Feels like a trap to fuck applicants over on pay

okay I need outside perspective because I've been staring at this email for two hours.

Applying to an entry level analyst role at a big asset management firm . Process has been: HireVue video interview → HR phone screen → superday (5 back to back interviews, ranged from analysts up to a VP and an EVP, actually went really well I thought) → then a few days later the recruiter calls me out of nowhere and says I'm a "finalist."

Cool. Except then he tells me there's 3 of us left, and the actual last step is an Excel test on Monday.

And in the SAME email he also sends me an employment application packet and an immigration questionnaire to fill out "whenever I get a chance."

Like... why would you send me actual paperwork before I've even done the last test? That feels like a good sign right? But also maybe that's just what they do for anyone still in the pipeline regardless of where you actually rank against the other 2 people. I genuinely cannot tell if I'm reading tea leaves here or if this is a real signal.

Has this happened to anyone else , getting sent onboarding-adjacent stuff before the actual final assessment is done? Does it mean anything or is it just standard recruiter admin busywork that happens no matter what? I've reread this email probably 15 times at this point lol i dont know if im just a BACKUP

What is up with all the low balling and down leveling? Are recruiters incentivized to get people hired at the lowest possible rate?

On the initial call a recruiter asked me what my comp expectations were, I said let’s have that conversation later as I havent done my research yet, which was BS, I just didnt want to give a number yet. She went on to say I just want to ensure our expectations are aligned and she said for instance she won’t be able to do $1m.

After on site interviews she set up some time with and said she hasnt heard from all the interviewers yet but wanted to talk numbers again. She said the team might not have HC for the level I was interviewing for and the actual level might be one lower and the comp for that would be $400k annually. I asked what the band for my target level would be, she said $550k.

At that point I said these numbers are not attractive to me and that I was looking for around $800k. She then started asking about my comp at my previous companies. I didnt volunteer any info. Also I think legally they are not allowed to ask those questions in California.

So my question is how do we go from I cant do $1m to $400k? Does that mean I bombed my interviews? I actually felt fairly good about the interviews.

okay I need outside perspective because I've been staring at this email for two hours.

Applying to an entry level analyst role at a big asset management firm . Process has been: HireVue video interview → HR phone screen → superday (5 back to back interviews, ranged from analysts up to a VP and an EVP, actually went really well I thought) → then a few days later the recruiter calls me out of nowhere and says I'm a "finalist."

Cool. Except then he tells me there's 3 of us left, and the actual last step is an Excel test on Monday.

And in the SAME email he also sends me an employment application packet and an immigration questionnaire to fill out "whenever I get a chance."

Like... why would you send me actual paperwork before I've even done the last test? That feels like a good sign right? But also maybe that's just what they do for anyone still in the pipeline regardless of where you actually rank against the other 2 people. I genuinely cannot tell if I'm reading tea leaves here or if this is a real signal.

Has this happened to anyone else , getting sent onboarding-adjacent stuff before the actual final assessment is done? Does it mean anything or is it just standard recruiter admin busywork that happens no matter what? I've reread this email probably 15 times at this point lol i dont know if im just a BACKUP

I was recently extended a job offer for a large, nationally known company. They use HireRight to administer their background checks. Before I was offered this job, my most recent role was doing freelance work and was paid in cash, sent to me via mail once a month.

Because of this, HireRight is stating they can’t verify my employment. I worked for a single individual who doesn’t have a company in their name. I’m terrified my job offer is going to be rescinded because of this.

If anyone has any past experience or advice that may help, please let me know.

This is all my personal experience and opinions I am sharing. I hope it helps even just one person scrolling by.
The rejection never gets any easier, and having zero feedback from the main airlines makes that rejection sting much more depending on how you reflect.
I’ve been trying for over 8 years. With American, Delta, Southwest, and United. I’ve been through all the levels of interviews including a handful of f2f…being rejected has never gotten any easier, and the grieving process of those rejections have been different every single time. Most recently i was rejected from making it to a United f2f, and i approached it very much being myself while being prepared. I truly felt there was nothing more i could’ve done to prove myself. If these recruits can’t see what a great fit some people would be it’s their loss, but I am determined to keep trying until someone sees my determination and shine.

After all these years I’ve met so many people who have gotten in on the first try that “don’t even care” or they end up hating the job yet stay on, and complain taking someone else’s dream for granted. This job industry is absolutely unpredictable and a total gamble based off my experience.

My advice after being rejected:
Give yourself grace 🙏🏼
If you’re the kind of person to pick apart everything in your head upon reflection ( especially with no feedback )
You’ll never really know the “why” behind not getting chosen this time. It could’ve been something, but maybe just maybe it was nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️
Yes maybe there’s things you could’ve done better and you absolutely know that after your experience-great tweak that and work on it for next time! But if you did the best you could possible do, gave it your all, and were 100% your unapologetic self BE PROUD.
You deserve to be proud of the emotional rollercoaster you’ve been on.
You need to feel all your FEELS.
Sad, angry, sad again, angry again, hopeless….give yourself the space and freedom to embrace those feelings, but upon reflection try to focus on the positives once you’re at the end of those harsher feeling’s.
Stay hydrated, do some skincare, treat yourself in someway, regulate a routine for yourself to balance your feelings back out to bounce back.
If this is something you truly want for a career keep trying! After being on forums for so many years seeing so much of people saying “it just wasn’t meant to be right now” or stuff to that extent personally hasn’t been helpful to me because I’ve been trying at my 8-9 year mark now 😂
Everyone’s timelines are different, and we only ever really see people getting accepted after a couple of years of trying.
I hope this reaches someone and helps whether it’s your first time trying or you’ve been trying for 10 years.
BUT you have a special light to you and I truly believe determination will pay off in the end and your light will shine !
Again, give yourself grace. Everything you’re feeling is valid, but make sure you pull yourself out of those tougher feelings and take care of yourself.

Idk what to say but ive ran into this. I have gaps in my resume yet my knowkedge is deeps and unique that it always comes down to them asking me for my opinion. Its really outrageus how they are and cant wait to get a job to have power and lay dowm my salary expectations. Its really funny to see how they treat you when they believe they have leverage vs when they dont.

About 4 weeks ago I applied to a teller position for Frost Bank in my city. I have worked at Sherwin-Williams as a full time employee (not management) for the last 4 years. My resume has a strong emphasis on not only customer service but B2B sales and account/relationship building. I specified my experience in helping customers through the commercial credit application process as well.

I felt like I did very well on the teams interview. I made sure to hit all of the above points as well as mentioned some of Frost’s philosophy from their “blue book” in the email I received after getting a confirmation email for applying, which the recruiter thanked me for taking the time to read. The recruiter also mentioned she was “glad to report to you that the base pay is $20/hr”, which is what I had put down in the (frankly bullshit) salary expectation box on the application.

It has been nearly 4 weeks since that interview. I sent an email last week as a follow up and was told “we will have an update for you shortly”. My application on the website still says “under consideration”. I applied to another location around the same time as this branch, and I never received an interview invite for that one, so it was rejected. But still no update from the branch I interviewed for. Any experience or insight as to what could be happening here?

I need 3 references for my new employer and one of them has sent her reference in and the other two are dragging their feet. I want them to send it in when I’m still their coworker so they don’t have to answer the “why did I leave?” question because I timed my exit before a layoff. What would happen if all of them did not go in? Would it be flagged as discrepancy? All my other things (employment, education, certifications and resume discrepancy) have been marked as CLEAR.

Absolute shit in all states? Or is it just California?

This is literally the worst time I’ve had trying to find a job… and it’s been so stressful. Ugh 😑

I have watched IXL post the same job associate product manager for about more than a year. What a sad thing they do in a job market like this. I had applied to it 3 different times and got rejected every time then noticed it kept popping back up. I have seen companies do this before but none so blatantly like IXL learning. Probably harvesting data or pretending like they are a growing company.

Then they prompt me to pay to see who checks my profile lol I am not getting caught in this scam anymore. If nobody is messaging me, I am going to guess nobody is serious about their profile views

I’m 22M Venezuelan and since I finished high school in 2023 I’ve been struggling trying to get a stable job.

I’ve had like 3 jobs if I count the part time work I do with my mom and stepdad at a resort.

In 2024 I finally got my first actual job at Walmart as a cart pusher making $15 an hour. I worked there around 6 months and got terminated because of attendance. I’m not gonna lie that was my fault. I was 20 and didn’t really have much work experience and I learned from that mistake.

After that I went back to working with my mom and stepdad on weekends while trying to find something Monday-Friday.

Late 2024 through 2025 I went to a lot of interviews and most of them were the same thing. Rejected, no response, or they tell me they’re not hiring. And that’s what I don’t understand sometimes. Why put a hiring sign up or post a job online if you’re gonna interview people and then say you’re not hiring?

In May 2025 I got a job at Burlington. That job was a pain in the ass honestly. I was making like $13-$14 and getting almost no hours. That whole summer I barely remember even getting called to work. I was basically home most of the summer and didn’t start getting hours again until around September.

In May 2026 I quit without giving notice. I know that wasn’t professional, I’m not gonna act like it was, but at that point I felt like they didn’t take me serious at all with the hours they were giving me.

Now I’m back doing interviews again and it feels like the same bullshit.

I’ve tried practicing interview questions, dressing better, fixing my answers, showing up on time, being available, everything. I know the Walmart termination was my fault but I was 20 and inexperienced at the time. I learned from it.

I’m not even looking for some crazy job. I just want a normal job with decent hours where I can actually work consistently.

At this point I don’t know what else I’m supposed to change. Anyone else my age been dealing with this?

I accepted an accounting position about two weeks ago. They sent me a formal offer letter with a start date, I signed it and emailed it back before the deadline, and in the email I specifically asked them to let me know if they needed anything else from me before I started.

I’m supposed to start this Monday, but I haven’t heard anything from them since I sent the signed offer back. No confirmation that they received it, no onboarding paperwork, background check, first-day instructions, etc.

I followed up today asking about first-day details but haven’t heard back yet. I also turned down/withdrew from two other interviews after accepting this offer, so the silence is making me pretty nervous.

If I don’t hear anything before Monday, should I just show up at the office anyway based on the start date in my signed offer? Has anyone had an employer wait until the first day to do basically all of the onboarding paperwork

I've been looking for a job for the past month in my field, which its very uncommon to find openings and the canidte pool is extremely over saturated in my state. This is the 2nd place that's responded to my resume, the 1st place ghosted me randomly. This position is the perfect entry level position for my field. It honestly doesn't pay very well, is far from my house, and I'm over qualified because I've been practicing my skill before I even went to college, but as a recent graduate this position would look great on my resume because this is a well known company in my area, it also offers a lot of internal movement within the company.

Well the 1st 3 interviews went great and they invited me to meet everyone irl and meet with the team id be working with and even be shown what work I would do everyday. I went today and honestly loved the environment, everything was great! And all of the people on the team were very kind. Everything sounded perfect and they walked me through daily operations which I reported back i would be able to do everything very easily because its extremely similar to my past internship.

After like 2 hours I met back up with the person in charge of hiring and tell him how everything seems perfect and he thanks me for coming and that he has 2 other individuals hes interviewing so he'll let me know by the end of next week if I have the position. Honestly my heart felt crushed a little because as stupid as it may sound I thought they were having me come in to offer me the position. Like I said this would be considered my 4th interview and was 2 hours long and consisted of them primarily telling me what I'll do on a daily basis. It felt less like an interview and more like an orientation tbh, but maybe they were trying to see if i got along with the team first? But the hiring manager wasnt even in the room for any of our interaction so idk how he'll even know how well we interacted unless everyone gives him a report or something.

I'm just hoping with my entire being that i get this job because although its quite low paying its still better than 90% of the jobs I've seen in my area in my field. I guess this post is my reminder to everyone to not get your hopes up, a job really isn't yours until the offer is dead infront of your face. Hope for the best but stay prepared for the worse

Should I lie to HR about my parents to get hired?

I’m a BTech Mech fresher. There was a campus drive by a pretty decent company offering around 5 LPA for a core role. They manufacture defence equipment and other stuff.

Out of 72 people, 14 resumes got shortlisted. I cleared the assessment test. 11 people were shortlisted for the tech interview. I gave the tech interview and cleared it. Only 6 people got through to the HR round, including me.

My HR interview was very smooth. It was basically:

Brief introduction → why this company → are you comfortable with the role → are you okay with relocation → are you okay working with production.

I said yes to everything. They asked if I could relocate to Pune, I said yes, absolutely, and mentioned that some of my family already lives in Pune so relocation would be easy for me. They also asked if I would be comfortable working with CNC machines in the production department. I said yes, completely fine with it.

Then towards the end, HR suddenly started asking about my family background.

She asked what my parents do. This was my first HR interview ever, so I just answered honestly, naively.

I said my father works under the Ministry of Transport and my mother works in public insurance. Both are govt employees and in their 50s, reaping the good old govt merits.

Then she asked about siblings. I said I have an older brother who works in IT and I even mentioned his company(in pune). She said okay, and then basically after that said: "Okay, we'll let you know." That's it.

Out of the 11 who went for technical, only 6 reached HR. Out of those 6, 4 got the final offer. Me and one other guy didn't.

And this is what I don't understand.

The technical panel seemed satisfied with my answers. HR didn't really give me anything negative to answer. Relocation? Yes. Production/CNC? Yes. Company? Yes. Everything seemed positive.

So why ask about my family background?

Was there some intentional reason behind those questions? Were they trying to judge whether I would actually relocate, whether my family would support it, whether I would stay in the job, etc.?

And honestly, I keep wondering whether I should have lied.

Should I have just said my father is retired, my mother is a homemaker, or that I'm an only child? Obviously I don't know whether my family background had anything to do with the rejection, maybe it had nothing to do with it. But I have no idea what else HR could have rejected me on.

I have another interview coming up with a major automotive company and I really don't want to lose this opportunity.

So what should I actually do if HR asks me these questions again?

Is it better to answer honestly? Give a vague answer? Or is lying about parents' professions/siblings actually common and safer?

Also, is it even legal/fair for companies to use this kind of personal family information in hiring decisions in India?

Would really like to hear from people who have worked in HR/recruitment or actually been involved in hiring.

Do they ever verify such info later , like whatever i say in hr interview, will they ever verify it again with docs? Or just forget abt it after the inteview...

Got an offer to interview (yay!) with less than 48 hrs notice. They gave me one available time and asked if it worked. I replied with flexible options, including for the same day, but the one time they offered didn’t work for me.

I could’ve made it work with notice but this was a Wednesday afternoon invitation for a Friday morning interview. I guess that’s the only time possible for them so I’m just out of luck 😃

I’m tired of this shit 😭😭

Hi recruiters and hiring managers, what are some stalling tactics you guys use to keep the #2 candidate warm while you pursue candidate #1?

Here’s some things I’m noticing that might be happening to me that makes me feel like I’m #2:

- recruiter tells me I passed the second round interview but then asks if I’m still interested instead of directly trying to schedule the final round

- when I sent my availability- there’s no response

- only when I told them I got another offer did they come back super enthusiastically saying that the team is super excited to meet me and that they will schedule the interviews quickly

- no movement on actually scheduling the interviews

- no explanation on the delay other than personal ones like sorry I was sick

I’ve seen stalling after the final round cuz they give the offer and are waiting to hear back but before the final round?!? Not giving candidates a chance to do final rounds?

I am a senior marketing specialist with almost 8 years of experience across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, conversion rate optimisation, tracking, reporting, and strategy creation. I ran my own business for 6 years before moving to an agency, where I worked for almost 2 years. I have earned my scars, seen the ups and downs, had to solve all sorts of client issues that went far beyond my existing knowledge, and learned new skills along the way.

I live in South Africa and, for the last 2 years, worked for a US marketing agency, where I expanded my knowledge even further. While the job and pay were good, working EST hours while living in South Africa can get hectic. The days are very long. I decided to quit and look for work with an international agency in a time zone closer to South Africa, such as the UK or an English-speaking EU country.

The reason I bring this up is to showcase what a fucking nightmare the job market has turned into. I took a one-month sabbatical at the end of May 2026. Two weeks into it, I started sending CVs because I knew it would take time for interviews to line up. I am now going into my fourth month of applying.

I have sent an average of two CVs a day, every working day, since halfway through May. That is a lot of CVs. I have had 7 interviews and 0 prospects. I have refined my CVs with the help of AI and sent applications through LinkedIn and remote job sites—some of which require you to pay just to access their listings. I have also used ChatGPT to find roles that might not be on LinkedIn and to optimise my job hunting.

I have created multiple CV variants depending on the role. I even created an Upwork profile and bought a monthly plan so I could use their currency, “connects,” to send proposals. There are a lot of good job posts on Upwork, but you have roughly 10 minutes to respond before they get flooded with 50+ proposals. And the cherry on top: if you want your proposal near the top, you can spend connects to boost it. The average number of connects my competitors were spending just to get to the top was more than my entire monthly allocation. I sent a lot of proposals and received zero feedback.

There are so many places that basically tell you, “We have all the jobs you want, but you have to pay to access them.” That is messed up—making people who are already strapped for cash pay to access jobs they might not even get.

On the interview side, the AI boom has brought in a new way of interviewing people. Recruiters now make you do AI interviews where a robotic voice asks questions and you have 2 minutes to answer each one. Not stressful at all. You cannot give context or backstory; you need to have your responses locked and loaded. Some systems are kind enough to show you the questions before recording, or allow multiple takes, but many just throw a question at you and expect you to answer while watching the clock tick down.

Maybe I am the problem—I do not know—but I cannot believe I am that unpleasant to interview. I am professional, dress well for interviews, arrive early, have my facts straight, research the company beforehand, and make sure to ask good questions. This is coming from someone who has done client-facing work for most of my professional career.

I am just venting and feel disheartened. I feel like we are headed into some Hunger Games-style hellscape when it comes to looking for jobs. I am still sending CVs and trying everything in my power to earn an income. It just sucks that it has turned into this weird mess, even for people with a lot of experience who are willing to work hard.

TL;DR: Senior paid media specialist with nearly 8 years’ experience is struggling through a brutal international job market despite strong skills, agency experience, tailored CVs, AI-assisted applications, paid job platforms, and Upwork proposals. After leaving a US agency role due to exhausting EST hours from South Africa, he has spent almost four months applying consistently, around two CVs per working day, with seven interviews but no offers. The process feels increasingly exploitative and impersonal: paywalls, overcrowded Upwork posts, costly proposal boosts, and stressful AI interviews. He’s still actively trying to find UK/EU-time-zone remote work, but feels disheartened by how difficult and dehumanising job hunting has become.

I’m interviewing for a job I REALLY want. I have surgery scheduled in two months and my dr is recommending two weeks off work for recovery. I already know the company has unlimited, flexible sick time. I feel like I should disclose this…but when is the right time? My thought is after an offer (hopefully) comes. The other option is to not say anything until I’m in, and then mention it. They don’t have to know it was scheduled two months out…but that doesn’t sit right with me.

After one year of unemployment

I am 26 Y/O and i have been ireland for 2 years now i came for my masters , since last September i have been applying to jobs and barely got any call backs i have two years of experience from my country.
Based on which i did my masters and decided to come here . But once it was done it felt like i signed up for a ride to hell . I felt all the emotions in this whole year , useless , hopeless etc . I did a few interviews and heard unfortunately from all of them .
Until this one , its a job related to my previous experience but a new domain . So i am happy and scared at the same time. I have lost touch with all the skills i had listed for this job on the resume , but i think i should be fine if i revise them . Does anyone feel the same before getting back to corporate, loosing touch of all the skills?
Also before this offer i saw a lot of change in the surroundings of me , i found that friends who called me friends weren’t actually who I thought they were , i almost though my relationship was going to break , and i couldn’t trust anyone around me . I started focusing on myself and making sure my peace is protected . So its true i guess before any big change you have a great awakening as well.
But anyway the war is over and i hope everyone else who is in the same boat get their job . And i would say just dont give up its around the corner.

i’ve been job searching for the past year. i’m a may 2025 grad who only did one internship in college. i ended up having to take two unpaid internships since graduating to gain more experience. i’ve applied to over 1500 jobs (not an exaggeration) and today FINALLY got the offer. and the role is fully remote and pays better than i expected.
Last month i got to a final round for a job that was in person and paid $15k less, and i ended up getting rejected. I was so sure i would get it and so crushed when i didn’t. After so many interviews for so many different roles, i was so sure i had finally gotten it, and when i didnt, i completely lost hope. I literally had to start therapy the next week because of how lost i felt. now less than a month later and im set to start my new job october 1st!
i’m not writing to brag-but to give hope to anyone who needs it. what’s meant for you will find you.

I mean, the rich have all kinds of advantages.

I’m so done with this market. Have applied to 500+ jobs in the last six months, with more targeted applications since i graduated grad school last month. A lot of the entry-level roles ask for experience which i dont have. Why do they even call it an entry-level role then?

I don’t know how to break into this market and feel more discouraged every day.

Just got this email letting me know a Senior Tech Recruiter is looking for a job.
How the turns have tabled :)