How to spot ghost jobs (and stop wasting applications on them)

Updated 2026-07-26 · honest comparison by the Sendout team

Roughly one in five postings is a ghost. Filled, evergreen, or never real. Here is how to recognize them, and how to only apply where someone is actually hiring.

A "ghost job" is a posting that will never hire you. A role already filled. A perpetual evergreen ad. A pipeline-building listing. A repost that no one is reviewing. They are demoralizing because you do everything right and hear nothing. There was no one on the other end.

How to spot a ghost job

It has been up a long time. A posting live for 30 days or more, or one that keeps getting reposted with a fresh date, is a warning sign.
The same role is always open. Evergreen "Software Engineer" listings that never come down are usually pipeline ads, not live reqs.
No named hiring contact. If you cannot find anyone actually tied to the role, there may be no one driving it.
Vague, boilerplate description. Reposts and pipeline ads read generic. A real, urgent req reads specific.
On aggregators but not the company site. If it is not on the company's own careers page, it may be stale or scraped.

Why they exist

Companies keep postings up to build talent pipelines, satisfy internal or legal process, or gauge the market. Sometimes no one took a filled role down. None of that helps you. Every application into a ghost is time you will not get back.

How to only apply to live roles

Two signals are reliable. Recency, meaning posted in the last hours or days rather than weeks. And a reachable hiring person. That is exactly what Sendout gates on. It only pursues fresh openings, and only where it can identify and reach an actual hiring contact. Then it applies for you and reaches out from your own accounts. You can watch the freshness filter work on the live jobs board, where every role is stamped with how recently it posted.

Frequently asked

What percentage of job postings are ghost jobs?

Estimates vary, but roughly one in five postings is stale, filled, or a repost that is not actively reviewed. It is one of the most common complaints about modern job boards.

How do I avoid applying to ghost jobs?

Favor very recent postings (hours or days old, not weeks), roles on the company's own ATS, and postings where you can identify a real hiring contact. Sendout filters ghost jobs automatically and only applies to fresh, reachable roles.

Only apply to live jobs

Sendout finds fresh, real openings and applies for you. Everything goes out from your own email and LinkedIn, every day. You just take the conversations.

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