Not every job posting is a real job.
Some are reposts of roles that got filled months ago. Some are companies "pipelining," collecting resumes without any actual intention of hiring. Some are straight-up scams.
You need to learn to spot the fakes, because applying to them is a waste of the one thing you can't get back: your time.
**Red flags:**
- **The posting has been up for more than a month.** Real entry-level roles usually fill or get pulled within a few weeks. If it's been up for 60+ days, ask yourself why.
- **The description is extremely generic.** Real jobs have real specifics. Ghost jobs tend to be vague.
- **The pay or perks sound too good to be true.** If some company you've never heard of is offering $90k for an entry-level remote role with "unlimited PTO" and a four-day week, something's off. Some of these are data harvesting schemes.
- **You apply and immediately get an automated video asking you to create a profile on some third-party site and complete a bunch of quizzes or assignments.** These are almost always data harvesting or MLM-adjacent pyramid schemes. Real jobs don't put you through an obstacle course before a human has even looked at you.
- **They ask for your SSN, banking info, or any kind of payment before you're hired.** Close the tab.
- **No findable company online.** No website, no LinkedIn, no reviews. Either not a real company, or not one worth working for.
Rule of thumb: when in doubt, search the company name along with "review" or "scam" or "Glassdoor." If there's a string of results from angry ex-employees or people warning others, believe them.
It's tempting when you're desperate to apply to anything. But every hour you spend on a fake posting is an hour you could have spent on a real one. Be ruthless.
What's the weirdest or most suspicious job posting you've come across? Share it so others can watch out for similar ones.
