It’s not you, it is the jobs, that you are applying for! Job seekers are applying for positions that do not exist! Jobs Fraud is up 22% , although there may appear to be Thousands of active job postings are fake, not existent and with no intent of hiring, 60% active for over a month.

Employer Ghost postings happen when companies post jobs where their recruiters and hiring managers are simply collecting resumes with no immediate intention of interviewing or filling. This new Ghost Jobs Market Tactics have grown in the battle to identify talent through the recession driven turnover tsunami.

Job Listings Abound, but Many, Are Fake!

~ By Te-Ping Chen – Managing Your Career: Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake – WSJ

Experts warn that the fraudulent posting practice will continue due to the Federal Reserve recession triggered job market cooling¹.  Thousands of fraudulent ghost postings have a very real impact on job-seekers. Jobseekers mistake employer lack of communications to personal deficiencies in a competitive marketplace economy².

Why Companies post fake Jobs?

Not all “ghost postings” are nefarious. In today’s digital transformation market, the search for talent needs to precede the project that is creating the demand. Some companies, in anticipation of a project in flight, will create postings to identify the next roles.

Several logical reasons companies elect ghost job postings:

• To maintain the illusion of growth and the impression of a healthy jobs market and company
• In hopes of creating a pipeline of ideal candidates for future activities
• To gain competitive intelligence for identifying market or sales information
• Job listings being posted in companies where current employees are feeling overworked, is sometimes a strategy by employers to maintain hope when teams are overworked, and budget is constrain
• Certain jobs may be forecasted high in demand, and they are planning ahead
• Employers may always theoretically need certain positions filled¹.

Career Professional’s may observe ghosting after an active interview, where they will learn that the role is “pending budget approval” that is expected within the next 45 days or so, but never actually comes.

The Darker Side: Cybercrime Scams from Ghost Jobs

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released recent alerts that cyber criminals now pose as legitimate employers by spoofing company websites and posting fake job openings on popular online job boards¹²³.

Unsuspecting jobseekers participate in false interviews, during the process of interview, they will become unknowing victims of fraud employment scams from companies requiring Personally Identifiable Information from applicants against fake jobs. The job never comes, but the Personal Identifiable Information that has been supplied, fuels an underground fraud scam. ¹²³⁴.

Common fake jobs and cybercriminal scams that are being used to take advantage of jobseekers = provided by career expert, Alison Doyle at TheBalanceCareers.com ¹

A few known fraud methods include:

• Background check that includes criminal history and credit report scams where the applicant is asked to provide their personally identifying information (PII) to run a mandatory credit check for a high profile job, or asks for personal information such as social security number
• fake interview/hiring reimbursement information scams, where they will attempt to gather bank account information to reimburse interview travel, or to initiate work from home set up.
• bait-and-switch scams where the job seeker is offered a different job than what was advertised
• job that requires training that YOU have to pay before being hired– equipment or training materials scams where the job seeker is asked to pay for training materials.

When a company hires new employees, it’s expected to fill out tax documents, background checks, submit bank information for direct deposit and other processes that require confidential and personal information. It is a red flag, if this information is being requested before you have signed employment offer of agreement.

Looking for a job? Here are some way you can use to spot ghost postings and avoid time wasted applying for a non-existent job¹.

Strategies to Identify or Manage Ghost Job Postings

Here are some Tips Jobseekers can use to identify and avoid ghost job openings:

• Assess the company’s stability before applying for a job¹.
• Look for specific details in the job description¹.
• Pay attention to company trends¹.
• Analyze the initial job posting date, Jobs posted longer have the highest potential to be ghost jobs.  A “fresh” job posted within 24 hours, for example is less likely to be a ghost job compared to one posted a few months ago².
• You Interviewed, and the Hiring Manager Ghosted! Job seeker advise when expecting an offer, and instead, receiving silence, instead– Great Ghost Job Offer advise from TheBalanceMoney: Career and Job Search Expert Alison Doyle.

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