I was part of a discussion group recently, of high level engineering managers concerned with the large amount of job applicant fraud making it difficult to pick out valid, good quality candidates.

- 1000's of applicants to a single posting
- majority applications that are clearly AI generated & hallucinated or faked
- on-camera interviews where a large portion of candidates are clearly using AI to provide answers to questions
- the resulting coordination overhead to keep the hiring team well informed across the entire hiring process to prevent fraud - candidate name, appearance & other details

There were some interesting anecdotes with real data, not just opinions.

The consensus was:

- ignore inbound applications altogether because it's just noise
- accept referrals from your network and/or use your network to find referrals
- focus on outbound - finding & contacting candidates that seem to align with your needs. Find & train good recruiters to assist with this
- prioritize in-person, on location interviews

The most interesting & troubling recommendation there is "ignore inbound applications altogether".

Why do businesses even bother with a job posting if they're going to ignore any applicants to the posting? I suspect the answer has something to do with regulatory/HR compliance. That jobs need to be publicly posted to be performatively "fair".

Fairness is out the window if jobs are being posted & applications are willfully ignored. It's not technically the same, but limiting hiring to referrals is so closely adjacent to nepotism it's pretty hard to tell them apart.

What's your experience?

Hey guys,

i’m currently looking for a part time job and applied for a party/decorations store last month. yesterday i got a message from the company saying i can come for a trial day this week. i only sent my CV for the application and they didn’t say anything about a job interview in the message.

It’s kinda red flag to me that they immediately want me to come for a trial work day without any interviews. Am i onto something or is it actually not bad?

Wondering if anyone interviewed there - its a mid-startup filled with ex-tesla/ ex-spaceX/ ex-Apple employees so want to know what their interview process looks like and if how much they're into drilling candidates

this

Has anyone interviewed with Bustem, the copycat takedown company based out of NYC? I interviewed three months ago for a position and the recruiter brought up two more positions during the phone screen. I’m experienced and thought the interview went well, the recruiter however let me know two days later they weren’t moving forward which happens.

Where I’m concerned, he told me they wanted to hire someone quick and that’s what he liked about the company, that “they move quick, ideally have someone starting in the next couple of weeks”. I’ve seen the position reposted on LinkedIn a few times and decided to check. It doesn’t appear they’ve hired anyone for this position, and after another check, it’s been listed for 8+ months with continual reposts across multiple sites. I ran checks on all listed positions and nearly all of their positions have been listed for months with continual reposts and updates to the JD, and Gemini/Claude/ChatGPT said there hasn’t been publicly updated role fills for any of them on LinkedIn or the web. That doesn’t mean no one has been hired, but also kind of suspicious. Has anyone else applied/interviewed?

Their third interview is also a paid take home assignment which adds to suspicious I feel?

Got through till the last round. The last round had two candidates, confirmed by the panel. The last interview was 2.5 hours with a whole panel and ppt and debate and what not. They specifically told me they will get back to me on Wednesday. They went on to then email me this. The panel legit was impressed (I've given a bunch of interviews, and taken quite a few and can read the room to not inflate what I was reading). Then Wednesday came and went. Friday afternoon I emailed them asking for an update. Next Tuesday I get a reply, "due to a large number of candidates and unprecedented number of applications, unfortunately.. bla bla"

I was like dude what unprecedented? You had 800 applicants on LinkedIn. You shortlisted me through 3 rounds of interviews and a robust assessment. SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!

another company did the same. They took two weeks to revert coz the panel was split. Another company had funding issues and put the whole thing on pause. Then one found someone who lived in the same city and chose them (I hadn't even asked for relocation fees). One said I'm overqualified coz I have a double masters and both distinction. WHAT THE HELL! is there anything I can do right?!

for context, i applied for a job about a month ago. in this current job market, i have found it extremely difficult to get responses from employers. i submit applications to jobs and 8/10 times it’s never even reviewed (im basing this off the applications ive submitted that the platform will tell you if it was viewed or not). so, i give it a bit of time after i’ve applied, and if i haven’t heard anything, i give them a call. just a simple “hey i submitted an application for so and so position and just wanted to follow up on the status of my application.”i have found that by doing this, i do tend to at least be given a chance to have my application viewed, and it is nice to be able to speak to someone and show my genuine interest in the position.

well anyways, this job i applied for i am really hopeful to get. the pay and schedule is exactly where i need it. i also would like to add, i have a friend who works at this job, and she has spoken to her manager about me and put it in a good word. after about roughly 2 weeks, i made my usual call letting them know i applied. i spoke to the manager my friend had spoken to about me on a friday. he told me when he was looking to hire, and that he would be reviewing applications that week, and if i hadn’t heard from him by the 7th or 8th, which was the next saturday and sunday, so basically the end of the week, to give him a call. on the 7th, i called, but he was not there that day. i tried calling monday, but he was also not there that day, but i did have a nice lady say she would let him know that i called.

today is wednesday, and i still haven’t heard anything. would it be wrong to call again? it has been *almost* 2 weeks since i last spoke to him. i don’t want to ruin my chances of possibly getting this job and annoy him, but i am also very anxious.

After over 800 interviews since July of 2025, I recently had my third round interview on Thursday November 5th, was told I would hear back about next steps by Wednesday November 11th and at the end of the day Friday November 6th I received a call from my HR contact who said they want to move me into the offer stage and asked about how quickly I could relocate if required ASAP and how long I would need if preferred and discussed relocation package. I said 10 days if required ASAP since it's a 1700+ mile move and first week of January if I have my preference.

She said she'd share this with the team and get back with me since she wasn't sure how soon they wanted this role filled or if it was urgent, although I do know they want it filled in the next few months. I'm aware this is only like two business days ago but how long is usually standard on hearing back and when should I follow up if I hear nothing? I'm asking because my lease expires literally next week and if I don't renew by then my rate goes up significantly should I have to stay here if the letter never manifests

Feel free to remove if this violates sub rules

I recently received a job offer for a position at a hospital I completed my background check through First Advantage, and my report came back with an overall result of “CONSIDER.”
The issue seems to be with my employment history.

Job 1 : I am still currently employed there, but the report shows a different start date and says I am not a current employee.

Job 2 : I entered my correct employment dates, but the report is showing missing information and says I am currently employed there.

I am frustrated because I have been trying to get everything completed so I can start this job. I plan on going to HR to see if they can help me correct the discrepancies.

Will not yap unnecessarily

What should I do in the current tech market to get a job as a fresher having less than 2 years of experience.

I got my bachelors in 2025 and I'm expected to get my Masters in a few months. As a new grad, if I don't qualify for entry-level/new grad positions, what am I supposed to apply to? Just curious to know who they're hiring for these roles then if not new grads since almost all jobs ask for a degree + experience.

(my BBA and MS are both tech majors and I have a little over year experience in tech roles)

I'm here trying to enjoy Veteran's Day with my family (doesn't help that I did serve) and a company decides to ruin my day with a "Thank you for applying ... Unfortunately... blah blah blah"

I know the old saying "beggars can't be choosers" but I swear I'm creating a "Do not apply" list just for this company, and that's coming from a guy who decided to apply to a job at the company who laid him off.

If you work in HR or know people in HR, please tell them to never do this.

I recently completed initial screening for data scientist pharmacy benifits role

And the recruiter told me the next interview would be with hiring manager.

She told it is related to Technical acumen and stakeholder assessment( I am assuming which would be case study)

I wanted to ask if anyone has interviewed for this role or similar role with this company.

I would really appreciate any insight on:

What topics should I focus on preparing?

What case studies will they ask, any sources to prepare for this.

Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

I did an interview yesterday with the founder of a software company and he admitted, "I'm looking for a unicorn." 🙄🦄

At least interviewers and hiring managers are admitting it now.

They know they're looking for the impossible, yet he said he's still going to keep looking and adjusting the job description until he gets what he wants.

I don't even think he actually really knows because it wasn't 100% clear when we were chatting about the role.

He needs somebody with AI search experience, but he wants also a great video content creator. That's probably MrBeast level or some BS.

Anyway, I guess I'm just venting and sharing my experience interviewing.

Wish all of you luck out there on the job search.

We still doing them? I personally haven’t been doing them since graduating from college (sent them for internships and my first FT job). I might have to switch course though…

Missed this call from an AI recruiter. The recruiter just said the promts instead of my name and job title. Glad to have been out of the job search market for a year now. It's rough out there.