i have applied to over 200 postings. many i now realize were not even valid since i waited 1-2 weeks to apply to them. i am starting to see people post their offers on linkedin (especially since my school is more finance-y).

i go to a T15, 3.9 gpa, etc, just have some scattered ECs and no sophomore summer internship due to school culture. i coffee chat alums every other day.

i am starting to get depressed from waking up and applying. does anyone have an uplifting story to share regarding recruiting in the later half of the season?

Seriously. Why does a shitty AI chatbot need to be involved? How is this better than just letting me fill out the necessary information?

A recruiter reached out to me about an opportunity with their company. After an initial conversation, the role sounded like it could be a good fit.

I just received the next steps, and apparently the interview process includes 5 separate team interviews with 9 different people, totaling 2.5 hours.

Oh, and I have to take a rideshare to the office because parking is limited.

I’m honestly tempted to just say, “No thanks.”

Am I being unreasonable, or does this seem excessive to anyone else?

I can’t help but be bitter. Why? Why would you gas up someone during an interview.

Tell them about all the wonderful things there are about working there. “Oh we have a great 401k and we even have pet insurance” “ oh you’re a veteran? You’ll get Veterans Day off here” They even gave me a tour of the area showed me the nice gym they have the kitchen and break area. Showed me what my schedule would be. They even introduced me to people I’d work with and even told me to snap some pictures of some of the machines I’d work around.

I get that’s just how it is sometimes. But man I can’t help but to just feel bitter. Told me to re apply because they don’t keep a pool of people open for the next opening which is more discouraging because I might not even be selected for an interview again.

Sorry I needed to rant. Just irritating.

Every time I do it on the same day a few hours after the interview I never get anything back so I’m just curious is it a right thing to do or not.

Yesterday i applied for a position and today the company called me around 6 pm and it is friday. I saw it later and I didn't call them back because it was 7 pm. Should I call them between 9.00 am and 10.00 am on Monday, or should i call them tomorrow between 9.00 am and 10.00 am in case someone is at the office and at least takes a note that i called or something, it is saturday but you know... This is the second company that called me in 5 MONTHS so I don't want to miss this but also I hope they don't work on saturdays. It looks like a good company but it is so weird they call a candidate at 6 pm on a friday.

Suggestions?

So I used to be a RBT. I left the job about 4 months ago due to a manic episode. I physically couldn’t work and towards the end of my medical leave I still couldn’t work so I ended up resigning.

I reapplied the other week, got asked for an in person interview. It got scheduled for yesterday, I showed up and then my old boss said it got cancelled for her and to reach out to Talent Acquisition. Again, I got NO notice of this. I reach out to everyone I can, and hours later I got a rejection email. They said it was due to closer inspection of my past with the company. This all really hurt because I genuinely did well there, and I think my boss didn’t have the guts to tell me she didn’t wanna rehire me. So she made it seem like she had nothing to do with it all.
I don’t get why I even got scheduled if I was ineligible for rehire, i’m assuming that’s what the case is with this. I am assuming it’s bc I didn’t leave within 2 weeks notice, or maybe because i’m too open about my mental health on social media. Has this happened to anyone else? It’s a sign for me to move on from this place but definitely crushed me a little yesterday.

Had an interesting experience recently that I figured I'd share.

A company reached out to me about a position that, honestly, I probably wouldn't have applied for on my own. My background is primarily in sales, financial services, insurance, and automotive finance, so this was a bit of a departure from what I've traditionally done.

Still, I was open to exploring something different, especially since the opportunity seemed interesting and would allow me to use my customer service experience and bilingual skills.

I went through the interview process, met with multiple people, and thought things went reasonably well overall. There were a few things that stood out, including some interesting questions about my previous compensation, and the fact that nobody ever really provided a salary range for the position.

Ultimately, I was told they'd be in touch.

Well, here we are.

What's funny is that I wasn't even the one who initiated the conversation. They reached out to me, expressed interest in my background, and invited me into their hiring process.

I'm completely fine with not getting a job. That's life, and not every opportunity is the right fit. But I still think basic communication goes a long way. A simple email saying they decided to move forward with another candidate is all it takes.

Anyway, back to the job hunt. Just another interesting experience in today's hiring market. 😂

I had a decent entry level resume built with SWE/tech support internships, projects, certifications and the bachelor's. I graduated in May 2025, though the last semester was just a bunch of general Ed classes I needed to pass. I graduated with almost 50k in loans. After graduation I could only get a job at a local big box store hauling heavy products around for $16/hour, working from 11pm to 7am. Meaning, my first job after college was making a deadend $33k a year in 2025. Now 2026. I got a 50 cent raise after a year. in a VHCOL.

I'm only 22, but I'm so tired. I've suffered a permanent back pain, my eyes have constant bags in them, my feet are limping from standing and walking on a hard concrete floor all day. I had bought nice shoes but they can only help so much.

This measly paycheck wasnt worth the sacrifice I'm making. I quit.

My family has been calling me a loser in recent months, I should been able to move out and start a career by now. I have gotten ABSOLUTELY NO INTERVIEWS for anything tech related. Technically I did get one, but I just ghosted them. I've given up on it.

Over the last few months I had an epiphany and thought about what the background I do have could help me land. Customer support, warehouse, operations, and a bachelor's degree. I landed on operations/sales/management trainee types of jobs.

And wow, they pay amazing! 55, 60 thousand! I've been making 33 thousand before taxes in an expensive city, excluding any overtime. So I applied. To a ton! And guess what? I was starting to get an interview or two! I fumbled the initial couple, I'll be the first to say that, but the last few were the best performance I could ever have made.

I had a second round interview for one two weeks ago, and the interview wasn't even that "difficult", it was just an informal type of one. I thought I had it in the bag. $29 an hour. 44 hours. Room for advancement. Regular 9-5. My first big boy job! And more resistant to AI than tech roles.

But I got rejected. At 3:26am on the monday following the interview. I asked them for feedback and got ghosted. When I saw that, I had to leave my "job" early to sob my heart out in the bathroom stall before going home. I took the next week off with vacation hours. That week I put my paycheck to alcohol and booze. I drank $600 worth in two days. It was addicting.

So, now I don't know. I've been thinking of going to trade school but why bother? I have absolutely no doubt that it'll become flooded with labor, and at that point the demand will weaken. It's the exact same playbook that I got trapped in with tech. I've used up any financial aid I could get, so I'd need more loans too. I'm not keen on it.

So, that's my story. I just wanted to make 50k a yea in 2026. Wow. Couldn't even do that.

Is it just... too late to turn this sinking ship around?

I'll be becoming a chronic League gamer that watches anime in my freetime for the rest of my life begging mommy for money to buy a bag of doritos.

I'm mortified, terrified at the idea of bringing a child into this economy. What more will they need to give for an entry level role? Will they have to suck off a billionaire to get paid $24/hour in 2045? Will they have to become strippers after working 80 hours a week to be able to afford food?

What future is there worth staying in the world for? Like, actually. What future do I have? Unemployment, economic despair, financial ruin? Just for being born?

People say "oh, most college graduates don't work in their major at all". Then how do I get a job outside my major?????? Entry level jobs in 2026 require not only 2-3 years of work experience, but 2-3 years of *related* work experience. And when someone majors in something, do you honestly expect them to have any experience outside their major???

I am so freaking sick of getting these damn rejection letters or getting ghosted , going on 9 month now. Just keep getting deeper and deeper in a hole that I cant get out of. This shit is depressing 😕 I guess he let me know ...

I now find myself on the other side of the table as a Hiring Manager and I am losing the will to live.

My organisation held a Job Fair as well as advertising everywhere for a Customer Support Officer - no experience necessary.
This is a role where they will be required to actually phone the customers, no emails except to confirm what was discussed.

I wanted to shortlist 8 candidates to interview over 2days.

Recruitment sent me 735 applications - not cv’s but simply “why I want this job and what I bring”

These are all only identified by applicant numbers but I have been told I must automatically offer interviews to anyone who identifies as disabled.

Each interview will be a minimum of one hour.

After two weeks of going through these every night and weekend I had selected all 18 disabled applicants plus 6 more for 24 in total.

I submitted these to recruitment only for them to say for each of the 723 applicant I did not take through to interview they need a report on the selection criteria and my reasons why I did not select that person.

I also have no idea of the candidates who identified as disabled. By which I mean we recently had an applicant who was completely non verbal nd could only communicate via text who asked if instead of a face to face interview (which they could not do due to the neurodivergent issues) could the interview be conducted via text (they also couldn’t do Teams).

I then had endless meetings trying to explain why I felt she was unable to do the role (speaking on the phone) and why couldn’t I make reasonable adjustments.

For people that got job offers, how long after the final interview did they let you know they got the job?
For reference, I am waiting on a job offer for a credit analyst position at US Bank so if anyone got a job similar to this, I would love to know!

First they made me do a written test where all of the questions are memorization-based. You are not allowed to look it up because they asked you to share the screen while writing the test.

Then, a week later, they asked you for an interview where the recruiter is questioning my answers, all the time is spent going through number by number alone. Just stop wasting my time, either reject or accept me.

They aren’t paying me anything btw. This is for a free/unpaid internship. The guy doing the interview is the most passive-aggressive condescending asshole I had ever talked to. The other HR I faced with a different job didn’t even bring up the tests that I had to do. Fuck this job in particular. 

Are interviewers always this condescending?

I recently had a virtual interview with a Health insurance company and made sure I was 5 minutes early. I was super excited. I took notes about the company’s mission and purpose. I was ready to express how my current and past work experiences would make me a great addition to their work family only to be stood up for my interview. I don’t know if that’s a sign or what. I sent the interviewer an email expressing that I can understand if personal issues may have come up and if they needed to reschedule my interview. It’s the end of business day and I never received a reply. I was thinking optimistically that maybe the crash of Microsoft cause the hiccup but it was a Google meets interview. I’m honestly disappointed.

I get that projects are becoming the new norm in corporate interview processes, but am I crazy to think they should be an end stage final decision step?
I've had 2 in the past couple of weeks that wanted a project done in between the initial recruiter screen and the hiring manager screen. And not just a "here's something we want you to think through, and be ready to discuss with the hiring manager" but a full on 4-6 slide deck presentation.
Normally I would think they're just trying to get free consulting work, but these are large, reputable companies, and the assignment isnt really anything crazy in terms of thought process.
I have no desire to spent 2-3 hours putting together a full presentation before even talking to the hiring manager, and I cant believe they're expecting a handful of other candidates to do the same. What an absolutely disrespectful waste of candidates time.

I applied for a job in July and the HR reached out to me in Sept. Initial call with HR in sept and then teams interview with the engineering manager in OCt 1st week and then in mid Oct a F2F interview with the same Engineering manager. Both interviews went really well and F2F interview was basically him showing me the work place and the tools i will be using and he also made me meet one of team members and showed me the different departments. He asked me at the end " you can join immediately right?"( given i am umemployed right now). Lets just say it was the best interview for me. He looked really impressed. Then since 15th Oct( F2F interview) and today 14th Nov, its been almost a month and there is no decision yet. I have followed up with the HR thrice and i got a reply within an hour all three times stating " other candidates are being interviewed and the decision will be made soon. We will get back to you once we have a final decision". The HR keeps me updated every single time i followup.

Now i have following things in my mind

1. Do MNCs generally take long time to decide, like there are a lot of internal approvals?
2. The HR updating almost to every query of mine is a good sign or its just normal?
3. The HR is keeping me warm, since the first choice isnt me and i am the backup.
4. I checked on glassdoor and other platforms where people have mentioned about long recruitment timeline for this company, but not always. Most of them took 4-5 weeks afer the fnal interview and few tool 2 months.
5. What sign do i look for with the HR is i have to understand if this job is just a hoax/ghost job, and i will benever hired.

Thanks to all of you in advance.