So, I’ve been wondering, with all the growing awareness about fake jobs online… with so many people out of work, combing the job sites daily to no avail… applying to hundreds of jobs and getting no bites… should we be fighting back against fake job listings? They’re called ghost jobs. They’re mean to mislead everyone.
It doesn’t seem right, it’s not fair and it should not be legal, that a company would be able to create a job listing online for a position that doesn’t exist. I mean really, think about it. When you fill out a job application as a potential candidate, what do they make you do?
They make you sign off with the understanding that you’re telling the truth about who you are, to the best of your ability. They don’t want you to make up lies about yourself on the application. To do so would be considered some type of crime, maybe?
But yet, the companies posting fake jobs, or using fake profiles to post fake jobs… and how is that fair or acceptable? They’re clogging up so much space on the career sites with these false opportunities… misleading the general population. You’re saying there’s a job available, you posted it on X date… but yet you’re not hiring.
Again, why are they posting fake jobs?
We covered the reasons why companies post fake jobs. Let’s just bullet those out one more time. Ghost jobs, what’s the purpose?
- Companies want their current employees to see the job postings and start to feel uncomfortable, like they could easily, and might be, replaced.
- Companies post ghost jobs with the purpose of rounding up candidates to add to their “maybe someday” database.
- Companies post ghost jobs to make sure employees and candidates know not to demand higher pay – “you’ll take what we offer, because you’re dispensible.”
- Recruiters also post fake jobs to fill up their pipeline with potential candidates, and to make it seem like there are plenty of jobs available when perhaps there aren’t as many as one might think.
What’s your opinion about the legality of fake job postings?
Does anyone else think it’s unlawful for a large companies or any company to be able to post fake jobs / ghost jobs with no repercussions? Should this not be legal?
Should we be contacting the FCC or something? Let’s talk about it, my video is here:
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Do you freelance? Would you consider it, given today’s hopeless job market? If so many people got laid off, wouldn’t you think that the corporate ghost town marketing departments could use some freelance help?
I’m inclined to say they would… and might even afford to pay freelancers, considering how many annual salaries got slashed from the budget.
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