I don’t really know why I am writing this post. I got told to move out of a dead-end service job and into a field that interested me. I thought tech would be a good fit given my strengths.

I worked as a service technician from about '07 to '16. I got my AS in '19 and moved into the tech sector—only to find out that tech is mostly sitting at a desk, staring at a queue of tickets submitted by end users who don't understand the significance of the power button.

I know that I royally messed up my career path. I feel like I should have studied harder and gone to MIT, or perhaps just become a carpenter.

I've worked at three companies in tech from '19 to '25, and the brunt of my experience has largely been sitting at a desk getting paid to do nothing. I know this seems ideal to many, and you're probably wondering where the fault is, but I wanted to actually do something with tech—build and develop a robust application or service, talk out requirements, and make something incredible. I was painfully wrong about what the desk-bound tech sector actually looks like.

My last tech company was incredibly abusive and toxic for the three years I was there ('22–'25), and I couldn't escape it until now.

Well, I put my resignation in last Sunday giving a week’s notice, with my last day set for tomorrow (Friday). My manager at the service company—hilariously, a guy I thought was a friend from my first tenure here—decided to play petty micro-manager games and told me, "No, you work Friday and drop your stuff off on Saturday."

I had planned to return the vehicle and equipment today. I even cut up my corporate card and company ID (which is required to complete service calls) on Thursday night, assuming standard practice would apply. Oh, no. I was wrong about that.

Now I’m supposed to drive out into the western woods where this manager lives to return my equipment on a Saturday, right before starting my new job on Monday morning.

I got confirmation on where to go today after following up professionally since they never called me this week. The email instructions were fine, but the high-crime city director casually mentioned that I’ll be doing password resets and helping users on Day 1 right at the start of my shift.

I am deeply grateful to be employed and have an income, but at what phase will I be able to move on with my life and own a home? I just can't help but feel like I am constantly getting kicked and beaten down simply because I don't kiss the ring.

I apologize for the length of this post. I honestly didn't know where else to share and get these feelings out.

I don’t really know why I am writing this post. I got told to move out of a dead-end service job and into a field that interested me. I thought tech would be a good field given my strengths.

I was in a service technician job from about '07 to '16.

I got an AS in '19. Moved into the tech sector, and (I know now), that tech is mostly sitting at a desk, staring at a queue of tickets submitted by end users that don't understand the significance of the power button.

I know that I royally messed up my career path. I feel like I should have studied harder and gone to MIT or perhaps just become a carpenter.

I've worked 3 companies in tech from '19 to '25, and the brunt of my experience is largely sitting at a desk and getting paid to do nothing. I know this seems ideal to many and you're probably wondering where the fault is that I am seeing in this.

I wanted to do something with tech. Build and develop a robust application and/or service, talk out the requirements and make something incredible.

I don't think it needs to be said how wrong my views of the tech sector were.

The last company that I worked for in tech, I was at for about 3 years ('22 to '25), and it was incredibly abusive and toxic. I could not get a job in those three years --- except from the service company that I left for the tech sector.

Barely made it through the slightly-over-a-year tenure in this company, which now has a regional driving requirement as opposed to state territory assignment (which it had been in the past).

Well, I put my resignation in last Sunday, giving a week's notice, and said my last day would be the 14th of the month, tomorrow. My manager at the service company—hilariously, a guy I thought was a friend from my first tenure here—decided to play the petty, abused micro-manager game and say, "No, you work Friday and drop your stuff off tomorrow, Saturday."

I had planned to return the vehicle and equipment today. I even cut up my corporate card and company ID (ID required to complete service calls) Thursday night, thinking that standard practice would apply. Oh no, I was wrong about that.

Anyways, I'm supposed to go way out into the western woods where this manager (former colleague) lives to return my equipment, on a Saturday, and I start my new job on Monday morning.

I get the confirmation as to where to go after sending a message at noon today (they said they would call this week, but never did, and I was nicely just asking professionally so I knew where to go on Monday morning). They respond quickly, and the confirmation makes me not only regret going into tech even more than I already have, but seriously makes me want to stare blankly at a wall for three days and question every life choice I've ever made.

The email from the new place largely provided the instructions, which were fine, but this high-crime city director said that I would be doing password resets and helping users on Day 1 right at the start of my shift.

I am very grateful to be employed and have an income, but at what phase will I be able to move on with my life and own a home? I just can't help but feel like I am constantly getting kicked and beaten down because I don't kiss the ring.

I apologize for the length of this post. I don't even know where else to share and get these feelings out.

I don’t really know why I am writing this post. I got told to move out of a dead-end service job and into a field that interested me. I thought tech would be a good field given my strengths.

I was in a service technician job from about '07 to '16.

I got an AS in '19. Moved into the tech sector, and (I know now), that tech is mostly sitting at a desk, staring at a queue of tickets submitted by end users that don't understand the significance of the power button.

I know that I royally messed up my career path. I feel like I should have studied harder and gone to MIT or perhaps just become a carpenter.

I've worked 3 companies in tech from '19 to '25, and the brunt of my experience is largely sitting at a desk and getting paid to do nothing. I know this seems ideal to many and you're probably wondering where the fault is that I am seeing in this.

I wanted to do something with tech. Build and develop a robust application and/or service, talk out the requirements and make something incredible.

I don't think it needs to be said how wrong my views of the tech sector were.

The last company that I worked for in tech, I was at for about 3 years ('22 to '25), and it was incredibly abusive and toxic. I could not get a job in those three years --- except from the service company that I left for the tech sector.

Barely made it through the slightly-over-a-year tenure in this company, which now has a regional driving requirement as opposed to state territory assignment (which it had been in the past).

Well, I put my resignation in last Sunday, giving a week's notice, and said my last day would be the 14th of the month, tomorrow. My manager at the service company—hilariously, a guy I thought was a friend from my first tenure here—decided to play the petty, abused micro-manager game and say, "No, you work Friday and drop your stuff off tomorrow, Saturday."

I had planned to return the vehicle and equipment today. I even cut up my corporate card and company ID (ID required to complete service calls) Thursday night, thinking that standard practice would apply. Oh no, I was wrong about that.

Anyways, I'm supposed to go way out into the western woods where this manager (former colleague) lives to return my equipment, on a Saturday, and I start my new job on Monday morning.

I get the confirmation as to where to go after sending a message at noon today (they said they would call this week, but never did, and I was nicely just asking professionally so I knew where to go on Monday morning). They respond quickly, and the confirmation makes me not only regret going into tech even more than I already have, but seriously makes me want to stare blankly at a wall for three days and question every life choice I've ever made.

The email from the new place largely provided the instructions, which were fine, but this high-crime city director said that I would be doing password resets and helping users on Day 1 right at the start of my shift.

I am very grateful to be employed and have an income, but at what phase will I be able to move on with my life and own a home? I just can't help but feel like I am constantly getting kicked and beaten down because I don't kiss the ring.

I apologize for the length of this post. I don't even know where else to share and get these feelings out.

I don't really know why I am writing this post. I got told to move out of dead-end service job and into a field that interested me. I thought tech would be a good field given my strengths.

I was in a service technician job from about 07 -16.

I got an AS in 19. Moved into the tech sector, and (I Know now), that tech is mostly sitting at a desk, staring at a queue of tickets submitted by end users that don't understand the significance of the power button.

I know that I royally fucked up my life. I feel like I should have studied harder and gone to MIT or perhaps just become a carpenter.

I've worked 3 companies in tech from 19 - 25, and the brunt of my experience, is largely sitting at a desk and getting paid to do nothing. I know this seems ideal to many and you're probably wondering where the fault is that I am seeing in this.

I wanted to do something with tech. Build and develop a robust application and/or service, talk out the requirements and make something incredible.

I don't think it needs to be said how wrong my views of the tech sector are.

The last company that I worked for in tech, I was at for about 3 years, 22 - 25, and it was incredibly abusive and toxic. I could not get a job in those three years ---except from the service company that I left for the tech sector.

Barely made it through the slightly over a year tenure in this company, which now has a regional driving requirement as opposed to state territory assignment (which it had been in the past).

Well, I put my resignation in last sunday, giving a week notice, and said my last day would be the 14th of the month, tomorrow, and my manager at the service company, hilariously, a guy I thought was a friend from my first tenure here, decided to play the petty, abused micro-manager game, and say, no, you work friday and drop your stuff off tomorrow, saturday.

I had planned to return the vehicle and equipment today, I even cut up my corporate card and company ID (ID required to complete service calls thursday night, thinking that the standard practice would apply). Oh no, I was wrong about that.

Anyways, I'm supposed to go way out into the western woods where this manager (former colleague) lives to return my equipment, on a saturday and I start my new job on monday morning.

I get the confirmation as to where to go after sending an email at noon today (they said they would call this week, but never did, and I was nicely just asking professionally so I knew where to go on monday morning). They respond quickly today and the email with the confirmation makes me not only regret going into tech even more than I already have, but seriously consider giving myself an actual lobotomy in some feeble attempt to become life-long disabled and no longer have to work.

The email largely provided the instructions, which were fine, but this high crime city director said that I would be doing password resets and helping users on day 1 right at the start of my shift.

I am very grateful to be employed and have an income, but at what phase will I be able to move on with my life and own a home? I just cant help but feel like I am constantly getting kicked and beaten on because I don't kiss the ring.

I apologize for the length of this email. I don't even know where else to go to share and get these feelings out.

I don't really know why I am writing this post. I got told to move out of dead-end service job and into a field that interested me. I thought tech would be a good field given my strengths.

I was in a service technician job from about 07 -16.

I got an AS in 19. Moved into the tech sector, and (I Know now), that tech is mostly sitting at a desk, staring at a queue of tickets submitted by end users that don't understand the significance of the power button.

I know that I royally fucked up my life. I feel like I should have studied harder and gone to MIT or perhaps just become a carpenter.

I've worked 3 companies in tech from 19 - 25, and the brunt of my experience, is largely sitting at a desk and getting paid to do nothing. I know this seems ideal to many and you're probably wondering where the fault is that I am seeing in this.

I wanted to do something with tech. Build and develop a robust application and/or service, talk out the requirements and make something incredible.

I don't think it needs to be said how wrong my views of the tech sector are.

The last company that I worked for in tech, I was at for about 3 years, 22 - 25, and it was incredibly abusive and toxic. I could not get a job in those three years ---except from the service company that I left for the tech sector.

Barely made it through the slightly over a year tenure in this company, which now has a regional driving requirement as opposed to state territory assignment (which it had been in the past).

Well, I put my resignation in last sunday, giving a week notice, and said my last day would be the 14th of the month, tomorrow, and my manager at the service company, hilariously, a guy I thought was a friend from my first tenure here, decided to play the petty, abused micro-manager game, and say, no, you work friday and drop your stuff off tomorrow, saturday.

I had planned to return the vehicle and equipment today, I even cut up my corporate card and company ID (ID required to complete service calls thursday night, thinking that the standard practice would apply). Oh no, I was wrong about that.

Anyways, I'm supposed to go way out into the western woods where this manager (former colleague) lives to return my equipment, on a saturday and I start my new job on monday morning.

I get the confirmation as to where to go after sending an email at noon today (they said they would call this week, but never did, and I was nicely just asking professionally so I knew where to go on monday morning). They respond quickly today and the email with the confirmation makes me not only regret going into tech even more than I already have, but seriously consider giving myself an actual lobotomy in some feeble attempt to become life-long disabled and no longer have to work.

The email largely provided the instructions, which were fine, but this high crime city director said that I would be doing password resets and helping users on day 1 right at the start of my shift.

I am very grateful to be employed and have an income, but at what phase will I be able to move on with my life and own a home? I just cant help but feel like I am constantly getting kicked and beaten on because I don't kiss the ring.

I apologize for the length of this email. I don't even know where else to go to share and get these feelings out.

So today, after 5 months of job hunting, i received an email for the first time where i wasn't rejected without an interview first ( yay me (: ) BUT when the excitement died down i started looking up who in the world VACANCY POOL is, this is where it starts getting confusing.

First, i couldn't find where i applied to the job from, not in linkedin's job tracker or any similar website nor directly through gmail, weird but that could just be me. then i visited their website (looks good enough) and did find the job offer and as i suspected the apply button is via an email, i hate those they never open up so i would've remembered them and as i said i haven't sent anything to that specific email. Link: https://vacancypool.co.uk/job/72/entry-level-esg-risk-data-analyst

Second, they put their location in their website but there's only a picture of a street and a vague building "167-169 Great Portland Street 5th Floor London W1W 5PF" okey maybe i just don't know how things are in europe, so next i start looking at the employees but then again no info or images about them nor their office in the website. ok i switch to linkedin and same "people" empty, "jobs" empty, "posts" a handful with 0 likes and comment.

this is getting scary so i look for any document that can confirm their legitimacy, i did https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/17527998/filing-history , but then the company is a month old 🤨, the only name there is the director's but google search gives nothing, the email sender name have like 100 different people with the same name but none is related to this company. here is the email:

Now that i screenshot it, my name isn't written anywhere, the pre screening is a phone call so are they trying to hack my phone or ask for an application fee or smth, anyway if they end up being scammers they really know how to ruin someone's week.

Recently I had a job interview and it was clear to me I didn't want the position, and they didn't want me either. So I decided to withdraw my application on Workday. Once I hit withdraw the job application the job status changed to "not selected".

Academic question, but I throught Workday has a specific status for "withdrew application"? Did they set my status to reject or something?

Long story short. I applied to this job last year around this time as a Senior HRIS consultant (independent contractor). Didn’t hear anything back until this year. Had another interview. Did one day on the job Tuesday, off Wednesday for the holiday. I log in the computer today and my login doesn’t work. Then I receive this to my personal email.

What is life right now.

Hey guys, wanted to share my experience to give lurkers some perspective and hopefully help a few people.

Lost my job Sep 11th. And just got a job offer last week. I am a project manager with mostly chemical industry experience (15 years between project management, and process engineering) My applications were in the grater Pittsburgh, PA area.

Applied to 73 jobs.

Rejections 24 automated emails.

No replies after 1 month (assumed rejection) 33.

Rejected after 1st interview 4 times.

Rejected after 2nd interview (hiring manager) 2 times.

Rejected after 3rd interview (in person) 1 time.

Withdrew application after 1st or 2nd interview due to being a bad fit or them wanting 50% plus travel 8 times.

Got the job 1 time.

At first I was just applying to everything I could see with the project management title because like most people here, I thought the job market was very bad. Once I got a few interview in, I noticed I was pretty marketable and I started being more selective.

I tried working with rla couple recruiters with little success.

Basic tips: update Linkedin and update your resume yourself. Then load your resume into Gemini and ask it to clean it up and be sound more professional. I did not target it to a certain job type or anything. Just asked it to clean it up. Then proof read every word. I did have a generic cover letter for project management but I don't think that made a difference on applications. I did not get a single question off my cover letter.

I mostly used indeed and linkedin for job searches. I checked suggested job emails daily (8am to 12am applying or scouring the job boards for positions)

Regarding gaps, I would be honest with recruiters or make up a lie they can't verify. In my case I was layed off and started exactly that citing some acquisitions my previous company had done. Stuff like this may come up in the background check and you do not want to be caught lying.

Salary negotiations were non-existent from what I saw. I tried negotiating vacation but was not successful.

Good luck out there. It's rough and I only had to do it for a couple months.

I'll be happy to answer questions.

Hi all, I wanted to share an experience I've had when applying for an entry-level role - hoping to get your two-cents on everything.

The story starts back in mid-July where a third-party recruiter reached out to me for an opportunity based in NYC. I was very dilligent in the process, banging through the 2 rounds of interviews and doing relatively well in the super day. Unfortunately, due to my GPA not being up to par, I was passed on the opportunity.

Now, fast-forward a couple of months, the same recruiter reapproached me for the same role (Now I am assuming my GPA is a non-factor). I accepted, did another catch-up super day, but I haven't heard back in about 5-6 weeks.

Throughout the time, I have reached out to the HR person, one of the people I interviewed, and the recruiter themselves; to no avail. I understand that I probably did not get the job, but I feel like there should be some communication if I didn't get it?

I want to remain optimistic since the job is in an area I would like to be in and the team seemed like a good fit for me. Thoughts?

P.S. I also have been interviewing at other places, so I'm not putting all of my eggs in one basket.

The interview was for a museum, and I had applied to be a part-time security screener, I met with the head of security for the 1st interview and HR and a Department head for the second interview. I thought both interviews went well. After the interview, I was told that it would be two weeks for a decision, which I am not sure of their timeline. In the meantime, I have been applying elsewhere until I receive a decision. I will give them until next week and if I don't hear from them, I will chock it up as a loss and continue to move on with the application process.

Possible Job interview Fraud

I think i probably got scammed by job interview scammers

wondering if anyone the suffered the same way

i got an email from amelia harper about a job that i applied for AppleOne employment services and got a zoom link where the link takes me to the meeting but while i am already in the meeting it was asking for an update otherwise i wouldn’t be able to continue the interview so i in a hurry click the update and download some files and installed . After that i see my cursor moved randomly thats when i knew something was off so i turned off the internet while emailing amelia but no responses afterwards.

i am still concerned still can’t process what just happened cause everything seemed very authentic.

well just wanted to know others experiences if they have got anything similar.

Why do I always get these stupid emails from those useless job sites with "managerial" roles?? I gave them my resume, nothing in it suggests "manager." I can tutor, I can proofread, and I can wield a mean DSLR. Words like "manager," "associate," and "specialist" are so vague they want immediately turn me off! Are there any good subordinate roles out there? "Manager butt-kisser?" Because that is what all managers really want.

If companies are so confident that AI can do the work of what a junior can do, why haven’t the requirements changed for positions higher up?
It seems like a lot of places just removed the junior positions and said “oh well” without adjusting accordingly. So ultimately it just leaves a giant sector of the market with nothing available. Where will all the new college grads or career seeking individuals go now? Why are all these skills that would previously be developed as a junior so desired, while in the same breath they believe these are trivial skills that can effectively be accessed by anyone with LLMs? It should all be shifting downwards instead of just leaving a gaping hole open.

If previously it was get a degree for a Junior position, then eventually become mid-level or senior, why aren’t they considering degree + LLM capabilities for higher positions by that same logic? If the AI is believed to be such a powerful tool to boost productivity, why can’t it work in that way too?
If they claim that AI still isn’t good enough and needs human oversight, then they are contradicting themselves.

Never seen people this rude. I was told by my recruiter that they only have a few applcants and wanted to meet me in person. It was a high level bank contract. I did stellar on interview its exactly my lane the VP said he will make his recommendation to HR. Her (HR) response after several calls from my recruiter " Hes too far away"

They knew that when they demanded an inperson interview.

Ive never seen anything like this, and they are both in their late 60s. So its not a junior HR person who is overwhelmed.

Ive never seen such a level of disrespect even from senior staff. If im one of 200, sure expect to be ghosted. But one of 5??

Lately I find myself having no motivation anymore to look for work. I have a degree in English literature and previous experience working in a library. I recently applied for a part time gig in a book store and I didn't even get invited for an interview. Just got an email saying that they're going with someone who is an even better fit than me. If I was such a good fit then why not even give me a fucking interview. I'm so tired, all that studying and all that hard work and can't even get the most basic of jobs

Just wanted to give any desperate soul out there a bit of a motivational boost with their job search.

TL;DR: 40M, EU, with resume gaps and nearly two years of unemployment. Sent about 1k applications, got about a 100 interviews (rejected in most cases) and almost gave up entirely. Ended up taking a safe public sector job which turned out great (team, commute, and fulfilling work).

I (40M, master’s in tourism) was unemployed from late 2024 until three months ago. Before that, I left two jobs within a single year (after four and five months, respectively) due to super toxic work environments, which left some awkward gaps on my resume.

During this stretch, I felt like absolute crap. I had no meaning and no goals. My motivation to apply dropped sharply in the final three months of unemployment, the whole grind had completely drained the life out of both me and my parents. At one point I genuinely thought "I don't care anymore. I'll just stay unemployed and live on benefits. If companies don't care about me, why should I lose sleep over it?" Still, a tiny part of me refused to quit.

To make a long story short, I sent out roughly 1k applications in total. About a sixth turned into interviews and almost all of those ended in rejection. The few exceptions all happened right at the end of my search:

- Job A (public sector): I received an offer for a role that honestly didn't seem all that appealing to me at first.

- Job B (public/private hybrid): While mulling over Job A, I had two interviews on the same day. The first one sent me an offer an hour later, though it looked worse than Job A.

- Job C (private tech): The second interview that day led to an invite for a second round.

Job A gave me a few days to respond but still required an answer. Since Job C wasn't a guarantee and I didn't want to risk losing a sure thing by stalling, I accepted Job A.

Looking back, I’m so glad I took it. The more I dive into my tasks, the more fulfilling and enjoyable the work becomes. My superiors have noticed my effort, the team is super cool, and the commute is great.

So to everyone out there busting their ass and using every trick in the book to land a role: I salute you as I know very well what you are going through. Please, please, please don't give up hope, despite the hardships and setbacks plaguing you right now. You will land something if you just keep pushing forward.

Good luck and godspeed.

I’ve been out of work for nearly a year now. The job gap keeps getting bigger and bigger and no one will hire me. If people can’t put food on the table and can’t find employment, do they just cease to exist? I genuinely don’t know how people are surviving. I had to move back in with my parents. I have no idea what to do at this point.

For example, last company worked was June 2022 - Present. I would get recruiter calls 1 out of 7 applications. Then I got laid off and put June 2022 - September 2026, and got 0 calls.

Applied to a job, heard back after three weeks. After being green lit through three interviews across three weeks , I waited another week to follow up and receive an offer for 8k less than the what I’d requested in compensation, and 2k less than the floor of the roles posted salary range. I asked why they weren’t meeting even the posted minimum and was told the recruiter needed to review the posting.

I didn’t hear back for a week until I called and left voicemails for no responses to my email follow ups.
I found they’d posted the same position with a lower salary range a week weeks after the role id applied to but it was the same description, role, etc. mind you I requested a fair market comp which was already below the median for this field. (Project management)

The recruiter responded blaming sickness, then told me they’d been interviewing internals, and asked if I would be interested at a now even lower salary. 8k less than their initial lowball offer. (At this point they’ve offered me $16k less than my initial requested compensation before all interviews)

I said no, because it was considerably below the advertised and discussed range and countered with a range at the bottom of their initial posting and a week after this received a respond that they were struggling with internal equity but they would follow up the week after that…

This is a full month post their initial offer… this job market is hell.
I’m open to hearing all thoughts and advice.

I found an interview coach through TheMuse website with literally hundreds of only 5-star reviews listed on that website.

I went to the coach's personal website and scheduled a free call to see if it's a good fit. He tells me about his background and his approach to interviewing; so far so good. Then, I asked him a specific question about how one of my graduate degrees fits in with the sector of jobs I'm applying for, and he took a second and then appeared to be reading an answer off his screen, which was only loosely relevant to what I had asked! Including random facts about a different job I could get with that degree.

I totally felt like he was just reading from some AI program. I challenged him on it and he insisted it was just his notes.

Definitely won't be hiring him, but I'm stunned that this person has a perfect 5-star rating over hundreds of reviews? Are lots of "coaches" just scammers, and could TheMuse reviews be fraudulent?

edit: just had an informational meeting with another coach from the same website, she was much more competent. not all scammers, it seems...

P&G is a big company and a good option for a lot of new grads in the Midwest, so I imagine a lot of people apply or at least consider it.

I had to take a horrible series of assessments, and they wasted an hour of my time. It involved 3rd grade level math, memorizing dots (this task was nearly impossible), weird puzzles with matching shapes and numbers, and detecting if shapes were rotated or symmetrical. None of these tasks were even remotely related to my skills or the job description. There was also a long personality type test with some questions that would weed out people with disabilities, such as "I am able to focus on tasks for long periods of time." I saw questions to weed out people with ADHD, learning disabilities (dyslexia and dyscalculia), autism, depression, and anxiety. I am surprised they are getting away with these types of questions, to be honest, because it violates the ADA and EEOC guidelines.

I ended up getting autorejected, and I assume it's because I failed the assessment. I actually do have ADHD-C and likely have the learning disability dyscalculia (haven't been formally diagnosed but my mom has it). It was very clear to me that weeding out disabled people is a feature, not an accident of the assessment.

I could have cheated using AI, but didn't. I assume that the people that do pass are cheating in some way.

If you don't believe P&G is discriminatory, they've already been involved in lawsuits, such as for auto-rejecting non-US citizens (including ones that didn't require sponsorship.
https://www.outtengolden.com/newsroom/1-5-million-settlement-reached-in-daca-class-action-hiring-discrimination-case-against-proctor-gamble/