In today’s job market, landing a new position might feel too good to be true — and unfortunately, it might be.
A new report from job site Monster suggests prospective employees are often being duped by responsibilities outlined in job ads.
According to the data, nearly 8 in 10 workers — 79 percent — say they’ve accepted a job that didn’t match what was promised during the hiring process.
The term “career catfishing,” adapted from the online dating world, refers to situations where either employers or candidates misrepresent themselves through misleading job descriptions, overstated company culture, or exaggerated résumés.
The report, based on a survey of more than 1,400 U.S. workers across industries and experience levels, highlights a deepening mistrust in the hiring process. For many workers, the reality of a new job fails to live up to expectations set during interviews.
Nearly half of those surveyed said the responsibilities of their role differed from what was described. Over one in five felt the company culture was misrepresented, and nine percent reported that their pay or benefits were not what had been promised.
“Career catfishing doesn’t just create mismatched expectations, it sets employees and employers up for failure from day one,” Vicki Salemi, Monster’s career expert, said in a statement. “When honesty is absent in the hiring process, trust is broken before it can even take root, leading to dissatisfaction, burnout, and costly turnover.”
The consequences of these misleading practices are significant.
Workers who feel misled often report dissatisfaction, burnout, and early resignations. Research from the Harvard Business Review underscores the importance of meaningful work and growth opportunities, suggesting that surface-level perks or inflated promises can’t compensate for deeper disconnects between expectations and reality.
But it’s not just job seekers who are affected. Employers are also paying a price. When companies bring on candidates who have exaggerated their experience or skills, productivity can suffer and teams may struggle.
The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that while the average cost to hire an employee is over $4,700, a bad hire can ultimately cost up to twice that person’s annual salary.
Interestingly, the deception isn’t always one-sided. While most workers believe career catfishing is unethical — 85 percent said it’s morally wrong, and nearly a third think anyone caught doing it should be fired — some admit they’ve done it themselves.
Thirteen percent of respondents confessed to misleading employers during the hiring process, most often by exaggerating job responsibilities, skills, work experience, or education.
Even more telling, 67 percent of workers said they believe someone they currently work with misrepresented their qualifications to get the job — every team has its weak link.
However, there are ways employees and employers can reel it in.
For job seekers, that means asking detailed questions during interviews, researching company culture independently, and ensuring compensation details are confirmed in writing.
For employers, the emphasis is on verifying skills through assessments, conducting thorough background checks, and creating honest, accurate job postings.
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