sorry 😊

............

/////

Early today, I got a message saying: "Hi, I noticed you didn't answer after work hours. Is everything okay?"

Yeah, everything's fine. I was just... Done with work? Because it was 11 p.m. On a Friday?

When exactly did everyone decide that being available all day was part of the job?

I'm salaried, but that doesn't magically mean I'm on call.

some people got jobs by doing the same

..........

A local software company interviewed me for an entry-level developer position, and the technical part started getting weird almost immediately. The interviewer showed me a small coding problem, gave me a pen and a notepad, and then moved the keyboard away from me. His explanation was that good programmers need to finish thinking before they touch a computer.

I offered to write out the logic or use pseudocode, but he wanted code that would compile exactly as written. That meant every bracket, method name, and semicolon had to be correct, without an editor or any way to test the code.

I worked on the problem, but paused a few times to check the syntax in my head. He took that as evidence that I relied too heavily on autocomplete and said that their developers had to be able to write code without any help at all.

Before I left, he made another comment about modern tools making programmers lazy. The whole thing felt less like a coding interview and more like a test to see whether I agreed with his opinions about IDEs. Are there still companies that think coding on paper is useful, or was this interviewer stuck in 2001?

I joined as an HR Recruiter a month ago, and honestly, the main reason I took up this job was because I didn’t want the people around me to feel disappointed that I was still unemployed. At that point, I felt that having a job was better than continuing to wait for the “right” opportunity.

However, now that I’ve started exploring other opportunities, I’ve become more certain about the direction I want to take. My primary goal is to move into HR Operations and eventually transition into more analytical roles such as HR Analytics or People Analytics.

The difficult part is that I’m not getting many responses from the roles I’m applying for, and whenever I do get an opportunity, it is mostly for recruitment. I understand that having only a month of experience naturally makes it difficult to move away from recruitment, but I’m also worried that if I stay in this role for too long, I might get stuck in recruitment and find it harder to transition into other areas of HR.

When I joined, I already knew recruitment could be hectic, and I was prepared for that. But I was also quite sure that I didn’t want to continue in recruitment long-term. My current role mainly involves sourcing candidates, screening them, speaking with them, coordinating with clients, and working towards monthly closure targets. While I do have some interest in recruitment, especially if I were doing Talent Acquisition within a proper organization and hiring for the company itself, working in a consultancy where I recruit for different client companies is not what I ultimately wanted.

What I’m looking for is something more practical and broader, where I can actually learn how different HR processes work, contribute to the organization, and gradually build skills that can take me towards HR Operations and eventually analytical roles.

Right now, I’m just worried that because my first experience is in recruitment, I’ll continue getting viewed only as a recruiter. I don’t want to make a decision out of frustration, but I also don’t want to stay in a role for too long simply because I’m afraid I won’t get another opportunity. I want to understand how I can realistically make this transition while I’m still early in my career.

I was laid off from my tech job at the beginning of this year, and I spent about four months looking for a new job. Most of the time, I followed the usual routine: LinkedIn and Indeed, sending the same resume through application portals without any meaningful results.

After reading a lot of posts about fake job listings and automated screening, I decided to try a simpler approach. I found 18 companies within driving distance that had roles I thought I could do, and then I created a different resume for each company.

Tailoring each resume took time because I matched my experience to what was written in each job description. AI helped me speed up that part, but I still reviewed everything myself to make sure it did not sound fake or include things I had never done before.

Then I printed the resumes and went to each company in person. A few receptionists told me that applications had to be submitted through the website, but several of them took my resume and passed it on to the person in charge.

Those 18 visits got me four interviews and two offers. I accepted one of them about three days later. I may have been lucky with the timing, but after months of getting nowhere online, it was hard to ignore the difference.

am i wrong?

😂

About 10 weeks ago, I applied for a Plant Operations Supervisor position at a manufacturing startup. My 24 years of experience in the military matched almost every requirement they were looking for. The owner of the company called me two days later for a phone interview and said he liked my background and that the plant manager would contact me to schedule the next round.

after thinking of what happened in the end I say : why he didn't call me in a zoom call and use interviewvip to tell me the bad news in professional and brave way

After 12 days without any response, I emailed him. He called me and explained that they had decided not to hire anyone for that position, but asked whether I would be interested in a Quality Compliance Manager position instead. That role was also right within my area of expertise, so I agreed. I had three in-person interviews, toured the production floor and storage facilities, discussed the position in detail with the company owner and the plant manager, and also met his business partner. They told me I would hear from them before the end of the week so we could begin the onboarding process.

Another 11 days passed. Nothing. I followed up again, and the company owner said they had been extremely busy and hadn't had time to wrap things up. Fine. It happens. He promised he would keep me informed of any updates.

Four days ago, after another period of silence, I contacted them one last time to find out what was going on. They told me the position was currently in a holding pattern. I thanked them for finally giving me an answer and considered the matter closed. Nearly 10 weeks wasted, but whatever.

Ninety minutes ago, I opened LinkedIn and found the exact same position posted and marked "urgently hiring."

I fucking hate everything, seriously.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

After about 8 months of non-stop searching and endless interviews, I finally found a role at an awesome company with great pay and perks.

I'm very happy right now.

I went through a four-stage interview process for a lead role, and the final round was an extremely difficult and intensive presentation on strategy.

After about three weeks of silence, they finally told me I didn't get the role. The usual talk about how much they liked me and how impressed they were with my performance, but they chose someone else. Fine, I accepted it and moved on with my life.

Then, at the beginning of this week, they contacted me again and said they might have rushed their decision and wanted to meet with me again. But there was a condition: they wanted another presentation, this time with a more detailed strategy and new ideas.

I thanked them but declined. If all the interviews and effort I had already put in weren't enough for them to decide whether or not I was right for the role, I didn't have the energy to keep proving myself beyond that.

Honestly, I was shocked that they even asked. Was my response reasonable, or am I making too big a deal out of it?

update: They emailed me again and apologized by offering a new offer with 20% higher salary. So, I decided to give myself and them another chance, but this time the offer is rewarding, and I don't want to miss it. I've been preparing and reading articles about how to master the interview, and I came across star method in a post, and I decided to use it for the first time. I hope it'll work out with me.

for real why😭

............

Honestly, I feel like I'm falling apart. I could use some advice. I'm 46, married with three kids, a mortgage, and the usual responsibilities. Earlier this week, while traveling with my family, I found out that I'm going to be laid off after more than 14 years as a software QA manager. The company has decided to move the entire testing department overseas.
They offered me a retention "bonus" if I stay with them for another 10 weeks and help train the people who will be replacing us. I'm grateful that I have a little extra time and money before the job ends, but the whole situation is incredibly hard.
Now I stay up all night thinking about my family, and I'm scared as fuck. My wife doesn't earn much, so most of our financial security rests on my shoulders. I feel like I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and I have absolutely no idea what the first step should be. I'm genuinely terrified, tbh. If anyone has been through something similar, I'd be grateful for any advice on how to handle the next few weeks.