# Ghost job

> A ghost job is a real company's listing for a position it is not actively trying to fill. The role may already be filled, frozen, or never truly open - the posting stays up to collect resumes, signal growth, or keep a pipeline warm. It is a waste of your time and hope rather than an attempt to steal from you, which is what separates it from a scam.

Source: https://realjobcheck.com/glossary/ghost-job/  
Updated: 2026-06-02 - Real Job Check Trust and Safety Research Team

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## What it is

A ghost job is the one item in this glossary that is not fraud. The company is real and the listing looks normal, but no one is being hired from it right now. Reasons range from the innocent (a slow internal process, a backfilled role left up by mistake) to the cynical (collecting resumes, appearing to grow, pressuring current staff). The cost to you is wasted effort and false hope, not stolen money.

## How it reaches you

You find a normal-looking posting on a real job board or company site, apply, and hear nothing - or get strung along through interviews that never resolve. The same listing may reappear month after month with a stale or long-passed closing date.

## The tell

Signs a posting may be a ghost job: it has been continuously listed for many months, the closing or "valid through" date has long passed, the company cannot describe a real start date or timeline, or interviews stall with no decision. None of these involve a request for money or personal data, which is the line between a ghost job and a [scam](/answers/is-this-job-offer-a-scam/).

## What to do

There is no fraud to report, but you can protect your time: prioritize roles with recent post dates and clear timelines, ask directly about the hiring stage and start date, and move on when answers stay vague. If an "offer" appears with [no real interview](/answers/job-offer-without-an-interview/) and then turns toward money or personal data, you are no longer dealing with a ghost job - you are dealing with a scam.