A ghost job is a job posting for a role that nobody plans to fill soon. The role may already be filled, on hold, or never approved. The posting stays up anyway, and it looks like every other job.
You cannot always tell from the posting alone. But you can check a few things in about five minutes, before you spend an evening on an application.
Look for the job on the company's own careers page, check the date, and click apply. If the job is not on the company's site, has been up for 45 days or more, or the apply link does not work, spend your time on a different role, or reach a person at the company first.
How common are ghost jobs?
Greenhouse, a company that makes hiring software, studied the jobs posted on its own system. It reported that in any given quarter, 18% to 22% of those jobs are ghost jobs. That is about 1 in 5.
So most postings are real. The goal is to check the ones you care about, not to give up on job boards.
Why companies post them
Common reasons:
- The role was filled, and nobody took the posting down.
- Hiring is on hold, but the company wants to keep a pool of candidates for later.
- The company has to post the job, but already has someone in mind, such as a person who works there now.
Six signs a posting may be a ghost job
- It has been up a long time. A posting open for 45 days or more needs a second look. So does a posting with no date at all.
- It is not on the company's own careers page. If you find it only on job boards, the company may have closed it.
- The apply link does not work. The link is broken, goes to a general page, or the form says the job no longer accepts applications.
- It keeps coming back. The same job is posted again every few weeks with no changes.
- The details are thin. There is no team, no manager, and no real work described. It could be a posting from any company.
- The facts do not match. The location, the pay, or the date is different on the company's site and on the job board.
News of recent layoffs or a hiring freeze at the company is a reason to check more carefully too.
How to check a posting in five minutes
- Search the company's careers page for the exact job title.
- Find the posting date. If there is none, search the title and the company name to see when the job first appeared.
- Click apply, and make sure the form opens and still accepts applications.
- Search for the same title at the same company. Several copies with different dates means the job was posted again.
- Look for news about layoffs or a hiring freeze at the company.
Offboard's free Ghost Job Checker does most of this for you. Paste the job link, and it reads the real posting, checks the apply link and the company's own site, and gives you a ghost risk score from 0 to 100 with the reasons. You do not need an account.
What to do when a posting looks like a ghost job
A high score does not prove the job is not real. It means the signs point that way. You have three good choices:
- Skip it. Spend the time on a posting that checks out.
- Ask a person. Send a short message to the hiring manager or someone on the team and ask if the role is still open. If it is, you have already started a conversation.
- Apply, but keep it short. If you want to work there, send an application you already have, and do not wait for a reply before you apply elsewhere.
Is a ghost job the same as a job scam?
No. A ghost job comes from a real company that does not plan to fill the role soon. A job scam is someone who pretends to hire so they can take your money or your personal information. The Federal Trade Commission says that honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job.
The Ghost Job Checker scores ghost risk only. It does not check for scams.
Are ghost jobs against the law?
In the US, no federal law stops companies from posting ghost jobs. Some states have proposed bills. In Ontario, Canada, employers with 25 or more employees must say in each public job posting whether it is for an existing vacancy. The rule applies to postings from January 1, 2026.
Sources
- How common ghost jobs are: Greenhouse 2024 State of Job Hunting report, read November 10, 2026.
- Job scams: Federal Trade Commission, Job Scams, read November 10, 2026.
- Ontario's rule: Ontario, Requirements related to publicly advertised job postings, read November 10, 2026.