I ran my first marathon Saturday. Blew up at mile 22, got carried home by the kindness of a total stranger, and finished. More on that at the bottom.
But first: a third of the job postings you’re looking at might be fake. Let’s talk about it.
MARKET PULSE: The Jobs That Don’t Exist
Ghost jobs went from internet folklore to legislative agenda this year. Forbes covered it last month: five states including Pennsylvania, New York, and California are reviewing bills to crack down on postings for roles that are filled or never existed. One survey found 8 in 10 recruiters admitted their company has posted them.
Here’s my inside view, because I’ve watched this happen for years.
Some of it is legitimate. A TPA gets offered a big contract and posts roles early to feel out the talent pool before they commit. The intent to hire is real. The contract just doesn’t always happen. Annoying if you applied, but not malicious.
Some of it is genuinely gross. I talked to someone at a conference recently who posted fake jobs, ran every applicant through a virtual AI interview, and sold each lead for twenty bucks to agencies hiring salespeople. Nobody in that interview knew what was actually happening. That’s the behavior these laws are aimed at.
Will the laws work? I’m skeptical. Compliance requirements hit the small honest shops hardest, and the truly sketchy operators were never following rules to begin with.
What you can control: the tells. A posting 45+ days old, no salary range, vague description, reposted over and over. That’s a pile, not a pipeline. Real jobs get filled through real conversations, which brings me to…
CAREER INTEL: The Question You Should Be Asking Them
We covered behavioral interviews on Tuesday’s show, but here’s the part almost nobody does: flip them.
Companies ask “tell me about a time” questions because past behavior beats hypotheticals. Fair enough. But an interview is a two-way evaluation, and your question time is the most wasted five minutes in hiring.
Try this one: “Tell me about the last person on your team who got promoted. What did that path look like?”
If the manager lights up and tells you a story, you just learned everything about growth there. If they go quiet and reach for something vague, you also learned everything.
And if you’re a hiring manager reading this: the candidate who asks you that question isn’t a red flag. That’s your strongest candidate. Make sure your interviewers can answer it.
FROM THE DESK
Road to 100 update: we’re at 25. A quarter of the way to helping 100 claims professionals move their careers forward this year.
Number 25 came in last week from someone who told me the show helped them land a new role in insurance. That’s the part of this mission I want to keep saying out loud: it counts if the show helped, if a post helped, if something you heard here changed how you approached your search. You don’t have to be a KRU placement to be on the board.
If that’s you, my DMs are open. Tell me your win and let’s get you counted.
BEYOND THE DESK
I ran my first marathon on Saturday.
The plan was 3:30. The plan died at mile 22 when my legs stopped working. What got me through the last mile and a half was a total stranger yelling “you got this” on a course with no spectators.
That’s the photo below. Flat on the pavement, medal in hand. And honestly, if you’re deep in a job search right now, you know exactly how that feels. You planned, you trained, you did everything right, and mile 22 still showed up.
Finish anyway. And let people help you. Nobody crosses alone.
ONE THING TO DO THIS WEEK
Before you send another application, check the posting’s age. If it’s over 45 days old with no salary range, skip it and spend that time messaging one actual human at a company you want to work for. One conversation beats twenty applications into the void.
Until next week,
🤘Josh 🤘