Why are job boards full of impossible roles and ghost listings?
Job boards are flooded with positions that require unrealistic workloads for poor pay, roles already earmarked for internal hires, and multi-disciplinary jobs stapled together. This makes the search feel like a desert and causes applicants to waste months interviewing only to lose out or find out the posting was never truly open.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Laughing it off and continuing to search
- 2Filtering for listings that involve background MSP support
- 3Passively looking for work over an extended period
- 4Considering applying for companies or industries normally avoided
- 5continuing the job search
- 6venting online about lengthy hiring cycles and ghost postings
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Staff accountant position I applied for in May is still open + reposted several times”source ↗
“4 months later they are still looking.”source ↗
“I've been looking for a new role for almost 2 years now, most of the positions I've applied for have ended up being filled internally, which makes me ask why it was posted externally in the first place.”source ↗
“On the other hand I've came across several listings that are just heinous for what is asked of you versus the pay.”source ↗
“holy fuck, the job boards here are a desert for quality work.”source ↗
“If it's not those, it's either some nightmare homunculus of 5 jobs stapled together, or some small firm looking to hire an HR person to come clean up the disaster of a sinking ship they already have.”source ↗
“I've had more than a handful of first and second interviews only to get beaten out by someone else.”source ↗
“I have seen the same accounting supervisor position reposted around my area for 2 years now 🤣”source ↗
“just saw yesterday the company put up a new posting for the same position”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to stop getting irrelevant job offers from recruiters
- 3How to find a remote HR job when LinkedIn isn't working
- 6Why can't I find a teaching job after graduating?
- 3Why can't I get a job as a generalist?
- 2Why am I getting ghosted after great career fair chats?
- 3How do I find a job when my network is tapped out?