👻 Ghost Jobs

Hey everybody.

Today, we’re diving into the job market. I recently came across a fascinating blog post on Stack Overflow about the rise of ghost jobs, and I wanted to share it with you.

Also, I uploaded a video on surviving tech layoffs last week. If you’ve been laid off or want to prepare for unexpected layoffs, be sure to check it out.

JOB MARKET

It’s becoming increasingly common in both tech and other fields to apply for a job and hear nothing back—not even a "thanks, but no thanks".

It could be the case that hiring managers are simply overwhelmed, however recent research reveals many job postings are ghost jobs: roles an organization has no immediate intention of filling.

Why do companies post ghost jobs? The Great Resignation and pandemic-induced economic uncertainty have increased their number, according to a Harvard Business School report. A survey of 649 hiring managers found nearly 40% admitted their companies posted ghost jobs this year, from entry-level to C-suite positions.

Kara Dennison from Forbes wrote, "posting a job description without the intention to immediately start the hiring process inflates the true number of jobs in the market and elongates the job search."

So why do companies do it:

• They want to hire someone—eventually

• The listing is out-of-date or they’re hedging their bets

• They’re “always open to new people”

• They’re projecting economic optimism

• They’re misleading employees or instilling fear

Spotting ghost jobs:

• Vague job descriptions: If it reads like a template, it probably is. Real postings are specific about responsibilities and qualifications.

• Recurring listings: Genuine job postings disappear once filled, but ghost jobs linger. A recently posted job is less likely to be a ghost than one that's been up for months.

It makes sense to put more effort into the aspects of the job search that you can control. The full blog post on Stack Overflow dives deeper into this phenomenon.

Quick Links

🕵️ A Simple Firmware Update Completely Hides a Device’s Bluetooth Fingerprint
A smartphone's unique Bluetooth fingerprint made user tracking possible—until now. Researchers have developed a simple firmware update to completely hide the Bluetooth fingerprint, eliminating this vulnerability.

🕸️ Give people something to link to so they can talk about your features and ideas
Got a project, idea, or feature? Give people something to link to! Look at ChatGPT—powerful yet almost invisible. Without prompt knowledge, you might not even know it exists, and OpenAI lacks a much-needed documentation page for it.

🗺️ Searching an aerial photo with text queries
Robin developed a demo web app allowing text-based searches on aerial photos of Southampton, UK, for items like "roundabout" or "tennis court." Using vector embeddings, he explains the process in his blog post.

👴 How To Know When It's Time To Go
Andrew retired in 2021 at 63.5 after nearly four decades as a programmer. It wasn’t a lack of ability but a realization, after a year of reflection, that he no longer cared to continue. He notes that obsolescence or burnout can strike at any age, not just retirement.

💰️ Engineering Principles for Building Financial Systems
Accounting principles haven't changed much in centuries, yet confusion persists in building financial software. In this post, Wasteman shares insights from years at big tech companies, focusing on accounting systems while offering principles for all financial software.

Free Inflight Wifi with Python
Robert, a researcher at Anthropic, shared a really insightful blog post about how he managed to get free Wi-Fi on his long-haul flight using a bit of coding.

When he connected to the in-flight Wi-Fi and opened his browser, the network login page asked for credit card details. Despite the paywall, he noticed an option to sign in to his airmiles account for free. Sensing a potential firewall loophole, he decided to explore it.

In his blog post, Robert details his journey from creating a simple prototype to developing a full-fledged tool, “Pyskywifi” providing excellent explanations of the network and transport layers, making the post a great read for anyone interested in network security.

How To Survive Tech Layoffs (5 Actionable Steps)

Getting laid off from a job is terrible. Last week, I uploaded a video with some actionable steps in case you find yourself in a similar situation.

In 2023, the tech industry faced 260,000 layoffs. This year alone, we've already seen 74,000 employees laid off from 255 companies.

The video is already live. Go check it out!

Until next week,

Travis.