What are these companies doing?

23 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 1,2024 at 7:04PM UTC

   It is actually a strategy to signal to the rest of their industry that they are looking to grow and are healthy. The job posting is just a place holder.

2. AnonymousNovember 1,2024 at 7:15PM UTC

   A few of the possibilities that come to mind:

   1) They are having trouble keeping someone in the position, meaning they hire, and the people don't stay long. This is a signal of poor leadership or a corporate culture that is not a good environment. You probably don't want to work there.

   2) They are expanding and hiring new people for the expanded projects. If these projects are permanent, it is probably okay, but if they are temporary to launch a new product without ongoing development or maintenance, then it usually means layoffs a year or two out. This is worth exploring with the recruiting staff.

   3) They are "ghost" jobs that make the company look like it is growing and expanding to boost its corporate image. While not illegal, the ethics are questionable, as it could impact the company's stock prices if it is a public company. Unfortunately, the only way to know if this is the case if they give you some non-answer, like "we forgot to take the posting down after we filled it."

3. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 10:32PM UTC

   And actually, sometimes employers do forget to remove a posting. Or they keep it up during the onboarding period just in case it doesn't work out.

4. AnonymousNovember 1,2024 at 7:36PM UTC

   Through LinkedIn, try connecting with the HR people or others who work in these companies and have similar backgrounds to you. Once you connect, or they accept, send them an inbox message to ask about the company, it's culture, the growth, or just in general you'll have someone new in your network. I did that and noticed the person I connected with left the company in a short amount of time. It's good practice to also connect through your alma mater's profile. Then when you are looking at the company profiles, it shows how many alums are there and it could be used as an inroad to have a conversation.

5. AnonymousNovember 2,2024 at 12:08PM UTC

   Probably a ghost job. One that they will never fill...

6. AnonymousNovember 2,2024 at 12:26PM UTC

   You sound disappointed that you weren’t invited back for the next round of interviews…which I totally get. But it’s shocking to me the amount of people on this board that think they’re entitled to a job because they’ve deemed themselves a fit for the position. Maybe someone interviewed better than you did, had more of a connection with the hiring manager or had recent relevant experience. Move on to the next open position, this is a numbers game.

7. AnonymousNovember 2,2024 at 3:39PM UTC

   Ummmm..... you sound like you read a lot into this. She is asking why these jobs are still up after a year; not why she didn't get the job.

8. AnonymousNovember 2,2024 at 4:01PM UTC

   If your assessment is true, then the post could have been written without the commentary on the OP’s skill set matching the job description.

9. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 3:09PM UTC

   You definitely are reading way too much into it.

10. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 4:44PM UTC

    Wow. Of course she deemed herself a fit for the job. We all do every time we apply for a position.

    she didn’t ask why she didn’t get it, she asked why positions are just perennially posted.

11. Lisa MarieNovember 3,2024 at 1:34PM UTC

    As someone else mentioned, they may be open but not actively hiring. It’s also possible that they are looking for a less experienced (and cheaper) candidate, therefore you’re never going to get that call back.

12. GirlBossanova934974November 3,2024 at 2:09PM UTC

    I call these job postings; "SANDBAGGER JOBS". The job posting does exist. People are getting interviewed but NO ONE is going to be hired. The HIRING MANAGER is SANDBAGGING aka telling their superiors that this or that project COULD be done IF ONLY they could find the right candidate. BUT ALAS in most cases, the HIRING MANAGER is completely clueless and knows nothing about the job being advertised. WHAT they do know is that they are not really up to doing their own job and if they stall and keep making excuses, someone above them is foolish enough to buy the nonsense. THE ONLY recourse is when their own HR DEPT starts smelling the ruse and starts pushing back. But this is now going on all over Corporate America. Sandbagging and underdelivering have become an artform. Many companies are going to be left in the dust when the job market improves.

13. Star7November 3,2024 at 2:30PM UTC

    I just feel the arrogance, evilness out there. . . quite frightening. Why do they need to play a game, just tell applicants the truth, good Lord!

14. GirlBossanova934974November 3,2024 at 5:12PM UTC

    I would not assign feelings of arrogance et al behind the posting of "SandBagger Jobs". In the last few weeks, I have been on least 3 SandBagger job interviews. I can tell right when the Hiring Manager has no idea what they're doing. They start asking all sorts of vague questions and the job spec is usually loaded with all sorts of unnecessary extras that have nothing to do with the job. My take? Eventually, these sandbagger types usually EXIT the company when they feel they have been found out. The biggest question is how they fool the next company.

15. ShelsNovember 3,2024 at 10:05PM UTC

    I've had a phone interview for a company only to be told that "Right now, we're not hiring for that position. We are just looking in case we decide we might want to hire." Yeah....BS! Stop wasting MY time!

16. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 10:30PM UTC

    This is legit, if a bit unfair to the job seeker. They are maintaining a pool of applicants should they need to hire in the future. If they are asking salary history questions it could be a ruse to update their own salary information- though I'd prefer they use more up-front tactics than leading job seekers on.

17. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 10:27PM UTC

    Curious, how do you know that the hiring manager sandbagging? As opposed to the "evergreen" job listed in another comment? How do you know the boss isn't up to doing their own job? Were you in HR and saw this a lot?

18. Star7November 3,2024 at 2:29PM UTC

    Long time ago, I saw this too. I used to reach back to them, with a cover letter, stating basically, hey, I see your still seeking someone for that job, I am re appling, and please look at my qualities, why I am a fit for the job. Shame on them!

19. AnonymousNovember 3,2024 at 4:29PM UTC

    Sometimes companies especially larger ones post what are called evergreen roles. They are always looking for those positions and so they keep them up 100% of the time. For example google might have software engineer, these are evergreens. Also when a company is sponsoring an immigrant visa they will have to do legal postings and those may stay up for extended periods of time as well. Keep applying and also look at linkedin for finding out if there are people leaving and vacating roles similar to that or if there is growth vs attrition.

20. EMILY KIKUE FRANKNovember 4,2024 at 10:05PM UTC

    These might also be ghost jobs: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/oct/30/ghost-jobs-why-do-40-of-companies-advertise-positions-that-dont-exist

21. Farah BajwaNovember 6,2024 at 7:38PM UTC

    I was about to say Ghost Jobs.

22. AnonymousNovember 5,2024 at 2:55PM UTC

    Typical. The industry, corporations need an overhaul with regulations that feed into actual job reports.

23. Maegan, Nike Sales Rep & Career CoachNovember 6,2024 at 12:50PM UTC

    hiring processes can hit roadblocks and they may have just not taken the job down, or they haven't found someone who is a cultural fit for the job. I'd continue looking elsewhere or networking with someone at the company to see if you can figure out if they are true job openings.