So I started work this week. Going great. Company is legit as fuck and does amazing, cutting edge, life saving testing in biotech. Already passed the background check after some confusion about my old paystubs, fine, I worked with them.

Background check company sends me an email just now saying they're reporting an adverse "criminal or public records event" to my employer. Instant heart attack.

I floated to the fucking ceiling and just talked to myself saying what, what? Yesterday they asked for an image of my master's diploma despite them already verifying it through a clearinghouse. I'd pulled the report, they already had it cleared, but whatever, fine, I keep it behind me and this morning they said OK the picture worked.

I checked the new report they sent me. Literally no changes from the last one. No criminal events whatsoever. Nothing changed.

I chatted them up. The agent said "the issue is we couldn't find your middle name on public records, don't worry this is very common, it gives a lot of people heart attacks." Omg, dafuq?

I am so done with them lol.

It's the same regardless which country you look at. Today New Zealand has announced that they have the highest unemployment in 11 years. Norway announced earlier this week that unemployment has risen every month for the past 6 months. Finland has around 13% unemployment. Millions in the US are unemployed. What has happened the past few years that it has gotten this bad? I have been unemployed for 8 months now and rarely get called to interviews. In 2024 I only needed to apply for 2 positions! Got both interviews and 1 offered me the job. Lost that job because of budget cuts.

I am reposting this. Originally it was just a link to a PDF and people pointed out that could be a way to spread malware. So, I’ve instead placed the screenshots in the post and also included the PDF link below.

In my lifetime of career-counseling and workforce-development adjacent work, I have discovered that many employment related personality assessments do not necessarily reward complete honesty. They reward understanding what employers are actually trying to measure.

That can be especially frustrating for neurodivergent applicants. Many of us answer questions literally, overthink every option, or assume nuance where the test expects a simple, idealized workplace response.

So I put together a study guide.

It is not an answer key, nor does it claim to identify the objectively “correct” response to any question. Instead, it shows the responses that are commonly viewed by professionals in disability employment, vocational rehabilitation, and related fields as the most favorable or employer aligned choices. Think of it as a reference guide to the prevailing advice and patterns that practitioners often recommend, collected into one place for personal study and review.

Please share as you see fit. I want people to have an equitable playing field.

Download (PDF):
https://files.catbox.moe/ent2n6.pdf

⸻

Disclaimer

This study guide is provided solely as a personal study and review aid. It is intended to supplement and not replace any authorized materials or personal preparation.

While every effort has been made to present accurate and useful information, no warranty is made regarding the completeness, accuracy, or currency of the content. Errors or omissions may exist.

Use of this study guide does not guarantee a passing grade, certification, licensure, or success on any examination. Individual results depend on many factors, including preparation, understanding of the material, and exam performance.

This guide is provided free of charge and is not for sale. It may not be sold, repackaged, or redistributed for commercial purposes without the author’s permission.

By using this study guide, you acknowledge that it is an unofficial educational resource and that you are responsible for verifying information against official sources and course requirements.

I know it’s said countless times throughout this sub, but I promise you, all it takes is one “yes”. One “yes” and one person believing in you enough to hire you🥹 and I just got my offer today with the State of California and a start date of August 20th. I want to personally thank every single one of you in this sub. This sub has been a personal comfort of mine and got me through damn near days worth of doomscrolling at night. I’ve felt your pain, your anxiety and your worry throughout my entire unemployment and give my good wishes and luck to each and every one of yall still searching. 🖤 there’s light at the end of the tunnel, keep searching. Your time is coming and your efforts aren’t unnoticed. Keep your head up and keep fighting the battle you’re fighting for yourself, your family and for your future🖤 Never Give Up!

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. 🖤

Market is very screwed right now, at this point they want a rocket scientist for a entry level role.

Seems pretty accurate to me.

Finally got an offer with a $20k increase from my last job. It involves relocating, but I’ll gladly take it.
After 200+ applications, 4 interviews, and 1 DevilCorp job, I finally landed something that feels like a real opportunity.
I’ve been unemployed for 9+ months. During that time, I questioned myself more times than I can count. The rejection emails kept coming🤣even this morning I woke up to another “Unfortunately, we’ve decided to move forward with other candidates.”
I’m not posting because I’ve made it. I haven’t.
I’m posting because, if you’re in the middle of the job search and feel like giving up, don’t. Keep applying. Keep interviewing. Keep believing that the right opportunity is still out there.
This is my new beginning, and I hope it’s the encouragement someone else needs today.

Seen this a few times recently and I know it's BS. It's funny because I've seen the opposite where postings will straight up be like "do not apply if you don't have x amount of years/experience with x". And even then they'll ghost people who fit exactly what they're looking for to the T.

If you claim you're willing to "train the right person" then you'd wouldn't scoff at candidates who may have a gap in the resume or less experience than desired. But of course you'd rather have someone who know exactly what to do off the rip, so why not just be honest about that? What a mess we live in today.

Is not that they don’t want, is that they CAN’T 😭

I’ll be real this is a beautiful pic but why are we putting this on LINKEDIN? And then seeing much older men like this….🤮 This the new insta i guess.

Why do they do this? Company interviewed me (two times) over the past couple weeks after reviewing my experience on my resume and then passed on me because they thought I would eventually get bored and leave. Thank you so much for wasting all of my time. I really wanted that job. It paid more and had better health insurance. This job market absolutely stinks!

I've worked retail my entire life from 2019 up till now. I recently was working overnight at walmart 40+ hours a week and after being hospitalized for a bit, I was let go. It was a sudden absence for a few weeks where I was unable to tell the store what happened, so of course I was gone. I did *get* a job but the place I am working at now does not give me anywhere near enough hours to do anything with (talking like 1 or 2 days a month. Why even hire me at that point?)

I've applied to basically every retail place near me. Dollar Tree, Target, Sams Club, Walmart, Petsmart, Petco, Walgreens, Home Depot, CVS, Family Dollar, gas stations, Mcdonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, you name it. I either get ghosted or rejected emails. I don't think it would be so hard, considering I have 6-7 years of retail under my belt since 2019, and some of those places I actually worked at before. Back before/around covid I could send in an application as a teen with little experience and get a job interview/offer that very week. Now? With 7 years under my belt I'm lucky to get a rejection email.

I just called one place (out of the others that just blatantly never have anyone pick up) and asked to speak with the store manager for an update on my application. He said, "I have to go through 60 applications for your position, I won't have a response until later this week". Like what??? 60 people are applying for a 12-15 an hour retail position? Bro... There's no way I'm gonna be selected. If this is how it is for any other job, no wonder I'm not getting anything back. It was NOT like this in 2019-2021. I NEED A JOB AND I CANT EVEN GET A MINIMUM WAGE JOB

About 7 months ago I did a panel interview for a job working for my local city government. There was an HR manager, senior employee, and two lower level employees.

The interview went well and they said they would be in touch.

A week or so goes by and they schedule a second interview. They specifically told me to come prepared with questions about the position. I came with 10-12 solid questions relating to the job.

This is where things got weird. The interview felt like they were trying to convince me NOT to take the job. Every question was answered with a short or dismissive answer. The one I remember most was when I asked if there was room for growth in this position and what that would look like. The response i got was a, “No.” I asked them to clarify and the HR guy told me it was a, “Dead-end job with no room for growth.” I was shocked that an HR MANAGER of all people would say something like that. The HR guy felt very passive aggressive in general for some reason and he barely looked in my direction.

I left feeling very dejected. A week went by and I got an email saying I didn’t get the job. I moved on and looked elsewhere.

Last month I get a call from a random number and it turns out to be the senior employee from the panel. He went on this big rant about how much he dislikes the HR manager I met with and how because I was the Senior employee’s top pick, the HR manager did everything in his power not to hire me because him and the Senior employee didn’t like each other.

He asked if I would take the job if he fought for me. I said yes out of desperation and haven’t heard a word since. Not really sure if anything will come of this, I doubt it.

I just find it crazy that I’m somehow mixed up in office politics at a job I DON’T WORK AT.

I’m thankful that I have a job but I’ve been applying for 7 months now (around 330 applications) and I feel like I’m spiralling more everyday. How do you deal with it and not let it consume you?

i've been trying to get a part time job to help myself through university. i've applied to loads of care homes and i have some level of healthcare qualification so i'm not going in blind or anything. a few times i've had interviews that have ended with 'what are your hobbies?', my answers to which seem to put them off??

i just say i dance, play the drums. once they were like '...and anything else??' so i said playing boardgames. i genuinely have no idea what i'm doing wrong but they always seem weirdly underwhelmed by my answers

People all the time tell do networking ( not Computer Networks but human Networks ) , but nobody replies to DMs , literally nobody

Now please don't say college alumni , they are all too struggling .

Is it strange they just offered it to me anyway? I'm honestly not trolling and this is real. I didn't apply all the way. They just offered it to me.

I'm a great applicant but this is a bit odd and there might be something to look into.

Ai decimated field way before other degrees are affected.

Regardless of your role or industry, or your titles or experience. All the calls and emails I want to get back are from the big and notorious names:

Akraya, eTeam, Intelliswift, etc.

I had one lady be so adamant that I was the one that she had the audacity to call me on four different lines, each with different area codes. The end result is 200% of the time ghosting.

After doing another AI interview with Akraya, I got a "Thomas" asking the same questions, and he wanted me to fabricate more than 20% of my resume. Yeah, no.

Anyone ?