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Imagine Saying “We Post Fake Jobs To Show Growth To Investors” With A Straight Face
One thing that got some attention this past week was the “ghost jobs” thing, with Wall Street Journal even picking it up. This has sadly been going on for a decade or more. Basically, what happens is: a company posts a fake job. It’s a job description, and it looks real, but there is no approved headcount or salary behind it. The job will never be filled. And yet, hundreds (potentially thousands) of people apply to it, and some of those people get their hopes up in the process, thinking “That could be a perfect job for me and be part of me turning the corner from where I am now!” But see, the job is fake. It doesn’t exist.
On the company side, here are the standard rationalizations for this:
- “It allows us to see the compensation demands of the market.”
- “It allows us to see what talent is out there.”
- “It allows us to showcase growth to potential investors.”
Almost all of this is utter bullshit.
