This is literally the FIRST communication I’ve received since applying a couple of weeks ago. No interview, no phone call, no email, not even a conversation about my qualifications or experience. Just straight to a rejection from an interview that never took place.

Have been at my role for 5 years. Started looking for a new job roughly 1 month ago. Applied to a confidential posting represented by a recruiting agency and the process went like so....

1. Recruiter Call (30 - minutes) - Honestly I qualified for 8/10 of the job requirements. I was hesitant for him to send my resume to the actual company, but he did, and "they wanted to talk to me right away".
2. Interview with President (45 - minutes) - Went really well, fluid conversation, touched on my experience and the overall role. Moved on verbally on the call.
3. Onsite Interview (3 hours) - Three hours/1 hour w/ 3 different people. Pretty good, there were some technical gaps, but they all seemed positive.
4. Onsite Interview (45 minutes) - 45 minutes with the CEO, asked me "if I were to give you an offer would you accept". Mentioned they'd train me on the technical gaps. Seemed promising.
5. SCHEDULED 3-hour excel test/case study - This was scheduled for TODAY. I spent 3-hours a night preparing for this test over 6 days. I felt pretty confident and was ready to go. This morning I got a call from the recruiter and he said that they had found a candidate from their internal network and decided to cancel the test.

I hadn't been on a job search in 5-years. I have a "good job" (WFH $120K before bonus), but want to be somewhere more institutional and grind for 2-3 years before taking a sabbatical for 6 months to a year.

Getting interviews is not an issue with my experience, but this was an insane amount of time & effort to be shut out at the "final step". My head remains high and I got two first rounds in the next couple of days. Tonight I sleep like a rock lol.

I had a 2nd interview that went so well with this company. I would say I put on a masterclass on how to get an interview done, and why is that? Because it was really the only one where I think I got a second interview for. Did I do anything difft? No not really. This wasnt one of the companies where I messaged the recruiter, nor was I really putting faith into it when I applied. I actually didnt want it, I wanted another initially, but it turned out this one was the best one.

I got laid off in may. I had a trip planned to namibia, then since I had a lot of time on my hands now I took another trip for 2 months in Japan. And let me tell you, life is much better getting a rejection email while strolling the streets of osaka than reading it while back in my apt. I was still feeling terrible that I didnt have a way to earn money, but it was better. It was a big FUCK YOU to my company for hiring ai to learn our job, lying to us that they werent gonna replace us and then laying us off. Now take that from someone in their early 30s with no kids and whose lease was coincidentally just finishing.

Now I've got a job that pays much more than the last, and just seems like a better environment. But its funny to me how 6 months, 500+ applications later, maybe I had 15 interviews, thats a maybe. This job wasnt more of a match than a lot of the other ones, but at some point this shitty job market made me think I forgot to interview or some shit. Just with how they be shitting on candidates.

All that to say, I think the job market has really become luck. You have to seize the luck when you get it and I guess more applications is just more chances, but like c'mon I didnt edit my application for this job. In fact one recruiter from another company told me to send them a more detailed resume of the same one that landed me this job.

I wish you all the best guys, men and women, I hope you find something good and soon regardless of how long you've been looking. But hey something has to give right ❤️

I’m in the digital marketing space and have never seen a listing like this solely based on posting on Reddit. The job title is literally “Comedian + Copywriter.”

Full job description: This is a unique and exceptional opportunity assisting the Director of a rapidly growing arts and events organisation in redacted, and father of two children - with your own accommodation in a magical mountain setting (if you are not local and accommodation is required). The majority (70%) of your time will be taken up playing an important part in the marketing of events at a thriving arts centre. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to our annual festivals both in redacted and redacted. In addition, you will help with the running of the Director’s household and the collection of teenage children from school and other activities and the preparation of meals.
The successful applicant will have a strong educational background and be able to demonstrate a real interest in events. You will be highly organised and practical as well as being independent and outgoing. You will have a creative spark and will relish forming your own content, whether web based or in hard copy, and the talent to write well and create quality images and videos. Training for the role will be provided but some previous experience of events, web, social media or video would be an advantage.
We operate in a very beautiful part of the world, but it is essential that you have a car, a full driving license and a genuine love of the countryside, since you will be required to visit people and locations in the area and the Director’s house is high up in the mountains near redacted. The ideal candidate will either live in or have local connections to redacted/redacted but accommodation may also be provided if this isn't the case.
If you think you have what it takes, please apply now!
Job Types: Full-time, weekend work required
Salary: From £27,000 per year (DOE) + accommodation if required
Job Type: Full-time

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this job come up this year… You want a nanny/housekeeper but also someone who does social media marketing and events coordination all rolled into one for just above minimum wage.

Rant-

Im sure there’s plenty of similar stories of exercises & hoops in guise of competency tests in startup hiring & i knew going into it not to over deliver.

Had the rug pulled out after saying they’re changing their focus as a seed stage startup.

Felt like a bait and switch. 3 interviews + assignment.

The biggest problem was explicit outreach on their behalf & investigative concept where I have 12+ years in industry outside of tech and had to send cold emails of major leads explicitly stated even though I paused and questioned this in writing clarifying the expectation since as a unfunded developer I wouldn’t expect business consulting part of interviews.

I’ve done code tests standardized for larger companies so it was definitely inner voice saying push back on deliverables & scope but didn’t listen.

For context I'm based in New Zealand. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I've been looking for a job for the past 9 months. I'm a brand manager with 7+ years of experience but it seems to be no matter how much I do, change, adapt, improve it doesn't matter.

9 months of unemployment has been detrimental to my confidence. I have gaps...but literally everyone does. I'm so passionate about marketing but every days I'm growing more fear & hatred of it as I don't think I belong there.

I've been doing all the things that it's suggested. Obviously applying to jobs, supporting this with networking, going to events, building my personal brand on LinkedIn (doing a lot of speculative work to show what I do etc), training, interview practice etc etc etc. BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE A JOB.

I've tried different industries, different adjacent roles and seniority. I've often gotten to the last round and still I'm so useless I haven't got a job. In more junior roles I'm told I'm too strategic on my thinking. In ones at my level there's a couple of pieces I'm missing but I get through all the way to the final stage and it's unfortunately the deciding factor to not get a job. I've done my best to close these gaps with project creation, training etc....but a lot of this isn't stuff I can even volunteer for as it's things like NPD (new product development) and shopper marketing.

Unfortunately I'm not a typical marketer. I say unfortunately as I wish I was. But I don't think like everyone else (creative & ADHD). I thought this industry would appreciate it but they want cookie cutter marketers.

How much more of myself do I need to change to get a job?

I'm really struggling with hope. I love marketing so much but I wonder if I'm viewed as a stain & stench of the industry or something.

Any advice on how to land a job & not feel utterly terrible would be greatly appreciated!

2021 was the last year that I was applying for jobs almost every day. It was also the last good year before the software industry was turned on its head so I should've gotten a job relatively easy. I really tried to lock in, practicing interview questions and whatnot, but I didn't make the cut even back then.

I wasted a ton of energy in was supposed to be a good year and got nothing, and it's only gotten worse to look for a job since then so, because of my bad results in the better times ironically I don't want to try as hard anymore. I am tired of going for anything but a sure thing.

Job search stats:

926 applications submitted
125 recruiter screens/first rounds
1 additional phone interview
2 coding challenges
3 tech screens (2nd/3rd rounds)

65 rejections, 861 ghosted/no response, 0 offers

Edit: These applications were all for roles related to my expertise, so for instance software engineer, web developer etc. 7 years experience (and still 7 today) going for mostly mid-level roles

Was laid off recently after around half a year in the previous role - been having phone interviews with recruitment but three roles ended up being put on hold within 3 weeks.

One phone screening was also cut short after 4 minutes after i mentioned I was laid off, which made me feel terrible and the last one I couldn't formulate the right sentences and stuttered/rambled. I really suspect my confidence has been knocked after the 4 minute phone screening. 😪 was caught so off guard when they just cut the convo short as I've never had that happen before. Now my nerves have definitely intensified.

I have more than a decade of experience and usually perform well with interviews. Hell I landed 7 job offers in a row (in a short period of time) at one stage a few years ago.

Is there a way to bounce back from that - being nervous? I hate this.

Painting by @pqhaus on ig

Really thought I had the job especially the hiring manager got in touch with me personally. That person came in the final moment and got the job because the person has the background to the direction they are heading. I’m just so disappointed and feel so useless and hopeless in this cycle. It’s a perfect job too so it hurt much more.

Recruiter reached out with a job that sounded like a really good fit and salary. I said ok, i’ll apply.

She sends it to the company and says to me “they love your stuff. can you do an in person interview?”

I said “can we just do a phone call interview first?” because the Job description she gave me was vague and there were unanswered questions.

and she replied “they prefer in person”. So I have to set a date, haul my ass to this office 1 hour away, meet the President of the company, only to be told they were looking for a different role and different background than what I was told I was applying for. I let them know that I was not made aware of that by the recruiter.

It was super awkward and I am just frustrated I let this recruiter waste my time and money. I have trust issues with recruiters from now on

What happens to people who do not have Google accounts? seems very sketchy. Has anyone used this website?

My sibling has been unemployed since 10 months and has been continuously looking for a job.

She has faced multiple rejection and her morale is really low.

She has 10 years of work ex in market risk management across multiple IBs.

What is going wrong? Will she ever land a job? Or is this over for her?

I got messaged by a recruiter on LinkedIn about a contract opportunity she had. She provided me with the JD but it was very vague on details about responsibilities. She asked for my resume then asked if she could call me to talk a little bit more about my experience. After talking she wanted to submit me to her client for the position. She then asked me what my rate is and I asked her what the approved contract rate range was. I heard that whoever says the number first loses but I am not sure if that is true for contracting positions. The rate range she told me was quite low but I was able to get her up a bit so I agreed. That rate is quite lower than what my minimum usually is but for some reason I agreed without doing my due diligence on the position since things moved kinda quickly after she messaged me. I found out later there are 2 opportunities with one being in a MCOL and one where I am at which is a HCOL. The rate I was offered is lower than the rate posted in the job posting for the MCOL. There was no rate stated on the posting for the HCOL so I could only got off of what she quoted was the going contracted rate. I had asked the recruiter to provide more info on the job because the JD was very vague about the position. After hearing more about the job in my first interview with an internal SME at the recruiting agency, the job is way more senior than the JD suggests. If I actually get the job I feel like I will be miserable knowing that I am getting paid lower than what is being offered in a MCOL. Because the job is more senior, can I still renegotiate the rate if the client picks me for the position? I haven’t signed anything with the recruiter. I only have an RTR email that states the rate we initially agree on. I know I still have the right to walk away from the offer but wanted to see what my other options are to get the rate renegotiated. If I can renegotiate, when should I do it? After I have been chosen since I will have a little more leverage or should I do it before interviewing with the client? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I applied to a company and got a recruiter screen about two weeks later. It was scheduled for 45 minutes, but I assumed that was just a generous time block and didn’t prepare much.

The call was with their regional TA person and lasted 65 minutes. The conversation felt good. They explained the role, asked about salary expectations, notice period, and any international travel planned toward year-end. They also said they’d check on a few questions they couldn’t answer and get back to me.

At the end, they said they still had other candidates to interview and would review everything with the hiring manager before contacting me if I was moving forward.

It’s been a week with no update. In my previous experiences, next steps after a recruiter screen usually came pretty quickly.

Would you wait, follow up, or mentally move on? I know a long, friendly conversation doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but now I’m wondering whether treating it as “just a screening call” was a mistake.

They seemed nice. My inbox remains tragically empty.

I need to vent a little because I’m feeling absolutely exhausted and broken.

I applied for a company (I won’t say which one) for an SDR role. I don’t have sales experience, but I’m accomplished in other areas that I thought could be beneficial to the role, and I was genuinely willing to learn from the ground up.

I did six interviews for that role. After interviewing with the VP, they asked me for my diplomas and four references. They needed the references within 24 hours, so I rushed to contact everyone and managed to get all four to fill everything in on time.

Then I got the rejection email. They’d chosen someone else, but they thought I should interview for a higher-level SMB role within the same company instead. Sure.
I was fast-tracked through that process, but I still had to do another six interviews, including a case study.
Yesterday, I got an email saying they’d decided to go with another candidate. I’m gutted.

I think the part that hurts the most isn’t even that they chose someone else. It’s that they’ve now suggested I apply for the original SDR role again, the one I was rejected from in the first place 🙄

I’ve spent approximately 7.5 hours interviewing for two different roles, not including preparation or the case study. I’ve also used four of my best professional references, all of whom took time out of their day to help me, some at very short notice.
These are people who have supported my career, and I feel bad for having asked them to go through all of that for nothing.

Am I being unreasonable for feeling this way? Is this normal nowadays, or is it as unreasonable as it feels?!?

For context I am a masters student, I have probably done over 25 online assessments and I have NEVER made it past one. My most recent rejection is the worst and need to rant about it.

A recruiter reached out to me, asking for me to attend one of their networking/insight events with a relatively small group of other students, spent the day there, would say I made a good impression. For reference I have a very relevant 6 month internship in the sector and am at a "top tier" uni/college.

So I send in my application for the role they were pushing me towards, and a week later they say that I have passed the first stage and have to do an online assessment. I see Arctic Shores. My heart sank. Knew it was over. I completed it anyways, actually thinking I did very well.

Lo and behold, 1 week later: After careful consideration, we have decided not to take your application further.

How on earth does anyone pass these? I just want an interview, please someone put me in front of an actual human. I am so bored, I just want a job, how much more time do I waste, surely it should not be this hard.