--- title: "Y Combinator ghost jobs: the share of stale, reposted and unsalaried postings (2026) - JobsPipe" description: "How many Y Combinator job postings read as ghost jobs, measured from JobsPipe sightings: score bands, reposts and age, plus a checker for any Y Combinator posting URL." canonical: https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/ycombinator --- # Y Combinator ghost jobs: what the sightings say. 82.5% of scored active Y Combinator postings carry at least one ghost-job warning sign, against 17.8% across all ten boards JobsPipe collects. Here is the full picture for Y Combinator: score bands, the reasons behind them, reposts, age and how quickly postings close. 82.5% Score 25 or higher all boards 17.8% 63.6% Reposted after a 10+ day gap all boards 8.0% 70.7% Older than 30 days all boards 28.6% 33 Median days live when closed removals detected continuously ## How Y Combinator scores Y Combinator company listings are re-listed continuously and stay open for months, so the board carries the largest long-open and reposted shares of any source. Founders keep hiring pages live between rounds, which is legitimate but reads as stale by every mechanical test. | Ghost score band | Y Combinator | All boards | | --- | --- | --- | | 0-24: looks live | 17.5% | 82.3% | | 25-49: one warning sign | 9.4% | 16.4% | | 50-74: several warning signs | 72.8% | 1.3% | | 75-100: almost certainly stale | <0.5% | <0.5% | - Posted date far behind first sighting88.4% - Open for 45 days or more80.1% - Reposted (seen again after a gap of 10+ days)76.2% - No salary stated17.8% - Thin description (under 400 characters)1.1% - Posted by a mass poster (500+ open roles)0.7% Reasons attached to the ghost score on Y Combinator, share of scored active postings. A posting can carry several. ## How long Y Combinator postings stay up A Y Combinator posting is marked closed soon after the employer takes it down, so days live is a real measure here. Among Y Combinator postings that closed in the last 60 days, the median was live for 33 days and three in four were gone within 47 days; 16.9% closed within a week and 43.4% within 30 days. - Still open 30 days after first sighting86.8% - Still open 14 days after first sighting98.0% Share of Y Combinator postings first sighted 14 and 30 days ago that are still open. The cross-board comparison is on [How long do job postings stay up?](https://jobspipe.dev/job-posting-lifespan) ## Exclude Y Combinator 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": ["ycombinator"], "max_ghost_score": 24, "status": "active", "posted_at_max_age_days": 30, "limit": 25 }' ``` How this was measured Measured from active postings on the ten collected boards; score bands and reasons cover the postings that carry a ghost score (seen at least twice or older than 14 days), age and repost shares use the sighting log, which starts between 21 June and 23 July 2026 depending on the board. Generated 2026-09-09. Shares only: JobsPipe publishes percentages, not counts. Score bands and reasons cover Y Combinator postings that carry a ghost score (last scoring run 2026-08-29). Reposted means three or more sightings with a gap of ten days or more; age is measured from the first day JobsPipe saw the posting. ``` curl -X POST https://api.jobspipe.dev/v1/jobs/search \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $JOBSPIPE_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"source_or":["ycombinator"],"max_ghost_score":24,"status":"active","limit":25}' ``` ## FAQ How common are ghost jobs on Y Combinator? 82.5% of scored active Y Combinator postings carry at least one warning sign, against 17.8% across all ten boards JobsPipe collects. 63.6% of active Y Combinator postings were seen again after a gap of ten days or more, and 70.7% were first sighted more than 30 days ago. Why does Y Combinator score the way it does? Y Combinator company listings are re-listed continuously and stay open for months, so the board carries the largest long-open and reposted shares of any source. Founders keep hiring pages live between rounds, which is legitimate but reads as stale by every mechanical test. How do I check whether a Y Combinator job is still open? Use the JobsPipe jobs search endpoint with source\_or set to ycombinator and status set to any; every record returns discovered\_at, last\_seen\_at, status and ghost\_score. How do I exclude Y Combinator ghost jobs from an API feed? Send max\_ghost\_score 24 with status active and source\_or \["ycombinator"\] to the jobs search endpoint. Raise the score cap to 49 if a missing salary is acceptable. ### Other boards - [Indeed](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/indeed) - [Workable](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/workable) - [Ashby](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/ashby) - [SmartRecruiters](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/smartrecruiters) - [LinkedIn](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/linkedin) - [Greenhouse](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/greenhouse) - [Paylocity](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/paylocity) - [Lever](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/lever) - [Workday](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs/workday) - [All boards](https://jobspipe.dev/ghost-jobs) ## Further reading - [Ghost jobs by job board: share of ghost-like postings on LinkedIn, Indeed, Workday, Greenhouse and six more](https://jobspipe.dev/blog/ghost-jobs-by-job-board) - [How to spot ghost jobs: a seven-point checklist mapped to real data fields](https://jobspipe.dev/blog/how-to-spot-ghost-jobs) - [What Does It Mean When a Job Posting Is Reposted?](https://jobspipe.dev/blog/what-does-it-mean-when-a-job-posting-is-reposted) --- Try it with no key: `curl -d '{"limit":3}' https://api.jobspipe.dev/v1/sandbox/jobs/search`. AI agents: the full machine-readable index of this site is https://jobspipe.dev/llms.txt?src=md-twin - API quickstart, MCP server, pricing. Free key (1,000 jobs to start): https://jobspipe.dev/signup