Halloween is right around the corner, but job seekers have been ghosted all year. In fact, 86% of recent job seekers say they’ve encountered a posting that they suspected was not tied to an actual hiring need, according to a new Ghost Jobs Report by ResumeBuilder.com. Even worse, 58% say they’ve interviewed for a position they later suspected was a ghost job.

When you need to find work, it’s tempting to copy, paste and apply to everything. Job seekers are sending out 30% more applications on LinkedIn than they did before the pandemic, LinkedIn CEO Dan Shapero told The Wall Street Journal last month. But when some of those job postings aren’t even real, more applications just mean more wasted time.

So how do you avoid getting ghosted? Follow these steps before submitting your next application.

Focus on quality over quantity. Be deliberate with your applications and search for job postings where you meet most of the requirements.

Verify on the company website. If you can’t find the position on the company careers page, think twice before you spend time applying.

Get in touch with a real person. Message a recruiter, someone on the team on LinkedIn or email them........

© Forbes