Ghost Jobs Are Real

A few weeks ago I wrote about The Cyber Leadership Labor Surplus, where there was a surplus of cyber executives out there these days, something we haven’t seen in years.

This article is inspired by the article: Packed. Crowded. Bursting. Crammed. Glutted. Jammed. Teeming. Saturated. Chock-full. Jam-packed. Brimming. Overflowing. The article is anonymous, but an excellent read and very grounded in truth and reality. So let’s break it down. This is the first part in a series.

As we in the US celebrate Labor Day, a national holiday to “honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States” (Wikipedia), it seems fitting to shed light on some of the less visible practices occurring today.

For some reference, I have been keeping a pulse on the cybersecurity job market since starting the Getting Into Infosec podcast in 2018. 

What Is A Ghost Job?

I first heard about this phenomenon sometime last year, and since then I’ve been hearing about it more and more. 

What is a ghost job? A ghost job is where a company posts an opening for a position, but in reality does not actually have availability for said position. Sometimes the job is filled, but kept open, but oftentimes the position is not real nor actively recruited for. In any case, it’s a job posting, that for all intents and purposes is a lie.

Psychological Impact of Ghost Jobs

Can you imagine the mental impact of ghost jobs on the job seeker?

It’s bad enough that people are having to apply to hundreds of jobs, each with their own lengthy and quite aggravating application process, but now people have the additional mental anguish to wonder if the job even exists.

Do you think this will encourage more people to apply to jobs? No, of course not.

Reasons Why Companies Post Ghost Jobs

Why do companies have ghost jobs anyway? This is a good question. I had some idea, but asked ChatGPT and it detailed it beautifully, with references!

• Building a Talent Pool: Some companies keep listings open to gather resumes and have a ready pool of potential candidates for future needs​ (Monday Talent)​.

• Shaping Perception: Companies may use ghost jobs to create an image of growth and prosperity, which can boost their reputation and make them seem more attractive to potential employees and investors​ (Loeb Center)​.

• Market Analysis: Employers might post these jobs to gauge the labor market, understanding the availability and quality of candidates without any immediate hiring plans​ (The Daily Dot)​.

• Promotional Tools: Job fairs and online postings can attract a large number of resumes, providing companies with valuable data and potential leads, even if no active hiring is happening​ (Monday Talent)​.

Unfortunately, it can be an abuse of the market especially during bad job times as we are in now.

What does it mean that a company is having to post fake jobs only to impress investors and the market that they are doing well and growing? Maybe this is a leading indicator of companies not doing well? I dunno.

In any case this practice is not good for anyone and it’s hurting more people than we know.

What’s Next?

For the job seeker, the best I can do is to raise awareness about the issue, which is the point of this post. Understand that these posts are out there, and increase your spidey sense for them. The upside is that this builds your muscle for job interviews and applications, but of course this can be exhausting. Your efforts are not for anything, but will build your resilience - you will get through this.

For those guilty of posting and keeping ghost jobs, I urge you to do your ethical duty and take these posts down or file a disclaimer that you are not actively hiring. In the dating world this is referred to at breadcrumbing. Maybe we should move the application process to swiping?

Additional Reading

There are more pieces to the puzzle of the job market in cybersecurity, namely on the education sector and organizational management which I will get into in future articles. Specifically the failures we have in the education sector and the fascination with the “girl in the red dress” for cybersecurity jobs.

In the meantime, here are some notable pieces by Marcus Hutchins (aka MalwareTech) and Daniel Miessler on the overall job market.

Did you know about Ghost Jobs before reading this?