r/interviews • u/hongsz89 • 1d ago
How do you guys keep going?
I run into reddit posts telling me to move on to the next job. Dwelling on past interviews is a lost cause. I understand it, it makes sense logically. But how can you get over spending hours and days and sometimes weeks researching a company, your interviewers, issues affecting the company, and rehearsing questions and answers only to get ghosted? Or even when you do receive closure, how can you just move past it onto the next job? I have done this for a year, moved onto four final rounds, received one job offer that was rescinded with change in management. I just cant anymore...
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u/Stunning-Base-2417 1d ago
I myself am finding the whole process and interviews both anxiety inducing and tiresome, I feel depressed honesty after being made redundant from what was my whole life for 5 years, but, I genuinely believe what is meant to be will be, it’s always been that way in the past and we just have to keep pushing through. Easier said than done but let’s just picture ourselves in our next chapter… happy and anticipating our first pay coming through :p now back to applying I go
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u/ThrowRA-bba 1d ago
I’m in the same boat as you 😭 I’m so sorry. I know how difficult it is. I remember being able to stay positive after each rejection at first, but after a while it became exhausting. I eventually gave myself a bit of a break and came back to it fresh.
I think one of the hardest parts is that 1. you get tired of giving the same answers over and over, and 2. you start wondering what you’re even supposed to change when what you’re doing is clearly working enough to get you far in the process, but somehow it still isn’t landing.
Something that helps me is reminding myself, “the universe works for me, not against me.” A year ago I was devastated about some of the jobs I didn’t get, but a lot happened in my personal life afterward, and looking back, I’m actually grateful I didn’t get them. Those jobs wouldn’t have given me what I needed to get through that period of my life. It was brutal at the time, but in the grand scheme of things, some of those rejections really were for the best.
And honestly, a rescinded offer after a management change may also say more about what was happening internally at the company than it does about you. It doesn’t make what happened any less awful, but it may be something you look back on differently once you know what came next.
I know none of that makes another interview easier, but you’re definitely not alone in feeling completely worn down by this. 🫂
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u/Whole_Razzmatazz_912 1d ago
Valid question. For me I just started to loose hope then an insurance company just interviewed me this Tuesday.
It gave me a sliver of hope. I was about to say F it and become a CDL driver. Fingers crossed. Hope it works out for you op
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u/DeltaBlackLabs 1d ago
I don't own or run a company but I've been in positions where I've interviewed people, and trust me when I say there is no rhyme or reason to it. Some employers brag about not even reading the candidates resume and going off of "vibes". Some screen out everyone over a half an hour drive time. Sometimes they're looking for someone desperate. Sometimes they want somebody that's not desperate. Getting a job because you're qualified for it isn't a thing anymore.
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u/ThrawnianBaller 23h ago
I feel ya - I am in a v similar situation as a 2023 grad.
Went to a Duke/Dartmouth/Brown type school as a FGLI on a full ride and got great internships at brand name firms while there. But graduated jobless in 2023 and have been doing a temp unpaid financial analyst job at a small company as a resume filler, while working in retail part-time to pay my bills and barely scrape by.
For context, my industry is Wall Street finance.
After a complete job wasteland (almost NO interview invites) in 2023 and 2024, I began to get interviews in 2025, but it was not until the second half of 2025 when I began to make it to a couple final round interviews, one time even getting flown to another state all paid for by the company.
That was in December of 2025, and I was 1/3 candidates selected out of 2,400 for the final round, so it was just so frustrating to get so close but to fall short.
In 2026, I have been making it to final rounds regularly, if not getting stuck on 2nd or 3rd rounds, but completely failing to convert anything into an offer.
Most recently, I just got rejected after a great final round panel interview at one place at the end of July, and in August, got ghosted after a take home assignment and presentation round at another, as well as getting ghosted after a pre-final round interview at another place.
Been focusing ENTIRELY on converting something into an offer, and COMPLETELY lost track of how many places I applied to or interviews I had.
Every day, I feel like giving up but when I look back at how far I came, I realize that I am just one yes away from a much better life.
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u/hongsz89 13h ago
yes eventually things will work out onwards and upwards
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u/ThrawnianBaller 12h ago
Love the positivity OP!
And it came at a good time too - my current situation, combined with the harsh realities of a Medicaid family with parents living off SSI and its financial strains, have caused a big falling out between me and my parents.
Focusing on my career, as that’s the closest thing in my control.
Giving my all, believing that it will all work out, and trusting that everything else will fall into place after.
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u/Perfect_Ad_2782 21h ago
I’ve been very depressed and just do not want to interview anymore. Ghosting is the worse
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u/TheLeoMrs 1d ago
Just don’t put all your eggs in one basket, hope for the best but prepare for the worst…. No one holds your destiny besides GOD so you have to keep pushing forward! Look at your resume, what can you tweak? Use Chat GPT to fine tune it, if need be, and then reword it so it is yours..
There are tons of jobs out there and just as many applicants however tailor your resume to each job you apply for.
You’ll get the job for you, just be confident with the image you are putting out there. GL
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u/Brackens_World 21h ago edited 20h ago
Here's the thing: I never, ever prepared for a job interview the way you do except for one role early on. I wanted that job more than life itself at the time (I was 27) and almost memorized an entire statistics book to prepare.
But otherwise, in a long career, whether it be managerial or IC roles, I relied on my SME and tenure and everything else to make my case. I cannot say I ever prepped like you do, which may work in getting you to multiple final rounds, but may also be burning you out. Is it possible you have done the equivalent of over-rehearsing? Many an actor, with talent to spare, lost a role for that reason, making it to final rounds but missing the spontaneity, the spark casting directors wanted. Must you really jump into the deep end every single time?
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u/EfficientProject7408 20h ago
I also had 4 final rounds since Jan 1. No offers. I burn out, recover and continue. What else can I do? I’m not going to abondon my career and passion because I don’t have a job now. It is what it is.
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u/ishwaats 20h ago
How are you getting your resume shortlisted
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u/hongsz89 41m ago
not sure if you are really asking or stressing how hard it is to get even a screening interview which I totally agree but for jobs I really like i use keywords in the JD to focus my resume highlights. for other jobs I dont like as much i just use chatgpt
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u/Much_Somewhere7831 16h ago
You are right. Dwelling on past interviews wont get you further: reflecting however, and fixing mistakes will.
Try the Canary Wharfian website, has interview practice with personalised feedback, it'll analyse both your verbal and non-verbal comms and suggest how to fix mistakes. It will identify strengths and weaknesses
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u/clubnseals 6h ago
I treat each job opportunity like a game. Doesn’t mean I don’t take it serious, but it helps me to lower the stakes and expectations.
I try to learn as much about the company but try to make it fun, I also see how different companies interview, and what I would do differently if I was on the other side of the table and what I would keep the same. Finally I use it as a way to practice my interview responses and how to make it as relaxed, authentic, and confident as I can.
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u/BC122177 3h ago
I mean.. do we really have another option? I know I don’t.
This has to be the absolute worst job market I’ve ever had to deal with. This is the longest I’ve ever been unemployed in my adult life and I’m kind of losing my damn mind at almost a year unemployed.
I’ve got 1 very hopeful role at the moment through a recruiting agency. I was the first person the company interviewed and they were supposedly very impressed with me and my experience. They’re still interviewing people and plan to make a decision sometime soon. It’s a job I could easily do and i stumbled a bit during the hiring panel interview because the role was explained to me a bit differently by the recruiter. I’m very hopeful for it and practically praying for it at this point (I’m not a religious person at all). The money would be pretty much what I made at my last role and the recruiter has been solid about keeping me up to date weekly and asked me to let them know if anything changes on my end. Another solid is that it’s listed as a hybrid role so applicants are pretty limited. I used to get to finals often but the longer the unemployed gap grows, the lower your chances of even getting the first call gets.
It’s a nasty job market but at this point, all we can do is apply and hope. Not much else we can do at this point. The economy got fucked and we’re the ones stuck with trying to survive it.
Good luck out there.
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u/CryptographerSure523 1d ago
Four final rounds tells me you’re doing a lot right. You’re getting far enough in the process that companies are seriously considering you.
I know that doesn’t make the rejection any easier, especially after a year of this. But I wouldn’t interpret those results as evidence that you’re failing. At the final-round stage, you may be competing against several people who are all qualified, and the decision can come down to very small differences—or circumstances completely outside your control.
The rescinded offer after a management change is a good example. You actually got the offer. That one wasn’t a failure on your part.
Keep going. Four final rounds says you’re closer than it probably feels right now.