It's wild how many job listings might be fake

• Companies often want to signal they're growing or to let overworked employees think help is coming.
• But three in 10 companies have fake job listings, according to a Resume Builder survey.
• Fake listings can undermine trust — but sometimes lead to real interviews and employment. 

That job you applied for might be a mirage.

Companies often post bogus roles to ease employees' concerns about being overworked and signal that the organization is growing, said Resume Builder, which recently found three in 10 employers have fake job listings.

Resume Builder, which offers résumé templates, surveyed nearly 650 hiring managers in May and found nearly seven in 10 said it was "morally acceptable" to post fake jobs. Hiring managers credited the move with increasing revenue, morale, and how much workers get done.

Yet, Stacie Haller, Resume Builder's chief career advisor, told Business Insider that the practice could — no surprise — undermine confidence among existing and would-be employees.

"The last people you want to be sharing fake information to your staff is the HR people," she said.

The prominence of sham listings highlights the challenges many people, particularly desk workers in industries like tech, face in finding jobs. The overall labor market remains strong, but it's not a game of workers' choice like it was a few years ago when more employers were fighting for people.

Everybody's doing it

Haller said it's long been common for staffing firms to fish for talent with dummy listings. That way, when a client calls needing workers, the agency has people ready to go.

But now, Haller said, companies beyond staffing firms appear to be adopting the practice, which can frustrate job seekers and erode trust with workers.

The listings spanned entry-level positions to executive roles, according to the survey.

The reasons for listing fake jobs included signaling that the employer was willing to hire from outside the organization. Yet about six in 10 respondents also said companies wanted to make overworked employees think help was on the way — and that they could be replaced.

"Some people are saying, 'Well, it increased productivity.' And I'm thinking, 'Well, does it do it out of fear?'" Haller said.

She said it's a stretch to think that ghost listings would do a lot to boost morale among workers by making them believe the organization was growing.

About six in 10 hiring managers said the intent was to scoop up résumés for when a role opens. Haller said there's no issue collecting the information, provided employers are upfront about it.

"Why not be honest?" she said.

Haller said employers that dangle fake listings risk hurting themselves by undermining their reputations.

One reason is simply that companies often get caught. Two-thirds of hiring managers said those they meant to dupe, including workers, investors, and job seekers, figured out they were being hoodwinked.

Fake listings can lead to real jobs

About seven in 10 of the fake jobs were on a company website or LinkedIn, according to the survey. And, yet, despite all the shenanigans, many fake listings often lead to real interviews — and even employment.

Four in 10 hiring managers said they always contacted workers who applied for made-up jobs. Forty-five percent said they sometimes contacted those job seekers. Among companies that contacted applicants, 85% report interviewing the person.

"A lot of them are getting contacted and interviewed at some point, so it's not necessarily a black box," Haller said.

How you can spot a sham listing

Haller said it's best to try to determine who posted a job. Going to the hiring manager on LinkedIn or to someone you know at the company is often a better route than applying cold, anyway, she said. And look when the job was listed.

"If it was five months ago, and it's still up there, it's fake," she said.

Of course, not every unanswered job submission indicates that a listing isn't real. Sometimes, the problem isn't the worker but the CV, Haller said.

"It's easy to say, 'I sent out 500 résumés and got nothing.' And then I look at the résumé and they have an AOL address, and it's 20 pages, and I have no idea what they want to do. So, 'No, you're not getting a response,'" she said.

Haller lamented fictional aspects to any part of the job equation.

"'People lie on their résumés. So what?' That's horrifying. Hiring managers lie to hire people. 'Oh, we have great benefits, and you'll get promoted.' And it's a lie. None of this is acceptable," she said.

Haller is optimistic that Gen Z workers, who are expected to outnumber full-time boomers in the labor force in 2024, will demand change because surveys indicate many young people share an interest in preserving their mental health and in employers being open with their people.

"The new generation coming up isn't going to stand for this," she said.

That's a good thing, Haller said. "Anytime I see the word 'fake' in any part of the hiring process, it's alarming."