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Ever heard of a ‘ghost job’? You might have already wasted your time applying for one

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Ever heard of a ‘ghost job’? You might have already wasted your time applying for one

You see an ad for a job that looks perfect. You spend several hours putting together an amazing application. You hit send.

Then you never hear a thing.

Don’t take it personally. It could be that the job never actually existed.

“Ghost jobs” are advertised positions that an employer has no intention of filling — or that have already been filled — and there are potentially thousands of them in Australia.

They are not only wasting people’s time, they risk damaging mental health and skewing job market figures.

So here’s how to steer clear of them.

How to tell if a job posting is a ghost job

Ben Hamer, a futurist and commentator on work issues, and host of the Thinker Tank podcast, says it’s difficult to give a precise figure, but he estimates that in Australia up to one third of all job listings could be ghost jobs.

One of the biggest indicators that a job is a ghost job is if its ad has run for more than 30 days, he tells ABC RN’s Life Matters.

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