I wrapped up my last interview this past Thursday, and received the following on Friday (next day) around ~4pm. Didn't follow-up to prompt it or anything.

Subject: Regarding your application to ___

Thanks for your time and interest with interviewing with us. We really enjoyed having all the interviews with you. I just wanted to inform you that we are aiming to come back to you with a final decision by Wednesday. Hope this is helpful :)

Trying to not overthink it (probably am already lol) but any thoughts on whether this might be a good sign, or if they're just keeping me warm while they interview / wait for other candidate(s) to respond to offers?

Has anyone heard of this company? I am looking for a medical coder/auditor job. There are 2 jobs worded the exact same.

Hello Everyone, I know this has been asked multiple times, but I am seeing to just get a clearer idea. Is the job market really brutal than normal out there? I see lot of people venting about poor recruiting, being unemployed for up to a year sometimes, and taking jobs completely different from their field or with a steep pay cut. My collegue got laid off in Dec 2023, and when I spoke to him to check up on him, he says he has been unemployed for like 4 months now with no jobs despite being in cybersecurity space with 10 years of experience and being a USC! I have been looking to change jobs for a while now due to personal reasons and have been just applying here and there. 99/100 times, my application gets rejected and I too have seen that for no reason, my application gets rejected because they found another candidate or just decided not to move forward. Sometimes the initial recruiter(not even the actual technical recruiter!) rejects me after a phone screen itself even if the job is a 100% match to my profile. Everyone I see on this forum and a lot of job seekers I talk to have something to tell about how much they are getting ghosted or how flawed their recruiting process was or how almost never my international friends were able to secure a job that was willing to sponsor them.

Why is the market this way? If this happens, what will happen to all those unemployed? When will this market get fixed?

At the beginning of the year I finished a PhD in STEM. I have applied easily to 400 jobs, from senior positions to internships. Some ask for a lot of technical skills, others just require the absolute basics. After 5 months I can amount the number of recruitment processes to 5.

The first time I wasn't really ready, so I'll skip that one. I botched the interview.

The second company gave me a very difficult technical assessment, which I passed, followed by 1 HR interview and 3 technical interviews. In the end they told me no with no feedback on the why.

The third company gave me the hardest technical assessment I had ever done in my life. It wasn't just technical, it almost mirrored something like Mensa. It was also a test of attention, memory, fast arithmetics, you name it.

The fourth company is a well known multinational. They told me that I was being considered for the position due to my academic experience. I did one HR interview, followed by 6 technical interviews. The last one was with a director. Then, they waited 1 month to tell me no, because the other candidates had job experience.

The fifth sent me another impossible assessment. One hour and a half to solve coding and math tasks for which you would expect to need at least 2 hours and a half. HR told me that either way, I could expect 5 more interviews and another technical assessment.

I am already thinking I should have just applied for a postdoc. It wasn't what I wanted, but apparently nobody wants to hire me in tech, even if the job is technically absolutely trivial. I don't know if this is normal at all, if it is expected or if everyone goes through this. Either way, I'm tired. Just wanted to get it out of my system, sorry about the long post.

This is long and depressing, but it is good news, I swear. Feel free to skip to the good part.

I spent the past 8 months unemployed, 6 in a different country supposedly trying to build “our new life” together. I wasn’t laid off, or fired. I stupidly opted to not renew my contact so I could follow a guy, who supposedly loved me, to a completely different country because he asked me to.

Let me just tell you Its bleak out there no matter your background, qualifications, industry or location. It is even bleaker if you are unemployed regardless of the reason.

My now ex couldn’t handle the slow decline into severe depression and anxiety being unemployed had cost me. The ghostings, basic rejections, and some more well crafted rejections - like the one that said my over 6 years of experience wasn’t enough to meet “the rigors of their expectations” - all of it had me at a lower point in my life than I could imagine. Not to mention the constant disappointment in my (now ex) partner’s eyes everyday, or the few arguments we got into about how I was applying that would leave him annoyed and me in tears (to date I am still unsure of how you can apply for jobs any differently than finding a posting and sending a cover letter and CV). Plus living abroad with no visa and constant boarder jumps is enough to cause even the calmest person to crack eventually. My dwindling savings also wasn’t any help.

So, eventually I legally couldn’t stay and I had to return back to my home country. This was meant to be temporary (a month or two), so I brought exactly 1 suitcase and left everything else behind. While here we spoke everyday and at no point in time did he say anything that hinted at his actual feelings. Once I got a part time remote job and was ready to book a flight back (within the expected two months, using my own money - I wasn’t taking advantage of the dude) I was told that he had known since before I left he didn’t want me to return because he “didn’t want to feel responsible for me.” Also in his opinion I ran away. In reality, I legally was required to vacate the country and not return for a month (possibly 2 months, the immigration website was unclear) because my visa extension was denied by the immigration office. Plus after 6 months of unemployment I couldn’t afford to go to a hotel in a nearby country for 30days anyway so I had to return to my home country.

Long story short, I was dumped for not trying hard enough to find gainful employment, for not being in a better mental health state as a result of this hellscape of a job market, for returning to my home country so I wouldn’t get deported, and because he “didn’t want to feel responsible for me” (his actual words).

I could have tried to go more into detail regarding the thousands of well crafted cover letters and one way interviews, the many times I uploaded and then retyped my CV into the ATS abyss, all the things everyone here knows about the current job market and how soul crushing it is. I could have tried to better explain the numerous and at times self esteem punching rejections, the resulting severe depression and multiple panic attacks a week, or why my CBT guidance was failing me through the misery of being unemployed and desperately applying. The immigration issue he was very aware of but he twisted it for his own narrative. It doesn’t matter, this dude didn’t believe me about anything regarding the job search anyway. I didn’t try hard enough to get a job, then I was too sad and too anxious to be fun, then I ran away, and that is that because he doesn’t want to feel responsible for me.

Dark times, friends. Dark times indeed. But there is light even in the darkest times.

The good part:

I’m happy to say I finally did it! I just signed my offer letter for a position that starts in July. I’ll be doing meaningful work that helps refugee children, with a good enough base pay to get me back on my feet. It is also a step in the right direction for the career I want. With the remote part time job that I finally started last week, I’ll also be able to get the needed funds together so I can start my new life in my new city without having to be a burden to my very supportive family. Despite all odds I did it, I am no longer unemployed and soon won’t be underemployed either!

I lost everything, my home, my happiness and mental health, all of my possessions minus the one suitcase I brought with me, my friends and the life I had built abroad that I stupidly left behind to follow a guy who would have never done anything comparable for me, and the person I loved who asked me to follow him so we could build a home together - gone, I lost it all. But I am here and I am ok, and now I can finally breathe and start to rebuild and really move in the right direction with my life. Things were really bad but now everything is getting better. By this time next year I will be a better and stronger person because of these struggles.

Point is even in your darkest hour don’t give up. It’s bleak out there but things can and will turn around - just keep swimming.

TL:DR - got dumped and thus homeless (staying with family don’t worry) - lost everything because this abysmal job market crushed my soul and caused a relapse of my depression and anxiety symptoms BUT I just signed an offer letter for a good job doing good work and can now rebuild!

Hey all

I jus got my sterling screen report back and it’s says that they have located discrepancy in my gardes (which not true ) but in another hand they say that they couldn’t contact my university( which they were very freaking slow they not even answer on me on time ) any way , when contacting the university they said no one called them . So they end up saying i don’t have a degree and im faking the grade which does not make sense if they have never contacted my university!!!!! I really really stressed out and nervous because this will cost my the job of my life ! So can anyone tell me how to fix this or it’s too late or what to do !!!

Thanks.

Ps : my degree was delivered in Tunisia where the education system base in french and arabic language so i have to translate my degree to English then do the evaluation to dutch system through IDW international credentials evaluation and i gave it to them .

My friend just finished her MS in New Jersey and is urgently looking for a job. She's applied to over 400 positions but has only heard back from two. It's getting pretty frustrating for her.

Any leads or help in finding a technical job would mean the world. If she doesn't land something soon, she might have to head back to her home country. Any assistance would be invaluable!

Also, she has 2 years of experience as a software developer.

Oof

I work in insurance. While I started my career in insurance sales while in college for my bachelor’s degree, I have since moved up to working for a major insurance company in data analytics. My profile is centered around my data work and showcases my technical skills…. This doesn’t stop recruiters from spamming me on LinkedIn with shitty heavily-commission based insurance agency jobs. I want subtlety point out to recruiters that, if you bothered to look at my profile, they would see I don’t have anything to do with what they are looking for. I usually reply with a copypasta of:

———

Hi [name],

Thank you for the consideration.

I am not working in sales and have not worked in a sales role for the last four years.

My background is in STEM- holding a Masters Degree in Data Science, which is the combination of Statistics, Business, and Computer Science. My strengths are in computational analysis. I command a variety of coding languages, softwares, and databases to conduct business analysis in my current role as a [job title].

While I am open to discussing new roles, my goal is be in a position where I can apply these skills.

You are welcome to review my profile or my website [link] to learn more about my background. If you have any positions which you think would be a good fit, I would like to discuss.

——-

Note, I am not actually looking for a new role. I just want to shut them down.

I've received an offer for a job that I'm really excited about, but I made a mistake. I have a one-year gap from my previous employer. I've had such a hard time getting a job that I twisted the truth on my resume. Instead of saying I worked from 2021-2023, I put 2021-2024 on my resume and background check. I know lying is unethical, but I have been desperate for work. After the background check, I called the background check company (not the employer) to contirm the dates, and my results didn't show any discrepancies, but the dates didn't match. I reached out to HR to call out my mistake. They contacted me to confirm the dates today, and I haven't reached out since. They haven't revoked my offer yet. Am I finished? I need some advice. Hard lesson. Thanks.

It has been 1 week since I received the call from the recruiter indicating that I was selected for the position after a very good interview with the manager and boss in charge. She told me to wait for the offer letter that day or the next, and since then I have asked what happened, and the recruiter (who is independent and does not work for the company) told me not to worry, that I have the position because the boss selected me and they even worked on my offer letter. It has been 4 days since that last communication, however, despite pushing via mail and call, I have not received the offer and even less any updates from them.

It's frustrating, since I'm unemployed for 7 months, and it adds to other bad recruiting experiences like being ghosted too after being scheduled for an interview. Idk if they will reach me soon, I don't have any other offers yet and I lost an entire week of job search. Time to start again...

We know for a fact no one is getting an offer past 68, fiddy

TL;DR: Went through the interview gauntlet, dazzled them with my PowerPoint prowess, became a quiz master, and still got rejected because I couldn't convince them why they shouldn't hire me. Now questioning if my spider-sense for bad companies is just me being psychic or if I've developed a new allergy to absurd interview questions.

4 Stages Saas SDR role. Got to the final stage.

So there I was, ready to conquer the world (I was in the tallest building in London after all), or at least the small part of it that involved landing this SDR job. I had prepared a one hour presentation that was so good (why me, why sales?, why this company? Q&A), it could've easily been the eighth wonder of the modern world. I talked about myself, why I was drawn to the thrilling world of sales, and why this company was the missing puzzle piece in my professional life. I even went the extra mile, crafting a strategy for approaching a new logo, complete with research, email templates, and a follow-up cadence that would make any sales veteran weep with joy.

But wait, there's more! I ended my magnum opus with an interactive quiz. Yes, you heard that right. A quiz. Because nothing says "hire me" like turning your interview into a game show. The other interviewers were amazed, probably already picturing the company parties where I'd be the quiz master, bringing joy and light-hearted competition to the masses.

However, amidst this shower of competence and creativity, one question managed to stump me. "Why shouldn't we hire you?" asked the director, with a smile that suggested she had just outsmarted Einstein. Mind you, this was after I had laid bare my soul, highlighting my weaknesses with the finesse of a PR guru spinning a scandal into a tale of heroism. The other two interviewers, two managers, theirs smiles disappeared when this question was asked. They looked like children who just found out Santa wasn’t real.

I didn't stumble because I lacked an answer. Oh no. I stumbled because my brain refused to process the absurdity of the situation. Here I was, having just delivered what was essentially a love letter to the company, and they wanted me to argue against myself. It was like being asked to lead the charge and then shoot myself in the foot for good measure.

The director wasn't even paying much attention during my presentation, scoring embarrassingly low on the quiz. Yet, her question was the deal-breaker. It made me wonder if my spider-sense for bad companies was tingling not because of the question itself but because of the realization that I was in the presence of corporate insanity.

In the end, I was rejected, not because I lacked skills or enthusiasm, but because I couldn't properly articulate why they should let this golden opportunity slip through their fingers. It's like being told you're too healthy for a gym membership.

So, to the director who thought she had checkmated me, I say this: Your loss. I'll take my presentation skills, my strategic mind, and my quiz master talents elsewhere. Somewhere where the biggest concern isn't why they shouldn't hire me, but how quickly they can.

And to all my fellow job seekers out there, let this be a lesson: Sometimes, the only right answer to an absurd question is laughter. And maybe, just maybe, a well-timed exit.

Sorry for the rant. Wanted to get this off the chest. Thanks for reading.

I have been interviewing, getting to the last round on most only to lose to another candidate since July of last year.

So I have ANOTHER interview Monday. First round here with the recruiter. Any advice?

I have over 14 years in Workforce Management as a manager and this is for a workforce management manager.

Also I used to dress up but these days I just wear a nice top and do my hair and make up because I was feeling way over dressed showing up in a business Jacket and these guys were showing up in T-shirts, sweatshirts etc.... Is that a bad idea?

Ok. I’m not an expert but will share how I found a great job in under 45 days (remote sales, NORAM based):

1. ALWAYS keep your resume up to date. When you need to start a search, it’s easy to get started.

2. FOCUS your search on areas where you are likely to be a good candidate. You can shoot all over the place but you are far more likely to get hired in your field of expertise. In my case, my sales experience in a particular field was the focus.

3. IMHO, THIS WAS THE KEY. Take every interview you have ever had as an opportunity. In my search, I went first to companies where I had interviewed in the past but didn’t get the job offer. I made a positive impression on my new company (and another, but will reject that offer) on the interview cycle a few years ago. Worked with the same recruiter and she became my cheerleader.

My job was on LinkedIn but I missed the initial surge. I applied directly on the company’s career page and reached out to my recruiter there who was fortunately in the middle of the search.

It does suck getting let go; you’ve got this. I have a 4 week hiatus to fill before the job starts (overseas training). Probably will Uber or something to fill the day.

The trauma is definitely real. I have PTSD from everything I’ve been through. Those of you in the same boat, I’m sending you good vibes. Hang in there. We will make it one way or another.

Just thought of some hacks I'm going to try out when applying next week.

1. When they ask for a salary range, I'll just put in 0, or maybe "any".
2. When they ask if you know someone or are related to someone, or someone referred you to the job, I will go look up the CEO and put that he/she is a friend of the family or something like that.
3. When they ask how did you hear about us? I will enter the most random thing on the list.
4. When they ask the date available, I will put in the word "yesterday".
5. When they ask for special skills or anything you would like to tell us? I will put in "I can make your company a lot of profit".

Hopefully I can get through to someone and get noticed by standing out with something? Any other ideas that would make you stand out and be a unique candidate?

I applied to a major company in my city at the beginning of April. Three days later I was offered an interview and attended the interview. It went well. During the interview, the person that interviewed me informed me (without me asking) that he would be unable to provide me salary ranges because that was up to HR. He told me I would get an email in 2 weeks with an offer or a denial.

2 weeks went by and I sent him an email. He thanked me for my continued interest and apologized for any inconvenience. Today, 3.5 weeks after the interview I was offered the job. I am absolutely thrilled, given that I am in a horribly toxic job situation right now, and this opportunity is an achievement I have been trying to reach for the last few years.

The issue? I was sent the offer letter from an email formatted as: DoNotReply@COMPANY.com. The offer was brief, told me that it was contingent on passing a drug/ backfroind ceck, who my direct manager would be, what my pay would be, and said I had 48 hours to accept or deny. The pay is an 8.5% decrease from my current (underpaid) salary. There was also no definitive start date. In the employee portal there was no way to contact anyone to discuss the offer, just accept or deny. Now, it took me some time but using the formatting of the emails I had gotten from the secretary that offered me the interview and the person that interviewed me, I found the email of the person who will be my direct manager. 6 hours after the offer, I emailed the direct manager to negotiate the salary, and I got an automatic email that she was out of the office.

So, the issue is, she won't see the email until Monday. But by Monday my offer will have expired because it will have been over 48 hours. I want this job for the opportunity and to get out of a place that sends me home crying every day. The paycut will hurt a lot, and make things a lot more difficult.

I know this was long, but if you've gotten this far any advice would be very much appreciated.

I graduated in August 2023 and besides a 4 month temp gig I haven't been able to find anything. Like I wasn't expecting to be handed a perfect career right out the gate but I thought I'd be able to find something. But I'm young, so give me some perspective, old-timers. Has it always been like this? Have things ever been worse (I gather that 2008 was a terrible time)? If things are unusually bad right now, when did they get like this?

Across LinkedIn, Handshake, Ziprecruiter, multiple in-person career fairs, Way.Up, I've applied to more than 100 finance-related internship positions. In-person, hybrid, remote, etc., you name it. For the majority of them, I don't even hear back. I'm lucky if they "move on with a different candidate." Thank god they want to keep my resume though, right? Jokes aside, this has been incredibly depressing and has taken an incredible toll on my morale. I even applied to a frozen yogurt store my buddy works at, my same buddy who I hired and managed in the past, and I couldn't even get that. If I'm being honest, right now, it feels like everything I've done is for nothing. The certificates I earned in high school, the internships I completed in high school, the AP courses, the dual enrollment courses, working my ass off to get an A on literally everything. I've been in the labor market since the ripe age of 14. It's incredibly depressing. I just want to give up on everything at this point. When it feels like all the trials, the tribulations were for nothing, it's hollowing to one's soul. That's it.

I've been working in HR for about three years now. When interviewing for past HR jobs, one of the questions I was often asked was what I would do to maintain the confidentiality of private information that I have access to.

My honest, blunt answer to that question is that I just keep my mouth shut and use common sense. Obviously I try to say that in a more professional way, and my past answers can't have been too bad since they didn't prevent me from getting hired, but I still feel like I don't understand what this question is looking for.

So, for other people applying to HR jobs, how do you answer this type of question about confidentiality? If you've hired people for HR positions and asked this type of question, what were you hoping to hear?

So I had interviews that went really well. Last one was with the CEO where she said verbatim “we’re very interested, don’t accept any offers without talking to me first, we have yet to interview our last candidate and there’s 3 of you for 1-maybe 2 positions.” And that I would know by Friday last week. She did say she would be going on vacation this week as well. On Monday, I emailed HR for follow up and prior, he was so responsive and so far crickets. I’ve heard no news is good news but still am I being paranoid that I’ve been rejected or is there still hope?

Hi guys! So I applied to a hospital position at the ED. ED manager loved me, gave me a tour and shadow. ED manager lost my resume and told me to resend. I resent an email and text of both my cover letter and resume, but the cover letter was addressed to the ONC department’s manager. How screwed am I? Will this weigh his opinion? Thank you!

It’s been almost a year since graduation. I’ve tried using my network, and all I get is the “I’ll let you know if I hear of anything” or just get ghosted entirely.

I’ve tried applying through company websites only for my application to be thrown into the void. I’ve had to track down and remind multiple hiring managers for interviews, while being stood up on numerous occasions. I’ve been through at least 35 interviews still with no luck, or with the company going with another option.

Nearly every time I’ve followed up with the interviewer, had great questions prepped, and I thought the interviews went well. Clearly, they didn’t

What am I doing wrong here? Why is it so difficult to get a job???

I know it's common for "entry-level" jobs to require 5 years of experience, but I'm mid-senior level and seeing a TON of positions marked as entry level on job boards that pay waaaayy above the typical entry-level range for my field (in addition to requiring 7-8 years of experience). I'm approaching my mid-30s and I thought I was way past entry-level, but hey if they're going to offer me 90k then I guess I'm entry-level?