If you see a job posting, you’ll probably assume the employer needs help and may be interested in someone like you. But bogus postings are common. They’re just ways to learn about job seekers because the company has no intention of hiring anyone.
SkillConnect360 is a placement agency. We help our clients fill open jobs with qualified candidates who are a good fit for the position and the organization. We don’t make money unless our candidate is hired and the employer is satisfied. We won’t seek candidates if there’s no job to fill because it wastes everyone’s time. Unfortunately, many employers don’t see it that way.
Real Postings and Fake Opportunities
Fake job postings have become common. There are some related to identity theft scams. Criminals use these posts to get your personal information to help them steal money from you or impersonate you to take out credit cards or loans.
There are also employers who, according to Business Insider, post openings on their websites, job search sites, and LinkedIn with no intention of hiring anyone. Highly qualified people who meet or exceed the job requirements spend time researching the company and applying and never hear back from anyone.
Applicants may assume they didn’t stand out from the other candidates or were screened out by software looking for keywords on resumes. The reality is the opening they applied for, known as a ghost job, doesn’t exist.
Seeking Applicants Just Because They Can
Clarify Capital, a lending firm, surveyed about 1,000 hiring managers late last summer. They found that:
A third of these managers admitted to wasting job applicants’ time and energy for no good reason.
This Approach Shows How Poorly Many Companies Understand Recruiting
Some of these job announcements may be published even though the organization’s unsure about their future needs and just want a pool of applicants ready if they decide to hire. They may also have hundreds of people apply because they might stumble upon the perfect “unicorn” candidate they may find attractive.
This is a bad idea for employers. People put in the time to apply and possibly many months later, when there’s an actual opportunity, are contacted. These candidates will probably have lost interest, have taken another job, or after learning there was no job when they applied, become angry with the organization.
The article quotes William Stonehouse, the president of Crawford Thomas Recruiting, a Florida staffing firm that works with Fortune 1000 companies, as saying:
“A lot of businesses don’t understand the impact that a negative hiring process can have on future applicants…If your listings are a graveyard of old positions and candidates are uploading applications into a resume black hole, it doesn’t set a good tone. People want to be treated with dignity and respect.”
You don’t want to work for a company that treats people like that.
Unless Our Client Commits to Filling a Position, We Won’t Recruit Candidates for It
We’re more than happy to discuss with a client their future hiring needs and how we can meet them. But we won’t waste our time, or applicants’ time, on a job opening that may or may not exist weeks or months from now. We respect our applicants too much to do that. If we’re trying to fill an opening, you know it’s no ghost.
Take the Next Step. Contact SkillConnect360
If you’re looking for a new challenge, Skill Connect 360 can help you find the right position that’s a good fit for you, your goals and the employer. Take advantage of our knowledge of the hiring organization’s wants, needs, and culture to decide if the opportunity is right for you. Call us today at 212-507-9350 or fill out our contact form to start the conversation.
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