I was contacted by this staffing company for aData Architect contract role ,at large enterprise . The job description wasn’t particularly detailed but was positioned as a specialized, high-responsibility opportunity and they also provided the name of the client , all of which made it seem credible. They also alluded that they had an exclusive SOW for it. They actively engaged a large number of smaller recruiting agencies to source candidates for the same role . Multiple ads for this role were being posted by many of them on LinkedIn and on other job boards. For close to month and half a whole lot of them were working on searching candidates for this role. After all of the time spent, including weeks of communication and coordination , no actual client interview materialized . In addition , no other agencies that are primary vendors with this client could find this role . All of this have left me no choice but to believe this was likely a fabricated posting circulated widely, wasting time not only of the candidates but also that of smaller staffing firms who seemed to be unknowingly working on an opportunity that didn’t exist. These agencies, like the candidates, invested significant effort and resources for nothing , finally being misled by information that turned out to be potentially deceptive. This is a tough market, it takes a lot more of concentrated effort in preparation to make it through screening process. Deceptions such as this not only take away valuable time from working on potential opportunities , it more importantly corrodes the trust. Deceptive recruiting practices like this harms everyone from professionals seeking legitimate work to partner agencies acting in good faith. Candidates and recruiters deserve honesty and transparency, not elaborate schemes built on misinformation. This is one of most infuriating experience that I have had while searching for roles . This also has had a scaring effect , now I have to spend extra time screening both the recruiters and the job role. Two terms that I learnt from this experience are Ghost jobs and Resume Harvesting. If you were affected by this same posting either as a candidate or a recruiting partner, you can file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or with your state’s Department of Labor or Consumer Protection office. Submitting complaints will prevent such fraudulent recruiting activity in future.