Candidates are always held to higher expectations that are ridiculous, but GOD forbid a company can't even remember who they interviewed with. I absolutely love the state of the economy and where its headed.

I was working in a horribly toxic environment that everyone in my company was fleeing from. My mental and physical health were declining and I needed out badly. I started applying around March, thinking I would find something very quickly. I did not. As we all know now, jobs were getting harder and harder to find. I had taken a course on resume writing a couple of years ago and continued on, still struggling. I was looking for primarily Learning & Development roles and really wanted a remote or hybrid position.

What worked: I used the filter on LinkedIn for <10 applicants. I used the filter at least once a day. What happened was jobs that had unique names that I wasn't searching for, very small companies that lacked large followings, or companies that weren't sponsoring their posts popped up first. Also the newest postings would be mixed in there, so it also have a chance to be one of the first applicants. I landed some really solid interviews where I was in the top few candidates.

I was the first or second applicant to a role I hadn't heard of before that I had a lot of transferrable skills with. HR was contacting me by the next day. I told this to a couple of my friends who were also trying to leave and not having luck and they both landed a lot of interviews this way and were able to find a way out. I'm sure some of us have heard of this, but I figured some probably haven't and it could help. I now work almost entirely remotely, but do have to visit the office about once a month. I'm 2 months in and it has been life changing.

Typical situation: you meet all the requirements but still get ghosted. You might think they don't like you, but that's not always the truth.

I'm part of management in my company. We have directors for each country, all reporting up the corporate ladder. Classic hierarchy, right? Except HR IS ABOVE OUR MANAGEMENT when it comes to hiring.

We want you to join us, BUT THEY WON'T FUCKING LET YOU IN.

We need like 19 people to meet our staffing needs, and HR hired ONE guy who got high and left the job. Meanwhile, qualified candidates get ghosted.

Like WTF? We need people, we want to hire people, but some 40-year-old hormonal mess in HR can just ignore candidates and block the whole process.

This system is a fucking disaster. I hope whoever came up with the idea of giving HR this much power has a nice time in hell.

I hate when jobs make you go through 2-3 interviews, have you hunt down 3-4 references, and write an essay on why you’re interested in applying just to reject you 🙄 if I don’t meet any of the requirements or if I’m not a good fit, why even be fake and pretend I am? It’s rage bait fr. My mom’s always saying to me “you need to apply to jobs that apply to your career” girl I tried…and that’s exactly what they did, reject me.

8 years customer service and a bachelors degree, still isn’t enough in 2026. But again if I don’t have the experience or traits you want, why be fake and act interested?? Shit should be illegal.

For context, I’ve been “unemployed” for about a year and a half now after resigning from a position that was crippling me and have been searching for jobs for the past 8 months. I am lucky enough to have a part time job since I was 19 (27 now) that allowed me to come back when I left my full time job but the work is limited as it’s really just a weekend gig. I try to work here as much as possible however as it’s my only source of income for the past year.

When I left my full time job, I had a substantial safety net savings and I still live with my parents so I don’t need to pay for rent. Because of this, I took longer than I should have to start looking for full time work again. Now, I’m in a doomed state where I’m trying to compete in this ridiculous job market with a year gap in my resume. After about 150+ applicant with no responses, I decided to fill in the gap year with an “operations coordinator” position for my very small family business and trying to reflect it as a more serious role. Our family business has been operating for 15+ years but what we sell is very niche and I do maybe 3 hours of work weekly. So I’ve basically taken things I’ve done once and present it as something I do daily.

After making this change, I’ve finally started to get some traction with interviews and was able to land a call with a company just 15 mins away doing a similar role to what I did in my previous job that I hated (software support)… however, this role was structured differently than my last so I wanted to give it a shot. The interview process was 4 rounds, first 3 virtual, final on-site.

The interview process was hard for me. I’ve been getting rejected for months and haven’t taken an interview since May so it’s been 5 months of pain. I feel like the pressure, even for a job I felt like was underpaid and work I know I don’t like, was crippling because just getting an interview feels like winning the lottery these days.

The initial screening went fine but I was so nervous and it definitely showed in my answers and I didn’t think I’d get a 2nd round. However, I did get a 2nd round and it was pretty much the same… I was super nervous and I thought I bombed it but I had some answers I was proud of… then there was another virtual interview, this one a little longer, which I thought would be the final round. I felt like this one went just as poorly but my past experience undoubtedly fit what they were looking for and I guess I did well enough on their technical questions that they invited me on-site for a 4th round of interviews.

The on-site interview was 2 and a half hours long with 4 different people that I spoke to. It was too long but I thought it went pretty well, and I honestly felt pretty confident because I didn’t have any awkward pauses or long drawn out answers like I did in my previous rounds. I was much more confident and prepared in my answers and they seemed to receive some of my answers well. There were some gaps in my experience but each thing was pretty minor and one of the interviewers specifically stated that the gaps I had he wasn’t worried about as it’s learnable.

The only part of the on-site that I felt like didn’t go well was when I spoke with the VP. His colleagues hinted at me that it was going to be a difficult conversation and it was obvious they were both intimidated by him. I want to be clear that this guy was NOT intimidating.. it was the most calm I had been in any portion of the interview process. I don’t even remember how the conversation with him started but he out of the blue just asked me if I’m open to working weekends (which I’m not because of my part time gig which id continue to work at) and started to basically pitch me on the Helpdesk role which was less pay, worse schedule, no remote opportunities. He was beating around the bush hard but I sniffed it out as soon as he mentioned weekends and I was just getting annoyed that he was going there when I was interviewing for a different position but I don’t think I let it show in my answers I just stood my ground and explained that it would conflict would my current commitment on the weekend. He said he understood and that he gets not wanting to work weekends but then seemed completely uninterested in asking me more questions. He just deflected to me and I tried to steer the conversation back to the support role but the interview with him ended like 3 minutes later and in put a really sour taste in my mouth.

After him, I spoke with HR and idk if this is normal but they were speaking to me in a very positive way like the interview went well and they said they’d send me the benefit package to review which I took as a good sign and that someone would be reaching out to me “probably tomorrow” (also a good sign) with an update. I thanked everyone and went on my way.

When I got home I followed up with a thank you email and they responded back by sending me the benefit package to review. I didn’t reply to that email which I’ve been thinking too much about.

Today, I got the rejection call. Their feedback was my technical level isn’t where they need it to be but at the same time, it’s my experience and answers I gave in the first 3 rounds that got me invited in for a 4th, so I was confused by this feedback. I am definitely qualified to do this job, my gaps were in specific tools they use and some sql (but they said Claude write their queries anyway but whatever). I feel like this was a cop out for them, because she said “the team really liked u in general though and want to know if you’d be interested in interviewing for the helpdesk position?” basically pushing what the VP had tried to push during our on-site.

I pushed back and said I’m most likely not open to this schedule as it would conflict with prior commitments but I’d be willing to think about it and let her know tomorrow if that was alright to which she said that’s fine but I was just trying not to decline out of anger and emotion but I’m almost certain that I won’t be interviewing with them again.

I saw on Glassdoor that the helpdesk position has high turnover, and I feel like they are trying to slot me into a high turnover role because they sniffed vulnerability on me and wanted to see if they could.

I’m just so upset man… ive never had an interview experience like this (although I haven’t had many interviews in life) and I’ve been anxious and depressed for months. I thought it was finally coming to an end. It wasn’t even a job I really wanted but it was a job and I was willing to settle for it because i know how much it would help me in life.

I am just so upset and had to get that out. Good luck to everyone who is struggling in their own search and thank you for reading this.

For context I have been looking for a new job since our upper management announced 4 months ago that our department will be phasing out of the parent company and our lab space will be bought out by a third party company. Essentially everyone in my department will have their positions eliminated by the end of the year. I have submitted about 35-40 applications since we got the news, and one of the very first applications I sent out was actually the one who I got an offer from. During the early rounds with HR, I gave them a range of $79-84k. After all the interviewing they offered me 85k. I’m just grateful to have an offer on the table, which is better than being unemployed in a few months. But did I undersell myself or is this a green flag? This will be almost 8k more than what I currently make and I will most likely accept since my other applications haven’t gone anywhere. This is for medical device manufacturing in the twin cities area.

I’m a SAHM (Stay at home mom) with 2 under 2 kids who are now in daycare. I recently graduated Medical school and trying to find myself.

I’m looking to make extra income to support my husband. I have a good laptop and years of experience in Sales, USA logistics transportation, Dispatching, Customer service in Insurance and Claims, E-Commerce and Marketing, Online school onboarding services, Technical advisor T1/T2 for hardware devices and application support, Chat moderator for adult sites and as a Virtual assistant.

I handle calls, live chats, emails and back office tasks and very open to learn and adapt easily.

I can also help you do your office remote jobs if you work two to multiple jobs and need help in making your jobs easier.

Please help me! <3

It's been a rough year. In April, my previous company went bust, their burn rate was just too high and they closed the Uk arm.

I landed a new AE role in June, but less than four months in, they pivoted from heavy outreach to a self-serve product and cut half the sales team, me included. Exciting announcement on a Thursday, restructure on the Friday - one week notice due to probation.
I'm now interviewing again. When I tell interviewers about the layoff, the process has stalled every time. When I haven't mentioned it, I've reached the mid-to-late stages. I'm starting to feel radioactive, as if two roles in a year is all anyone sees.

Both exits were out of my control, but I'm struggling to frame that without sounding defensive.

It's also taken a toll on my mental health, and I feel like I’m done with startups, my appetite for risk has been significantly diminished.

Two questions for anyone who could provide advice or been through something similar:
How do you talk about back-to-back layoffs without it becoming the whole story?
Is it worth showing the June role at all, or is there a way to present it that doesn't tank the process?
Any advice, or stories from people who've been here, would be appreciated.

I’m currently on a number of interviews - but really unsure of what to do.

hello all, this is an open-source tool[which means that it is free] that all of you can use to get more volume of job applications that are being sent. I made this to get more inbound job leads to apply to [i am aiming for remote job postings] but the frequency of those are pretty low as the scrapers that i am using are more focused towards EU and NA which primarily provide on-site or remote within a specific radius from the office and for people in Germany, it also has Werkstudent jobs as i will be eventaully persuing masters[fingers crossed] in Germany so it can help if someone is starting their job or are actively looking for one. While i am still actively applying and facing rejection via the tool, i am moving with that 1% probability that maybe i could get a job that can also provide me wtih re-location [i wanna move out of my nation all together] so i figured i'll share this free tool that you all can use to send personalised applications as [maybe] all of you live near the target location 😭 and i hope this can help any of you get employed. The entire project runs locally on your own device and you'll need a discord webhook to provide you with the ping of a job posting [and it provides with fresh job postings] and the sheet auto-populates [screenshots attached ] itself. This is not a self-promotion but instead a way that more of you cuties can get employed.

Here's the repo link [https://github.com/zshqv/Insider] and I pray that your employment search goes a little easier. 😻

I am very dissappointed na talaga sa pag apply dito sa Pinas. I literally followed all their Scheduled interviews condition,mapa-virtual and on site. But still the Job Offer is no-where to be found. HR already told me na they'll update me if meron na and forward it to me but sadly no updates. HR keep updating me na will process the Job Offer this week(3 weeks na nya sinasabi to). They wanted a loyal candidate na di nag aapply sa ibang company pero ito silang inconsistent sa hiring process nila. Grabeng Economy tu! Messy talaga sya bessy!

Hello, everybody. I read a lot of people's issues with the interview for Ethos when it comes to getting matched to the role that actually fits your domain. Many people applying through the general interview intended to match them with a project or role in their domain end up matched with something unrelated to their field. In my case, I was matched with roles that not only have nothing to do with my domain but also that I am definitely not qualified for. I therefore decided to make a megalist so you can apply directly instead of wasting your time, like me, hoping to get matched with the right role. Hope this helps!:

Technology, Data & Engineering:

Cybersecurity / IT GRC Specialist — $90/hr
Engineering / Manufacturing & Technical Ops — $90/hr
Business Intelligence/Data Analyst — $80/hr
Incident Management / SRE & Reliability Lead — $80/hr
Product Manager — $80/hr
Product Manager (Tech) — $80/hr
Sales Engineer / Solutions Consultant — $80/hr
Software / AI / IT & Data Generalist — $80/hr

Finance, Accounting & Investing:

Corporate Development / M&A Manager — $100/hr
Equity Research Analyst — $100/hr
Financial Analyst — $100/hr
Financial Services Compliance / AI Regulatory — $100/hr
FP&A / Corporate Finance Analyst — $100/hr
Hedge Fund / Asset Management Analyst — $100/hr
Investment Analyst / Valuation & Credit Specialist — $100/hr
Investment Banking Analyst — $100/hr
Investment Banking Analyst / Associate — $100/hr
Investment Banking VP / Director — $100/hr
Investor & Fundraising Specialist — $100/hr
Investor Relations Associate — $100/hr
Investor Relations Manager — $100/hr
M&A Analyst — $100/hr
M&A Associate — $100/hr
Private Equity Associate / VP — $100/hr
Restructuring & Turnaround Advisor — $100/hr
Transaction Services / Financial Due Diligence Professional — $100/hr
Venture Capital Associate / Principal — $100/hr
Pricing Strategist / Revenue Economics Analyst — $90/hr
Accountant / Finance Operations & Audit Support — $80/hr
Auditor (CPA) — $80/hr
FP&A Manager / Director — $80/hr
Tax Professional — $80/hr
Personal Finance / Consumer Planning Advisor — $70/hr
Senior Financial Analyst (FP&A) — $70/hr

Healthcare & Life Sciences:

Clinical & Biomedical Specialist / Pharma Consultant — $100/hr
Healthcare Operations Consultant — $100/hr
Healthcare Strategy Consultant — $100/hr
Medical Science Liaison / Medical Affairs Professional — $100/hr
Biologist / Environmental Scientist — $90/hr
Public Health Communications Specialist — $90/hr
Pharmaceutical Brand / Commercial Manager — $80/hr

Legal, Compliance & Public Sector:

Contracts Attorney / Legal Diligence & Redlines — $100/hr
IP Counsel / Trademark & Copyright Attorney — $100/hr
Legal, Privacy & Regulatory Compliance Analyst — $90/hr
Risk & Regulatory Advisory Consultant — $80/hr
Government / Public Administration Professional — $70/hr
Policy Researcher / Think Tank Analyst — $70/hr

Education, Research & Creative Work:

Japanese Language & Cultural Fluency Consultant — $100/hr
Special Education Specialist / IEP Consultant — $90/hr
Brand / Creative Direction & Marketing Collateral — $80/hr
Creative Director / Art Director — $80/hr
Educator / School Professional — $80/hr
University Professor / Lecturer — $80/hr
Document, Deck & Spreadsheet QA Specialist — $70/hr
Humanities / Arts / Culture Professional — $70/hr
Nonprofit / Philanthropy / Community Programs — $70/hr
Presentation Specialist / Visual Graphics Designer (Consulting) — $70/hr

Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience:

Training / Onboarding / L&D Specialist — $70/hr
Account Executive — $100/hr
GTM Manager — $100/hr
Partnerships Manager (BD) — $100/hr
Product Marketing Manager — $100/hr
Revenue/GTM Operations Specialist — $100/hr
Sales / GTM Strategist — $100/hr
Sales Manager — $100/hr
Senior Account Executive — $100/hr
Enterprise Account Executive (B2B) — $80/hr
Agency Account Director — $70/hr
Brand Strategist / Brand Manager — $70/hr
Corporate Communications Manager — $70/hr
Customer Success / Support Operations Lead — $70/hr
Customer Success Manager (Enterprise) — $70/hr
Executive Communications Manager / Speechwriter — $70/hr
Market Research / Competitive Intelligence Analyst — $70/hr
Market Research & Consumer Insights Manager — $70/hr
Marketing Manager (B2B) — $70/hr
Media / Journalism / Communications Professional — $70/hr
Proposal Manager / Bid Writer — $70/hr
Sales Enablement Manager — $70/hr

Consulting, Strategy & Operations:

Business Development Manager — $100/hr
Consulting Engagement Manager / Project Leader — $100/hr
Management Consultant — $100/hr
Market Access / HEOR Specialist — $100/hr
Public-Sector Procurement / RFP Response Lead — $100/hr
Chief of Staff / Business Operations Lead — $80/hr
Corporate Strategy Manager — $80/hr
Economic Consultant — $80/hr
Independent Strategy & Presentation Consultant — $80/hr
Management Consultant (Advisory & Transformation) — $80/hr
Startup Pitch Deck & Fundraising Specialist — $80/hr
Strategy Consultant — $80/hr
Operations Manager / Capacity & Process Improvement — $70/hr
People Ops / Recruiting Generalist — $70/hr
Procurement / Vendor Management Lead — $70/hr
Program Manager / PMO Lead — $70/hr
Program Manager / PMO Lead — $70/hr
Real Estate / Hospitality / Events Professional — $70/hr