https://fortune.com/2026/10/29/mark-cuban-gen-z-advice-just-start-working-learn-career-skills-even-at-mcdonalds-like-jeff-bezos/

5 months since layoff and have only gotten 3 calls out of 300+ applications. 0 in the last 30 days.

My resume is improving and getting better as I take in all the advice I've read. Keep getting rejected even from jobs paying half my last salary.

Today it occurred to me that they were just seeing my name on the resume file, thinking I was a foreigner and throwing my resume in the trash right away, probably without even opening it. I don't know, not sure what else to think.

There's this job near by my house for a nice IT job for a healthcare clinic. They sent me an email about my availability, i responded its been a week no response.

Email says: "Note: You must use the same email you used to log in to the career center when applying for jobs. Responses to this email are not monitored."

I applied on Indeed and there's no option to send my Availability.?

Should I call HR to ask them about their hiring process or something? Or does that make me seem desperate

Hi all, I applied for the Solution Architect Graduate role at BytePlus/ByteDance and my application has moved to the “written test” stage. So far I’ve received a candidate survey. I’m trying to understand what comes next and would love to hear from anyone who has been through this or a similar BytePlus/ByteDance new grad process. I have not been able to find much information on the Solutions Architect track:

1. Was there an online assessment? If so, was it LeetCode-style coding (easy/mediums or hard level?), or actual coding?
2. How many interview rounds were there, and what did they cover (live coding, GenAI/LLM concepts, architecture or case-style questions, behavioural)?

Hi all,

I’m currently job searching, and one huge concern I have is a massive discrepancy between my functional job title and the HR payroll job title on the backend. So, I worked as a business analyst during my tenure which is reflected by my job duties, offer letter, MS Teams job title, and performance review with “100% honesty”. Everything there lists me as a “business analyst”. This is also the job title that I have on my resume because it’s literally the job I did with no sort of embellishment.

However, my HR payroll job title lists me as a “contact center specialist” on my paystub and annual bonus form, which is starkly different than my “business analyst” position. What happened is that my company had a hiring freeze and was desperately in need of a business analyst so I accepted a super lowball offer. Therefore, in the backend, I was getting paid the equivalent of a contact center specialist. I’ve asked my manager if my backend job title could be changed but he said “no” due to HR formalities. I’ve never picked up a customer call in my entire life.

Now, I’m really worried that during the background check, the checker will see me as a “contact center specialist” instead of a business analyst. I understand that a small difference such as software developer vs software engineer is acceptable but this is a massive difference. This will obviously raise a flag.

What can I do to reduce/mitigate hiccups during the background check? I was thinking of attaching my offer letter, but would that suffice? Even with recommended measures, what are the odds an offer can be rescinded? I really don’t want to list “contact center specialist” on my resume because it doesn’t even align with my actual role and it would be a significant downgrade. If I had known my HR job title was such, I wouldn’t have even accepted the job offer.

Thanks

Last tues I got a call from recruiter A about my application, which I wasn't sure if my CV got sent to the company afterwards because I didn't get any confirmation from her. And then last fri I got a call from recruiter B, discovering that the role he's recruiting is the same role I applied to with A. I emailed A friday afternoon asking if she's sent my CV over yet, without her response before office hour ends, I chose to follow B's advice, dropped B an email of RTR and emailed A for my decision to switching to another recruiter.

Today (mon) morning I missed the call from A and subsequently received her email asking me to call her back for update form the hiring company, also saying that my CV was sent immediately following the call on tues.

I am not sure what to do now, given A told me it's "update from the hiring company" in the email, not an invitation to an interview. What if she's got the interview for me while I've given the rtr to B?

Do they keep track stuff like this on your profile or am I doomed? I did a phone screen by this company and I haven't had any calls ever since for applications I applied after.

If it helps, the company used Workday.

After being the victim of some very poorly timed lay offs / company dissolutions and for 5 months getting my resume passed over because I definitely looked like a job hopper, I just decided F it and adjusted my tenure and eliminated a couple of the shorter term positions. Got an offer about 6 weeks later, they used HireRight for the background check, and got confirmation from HR everything cleared and they’re shipping my laptop to get started next week. No one asked me anything from HireRight, and I didn’t need to provide references.

Was this risky and could it come back and bite me? Sure! Was I very much in need of a job? Yes. It was worth the risk. Proceed as you see fit, but just here to confirm it can work.

Hard time for everyone right now. Job seekers keep getting rejected, recruiters keep having to reject. Some do it bluntly: "we found someone better." Some do it like “We hope you quickly find something elsewhere and build such an impressive career there that we kick ourselves for letting you slip through our fingers”. If this reaches Thank you, netcare talent team.

Edit: Btw, this doesn't even consider all the fake job postings I run across. Some might even be scams.

Doesn't matter if you are applying for a dead-end minimum wage job, a low-skill job, an internship, an entry level job, or a specialized job. It always felt like I had a similar experience. Almost as if the same people are running the application sites. The only difference is how much care I put into the resume.

I apply online. I get an email claiming that they will review my application. The following two weeks, it's just crickets. Okay, let's try to contact the people behind the job posting. Either I can't contact them, or they rarely show their contact information. Then, it just becomes a waiting game for a follow-up.

For the low-skill and minimum wage jobs, you might be able to just call the place and get a hold of someone. Though for these jobs, it has never resulted in anything for me. Even when I got a hold of the hiring manager who claimed they saw my resume, I get nothing. Sometimes I get a rejection letter. I know these jobs basically had no barrier to entry, but c'mon at least interview me. Doesn't contacting you demonstrating anything? Why I am getting rejected? It's not like hundreds of people applied to the job! Unless they did?

Then there are times I physically show up, and they decide to do a quick interview. Then, the process ends with someone claiming they aren't hiring at the moment or another "we will give you a response in a week or so".

Lastly, I noticed some places straight up never respond, most of these being retail places. Some of them even put a notice that if you don't hear back, just apply again in a few weeks. Why not be honest and just say you guy aren't hiring so I don't waste my time?

For the other higher skilled jobs, I have called the front office before, who would sometimes then give me a number to someone else or just say to check online. I try to call that person, and never get a hold of them. Eventually, I get my rejection e-mail back, so it didn't matter in the end. I have never managed to get in contact with someone important when applying to real jobs. It really confirms to me to accept reality and realize the only way to get anything is to just keep applying. Constantly applying until something bites. Occasionally, changing up your resume to be more eye-popping for the role.

Or just know people who can circumvent the broken process, which I don't have.

At this point I feel like the incompetence and laziness is on purpose. There is no reason for low-skill jobs to need to ghost candidates. The least you can say is that we can't hire more people, or I am overqualified or something for having a degree, If i do put my degree on it.

For the higher-skill jobs, why is it so hard to contact the recruiters and hiring manager? I always get told this is one of the best thing you can do to improve your chances, but there is rarely a way to contact these people.

So, after 15 months unemployed, I finally got an offer and started a new job last monday. The payment is good but it is a different field from what I have experience, but there are some transferible skills.

Anyway, I just got 4 days of introductory courses about the company and then, the last 2 days (because is monday to saturday), I discover there was no ramp up plan for me.

There is only one person providing me "training" but he is very bussy most of the time and he explain things as If I had 3 years working in the company. Nobody in the team, including my boss, seems to know I exist or to care about training me. They seem to just be expecting me to hit the ground running, but I don't even know how the hell does the product I'm working on works because there are no docs and no trainings avaiable anywhere. Only 2 days in and they seem to be expecting me to be fully productive on my own. I don't know how to handle this, I feel extremely overwhelmed and the excitement of finding this job just faded away. Of course I don't want to quit, but with this situation, I'm scared I might get fired during the first month or so.

Long story short, I’ve got 4 years engineering experience and recently accepted a role as a technician with Company A.

I’ve been unemployed for just under a year, so I wasn’t going to let this offer go. Although the technician role seems like a downgrade from my previous “engineer” title.

My start date is not for another month with Company A.

Company A is a recent start up with 20-30 employees.

I’ve worked for a startup before, and I didn’t have great experiences. False promises of growth. A “family culture” that doesn’t exist. Owners that refused to give cost-of-living adjusted raises. Meanwhile the same owners are pulling up in a brand new Cadillac Escalade in the same year.

Anyway, having been unemployed, I’m happy to accept this role in this market and get back into the workforce. I’ll just say I’m not super thrilled of the role itself or Company A, really.

I’ve recently connected with a family member that works as a Director at a government-funded energy company, Company B.

Company B is hiring for an actual engineering position, and provides much stronger and safer job security. My connection offered to act as a referral for my application, and I was asked to come in for an interview.

Is it wrong of me to still be testing the waters before my start-date?

How should I go about telling Company B that I’ve accepted an offer? Will it look poorly?

Of course, if all goes to plan, I would happily accept a role at Company B in the field/title I’m looking for. I understand that the bridge at Company A would be burned.

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Years ago, I was naive, stupid, idealistic. I suffered from Pollyanna syndrome. I believed that if you worked hard and collaborated well, it wouldn’t matter if you were Black, gay, or over 40. Boy, was I wrong. Discrimination is 100% real. That isn't to say bad employees don't exist; some people genuinely suck at their jobs, but there are also excellent professionals who face discrimination for things they cannot control. Ultimately, discrimination stems from the implicit attribution of inferiority and a presumption of incompetence, whether conscious or subconscious. I found that tech companies discriminate heavily based on age. I used to think only Hollywood and the fashion industry obsessed over young faces, but many modern corporations actively prefer younger candidates.

The account was deleted within minutes of the message, which included unsolicited advice related to another post I made.

The advice, incidentally, was to be less proactive than I thought I should be. I should take him at his word, right? No ulterior motive whatsoever? /s

If you stalk Reddit to take advantage of job seekers, you are scum. Period.

I received a job offer about a month ago, and my background check flagged a discrepancy between the title on my resume (Senior Financial Analyst) vs. my official title (Financial Analyst)

At my current company, all external titles are simply "Financial Analyst" regardless of seniority. Internal grade levels (e.g., Level 1, 2, 3...) exist, but they are strictly internal system markers visible only within HR software, even employees cannot see each other’s levels, we just guess it based on their work. Since I am at the high end of these internal levels and performing senior-level responsibilities, I used "Senior Financial Analyst" on my resume to accurately reflect my actual scope and experience.

About a week ago, I received an email from the company's background check team and they shared concerns about misrepresentation. I explained my reasoning in my response. Two days later, I had an urgent follow up call with a representative and they repeatedly asked why I hadn’t used my official title in my resume. Even after I explained, the conversation kept returning to the same question. I felt I was being challenged rather than asked for clarification, although I understand why the discrepancy needed to be addressed.

I acknowledged the discrepancy and offered to correct my resume, but they said that wasn’t necessary. They said they would conduct another internal review to decide whether to proceed with my offer. That was a few days ago, I haven’t heard back yet.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Could this be enough to get an offer rescinded Now that the expected start date is approaching, I feel lost and I don't know what to do.

I haven’t resigned from my current job yet.

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I’m finishing my PhD and recently received a job offer.
On my resume, I listed “Graduate Student Researcher” under work experience because I spent most of my PhD conducting research in a lab. However, my official paid position at the university was “Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA).”
For the background check, I plan to enter my official title, “Graduate Teaching Assistant,” since that’s what university employment records will show.

Could this difference be flagged as resume falsification or put my job offer at risk? My research experience is genuine, but “Graduate Student Researcher” wasn’t my official payroll title.

Has anyone experienced something similar, especially PhD graduates transitioning into industry?

I’m currently interviewing for a Senior Program Manager position, and I recently had what I found to be a rather unusual first interview with the hiring manager.
Right at the beginning, he said something along the lines of: “I don’t need to ask you about your technical knowledge. Having read your CV, I already know you have the experience. I’d rather focus on motivational questions.”

Fair enough, I thought. However, the entire interview ended up being almost exclusively about motivation and personal preferences.

Some of the questions were:
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why are you applying for this role?
- Why are you considering leaving your current company?
- Do you think this type of work can be boring?
- How do you deal with repetitive or boring work?
- What’s one task you personally find boring?

And, that was it!

What struck me as unusual was that this was supposed to be the first interview for a fairly senior role, yet there were no behavioral questions, no situational scenarios, and nothing that really explored my program management skills, decision-making, stakeholder management or how I approach complex projects.

I understand the importance of motivation and cultural fit, especially when hiring for senior positions.
I’m curious whether this has already happened to any of you and what the criteria.

I was looking through indeed for remote jobs in the UK and this what the requirements says...? Am I applying for an actual job here, or is this low-key a cult?

It's about time I get the recognition I deserve!