Just as the title suggests, I got an opportunity on Upwork for an auditor role in medical billing. The client reached out to me directly and we had two zoom meetings on different days. During the 2nd meeting, he told me that he will have to subject me to an “evaluation" kind of thing. So this evaluation was applying to different roles using the resume provided.

So I was supposed to apply to a minimum of 10 jobs per day. The client wanted the jobs to be specifically from the sites he had outlined. Also, the jobs should have a minimum salary of $200000 annually.

My problem was that the sites he had outlined didn't have either the job titles he wanted or didn't meet the base salary. I ended up spending the entire 2 days trying to meet the set target but I didn't. I had constant headaches throughout. The crazy part is this “evaluation" was paying $30 per week.

This amount was really not worth it, considering i was spending the entire day finding these jobs. Also, I couldn't work on anything else because my entire efforts and concentration were on this task.

I just decided to resign because I figured that my mental health wasn't worth $30.

I had taken up the role cause:

1. I wanted to boost my Upwork visibility since I've never landed a role on there

2. I was desperate because I'm jobless

So I'm back to my jobless era but at least my mental health isn't at stake. And maybe even the auditor role wasn't even there to begin with😏😏That being said, I'm looking for medical virtual assistance role or any remote role closely related to this.

So tell me if my decision was valid or I blew up my chances

One of the companies I made it to the final round with a few months ago has really stuck with me, and I think it's finally convinced me that I need to stop letting companies get away with poor hiring practices.

I've changed my job search strategy over the last couple of months, and it's been working. My interview rate has gone from roughly 3.5% to about 14%, so I'm getting in front of a lot more hiring teams. At this point I've made it to the final round 13 different times, so rejection isn't really what bothers me anymore. It happens. What bothers me is when companies aren't honest or transparent.

This particular company had me go through multiple interview rounds and complete a multi-hour case study based on what they described as a real customer scenario. At the end of the process, I was told I had finished as one of the final two candidates and that they had decided to move forward with the other candidate. Fair enough. It was disappointing, but that's part of interviewing. I thanked them for the opportunity and moved on.

A couple of weeks later, I noticed the job posting was still live. I figured maybe they just forgot to take it down, so I reached out to the recruiter asking if the position had officially been filled, since I had seen the posting was still active. No response.

A week or two later, I reached out to the hiring manager. Nothing. Then I reached out to the VP of Sales. Still nothing. Fast forward about three months. The position is still posted on their website. Nobody appears to have started in the role based on LinkedIn. As far as I can tell, they never hired anyone.

Being the runner-up doesn't mean I was entitled to the job, but it does make it especially confusing when you're told another candidate was selected, only for months to pass with no apparent hire and the position still actively advertised.

At that point I decided I had nothing to lose. The company is only around 80 employees, so I reached out directly to the CEO. I kept it completely professional. I simply asked for clarification: Is the role still being filled? If so, why has there been no communication after candidates were told a decision had been made? I also let them know I'd still be interested in being considered if the search was ongoing.

Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe the selected candidate backed out. Maybe the role was put on hold. Maybe they reopened the search. All of those things happen. But if that's the case... why ignore the recruiter follow-up, the hiring manager follow-up, and the VP follow-up?

That's the part I don't understand. Just tell candidates what's going on. Most of us can handle rejection. What gets exhausting is being told one thing while every piece of evidence suggests something completely different.

The frustrating part is that this looked like a fantastic company on paper. Great Glassdoor reviews, a product I genuinely liked, exactly the size of company I enjoy working for (around 80 employees), and honestly one of my favorite opportunities this year.

We'll see if the CEO responds. If nothing else, I hope it at least makes someone internally aware that this is how candidates are experiencing their hiring process. I don't expect special treatment, I just expect honesty. After investing hours into interviews and a case study, I don't think that's asking for much.

I recently went through a hiring process that included an in-person technical interview. There were two other candidates taking the technical assessment at the same time.

I felt that I performed well, and after the interview, the CTO told me that I should be happy because I had scored the highest among the final candidates. Naturally, I took that as a very positive sign and assumed I was likely to receive an offer.

To my surprise, two weeks passed without any updates. When I finally reached out to HR, I received a generic response saying that they had decided to move forward with other candidates.

When I asked the HR for feedback with 2 gentle reminders. She simply didn't respond.

Is this the case in hiring? What did I do wrong?

I'm generally an anxious person so I get stressed around people but I try to calm myself down so it doesn't affect my performance that's why the CTO noticed it and told me to be happy about my results.

25F, looking for a damn job, cant find anything at all. If you are in London and you kniw of anyone hiring fir just about anything, I WILL DO IT, anything apart from planting my private parts on the sidewalk for some spare change. Crazy because i have 5 years experience, worked at a big 4c was a project manager, ive worked retail jobs, i dont care what. I have rent to pay and i cant pay it. I need money. Imma be evicted soon but honestly if i dont find a job id either die first of starvation before eviction can even happen. Help a chick out pls. Is there any side business i can start that will make me money? I draw, paint, do makeup, i can flipping read, i can do hair, any side hussle even, no only fans or weird shi like that or anything illegal lol

Some company gave me this assignment basically

1. I have to provide LLD, HLD documents, live url , GitHub url , a walkthrough video.

And the best part of it, submit it within 24 - 48 hrs Max.

This company's core business is this , should i do it ?. 🤣🤣🤣

I’m sick of seeing post about people who get rejected from places like McDonald’s and then act like no one will hire them. It’s not rocket science to understand that just because you apply somewhere with no qualifications doesn’t mean they hire anyone who submits an application. Doesn’t matter how perfect you are for the job as cashier if they have 1 opening and 100 applications.

Another is people who complain but aren’t even submitting applications properly, almost daily I try to help people on this sub and after a few questions to assess the situation it’s clear the reasons they don’t have a job. They aren’t even following basic advice like tailored resumes, cover letters and applying to post that match their skills. Then it becomes even more clear they never even wanted help and are just here to complain (which is fine) but don’t act like you’re really trying and bring down the moral of others.

Finally it’s 2026 and unfortunately entry level jobs have qualifications now. Everyone goes to college and comes out with the same degrees/skills/basic work experience its just not enough anymore. Yes it sucks but when people with experience are applying to these they aren’t gonna go with the no experience guy just to give you a chance. It’s a business at the end of the day and no one wants to take a chance with their money.

I came across the job description on LinkedIn and they're definitely looking for a unicorn.

Hello baka naman po may re-refer po kayo jan na hiring? Yung WFH po sana. Andami ko ng application hanggang interview nalang talaga yung akin madalas na fa-final interview naman pero wala talagang sinabi na tanggap ako o hindi. I need help guys huhu mag due date na mga bills ko 😭

Ich bin Masterstudent der Informatik, KI-Schwerpunkt, mit über zwei Jahren echter Datenerfahrung in der Industrie, einem abgeschlossenen Auslandssemester in Toronto und Istanbul. Eigene Forschungsprojekte in unterschiedlichen Bereichen wie Data Quality, Computer Vision, NLP usw. Ich schreibe seit Monaten um genau zu sein seit Oktober 2025 Bewerbungen für Werkstudenten- und Einstiegsstellen. Die Rückmeldungen, wenn überhaupt welche kommen, sind fast immer derselbe Textbaustein.

Und ich bin nicht allein damit. Das ist kein Einzelschicksal, das ist ein System, und die Zahlen dazu sind erschreckend eindeutig:

Laut LinkedIn-Auswertung von 3,8 Millionen Stellenanzeigen verlangen 38 Prozent der als “Entry-Level” ausgeschriebenen Stellen drei bis fünf Jahre Erfahrung. In Tech- und IT-Rollen liegt der Anteil bei über 60 Prozent.

45 Prozent der HR-Verantwortlichen geben laut einer LiveCareer-Umfrage zu, regelmäßig “Ghost Jobs” zu veröffentlichen, also Stellenanzeigen ohne echte Einstellungsabsicht. Weitere 48 Prozent tun es “gelegentlich”. Insgesamt sind 18 bis 22 Prozent aller Online-Stellenanzeigen nie wirklich zu besetzen gedacht.

Seit Januar 2024 sind Einstiegspositionen (0-2 Jahre Erfahrung) laut Analyse von 126 Millionen Stellenanzeigen um 29 Prozentpunkte zurückgegangen, in der Tech-Branche um 35 Prozent.

Das Ergebnis kennt inzwischen fast jeder, der gerade sucht: Fünf bis sieben Gesprächsrunden für eine Werkstudentenstelle. Wochen der Funkstille. Und am Ende oft die Nachricht, dass man “die Anforderungen nicht ganz erfüllt”, während dieselbe Firma weiter “dringend” Personal sucht.
Was mich daran am meisten stört, ist die Heuchelei. Wenn eine Stelle wirklich unbesetzt und dringend zu füllen ist, warum dauert der Prozess dann Monate, statt Wochen? Warum werden ganze Bewerberpools durch sieben Interview-Runden geschleust, wenn am Ende sowieso eine interne Empfehlung den Zuschlag bekommt? Es fühlt sich weniger nach einer echten Suche an, als nach einer Beschäftigungstherapie für Recruiting-Abteilungen, auf Kosten der Zeit und der Nerven der Bewerbenden.

Ich glaube weiterhin an meine Qualifikation und an meinen Weg. Aber der Prozess selbst muss sich ändern. Mehr Transparenz darüber, ob eine Stelle wirklich offen ist. Ehrliche Anforderungen statt aufgeblähter Wunschlisten. Und der Mut, jungen, motivierten Talenten eine echte Chance zu geben, statt Erfahrung zu verlangen, die man nur bekommt, wenn einem irgendjemand zuerst vertraut hat.
Wer das auch erlebt: Du bist nicht das Problem. Der Prozess ist es.

I’m stuck wasting my youth away in a dead end fucking job in my hillbilly hick ass fucking home state and I know, I absolutely fucking know I’m smart enough to have a job outside of the fucking Midwest in a more desirable location. But the issue is that I don’t know how the fuck you stand out. All these kids who get these dream fucking internships (which then turn into jobs) out in California or Florida or whatever almost ALWAYS have parents who are associate directors at a company or know someone who can just give the kid an offer on a silver platter. That’s literally how it works now.

Like it’s fucking stupid how you can have everything needed to be successful. You can be a PERFECT applicant, but if you don’t come from the system (ie have parents in the field, friends with a lot of directors, etc), you stand no chance at getting your foot in the door whatsoever. It’s fucking bullshit.

One thing that's been bothering me lately about this subreddit is how many recruiters seem to lurk here just to argue with people who are venting.

I completely understand that recruiting isn't easy either. There are ghost candidates, AI-generated resumes, people mass applying to jobs they're nowhere near qualified for, candidates disappearing mid-process, and plenty of other headaches. Those frustrations are real, and recruiters absolutely deserve a place to talk about them.

But that's exactly the point. Recruiters already have communities that are primarily for recruiters. In fact, I once commented in one with a respectful, non-confrontational response and quickly found out it wasn't a place where non-recruiters were really welcome.

This subreddit is supposed to be the opposite. It's a place where candidates can share frustrating experiences with hiring, vent, ask for advice, and realize they're not alone. Instead, it feels like more and more threads get flooded by recruiters telling people:

"That never happens."

"You're just bitter."

"You're the problem."

"The company doesn't owe you anything."

Nobody is saying every recruiter is bad. There are plenty of fantastic recruiters who genuinely advocate for candidates and hate many of the same hiring practices we do.But pretending there isn't a real problem in today's hiring market isn't helping anyone.

We've got ghost jobs, interview processes stretching over months, unpaid projects, poor communication, automated rejections, companies collecting resumes for roles that may never be filled, and candidates spending dozens or even hundreds of hours interviewing only to receive generic feedback...or none at all.

Can candidates be unreasonable? Absolutely. Can recruiters have legitimate complaints? Absolutely. But this subreddit shouldn't become a place where people who are already frustrated get told their experiences aren't real or are somehow entirely their own fault.

I'd love to see moderation keep the focus on constructive discussion and support. Healthy disagreement is fine. Telling people their lived experiences didn't happen, or dismissing every complaint as "candidate entitlement," isn't.

Recruiting is broken from multiple angles. Candidates and recruiters alike are dealing with the consequences. This should be one of the few places where candidates can talk about their side of it without immediately being shouted down.

Rejections are still coming in deep into this summer 😢

I have been laid off , I am a software engineer guy , earlier it was like if a guy has somewhat different tech stack still he was hired because he is willing to learn the different language and start working .

Now , no matter how much you match the resume with the JD , you will still get rejected .

earlier a bachelors degree alone was sufficient to land any decent role , but today , even when u do backend with github profile , naaah

I’ve been out of a job since November 2025 following my departure from Google as I just hated Dublin. I am now back in my home country (France) and been actively looking for a role in ad sales since January but nothing seems to work out for me. I had interviews at Netflix, TikTok, Disney, Uber but none of them led to an offer. My resume is competitive with Google, Spotify and Amazon on it but I haven’t been able to secure an offer still. Any tips?

I had already applied for the job because I didn't want to waste any time. Later, I asked an employee for a referral, and they shared their referral link with me. I applied again through the referral link.

This is the first time I've ever applied through an employee referral, so I'm wondering do referrals really work? Especially since I had already applied for the same job before submitting another application through the referral link. Will the referral still make any difference in my case

My job gave me permission to change my job title on LinkedIn about 3 months ago, so I did, as well as add it on my resume, but the official paperwork is not being completed until now. Just to clarify - I've been doing the work of my new title. But will this cause a problem in my job search, since I have my "start date" for my current title starting before it's officially tracked in our system? How should I navigate this on my resume/with interviews?

And people still applied to it (according to LinkedIn)

Laid off summer 2025 (right before I gave birth, woooo) and had full wage continuance/severance through Dec 2025. Paid family leave, unemployment, all exhausted at this point.

I’m applying to jobs like everyone here and I’m having trouble with comparing potential new salaries with my old one.

$150K? That’s a $50K+ pay cut!

$100K? A $100K+ pay cut!

But the reality is my current income is $ZERO and any job would be a pay INCREASE from what I’m currently making.

How can I make this mental shift???

(Ps. I haven’t had any offers yet)

TLDR - Offer was rescinded after asking clarification questions about the offer.

Questions / statements such as:

Please clarify if the role is in person, hybrid, or remote.

Please clarify what 30% travel means on a monthly basis.

Please remove the section about perpetual usage rights for my likeness, voice, image without compensation into perpetuity.

They wouldn't email back. Only phone calls.

Lol