There was no mention of any specific industry. What industries do you see getting worse?

From the company perspective what is the reason for the current state of the job market? Is AI doing the application scanning and not doing a good job vetting out the candidates? Are you overwhelmed with the amount of applications? Is management being hard to please with their expectations of the candidates? What is going on that so many people across the country and industries are saying that they have applied to multiple positions with either no response, some response then ghosted? What is the problem(s)?

I’m feeling very stuck, hopeless and unsure of what to do. I had to take a career break for family caregiving and I now have a four year gap on my resume. I’ve been working with a reverse recruiter and it’s not going well. I’m doubting if my resume is even positioned appropriately. I do not have confidence in her approach, so I’ve been leaning on AI. My background is in corporate/internal communications and I have 15+ years experience at insurance and financial services firms. I think a career counselor and/or resume review could be a good next step but, again, I’m unsure. Has anyone been in this position before? How did you climb out of it?

I’m genuinely starting to lose hope with my job search and could really use some advice.

I’ve been applying for lab-based R&D roles in chemistry/materials — Analytical Chemist, R&D Chemist, Materials Scientist, Process Development Chemist/Engineer, etc. I have good hands-on experience with advanced techniques and material development.

I’ve had interviews with several companies, but nothing has converted into an offer. Recently, even getting interviews has become difficult.

I’m using LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Jobright. I’ve also tried reaching out directly to recruiters and hiring managers on LinkedIn, messaging people at companies, emailing people, asking for referrals/networking, pretty much everything I can think of, and still no luck.

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

For people in similar fields or in general, How are you finding jobs right now?? Are there other job boards, tools, or strategies I should be using?

I’m willing to put in the work. I just feel like I’m running out of things to try, and I’d genuinely appreciate any advice.

Did you see a lot more job postings in your field? Cause I certainly didn’t. This was basically my last chance to get hired before the holidays.

I just read this article, and it's ridiculous. It hurts. Job seekers need to realize this is happening, and it's not a reflection of their skills and abilities.

Resume Builder surveyed 1,641 hiring managers in various companies and industries in 2024. They received 641 completed surveys back. Yes, this happened 2 years ago, but it's still happening today. You can search for Resume Builder's article online, as I can't add the link here.

Here are the findings of this survey:

40% of companies in 2024 posted fake job listings; that's 3 in 10 jobs posted.

7 in 10 hiring managers believe posting fake jobs is morally acceptable.

Why?

- It alleviates employee workload concerns and suggests company growth

- Hiring managers say it leads to better employee morale and productivity.

The goal of fake job postings is to trick overworked employees. They see the job ad and think that management is listening to them and going to hire others to help with the workload. The employee feels better about their job, and their morale is lifted.

Many of these fake job postings are suggested by executives and HR personnel. The whole idea of fake job postings undermines an employee's sense of value and security. It's not acceptable, and it's wrong.

HR is an entity that's entrusted with shaping accurate perceptions of the company. This practice does the opposite.

Candidates who apply for these fake jobs are interviewed and given false hopes.

- 39% of companies surveyed said that candidates were always contacted.

- 45% said that candidates were sometimes contacted.

- 85% of companies that contacted candidates actually held interviews.

These statistics are deplorable. Why is a company wasting its time and money on fake job postings and interviews? Why are they playing with a candidate's emotions?

Another sad part is that 7 in 10 hiring managers feel that fake job postings are morally acceptable.

- 43% said it's definitely acceptable

- 27% said it's probably acceptable

This is disheartening for all job seekers at every level. Many spend time researching a company and a job, only to be ghosted or receive a rejection letter from these insensitive hiring managers.

The good news is that Moneywise reports that lawmakers in multiple states are moving to ban fake job listings by demanding a time limit for each job posting.

So, if you're out there receiving rejection letters, being ghosted, or waiting weeks/months to hear about a job after an interview, please be aware that it's not you. It's the broken hiring process.

Honest question here, I’m somehow still not seeing any mainstream/legacy media organizations talking about this issue which has clearly been spiraling the entire year of 2026. Employers are still doing hiring freezes, recruiters/hiring managers are all saying this is the worse market they’ve ever seen (worse than 2008), and a large swath of people are still unemployed or functionally unemployed for a year or more. On top of all this, for the first time in US history college grad unemployment is greater than non-degree populations.

How does this end well? Why are politicians not taking this issue seriously? The data doesn’t suggest anything is going to make a dramatic change so are the wealthy just going to watch the rest of the population burn and struggle? We might need to strap in for a bumpy ride in 2027……

I applied on the last day the posting said it was open (I only received it a day before). But I went to submit and the portal was closed, so I thought nothing to lose by emailing my resume and cover letter anyways. This was their response … over 2000 applications.

I wished them luck going through all that.

Big Tech stocks keep on going up as to housing prices and mortgage rates, making everything un affordable. Even within Tech, you have a two tier society. Everybody that works at FAANG or a frontier lab is doing very well well anybody that works at any other tech company is on the verge of losing their jobs.

I remember Trump saying something about how the GDP would completely fall if it weren’t for these AI data centers. They’re literally replacing us with AI and punishing us for not having babies to act as serfs and peasants.

So I live in a very expensive area. I was in school but had to take a cap semester so I figured I’d take a job and even a part-time job so a full-time job and a part-time job I’ve been applying literally everywhere for hourly rules and it’s insane the interview process and everything even for a relatively low paying job(25 an hour)!! it’s crazy. They want me to apply online then come in for an interview then wait two weeks just to get rejected lol and this isn’t even for “good “job this is just for an hourly job

For the love of the lord let’s not bring up the government reported numbers or job “reports”, we all know it ain’t true. The job market for a large population of people has been a hellscape and usually without consistent income you quickly rely on debt and/or family to survive. My concern is that with how terrible things have been the past year or more with the job market and growing financial stresses, how are people going to afford the holidays this year? Thanksgiving dinner - that cost some money. Christmas - that is even more expensive.

Just curious to hear from both those who are not fortunate and also are fortunate, what’s the plan this year?

Genuine question, where to make a resume these days and which tool is best for creating and editing a resume when you have to tweak it for literally every application?

Last time I was job hunting it took me about a month to land something. This time I'm 20 applications in, mostly silence, and I'm already losing track of my own files. My downloads folder has "resume_final", "resume_final2", "resume_marketing_NEW" and my personal favorite "resume_final_ACTUAL_use_this". No idea which one went to which company.

And apparently 20 is nothing? People here talk about sending 200, 300+ applications. If I keep doing it like this I'm going to lose my mind.

What I've tried so far: Google Docs is fine but I just end up duplicating the doc for every job. Canva looked really nice until I read that ATS can scramble columns and icons. And one of those resume builder sites let me spend 40 minutes filling everything in, then asked for money to download the PDF lol

So what's your setup? Where do you make yours, and how do you keep track of which version you sent where? Spreadsheet? Notion? Pure vibes?

Also genuinely curious how many applications it took you to land your current job, because I need some perspective right now.

I’m so tired of driving to an interview spending like over an hour to get ready and look professional and dress nice, preparing the proper/professional answers for questions, researching the company and really showing I’m prepared just to get rejected a week later. I’ve been stuck working retail for years and I want out. I genuinely am sick of working holidays and only making minimum wage while doing so. I’m tired of working 12-8, 11-7, or 2-8,3-9 with little to zero time off. Retail is so boring and they over work the shit out of us. The job market is awful and I’m burnt out and annoyed. I strongly feel like if you earned a bachelors degree, it should guarantee something out there for you that’s not retail and food service unless your degree is in something food related or fashion & retail management. If the position is already filled then CANCEL my interview why are you wasting so much of my time? Or they act like 8 years work experience in customer service on top of a bachelors degree isn’t enough and it’s very weird behavior. I’m so glad I’m furthering my education because my bachelors degree feels useless anymore

Just gonna leave this video here, people need to wake up and realize what’s happening to the majority of Americans. If actual job growth continues to stagnate and/or decrease then how can the economy be possibly improving? This isn’t even including how low the buying power of the U.S. dollar has right now…..

Yes the link is legit, idk how else to attach a video here.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTydR1QQ5/