidates. The point isn't to assume the worst. It's to spot the postings that deserve less of your effort.

How common are ghost jobs?

Common enough to plan around, but the numbers come with caveats. Two sources are worth knowing, and both come from companies with a stake in the hiring market.

In any given quarter, 18 to 22% of the jobs posted on the Greenhouse platform are classified as ghost jobs. (Greenhouse, 2024 State of Job Hunting report, December 10, 2024)

What that measures: postings on Greenhouse's own platform, not the whole job market. Greenhouse doesn't explain on that page how it classifies a posting as a ghost job, so treat the range as a vendor estimate rather than an audited count. The same report surveyed 2,500 workers in the US, UK and Germany and found that three in five said they suspected they'd encountered a ghost job. That's a suspicion, not a confirmed count.

The second source asked employers directly. In a survey commissioned by ResumeBuilder.com, 40% of hiring managers said their company had posted a fake job listing in the past year, and 3 in 10 said their company currently had one up. Among those who had, the most common reasons given were to appear open to outside talent (67%), to look like the company is growing (66%) and to make current employees believe their workload would ease (63%).

The method matters here. The survey ran online through Pollfish, launched May 22, 2024. It screened 1,641 hiring managers, and the 649 who said their company had posted a fake listing completed the full survey. Respondents had to be over 25, earn at least $75,000 in household income, hold a manager role or higher and work at a company with more than 10 employees. It's self-reported, it comes from a resume company, and the sample isn't random. Use it as a signal that the practice exists, not as a precise rate.

Why do companies post jobs they aren't filling?

Most reasons are mundane. A recruiter forgets to close a filled role. A hiring freeze lands mid-search and nobody takes the posting down. A team wants a bench of candidates for when budget opens. An internal candidate is already chosen, but policy requires an external posting. Some are more deliberate, like the growth-signaling reasons in the ResumeBuilder survey above.

From your side, the cause doesn't matter much. What matters is whether a human is reviewing applications for this role right now.

How can you tell if a job posting is real?

No single signal proves it. Several together give you a good read. Run through this checklist before you spend an hour tailoring an application.

• Check the posting age. Look at the posted date on the board and on the company site. A role that's been open for months with no change is worth a closer look.
• Look for reposts. If the same title and the same text keep reappearing with fresh dates, the company may be refreshing the listing rather than hiring.
• Find it on the company's careers site. Go to the employer's own careers page and search for the role. If it's on a job board but not on the company site, it may be stale or copied.
• Read for specifics. Real openings usually name a team, a location or remote policy, a reporting line, real responsibilities and often a pay range. "Always looking for great talent" or "join our talent community" language usually means a pipeline posting.
• Check company news. Recent layoffs or a reported hiring freeze don't rule a role out, but they lower the odds it's moving.
• Contact the recruiter. Find the recruiter or hiring manager for that team and ask directly whether the role is actively hiring and what the timeline looks like. A clear answer is useful either way.
• Ask someone inside. A former colleague or a second-degree connection at the company can often tell you in one message whether the team is really hiring.
• In Ontario, read the vacancy statement. For publicly advertised postings made on or after January 1, 2026, employers with 25 or more employees must state whether the posting is for an existing vacancy, per Ontario's Employment Standards Act guide.

Do employers have to tell you if a job is real?

Don't count on it. Ontario is one place with a specific rule. Its rules for postings made on or after January 1, 2026 require employers with 25 or more employees to disclose whether a vacancy exists. The province defines an existing vacancy as a position that is imminently available for a qualified candidate to fill. The rule doesn't force the employer to fill it. The same rules require those employers to tell interviewed applicants whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days of the interview, per the Ontario guide.

Outside Ontario, check your local rules rather than assuming any protection exists. The checklist above works anywhere.

Should you still apply to a job that might be a ghost job?

Sometimes, yes. If the fit is strong and the application is quick, apply. The cost is low. What you shouldn't do is give a doubtful posting your best hours. Spend your tailoring time and outreach on roles with clear signs of live hiring.

A simple rule helps. Sort roles into two groups. Group one shows at least two live signals, like a recent date, a listing on the company site and a recruiter who replies. Those get a tailored application, outreach and a follow-up. Group two is everything else. Those get a quick application at most, and no follow-up until something changes.

How do ghost jobs affect your job search?

They make silence harder to read. When you hear nothing, it's tempting to blame your resume. Sometimes that's right, and why you might not be getting interviews covers the usual causes. But some of that silence is postings nobody is reading. Tracking where you applied, when, and whether a human ever replied makes the pattern visible. If one company or one board keeps producing nothing, move your effort elsewhere.

Where does a reverse recruiter fit?

Checking postings, contacting recruiters and following up on a schedule is slow work. It's part of what I handle in a done-for-you job search, with every application and outreach logged in a live tracker you can open.

Searching in a specific field? See the reverse recruiter pages by field.

Want the search run for you? See how the done-for-you job search works, or compare the plans and prices.