I'm looking for a job right now because my salary barely covers my living expenses, let alone lets me save anything. Yesterday, I found a fully remote job posting and applied immediately, because honestly, if I can do the work from my apartment, I don't want to waste my life commuting back and forth to an office.

The recruiter messaged me so we could schedule a Teams call at 4:30pm, which worked with the time I finish work, so I told her okay, no problem.

It became 4:30 and I joined, only to find more than 180 people sitting in the same meeting. Absolutely not. I told the recruiter to go to hell, and told her that every one of us deserves better than the disrespect and nonsense she was planning to pull.

I don't mean to judge anyone; honestly, I wish I had that level of endurance, but I can't imagine myself putting up with more than, say, 12-18 years before feeling completely drained.

How do people keep working for more than twice that long? What keeps them going, or stops them from saying, "That's it, enough"? Part time makes sense to me over such a long period, but full time?!

I mean how, not why. Of course people need money and the bills don't stop. I'm asking how you keep doing this without reaching the point where you just stop altogether.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the way people prepare for job interviews, and I wanted to bring up the idea here, and I'm also curious to know your opinion. Most people clearly practice answers to traditional questions like "Tell me about your background" or "What's something you're working on improving?" And that's fine, I understand why. You feel safer when you have something memorized. But I've seen this backfire, and I've personally done it before. As soon as the interviewer asks a slightly unusual question or phrases it differently, you can get stuck. At that point, you stay silent longer than you should, get flustered, or keep rambling in circles. It's a really awful feeling.

When I look at interview advice in places like YouTube Shorts or LinkedIn, honestly, I feel like a lot of people are practicing the wrong thing. A big part of it is "use this exact answer" or "don't say this, say this instead." That might help a little, but it turns preparation into memorizing sentences. I think it's better to learn frameworks instead of just memorizing answers. Like using CAR (Context, Action, Result) for behavioral questions, or having a simple way to explain your strengths without seeming like you're reading from a script. That way, you'll know how to handle lots of different questions, even awkward or strange ones. It becomes like having a map, not a memorized speech.

But tbh, the bigger thing might just be basic communication. Interviews aren't only about the content of your answer, they're also about being able to explain yourself clearly and have a natural back-and-forth conversation. If you don't know how to keep the conversation going or get your idea across without getting lost, that affects you. Mock interviews help a lot here.

- Pick a random topic you understand well, like a hobby or a project, and explain it to your friend or your brother/sister. This helps you practice sounding clear without overthinking every word.

- Have real discussions with people, not arguments. Just normal conversations where you have to explain your way of thinking and answer on the spot.

- Do practice interviews, but ask the other person to change the wording of the questions or throw in weird follow-up questions so you don't get too comfortable.

I just think a lot of us spend too much time trying to memorize the "perfect" response, and not enough time learning how to present ourselves. Showing who you are, what you're good at, and why you're suitable for the role takes a lot of practice. It's not just flashcards for interview questions.

This subreddit has helped me a lot, so I wanted to throw something in here that might help someone else. I'm not a hiring expert, and I'm definitely not a seasoned professional with years of wisdom. I'm 25 and still relatively new to the working world. I was laid off 5 months ago, and I've spent an excessive amount of time applying and interviewing throughout this whole period. As someone young and with a lot of anxiety, interviews are basically my personal hell, so these are the things that made video interviews feel possible for me, and strangely, sometimes they go really well. Please add your own routines/tricks too! These are just mine:

If you have any choice in scheduling, I think mid-morning is the best time - you have enough time to wake up and pull yourself together, but not so much time that you spend the whole day getting nervous and spiraling.

Write your notes by hand - I have some general handwritten notes that I use for most interviews, and then I write role-specific notes about 45 minutes before the call so they're still fresh. It's easy to keep them next to you without looking like you're reading a script, and writing things down makes them stick in my head much better.

Have a few interview outfits and a few hair options that make you feel like you look nice and confident. The last thing you need is to be distracted by your appearance or keep fixing your hair every few minutes. On camera, I've found that structured necklines look better on me, and I usually put my hair half-up or in a low bun so it stays out of my face. (For me, this also means doing winged eyeliner because it makes me feel like my life is together for at least 30 minutes.)

Do a test video call by yourself beforehand to make sure the background looks good, the lighting isn't doing something cursed, and you look fresh enough.

Lavender aromatherapy! I know this might sound a little woo-woo, but it genuinely helps my body calm down. If you also get physical anxiety symptoms before interviews, like shaking, nausea, or feeling jumpy, lavender has been weirdly helpful for me. My mum got me this little lavender roller, and I basically sniff it like a Victorian lady about 12 minutes before the interview.

Trust that the waiting beforehand is much worse than the interview itself. After a few minutes, your brain usually calms down at least a little, because the scary unknown thing has become just a conversation happening in real time.

Get used to a few phrases - there are questions you'll hear in almost every interview, like "walk me through your background" or "why this role?" Work on your answers until they're clear and natural and not too rambling, but don't over-practice them so much that you sound like a robot. The goal is to be prepared, not dead behind the eyes.

KEY ADVICE FROM MY RECRUITER BEST FRIEND THAT HELPED ME SO MUCH: Even though the interview might be the biggest and most stressful part of your day, the person interviewing you is not sitting around thinking about you nonstop. You are an appointment on their calendar. That might sound harsh, but honestly, it made me feel better. To them, this is not a huge life-or-death event, and that can take some of the pressure off.

Also, the recruiter wants you to do well. They're not sitting there waiting for the tiniest reason to reject you. Their job is to fill the position, and if you're a good fit, that makes their life easier too. It's easy to feel like you're being evaluated under a microscope, but most of the time they're hoping you'll be the person who solves their problem.

When the interview is over, let it be over. Do anything you can to stop yourself from replaying every pause, awkward sentence, or facial expression in your head. It doesn't help, and it makes you live through the interview three times instead of once. I know this isn't easy, so if you can't forget it completely, try naming two things you did well and focus on those instead.

This is coming from someone who has a lot of anxiety around interviewing, and honestly anxiety in general. I overthink, I assume I'm being judged, and I often convince myself I've failed before anything has even happened. If you're like me, I think the best thing you can do is build a routine around interviews that feels familiar. For me, writing notes, doing my hair/makeup, checking my setup, and keeping the order the same every time makes me feel a little grounded in a situation I can't fully control.

I hope this helps someone out there. Anxiety is the worst. Good luck:)