Career Intelligence
The challenge of ghost jobs
Security professionals on the hunt for new roles should be cautious of job postings that are less reputable than they appear.
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If you are a security job seeker looking for a new role, you have many sources available to you. Tap into job boards, recruitment companies and peer and social media networks, but be cautious. Not every job you see or hear about is real.
The one that disappeared
How often have you seen a job listed on one of the big aggregators, clicked through it, and found it is no longer available on the hiring company’s website? It is quite common and a very frustrating experience. Especially if it was a job you were super interested in.
A job that disappears from a job board or company website can be exactly what it seems on the surface. The company posted the job and has closed it. The position is no longer available. The job board has neglected to pull the listing down.
Or the company may never have listed the job at all. The position got scraped by the job board. This is a process by which they run programs that harvest and display jobs from company websites regardless of whether the job is open or closed.
If you see a job on a large board you are interested in, research it on the hiring company’s website. Find out from a credible source if it is still active.
The one that is ancient history
Companies sometimes sign on to a multi-month listing option offered by some of the large boards. If the contract is for a single job and not one that the company can vary at will, the job will appear for the contracted period, regardless of whether it is still open or was filled on the first day the listing appeared.
The job may relist every month with the caption “New” even though it is not. Leverage your peer or business social media networks to validate if the listing is obsolete.
The one that never was
The perfect job for you appears on a recruitment company’s website. You apply. You hear nothing. You follow up. Only to learn the company was never under contract to recruit for the job. They listed it purely to attract candidates like yourself for other work they might get in the future. Or to shop your resume out to potential clients.
If a recruiter is harvesting personal or sensitive personal data from job seekers without a valid contract, it is a crime. It is a violation of worldwide privacy and data protection laws.
Avoid becoming this type of commodity by establishing a relationship with recruiters who are transparent about their client engagements. You are entrusting them with personal details few others may know about you. Peddling you without your knowledge can damage your security career.
The one that got away
You may have seen a job that appealed to you but delayed applying for it. Now that you are ready to apply, you return to the company website only to find you have missed the application deadline by a day. Should you try to apply anyway?
Yes! One thing you can count on is that interview cycles for jobs never go quite as planned. You should still apply even if the closing date has passed. Ensure your resume contains keywords from the job description and submit it to the company via their general application portal.
The company may not have found their ideal candidate in the first round. The search may reopen weeks or even months later. If they are actively using their candidate database, they will run searches against it for candidates who may be the ideal fit for this role, or one that is similar, even if the person did not directly apply for it.
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