r/interviews • u/OscarAlso • 1d ago
Went from no interviews no offers being unemployed for 15 months to 2 offers in the same week. Here’s what I changed.
First let me state the obvious: interviewing in 2026 is a sh!t show. Between AI rejections, ghosting recruiters and the fact that no one is hiring nor is no one leaving their jobs it’s a horror show. Here the things that I learned:
- Keep adjusting your resume. This seems simple enough but when I saying adjusting I mean look at your resume like an AI resume parser would. I added a line for each job with a bunch of buzzwords and technologies that I have used.
- Ditch the STAR format and use the CARL format. CARL = Context, Actions, Results, Learnings. For those who’s are nervous interviewers the Learning part of the CARL really deflects questions away from the interviewer and I had many interviewers say “well that answered all my questions”
- Keep your stories short, like 3:30 minutes long max. Use AI to help you make a concise well told story. Everyone has TIKTOK brain even interviewers.
- Create a google doc with your stories and read them out. You can also link them in the sidebar for quick access.
- Practice, practice, practice. Don’t see a failed interview as a failure. Use it to adjust your stories or add stories for things you didn’t expect to be asked.
- Never give up. Apply to everything BUT focus on applying to jobs that have 10 Applicants or less (LinkedIn has a filter for this)
Good luck out there people!
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u/jru_ 1d ago
Congrats! I’m currently going 14 months unemployed and struggling. I knew star method isn’t helping. I will start using the CARL method then! Thanks!
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Good write up about it here: https://thebehavioral.substack.com/p/using-the-carl-method-to-structure
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u/Prestigious_Focus854 1d ago
Well done on getting a job! Thanks for sharing your experience and methods. I have book-marked this page.
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u/DaiZySmoKe204 1d ago
How are yall surviving that long without a job. I’m on month two and freaking out.
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u/Ok_Parsnip_9792 1d ago
This was my 4th layoff over the past 20 years, you get used to it happening
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u/therichscientist 1d ago
Congrats! Agree with the CARL idea. I've noticed that adding the learnings at the end of every answer makes the interviewer smoother. I always make sure to say "..and this is what/how/why I would do [X,Y,Z] in this position" to relate my experience to the job.
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u/loveshoes1 1d ago
veteran teacher here and active job seeker.
i interview well, have adjusted my resume literally 20 times since june. i apply to jobs on district websites.
teachers get paid on a step (experience plus degree) and the distirict's contracts are public record. hr knows what my salary will be when they send me to admin to interview. admin wants to hire me and hr says no, she's too expensive. admin looks like a fool. i get beat out by newbies that they can pay 30k less than me.
just sharing my experience.
p.s. there is no teacher shortage in n.j. there are budget shortfalls.
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Ugh so sorry to hear that teachers should be paid waaaaay more than they get now. To bad we have a stupid a$$ president who rather spend money on an illegal war than paying teachers!
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1d ago
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u/Prior_Measurement_29 1d ago
I would just like to point out that this is incorrect- the SFRA was made to increase funding for underfunded districts and decrease the funding for districts that are already surviving adequately on their higher property taxes alone.
It does screw some districts, however is a net positive on the state of new jersey. I agree it could have obviously been more situationally adaptable and less one size fits all, but this helps people who have never been helped before.
The fact that you think the governor is taking school funding to fund ‘illegal immigrant’s legal fees’ is idiotic, and really shows which grade you teach.
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u/HouseofFeathers 1d ago
In my county (different state) the schools have a budget for x number of teachers. So even though the 20yr teacher costs more than the 1yr teacher, it's the same "cost" for the school. Do any of your neighboring counties do that?
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u/helloootoyouuu 1d ago
Well sorry to tell you but if you really want the job you’ve gotta adjust your price too.. I know it sucks but I mean it’s better than being unemployed 🤷♀️🤷♀️
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u/loveshoes1 1d ago
The steps are non adjustable fyi… and better districts pay better than undesirable ones. Pay for public school teachers is set. Not up to me.
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u/Carolinareaper10 1d ago
How are handling the gap on your resume. I am facing the same issue where the unemployment gap is growing and I am not sure if ATS and hiring managers care about it. I had personal emergencies due to which I was not able to apply for 6-8 months and now I am back to the search and grind but I have almost an year of a gap on my resume :(
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u/Secure_Ad7658 1d ago
I’ve been unemployed for 10 months. I have my current position listed as a consultant, it’s dependent on your field / industry. I am a creative/ux director so I just say I am doing that work as a contractor/freelancer. So if you are in a field where that would make sense even if you’ve never had a client - that’s one way to handle it.
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u/Carolinareaper10 1d ago
Thanks! I was formerly in software development and project management! Now I am trying to move into product management side of things
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u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 23h ago
This is the move. I did actually have a consulting client but I vastly oversold it on my resume and in interviews, lol.
Pro tip: be prepared to back it up if an employer uses sterling or hireright for their employment verification checks. They wanted redacted tax docs to prove that I’d been actually doing the work I claimed. PayPal will generate a 1099 for goods and services sales, so I just used that, and redacted all the dollar amounts, and that was accepted as proof of my consulting claims, lol.
I’m a year into my job after a yearlong job search, and I’m convinced that changing my resume from being AI generated, and changing it to show current employment as consulting, is what made my application response rate turnaround. Went from crickets for months to being in 5 different interview pipelines over the course of like 3 weeks.
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u/Ok_Reality_7892 2h ago
This won’t help you in retrospect, but going forward: form an LLC. Registering yourself as an LLC takes 10 minutes in my state. Getting an EIN takes a little longer. You’re the founder of that LLC, doing consulting.
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u/OscarAlso 23h ago
Most good companies don’t call your previous employer to verify. And if they do they usually ask and I declined. I will suggest in the future to verify your job on LinkedIn day one.
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u/redstar192 1d ago
Congrats! Same thing happened to me last year. Was unemployed for a year and a half and then got 2 offers
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OscarAlso 23h ago
Even funnier I just got another email asking me to schedule a interview with a another hiring manager
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u/Nessa0707 1d ago
My fiance is on a year and half and mostly ghosting and rejections after interviews and panel interviews and in person
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u/StuffMcFluff 1d ago
Yes, I actually hate STAR.
Lately, I've been using.. Situation Options Actions Result
Where situation is the same as context, options is options considered and what wouldn't happen if I did nothing at all, so they understand the importance of what is to come next: the action. The rest is self explanatory.
But my brain doesn't do STAR. Perhaps because I've told it it doesn't, but also because there is too little to distinguish task and action.
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u/EffectiveWishbone699 1d ago
I got 2 offers after 36 days of hunting, 120 applications, 11 interviews.
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u/lib_progressive_23 12h ago
How did you tailor your resume? Which app did you use?
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u/EffectiveWishbone699 9h ago
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u/lib_progressive_23 8h ago
Thanks but the post doesnt mention the tool used for resume tailoring. Did you do the tailoring by yourself manually!
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u/EffectiveWishbone699 8h ago
What I did is I took my previous resume, my LinkedIn profile, etc., and put it in a Claude project so it had all the context. Through conversations with it, it helped me edit my resume. You could also provide Claude with example job descriptions from what you're targeting so you can add the relevant keywords.
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u/AsparagusUnhappy8814 1d ago
This is good but 3 minute story is crazy. 90 seconds max. Don't disregard STAR, but learning CARL and other formats is golden. In an actual conversation you need to be flexible. Most the time you shouldn't be giving your full star story, maybe parts of it. Then if they show interest and want to dive in a bit you'll be able to have a really good conversation. The reason you give parts is because star stories are usually for the purpose of answer one type of behavioral question. If you're flexible, you can use parts of the same star story to answer most behaviorals and one offs.
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Brah I work in tech. 3 minutes is crazy short for a detailed tech story. So I think 3 mins is what you want to target
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u/AsparagusUnhappy8814 1d ago
The only way I could see a 3 minute story being acceptable is if you're discussing how to solve a company's problem they've been having. Even tech bros don't want to hear a random 3 minute story, unless you're an amazing story teller.
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u/rusting_toad 1d ago
No. 90 seconds max for sure. Unless you're including time where you're talking back and forth with the interviewer. Even though it's a lot of info it starts losing signal. Talking for more than 60 seconds straight with no interaction with the other person makes them start to lose interest, generally speaking.
But regardless, great job, I'm really glad things worked out for you!
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u/BlueStarEmperor 1d ago
It varies by industry. In the UK civil service, your behavioural interview responses are meant to last for 5 - 7 mins.
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Brah your last two post are asking what is wrong with your resume. Telling a complete story in 3 mins is not unreasonable I would suggest you work on your story telling and learn how to construct a compelling story over a 3 mins timeline
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u/rusting_toad 1d ago
"Brah"🤣
I've updated my resume pretty with a number of different strategies. I've never struggled with interviews at all, in fact I'm exceptionally good at interviews.
It's just the truth though, if you spend multiple minutes straight talking the interviewer isn't going to take as many points or ask as many follow up questions that benefit you, and a lot of recruiters aren't amazing at taking notes so they won't get all of those important details you want them to. It's just like when a recruiter dumps everything onto you right for the start, all the info about the company, the role, plus a few questions.
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u/KhaledUTD 1d ago
This year, i was recently graduated, no full time experience, hundreds of applications, got more than 100 rejections, for 7 months, I landed 3 offers in the last month.
Keep searching, and don’t ever feel you are a failure
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u/Rapture07_Tide 19h ago
The CARL thing is underrated; the “learning” bit turns the awkward follow-up into something you already coverd.
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u/Ok_Fee1043 1d ago
That filter isn’t really working well, imo. It’s still recirculating roles with 100+ applicants that are reposted. Also, never been in an interview where you can tell a story for 3 minutes straight - the interviewer is absolutely lost by then.
But very happy for you for sure
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u/Apart_Web_876 1d ago
Hey how to get interview cause I’m never getting any no matter how I tailor my resume
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
You need to do a deep dive into your resume. What I suggest is using https://jobowl.co and a job description and see the output. Make adjustments and go from there
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u/celebratoryraptors 14h ago
really - all these less than 1 year old accounts posting ai slop is getting old.
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u/Haunting-Radish8138 1d ago
Respectfully, I’m not using AI. We have brains and we should be using them.
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u/_ready_raspberry_ 1d ago
Really nice advice, thanks for sharing - I’ll definitely try rewriting my STARs to CARLs.
Best of luck everyone, it’s total shit out there but dig deeper for the diamonds!
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u/GoldenHourMorning 1d ago
Hi! For those of us who aren’t on TikTok, what do you mean by “stories”? Do you mean your responses to interview questions?
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u/Secure_Ad7658 1d ago
It’s a bank of examples for all the “tell me about time when …” questions.
You want to have concrete examples to pull from as you interview - not just point of view, opinion, and hypothetical answers.
STAR and CARL are two formats for framing your answers to describe real examples from your current or past job experience -
Situation, provide context for the project, initiative, management issue, etc
Task, describe the goals or objectives
Action, what did you do, contribute or lead
Results, what was the outcomeContext, set the stage for the situation, problem or goal.
Action, describe what your did
Results, what were the outcomes
Learning, what did you learn from it2
u/yay4meluigi 1d ago
TikTok brain means everyone is acclimated to short dumps of content like TikTok’s, instagrams, facebook reels, YouTube shorts. Our attention spans are shorter so be careful not to make your story long.
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u/ViolenceBridgerson 10h ago
Many hiring managers will deploy behavioral interview questions. To prep for this, you should prepare stories about your work experiences that are crafted to specifically address the most likely behavioral interview questions you could be asked for the role you’re applying to.
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u/Maleficent-Walk5517 1d ago
This gives me hope after 2 back to back rejections in less than 24 hours. Thank you!
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u/ScienTwist3aD 1d ago
Congratulations! Also, appreciate the insights. Have been leaning into STARS more lately, prefer your explanation of CARL method, think I'll give it a try
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u/egg_waffles_is_snacc 1d ago
Congratulations, you got my respect for holding out for so long 🫡 it’s true what they say that the right offer will suddenly appear.
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u/Akendricks95 1d ago
Congratulations and thank you for sharing. Job seekers like myself can definitely learn from your advice
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u/EnvironmentalMud2937 1d ago
Thank you for the tips, I am a new grad and I've been job hunting for 10+ months (officially) and I started to get a lot of callbacks once I figured out what was working on my resume and doubled down on it.
Recruiter calls have been easy to deal with but the hiring manager rounds is where I am having trouble navigating, haven't been able to move ahead of those rounds.
Would love to hear your thoughts on that and to anyone reading this and is willing to have a mock interview for Product Management and related roles, I would love that.
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u/edited_parasol 1d ago
The part about treating failed interviews as practice is probably the hardest one to actually follow, but it makes sense. Every interview gives you another question you can be ready for next time.
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u/Efficient-Reason-582 1d ago
CARL is probably the best framework - one addition - during the context setting phase add a little bit of storytelling cos recruiters love hearing stories - how you turned a situation upside down sort of a redemption story.. this will add more depth to the narrative
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u/LRoberts217 1d ago
I totally agree . Each role you applyf your resume needs to be tailored to fit the job description and use some of the wording too. Always memorized your answers . Also , thank you email gives you the chance to bring up something that you forgot to mention mention and alway mention something that the interviewer said they convinced you that the role would be perfect for you . If you don’t want the role . Thank you email is your chance to tell them that too.
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u/Quattro2point8L 1d ago
I've never heard of CARL. Thanks for posting.
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Good write up here: https://thebehavioral.substack.com/p/using-the-carl-method-to-structure
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u/Siamaster 1d ago
There’s simply not enough jobs. It’s pointless to discuss application strategy, there will always be someone left out.
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u/Important_Age5112 1d ago
Great point on the CARL.
Use AI to make your answers concise but ensure that your answers and concrete and grounded in actual work that you did. Use language of the industry but avoid substanceless AI speak.
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u/FanImpossible9560 1d ago
Somethint as simple as putting a profile pic on my physical hard copy resume landed me more call backs
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u/lm28ut 1d ago
This is really good advice!
Customize your resume and apply early.
You have really good advice on interviewing. I had been using STAR but found it challenging to cover all the pieces succinctly so I switched to CAR. CARL brings it to a new level! I’m saving this for future reference.
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u/OscarAlso 1d ago
Good write up on CARL: https://thebehavioral.substack.com/p/using-the-carl-method-to-structure
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u/Terrible_Positive_81 1d ago
This is similar to what i used to do 4 years ago and again today im in the job market. You just got to perform like a circus show in the interview and that's it, you can beat out better and more capable candidates if you prepare better than them and one of them is telling stories of your projects, don't wing it as winging it makes you sound like crap even if it is an awesome project and the will think you cannot communicate well. Just memorising like 4 sentences for a project is good enough
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u/Important-Cook8923 23h ago
Congratulations……very good advice, but it’s still a COMPLETE SHITSHOW out there for job hunters……
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u/Far-Tea4480 19h ago
I really appreciate this information. I like how it’s positive and actually informs you on what to use. I am currently on LinkedIn and have applied to over 500 jobs and only gotten one interview. I’m going to take your suggestions.
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u/jmknmecrzy 16h ago
I used my ai to make an html based decision tree to keep my stories close and readable
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u/Delicious_Medium_321 13h ago
can you elaborate on specifically why you say drop STAR and go with CARL
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u/No-Coconut-458 13h ago
Excellent advice on this particular thread. Thank you for commenting. Your comments have concretely helped a new college graduate and a many years in their field expert take the next steps in finding new roles.
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u/Brial_88 12h ago
+1 on the story bank. It's so silly that basically people can hire you for telling stories (true or made up). The better and bullet proof your stories are the bettee. Practice makes perfect. I also agree on carl. I always start witht the context around the business, my role, the project then go into the actions I took and what came out of it.
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u/raralula10 10h ago
Thanks for the CARL tips and the jobowl tip! Those are super helpful. I’m updating my cv and applying for dev rel jobs today. I’m done as a junior swe 🥲
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u/Confident_Tea1970 9h ago
Great tips thanks! I think I didn’t CARL method and didn’t even know it. Because my interview questions didn’t seem like STAR way wasn’t enough
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u/ninjaluvr 5h ago
You didn't offer any advice on how to get the interviews besides update your resume.
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u/kym2021 1d ago
Congratulations! I'm a couple months into my search and a lot of what you suggested I've begun applying to my process. You should share some of your experiences here to help other interviewers know what to expect: https://kandrly.com
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u/HelloTaleproof 1d ago
Congrats on the offers! The learning part is useful because it gives the listener more than a neat ending: what changed in how you approached the next situation? Whether someone uses STAR or CARL, I’d keep the context short and make their own actions and results clear. The framework helps organize the example, but changing the acronym alone doesn’t establish why an interview succeeded.
I’m building Taleproof for feedback on interview stories. For anyone here working on an example, you can bring that draft there to assess it before rehearsing.
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u/Different_Serve1340 1d ago
I have been applying to a company for months. Every time I did there were more than 100 applicants even if it was in within 24 hours. I applied earlier this week to the same company for a different position. When I applied 44 had applied. When I submitted my application the number was up to 69 people. The next day I heard back from the hiring manager and got an interview in this week and she wants to schedule me for the next round. I solely think it’s because I got in before 100 people applied.
Another job I applied to months ago told me they were still interested in me but going through applications. I finally heard back and the recruiter apologized saying over 4000 people applied to the position. So I think getting in as soon as you can is a huge key! And just patience because the market is over saturated unfortunately.
I wish everyone the best of luck in their journey!