Why You Keep Applying—But Never Hear Back

If you’ve ever spent hours tailoring your résumé for a position only to hear nothing in return, you may have encountered what’s known as a ghost job.

A ghost job is a job posting that appears active but isn’t currently being filled. While not every old or inactive listing is intentionally misleading, many remain online long after hiring has paused—or even after the position has already been filled.

The result is growing frustration among job seekers and increasing questions about the accuracy of employment data.

What Exactly Is a Ghost Job?

A ghost job is an advertised position where an employer has little or no immediate intention of hiring someone.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the company is acting maliciously. There are several reasons these listings exist.

Companies may:

• Build a database of future candidates
• Test salary expectations and available talent
• Comply with internal hiring policies
• Maintain the appearance of growth
• Delay removing listings after a hiring freeze or filled position

For applicants, however, the experience is often the same: applications disappear into a black hole.

Why Companies Post Ghost Jobs

Some employers say maintaining job listings helps them prepare for future growth.

Others keep positions open because budgets haven’t been finalized or executive approval hasn’t been granted.

Recruiters may also continue collecting résumés so they’re ready when a position eventually opens.

While these reasons may make business sense, they can create unrealistic expectations for applicants actively searching for work.

The Impact on Job Seekers

Ghost jobs can have real consequences.

Many applicants spend dozens of hours:

Advertisement

• Researching companies
• Customizing résumés
• Writing cover letters
• Completing assessments
• Participating in interviews that never lead anywhere

The emotional toll can be significant.

Repeated silence often leaves qualified workers questioning their experience or abilities when the issue may simply be that the position was never actively available.

How Ghost Jobs Affect the Economy

The effects extend beyond individual applicants.

Employment Data Can Be Misleading

Job openings are often viewed as a sign of economic strength.

If a significant share of posted openings aren’t being actively filled, the labor market may appear stronger than it actually is.

That can influence:

• Business confidence
• Consumer confidence
• Economic forecasts
• Public policy discussions

Productivity Suffers

Job seekers spend valuable time applying for positions that may never result in interviews.

Recruiters also spend time managing applications for jobs that aren’t immediately available.

Those inefficiencies create costs for both workers and employers.

Hiring Becomes Less Efficient

When applicants lose trust in job boards, they’re less likely to apply broadly.

Companies with legitimate openings may receive fewer qualified applicants because candidates become skeptical of online listings.

Are Ghost Jobs Illegal?

Generally, no.

Advertisement

In most cases, employers are legally allowed to advertise positions even if they’re not hiring immediately.

However, critics argue that intentionally leaving inactive jobs online without updating their status reduces transparency and wastes applicants’ time.

Some employment experts have called for greater accountability and clearer labeling of inactive or future hiring opportunities.

How to Spot a Ghost Job

While there’s no foolproof method, these warning signs may indicate a listing isn’t actively being filled:

• The same position has been reposted for months.
• The posting never disappears.
• Employees report hiring freezes.
• The company rarely responds to applicants.
• The job description is vague or unusually generic.

Tips for Job Seekers

Instead of applying blindly:

• Focus on recently posted openings.
• Connect with recruiters or current employees.
• Research whether the company is actually expanding.
• Use networking alongside online applications.
• Follow up professionally when possible.

Quality applications often produce better results than sending hundreds of résumés.

Looking Ahead

Artificial intelligence has made it easier than ever for applicants to submit hundreds of applications—and for employers to post and manage thousands of job listings.

As hiring becomes increasingly automated, transparency may become one of the most valuable qualities in the recruiting process.

For both employers and job seekers, trust remains the foundation of a healthy labor market.

Related Links

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• Indeed Career Guide
• LinkedIn Talent Blog
• CareerBuilder Advice & Resources
• Monster Career Advice

📰 Enjoying STM Daily News? Join the conversation!

💬 Leave a comment, share your thoughts, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest stories, updates, and “News You Can Use This Moment!” delivered to your inbox.

Stay connected with STM Daily News!

Advertisement

Please leave this field empty

Start Your Morning Informed

Get the STM Morning Brief delivered to your inbox every weekday with breaking news, transportation updates, technology, science, and trending stories.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Please check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Building Brighter Futures: Helping Young People Succeed in a Changing Economy

(Feature Impact) During a time when the economy is changing rapidly and shifting the landscape of work into uncertain territory, academic success is no longer enough to put young people on a stable path to the future. Once, a high school diploma was enough to land a well-paying job. Then a college degree became the gold standard. Now the roadmap has changed again, which means that smart students need to start taking steps in new directions.

According to Junior Achievement, three key concepts to add to modern teenagers’ knowledge arsenal include financial literacy, economic mobility and entrepreneurship.

Why Financial Literacy Matters

When young people are equipped with the knowledge they need to earn, manage, save and invest money, it supports their journey through every life milestone ahead, from education and homeownership to retirement and more. Financial literacy gives people the confidence to make smart decisions while dodging costly mistakes like getting into high-interest debt.

A recent Junior Achievement survey indicated that although 42% of Americans struggle with money management, 23% feel their income could be sufficient if they understood how to manage it more effectively. Giving students a strong foundation in financial literacy can set them up well to not only earn money but use it wisely to meet their future needs and accomplish their goals.

The Power of Economic Mobility

Economic mobility refers to the idea that each generation can expect to achieve better opportunities and more financial stability than the one before. Today’s youth are growing increasingly skeptical of this possibility, and for good reason: they see that even many college graduates are underemployed and struggling to find their feet.

There’s no denying the game has changed. However, upward economic mobility is still within reach for students who are willing to learn the new rules, especially if they have parents and educators supporting their journeys. With or without a college degree, students who engage with their communities, believe in their own potential and focus on building transferable personal and entrepreneurial skills can find themselves well-positioned to navigate a changing world.

How to Grow Entrepreneurial Skills

Topics like financial literacy and business acumen can be taught in a variety of ways both in and out of the classroom. Other key entrepreneurial skills – like leadership, confidence, work ethic, creativity and critical thinking – are more like muscles that get stronger when they’re trained. While academics are still important, hands-on opportunities and experiences are invaluable parts of the equation to prepare students for economic success.

Take programs like Future Bound by Junior Achievement, for example, which is an immersive annual event designed to empower high school students with essential skills and opportunities to innovate. Participants put their intelligence, creativity and ambition to the test during four team competitions where they can showcase and hone real-world business and economic skills. Winners receive national honors, awards, scholarships and prizes from event sponsors, including Pacific Life Foundation and Staples, among others. Plus, all attendees get the chance to network with industry leaders from around the country, participate in workshops and connect with other future-focused teens.

Whether you’re a student, parent, educator or volunteer, explore more resources to help young people succeed at JA.org.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Advertisement

SOURCE:

Junior Achievement

📰 Enjoying STM Daily News? Join the conversation!

💬 Leave a comment, share your thoughts, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest stories, updates, and “News You Can Use This Moment!” delivered to your inbox.

Stay connected with STM Daily News!

Donovan McCarty, Michigan State University

Buying her first home on Detroit’s far east side in 2021 was the moment when a lifelong dream finally came within reach for Kim Page.

“I accomplished something that I always wanted to do,” said Page, who grew up in the city. “I always wanted to buy my own home since I was like 18. I never wanted to rent from anyone.”

Page said she had saved US$15,000 and used $3,800 in cash to buy the single-family brick house on Britain Street. The house, owned by a friend planning to move out of Detroit, was “damaged pretty bad,” Page recalls. But the house was hers to care for, and she was determined to fix what was broken.

For the next several years, Page poured her sweat and paychecks into the property. Working first as a welder at automotive supplier Fisher Dynamics, and later as a phlebotomist, she paid for a dumpster, windows, a door, ceiling repair and an awning above her front porch. Page invested $27,000 in needed repairs and, in 2022, happily moved in.

But in August 2023, a storm damaged her roof. By March 2024, mold had grown inside the property, which made Page struggle to breathe; she moved in with family. She returned to the home in April 2024 for an appointment with a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That’s when Page noticed the locks had been changed. Perplexed but undeterred, she broke down the back door to get inside and purchased new locks, which she installed.

Then on a hot, summer day in July 2024, Page came home to discover all her locks had been changed again.

Searching for answers, Page called the Wayne County Register of Deeds’ Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit. The staff confirmed she was a victim of deed fraud – a crime where scammers forge signatures to record a phony transfer of property ownership. Once criminals hijack the title, they can sell the property, rent it out or drain its equity with mortgages, potentially leaving the rightful owner to face the legal and financial fallout.

“I just was in shock,” Page said. “I can’t believe somebody really did this to me.”

A nationwide problem that’s hard to nail down

Page reached out to me for help in March 2025. I’m a housing attorney, assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Housing Justice Clinic. I have represented dozens of victims of deed fraud.

I have also studied how property recording systems respond – or, more accurately, fail to respond – to fraud. My work examines how procedural gaps in title systems disproportionately harm elderly, low-income and minority homeowners.

Nationwide, deed fraud – also called quit claim deed fraud or home title theft – is a growing problem, including in New York, Boston, Miami and Philadelphia.

Advertisement

Exactly how big a problem it is, is hard to know. The FBI does not track deed fraud specifically, instead grouping it into a larger category of real estate crimes.

From 2019 through 2023, 58,141 victims in the U.S. reported $1.3 billion in losses relating to real estate crime, the FBI says. However, that number is likely undercounted because many people don’t know where to report it, are embarrassed they were victims or don’t know yet they have been targeted.

In Detroit, deed fraud may be particularly prevalent because so many housing deals are made in cash and many properties owe back taxes. The Wayne County Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit has tracked more than 13,000 inquiries regarding deed fraud and has opened over 2,300 cases throughout Wayne County since 2005.

Without oversight, the crime often goes undetected

Committing deed fraud is remarkably simple.

A deed is the legal document that transfers ownership of a home or other real property from one person to another. When a home is bought or sold, a deed is legally drawn up to reflect the transfer of ownership. That deed is then recorded with a county register of deeds, providing public notice of who legally owns the property.

A fraudster can forge the signature of the real owner – sometimes someone who is deceased. They can file a deed that appears valid on its face but isn’t.

They then record that false deed with a county register of deeds, the local government office that keeps public land records and other documents showing ownership, claiming title to property they do not actually own.

Fraudsters often target vulnerable people and properties, including elderly owners, families dealing with inherited homes, and houses that appear vacant or neglected, such as those behind on property taxes.

The incentive is clear: Once a fraudster appears to hold title, they can try to sell the property to an investor or an unsuspecting buyer looking for stable housing. I have seen fraudsters secure as much as $50,000 from one deal when they obtained a mortgage based on a fraudulent deed. One notable case of fraud targeted Elvis Presley’s former estate, Graceland.

In Michigan and most other states, recording offices do not have authority to substantively review a deed to determine whether it is fraudulent. If the document complies with technical formatting requirements, such as margin and font size, it must be recorded. Once stamped and indexed, the deed appears legitimate and can easily trick desperate buyers, investors, financial institutions and even police officers, lawyers and judges.

Advertisement

In other words, the recording process is largely administrative, not investigative. The government office accepts and files the document without first verifying that the person signing it actually had the legal right to transfer the property.

That means a fraudulent deed can enter the public record, look valid to the outside world and remain undiscovered for months or even years.

Detroit is vulnerable

The housing market helps explain why Detroiters are more vulnerable to deed fraud.

Homes in Black neighborhoods nationwide are systematically undervalued compared with similar homes in white neighborhoods. Black borrowers are also more likely to be denied conventional mortgage loans. Detroit is about 73% Black, with a median household income of roughly $39,000 and a poverty rate exceeding 30%.

In a market where access to traditional financing is uneven and home prices are relatively low, cash sales accounted for 4 in 10 sales in February 2024.

Lenders, brokers and title companies act as informal gatekeepers when people purchase a home using a mortgage. In cash sales, those actors are absent, and there are fewer opportunities to detect irregularities in the documented history showing how title passed from one owner to the next over time.

Illegal tax practices led to thousands of foreclosed homes

Property tax distress attracts fraudsters. Fraudsters seem to rely on publicly available tax foreclosure lists to identify properties that appear abandoned. They then pay the past-due taxes to remove the property from foreclosure and attempt to sell or mortgage the property using their fraudulent deed.

The fraudsters may also assume that the owner lacks the resources to wage a prolonged legal fight to recover title if they do uncover their scheme. In many cases, that assumption proves correct.

Michigan’s Constitution caps assessments at 50% of market value, but researchers have found that from 2009 to 2015, a majority of Detroit homes were assessed above that limit. Once those inflated bills went unpaid, interest, penalties and fees accumulated, often ending in tax foreclosure.

More than 100,000 Detroit residents lost homes in that crisis, and homeowners were overtaxed by at least $600 million between 2010 and 2016.

In a city already destabilized by unlawful tax foreclosure, fraudsters found opportunity in homes burdened by vacancy and broken chains of ownership.

Advertisement

The burdens that deed fraud victims face

My first encounter with deed fraud came in July 2023. I received a request for legal assistance from a man who said he had been evicted from a home he claimed to own. Honestly, I didn’t believe him.

But when I pulled the court records and deeds, I learned he was right.

A fraudulent deed had been filed on his property, stripping him of title. The fraudsters then filed an eviction case against him.

The owner had no phone and no internet access to attend the virtual hearings. The court entered a judgment to evict him. A bailiff came, broke down his door and threw his belongings into a dumpster.

It took six months and two separate court cases before he was finally able to return to his home. He never recovered his belongings – and we never found the fraudster.

There are many other hardships for a legitimate owner. A fraudulent deed can prevent homeowners from selling their property, refinancing or accessing financial assistance programs.

To clear title, owners must file a quiet title lawsuit – a court action used to resolve disputes over who legally owns a property.

But quiet title cases are complex legal proceedings.

They require multiple filings, hearings and strict compliance with procedural rules. Even when fraud is obvious – for example, when a deed was signed by someone who was already deceased – courts generally require formal litigation to remove the cloud from the title.

Likewise, the legal process of notifying the defendant can be especially burdensome. Fraudsters often use fictitious names and addresses, making them difficult or impossible to locate. Even uncontested cases typically take months. If a defendant appears and disputes ownership, litigation can stretch for years.

Advertisement

Filing fees, service costs and other litigation expenses accumulate quickly. Hiring an attorney can cost several thousand dollars, and some victims have reported spending tens of thousands clearing title to their homes.

As for Kim Page, her case is still ongoing. After being locked out of her home, she had to move in with relatives for over a year, putting a strain on their relationship. She was eventually able to return to her home, but the legal dispute over ownership has not been resolved.

On top of that, she is facing a counter-lawsuit from the company that filed the fraudulent deed, requesting $50,000 for repairs the company made to the home while Page was locked out, along with property taxes and utility bills that the company says it paid to the county and utility companies on her behalf. The county opened an investigation, but it remains unresolved. As a result, she still has no idea who orchestrated the scheme.

While there are free legal services organizations to help, they have limited capacity, and income thresholds exclude some homeowners who still cannot afford private counsel.

Legal reforms likely won’t resolve systemic issues

Across the country, state legislatures have begun responding. Twenty-one have enacted deed fraud legislation, and 15 more have proposed it.

Another common intervention is fraud alert systems, which notify owners when any documents that impact the title of their property are recorded.

Other reforms increase notarial requirements or enhance criminal penalties.

These measures may deter some misconduct, but they do little to reduce the burden on victims once a fraudulent deed has been recorded.

In my assessment, meaningful reforms focus on empowering registers of deeds to substantively review suspicious documents before recording them; simplifying and expediting quiet title proceedings; and expanding civil remedies so victims can recover the costs associated with clearing their title.

Some jurisdictions like Texas and Florida have adopted streamlined procedures that allow victims to initiate quiet title actions using standardized forms with reduced fees. Others permit recorders, prosecutors or judges to act when fraud has already been established.

In Michigan, I am working with lawmakers and stakeholders to develop comprehensive legislation addressing these issues. Bills are expected to be introduced later this year.

Advertisement

At the same time, my clinic has begun exploring how technology can help identify fraudulent deeds already in the record. We are working with computer scientists to evaluate whether artificial intelligence tools could flag suspicious filings and potentially prevent fraudulent documents from being accepted in the future.

No property system can eliminate fraud entirely. Preventive and punitive measures may limit fraud, but they cannot eliminate the incentive to commit it. For fraudsters, the payoff can be substantial.

Conversations about the issue often begin and end with the mechanics of the crime or the procedural burdens victims face afterward. Far less attention is paid to the housing market conditions that make some communities especially vulnerable in the first place.

Page, now 42 and working as a transporter for Sinai-Grace Hospital, has been coping with the stress of legal proceedings for the past two years and living with a heart condition so serious that she got a defibrillator.

The longtime Detroiter is fed up – with the lack of police help to find the fraudster, as well as the court system. All she wants is to be the rightful owner of the home.

“Give me my house back,” Page said.

Detroit editor Eleanore Catolico contributed reporting.

Donovan McCarty, Director, Housing Justice Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law, Michigan State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Advertisement

📰 Enjoying STM Daily News? Join the conversation!

💬 Leave a comment, share your thoughts, and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest stories, updates, and “News You Can Use This Moment!” delivered to your inbox.

Stay connected with STM Daily News!