The phenomenon of fictitious job advertisements, called “ghost jobs”. affects more and more Romanians. Some of them complain that they have sent CVs for jobs hundreds of times but have not received a response, blaming the companies that advertise jobs without the real intention of recruiting.
Simplified by online applications, the search for a job has become for many Romanians an adventure that generates frustrations. The number of offers is apparently high, and more and more platforms are used to apply quickly, with a single click, to dozens of positions in a single day.
Unanswered resumes
Many Romanians reported that, despite the many CVs sent, they did not receive any answers from employers. Some blame this situation on the phenomenon of “ghost jobs”, job advertisements published by companies that do not target real or immediately available positions.
The offers remain active on online platforms, but the responses expected by those looking for a new job are delayed or not coming at all.
Some recruitment specialists explain that “ghost job” ads are published to test the market, as a form of indirect promotion or to build a database of CVs of possible candidates for future positions. Other times, ads remain active on platforms through negligence, with companies “forgetting” about them, even though the positions have been filled in the meantime.
More and more Romanians complain, on social networks, about the unpleasant experience of looking for a job.
“I applied to over 200 jobs in a week. I recently got laid off from my company (in England, after massive layoffs) and I started applying for positions in Romania. I mainly used LinkedIn and applied through a dedicated app, because it’s much faster than signing up on each platform and manually entering my resume data every time, and then uploading my resume as well. Out of the 200+ resumes sent, within two weeks I have not received a single negative response. I have received several responses from some random sites and from those that I have been contacted by recruiters.” complained, on Reddit, a programmer with five years of experience.
The young man added that he only applied for jobs where he felt his skills fit, but was disappointed by the lack of responses.
Romanians discouraged by the abundance of “ghost jobs”
Some Romanians claim that they went through similar experiences and attributed the passivity of some companies to the “ghost jobs” phenomenon.
“Companies have been using this tactic for many years – posting jobs to collect information and to look good in reports, because look how many jobs we generate. The trend has reached us for a while now.” is the opinion of an internet user.
Another netizen believes that fake job ads are used by some companies to motivate their employees.
“So they send them to work more, because they can be replaced at any time. Or: work there, hold out, because we are going to hire new people! But they don’t hire anyone. Other companies use them to make it look like the company is growing.” add this one.
Another Romanian noticed that “ghost jobs” ads are not limited to the IT sector and that often even those where employers’ representatives respond to CVs have the same result.
Another Romanian believes that people from recruitment companies often publish job ads just to justify their activity.
“Some jobs are already promised to those in the company, but they are published to make everything seem transparent. Others are put up for surveys to see what salary people would be willing to work for.” add this one.
A Romanian says that last summer he submitted 50 CVs for jobs in the financial and administrative fields.
“I saved the links. In December I went to them again: 37 were still valid”he says.
Another claims to have received a message from a company, on the LinkedIn platform, in which it was conveyed that he was suitable for the job offered.
“I applied, and the next day I was rejected. It was around December. I think the HR employees had a target to reach“, he says.
The labor market, “infected”
Another Romanian believes that job search applications are not effective, both because of “ghost jobs” and the large number of automated responses they generate.
“Half of the jobs posted 30 minutes ago on some apps already have over 200 applicants,” add this one.
Some Romanians claim that, due to the large volume of CVs they have to manage, some companies use their automatic filtering based on keywords. “Only those that pass the filter reach a person, who can decide whether or not to call you for an interview”notes one of them.
Another internet user suspects a connection between CVs submitted on platforms dedicated to the labor market and calls from unknown numbers. These would have the role of confirming that the phone number belongs to a real person:
“I’ve started getting calls from ‘Indians’ and bots. It’s very important not to answer them, because that’s how they check your phone number and pass it as valid, and it’s worth more when they sell it. They have a system where a bot calls every human on their list of numbers. When they call you, they wait for a sound from you, like ‘Yes?’, ‘Hi’ or some other noise. If they hear the sound, they mark your phone number as valid, then redirects you to an operator to talk to. It’s very important that if you answer them, you don’t say anything and no sound is heard from you. That way, the bot doesn’t detect anything, marks your number as invalid and hangs up.”
Someone else confirms his theory and believes that robocalls are meant to filter real numbers from inactive ones.
“Every time I applied for jobs I was spammed by the bot with: ‘the health event in your city where you can win a smart bracelet’. When I took breaks from applying, the spam calls also stopped”adds the user.
Ghost jobs, a global phenomenon
A recent report published by recruitment software platform Greenhouse shows that “ghosting” (situations where employers suddenly stop communicating with a candidate without any explanation) and ghost jobs are two of the most common problems reported by candidates. The study, called “Greenhouse 2024 – The state of the job search”, was conducted among 2,500 employees in the US, UK and Germany.
“One explanation for the growth of the phenomenon is the flood of applications generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Internal Greenhouse data shows that the workload of recruiters increased by 26 percent in the last quarter alone. AI has made it easier than ever to apply for jobs, and 38 percent of candidates are applying in bulk, sending resumes to numerous positions, instead of pursuing targeted opportunities.” shows the report published in 2025.
And the practice of posting “ghost jobs”—positions advertised with no real intent to hire—is increasingly common. Three out of five candidates say they suspect they’ve encountered such an ad, and Greenhouse data shows the phenomenon isn’t just an impression: in a typical quarter, between 18 percent and 22 percent of jobs posted on the platform are classified as ghost jobs, the company notes.
How to avoid the “ghost-jobs” trap
Will Felps, a management professor in Australia, points out that ghost jobs are usually advertisements for positions that either do not exist, are already filled, or the employer has no serious intention of hiring in the near future.
“They’re the job market’s version of catfishing. The ad looks perfect, but the relationship was never really available. Ghost jobs waste candidates’ time. They can spend hours tailoring their resume and selection criteria for positions that never had a real budget allocated. Then they get their hopes up, imagining an attractive role, only for the phone to never ring.”he explains.
The professor also explains how ghost jobs could be avoided. A job ad that has been active for several months is a clear red flag.
“For mass ads, vague, general descriptions, put little effort into app customization. Don’t hold your breath waiting to be contacted”he says.
Instead, the management professor advises job seekers to invest time in customizing their application and identifying opportunities with a “strong signal.” These include recently published ads that have a clearly identified contact person online, or positions that have been recommended to them by someone in or close to the organization.
Some Romanians claim, for their part, that they have managed to avoid unnecessary job advertisements, one of the methods being the consideration of only recently published advertisements. One netizen said that in his desire to change jobs, he applied to nearly 100 companies, and his secret was to send personalized emails.
“In a week and a half I had seven interviews. I went directly to the websites of the companies, I found out about them and their requirements, and I wrote them exactly what I would like to hear if I hired them. I drafted the email as humanly as possible, I told them exactly why I was the ideal candidate. I gave real examples of where I worked and what I can do”he reported, satisfied that he got a better paying job.
Another Romanian advises those looking for a job to check if the ads are republished or if they are also found in the job offer presented by the County Employment Agency.
“When you see a position you’re interested in, see which company is posting it and search for it directly on the company’s website. Because few people make the effort to apply directly on the company’s website, you increase your chances of your resume being seen.” someone else adds.
