There is something called a ghost job

Why Many May Not be able to find a Job

There is something called a ghost job.

A ghost job is when an employer posts a job listing for a position that does not actually exist or that they have no intention of filling anytime soon. Some companies may do this to appear as though they are growing, to build a talent pool for the future, to satisfy internal metrics, or in some cases to take advantage of incentives tied to hiring activity rather than actual hires.

These listings waste job seekers’ time and create false hope in the job market.

I am 23, so if I sound young, that is why. But here is why ghost jobs are harmful. There are millions of job listings online. If a large percentage of employers post roles they are not seriously trying to fill, that means a significant number of listings are not real opportunities. It can start to feel like no one wants to hire you, even if you have strong qualifications such as a college degree. You may wonder whether your degree means anything anymore.

But the issue might not be your degree. It might not be your resume either. It could be that you are applying to positions that were never meant to be filled in the first place.

When fake or inactive listings make up a large portion of what is available, finding a real opportunity can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. You send out 10 applications. Then 25. Then 50. No callbacks. No interviews. It is easy to assume you did something wrong. Maybe your resume is flawed. Maybe you are not qualified enough.

In reality, some of those postings may be outdated, abandoned, or intentionally left up without active hiring behind them. You were never going to get those jobs because there was no real hiring process happening. That is frustrating and discouraging.

In the past, people often advised job seekers to walk into businesses and ask if they were hiring. If the answer was no, at least it was clear. Today, much of the job search happens online due to the covid-19 pandemic. If the majority of questionable listings exist on the internet, then job seekers are heavily exposed to them. You can submit application after application into a digital void and never know whether the role was legitimate.

This creates a distorted job market. If many of the visible jobs are not truly available, it becomes harder to measure real opportunity. How do you find a stable, sustainable job when so many listings may not be active? It makes the process feel random and discouraging.

As someone from Gen Z who has gone through a job search, I have experienced this firsthand. I applied for roles that felt like dream opportunities and never heard back. It makes you question your abilities. It makes you question your education. It makes you question the entire system.

The problem may not always be personal failure. Sometimes it is structural. Sometimes the listing itself was never meant to lead to a hire. And that is what makes ghost jobs so damaging. They erode trust, waste time, and make an already stressful process even harder.