More companies are posting fake job listings. Here's how to spot them.

Well, the US labor market is looking strong at the moment, thanks to low unemployment and a high number of job openings. But that hasn't actually made it easier necessarily for some job seekers to find work. Part of the reason that jobs are hard to come by is that a good chunk of postings aren't real. As many as four in 10 companies say they have posted a job listing this year that simply doesn't exist, while three in 10 say that they are currently advertising for a role that isn't real. And that's according to a May survey of over 600 hiring managers from the career site Resume Builder. Tim Parody joins us now. He is the Future of Work correspondent for Business Insider. Tim, I was so astonished to hear these statistics. Why in the world are companies creating fake job postings? Well, the simple reason is they want to try to get more resumes in the door, so they're curious about what they might find if they tell people they've got a job, even if it's not there. So why what? Let's let's actually back up for a second. Let's help people who are searching for a job, because I can only imagine how frustrating it is. To apply for a job only to find out that it's a fishing expedition. Do you have any telltale signs on a job posting is fake? So there are a few things. One is the age of the post. If it's too old, that's usually a red flag that it may not still be current. And there are some other things. If the job isn't listed on the company website or otherwise seems suspicious, it's maybe good to to think twice about whether it's a real posting. So if companies are actually benefiting from these listings, is there any way that job seekers can also benefit from what seems like a really sneaky practice? Well, it's surprising, right? But. I think what's interesting is that a lot of times, at least this survey showed that people who do apply to pick jobs actually still may get a call back. Something like 85% of the resumes that were contacted ended up being landing in an interview. So there is hope. And I think it was overall about four and ten of these fake jobs resulted in somebody getting contacted. So it's not necessarily a dead end. So, Tim, is there anything to stop companies from posting these fake job listings? I suppose maybe the the power of job seekers saying, you know, they don't appreciate it or or, you know, employees saying, are we posting jobs that aren't real? Companies sometimes will do this because they want to try to drive productivity or make employees think that if they're overworked that more help is on the way. But it really starts with the employees, I suppose, and the HR departments. Well, I'm really glad that we are able to at least give our viewers this additional information so that they're armed with some understanding. Tim parody. Thank you. Thank you.