When did wasting people's time become a marketing strategy?
Imagine advertising a job you have absolutely no intention of filling. Now imagine using someone's hope of getting that job to boost your social media following. Welcome to ghost jobs.
Ghost Jobs have made the Collins Dictionary Word of the Year shortlist for 2026, and it's not hard to see why.
A ghost job is a vacancy advertised when there's no genuine intention of hiring anyone. Sometimes it's about making a business look like it's growing. Sometimes it's about collecting CVs for future opportunities. And sometimes, it seems, it's simply about generating a bit of online attention. Someone spots your job advert. They get excited, spend time tailoring their CV, writing a cover letter and applying. Except there was never a job in the first place.
You've simply used their need for work to generate followers, likes and website traffic. Sorry, but that's not clever marketing. It's pretty cynical.
And recruitment agencies aren't always innocent. There's another side to this, particularly in the creative industry. Endless requests for CVs, portfolios, examples of work, forms and submissions. Hours spent putting everything together, only to hear absolutely nothing back. Meanwhile, your experience and creative work may be helping an agency build its database, showcase its talent pool or win new clients. But where's the opportunity? Where's the job? Where's the value coming back to the people giving up their time?
Of course, there are some genuinely brilliant recruiters who champion their candidates and work hard to find the right opportunities. But collecting creative talent isn't the same as actually finding it work.
People looking for work aren't engagement statistics, database entries or free marketing material.
Your time, experience and creative work have value. Even when you're looking for a job.
