Young Aussie makes online plea after finding out about the rise of ‘ghost jobs’

A Melbourne student has been left fuming after applying to more than 100 jobs only to come to a brutal realisation.

Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

It’s how the old saying goes, but for many Aussies recently, the first step of trying to land any job has been the hardest hurdle.

Just ask 28-year-old Evie Jackson, who has been stuck applying for more than six months to any and every job with no luck.

Ms Jackson recently took to TikTok to ask if “anyone else keeps applying for jobs and not hearing a word back”.

Speaking to news.com.au, the Melbourne woman said she applied to hundreds of jobs while looking for casual or part-time work during university.

“(I) have just found it impossible,” she said.

“I was venting to a friend about it who’s had similar issues, and she’s like ‘Oh, you know, a lot of those jobs aren’t real, right? It’s just the company’s trying to look good.’”

That is when Ms Jackson did some research on the phenomenon and found out about the alarming “ghost job” trend.

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The term “ghost job” refers to companies who post job ads for positions seemingly legitimate, but have no intent to fill.

It’s a tactic that companies will use for various reasons, either to make themselves look better or achieve certain business agendas.

Other theories suggested by Ms Jackson include collecting data on the market and storing resumes.

“I’ve just been applying to a good amount of fake jobs, which is really disheartening,” she said.

In her video, the young worker branded ghost jobs a “further exploitation of the working class”.

According to a report from ResumeBuilder.com, which surveyed more than 1600 hiring managers, 40 per cent admitted that their company had posted a fake job in the past year.

Of companies that listed fake jobs, approximately 26 per cent posted one to three fake job listings within 12 months, 19 per cent posted five, and the same amount posted 10.

Worryingly, 13 per cent admitted to posting 75 or more fake roles.

28-year-old Evie Jackson has applied to hundreds of jobs with no luck. Picture: Supplied

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Ms Jackson said there are signs that may indicate a role falls into the ghost job category.

“Definitely the amount of time they are listed for — more than 30 days — and I noticed I was getting email notifications for the same job over and over again,” she said.

The 28-year-old said there was one role being advertised for a hospitality chain that she has received an alert for at least 10 times.

“It’s just a job ad that is always up and either it’s not a real job ad or they’re just like a terrible company that no one wants to work (at). That made me a little bit suspicious.”

Under Australian Consumer Law, misleading job opportunity advertisements carry heavy penalties, ranging up to $1.1 million for the most serious breaches.

However, according to Ms Jackson, many companies appear to be happy to take the risk.

Ghost jobs refers to positions that are seemingly legitimate, but the companies actually have no intent to fill. Picture: iStock

“Companies are pretty bad at treating job seekers with any sort of respect,” she said, adding she has had situations where she has completed an interview with what seemed like a good company, only to hear nothing back.

“There’s just no communication, not even an email to reject you or anything.”

The 28-year-old also feels, even though the online space gives access to all kinds of jobs, it is a double-edged sword that restricts applicants to just being words on a screen

“If they could just meet me, they might see that I’m a fine, normal person that could work a job, but when you’re just words on a screen, it hard to stand out,” she said.

“I might have to start taking my little manilla folder of resumes around and handing them in, even though it is painful.

“I’m certainly not alone. That video really popped off and there are so many people that experience the same thing, which, it’s bad but it’s also good to know it’s not just me.”

Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life, as the saying goes.

But it’s hard to love something when it rejects you.

Originally published as Young Aussie makes online plea after finding out about the rise of ‘ghost jobs’