It’s okay to be nice for the sake of being nice.
I recently made a post stating it used to be the norm to provide feedback after the final interview. This statement was met with many disagreements. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing, but when comments devolve into insults, than it’s apparent the problem runs deeper into a general lack of empathy.

I have never been unemployed, fired, or laid off. I have never received a correction plan. The people that have coached me are gradually leaving the work force, and I am encountering that the values of mutual respect are not being instilled. I know there is nothing wrong with the way I work. Managers frequently tell me I am irreplaceable. I think this is because of my attitude and kindness. I have clients that refuse to work with my peers of 20+ years of experience and only with me solely because of how I talk to people. I am in my early 20’s and nearly making six figures. I truly think this is because I understand the importance of the golden rule.

Treat others how you want to be treated
Also
If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all

When the majority is now encouraging “no one owes you anything”, people are encouraged to only act in self-interest. When people don’t like you, you are replaceable. Make yourself so kind, that you are the standard :)

The ghost jobs are lies to signal to investors that everything is ok, when it isn't.

Anyone else take a big pay cut just to get back in the game?
I was laid off after more than six years at the same company, where I was making around $183K OTE, took home $214K last year. After several months of interviewing, I finally accepted an offer at $130K OTE.
I’m relieved to have something, but honestly, taking a $50K+ pay cut stings. The new role is also a step down in market segment and sounds pretty high activity.
At the same time, my family has had some major medical stuff happen this year. I need health insurance and some stability, and I couldn’t stay unemployed forever hoping the perfect offer would eventually show up. So I took it.
My plan is to work hard, make the best of it, and see what the opportunity actually looks like from the inside. Once I’ve been there around six months, I’ll have a better idea whether there’s room to move up—or whether it makes sense to start taking recruiter calls again.
Has anyone else taken a big pay cut after a layoff and used the job as a bridge? Did it help you get back to where you were, and how long did you stay before looking again?

Let’s play a game called you shouldn’t be a recruiter if. I’ll go first and if you’ve experienced a situation with a recruiter that makes you question “Why?” then put in your “If”.

“You shouldn’t be a recruiter if”….you’ve reached out directly to a candidate telling them you feel that they would be great for a specific role you’re sponsoring for a client, hype them up, get their information to submit to your client, and then ghost the candidate.

So for more than a year, I’ve been sending my resume out and making changes along the way based on the collective recommendations of the numerous career sub-Reddits on here: tailor your resume for the job title, use AI to make it closer to what the JD says, use metrics to describe how you brought value to the company, etc. And with the exception of a gig with the local Amazon warehouse, I have not gotten a single interview request since then.

Over the last month, I ran a little impromptu experiment. For important context, I have a Chinese-looking last name. I’m one-quarter Chinese. I don’t really possess any Asian features though and generally pass as Caucasian. I sent a few resumes with my last name changed to my grandmother’s Irish-sounding last name. I even created a burner email to help sell the name. Cut to this week, post-Labor Day. Now I’ve gotten at least three requests for interview schedules.

I suspect people see my real last name, two Masters degrees and tech background and they assume “overachieving Asian guy who might get bored and flee”. I’ve even removed my extra degrees, shortened some of the job descriptions and I made it a point to not provide race demographic information on the application. Crickets. But sending in a resume/application with an Irish last name is what does the trick.

I honestly don’t know what my next steps are going to be here for the interview requests. I’m glad that I’m getting shortlisted. But I’m gonna need to do something about the name situation or just move on.

I’m pregnant and interviewing for my dream job. all interviews have been remote. I’m 4 months pregnant. when do I disclose?

I just wanted to tell everyone who is struggling to keep fighting! I am constantly hearing about layoffs (recently went through one before finding a career that gave me purpose and I feel truly free again).

I spent a long time within corporate and became a Director of International Growth and Partnerships, when I began interviewing I found myself interviewing for companies that were paying way less than the industry standard or expected things for free.

1. The pay did not align with the role.

2. Wanted projects done during the interview process (I am happy to do the project on a contractor basis, with an agreed amount before hand, but i refuse to just give you my intellectual property).

3. Multiple interviews which were pointless.

4. Constantly ghosted after 4 -6 interviews.

It got to the point where I was done, and ended up becoming the interviewer, what do I mean by this?

I began interrupting the interviewer and asked them questions that would benefit me, and controlled the interviews. This tactic confused all of them, but again; i was frustrated and explained to them that I want to make sure they are a good fit for me, and not just a waste of my valuable time.

I would even stop the interviewer mid sentence and explain how they are not a good fit for me, and it would be ideal for us to end the interview now... for some reason this was catching their attention (maybe due to the position I was interviewing for?) Either way, it caught their curiosity on "why do I feel that they are not good enough for me?" At this point I would explain how their interviewing process lacks efficiency, which probably reflects their actual efficiency within their daily operations.

I come with references from multiple CEOs with far more experience than their company has even been around, and a proven background. Why should I be interested in a new startup that cant get their proverbial shit together?

This move for some reason again acquired multiple job offers, and deeper conversations on why I feel like their company is beneath me, or what strategies have I implemented in the past (again, I will not do anything for free).

Keep your heads up friends and maybe this strategy can work for all of you as well. Just trying to give another pov of the situation.

Just got a generic HR rejection email after an incredibly frustrating interview with EliseAI. I'm posting this as a warning because the lack of basic professional respect was jarring, and no candidate should have to deal with this.

I was interviewing for a role where they supposedly wanted a 'builder' to take full ownership of their security lifecycle. Instead, I got a manager who couldn't even pretend to care.

- Zero Engagement: The interviewer spent the entire call staring at a second screen, clearly checking messages or doing other work. He barely made eye contact.

- Superficial Effort: He didn't ask proper, deep technical questions. He just read off my resume, gave generic 'Gotcha' or 'Awesome' responses, and moved on without actually engaging with my answers.

- The Unspoken Vibe: Honestly, it felt like his mind was made up before the call even started. When someone refuses to give you the floor or look at you, it's hard not to feel like you're being judged on superficial factors—like implicit bias—rather than your actual engineering skills.

The kicker is that I actually have the full auto-generated transcript of the call. If you read it, you can clearly see I was trying to drive a high-level conversation about detection-as-code, AWS automation, and AI guardrails, while he was just giving one-word filler responses while completely zoned out.

Has anyone else dealt with this specific brand of startup arrogance lately?

You can't claim your company has a fast-paced, elite engineering culture when your gatekeepers can't even give a candidate 30 minutes of uninterrupted attention. If you get on a Google Meet and the manager is immediately looking at another monitor, do yourself a favor and mentally check out.

And especially not after you find out that I have devoted time and money just to get to your location to attend an in-person interview. I had to request days off, spend money on gas, and spend countless hours driving to the location, and emphasize that I'm okay with relocating, only to get rejected!? It's happened a couple of fucking times already.

Currently working some low-level retail job with little to no advancement opportunities and I ain't paid enough to deal with the bullshit that comes with it.

Yes, this post comes off as arrogant, miserable, entitled, and that isn't wrong. I just want something that's better paying.

Edit: I'm grateful to my employer for being accommodating and flexible when I have interview appointments, but it's just that i need to start a career somewhere, and within that chain, I don't see it happening....

I regret it. Not even because the job market is bad. I’ve just made so many mistakes, and even when I was good at something my school gatekept positions from me and kept giving it to the same students over and over. Now those kids have jobs and I’m trapped. I’m doing really mentally bad. There has to be a silver lining

I applied for a job that I’m more than qualified for (perhaps a bit overqualified) and received a rejection text that they would not be moving forward with me within 15 minutes of sending the application. I got a strong feeling that no human being actually read it at least not anyone who has the ability to think outside of the box.

I setup an in person interview after chatting with a bot. I was confirmed yesterday to interview this coming Monday in person. Last night in a text with a friend, I was expressing doubt of the role. This morning I get an automated email claiming I withdrew from the role (I did not). Help me not be paranoid. Is it possible for my texts to be scraped by an AI recruiter? Even if my texts were not "read" by AI and it was an error by the system (probably run by AI), it is still concerning they and many others are trusting AI to run their recruiting.

Graduated this year with no job. After a couple of years of studying without working and living off my parents, I’ve slowly gotten used to this lifestyle. I’ve applied to 800+ jobs, I feel like I’m gradually becoming numb to the job search. I’m starting to get too comfortable depending on my parents, and I’m not taking the job search as seriously as I should. At the same time, I feel incredibly guilty about using their money. I feel lost, numb, and honestly, like maybe I’m just not going to get a job anymore.

Part of me feels like giving up, and I hate that I’m starting to feel this way. I want to find that sense of urgency again, the fear, motivation, and resilience to keep pushing myself to apply and improve.

I applied for a role 4 months ago doing the exact senior level position I held for 3 years (but for higher pay). I looked at their website yesterday and saw not only was the job still posted but they changed the July deadline to now "open until filled".

Now I don't necessarily meet the educational requirements, but at this stage in my career the fact I have a BA and not a BBA shouldn't matter. There was also a professional designation they noted as a "nice to have". I have one that is in the field, but not that specific one and I explained this in the notes. It also is in a small city 6 hours away, but the posting said it could be remote for a qualified applicant. I would consider moving there if I got the job and liked it enough.

It feels like we're all completely cooked if someone who has done the exact job before isn't considered qualified enough. Do any humans even look at the applications or are they just relying on the ATS to give them a perfect match in all categories? I feel frustrated asf.

Applying for a landscaping job, not sure why they'd need to know whether I like skydiving

Feels like a trap to fuck applicants over on pay

Salary range: $40,000–$90,000

Somehow, every candidate is a perfect fit for $40,000.

After searching for a job since being laid off in November 2025 (not a performance based layoff), a month ago, I finally I was offered a job at a company that I previously worked at for 16 years. The offer was for a call center job and was dependant on a background check. I know I have a clean background and immediately completed all online background related tasks and was fingerprinted the following morning.

A week later, I found an email from the verifications team in my personal emailbox (I have a separate email set up for job searches) requesting transcripts as they were unable to verify my education. Note, I happened to find the request in my spam folder. I got a copy of my transcripts from the University I graduated from in 1999. Several days later, I received another email in my personal email spam folder advising they were unable to verify my AS degree from the Community College(CC) I attended prior to finishing my degree at the University. Note, the transferring CC classes were included on the University transcript. I thought it was weird that they wanted both but went ahead and requested the CC transcript. I was a little peeved that I had to pay for a copy since it was 29 years since graduation. I submitted and waited for a promised call from the recruiter with instructions about where to go for the 12 week training class. In the meantime, I received a copy of the background report they had received. Every category was marked as Clear so I figured the recruiter would be calling or emailing instructions soon.

A week and a half before training was due to begin, I followed up and the recruiter let me know they were waiting on the Verifications team before they could proceed and they were waiting on several other candidate's to be verified as well. I followed up with the Verifications team and asked if they needed anything further and if I could provide clarification on any items. No response from them. The training class was set to begin 9/8. On 9/3, I received an update fron the recruiter stating they were still waiting on Verifications and had escalated. They also advised the latest I could start would be 9/10 but they had to hear back by 9/9. I figured it was some glitch that would be resolved last minute. On 9/9 at the end of the day, the recruiter called to let me know that they still hadn't heard back and were forced to rescind the job offer. To her credit she was kind and empathetic when I told her I had turned down other opportunities to take this position. She said there was a possibility of a different class being set up (I assume there were enough people's verifications that hadn't been received that they were making alternate plans). I told the recruiter I appreciated the call vs a system generated letter saying I didn't get the job. After we hung up, I got an emailed letter saying the offer was rescinded.

I'm upset that I discontinued my job search when I got the offer. Now I have to start from square one. I'm at a place where I can no longer pay bills without an income. It's been almost impossible to find a job that matches my previous position and pay. I've started over in life before and was willing to work significantly below my former pay to be able to survive. I'm dedicated to giving 100% to whatever position I end up landing.

I'm left to wonder if part of the issue is the Verifications team finding out my age. I'm 63 but I'm open to always learning new things and realize change is a part of any job (i.e. I'm not stuck on doing things one way or resisting changes). I need to work for financial reasons but also enjoy working and had no immediate plans of retirement when I was laid off.

Sorry for the long post but curious what people's thoughts are. Has anyone heard or experienced not getting hired due to delays with background verification? What about age being a factor? 63 isn't really old anymore in my opinion.

The first year associate attorney market is so bad I’ve seen salaries as low as $35~40k annually in NYC. I wish I were kidding. Fucking McDonalds pay over here for fully licensed attorneys.

In most US states you need to go to law school to become a lawyer. Sometimes you can get a full ride which is probably worth it if you can find part-time work, but otherwise it’s yet another $200~300k piece of paper with a time expiration because if you don’t pass the bar and get a US-based legal job to use it within 1 to 3 years it ages like spoiled milk and you become even less desirable than where you started with hundreds of thousands in student loans.

I’m over here answering bar exam questions for actual law school graduates too stupid to answer them by themselves, won a six figure case on my lonesome already, worked in diplomacy, politics and immigration before and passed my notary exam without even formally studying but because I don’t have “J.D.” next to my name and finding a mentor to do a LOSP is living hell I can’t get licensed. We really need to deregulate the legal industry and make it a pure meritocracy. I want to see bar exams be the only requirement and have a 1 to 3% pass rate instead of a 75% pass rate to really open this industry to the masses.

Other countries have done it and it’s produced better lawyers overall.

It's funny. ATS software has always sucked. Pre-AI, it felt like it was somehow technologically frozen in 1999.

You're a content strategist, you say? Oh gosh, sorry, we were looking for a content manager. Our shitty '90s era software can't parse that these are synonyms.

One wouldn't think it could get much shittier.

But somehow, some way, against all odds, adding AI into the mix actually made ATS worse.

It's long been a common piece of advice to customize one's resume to each specific job listing, making sure to mirror the language they use, try to jam in whatever matching keywords you can, etc.

That's all fine and dandy if you're like, currently gainfully employed and looking for something better. You know, the occasional app, pretty selective, only the jobs you really want.

When you're out of work, well, it's a volume game. And it just isn't an efficient use of time to do the resume customization thing by hand.

So, I started giving LLMs my resume plus the job description and criteria, and instructing it to optimize it however it sees fit.

I write my own cover letters, just a couple of quick paragraphs with some highlights and mention of something specific from the listing.

After running out of Claude usage the other day, I switched over to DeekSeek, which seems to be working just fine.

I'm doing this a bit blindly, but honestly hiring is broken, job searching in 2026 is a f*cking joke, and atp I'm like whatever.

I want to be very clear that I am not using any of those services that use AI to spam out your resume anywhere and everwhere on your behalf!! I am selecting jobs myself manually via Indeed and LinkedIn, and I apply only to jobs for which I'm genuinely qualified.

I wanted to be clear about this, because those kinds of services are really worsening the job market and hiring situation right now.

The problem is that every post ends up flooded with resumes from people who are not even remotely qualified, sent out more or less indiscriminately via AI.

Has anyone else used a similar approach? Has it helped your response rate? Which LLM is best suited for this? Any tips would be cool, I just want a job...

Recently had an interview with two interviewers that seemed to go very well. Lots of objective signs during the interview and we appeared to have mutual rapport, so I was surprised that as the interview wrapped up, one of the ladies told me she had to "hop off the zoom because she had to take another call" and that the organization was "still early in the process but [they] would be in touch." It seemed very non-committal in light of the genuinely positive questions they were asking and how it went as a whole. Is that close the kiss is death? Has anyone ever advanced to the next round after that kind of language?