It’s wild to experience as a job seeker in 2025, a “fake job market” can hinder your reach to actual hiring employers. You are searching for opportunities in a landmine of fake employers, hiring managers, recruiters, career services professionals, and referrers.

This is a critical time in the modern job search, where it’s essential to verify the authenticity of anyone claiming to offer assistance. To help me unravel some of the mystery around fake jobs, profiles, and advice, I have Ashley Price-Horton, Jay Jones, and Russell Irby.

I welcome your feedback on this episode on LinkedIn or through comments on this Substack post.

Here are some of the highlights and takeaways from the show:

Current Job Market Challenges

* The graduating classes of 2025 are entering a challenging job market, characterized by:

* The presence of a “Fake Job Market” that’s hidden in plain sight.

* Increased job scams and fake opportunities (even more than last year).

* There is a demanding need for both employers and job seekers to verify the authenticity. Possibly, everyone working has a fake coworker.

* The panel offered advice to job seekers on how to protect themselves, like checking the legitimacy of job listings by researching companies on platforms such as Glassdoor and Reddit, and being cautious about unsolicited job offers. They also emphasize the importance of vetting emails and websites to identify phishing attempts and other fraudulent job advertisements.

* The most vulnerable individuals become victims because they are unprepared for the emotional stress and endurance required in today’s job search.

Key Issues Discussed

* Fake Job Market:

* Described as the worst ever, maybe worse than the pandemic of 2020.

* New graduates face challenges in distinguishing between legitimate and fraudulent job opportunities.

* Job scams are prevalent on LinkedIn through fake employer and recruiter profiles.

* LinkedIn appears non-proactive purposely.

* Phony job ads are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from real ones.

* Bad actors are leveraging “Social Engineering” and AI at scale.

* Employers are challenged 1000s of applications in an hour.

* Challenges for Job Seekers:

* The Importance of Scrutinizing Job Offers and Opportunities.

* Verifying both employers’ and workers’ legitimacy is a thing of the past, dating back to months ago, when scammers were using fake worker IDs to bypass company gatekeepers.

* Job seekers are encouraged to be more vigilant and cautious than ever.

Community Feedback:

* Here are some of the comments from the LinkedIn Live participants:

* Christopher J.D. Thornton suggests in-person meetings to verify authenticity

* James Rose praises the professionalism of the podcast.

* Karen Pesznecker, PHR, asked, “Do you know of any proactive solutions to avoid even talking with fraudulent candidates?”

* Joyce Kennedy, “There are many profiles on LinkedIn that have been hacked and taken over by a scammer, too, unfortunately.

I hope you find this episode helpful, thanks to the tools and resources provided. Ashley, Jay, Russell, and I hope you’ll share your stories and questions on job scams through our LinkedIn profiles (see our names above for the links).

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