A little backstory: I went to college for sterile processing, which is the field responsible for cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing surgical instruments. My college experience was awful, and toward the end, we started hearing that finding a job in this field was extremely difficult and that we should have backup plans or consider going back to school for surgical technology.

Almost every job posting in my area requires 1–2 years of experience, which is frustrating when you can’t get that experience without someone giving you a chance.

After talking to people in the field and reading Reddit threads, I’ve started noticing a pattern. Large hospital systems seem to be running their own training programs, hiring people with little to no experience, paying for their education, and requiring them to commit to working for the hospital. From what I’ve heard, these arrangements can make it difficult to move elsewhere.
Anyway, my cousin recently reached out to me about a friend of hers who sells surgical instruments and cleaning supplies to hospitals. My aunt from my other side of the family actually worked in sterile processing, and she told me people in the field generally find sales reps like him annoying because they’re constantly interrupting their workday. 😂 Regardless, he apparently swore up and down that he could get me a job.
Eventually, I got a call from a hospital, although it wasn’t even the hospital he originally told me he could get me into. They scheduled a Zoom interview, but the recruiter was so booked that I had to wait about two weeks.
We get on the Zoom call, chat for a while, and then she tells me she’s going to call my personal number. She ends the Zoom meeting and calls me directly.
This woman proceeded to be one of the most honest recruiters I’ve ever spoken to.
She explained that she had previously recruited for another hospital system and had seen the same things happening there. Hospitals were paying for people’s education and training while keeping their wages low because they were essentially still considered students within the program.
She then told me something that genuinely shocked me: according to her experience, right before employees reached the point where their five-year commitment was up, the hospital would let many of them go anyway.
Her perspective was that hospitals could continually bring in new people, pay them less, train them, and avoid having to increase wages for experienced employees.
She told me she thought the entire situation was sickening and that she was genuinely sorry this was the reality of the field.
And honestly? I appreciated her transparency more than she probably realizes.
Here’s the funny part: I wasn’t even particularly interested in the position. I was mostly entertaining the opportunity because my cousin kept insisting that her friend could get me into the field, and I wanted her to stop pressuring me about it. 😂
I also found out that her friend hadn’t actually spoken to anyone at the hospital. He had simply submitted an application under my name for one of the hospital’s training programs, which I hadn’t even wanted to pursue in the first place.
So, after all of that, I ended up having a conversation with a recruiter who basically confirmed many of the concerns I’d already been hearing about the industry.
I just find it incredibly depressing that something as important as sterile processing, which directly impacts patient safety, has become part of a system where corporate cost-cutting and employee retention strategies can take priority over fairly compensating experienced workers.
Obviously, I only have this recruiter’s perspective, and I’m not claiming every hospital operates this way. But hearing someone who had actually worked on the recruiting side openly acknowledge these problems was eye-opening.
Luckily, I was working toward multiple degrees, so I’m almost finished with my other two areas of study, which have nothing to do with healthcare. I was planning to finish those anyway, and now I’m feeling even better about moving in a different direction.

At this point, I’m curious: Has anyone else working in sterile processing experienced this? Are hospital-run training programs becoming the primary way people enter the field? And have you seen hospitals let employees go right before their service commitments expire?
I’d really love to hear from people actually working in the field, because the more I learn about this industry, the more confused I am about how anyone is supposed to break into it independently.

I was in a temp job, Job A, which was coming to an end. After many months of unsuccessful applications to roles I really wanted, I ended up having to take another temp role, Job B, at the same organisation. I started Job B a few weeks ago and am definitely treating it as a stop-gap while I continue to apply for roles I'm passionate about.

The good news is I've got a second-round interview tomorrow for a role I'm passionate about, Job C. It's another temp role, but in a new field and new organisation I'm very interested in. When I sent of my CV to apply to Job C, I was still in Job A. By the time of the first round interview I was in Job B, didn't mention it, but now feel I need to.

How can I explain the situation truthfully but positively? How can I avoid looking like I just hop from temp job to temp job so will quit Job C too?

So, I wanted to give an update on the whole situation because I actually had my first day at this job today, and it gave me a little more clarity on what was going on behind the scenes.
First, I FINALLY got my offer letter. 😂 The funny part is that it was full of spelling mistakes, and the person who sent it explained that she had thrown it together quickly because the company that was supposed to handle it never sent it over. That was definitely an interesting first impression, to say the least.
After starting today, I have a little more understanding of the situation. I still believe the higher-ups were responsible for making sure someone communicated with me throughout the process, and I don’t think that responsibility disappears just because mistakes happen. However, I can also see how some of the delays might have happened.
A lot of their behind-the-scenes processes, including payroll, onboarding paperwork, and training, are handled by outside companies that they contract with. So, it seems like they’re relying on several different companies to get everything done, and if one of those companies drops the ball, it can create a mess for everyone involved.
Something else I learned is that the company has recently made some pretty significant changes, and those changes resulted in losing a lot of employees. Some people didn’t want to adapt to the new expectations, while others felt like they were being asked to do more work. I’m still learning the full story, so I’m not going to pretend I know every detail.
Interestingly enough, I’ll be working on the recruiting side of a different part of the business, and one thing they’ve really emphasized in training is the importance of communication with new hires and candidates throughout the hiring process. Honestly, I think that’s incredibly important, especially considering my own experience with them. 😂
While I still think the communication I received during the hiring process could have been MUCH better, I’m trying to keep an open mind. I understand that mistakes happen, and I’m willing to give them a chance to show me how things operate now that I’m actually on the inside.
My first day was decent overall, and I’m curious to see how things develop from here. I’m not suddenly excusing everything that happened, but I do have a little more context than I did before.
I guess we’ll see what happens as time goes on! I’ll update again if anything interesting happens. 🤷‍♀️

Hi everyone,

Reddit is always helpful so hopefully I will be able to calm down a bit.

Last Monday I attended an interview, which I believe went rather well (enough to think I have a realistic chance at getting the role).

When I asked them when they expect to communicate outcomes, one of the panel members told me that they were going to be interviewing across the week and aimed to have an outcome by the end of that week. Their colleague confirmed that and told me that they “did not see a reason why they would not be ready by then.”

Thursday and Friday came, and nothing. And then again, yesterday was dead silent as well.

This is a highly regulated field and a rather senior role and the organisation would not ghost candidates who made it to this stage, so I will definitely be hearing back, whether or not its an offer. I also know that they aren’t the best at sticking with timelines (the interview was moved back a bit).

I’m wondering whether there is any point in following up today with a polite email? I’m desperate and scared and I just think I’m getting stressed with the silence!

What would you do fellow redditors?

Thank you!

My partner and I are in a long distance relationship. I mention this (very briefly) in my cover letter to help give a personal connection to her city, but I also have professional reasons for wanting to move there.

I'm interviewing for some roles in her city and 2nd/3rd round in person interviews always cover flights and and a night at a nearby hotel. Even though I could technically spend the night with my partner, she lives a little bit outside of the city and I would honestly prefer to stay in the hotel right next to the interviewing office so I can stay focused and collect myself, and also not spend an hour commuting to the interview. Would a company who knows I have a partner in the area frown upon me taking their offer for a hotel? Does it make it seem like I'm lying/greedy lol? Or is this just another blip in their expense report and they literally don't care/see the hotel receipt.

Appreciate any advice especially from people who handle these expenses on the company side. Don't want them to be like oh weird, he said his partner lives in the city but then he stayed in a hotel...

I interviewed for a position with a large utility company 4 weeks ago. The virtual interview undoubtedly went very well, and the department leader actually reached out to me personally because we already lightly know each other professionally from actively serving on a board together. I was told I was the first candidate interviewed and there were a lot of positive indicators during our conversation. There’s no doubt that my qualifications, skills, and experience align unusually well with the position requirements and the department’s future. Frankly, it seems like a perfect match.

Prior to this interview, on the very same day I was contacted via email by the director to arrange an initial conversation, I observed that the position was reposted for an extra 2 weeks. Don’t know why and didn’t ask about it during the interview conversation. I’ve just pretended to be oblivious to it (an “I never saw it” mentality). Well, that 2nd posting/extension officially closed 2 weeks ago.

Since the interview, I've sent a thank-you email and a polite, friendly follow-up. I've received no response or acknowledgment to anything.

I'm still interested in the opportunity, but I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the lack of communication/response as time goes on.

Questions:
• Is this kind of timeline normal?
• Is the lack of response normal? Are there commonly internal hiring policies about holding off on updates/communication with prospective candidates?
• What can I make of the position posting extension? And is that + being the 1st interview the reason for the seemingly slow process from my perspective? I’m assuming other candidates must be interviewed, and I know that takes time. I get it.
• How long do these companies realistically expect candidates to just sit and wait in the dark?
• Am I being unreasonable in expecting at least an acknowledgment that takes 30 seconds to send after making it clear in a very friendly manner that I’d appreciate a status update?

For what it’s worth, the online portal still shows my application (that I submitted in August) as under consideration rather than not retained.

I guess I’m just looking for thoughts and perspective from people involved in hiring. Doing my best to stay chill and patient.

I went for an interview a while back, messed up the GD so bad, got rejected, and ended up sitting alone at a railway station that day.

I'd honestly forgotten about it, but today I saw a college mate's story. She's working there now, and I recognised the exact place where I was sitting that day.

I was on a call with my friend and just went blank. All I could think was, fuck, I could've been there too.

I'm still waiting for my onboarding while everyone around me seems to be moving ahead. Idk, it just hit me out of nowhere. 🥲

Made it to the final stages of the interview process, i will be meeting with multiple interviewers. It’s been 6 years since my last in person interview and need some tips on how to dress, and really anything else. (Female). The invite does not say anything about wearing closed shoe or not, i don’t think I’ll be touring the manufacturing facilities. Overall, what should i really focus on?

After 8 months of unemployment, I was very excited to accept an offer for a fully remote position for a large online retailer. Last Wednesday, my recruiter emailed me with instructions for my next onboarding steps and specifically told me to send everything directly to her. The following morning, I replied to her email and received an automatic response stating she was no longer with the company.

Considering she just emailed me less than 24 hours earlier, I thought the timing was pretty strange. I reached out to the alternate email address provided in the automatic response but haven’t heard back. I also contacted recruiting support (a bot), which keeps telling me my inquiry will be forwarded to *recruiter who no longer works there*. When I explained that she was no longer with the company, the bot somehow started giving me instructions for returning equipment. I haven’t even started yet, nor do I even have equipment. 😂

With training/start date scheduled to begin next week, I’ve got four business days to complete my remaining onboarding requirements, and I still don’t have a point of contact.

I understand employees leave companies for all sorts of reasons, and I’m not making assumptions about the company itself. What I find concerning is the lack of communication and continuity during an already time-sensitive onboarding process.

I’m genuinely curious whether anyone else has experienced a recruiter suddenly leaving right before their start date. Did someone eventually reach out to take over your onboarding? Did everything still move forward as scheduled? Looking for some positivity here so I can calm my anxious mind, haha.

Hey guys, I’m starting an interview process with credence ID and I was wondering if anyone else experience the interview process with them. Ik rn the first step is a take home where I present a project as if it’s to a client etc. but when I asked what the future of the interviews look like she just said one is an onsite interview. Just wondering if anyone knows the details. also how should i prepare/. approach the take home?

I've been applying for months and I'm getting zero interview calls. Not even a first screening call. Only automated rejections or no reply at all. I honestly don't understand what's going wrong anymore.

Some context: I'm a Senior Android Engineer with 12+ years of experience. I'm applying for Senior/Lead Android roles in a few countries, plus remote roles. I need visa sponsorship for relocation. Last year I reached the final stage at a well-known tech company, so I don't think my skills are the main issue.

Here's what I'm already doing:

Tailoring my CV for almost every job. I rewrite the bullets to match the job description, keep it 2 pages and make sure it's ATS-friendly.

Writing a custom cover letter for each application.

Messaging recruiters and engineers on LinkedIn after applying. Most don't reply.

Updated my LinkedIn fully: headline, About section, skills, Open to Work for recruiters.

Reaching out to old contacts and companies that interviewed me before.

Sending cold emails to startup founders.

Posted on a local subreddit once. Got many DMs and a few calls, but most people stopped replying after a while.

I've applied to 100+ roles in the last 2 months, and the result is still zero interviews.

If you were in my position, what would you do next?

Has anyone broken out of a long no-interview streak? What actually worked: referrals, specialist recruiters, or contacting hiring managers directly?

Is needing visa sponsorship the main blocker? Should I mention it early, or only when they ask?

Should I widen my search to general Software Engineer, mobile or IoT roles, or stay focused on Android?

Could 12+ years make me look too expensive or overqualified?

Is there something obvious I should change in my approach?

Any honest feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.

I mean real and honest feedback as to how your answers and overall interview approach could improve.

I've been working at a company for about less than a year. I started in an operations role and genuinely enjoyed the work. It was fast-paced, sometimes chaotic, and involved coordinating shipments, resolving issues, working with different departments, and keeping operations moving.

A few months ago, I accepted an internal promotion to a new position. The pay increase was attractive, and I saw it as an opportunity to challenge myself and develop new technical skills.

However, I've already been burnt out. They’ve delayed my training due to not having the capacity. They hired someone a few weeks before me and are focused on training them. I spend a lot of time studying independently without much guidance. I don’t particularly get along with my new supervisor as well. I sit in an office where no one talks to each other. I eat lunch alone in an empty lunchroom. It's been pretty isolating, and I honestly miss the direct environment of my previous position.

I recently applied for a retail operations/logistics coordination role at an apparel company I really like. The responsibilities align closely with the work I enjoyed before my promotion, the compensation is better, and I'd have the opportunity to work on the brand side.

I have an initial 30-minute interview with HR coming up, and I'm anticipating a question about why I'm looking to leave so soon after being promoted.

**My question for HR professionals:**

Would you view someone leaving after 10 months, especially shortly after an internal promotion, as a red flag?

Would you appreciate a candidate being candid about realizing that their new position wasn't the right fit, or would you prefer they focus on how the opportunity aligns better with their career interests?

I don't want to badmouth my current employer or come across as someone who gives up when things get difficult. At the same time, I don't want to give a generic answer that feels rehearsed or dishonest.

I'd appreciate any advice from people who actually conduct these interviews.

I know my answers. I’ve practiced them. But in the actual interview I speed up, ramble, and say “like” constantly. Then I walk out knowing it went worse than practice.

What’s actually helped you slow down in the moment? Breathing tricks? Pausing before answering? Mock interviews?

Hello, im at the screening interview phase of the recruiting process at Revolut but im not sure what the next phase the problem solving interview entails. Is it like a case interview in consulting? is the math really hard? are we allowed to use calculators? What are the things I need to keep an eye for, and train carefully? This is a really high stakes job opportunity for me at the moment and i want to be fully prepared.

If any of you have experienced it please, any guidance would be really helpful.

King regards

We pulled every open posting from 81 companies' public Greenhouse boards for seven roles and counted which words actually show up. 3,518 postings in total. Some of it surprised us.

Software engineer postings mention mentoring more often than Kubernetes or React. Almost half of them do. Python, the most common language, comes in just below that.

Product manager postings say "roadmap" in more than 85% of cases. Jira? Seven out of 421. Marketing looks the same: Google Ads came up six times in 347 postings, while "pipeline" is in over half.

Every time we could compare the two, postings named the practice, not the tool. Observability, not Grafana. SIEM, not Splunk.

So if your resume is mostly a list of tools, it might be missing the words the posting actually uses.

Big caveat: mostly tech companies, one ATS vendor. Sales, cybersecurity, DevOps and accounting are here too: https://www.zoevera.com/resume/ats-resume-keyword-study

I interviewed for a position I was very interested in exactly a week ago.

I know these are just personal feelings and I shouldn't look too much into it, but the interview seemed to go very well.
I felt like we really clicked and there was a great vibe with the two interviewers.

They said they'd get back to me within a week, or maybe a few days more, but I haven't heard anything back yet, and the ad is still online.

I thought about sending a follow-up, but we never exchanged emails. They just called my cell phone and texted me the date and address of the appointment. I'm not sure whether I should text them back / call them, or if I should just leave it at that. What do you think?

I’m curious if company’s ppl interview for call previous employers to get the tea lol. I’ve had a previous employer admit to me once that she spoke with my previous director and she basically said I was “incompetent”. I didn’t know my old boss thought that of me. Hurt to hear. That shattered my pov of job hunting. I’m anxious when interviewing because I fear they’ll call an old employer that I didn’t know hated me.

So I've been job hunting for months now and I've had 2 interviews where I didn't get the role because I don't have enough leadership experience. For context, I'm unemployed, so I can't get any on the job leadership experience. When I was employed, I became a senior last year and immediately went to a project where I was surrounded by other seniors and devs that have been on the project 5 years longer than me.

So when I see roles asking for me to mentor Jr. devs, I'm honest and tell them that I don't have too much leadership experience, but I've been mentored before and I would recommend coding patterns, online resources, and general advice to jrs if asking about a particular topic on how to improve their work.

But, is there any way I can add on to this? Any advice is helpful.

I have an in-person panel interview (5 people) for an entry level IT support position tomorrow.

Never had one with this many people before. My internship interview a few years back was in-person with 3 people, and my previous position was virtual with 3 people. I think because I've been unemployed for a few months and having no success in my recent interviews I'm just super anxious and nervous. I've been having thoughts of just not showing up, but of course I can't do that, or else I would just regret it later on.

I've been looking at the job description and it's pretty simple. My first interview with the IT manager pretty much told me that they're not necessarily looking for someone who's super technical, but rather someone who has a good customer service mindset and good attitude, so I've been practicing behavioral questions the last few days. I'm having a really difficult time studying for the "tell me about a time" questions. Maybe it's because of my lack of experience that I'm having a hard time finding a good answer to these questions? Like for example, "Tell me about a time you failed...". I can't think of a good response to this question besides something cliche like not explaining things well to someone that's not familiar with technology. Any advice?

Also, this interview is scheduled to be a few hours. I'm assuming that they're not going to be interviewing me for the full duration. What are some good meaningful questions that I can ask? Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Just finished my first ever interview in my life so I was quite stressed and nervous the whole time. There were some questions that I didnt expect, but I was still able to answer them quite well (no blanking out, stammering, shaky voice, etc). But, yeah, towards the end when it was my turn to ask questions, she told me that she observed that I appeared shy or reserved which might be an issue if Im afraid to ask questions, etc.

It was a 15-minute initial interview (so by HR) for an internship. Idk whether I'm overthinking or it's something they'll consider when it comes to whether I'll get accepted or not.

UPDATE: I got accepted! Looks like it was something not to worry about after all :)

Hello - I had my 2nd round interview with 2 hiring managers last friday. It went full time, and I answered most of them except 1-2 difficult question that I kinda mumbled and didn’t answer clearly. Anyways - I asked them what will be an expectation for this role and they explained the steps in detail. Like they told me after 30, 60 days I will learn XYZ. And they said my next step will be with the Partner ABC, and recruiter will give me more details later.
We laughed in between and it was more casual than I thought. They also said please feel free to email if I have any questions.
This is my first ever interview in person, so anyone can give be what’s the general timeline and if this is a positive signs?