I read Work Therapy on the subject of writing cover letters last week and sympathised with the reader. I am tearing my hair out trying to find a job. I must have submitted 35 applications over the past six months and have heard back from just two companies. TWO! If I’m not what a company is looking for, fine. But the silence after I apply is crushing.

I was ranting to a friend about it, and they told me I was likely applying for a lot of “ghost jobs”. I had never heard of such a thing before and, when my friend told me about them, I was shocked. Why do they exist and do you have any advice for avoiding them?

Feel like you’re going around in circles applying for jobs? There might be a simple explanation. Credit: Simon Letch

Silence from a prospective employer comes across to most people as a tacit “you weren’t even close”, so I can understand why you feel crushed by the lack of responses.

A constant refrain I hear from readers (and friends) who have had a run similar to yours is words to the effect: “How can I be missing the mark so badly and so often?” The fact is, most people aren’t. But ghost jobs are........

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