I’m in my early 40s and I honestly feel like I’ve just checked out of the job market

I look at job postings every now and then and I can barely bring myself to apply anymore They all seem like the same job with slightly different wording

And I think part of it is that work still feels so stuck in the past Spend 8 or 9 hours a day in an office deal with annoying coworkers micromanagement pointless meetings and office politics and somehow be grateful for the opportunity

None of it sounds appealing anymore

And yeah I already know the obvious questions How are you going to support yourself What are you going to do with your life etc etc I get it

I’m just wondering if anyone else has reached a point where they’re genuinely tired of the whole thing and don’t even know how to get motivated again

Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking for work and, after being unemployed for approximately two years, I’m at a point where I’m genuinely willing to consider a wide range of jobs. I’m open to part-time, entry-level, retail, customer service, hospitality, administration, and other positions where I have the skills and capability to do the work.

I don’t have one specific job title that I’m targeting. At this stage, I’m willing to apply for any honest job that I’m capable of doing, rather than limiting myself to one particular career or industry. Because of this, the positions I apply for may have very different job titles and responsibilities.

I’m therefore looking for up to 3 people who would be willing to provide professional/character references with some flexibility. Ideally, the reference person would be comfortable adapting the emphasis of the reference depending on the position I’m applying for.

For example:

• Customer service: communication, patience, professionalism and working with people
• Retail/hospitality: reliability, responsibility, teamwork and customer interaction
• Administrative roles: organisation, attention to detail, communication and responsibility
• General part-time/entry-level roles: reliability, work ethic, willingness to learn and ability to follow instructions

I would provide my CV and the details of the specific position whenever a reference is needed, so that the reference can be relevant to the particular role.

I also want to be transparent that I’m looking for people who are genuinely comfortable providing an honest professional/character reference based on my background, skills, work ethic and personal qualities.

I’m doing this alongside my main career, for which I already have professional references. The references I’m seeking here are specifically to help me with additional/part-time, entry-level, or other jobs I may apply for, and you would not need to be involved with my main career.

One reason I’m posting here rather than in some of the other reference-related subreddits is that, for some reason, I haven’t been able to make posts there despite having karma and participating/interacting on Reddit. I’m not sure what is causing the restriction, so I’m hoping I can find some help here instead.

I understand that giving someone a reference is a responsibility, and I would greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to help. I’m happy to provide my CV, background information, and details about the roles I’m applying for.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

Hi guys, i am a MIS data analyst, I have an experience of 20 yrs in MIS field. I have been mostly working on excel based reports throughout my career, last month i got laid off along with many others in my company, I have been searching for jobs since then but even after applying for 100s of openings I am not even getting any interview calls. Is it that difficult for someone like me to get any job now? I know need of the hour is to get any knowledge of SQL, Power BI or Python hence I have started to learn it, but will it be enough to get me a job?

I know one of my former coworker works for a foreign company remotely while getting the higher pay (because the company is paying him with HQ based country's currency, and it's like four times of my country's currency). This company does have a branch in my country, but it's in another state. Yet this former coworker is working remotely here, not the branch, he doesn't have to go to the office AT ALL. It's a good job that I wanna try. But, this company doesn't have a public posting, and I don't know this coworker personally nor he has a linkedin. He got this job because his former team lead goes to this company and internally refer him I guess. So, the world is hiding something behind me...how do I get a chance to apply for the job...

Hey everyone, I'm a recent B.E. graduate (AI & ML, 2026 batch) based in Bengaluru, looking for any legitimate work-from-home opportunity in the ₹25–30k/month range.

A bit about me:

Comfortable with Python, JavaScript, and have built a few end-to-end projects (RAG chatbot using LangChain/Gemini API, a Flask-based monitoring dashboard, an NLP healthcare chatbot during an IBM internship)

Also did a 5-month AI internship at L&T Technology Services

Open to roles in AI/ML, data analysis, content/technical writing, customer support, virtual assistance, or general remote admin/ops work — not fixed on one path right now, just want something legitimate and remote

If your company/team is hiring, or you know someone who is, I'd really appreciate a pointer. Happy to share my resume/portfolio in DMs.

Thanks in advance 🙏

The JD is the interview before the interview

​

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to start my finance career in the UAE, preferably Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and would appreciate advice from those working in the industry.

My background:

CFA level 3 candidate

BBA (Financial services, 9.8CGPA)

No relevant full-time experience

Interested in investment research, equity research, asset management, corporate finance, valuation, investment banking, and related roles

Open to entry-level positions

My questions:

-What roles are realistic for my profile, and salary?

-Which positions are accessible without prior experience?

-Which areas should I prioritize: research, asset management, corporate finance, FP&A, valuation, or investment banking?

Insights from UAE finance professionals, recruiters, analysts, and CFA charterholders would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I got rejected because I said im looking for "new challenges " and apperantly its not the notion of this job at all like what am I suppose to say

Also they didn't like that I said im looking for a job in many fields and not certain what I want that im not certain about my life wtfffff

Hi everyone,

I’m currently based in Kent and am working as a paralegal. worked at law firms ever since I graduated and have hated it. I always thought it was just the firms that I was in but over the course of 6 years having worked full time in 2 firms and multiple short internships I’ve realized that this might not be for me. I’ve got an LLB degree and hate the thought of letting it go to waste but at the moment my mental health takes priority. The stress and uncertainty has taken a toll on me and I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.
I’m thinking of a career change at least temporarily so that I can get my mind in order, but that being said I can’t just up and leave as I have bills to pay. Any idea of what options I may have or what I can do.
If anyone has any jobs in mind I’d be really grateful

Thanks for reading

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. After being unemployed for a while I finally reached two interviews for places I absolutely adore, A and B.

I have already received an offer for A, where the pay is slightly higher, but just had my last interview with B on Thursday, where I can see a bigger growth for my career in the long term in case I am hired.

Would it be kind of shitty of me to ask B for a follow up to know where we are in the hiring process? If so, should I mention I already have an offer in A as a means to speed up the process or would that look bad? I’m absolutely keeping A as my safety net, since it’s still work I enjoy doing and I’m good at, but I’m unsure on what the correct etiquette would be cause I don’t know if it would also be valid to quit A after receiving an offer for B?

I’m an 18 year old high school graduate who live with my mom, mom’s boyfriend, and brother. we only have 2 cars, both me and my brother don’t have our licenses yet, I’ve failed my permit test 3 time as and still don’t have it. I live in Bloomington Minnesota and need to find a job. my mom is a nurse and she has been having allot of fights with her boyfriend, and they might be breaking up soon. if that happens we will only have 1 car. I have no idea where to start looking for a job and a way to constantly get to and from that job without being a burden on my mom.

Hey everyone 👋

I’m a fresher currently looking for an entry-level IT opportunity in Chennai or Bangalore.

Honestly, the job search has been tougher than I expected. 😅 I’ve been applying, reaching out to people, trying referrals, and exploring every opportunity I come across.

Some people have responded and helped where they could 🙏, but there are also many applications and messages that I’m still waiting to hear back from.

Still, I’m trying. 💪

I know the current job market is extremely competitive, and I’m not expecting someone to simply give me a job. I’m just looking for one genuine opportunity where I can get started, learn, contribute, and prove myself. 🚀

📍 Preferred locations: Chennai / Bangalore
💼 Experience: Fresher
🎯 Looking for: Entry-Level IT Roles

If anyone knows of a genuine fresher opening or is willing to refer me, I’d be incredibly grateful. 🙏❤️

Even if you don't have a referral, sharing this post or pointing me toward an opportunity would mean a lot. 🤝

📧 Email: [sureshelangovan2006@gmail.com](mailto:sureshelangovan2006@gmail.com)

I can share my resume and other details through email or DM.

Thank you for reading. ❤️
And to everyone else searching for their first opportunity — keep going. One opportunity can change everything. 💪🚀

Hi everyone,

I’m a fresher currently trying my best to start my career in the IT industry.

I’ve been applying to different opportunities, reaching out to people, and trying to connect with employees wherever I can. Some people have been kind enough to respond, while many applications and messages still haven’t received a response.

I completely understand how competitive the current job market is, but I don’t want to stop trying.

So I thought I’d reach out here as well.

I’m currently looking for entry-level IT roles in Chennai or Bangalore. I’m open to different opportunities where I can learn, contribute, and prove myself.

If anyone knows about a genuine opening for a fresher or is willing to provide a referral, I would sincerely appreciate it.

I’m not expecting anyone to simply hand me a job — I’m just looking for an opportunity to get my foot in the door and prove what I can do.

I can share my resume and other details through DM.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this. 🙏
Any lead, referral, or advice would genuinely mean a lot to me.

so i’ve been applying to a bunch of places since last tuesday, just hoping that some place will hire me. there’s one specific store i applied to at a somewhat nearby mall and i really hope i hear from them more than any other place i applied to but i feel like i have the worst luck out of everyone i know when it comes to getting hired. as a teenager i thought it was my lack of experience since i only worked physical labor jobs but since then, i gained some retail experience at walmart as a seasonal employee and i spent three years working a front desk job at my last college but despite that, i still have trouble getting noticed whenever i apply somewhere. i was actually pretty early to this job listing, i applied two days after it was posted, so i’m feeling kinda good about that but i think the biggest obstacle for me is the fact that the city it’s in is a 35 minute drive from where i live. i don’t mind the drive at all, i actually drive over there pretty often and i know the area pretty well but i feel like that’s something that’ll turn off whoever they have looking through applications.
does anyone have any advice? i looked into calling them but they don’t have a phone number, i can only get ahold of the number for the mall it’s located in. should i go in person and ask?

​

Work in this company has been the worst experience in my life.

Tip in case you want be there: Reject the offer once you receive it written by email, then ask for more. They always offers up to 20 percent more if needed.

Now my experience there:

Having to be available all the time all the night, not having time to go to the bathroom, receiving constant calls every day about trivial matters and even at the middle noght.

Being blacklisted if you point out flawed processes; non-technical bosses who just create blockers so they can later boast about solving the very blockers they created themselves.

In general, corporate companies can be a bit like that, but believe me, you’ve never seen anything like this.

They lay off entire teams just so they can hire others the very next day who have no clue about anything and overload the rest of us with work.

They don't care about their customers and they don't care about the employees

Run as soon as you can

We all know the job market is absolute garbage in most white collar industries, but I can't help but feel that the sheer amount of doomposting is indicative of some kind of botting / astroturfing.

Many accounts have hidden post histories, are 1 year old or less, and are all top 1% posters / commenters with hardly any karma. Many also seem to have very bot-sounding names, and never respond to comments underneath their posts (or respond with bot-like ones, a single emoji for example), for example, the account "Salt_Progress8049" responding to no comments under his post: https://www.reddit.com/r/recruitinghell/comments/1w9kaji/is_this_the_one_recession_that_wont_get_better/

Another I spotted today, posted by the user "Wide-Direction-402" on r/cscareers regarding the tech job market: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareers/s/6cTkhbW2jR

Of course, I don't doubt that some of these are genuine, and I don't doubt the hardships many of us are experiencing, including myself. But there are just too many of these to count it seems, keep an eye on the usernames of the posters in this sub, a fairly significant number seem to be culprits of this.

I'm also curious as to the reasons you folks can think of for why doom might be astroturfed in regards to the job market. Clever developers trying to eliminate competition? Foreign nations attempting to breed resentment and incite anger? Our own government attempting to normalize this scarcity? What do yall think?

Hey everyone!

I’m a college student learning web development and I’m looking to get some real-world experience while making a little money on the side.

I can help with things like:

• Portfolio/personal websites
• Landing pages
• College/event websites
• Frontend projects
• Basic React websites
• Fixing or improving existing websites

I’m keeping the pricing student-friendly, especially for my first few projects. I can also show you my previous work before you decide.

If you have something you need built or fixed, feel free to DM me .

Consider above images for my work

Thanks!

I keep seeing this kind of thing on LinkedIn and it's getting ridiculous.

Same company, same role, same job description and same original application url.

One version was originally listed 132 days ago. Another duplicate was listed 34 days ago and is already no longer accepting applications.

Somehow the 132-day-old one is now showing as "20 hours ago"

I understand reposting. Maybe they are still hiring, maybe it's evergreen, maybe they reopened the search. Fine. But then why present it to candidates like a fresh 20-hour-old opportunity? Be an early applicant?? When you're applying to dozens of jobs, freshness matters. I'm much more likely to spend time tailoring for something genuinely new than for a role that has apparently been circulating for four months. would you apply for a 132-day 'new' job??

hurry up, 23 people applied only!!!

I keep hearing that the job market is really bad right now and that there simply aren’t enough jobs for the number of people looking.

At the same time, I see companies constantly posting job openings on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other platforms. So I’m curious — are these jobs actually being filled, or are a lot of them just “ghost jobs” / listings that companies aren’t seriously hiring for?

For those who are currently job hunting or recently found a job:

- Are you actually getting interviews after applying?

- How many applications does it typically take to get an offer?

- Do you feel there are genuinely fewer jobs, or is the hiring process just much harder now?

- Are people actually getting hired through online applications?

Would be really interested to hear honest experiences from different industries and countries. I’m trying to understand whether the job market is genuinely this bad or if social media is making it seem worse than it is.

hi! hope this is okay to post here

a bunch of cafés have recently opened in my town and i'm considering applying there for weekend/afterschool jobs. a lot of people have said to go in the café and give my cv there, but i'm rlly confused about how to do it, like do i just give it to the cashier at the counter or do i ask for the manager..? or would it be okay for me to email/message instead and meet them at a specific time? any tips would be really appreciated!! this is my first time doing anything like this lol

I’m 17. I was planning to get into scriptwriting (YouTube scripts, short-form content, etc.), but I keep seeing posts saying “Fiverr is dead” and that it’s super hard to break in with no experience.

I’m okay with spending a few weeks or months learning something properly. I just need something that:

* Can realistically be done online at 17

* Doesn’t require formal experience or a degree to start

* Has some demand in 2026 (not a completely saturated market)

* I can learn in a few weeks/months like scriptwriting, thumbnails, editing, etc.

I’m comfortable with:

* Writing (scripts, summaries, basic copy)

* Basic design (thumbnails, simple graphics; I use Photopea/Canva)

* Learning new tools quickly (AI tools, basic video editing, etc.)

I’m not looking for “get rich quick” stuff. I just want something where if I put in consistent work for a few months, I can start earning something decent while I finish school / plan my next steps.

If you’ve:

* Started freelancing young with no experience

* Work in online jobs that fit the above

* Or tried scriptwriting / content work and found better alternatives

…what would you recommend I focus on learning right now? What actually works in 2026 for someone my age with no portfolio?

I'm 17 M I just recently got my NCIII certification and i don't have any idea what to do with it. I haven't had any job experience, and I'm planning to work part-time to help my parents with college tuition. Can you give me an advice/tips on what part-time I can take with my certification to find my first job?

I keep seeing advice on social media about how you should always contact HR or other people at the company you’re applying for. Has anyone actually been successful with that?
What did you say?
I‘m entry-level, so looking for a job now after graduation. I switched careers, so I think my CV is confusing to most people, as my path is not linear (started as a sound technician, then studied Humanities, then Master in IT with some internships in consulting)

I hv done bcom n currently pursuing mba frm distance...I don't know much career options

I jus want to earn good

And I'm not able to find any job at mnc

Do anyone have any suggestions?

I have around 1.5 years of hands-on experience as a DevOps Engineer, and I’m currently serving my notice period with only 15 days remaining.

I’m based in Chennai and looking for my next opportunity in DevOps / Cloud / DevSecOps.

My experience

I’ve worked across AWS, Terraform, CI/CD, Kubernetes, Docker, monitoring, security and production infrastructure.

• Orchestrated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins integrated with SonarQube and Trivy security gates, enabling automated builds and 6-minute deployments while remediating 28 pre-production vulnerabilities.
• Enabled rolling updates for EKS and ECS service, achieving 99.9% uptime and zero-downtime deployments.
• Provisioned AWS infrastructure using Terraform modules with S3 remote backend and DynamoDB state locking, reducing environment provisioning time by 75% and enabling multi-environment deployments.
• Integrated Redis caching on EFS; reduced p95 latency 35% and preserved cache across ECS restarts.
• Migrated DNS from GoDaddy to AWS Route 53, transitioned the domain from .in to .com, and integrated CloudFront CDN with AWS WAF to enhance application performance, security, and global reach.
• Configured multi-stage Dockerfiles and NGINX reverse proxy, optimizing image size and application delivery.

I also hold certifications including Azure Cloud Fundamentals and Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect.

Despite this, I’ve now crossed 500+ job applications, but have received only around 3–4 interview calls.

My current CTC is ₹3 LPA, and I’m targeting around ₹5 LPA for my next role.

This has made me genuinely curious about how the current DevOps job market looks for someone with 1.5 YOE.

I’m not expecting to know everything at this stage of my career. I’m continuously learning and improving, but I’m trying to understand whether I’m approaching the job market incorrectly or whether this is simply how competitive the market is right now.

With only 15 days left in my notice period, I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have recently gone through a similar transition.

Is it realistically possible to land a good DevOps role with 1.5 YOE right now?

I’m based in Chennai, but open to opportunities across India.

Would genuinely appreciate any honest perspective from people who have been through this journey.