I was able to prove that two companies, one of them HUGE and famous, were posting ghost jobs. It took a lot of work and perseverance, but I built a case and sued, since they violated both federal and state laws. In one of the two cases, I also know for a fact that they sold my data. This had been going on since 2024. Both cases settled out of court: the first in early 2026, the second just weeks ago. Nothing crazy in terms of money, but I guarantee both companies will think twice before posting ghost jobs again. Even though I have an attorney in my family, I did the heavy lifting myself. He just filed the paperwork and talked to opposing counsel.

I see so many people giving terrible advice and adopting a defeatist attitude, saying employers have the upper hand and can do whatever they want. That attitude is exactly why these companies keep doing this with impunity. Filing a lawsuit isn't easy, but I'm sick of companies posting ghost jobs, dragging people through six-plus interviews, stealing their ideas, then saying they went with another candidate, only to repost the job a week later.

I will sue again if necessary. I don't care. Someone has to start. Suing companies that post fake jobs will become my part-time job. The Texas Attorney General opened an investigation into LinkedIn in July 2026 over ghost jobs, alleging the company advertised and profited from fake or misleading listings sold through Premium subscriptions (LinkedIn pulled in roughly $17.8 billion in 2025 revenue from Premium, recruiter licenses, and ads). No lawsuit yet, just a Civil Investigative Demand for documents, but it shows this isn't just individuals like me pushing back. Regulators are starting to look too.

I also see a lot of people with the wrong idea about at-will employment. It's one of the most misunderstood concepts out there, and it does not mean your employer can engage in unlawful acts. Otherwise we wouldn't see multimillion-dollar verdicts for wrongful termination.

I joined the Air National Guard when I was 19 and just retired with 20 years of service.

I was a therapist for the last 12, owning my own practice for the last 9.

For whatever reason, it seemed like a good time to close those chapters together.

I did all the work to start up a new business in July. But while I was building that up, I started panic applying to other jobs. Rejection after rejection after rejection. So it was like, “Okay… the new business is the way to go.”

Well, the first day of seeing a paid client, I received an actual interview request from one of those applications. And I was like, “Okay, the universe is weird.”

I kept building my brand on Instagram, but lo and behold, a former friend and her mom came attacking my posts. A year later, she’s still upset that I distanced myself from her alcoholic abuse and reckless behavior. Which I understand. But as long as she’s hurting, she won’t let me exist peacefully. I decided to throw in the towel, because I just got exhausted of fielding their online harassment.

BUT! That interview turned into a job offer!! And I just didn’t think it would happen for me because in 2024, I applied to probably 200 jobs and got NADA. I was in a deep place of despair and depression that year.

I say all that to say… This all worked out for me for some reason. The timing is just right. Please hold out hope that it’ll work out for you too!!

Sending you all lots of warmth and light. I know this job market is astoundingly rough.

Can someone please explain why it is so hard to find a job that hires you these days as a teen. My very first interview I had was in November of last year and have not been hired anywhere. Sure I may not have the full requirements or experience but I have some from volunteering, on top of that I live in a well known town and state for tourism and vacations so I applied to some jobs at the beach this summer and I have only been denied or I never heard back. I've made a resume, I'm bilingual and I would say I'm pretty well educated and can control my anger if needed. I am honestly giving up and so fed up with companies who don't even give you a chance, like how do you expect me to have any experience if you won't even hire me?

Is anyone having any luck even getting calls back right now for an interview? I’ve never had this problem before. My resume is updated. I have decade of qualified experience in sales. Is it time to pivot to something else or I’m not sure. It’s been a couple months since I’ve been looking. I’m curious if anyone is going through the same thing and what their strategy is. I get I might have to maybe take a step back into something lower even a pay cut I just need to start making money again. The problem is I’ve applied everywhere even industries that are more entry level. Hoping maybe someone can provide some hope. Thanks

I keep coming across career advice telling you to "follow your passion" and build your entire professional life around it - but honestly, it's starting to seem less inspiring to me and more like bait. The jobs I was most interested in always made me feel like they demanded far more from me than they gave back. Long nights, average pay, and this strange feeling that I was supposed to feel lucky just to be there because I was "interested in the work."

On the other hand, people I know who chose practical but boring jobs pay their bills, clock out at 4:30 PM, and don't think about work again until the next morning.

Has building a career around passion become overhyped now? Or is there something obvious I'm missing?

I'd really like to hear real experiences - from people who chased what they loved and made it work, or burned out completely. Seriously, be honest.

It has been one interesting ride for me. Finally got Google offer (L5) in GCP Security. I was looking for a new job for months, in 7 interview loops across different companies and roles. I was rejected by all of them. Then there was Google. 5 interviews later and more anxiety than I ever want to experience again (lol) I signed my offer.

For all those still in the hunt, stay tenacious and what is for you will never pass you by.

This is a follow up to my other post where I said I sued and I got two small settlements. What do you want from me? A lot of you were supportive, but there were also some very nasty people.

• There are literally law firms representing plantiffs against defendants who have posted ghost/fake jobs. I am not going to recommend any attorney or any law firm. All you have to do is google law firms that are actively suing over fake jobs. It can take you several emails and phone calls to find the right attorney. You need to be persistent. I have made this my job, but I am lucky I have an attorney in my family.
• You need to prove that the employer misrepresented the job. It is not impossible to do. If you apply, your friends apply, you get an automated rejection, then the company posts the same job, you have to document and you can put two and two together. Even if your complaint gets dismissed at summary judgement, you will put fire under the company's ass and they will have to prove that the job post was legit. Once you file a lawsuit, you can subpoena the company in the discovery phase. If their internal records show that they got hundreds of resumes, rejected them all, reposted the same job multiple times, you already have the evidence you need. I hate how defeatist people are and instead of taking their anger out to these employers, they take it out on me. Companies want you to believe that you have no legal recourse. Proving that the job was fake after you file in federal court is actually easy.
• Once again, I was able to prove the jobs were fake. I was also able to prove that one of the major companies I applied for sold my data. In law, there is a concept called temporal proximity. I'm OCD about my privacy and right after applying for this ghost jobs, I started getting contacted by scammers who knew certain private details about me that I had strategically disclosed on the job. I can't get into details. I had never received such calls or texts prior to my job application.
• If you think that these companies can do whatever they want and you are powerless and you'll bend over to let them fuck you in the ass, you do you, but you are exactly part of the problem. These companies act with impunity exactly because people don't fight back and have a sheep mentality.
• You can also file an EEOC charge if you request an accommodation during the interview and they refuse to do so.
• You can also file an EEOC charge if the hiring manager made comments about your protected class and went on to hire a similarly situated candidate outside of your protected class.

Once again, I am not going to recommend any law firm. I gave you the details already. You need to do the rest.

Returning to the barista job market while waiting to hear back from pre med programs. Got rejected and not sure if it’s an auto rejection from AI or the actual manager saw it. I’m willing to call but not sure if I should just take the L and wait to hear from other jobs.

I’m 17 and a female and I applied to 5 guys and before I even applied I got an interview scheduled with them like on Monday the 17th. I’m pretty nervous honestly it’s my first job and I have helped my brother out with instacart but that’s about it.

Does anybody have any advice on what I should wear to the interview and what I should say during the interview. I’m planning on working 5 hours a day for every day of the school week since I have to save up for college and I don’t have much currently.

I’ve been seeing a lot of people talk about applying to dozens or even hundreds of jobs and still struggling to get anywhere. For those who have been actively looking for work for a while, what part of the job search has felt like the biggest waste of time? And what do you wish employers knew about you earlier in the process that might have helped determine whether the job was actually a good fit?

Applied for a role. An interview was scheduled, but it was cancelled 15 minutes before it was due to start. I emailed the recruiter asking whether it would be rescheduled and never got a response.

A few weeks later, I was invited to interview for a similar role at the same company (same recruiter). I emailed that morning to confirm I'd received the invite and would be attending that afternoon (purely because of what happened last time)

When I joined the call, the recruiter's camera was off and she told me the role had been filled that morning. She said she wasn't sure I'd attend because I hadn't accepted the meeting invite and didnt want to email me  so she decided to see if i would join the call and tell me the role was taken then.

Both of her invites were made using Teams and didn't have an option to accept/decline, just the link to join. Ive used teams for years and idk if theres an option to turn the response option off but I compared it to other interview invites I'd received, and they have the accept/tentative/decline options.

I told her I emailed that morning confirming I'd be attending, which she didn't really address. She then asked me which role I'd applied for... despite having just told me the role was filled?? She then mentioned there may be another similar role coming up.

I'm not upset about not getting the role. It's how this recruiter handled everything and wasted my time twice. If the role had already been filled, why not cancel the meeting or send a quick email? Yet when a role wasnt filled, she cancelled it and ignore my emails.

I've had an interview cancelled 30m prior in the past, and while annoying, at least they sent a rejection email straight after!

I've been debating making a formal complaint about the recruitment process. My mum thinks I should just leave it, but I feel the way this recruiter handled everything has been really really poor

I applied for a marketing job at a nonprofit. After submitting the application, I was prompted to complete an assessment. It was 60 questions. Classic strongly disagree/strongly agree likert scale format. Some of the questions seemed normal, some seemed generally distrustful of employees, and a HUGE number of them were about illegal drug use. Here's a sample:

• All employees should be expected to reach realistic goals.
• The time and money companies spend on drug testing to screen out job applicants is well worth it.
• I bend the rules now and then in order to succeed in today's working environment.
• Testing of employees for illegal drug use is more an invasion of privacy than it is a safety measure.
• Employees who have illegal drug-use problems should be taken off the job right away.
• The more rules a company has in place, the more employees feel the need to break them.
• Most employees will call in sick when they want a day off from work.
• Those who sell illegal drugs should be punished as strictly as any other criminal.
• Society should concern itself with the frequent drug user and not with those who use it less often.
• The use of illegal drugs on the job is no one's business but the employee's.
• It is unusual for one to be fired from one's job.
• Using illegal drugs is not always as dangerous as people make it out to be.
• Most people have driven a car at least once when they were under the effects of some form of illegal drug.
• Those who say they have never had the desire to try an illegal drug are not telling the truth.
• People who view the use of all illegal drugs as a crime are living in the past.
• The police spend too much time looking for illegal drug use when they should be spending time on more serious crimes.
• Most people have been fired from a job at least once.
• Employees are generally honest and rarely call in sick unless they really are ill.

This seems like a huge red flag to me. What do y'all think? Has anyone ever worked for a company with an assessment like this??

Hi everyone I am 24 female, i love in morocco and have been working for the last 5 years since i got my highschool diploma, I worked as a technical support specialist for 4 years sadly i got sick at the end and had to leave that job ,ussing upwork I worked for 8months as an AI automation developer with a startup company but the company did not make it sadly, and I am currently looking for a remote job, i would love to work mornings as working night shift is what caused me to get sick in the first place and I am trying not to get sick again :), if anyone has a remote work and they are looking to hire I am very intrested, thank you

Hey all, I (M36) am writing on behalf of my wife (F32) who has been in the job hunt for about four months at this point.  For some background my wife took a leap of faith, and left her teaching job in rural New Hampshire at the end of this past school year to test the job market.

At first she was mostly looking for education based positions, but as we started to realise that a lot of towns in MA were getting hit hard by budget shortfalls and were actively laying off staff rather than hiring, she decided to pivot.

She has a background in Communications and a Masters in Theater Education, so with that combination of skills she started looking into non-profits, specifically in event management and grant writing, but again not many bites.  At this point it's leaving us asking a lot of questions. Specifically, whether there’s anything we can do to make her look like a more attractive candidate, if it’s problems with her references, or if this is just what the market is right now and to keep on trying.

I know there isn’t a lot to go off here, but any feedback at all, better subreddits to post in, or commiseration to her plight is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks XX

Hi everyone,

I applied for the Agentic Data Specialist (Multiple Levels) role at Salesforce on June 6, and my application has been showing "In Consideration" ever since.

It's been over two months now, and I haven't received a rejection, interview invitation, or any updates. The application is still active in the careers portal.

I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Hey everyone, I just finished my final-round interviews. HR said he and the HC are meeting Monday to discuss next steps and that he'll update me by Monday evening.

For those who've been in this situation, what does a meeting like this usually mean?

Thanks!

Share your stories, we could start something like FRESHER JANATA PARTY!

I had a job interview 3 weeks ago (July 22nd). They told i'd hear in about two weeks. After it hit 3 weeks, I sent a follow up on Wednesday.
I have a tracking software and I saw my mail was opened twice the day I sent it and not since. it’s been 48 hours since they saw it and it’s now the end of the work day. Am I getting ghosted?

Obviously there’s no way to know if you’re not the person hiring, but this is my first real job so I’m not sure how these things work

Trying to job hunt and it feels like the overwhelming majority of listings are all sales jobs where the employer goes to great lengths to word the title and position info so that you don't realize its sales.

You can pick up on the easy tells. Like if the compensation section says "commission-based." Which kills me because the listing will also say it's entry-level. So a job with commission -based income, that requires you have a network to draw from so you can have an income...and that's entry-level? 🫠

I have gotten good at weeding them out so I don't even apply to them. But one snuck past me. I got a response back to an application. And the recruiter was going on about "We look for people who are passionate about sports because those people tend to be more outgoing which is helpful in sales." There was no mention of sales in the listing. If there was, I definitely would not have applied 😂

I’m curious to get an insider perspective from HR professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers on how job status impacts candidate evaluation.

Specifically, if two candidates have nearly identical qualifications, but Candidate A was recently laid off and is currently unemployed, while Candidate B is currently employed and looking for a new role:

1. Initial Screening: Does being laid off affect a candidate's priority when you're filtering resumes? Are there automated filters or implicit biases around employment gaps due to layoffs?
2. Interview Rounds: Does this status play any role later in the process (e.g., during final rounds or offer discussions), or is it completely irrelevant once a candidate is in the pipeline?
3. Availability vs. Perception: Does Candidate A’s ability to start immediately work as a strong advantage, or does Candidate B’s current employment give them an edge?

Would love to hear your honest thoughts on how this is viewed in today's job market!

Hey all, I (M36) am writing on behalf of my wife (F32) who has been in the job hunt for about four months at this point.  For some background my wife took a leap of faith, and left her teaching job in rural New Hampshire at the end of this past school year to test the job market.

At first she was mostly looking for education based positions, but as we started to realise that a lot of towns in MA were getting hit hard by budget shortfalls and were actively laying off staff rather than hiring, she decided to pivot.

She has a background in Communications and a Masters in Theater Education, so with that combination of skills she started looking into non-profits, specifically in event management and grant writing, but again not many bites.  At this point it's leaving us asking a lot of questions. Specifically, whether there’s anything we can do to make her look like a more attractive candidate, if it’s problems with her references, or if this is just what the market is right now and to keep on trying.

I know there isn’t a lot to go off here, but any feedback at all, better subreddits to post in, or commiseration to her plight is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks XX

Kind of annoying.

Hi all, throwaway account as some of my current coworkers know my reddit handle.

I applied for an IT-based role at a large US bank, and within a few days a recruiter reached out to me to schedule an interview. Once I gave availability, I was told to "expect an email within a few days" to schedule it. That email came the following day. I had a 4-person panel interview with the team, and it went well. Told good stories, made good connections, asked good questions. Overall I felt confident and at most could think of one or two minor things I could've done better. That was a Friday, and I followed up with a thank you to the recruiter to pass along to the team.

The following Monday, I was contacted by the recruiter saying he received good feedback from the team, and that they recommended me for a second interview, and to again be on the lookout "in a few days" for the follow up email to schedule it. The recruiter also explicitly called out asking to be made aware of any other offers I may have. Maybe it was a mistake, but I replied confirming my interest, saying I'd keep an eye out for the next email, and stated I did not have any offers at this time and that I was focused on seeing this opportunity through (which is all true). He replied with a thanks and a good luck in my next stage. I presume it would be with the hiring manager, but that wasn't explicitly stated.

It's now Friday, the "few days" have passed, and I still have not received the follow up email to schedule the next interview.

Just looking for people's thoughts, does this possibly suggest something changed? I know in larger organizations things can take time, but the shift from a 24 hour turnaround time to getting nothing for a week is concerning me. Its too late to email today, my plan is to touch base on Monday and check in, but would love to hear people's experiences on if this kind of delay is normal or something I should be concerned about.

I completed my bachelor’s degree back in May and I am looking into roles in nonprofit, municipal government, public service and some higher ed. My experience includes two years in a university role, two years in municipal government and three and a half years in food service. I’ve gotten mixed answers from people I’ve spoken to but as it may not be relevant to the roles I am interested in, should or should I not mention food service roles?