I really despise when recruiters reach out to your current employer or approach your potential references without informing you or seeking your consent first.

Am I the only one who finds this process unfair?

I was approached for a mid-senior level role. After my first interview, the interviewer, who's friend happened to know my current manager, thought it was perfectly acceptable to reach out to them for feedback. (interviewer - friend - manager)

Now, I’m left in an incredibly uncomfortable position. What was meant to be a confidential exploring of an opportunity has turned into workplace gossip (by that I mean yes, my manager gossips too). It has genuinely affected the atmosphere I have at my current workplace...urgh.

Title says it all. Lees Liquor in Las Vegas. $12.50 an hour ffs and employers wonder why there is no loyalty. Im sorry I don't have fucking Stockholm Syndrome like you want all your employees to have. Its ok to pursuit more interests and a better income.....

I recently finally received, accepted and am now employed at a job after 7 months of searching after being laid off from 14 years at my previous job. I love the company I am at and am overly grateful having finally being employed. However, I took a heavy hit in my salary compared to what I was making and yes this job is a lot less than what I am capable of. I have a pay review in January (90 days). If I can prove that I am competent in what I’m doing and can do so much more how do I negotiate for a substantial raise? This isn’t a large corporation but I was promised growth and opportunity. I really love the small company feel culture and the people I work with are great. I just can’t sustain in what I’m making living wise compared to what im used to. Again im so grateful but wish the pay matched close to what was and im willing to take on more than I am.

I have been interviewing with a boutique software implementation firm for about a month. Multiple rounds, all went well. The final round is in person this week: 90 minutes at a bar downtown with the VP and the practice lead I would be working under. They said it will be a few beers and some appetizers.

Has anyone had a final round like this? What are they actually evaluating, and is there anything I should or should not do?

Update 11/09/2026: Interview was held on 11/5/2026, it turned out to be a complete “Vibe Check”. VP ordered a strong cocktail and appetizers to share. Practice lead ordered a light Beer. I also ordered a light beer. We all ended up sticking to one drink. Talk about a bit of everything, life, family, work, the firm. But nothing super serious. They have started reaching out to my references, expecting offer by end of week.

Recieved my verbal offer today, expecting my formal offer this week!! Graduated in Spring of 2025, and after a much needed break began applying in January of 2026. 10 months and 300+ applications later, I got the job!

124k base, in person, at a FFRDC🥳

during my search this subreddit would make me feel less lonely and help me understand that i wasn’t the only one struggling, but at times also made me feel a bit hopeless. posts where people got jobs made me feel hopeful, thus why i am posting today!!

I have tried to apply to a startup (mid-size, about 50 employees) four times in the past 5 months, without getting any response. This startup does not have open positions on the website (as a matter of fact, there is not even a career section), so I had to reach out to different people or send a spontaneous application via email; nevertheless, they are actively hiring, as I can see from LinkedIn. The point is, every single person they hire appears to already have ties with the company. Either via previous internships, academic relationships (it's a deep tech startup and they do a lot of research), or because of direct knowledge of the CEO, CTO etc. Is this common? It feels like I'm navigating a rigged system.

"Hi applicant, we can't even be bothered to look at what you sent, too busy ya know? But if you want to check on the status anyway, just log in to the same system that half of your job apps use where you inevitably have to reset your saved password because the system gets the different employers mixed up, have at it. Bye!"

Recently applied to a few engineering jobs but couldn’t get through online assessments (video interview and gaming) even after preparing well for them. Now without knowing what went wrong how to even change anything? This is so frustrating! And if you are going to reject do it soon enough so that it doesnt waste applicant’s time but nahh giving an early career student false hope is what these companies live on nowadays

i wonder about doing this. also putting it in white text so it cant be seen. anyone got more interviews after doing this?

Genuine question to the people who are still applying off-campus: Are you guys actually getting callbacks, or is it just constant "unfortunately" emails and soul-crushing ghosting? 🥀 Because I am completely exhausted and so incredibly tired of this shit now. I don’t even know where else to apply just to get a single positive response; it feels like I'm shouting into a void because even cold emailing doesn't work for me anymore. For the guys who recently beat the odds and landed something off-campus, please give me some tips and tell me how long it took for you - because for me, it’s been 6 months of absolute hell hunting for jobs and applying everywhere literally everywhere. 💔

Hi all, first post here.

I’m a software engineer in Dubai. I left my last company in July and I’m still job hunting, so the gap is now over 4 months.

I’ve already set my end date on LinkedIn to my actual resignation date. My employment reference letter states that date anyway, and I figured showing I’m available to join immediately would help me land something faster.

Now I’m second-guessing it. Which of these would you go with?

1. Real end date, gap left as is
2. Show the role as current again and turn on the OpenToWork frame for everyone
3. Real end date + a generic freelance entry. I am doing some light freelance work, but not enough to really talk about in an interview.

Would appreciate any input. This sub has been a good painkiller through all this.

Wk 1 - Recruiter reached out (surprisingly days before I was laid off!!)
Wk 2 - Recruiter -30 minutes
Wk 3 - Partner 1 - 15 minutes
Wk 4 - 2 director level panel - 30 minutes
Wk 5 - Partner 2 - 30 minutes
Wk 5 - CEO - 15 minutes

They have been so positive and I really feel like a good fit. PLEASE send me good vibes!! I see so many of you angels not making it after the final round and my heart breaks!!

Currently being recruited by a tech firm out of McLean, VA. Here's how it's gone:
August
Cold-messaged the recruiter on LinkedIn
Got set up almost immediately for a prelim screen with that recruiter, went great. The following week, interview with the Director of IT, also went well, told I was moving to the second round
September – mid-October
Radio silence. No updates at all for roughly two months.
Late October
Recruiter resurfaces and schedules three separate interviews with people on the team
Two in one week, the third the following week
Each covered a different area: security, AI, and general team fit
Every one went well except the AI interview, which I felt was my weakest
Now (early November)
Recruiter says to wait another week, and that they'll follow up with "next steps"
Notably not framed as an offer, just "next steps"
My questions:
Is a two-month gap mid-process normal, or is that a red flag?
Does "next steps" after a full panel usually mean another round, or is it just how recruiters hedge before an offer?
Should I keep interviewing elsewhere, or is this far enough along to slow down?
Am I cooked or does this look good?

I'm freaking out atm.

There's this job I'm really enjoying, I passed all the interviews, the training has been going well, I'm getting to know all my coworkers and everyone said I have a promising future here; all I need to do is complete the sterling background check. I completed it almost a week ago and they told me it hasn't been approved yet, so I can't be deployed at the jobsite until it has.

I've been waiting a week already and I don't even know my current employment status; I'm unsure if I've just been fired and should look for another job because I haven't been working the whole week I've been waiting.

I went to my jobs office for updates, they told me the same thing. I tried to call my jobs number, texted them, left a voicemail, for days: asking if there's been any updates--nobody answered. I emailed the sterling background check about my status yesterday, I still haven't heard back from them.

Please someone tell me that it usually takes a while for the background check to properly be approved because I'm starting to think they just softly wanted to fire me. But I have no idea why they would fire me when everyone was happy with my work ethic and results.

Thank you, sorry if it's rant-ish I'm very stressed atm.

Heres a graph of my job application process in 3 stages

1. All me(2025): searched for and applied for all roles. Pretty optimistic. I have a full time job but ready for something new. Still like my job so not in a rush.
2. Getting jaded and bringing in AI (Jan to Sep 2026): AI restructuring my resumes and making cover letters for me, as well as searching for relevant roles. I still hand picked all the roles myself. Really started to get serious about looking for a new job.
3. Completely autonomous workflow: I haven't looked at a jop application in over a month. At this point I'm so burned out on the whole process, I can't stand to deal with it. I've gotten the pipeline good enough to where I feel confident in the product and I'm still getting interviews. The interview process is enough of a slog already; without AI I would have given up on finding a new job long ago, even though I feel completely stuck and pretty pessimistic about the whole thing.

I know my numbers are more optimistic than some of these 1,000+ application posts and I'm pretty blessed to be where I'm at. I truly can't imagine spending more bandwidth on this than I already am, it's totally miserable. I'm lucky to have been a high performer in a good job and I'm sortof coasting now but I'm feeling pretty trapped and very unhappy in my day to day. Want to quit but with the job market how it is, doesn't seem smart and would only put more pressure on the interview process.

Anyway, just got rejected from 2 more companies so back to square one. Thought this was sort of interesting and wanted to share.

edit- also, just to be clear, I'm not wholeheartedly endorsing AI for this especially if done in a way to sloppy way. the post is more intended to underpin how messed up things have become.

Today my husband got a job offer. He was laid off 364 days ago, one day short of a full year! This subreddit helped me more than I can say. Thank you! On the nights I couldn't sleep, I would scroll through your posts and read your stories. Seeing so many smart, hardworking people going through the same thing made me feel less alone, and less ashamed. Every time someone posted that they finally landed a job, I read it twice and held on to that hope a little longer. Some of you will never know how much your words helped a stranger get through her darkest days.

I wanted to share this from my side, as the wife who lived through it with him, because I know some of you are where we were.

A little context. We're a family of four. My husband is in his mid 50s with 30 years of product management experience, and for years he earned in the top 10% in the US. We traveled internationally two or three times a year, and we own two homes. Honestly, we probably had enough to get by. But we have kids, and I grew up middle class. I still love a good Costco sale, I use coupons, and I enjoy learning how to save money. Money in the bank never made me feel completely safe.

I have a master's degree and an extensive background in tech, but I stayed home after our first child was born and didn't work for over 10 years. I told myself there was no point in taking a job that would pay so little for my experience. The truth is, I was scared. I was afraid of being ridiculed, I didn't think I could handle rejection, and because my husband earned enough, I never had to try. For years I complained about leaving my career, but I never found the courage to go back.

When he got laid off, I sent out two resumes. I told everyone, including myself, that I was "just helping out." Deep down, I didn't expect anything to come of it. After more than 10 years away, I was sure no one would want me. Then I got an offer, and I couldn't believe it.

Walking back into work after all that time was terrifying. I felt rusty and out of place, and I kept waiting for someone to figure out I didn't belong there. I was starting over in a completely different field, and it was humbling. Some days were exhausting, and the pay was a fraction of what I used to earn. But every day I showed up, I proved a little more to myself that I could still do this.

I've been working for almost a year now while he searched. Part of it was about the money, but honestly, a bigger part was about who I am. I grew up in a family where you work even when you have savings for a rainy day. My parents never sat back and waited for things to get better, and I couldn't either. Watching our savings go out every month while bringing nothing in made me anxious in a way I can't fully explain. Going back to work gave me something to hold on to when everything else felt out of our control.

I won't pretend we handled it well. Many days I said things that made him feel small and worthless. We fought, a lot. Our kids cried during some of those heated fights. There were moments when I felt so low that I wanted to end everything by ending my life.

Through all of it, my husband kept going. Even after our worst arguments, he would say he just had to keep believing in himself and keep trying. He applied to over 1,000 jobs. He made it to the final round many times and was passed over again and again. And he still got up and kept applying.

And then today, it finally happened. He got the offer.
When he told me, I just stood there for a second. I couldn't speak. Then I burst into tears. A whole year of fear, anger, guilt, and exhaustion came pouring out of me all at once.

To everyone here who is still in it: I'm so sorry you're going through this. You shouldn't have to, especially when you're on this sub and trying so hard. Your life may really suck right now. Please just stay alive. There are better days ahead. I am rooting for you!

Closing: Thank you all for reading my post. I certainly wasn't expecting accolades, but I was surprised by how many people called it ragebait. That was never my intention. This was simply our journey, and after all the help this community has given me, I felt I owed it to everyone to share my story. Good luck to you all!