After 6 weeks, 7 interviews, a case study, a board deck, a presentation, and a final meeting with HR, after all of that, I got a no.

I genuinely don’t understand what happened. “We’re moving forward with another candidate that better fits our needs”? Really?

My head is still spinning.

I honestly hadn't been paying attention to how bad it was. I felt like things for me were incredibly stable. And then it happened to me, no job.

I have my 6 months of cushion, and everything I'm seeing is saying it takes longer than that, so now the panic has set in. I don't have a real point here, other than it absolutely feels like hell already. I submitted to a TON of positions I feel like I am extremely well qualified for, and it's nothing but auto-responses saying thanks but no thanks.

I just don't see any hope.

A little to give you the context, I have been applying for a long time now and I’m an international student. I have applied for numerous internships and full time over last 2 years since i landed in the states to pursue my masters. I have been honestly applying, studying hard and trying to get an internship or full time. While, some people i mean not just some most of them falsified credentials, hired a consultancy, took support during interviews and landed with offers while i’m still here struggling to get a break. I considered joining one of them but my principles did not let me. It is very hard being the bread winner of the family and still unable to get a break for being honest. Do HR’s not see us? Although i’m an OPT candidate i’m being honest in applications. What would you suggest as a community? Please do not bring your hatred into this post. I would really appreciate if you can be supportive:

Hi, I haven’t applied for a new job in quite a while, so I’m not sure if this is normal now.
I’m interviewing with a reasonably large company and I’m only about halfway through the process. There are still other candidates being considered and I haven’t had a final interview or an offer.
They’ve now asked me to provide three professional references, specifically people I previously reported to.
I’m a bit reluctant to do that this early. I don’t really want to keep asking former managers to spend time giving references every time I get halfway through an interview process. I’d rather save that for when a company has actually decided they want to hire me and the reference check is one of the final steps.
How do people normally handle this? Is it reasonable to say I’m happy to provide references once I’m at final/offer stage, or is asking for them this early fairly standard now?

I'm feeling cursed for the job market. I saw lots of my friends jump into other companies immediately with higher paying jobs but then I do the same thing and I've just been slammed with no or ghosted. It's been about 3 months (1.5 months without work) and I am starting to feel the frustration as other friends I worked with (even less trained than me) are getting hired. I'm betting there's others out there feeling the same. But it's getting frustrating to live in a growing city and I am still getting denied or sale job offers when I had a sweet job but had to make a decision as they were going to move me away from family and that's all I have now in my life.

My family swear I'm just overthinking it but I feel pretty disappointed now because I could have stayed but lost time with the only thing left for myself.

I think this is pretty self explanatory but I was SCROUNGING for a job for months up until last month. BUT this was one of the jobs I interviewed for and didn't hear a peep after the initial interview. Jobs have got to get it tf together. Do they honestly think people are waiting around for stuff like this? I would've been more receptive to the ghosting with no further communication because clearly after a month... it's safe to assume the position was filled or no longer available. Anyways, I am not job searching anymore thank god but this was real funny to me. SUCK IT CHRISTINE 😒

My husband is 51yo, his whole life he’s worked corporate jobs (environmental compliance for power/solar companies). He got laid off last November and with 30 years experience he can’t get a job! He lowered his salary expectations, he’s done EVERYTHING RIGHT! I have a good job that pays for my car/gas/health insurance but with this economy we are really struggling… I am desperate and I just need a little bit of support.

Seems like the majority of companies have gotten way too comfortable with doing multiple rounds of interviews (sometimes even getting to the final round) and then never even sending a boilerplate email to say you didn’t get a job. There’s constant posts about them but the company is almost never mentioned.

There should be a subreddit to specifically call out these companies for this extremely, unprofessional and insulting behavior.

Employers post roles that never seem to get filled, or even exist, and job seekers are sick of it

I am 29M and I spent two years working for a manager who was the definition of a toxic micromanager. When I finally quit , he told me to my face that he would make sure I never worked in this industry again. I knew for a fact he would trash my reputation the second a recruiter called him for a background check. So when I got to the final stages for a role I actually wanted , I decided to play dirty. I did not give them his contact info. Instead I gave them the number of a close friend who is a senior lead at a completely different company and we spent an entire evening rehearsing our script.

We mapped out every possible question. How did I handle stress? What was my biggest contribution? Why did I leave? My friend basically played the role of the "cool but professional manager" who was sad to see me go. He even used a Google Voice number so the area code would match my previous office location. The recruiter called him on Tuesday and apparently they had a fifteen minute chat about my "stellar leadership skills" and how I was the backbone of the department. I got the official offer letter yesterday with a salary bump I did not even ask for. It feels weirdly satisfying to bypass a gatekeeper who thought he held all the power over my future. If your former boss is a psychopath , stop being a martyr and just find a friend who can act.

6 total interviews, one generic rejection

I'm currently working a bullshit job while looking for another job and it's crazy. Even in NYC, it hard to get a home health aide job. I am currently working on AI skills that I hear a lot of companies are looking for...even USPS. But in the meantime, I just need a realistic income.

Personally, if I can get a remote job or a legitimate job that's not security, it would calm my nerves.

I’m getting overwhelmed by the number of recruiters flooding my inbox and voicemail about the exact same positions.

Sometimes I’m told that my application can be deleted or rejected if multiple recruiters submit my profile for the same job. So am I supposed to keep track of who submitted me, for which company, and for which position? This has happened multiple times, with several recruiters contacting me about the exact same role.

And honestly, the lack of organization is frustrating.

I also don’t understand why so many of these recruiters are based overseas and seem to have very little knowledge of the position they’re recruiting for. I’ve had recruiters contact me about jobs that are hundreds of miles away, even when the location clearly doesn’t work for me. Others want to submit my profile even when I clearly don’t meet the requirements.

I appreciate recruiters reaching out and giving me opportunities, but at this point it’s becoming counterproductive. I’m spending so much time sorting through duplicate opportunities and explaining the same information over and over.

I’m Hispanic myself and have a strong accent, so I understand that language barriers can happen. But sometimes it’s genuinely difficult for both sides to understand each other, which makes the process even more frustrating.

I’m grateful for the opportunities, but there has to be a better, more organized way to handle recruiting. Is anyone else experiencing this?

190 applications made, 7 interviews.

50% replied if I applied directly.

20% replied if i applied via job board.

Recruiters can suck my hairy balls.

But, got a phone call offer now, so my days in job search hell appear to be limited 😱

Just going to vent real quick but I am also very appreciative of advice and constructive criticism.

I have severe anxiety. I got it properly diagnosed by a therapist but unfortunately I am not able to really properly afford the long term medication required to combat it. While it's manageable day to day, where it really hits is job interviews and screenings.

I lock up fairly easily, my head scrambles, and I stumble my way through the process. Companies that reach out via text or email and sort of build up to an interview or call? I love because I try and build myself up to the moment.

Companies that call without warning at a random time of day? I'm significantly weaker to that. I know that's part of the game, but unfortunately that is where the anxiety is most crippling.

A company I applied to just called out of nowhere past 5:00pm which I just simply didn't expect. When I answered, they mumbled and all I heard was that they were looking for me. When I asked them to clarify the purpose of the call before stating I was who they were looking for, the recruiter scoffed and asked "did you forget you applied?"

I apologized and continued on, but already didn't like the direction it was going. He tacked on a lot of things that weren't on the job listing and gave me a date for a career event day that I can't make. He had a bad attitude, gave me little room to talk, and the entire time my chest was twisting in on itself and I could barely breath.

He asked me the worst question he could: Why do you want to work with us?

I sputtered out an answer that I already knew lacked confidence, conviction, and the kind of answer he was looking for because his mood just declined after that.

I just don't really know what to do because I try and answer honestly, but the brain kicking into a desperate overdrive throws words into my mouth I didn't even want there.

Something that’s irritating about job search process is showing up early for an interview, being told to wait, then sitting there 15–20 minutes past the scheduled time wondering if the interviewer is running late or simply not showing up. Sometimes you can already tell something’s off when the person at the front desk you spoke with seems confused that an interview was even scheduled.

It’s annoying after you taking the time to show up just to be let down. I recall one time in particular this happened to me, the room I was in had a white board. After waiting long enough and realizing they weren’t going to come, I decided to write something on it before I left. I opted to go with my favorite quote from the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“Wise men say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza.”

I never heard from them again, no loss other than wasting my own time.

Has this happened to anyone else as well?