Let’s Be Frank: I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

As often occurs, this article was started by Frank’s raging out after reading the news. My wife says I should not read the news if it is just going to make me mad. For that reason, I probably shouldn’t drive in rush-hour traffic either… but I digress.

Around 15 years ago, I applied for a senior equipment integrity job with a large company I had always been interested in working for. They had their own completely online application process at a time when that was not as normal as it is now. I updated my CV, went through the online questions, and pondered some of the ridiculous hoops they were having me jump through just to apply.

I had everything ready and hit submit. The deadline for application was still 10 days away, so I figured I likely wouldn’t hear anything back until after the posting close date. Within 5 minutes, I received an email from one of the HR personnel at the company stating that my application was rejected as I wasn’t a suitable candidate. I met all of the requirements asked for in the position, including education and years of relevant experience, so this hit me a little hard.

I picked up the phone and called the office number of the HR guy whose signature block was on the email. “Look, I don’t want to cause a problem or anything, but I would like to know what got me flagged as an unsuitable candidate so quickly in your process so I know what I need to fix for next time.”

He laughed and informed me that they already had an internal candidate who was going to get the job. But, for senior positions, they had a competition clause, and they had to post the job. He said he didn’t even look at my resume or application at this time but informed me that it would sit on file for two years in case any similar jobs came up in their company that I met the requirements for. He ended the call by saying, “We have to do this a lot for the upper management and executive positions because of our policies. But we sometimes post job postings we don’t intend to fill for other reasons.” Well, that helped soften the blow a little. However, I didn’t really think about that last sentence he said until recently.

We sometimes post jobs we don’t intend to fill for other reasons. The reason I am thinking about it now is because there was an explosion of articles in the last month on poor HR practices, including the estimate that 25% of jobs on American job sites (Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.) are not real jobs. “Ghost jobs” seems to be the phrase that has caught on.

The article in particular that started me down this rabbit hole was from the British Newspaper The Independent – “The Rise of Ghost Jobs: One in Five Jobs.” According to their data, both LinkedIn and Greenhouse stated that 18-22% of jobs advertised during 2024 were these so-called “ghost jobs.”

So, what is a ghost job? And is it a problem in the petrochemical and energy sectors?

A ghost job is the term for a posting for a job that either doesn’t really exist or has already been filled. The “already filled” part kind of makes sense to me if you have some competition clauses or policies in your company, or in some cases, the labor laws make it so a company has to post certain positions under certain conditions. It kind of annoys me, but I can see a sort of practicality behind it that doesn’t seem as nefarious as posting jobs that don’t even exist.

But why post jobs that don’t exist? This is where it gets both interesting and enraging. The first reason mentioned in this article, and some other articles I read, is that it allows companies to project that they are doing well. A company that is hiring appears to be growing. It can be a way to look a little more promising for investors or maybe to bamboozle the board and shareholders when the bottom line isn’t looking rosy. Either way, I would argue that this is basically deceit and dishonesty. If done for monetary gain, then feel free to draw your own conclusions on the ethicality of this business choice.

Getting mad yet? Don’t worry, you will likely be at some point in this article.

Another apparent big reason for fake job postings is that you have an overworked, stressed, and demoralized staff, but a ghost job allows the managers to say, “Look, we are trying to hire more people to help you out. Just bear with us.”

This is one I have seen used in companies I have worked for. I have many issues with this one, my biggest problem being that you are outright lying to your employees.

According to the article, 62% of companies polled said they also post ghost jobs because they want their employees to feel replaceable. You are telling me you want your employees scared? This is insanity at a whole new level. It makes me want to go live in a cabin in the woods and write a manifesto.

Should anyone really wonder why there is no employee loyalty anymore (See Frank’s article, “Let’s Be Frank: Employee Loyalty Versus Employer Loyalty,” August 2024)? What does this mentality and these actions do to foster loyalty? And maybe blaming all the workplace woes on Generation Z is just a smokescreen for some of these real existing problems (see the last Frank article, “Let’s Be Frank: The Kids Are Alright,” December 2024).

I am making myself mad all over again just writing this down.

Let me get back to some personal experiences. While writing this article, I talked to a longtime friend of mine who is now a headhunter for an HR staffing firm. I asked him about ghost jobs. He let me know that right now, his firm is posting very lucrative pay job postings that happen to be fake. Why? They want great candidates applying so they can better train AI programs to pre-screen applications for the HR team. I had to bite my tongue thinking about someone looking to make the next step in their career, seeing a great paying job, and applying. Little do they know that they are just being used as free training for an AI program and that job is nothing they can ever get.

I think I need some blood pressure medication.

I have worked on both the owner-user side and the contractor/consultant side of our industry. Because of this, I know another reason these ghost jobs get posted, and as someone who has been swept up in this, I personally can’t stand it. Let’s say you wanted to do a major expansion/revamp/new build at your facility. You want to bring in the best engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company with the best technical personnel you can find. You put out a request for quote, and ask that companies also submit the resumes of their key engineering and technical personnel as part of the bid selection process.

The EPC companies post all these potential technical jobs (that don’t exist yet, and may never exist if the company doesn’t get the contract) and sometimes even have a large professional job fair. You submit your resume, get interviewed, and never hear anything back. You might be curious why you never heard back, or you might not. If you are busy looking for work, you likely just kept applying to other places until you found a job.

Well, they never intended to hire you. But they wanted your resume on file because your resume will likely be used to try and secure that contract. If they get the contract, they just say those people (originally named in the quote) aren’t available and backfill with whoever they have on hand or can hire the cheapest. I have refused to work for some EPC firms after becoming aware that they partake in this practice.

Mad now? All is fair in love and war. And apparently, HR recruitment.

I am going to end on a happy note as my smartwatch is giving me high blood pressure and high heart rate warnings in the background.

I am pleased to let you know that the HR person who rejected me so quickly 15 years ago because they already had the position filled took the time to fully review my application and resume after our phone call. About two weeks later, I got a great email back with some pointers and things to improve on. Maybe he did feel bad about the whole thing. Either way, he helped Frank get better at looking for work, and I appreciate the extra effort.