Fake Jobs Ads Are Just More Proof of How Crappy Job Applicants Get Treated

HERE’S SOMETHING I wonder about: why are we all so surprised that there are so many fake job ads getting posted today?

ResumeBuilder.com touted a survey they did with “649 hiring managers” in May 2024 that came up with the not-so-surprising finding that “40% of companies posted a fake job listing this year” and that “3 in 10 companies currently have active fake listings.”

This should not be a shock to anyone involved in the recruiting and talent management sectors, because fake job listings are up there with ghosting job applicants as a long-standing hiring trend.

Stacie Haller, the chief career adviser at Resume Builder, stated the obvious:

“Posting fake jobs is not a new thing, For many years, staffing organizations would run jobs all the time so they could build a backlog of prospects ready to reach out to whenever they needed it. But what has been happening lately is taking it to a whole other level.“

Posting fake job ads is not new

ALTHOUGH I AGREE that posting fake jobs is not new, I’m not sure it has gone to “a whole other level.”  It may feel that way, but it’s probably just because social media gets ever louder and more invasive in amplifying the complaints people make about fake ads.

But Resume Builder’s chief career adviser did have another interesting insight from the survey — that 59% of organizations use fake jobs ads to “collect resumes and keep them on file for a later date, which could be how an applicant gets their foot in the door.”

The survey found that candidates were sometimes interviewed for fake positions, with 39% of respondents indicating that candidates were always contacted.

Haller put it like this:

“At least the process gave applicants exposure, and if the interview went well and the organization has a job that’s a fit for you in the future, they have the means to get in touch with you. I don’t think that’s a bad way to run a talent acquisition department, it’s just important to be honest about it.” 

It would be nice if job applicants really got exposure from applying to fake job ads, but I’ve closely covered the recruiting and talent management space for over 20 years and I never, ever heard of someone getting hired tomorrow from a fake job ad connection today. And few companies anywhere are really “honest about it,” as chief career adviser Haller puts it.

The reality for most applicants — yours truly included — is that their application to that fake posting just goes into the black hole and is never, ever considered again.

Honesty is a virtue that is often ignored when it comes to dealing with the great mass of people applying for jobs.

What do job candidates really want?

HERE’S MY TAKE: I have two thoughts about this “disturbing trend and growing problem in the job market” that the Resume Builder survey shed a light on:

1. Take this Resume Builder survey with a grain of salt. Although I applaud Resume Builder for actually having a methodology at the bottom of their survey results, they indicate that only 649 hiring managers completed it, and, that “Respondents also had to indicate that they are involved in hiring at their company via a screening question.” I’m sorry, but 649 respondents is far too few, there needs to be more detail about the organizations represented (size and industry), and the mysterious “screening question” needs a better explanation. I’ll say it again — Bad methodology makes for bad surveys.
2. This just reinforces the fact that for most job seekers, the candidate experience stinks. I’ve made this point many times (at ERE, at RecruitingDaily, and here at The Skeptical Guy) and it always seems to be the same — stories about the terrible treatment of job candidates are alive and well. No matter what organizations say, they generally treat job candidates like crap.

All of this begs the question: What Do Job Candidates Really Want? I’ve answered this before, but here’s what I said in an article over on Recruiting Daily in August 2022:

“Any company can treat top candidates well (although that’s not always a given, as I found out), but how they act toward the great nameless, faceless mass of people who apply to them really speaks volumes about how they treat not only those who actually do get hired, but how they probably treat their customers too.

It’s a version of the Golden Rule — treat your job candidates as YOU want to be treated. If you truly care about the Candidate Experience, this shouldn’t be so hard for recruiters and talent managers to understand.”

Other trends and insights 

And your latest dose of AI news … 

• AI Doesn’t Kill Jobs? Tell That to Freelancers (From WSJ.com)
• College grads with AI experience attract employers from every job sector (From ZDNet.com)
• 5 Questions To Ask Before Implementing Gen AI (From ChiefExecutive.net)
• Amazon is working on a ChatGPT competitor (From QZ.com)
• AI is only widening the skills gap. Here’s how to meet the challenge (From FastCompany.com)
• Many workers are grudgingly starting to accept the benefits of AI (From TechRadar.com)

ALSO: There are a great many articles out there about getting and keeping a job in today’s crazy business environment. There are some that give good advice, but some others are just plain stupid. Take a read of 8 questions to ask to make sure you’re not about to be let go in Fast Company and decide for yourself which way this one goes

ALSO-ALSO: I don’t know what this means … but it surely means something. Las Vegas weddings hit a post-COVID high this year, according to Sherwood.news. The number of marriages in Clark County, Nevada reached nearly 8,000 in April — more than 35 times higher than the same month in 2020. Spur-of-the-moment Vegas weddings have a long tradition (Britney Spears 55-hour Vegas marriage, for example), but nobody can figure out why they have exploded this year.

Another observation on fake job ads

“Corporate America has gotten so bad that companies are posting jobs they don’t intend to fill. 

A recent survey of hiring managers by Resume Builder found three in 10 companies have active fake job listings, …. And there is zero shame in their game, as nearly 70% of hiring managers said fake job posts were ‘morally acceptable.’

In fact, some companies justify the move as a way to help their employees. Posting jobs can give workers the impression the company is growing and signal to burnt-out employees that help is on the way. 

Except, you know, it’s not. 

It’s another knock for people navigating an incredibly frustrating labor market. While employment is still relatively low, sitting at only 4%, the job market is also pretty stagnant.   

High-paying white-collar roles aren’t readily available, and people aren’t quitting as much as they once were. (Goodbye, Great Resignation; hello, Big Stay.) … 

With the power firmly back in employers’ hands, the hiring process has become a marathon, writes BI’s Alexandra Bacon. Multiple interview rounds, personality tests, and on-site assessment days drawn out across several months have become the norm. 

And even then, you might still get ghosted! … 

(So) a fake job posting might be a blessing in disguise. After all, do you really want to work for a company willing to do that in the first place?”

— From the Insider Today newsletter with with Dan DeFrancesco 

Loyal Readers: I’ve been compiling this weekly wrap-up for over 20 years — from Workforce.com to TLNT.com to Fuel50 and now here at The Skeptical Guy. I’d appreciate knowing what you think, so email comments to me at  johnhollon@yahoo.com.