Not every old job ad is fake. Here is how we tell the kinds apart.
Some openings are hiring this week. Some are collecting resumes for later. Some are on hold, required by policy, or hard to fill. On a job board they all look the same. On FightGhostJobs we record the date an opening went live and every change after it. The employer says which kind it is (available at launch). Every statement on an opening is the employer's own; FightGhostJobs records it and its date.
Features marked (available at launch) are planned for the pilot launch and are not built yet. The other features described here are built and in testing.
| Kind | What it is | What the candidate sees | What the employer must do | What FightGhostJobs does not claim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipeline or evergreen | Not hiring now; collecting resumes for later. | The date the opening was added. The employer's stated kind, for example "not a current vacancy, collecting resumes" (available at launch). | Pick that label, and do not present it as a current vacancy (available at launch). | That the employer will ever hire from the pipeline. |
| Placeholder or frozen | Approved but not funded, kept up "just in case", or on hold. | The date added, any pause, and the date of the last edit. | Mark it paused when it is frozen. A large rewrite has to be a new opening. | That a funded role exists. FightGhostJobs does not see budgets. |
| Required advertisement | Advertised to meet a legal or policy rule; a candidate may already be identified. | The employer's statement, in neutral words: advertised to meet a requirement, a candidate may already be identified (available at launch). | Choose that label (available at launch). | A judgment of the employer. The label is neutral, not an accusation. |
| Real but slow | A specialized or hard search; held open until the hire actually starts. | A current opening with a close date. A fill-by or no-sooner-than date (available at launch). | Keep the close date current. It can be extended once, by 1 to 15 days, with a reason. A date is an expectation, not a promise. | That the search will end by the date. |
| Repost or renewal | The same job returning under a new req number, or renewed automatically. | The opening's own date added. It is a new opening. | Not reuse a req number without a one-line reason, which is recorded. A near copy of a closed opening has to say why it is back (available at launch). | Whether the reason is good. |
What no one can see from outside: a role quietly being kept for an internal hire, or one an executive keeps vetoing. We do not claim to catch those. We make the date an opening was added and the date of its last edit visible, and the employer's stated kind (available at launch). That is what a candidate can act on.
What you get
Not every old job ad is fake. You still deserve to know which kind it is.
Built and in testing now
- See when it went live. The date the opening was added is on every opening.
- See when it last changed. Every edit is logged with its date and a note; the date of the last edit is on the opening.
Planned for the pilot launch
- See what kind it is. Hiring now, collecting resumes, on hold, or advertised to meet a requirement, in the employer's own words.
We do not decide for you whether to apply, and we do not claim an opening is funded or real. We show what the employer disclosed and when.
The rules
Tell candidates which kind of opening this is (available at launch). We keep the record straight.
A pipeline, a frozen role or a required advertisement is not a problem. Presenting it as an open job is. FightGhostJobs holds the record to the same rules for everyone. You say which kind it is (available at launch).
Built and in testing now
- Keep it current. Pause it when it is frozen. Close it when it is filled. Extend the close date once if you need to.
- Edits stay edits. A small correction saves at once. Changing most of the text or most of the title means a new opening with its own req number. Changing the location or remote setting needs a new req number. Every change needs a note and stays in the history.
- A req number is yours once. It cannot be reused without a one-line reason.
Planned for the pilot launch
- Say which kind it is. Hiring now, filling no sooner than a date, collecting resumes, or advertised to meet a requirement. The wording is neutral.
- Builds on the edit rule above: only the job's title, duties and requirements count in that comparison. Your company blurb, pay, benefits and equal opportunity text do not.
- An opening that is nearly identical to one you closed has to say why it is back. Changing a little and calling it new does not reset the clock.
This is not a trap. Every refusal tells you what to do instead, and the rules are published so you know them up front.