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LinkedIn ghost jobs: what the sightings say.

21.2% of scored active LinkedIn postings carry at least one ghost-job warning sign, against 17.8% across all ten boards JobsPipe collects. Here is the full picture for LinkedIn: score bands, the reasons behind them, reposts, age and how quickly postings close.

21.2%
Score 25 or higher
all boards 17.8%
9.9%
Reposted after a 10+ day gap
all boards 8.0%
31.1%
Older than 30 days
all boards 28.6%
30
Median days live when closed
closures cluster at the 30-day expiry

How LinkedIn scores

LinkedIn listings expire after 30 days unless the employer renews them, and JobsPipe records the closure when the listing is gone at the next check after that window. A LinkedIn posting rarely reads as stale before day 30, and the reposted share is what separates a renewed evergreen requisition from a fresh opening.

Share of scored active postings by ghost-score band, LinkedIn against all ten boards.
Ghost score bandLinkedInAll boards
0-24: looks live78.8%82.3%
25-49: one warning sign20.6%16.4%
50-74: several warning signs0.6%1.3%
75-100: almost certainly stale<0.5%<0.5%
  • No salary stated76.9%
  • Posted by a mass poster (500+ open roles)20.2%
  • Reposted (seen again after a gap of 10+ days)8.4%
  • Open for 45 days or more3.0%
  • Thin description (under 400 characters)1.7%
  • Posted date far behind first sighting0.9%
Reasons attached to the ghost score on LinkedIn, share of scored active postings. A posting can carry several.

How long LinkedIn postings stay up

LinkedIn listings sit until the employer closes them or the 30-day listing expiry runs out, and JobsPipe records the closure at the next check after that. Days live on LinkedIn therefore clusters at the 30-day mark (median 30 days among postings closed in the last 60 days), and <0.5% of closures happened within a week. For a board where removals are visible immediately, compare Greenhouse.

The cross-board comparison is on How long do job postings stay up?

Check a LinkedIn posting

Paste the LinkedIn job URL. The answer comes from the JobsPipe index, not from LinkedIn.

Works with LinkedIn, Indeed, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable, SmartRecruiters and Workday URLs. Reads the JobsPipe index, never the board.

Exclude LinkedIn ghost jobs from a feed

curl -X POST https://api.jobspipe.dev/v1/jobs/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JOBSPIPE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "source_or": ["linkedin"], "max_ghost_score": 24, "status": "active", "posted_at_max_age_days": 30, "limit": 25 }'

FAQ

How common are ghost jobs on LinkedIn?

21.2% of scored active LinkedIn postings carry at least one warning sign, against 17.8% across all ten boards JobsPipe collects. 9.9% of active LinkedIn postings were seen again after a gap of ten days or more, and 31.1% were first sighted more than 30 days ago.

Why does LinkedIn score the way it does?

LinkedIn listings expire after 30 days unless the employer renews them, and JobsPipe records the closure when the listing is gone at the next check after that window. A LinkedIn posting rarely reads as stale before day 30, and the reposted share is what separates a renewed evergreen requisition from a fresh opening.

How do I check whether a LinkedIn job is still open?

Paste the LinkedIn posting URL into the checker on this page. JobsPipe returns the first and last sighting, the status, and the ghost score with its reasons.

How do I exclude LinkedIn ghost jobs from an API feed?

Send max_ghost_score 24 with status active and source_or ["linkedin"] to the jobs search endpoint. Raise the score cap to 49 if a missing salary is acceptable.

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