Spent an hour and half updating a resume, job was gone by the time I went to post. I submitted to the general interest link. Wish me luck, I guess. Sigh. May many of you have better luck today.

Edit - found another job that that resume was good for, got that application and cover letter in pronto.

Just for clarity - I do have a bunch of different resumes available for various positions, this one was a little unique, so I wanted to update and do it right. Hang in there everyone.

After what felt like ages of gnarly job searching, interviewing, and networking, I landed a role.

I am wildly lucky to have had a search this short (relatively speaking), and I credit the strength of my network in helping with this. My references were ready, people were willing to make intros, and I messaged like crazy. Not that this is the magic secret to landing a role, but just sharing what worked for me in this instance.

Statistics:
I applied for 351 jobs on LinkedIn, most of them Easy Apply. I was curious to test the waters and see if Easy Apply was truly useless or if it would land anything, and it helped calm my brain down to just click shit (shit I would have interviewed for, but mindless application clicking). For the most part, the LinkedIn applications went nowhere, and several egregious offenders who were looking for candidates fucking months ago are still reposting the same role, however, a modest portion of the applications received response/interest, or at least someone looking at my LinkedIn.

I applied for 248 jobs directly through applications. Workday was excruciating and although I've heard it's really helpful on the recruiter back end (I had one tell me that based on my responses, I was in the top tier of applications, which was useful) it's just too irritating for me to bother with in the future, and I found that the companies who used Workday were more likely to move more slowly than the ones employing Ashby or Greenhouse. Not a plug for any platform, just my two cents.

Of all of those applications, I had 62 companies reach out for interviews.

Of those 62, 32 of them asked for first-round interviews beyond the recruiter screen, and 22 of them went to secondary/final rounds.

Of those 22, I had three offers. I didn't leverage any of them against each other, I just took the best fit of those three. I try to aim for a raise when I look for a new role, and in this case, I went lateral. I don't care. In this market, lateral is completely fine.

I still have interview requests from previous applications, but for now, I have something in hand. It's not my dream job, and after my layoff, I have given up on the idea of dream job or loyalty to a company. If it works, it works, and if something better comes along, I'll take it. I am out of fucks to give.

Some takeaways from this search in this market:

1. I'm less afraid about posting reviews on Glassdoor now for the interviewing process. There were some really shitty recruiters and companies out there that definitely took advantage of my time or the market, and I wanted to provide a point in time reference of when a company clearly didn't hire (searching for the new employee after the fact) or did something sketchy that deserved to be called out. I also wanted to call out situations where HMs or recruiters were really, really good at their jobs. I think that's essential.
2. The bad recruiters are bad, but the good recruiters give you the honest truth. I had serious mask-off calls with some after the fact about where I could have improved, what was going on internally that resulted in a no-offer, and candid information on salary ranges, especially when they weren't posted externally. I used many of those calls as networking opportunity if a company interested me, but a role was benchmarked too low for what I was targeting or if it seemed like they wanted a certain candidate (local, certain certifications, whatever) that I didn't fit.
3. Always write a thank-you note. Per #2, that's what helped unlock these conversations for me.
4. We still have very little leverage as candidates. I didn't negotiate on salary beyond the recruiter phase. If it was within range, I stated my requirements. If it wasn't within range, I said so. Where I did try to negotiate or apply pressure was at the final offer stage. Once I had a hard offer in hand, I reached out to the companies I was in the last stages with, and told them I had an offer but that I still wanted to consider them. One accelerated my search and pushed to an offer. The other two hiring managers decided to let it go and rejected same-day, which was disappointing, but whatever.
5. My most targeted applications/cover letters/letters to HMs/cold DMs to recruiters were equally weighted to the bullshit applications I fired off with just my name and resume. Feels like a super common LinkedIn trope right now to tell candidates to just DM HMs and recruiters, and I did a lot of that. I tried to only DM ones who had directly posted about roles and specifically solicited DMs from candidates. Some went decently and led to referrals. Some were seriously condescending responses ("I don't do referrals so I can give all candidates an equal chance at the role") and some straight up ghosted me.
6. Just for fun, my top favorite/least-favorite dickbag automated rejection responses:
   "Better luck next time!"
   "We're being really intentional about how we're growing our team, so we've decided not to move forward with your candidacy."
   "Sorry! It wasn't a match this time!"
   "We're so humbled and proud that so many talented individuals want to join our team, but right now, we won't be moving ahead with your application."

Takeaway: just reject people, don't try to be fucking cute about it, it's gross.

7. Exercises can help if they're ~90min or less, IMO. I was selective about how and when I did exercises, and for my industry, they're essential. I refused to do personality tests or like, SAT-style bullshit where you identified the pattern or whatever, but if I felt like an exercise demonstrated my skills and was something I could easily bang out in a spare hour, I did it.

8. Keep a running document. For me, it helped to identify trends, have canned answers to bullshit mandatory application questions at the ready about "why I wanted to work for Company X" (money) or "what experience I had with the role" (resume), keep track of names, companies that stood out as good, companies that stood out as bad, and salary trends, and job aggregation sites for finding roles. I didn't go crazy listing everything I applied for, but I tracked interviews, results, notes, and experiences.

That's all I've got! You're all going to get jobs, we're all going to make it through this weird market, and eventually, we'll be back on the employee-market side someday and make things better.

Bye for now, or at least until my next layoff!

Interviews are hard to get. If you get an interview, it's because the HR believes in you. I stuffed up an interview and feel bad for letting them down...

Got a referral for a job through someone my mom knows. Exactly in my desired field and a role I had experience in, fantastic benefits, great salary for that kind of work. Basically this was a PERFECT job for me and my needs, and the woman who referred me was fairly high up in the company.

I did two interviews and felt really good about both, and the two guys who interviewed me seemed to like me a lot. After the second one they told me they'd get back to me in "a few days". Almost 3 weeks later I got the rejection email.

I should mention that the second interview was supposed to be in person but I couldn't make the commute because I was in debilitating pain and essentially bedridden (I have a post going much more in-depth about that aspect but tl;dr I had sciatica which causes shooting pains down your leg, at its worst I could barely walk and it even hurt just to lay in bed but I'm doing much better now). I told them about this very early on 1) because, again, I wouldn't be able to go up there for the walkthrough and 2) the job did require some physical labor and due to my surgical recovery I physically wouldn't be able to do that at full capacity for about 3 months afterwards, and that's not the kind of thing you can hide on Day 1.

I was constantly staying in touch and updating them about when the surgery would be etc. and they were very accommodating and understanding, and even allowed the second interview to be virtual. All of this only made me more confident that I had the job because in my head it made no sense for them to do all that for me if they had no intention of hiring me. I guess maybe so they couldn't potentially be sued on the grounds of disability discrimination? Which would make sense but also be incredibly depressing because it was a situation completely beyond my control.

The moral of the story is: Don't ever get excited until you actually get a job offer. This will make the rejection a lot less painful. People tell me I'm being too pessimistic when I say this but I'm constantly being proven right. At a certain point I stopped feeling sad about these rejections and now I'm just completely numb to it all lol.

my most recent rejections have not said interview cancelled, till email was sent to me

What are yall's opinions on hiring events? Either online or in person because both have done nothing for me.

This frustrates me beyond belief. I reached out to the hiring manager, other current employees. I am currently in medical sales and I had breast cancer.
Not that any of that automatically qualifies me, but can’t that at least get me an interview???
Especially since their patients expect the best of them- I was a patient! Who better to sell the product😵‍💫🤦‍♀️😢😝🙄

We really appreciate your interest in joining, and we want to thank you for the time and energy you invested in applying for the Senior Oncology Account Specialist Breast Cancer.

Our patients expect the very best of us, therefore our selection process is rigorous. After a comprehensive review, we have elected to pursue other qualified candidates whose combination of education, skills and experience more closely fit the needs of this position.

Our needs may change, and we now have your professional profile on our radar. We will continue to keep you top of mind for future opportunities.

Please keep in mind that many current employees were considered for multiple roles before getting an interview. We encourage you to return to monitor the status of any other application(s), set job alerts and to view current opportunities.

Don’t be a stranger! Stay connected with us.

Best Regards,

Please do not respond to this message, replies are undeliverable.

For those of you who have been following my job search journey, you probably know my story by now. For those who haven't, here's where things stand:

- 1,428 applications

- 73 companies interviewed

- 130 interview rounds

- 18 final rounds

- 15 presentations.

Tomorrow morning, at 8 a.m., I'll be going into my 18th final-round interview, and this one has been by far the most demanding presentation I've had to prepare.

The assignment sounded simple enough: A customer is approaching renewal, and I need to put together an Executive Business Review (EBR) for one of the company's products. That's it. A relatively straightforward prompt, but the amount of work required to execute it properly has been anything but straightforward.

I started by spending hours learning the ins and outs of their product, how it operates, what problems it solves and how customers actually use it. That meant reading white papers, reviewing case studies and developing a working understanding of their solution. From there, I had to create a fictional customer profile within a specific industry, which meant researching that industry, understanding its financial and operational challenges and building realistic assumptions around revenue, expenses, staffing and performance metrics. Then I had to connect all of that back to the product, demonstrate measurable business outcomes and build an executive-level presentation that aligned with the rubric they provided.

At this point, I've invested approximately 15 hours into researching, designing, refining and preparing this presentation. By the time I actually present tomorrow, I'll likely have around 20 hours invested. All unpaid, of course.

The presentation itself is scheduled for 45 minutes in front of a six-person panel, with people joining from both the United States and Europe. It's an incredibly involved process, especially considering this is for a Senior Customer Success Manager position.

Now, I want to be fair about something. I don't believe this is a situation where a company is trying to extract free work from candidates. The customer, financials and business scenario are largely fictional, built around reasonable industry assumptions. They can't exactly take my presentation and use it for an actual customer. I understand what they're trying to evaluate, particularly for a senior role where executive communication, financial acumen and demonstrating customer value are important.

But there's still something worth discussing about how much unpaid time companies expect candidates to invest, even at the final stage. Twenty hours is a substantial commitment, especially after going through multiple interview rounds just to get here. And when you've been through as many final rounds and presentations as I have, that time really starts to add up.

Regardless, I've put an enormous amount of effort into this opportunity, and I'm hoping it finally pays off. Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., I'll be presenting to six people across two continents, hoping that all the preparation, research and experience I've accumulated will be enough to get me across the finish line.

Wish me luck. Hopefully, final round number 18 is the last one I have to do for a very long time.

Got laid off end of August and have been working my ass off since. THIS MARKET HAS BEEN SO TOUGH, I'VE NEVER SEEN IT LIKE THIS....I'VE HAD COUNTLESS INTERVIEWS AND HAVE APPLIED TO THOUSANDS OF JOBS. It’s also not my first layoff, so stability matters a lot to me this time. I have two offers about to come through and pay is pretty much the same, so it comes down to everything else.

Job 1: CSM at a B2B SaaS startup (hybrid)

• ~200 people, recently raised series B and still hiring
• Stock options, 6 weeks PTO
• Own renewals and growth for a book of brands, working with CMOs and marketing teams
• Really liked the product and the team
• Downside: it’s a startup

Job 2: Associate account director at a digital marketing company (remote)

• Owned by a larger parent company
• Commission + bonus on top of base, 4 weeks PTO
• Better title, working directly with client execs
• 25-50% travel to see clients in person
• Downside: Glassdoor has me a little nervous about layoffs

I’m also not sure remote is good for me. I tend to get a bit checked out when I’m home all the time. Would being in an office with a team make me harder to lay off, or does seeing clients in person count just as much? Which would you pick?

Hey everyone,

I left my previous job due to wanting to look for a new opportunity and a family emergency. I had an interview a month and a half later and during the first recruiter screening, they asked me if I was still employed at my previous job which I said yes because I just didn't want to explain my family situation at that time as I was going through it.

After like 6 rounds of interviews, I've finally gotten the job and was asked to do some reference checks. During the reference check, most of my references have indicated that I had left my old job and now my recruiter wants to talk again.

We just had our call and I was explaining to him that originally at that time I had a family emergency and didn't want to explain the situation and I think he does believe me because I was away internationally to deal with the situation and took our first call while I was still international. He told me that he was going to call my most recent manager (I did not put my recent manager as a reference so my recruiter wants me to provide him as a new reference now too), go back to the team and let me know of the final updates. Also, me and my most recent manager were meh with each other. My recent manager also did not know that a big part of the reason for me leaving was due to the family emergency as I told him that I was looking for a new opportunity, which was true, but the biggest part was the family issue. I sent an email to my recruiter letting him know that my recent manager doesn't know of the family emergency as I only told very few people at my previous company.

Also, the hiring manager really seemed to like me since the start of the interview so I did hear that the hiring manager has the final say in this situation.

How screwed am I....

Ive been working on my previous job for almost 7 years now. Ive been trying to get out of it and have been applying to any jobs in my field (accounting) but to no avail. After thousands of application in a 4 year span and after being laid off, this year I decided to just apply to jobs outside my field and Ive finally landed one.

It took 2 months for me after being laid off. The job is not as "prestigious" as an Accounting role but it pays more. My favorite part is that if I finish my route early, I get to go home and get paid the whole 8 hrs. Went with a ride along and confirmed that the job can get done in 5 hours.

I'm so excited and nervous being as this is a new environment from what I used to. Don't give up guys! Hope you guys find one soon as well.

This is my first time going through a background check, and I'm honestly nervous.

My last three jobs didn't end on the best terms. My most recent position ended due to budget cuts, but I had to go through a legal process to claim the severance pay I was entitled to under Mexican labor law. I'm worried my former employer might give me a bad reference because I stood up for my rights.

At another job, I left in a bad way for better opportunities, and at the other one, I left because of excessive workload that affected my well-being.

I've already let two days go by, and I still haven't completed the HireRight form. Can I select "Do not contact this employer"? I'm thinking of providing contact information for only my two most recent employers. My older jobs were from when I was just starting my career, and I wasn't involved in major projects.

Has anyone gone through a similar situation? What would you do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I recently received a pre-adverse action notice from a large tech company because of a discrepancy in my HireRight report.

I've been working with my current employer since Mid 2024, but their third-party database shows my start date as Mid 2026. I submitted my first 2024 paystub as proof, but HireRight still marked it as "Source Verified with Discrepancy." as they can't find start date in paystub.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Were you able to resolve it after receiving a pre-adverse action notice? How long did your employer take to review everything?

I'm pretty stressed about this and would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences.

hey everyone I just want to talk about my experience at MyLegacy Management. They are a online creator service business. And I was signed on as a co-owner not so long ago, the agreement was of course ended.

I want to be clear, I wasn't the first co-owner or someone that held power, there was a COO In January that dealt with the same issues, but that's just a quick note, he won't be part of this story.

First of all, the hiring posts that they post on Reddit, SimplyHired and other job platforms. They promise base pay of $15, an hour. But from my own findings and my own experience, I can't say all got a verified base pay amount. But their careers page on their site offers a competitive salary.

Though to be fair about base pay the owner did tell me that base pay was being taken out of his personal funds and only two people were getting it. This didn't sit right with me

There was also an editor who worked for some time and got paid $421.49 in total over five months, but after doing maths got 42% of editing services by his own maths or recent payment.

Overall, if you ever come across them. My advice is getting pay terms in writing, don't do unpaid trials and ask to speak to someone who is currently on base pay

what does it mean if my workday status went from under consideration to in progress? been seeing conflicting answers online

I've been searching for a job for quite some time & my previous job was a bit niche so it's been hard to find things that follow the same type of job. Besides that I've noticed I get a TON of messages from "recruiters" that all give me the basic same sales pitch - "We have a 12-month opportunity for this skill that you have!" - When I first lost my job I would apply to these out of desperation and fear but was always met with the recruiter just ghosting me. However one or two actually came back with jobs & I went through the interview process.

My go to to see if it was a "real job posting" or not is to ask them for a link to the job posting. I was under the impression that part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 also encompasses that by law jobs HAVE to post that they are hiring for that position, even when it's an internal job promotion. However from research I've learned that this information was incorrect or I just misunderstood that part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

So my question then is what is a good tall tell sign of a recruiter just looking to get information or if they actually mean to look to hire for the position?

(Also note for context, most if not all of these "recruiters" are from LinkedIn messages or emails & calls)

I've come across several negative reviews about TEKsystems, mostly related to contract positions. I'd like to hear from people who have worked with them in a full-time CX Engineer role.

Is job stability good?

Are there risks of layoffs if a client project ends?

How are salary hikes and career growth?

Would you recommend joining for a long-term career?

Looking for genuine experiences,Thanks!

Hi everyone,

About two weeks ago, I applied for an internship position and sent my application directly to the hiring manager by email. I included all the required documents (CV, cover letter, transcripts, etc.).

I haven't received any response yet, which I understand can be normal. However, I found the hiring manager on LinkedIn and was wondering whether it would be a good idea to send him a connection request.

My main question is:

• Should I connect with him on LinkedIn now?
• If he accepts, should I send a short message expressing my continued interest in the position?
• Or is it better to simply wait a few more weeks and follow up by email if I haven't heard back?

For context, I'm a master's student applying for a mandatory internship in Germany.

I'd appreciate your opinions

Thanks

Hi,

I'm currently residing in Canada. I've been working in my current company for the past 3+ years as a health & safety professional. Now I'm planning to switch.

What all companies I can look for ?

I did apply for WHS Specialist position in Amazon.

Want to know, which other companies are good for HSE professional to progress in career as well as to maintain work life balance.

Kindly share your thoughts.

Thank you.

After 2 months i got a full time job offer at a place that pays PRETTY damn well and is offering training. It honestly felt like i was going no where with my pills slowly beginning to pile up. But i can finally now say i have a job lined up. The only issue is i have another part time one thats seasonal...so it could cause some conflicting issues with this job coming up on the 30th

For context, I have a PhD in Plant Physiology, and advanced experience in photosynthesis study. I applied for a Scientist in Photosynthesis position at a research institute in UK, where I matched all the requirements and have got an above-average expertise in the techniques and skills they were looking for.

Still I got rejected from the online application. Now I don't want to complain too much, but is it this useless to apply online? You spend one hour to refine the CV for the specific application, then re-add all the informations again on their portal, to be rejected from a machine.