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The Hiring Issues Board
Hiring Malpractice Beyond Ghost Jobs
Ghost jobs are a symptom, not the whole disease. The modern hiring process is riddled with practices that waste candidates' time, screen for the wrong things, and reward the wrong people.
Each issue below is documented with red flags, real patterns, and context for what is actually happening — so you can recognise it and respond accordingly.
Nepotism in Hiring
The role was never open to you. It was open for optics. When a decision has already been made internally, external candidates go through the full process — then get ghosted. Here is how to recognise a rigged process before you invest in it.
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Interview Tasks That Have Nothing to Do With the Job
Algorithmic puzzles for product managers. Three-hour take-homes for junior roles. Brain teasers for sales positions. The gap between what interviews test and what jobs actually require has become a systemic problem — especially in tech.
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When Recruiters Build Pipelines to Sell, Not Roles to Fill
Some agencies post job listings not to fill them, but to harvest CVs and build a candidate pipeline they can package and sell to companies at a premium. The job posting was real. The vacancy was not. You were the product.
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Free Work Disguised as Interview Tasks
Strategy decks, code features, design mockups, written content — some companies run interview processes specifically to extract real, usable deliverables from candidates. The assignment was never about evaluating you. Here is how to recognise an extraction before you complete it.
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Salary Fishing: When Companies Interview Just to Benchmark Pay
26% of HR professionals admit posting ghost jobs to gain insight into the job market and competitors. Your salary expectations, competing offers, and knowledge of your employer's pay structure are the data they came for. Here is how to recognise the pattern and what you are legally entitled to withhold.
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Experienced one of these first-hand?
Reports from real candidates build the public record. Anonymous, takes two minutes.