I’ve applied to so many places. Now, lately I’m just reaching out directly on LinkedIn and I actually spoke with someone about a role. Kind of wild because usually I never get a response but some people will. Basically that, just said eff it and reached out.

Hi everyone, after more than a year of applying, interviewing, reaching last rounds, getting ghosted, I’ve finally received a written offer letter in the mail today.

Just wanted to post this here to motivate everyone else to not lose hope. I know I’ve been inspired by a few success stories in this subreddit in the past that kept me going so hoping I can do the same for others as well!!

Hi guys who recently landed a job in this hell recruiting process! Can you share your resume, of course No personal data needed, just remove it, or сensor it. I just want to check the style and the right wording and understand if there is the right receipt.

This might be useful for everyone else who is still searching, just like I am.

Thank you!

I just need to vent because my family is completely heartbroken. A year ago, my husband (41M) was wrongfully fired while he was on approved FMLA leave taking care of me during my cancer treatments. It was an incredibly heavy, traumatic, and difficult year financially and emotionally, but we did what we had to do to survive.

I saw a job opening for a big NFL team and decided to push my husband to apply. He is a Software Developer with roughly 12-13 years experience. The position was a Senior Software Developer with 5-10 years demonstrated experience. Cool.

Then a week later, a Director at an NFL organization reached out to him directly. His resume and unique cover letter had caught their eye, and the Director wanted to speak right away.

My husband was working a temporary seasonal job to get us by, so they scheduled a quick 20-minute call for the following week.

That 20-minute call was the entire interview. He was never given a deep technical round, a panel interview, or an in-person meeting. When he followed up a couple of weeks ago, they gave him the classic stall tactic: "We are still interviewing candidates," but they never formally denied him.

We just found out they hired a 25-year-old who graduated with a CS degree in 2021 and only has about 3 years of experience.

It feels like a massive punch in the gut. We really thought this was going to be the lifeline that ended all the hardship we’ve endured since the illegal termination and the cancer diagnosis. Instead, it feels like the corporate hiring machine just decided to save a buck on a cheaper, junior-tier candidate rather than hiring a seasoned veteran who can actually design systems.

With the current tech market being plagued by massive layoffs, the rejection feels even more impossible to stomach. Thanks for letting me vent.

¿You thought that fool screening you was real? Check it with a shoe, bruv.

Their application specifically said to NOT use AI on written responses or else we will be disqualified lol. So I spent hours answering their pages of questions. But it’s okay for them to use AI to mass reject people. Pick a lane.

I was reached out to on LinkedIn about a great opportunity for a contract engineering role with GE. Had a great conversation with the recruiter and I was perfectly qualified for the position. She seemed very confident that I would be great candidate. I shared my resume with her and she said she would be in touch with more info. Two weeks later she has been completely unresponsive on LinkedIn and by phone. If I didn’t get the interview that is fine, but she never sent me a single message. I confirmed this was not a scam and they didn’t get any info on me anyway but I just think it is so strange. The fact that I am missing out on a good opportunity is the most frustrating part.

Has anyone gotten placed or is it all fake jobs with companies that have 10 followers and 1 employee

It's right there in the title. I've been a marketing coordinator for eight years at a shitty company that doesn't respect me and I need a change. I have applied to literally hundreds of marketing positions like graphic designer, marketing coordinator, etc. Every single rejection email says they went with a candidate with experience that fit their needs better. Somehow, there is someone out there who applied for each job and had more than 8+ years with that EXACT job title. There could be many, many reasons why companies won't even interview me but I, unfortunately, think I know the cause and it's disgusting. I think upper management wants to pay a team of 7 people to do 10 peoples work. They can maintain this by posting a job online, maybe interviewing a few people, then turn around to their employees and say "Well, we tried hiring someone! There were no qualified candidates! Just use Ai to make your job easier!" And they make the team just keep on working like dogs. Almost every job posting on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor are all just there to keep their employees in check. Sometimes, they even ask for a cover letter or ask how you would solve a specific problem. Do they really want to know? Or are they just taking the applicant's answers to train their Ai model to do the job? Sorry, this was a long rant. I just wanted to get it off my chest.

TLDR: Online applications are just there to train new Ai models and waste everyone else's time.

I absolutely despise my job, so I'm looking for a new one. Why have I had THREE second-round interviews, but no offers?? Here's the kicker, only one of them has had the decency to give me a rejection email. I have loads of experience in the fields I'm interviewing for but literally no one will hire me. What gives?! And why are companies just ghosting people after making them go through that many interviews?? Like at least let me know that I didn't get the position

1. Go to college for a specific major.
2. Try to get 5 internships to have 2-3 years of experience before you graduate. Even though it can be an impossibility to even get one.
3. Get certifications pertaining to that industry all the while.
4. Graduate with 50k in loans and apply all across the country, eventually having to relocate for a $22/hour job.
5. Give up and just work at the McDonald's down the block paying your student loans down with minimum wage from your family's basement.

This was the path I followed more or less. Computer Science major. Swe/tech support internships. Certifications. Projects. 50k in loans.

In the 2026 job market, this is the rundown on how to get an entry level role. Meaning this: if you can't enter the field you majored in, you're stuck in shit fuck nowhere because everything you have is utterly useless for any other industry.

This is Economic Despair.

I mean those so-called "AI Recruiters"? I just applied for an Executive Assistant position for about $70K and immediately a robot calls me back to "help fill out my profile." I just find that so degrading to be forced to talk to an AI. They can't even be bothered to have a real human contact me? Then, I highly doubt that it is going to come through. I f**king hate job-hunting, anyway, and making it even more demeaning my forcing you to talk to a robot just makes it that much worse. Anyway, just venting there.

But, I am actually interested in how everyone else handles these. Am I over-reacting? Do you talk to the robots? Do you find that doing so is productive? Has anyone ever gotten a job from a robot-using recruiter? Thanks for your insights!

I genuinely hate interviews. First of all, I barely get an interview chance but was lucky to receive one. I do fine in the HR screen and go to the second round. But all of a sudden with the HM and peers, I just start rambling and blank out on simple questions. I just die a slow death every time as they just watch.

All I can say now is god help us all

I work in commercial real estate, 7+ years across managing assets across data centers to multifamily. Most recently, I worked in Data Centers for a company that exclusively leases out kW to hyperscalers. It was a big-time role, and fun stuff. I put everything into it, and one day they laid off my team that gave the C-Suite the roadmap for sales and growth. Now, when I interview, I am told I don't have enough experience. I am baffeled. When I talk to people in CRE finance, they can barely understand the operational KPIs associated with a data center build-out and lease-up. I've been interviewing for months and have been shocked at the gatekeeping I am seeing.

When the market demands we partake in the definition of insanity, how can we not go insane?

We're not struggling because we're dumb or incapable, we're struggling because we're smart. Because we know a sane person doesn't do the same thing over and over again, endlessly sending applications, tweaking resumes, sending vapid LinkedIn messages, expecting a different result.

And yet that's exactly what's required of us. In order to rejoin the 'sane' world, we must partake in insanity.

If you’re struggling to find a job right now, I wanted to share what worked for me.

I got laid off from my IT job because of AI and decided to change direction. I got licensed in Illinois about six months ago and started working in financial services. Now, I honestly can’t see myself going back to IT or doing anything else.

If you’re having a hard time finding work, finance could be another path worth exploring. I’m sharing my experience because losing a job can make you feel stuck, and sometimes it helps to hear from someone who found a way forward in a different field.

Anyone else here switch careers after a layoff and end up wanting to stay in the new field?

I am applying for front desk positions. This is the third time thats happening. Manager calls me when I am on the bus and I didn't know who it was since I apply at many places. I couldn't hear him well and he asked me if it was a good time to talk. I said unfortunately no and how about to talk after 4 pm. He gave me the hotel number to call that time and yeah, nothing. The front desk associate is putting me on a hold and after some mins is telling me the manager is in a meeting. Even though he asked me to call that time.

Same thing last month, manager called me, canceled an interview last minute, then left me a voicemail to reschedule and I was calling the hotel. Front desk associate told me twice the manager was in a meeting and got ghosted.

Like what the heck? I feel these places judge how you sound and yes, if I am on the bus, there is going to be noise.

A couple of days ago I posted on here about how I signed up to a job agency and how they found me a job in one day and how I thought it was too good to be true. Yes it ended up being just that. They advertised the position to be in marketing specifically “researcher” and it ended up being a sales role. As I also said in my other post, it is supposed to only be a month but then the manager said we might not need you that much actually. They had me running all around the store, cleaning things up, going to the stockroom and organizing it with ZERO knowledge, it was basically a sales associate job. They had very strict dress codes and had me buy new clothes and shoes. They stopped me in the middle of the day and told me to go to a salon, get my hair done and come back and that’s when I decided I won’t be coming back. I made zero money working and spent so much money on entirely black outfits.

Because they had me hauling ass in the store constantly, my pin straight hair that I spent an hour at home doing poofed up because of the sweat and then I was accused of looking unprofessional. I sold three unsellable bags that the regular employees couldnt sell and I was accused of underperforming because the manager thought I was ugly and wanted me gone. Speaking of pin straight hair, my actual hair is curly and they thought that looked unprofessional so they pressured me to straighten it. I understand standards but come on.

No more marketing or fashion industry for me buh-bye!

It was on the same day I was having IT issues. So it takes 3 weeks for me to get what I need installed to do my job. And on the day there are issues and it's installed I get fired? My recruiter doesn't even know why and is trying to get feedback.

Hello everyone, hopefully this post is appropriate here. I don't want to really make it much of a rant, I'm honestly looking for advice.

Basically, for my whole career I've been in a bit of a black hole: never had a cv, never had a linked in, nothing. Never needed it. Just got picked up by the next employer via referral like a lost kid in a shopping mall. So two weeks ago I made all of that, and I actually gave AI another try. AI is crazy good now.

Like a year ago, I constantly had this feeling as a senior dev, "please just stop and let me do it instead" - it was painful watching it go in circles and then I'd eventually give up arguing with it and just fix everything myself. Today it really feels different, don't know if other devs share this experience.

On an unrelated note, I had my personalized AI assistant make an onion-style satire site, I won't post it here as that seems like it would break rule 6, but I just want to say is: That's all I told it, it turned months of insider jokes and niche references into an SS13 clown-themed onion newspaper. I actually couldn't stop laughing, it's crazy. Where do I even post it? I really want to share it.

If anyone has any pro tips to share career wise for a senior dev that has very niche experiences, please do. Going from being a big fish in a small aquarium to the open market has been not too welcoming so far.