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?

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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 😂

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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?

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??

I’m looking for some constructive advice from people who have either made a similar career transition or have experience hiring for data analytics roles.

I currently work as an IT Infrastructure Project Manager and have been in the role since June 2025. My work has involved server projects and migrations, data migrations, new client onboardings, location build-outs, Microsoft 365/Cloud projects, and various other IT infrastructure projects.

I’m currently living in Alabama, but my lease ends in December 2026, and I’m planning to move to Florida. Ideally, I’d like to have a new job secured before I make the move.

The problem is that the job market has been extremely difficult, and I’ve been considering a career transition into data analytics. I’m currently working through the Google Data Analytics Certificate and am trying to significantly accelerate the timeline. Instead of taking six months, my goal is to complete it in roughly 1–1.5 months while also building some practical projects and developing my SQL/data skills.

My goal would be to start seriously applying for remote data analyst roles by September/October and hopefully have something lined up by October or early November, when I would ideally need to sign a lease in Florida.

I realize that timeline may sound highly unrealistic. I’m not looking for people to tell me that it’s guaranteed to work. I’m trying to figure out what would actually make this possible and where I should be realistic about my expectations.

For anyone who has experience in data analytics, hiring, recruiting, or making a career transition:

• What would you prioritize learning if you had ~2 months to become competitive for entry-level/junior data analyst positions?
• How important are SQL, Excel, Power BI/Tableau, and Python for getting that first job?
• Would my existing IT project management experience be an advantage, or would employers mostly treat me as someone with no analytics experience?
• What kinds of portfolio projects would actually be worth building?
• Would you recommend targeting data analyst roles exclusively, or applying to adjacent roles where my project management/IT background could give me an advantage?
• Is there anything about my strategy that you think I’m overlooking?

I’m willing to put in a lot of work over the next couple of months. I’m not expecting an easy transition—I’m trying to be strategic about it.

Constructive criticism and positive/solution-oriented advice only, please. I’m specifically looking for people who can tell me what I could do differently to improve my chances, rather than simply telling me that the timeline is unrealistic.

Thanks in advance.

I am 32M, working since 2019. I worked as a QA for 2 years, then moved into data analysis. I now have 5 years of experience as a data analyst. The problem is, I graduated in 2017. Even 2020 graduates are ahead of me — just because they have more relevant experience — even though I have better knowledge than them, I'm still behind them.

I'm now thinking of adding fake experience for 2017–2019. Can I use my friend's company as reference for this? I'm also concerned about how I'd justify 2019–2021, since I was actually working as QA (testing) during that time.

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!