3 Unfortunate Recruitment Trends to Look Out for & What to Do About Them

I’ve been coaching for 10 years now and, although I’ve heard the job market has been challenging throughout, it seems increasingly difficult over the years for many.

One reason is the development of Artificial Intelligence and the loss of jobs that accompany that among other factors. Among the other factors is the increase in fraudulent and deceptive practices in the market nowadays. AI, automation, and digital communications are being used to undermine recruitment so whether you’re hiring or looking for a job you might want to be aware of these trends, if you’re not already, and know ways to avoid them.

Deepfake job candidates

With the increasing abilities of AI, job candidates can take on a different persona during a remote interview by using deepfake technology, forged identity documents and methods to conceal one’s location. Vijay Balasubramaniyan, the founder of Pindrop Security, an American information security company, estimates that 1 out of 6 job applicants are fake (16.8%). They either have a fake resume, a fake LinkedIn account, made up experiences, or are applying from a sanctioned country like North Korea. They’re misrepresenting themselves in some sort of way. What used to be an embellishment or two on some people’s resumes are now becoming sophisticated deception with better technology.

Research and advisory firm, Gartner, predicts that by 2028, 1 out of 4 job candidates worldwide will be fake. Currently, the rise is mostly seen in North America, the European Union and UK. This trend is directly correlated to the rise of remote work. On the one hand, remote work and virtual interviews has enabled hiring companies to widen the net for candidates and hire conveniently. However, on the other hand, it has increased the risks with the potential for great financial and reputational loss as well as threats to national security.

It seems most deepfake job candidates are looking for a paycheck, however, others can steal or exploit sensitive data, fund the crime group they belong to, and create malicious output causing social disruption.

To avoid hiring a deepfake candidate, try interviewing the candidate in-person if possible. If not, look out for odd video behaviour like glitches or video lag around the face or mismatched lip-syncing. You can ask them to wave their hand in front of their face. Most deepfake filters have trouble doing this seamlessly. You can also ask them to look left and right or repeat a phrase to test real-time interaction.

Listen for unnatural tones or delays and flag any delayed or scripted responses. This goes without saying, however, also flag a mismatch between their application and their answers, any delay of identity verification, and odd hiring behaviour like asking to move the process off your platform or requesting to use their own device, tools, or email addresses once hired.

Whenever possible, use task-based assessments during a virtual interview if applicable. Also, request short, personalized video introductions early in the process and use identity verification software (e.g., Persona, Jumio, or similar) as an added measure.

Ghost positions

The phenomenon of ghost positions, or ghost jobs, have been around for some time now, however, the rise has been increasing over recent years. Ghost positions are job postings that aren't actually open; often used by companies to collect resumes or market research, gauge market interest, or appear like they’re growing. In some cases, there was an intention to hire but the company changed their minds.

According to a 2024 survey by ResumeBuilder, 4 in 10 companies posted fake job listings in 2024 and 3 in 10 were advertising for a role that wasn’t real. Definitely a frustrating trend for job seekers. Some of my clients have told me that they have applied to hundreds of jobs with nothing to show for it. Some of this could be attributed to ghost jobs.  

It’s difficult to prove a job posting is a ghost position, however, here are some things you can look out for or do. Cross-check on the company’s website to see if the job is listed on the employer’s official careers page. Check the job’s posting date and updates. Legitimate job roles typically fill within 30–60 days. If it's been live much longer, it could be a ghost position. Try to find the job posting on LinkedIn from a current employee or to ask the employee if the role is truly open.

Watch out for vague job titles like “marketing superstar.” Typically, companies put out such job postings to attract talent and pick from that pool when they’re ready to hire. Use job platforms who show who posted the job. Being able to message a real person helps confirm legitimacy. Also, be strategic about follow ups; if you follow up and hear nothing, it’s likely not active.

Job offer texts

I’m sure we’re all familiar with scam job offer texts since they are so frequent and ubiquitous. Dealing with them is like playing whack-a-mole with your phone. Essentially, these texts target job seekers or job curious people with fake offers to steal money or personal information. Canadians lost 49 million in job scams last year and Americans 61.2 million according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the numbers rise each year. Also, these amounts represent those who reported to the CAFC and FTC, so it doesn’t account for all losses.

Scammers are catching on to the accessibility of SMS. It typically takes 90 minutes for someone to open their email whereas it takes about 90 seconds for someone to read their texts. Unfortunately, this and the fact that most of us tend to respond to texts immediately have encouraged scammers to use this convenient method for fraud.

To avoid falling for such a scam, first don’t trust any unsolicited messages. Most recruiters don’t send cold job offers by text without prior interaction. If you do read a job offer text, never click on links. Links in scam texts may steal personal data, infect your phone with malware or lead to phishing sites mimicking real employers. Never share any sensitive information however promising. Task scams are on the rise where the job or gig seems legit at first because they pay you but then they hook you to pay for more tasks.

If you’re not sure if it’s a scam or not, verify the sender by searching the phone number online, check if the recruiter is on LinkedIn and works at the company they claim and look for the job on the company’s official careers page. Watch out for red flags like vague job titles e.g., “remote work opportunity,” poor grammar, odd phrasing (although AI has helped with grammar and spelling nowadays), excessive urgency, promises of high pay for little work, and requests to move the conversation to places where it has end to end encryption like WhatsApp.

If you know it’s a scam, you can use spam filters and reporting tools. You can block the number or delete and report the number to your phone service provider (often there is a delete and “report junk” option on your phone). You can also forward the message to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads) in Canada and the US. You can also consider enabling spam filters on your phone or through apps like Hiya, Truecaller, or your wireless provider’s tools.

These deceptive and fraudulent job market trends not only can lose you money or steal your sensitive data, but they also waste time and effort and erode trust in hiring systems and online job platforms. They undercut the recruitment system, creating confusion (we question more what’s real or fake) and risk for either job seekers, employers, or both.

The good news is that there are ways to work around these threats as discussed. We’re getting more savvy with these things. As these tech-enabled trends evolve, so do we.

Best,