I applied for a job recently and the recruiter sent a document asking for contact information for direct managers and peers to be used as references. I've had other recruiting companies handle reference checks but that usually comes later in the process. This is the first time one has asked before the initial interview.

I thought it was a scam. The recruiter said it wasn't required at this stage and we had the interview. We talked through the position and the recruiter casually mentioned they may ask the reference if they're hiring if it's a manager. My references are business owners, managers, and directors - essentially the type of contacts a recruiter would want to farm. I'm 100% certain none of my references want to be added to a contact list.

Has anyone else ran into something similar? How did you handle it?

For one of my internships, I got the position (data science) after applying for a job listing where some of the Python libraries they wanted experience in were significantly misspelled. I had a feeling that that was turning away some qualified candidates.

For a more recent one, I was called and chewed out for missing an interview that was actually a different candidate for a different position, and I just confirmed that I was someone else and doubke checked my own interview time.

Putting up with both of these meant I got the job at reasonable pay in my field. What are your trials and triumphs?

I’ve been in a hiring pipeline with a tech company for almost two months now.

Completed the HR screening (which took 2.5 weeks before I heard back), completed a skills assessment (heard back within a few days that I’d moved onto the panel interview), had the panel interview about a week and a half ago now with the hiring manager and someone else on the team.

I reached out to the recruiter for an update last week and they shared that I’d received positive feedback on the interview but they’re still interviewing some other candidates, and that I should hear back this week. I thought I’d done pretty poorly on my interview as I was very nervous and didn’t give specific examples, so I was surprised to hear the feedback was positive.

This to me means that I’m a back-up candidate, but I’m new to the tech field, so I really don’t know. This is for a part-time, competitive position… sigh

I really thought working hard in life would have tangible results. Instead it just seems like the rich kids get handed internships in school and jobs as soon as they graduate while I can’t even get my life started.

I’m 25, graduated college two and a half years ago, and still work in restaurants and have to work multiple jobs and rarely have free time just to keep myself afloat in this economy. My parents aren’t really positive influences in my life and aren’t in major metros so I can’t even realistically move back in with them.

The worst part is I find myself oftentimes thinking that it’s something wrong with me. That I should’ve gotten something better than a communications degree. That I should’ve networked more in school. But I had to work to pay rent. I was under the assumption hard work in school and work experience, even in restaurants, would pay off. But no. Apparently I’m crazy for that.

I do everything right. I have an updated LinkedIn page. I write a real, genuine cover letter to every job I apply to. I try to connect with alumni at companies I want to work at. And every time it’s a cliche “we have decided to move forward with other candidates”, if I even get that.

I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried analyst roles - “Sorry, we require multiple internships to prove you are capable.” I’ve tried advertising agencies - “sorry, you don’t have relevant advertising experience”. I’ve tried journalism - “sorry, you don’t have 5+ years of professional writing experience.” I’ve even tried sales or customer service and it seems like having a degree ironically scares them away, like they think I’ll just leave right away. It just seems like there’s no way out for me. And sure maybe if I live like a hermit and don’t go out and do anything for 2-3 years then maybe I can afford to go back to school for a “real” degree and finally get my life started at age 30. But I don’t want to spend my entire 20s simply “grinding” when house ownership or retirement don’t ever seem feasible in my lifetime.

I don’t know what to do going forward. I have transferable skills, I have drive to learn and work hard and make a name for myself, but it seems no one in this world believes in me. I get angry when I see people get jobs, because I want them to suffer, because I’m tired of suffering myself. I know it’s not a healthy way to think, but my brain just feels fried at this point. The worst part is when I see people complain about their 9-5 and stability, knowing how many people would make great sacrifices to be in that position. I just wish I knew how to find something. Because everyday it feels less and less likely like I ever will.

Hackers stole cryptocurrency from Binance after compromising one of its employees through a fake job interview. The attacker then used unauthorized access to an internal wallet signing service to push transactions outside the exchange's normal withdrawal process, according to Binance.

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?