Job Search Struggles (collection)

“Just got fired today, been applying for a month, submitting 20-30 applications daily, with just one recruiter calling back so far. It would be nice to hear people who were both fired/laid off etc and also got a job in this horrible market. Please go ahead and comment, share your joy. submitted by /u/dhekurbaba [link] [comments]”

“i haven’t been able to keep a corporate job. i get let go after a certain amount of time. due to slow learning, struggles with ambiguity, struggles to being quick enough to answer questions during presentations on the spot, and lack of ability to see the bigger picture and dig deeply enough into numbers. That where many of my downfalls have been i definitely put in the hours and effort. i’ve stayed up very late working, w/ my mangers not even asking me about the task the next day. i’m not sure a”

“Im 22 and am frustrated, i cant even present myself as someone valuable and I also lack strong skills I know answers will "develop your skills" but by my perspective I lack presentation of myself, I know that I'm capable of that job but things mess in interview and interactions What's your opinion, like what can I do about it? submitted by /u/Relay_roll [link] [comments]”

“Sometimes you have to apply for jobs you don’t want to get the ones you do want.”

“I tell them exactly that and get yelled at, "Then what's your plan? Applying online isnt working! You need to be going employment agency to agency until one of them finds you find a job"”

“When I was 15 and interviewed for my first supermarket job. My dad came into the building with me and was planning to just wait for me, however the hiring manager was the one to invite him in. My dad let me answer all the questions, but only added anything if the hiring manager asked him anything. Even then it was mostly things like, him asking my dad if it's OK if I need to work on a school night, etc. I think outright dismissing someone just because they showed up with a parent is wrong (i”

Thank you! Just applied to a few more tonight, not going to lose hope yet

“I graduated in 2026 with decent grades, but no formal internship experience, mostly just a few hackathons and side projects. After graduating, I landed a software development job at a small company with around 5 to 10 employees. The pay is not great at $55K CAD with no benefits, but it is enough to live on. The role has already given me a ton of experience in fast paced environments. I work primarily with JavaScript and Python on PLM systems, handle a bit of everything across the stack, and part”

“I have and that’s why I’m at a loss. No one in my area is hiring for what I call sitting jobs. Even hotel receptionist are all standing now at least in my area.”

“I’m hopefully going to start working soon as I just completed my masters. I would be doing an office job kind of thing, I guess a corporate job??? Tbh no idea what makes a job a corporate job (so if anyone could also briefly touch base on that I’d appreciate it) Anyway, even tho I’m getting ahead of myself - if I get a job soon and then continue applying to other jobs that likely have 2-4 rounds of interviews, what do I do? Do I make up doctors appointments? But if I just start at a new job it l”

“Tl;dr: I was denied the long-term version of the temporary position I have been doing for months, and now I am expected to train my replacement. It is humiliating. Longer version: I was contacted by a distant acquaintance to urgently take a part-time temporary position under her in the fundraising department of a large-ish nonprofit ($20 million in annual revenue). I agreed, especially because she said she would consider me for the long-term role. (Four people had quit abruptly and she needed to”

“Stop thinking you’re under qualified, not educated enough don’t have enough skills or shit like that It’s 2026 Companies are off-shoring roles like there’s no tomorrow and saving thousands There’s AI thats racking up the bill still companies use it cause they need to look like they’re leading with cutting edge tech and shi There’s literally energy crisis that people cant see upfront Stupid wars creating global unrest and companies cutting down roles cause of uncertainty Be persistent but don’t g”

“6 months out of a job, countless sent applications and numerous interviews and rejections. I’ve been avoiding the job listings that require recording a self-introductory video as I’ve heard from a lot of people both online and in person that the chances are still the same from job postings that don’t require it, feels like it’s just an added layer of performative humiliation if I were to do it. But at this point I’m getting desperate… Just wanna hear some advice or perspectives to those who’ve s”

“I am here to give you a brief overview of how hiring is happening in 2026. My entire organization was laid off last year, but to this day, I am still unable to find a decent job matching my previous compensation. I have received a few offers from MNCs, but none match what my previous company paid. To give you an idea of the market, consider my former manager: four to five months after our mass layoff, he joined a well-funded startup, but due to funding cuts, that entire organization shut down as”

“I had severe health and MH issues from 2022-2025 and I have been looking to get back into the workforce for a while now but I am having a really hard time. I do not have fast enough internet (or a decent computer) to work remotely, even though that would be my preferred option. I need to be able to use the bathroom at any time (for possibly long periods) and I also need to be able to sit, rest or walk around when necessary due to joint pain. I also have to eat 4-6 small meals a day, so most of t”

“Once we had an open house job fair where we were taking applications and doing interviews on site. A woman came in, took an application, and sat down to fill it out. When she finished she brought it back to me and I asked if she had time for an interview. She explained that the application was for her son, so I asked if he was there so I could interview him. He was not even there… but she would gladly interview for him. She was serious and I was dumbfounded. I asked her if she was going to work”

“still working but I'm stuck at my underpaid job for the foreseeable future”

“This is going to be your polar opposite experience (sorry) but I'm out of work the same length, UK based, diagnosed AuDHD and wake up every day loving life with a tonne of different hobbies to get on with. If it weren't for savings slowly dwindling I'd ride out this gravy train a little longer because the thought of once again being crushed to bits by the corporate machine fills me with dread.”

“Hey everyone! I just wanted to ask a simple question. What is the worst thing when looking for job now compared to walking in the door and handing a resume to someone while shaking there hand and making an introduction? submitted by /u/mikejordan01 [link] [comments]”

“"Not looking for offers" worries me as a statement because...gosh, if you think you're going to just jump on a random sub and people are going to be knocking down your door with remote job offers, you're going to have a very hard time with what actually searching for a job will entail.”

“I know I am overqualified for the job. The pay is okay and I have applied to other jobs that are at my level with no success. Now I have to hide my degree and lower my experience level to get a mid level job. I am sorry to those who are actually looking for a mid level job and lose against someone like me. Is job market really struggling to this level? submitted by /u/AutomaticFeeling5324 [link] [comments]”

“I guess they didn't have time to write the copy for the thank you page that is shown after applying to a job. It literally just says "TBD". submitted by /u/NickFullStack [link] [comments]”

“Two years ago I used to be active on this sub until I did eventually get an interview and the job. However said job is now a sinking ship and many of my coworkers are actively looking for another job and some might quit without another lined up —that’s just how bad it’s been. In my downtime, I’ve been applying to a few a week and the experience is way worse than last time. I haven’t gotten any response - no interviews and not even rejections that now im not sure if I’m even applying to real job”

“7 years of experience in product, art director, visual design, graphic, light motion graphics design and ive applied to 800 applications resulting with no offers and losing myself. I’ve been crying all day— I need to take action and not wallow but everything is starting to hit me. I’m waiting on recruiters to get back to me, some saying an interview will happen but it’s longer than expected, job posting is changed so I’m not aligned with what they want anymore, recruiters giving me advice on my”

“Hi everyone, I’m a junior IT professional, and I’ve had around 30 interviews so far, but unfortunately I still haven’t received a job offer. I also have a hearing disability, so my hearing is not very good. I can work and communicate normally, but interviews can sometimes be more challenging, especially when the audio quality is poor or people speak quickly. I’d really appreciate honest advice from people working in IT, recruiters, or hiring managers. After 30+ interviews without an offer, what”

“right now i'm working under 10 hours a week. i work in video editing for social media. while i'm job searching, what's a job i should get in the meantime? the competition is so high, i dont get considered for even local video editing jobs, and i have a portfolio and tailor my resumes. i eventually want to freelance but im not even sure where to start with that. answers online say to look at upwork or apply in specific platforms for youtube for example, but that's been really unsu”

“Looking for some general advice on how to get any kind of job because i feel completely stuck right now. So i'm a student attending community college for computer science, but its really not my highest priority right now. I need to focus on digging myself out of this. I'm in such a rush to move out because i live with abusive, neglectant parents who refuse to help me. I have no work experience, but i do have my GED and a drivers lisence, which is almost a year old. But no car, and public”

“Putting this here to not brag, because the last 4 months have been a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from, but hopefully this helps someone that was/is in my position. I was laid off from my job on April 30th, and here's the activity that I logged in that time. I finally received an offer, albeit a lowball one, but I need insurance and stability and am taking the win. Industry is SaaS Sales - of which I have 6 years direct experience, and 14 total experience in sales/BD. I have won awa”

B or C: I'm charismatic and attractive (looks and/or personality).

“Hi All, Long story short, I have been searching for a job for months, including in the EdTech space. I have never had this much trouble finding a job in my life. I have nearly a decade of experience in higher education, three degrees, and have worked as staff, faculty, and admin and have a deep understanding of how institutions and the students they serve function. I am an incredibly driven individual and would appreciate anything: leads, companies I should check out, etc. TIA for any advice/gui”

“I did UX research from Spain once and felt like a BA in Psychology with a fancier spreadsheet hat.”

“My issue is with the statement "a resume should never be more than one page". Sometimes it is and that's fine. Recruiters dont give a shit if it's one or three pages. My resume is 2 full pages. If I thought that was a problem I would have to cut out about a decades worth of relevant experience just to adhere to some outdated rule.”

“Yesterday, I filled out my documentation for the Workday class-action suit and realized I've applied to over 50 positions inside my large, well-known company in the last four years. From that, I've had four interviews and one job offer – for the position I'm currently in. I am still employed, but miserable (long backstory that could doxx me). I'm all over the place trying to find jobs to apply for, and when I do I can barely get through one resume edit session without breaking do”

“I recently posted a photo of myself on Reddit and asked whether I could realistically become a UX designer with my appearance. The responses were much harsher than I expected. Several people who said they were hiring managers told me that my appearance would be a serious problem in a client/stakeholder-facing UX role. Some went further and said that even an exceptionally strong portfolio would not compensate for it because they would not want someone who looks like me representing the company to”

submitted by /u/Time-Bee7066 [link] [comments]

“Continuation of my previous post, the first image was the original, the second image is the new resume after taking the feedback from the last post, which was to use a new template and remove highschool experiences. My main issue is I think the page is now a little short, let me know what we think or how I can improve it more Junior year & Meet the firms next week! EDIT: Updated resume with some adjustments is in replies below submitted by /u/Far_Notice3102 [link] [comments”

“https://preview.redd.it/qq5x2pg8rcnh1.png?width=1146&format=png&auto=webp&s=cbe27de380b1cebe95ddf3a0fc505cf26d92f7d9 I’ve been unemployed for 13 months now, and by far the most exhausting part of this whole journey has been dealing with recruiters. Ghosting, total lack of follow-through, not understanding the roles they’re hiring for, giving wrong or incomplete info... I could go on forever. Just a couple of years ago this profession actually functioned, and now it feels like someone”

“Hi everyone ! I have 24 years old with no real experience beside internship and i dont have good grade, i deal with anxiety, hypersensitivity and back issue (scoliosis) and i just dont know what do to i'm lost. I tried to find something that could sweet me but i feel like there nothing and I got no response to the applications i submit. I also thought about fast food job but im afraid it might be to stressful for me. I currently live with my mom but knowing i can't help her financially m”

“Full disclosure: I’ve worked within Talent Acquisition for the several years and have very few insights as a job seeker this decade outside of what I’ve read or heard. In the US, I have experience with full cycle recruiting, as well as other support positions within the department. These opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer. Let’s face it, the job market sucks for job seekers. It’s also been terrible for hiring teams. Due to the economy, current employees are leaving their”

“Hi everyone! The job market absolutely is BUTTCHEEKS right now. To be frank, I had been job searching since April, and finally got this job last week - but the reason I'm specifically posting this is so that if you have one nearby and are interested, I can tell you what you have to do, because it's not obvious. (Publix is a grocery store limited to the southeastern US, but if you have a similar grocery store nearby, this may still be useful). Like everywhere else, you can apply online fo”

“I've been job searching for about four months and had one of the stranger things happen this week. I applied for a role I was genuinely excited about, did a recruiter screen, then a 45-minute interview with the hiring manager. Three days later I got a pretty standard rejection saying they were moving forward with candidates whose experience was more aligned with what they needed. Fair enough. Nine days later, the recruiter emailed me again. She said the hiring team had “recalibrated the prof”

“So, long story short. I don't usually put this stuff online but i want to see what other people say. So i applied for a job. I got an email saying that my resume was very good and really up to their standards. It's a job for students, so i thinks there's place for multiple students to get to work there. I get an AI interviewer to answer a lot of questions. I fill it all out, constantly busy with this bot for about 1 hour. After it all, it concludes to send this info to the real peopl”

“Hi Guys, I hope you are well. I'm a final-year PhD student in Social Sciences at North-West University. Couldn't secure part-time research and lecturing jobs this year due to some changes. Have been looking for online jobs but haven't had any luck. Could anyone advise on the best way to find work as a research assistant, in research writing, editing, proofreading, teaching (humanities subjects), Administration, Personal Assistant, etc., mostly online? I have a fully functional home o”

“As a new grad I feel like I’m competent enough for the recruiters to reach out to me based on my resume and get interviews. But the thing is I went to so many interviews and they aren’t giving me any offers. Recently I did an interview where it was the speciality I was interested in. I expressed my interest and emphasized how I’m motivated and teachable and the interview they seemed positive inviting me to shadow them but in the end I received a rejection. ended up with they want people more clo”

“I've got a couple years of experience working on CAD software, but I lost that job due to a year of huge messy medical problems. Now every listing I find on job boards is somehow adjacent to military-industrial garbage or is trying to shove LLMs into every problem space you can imagine or, worse, is for an insurance or finance company. Surely there are software engineer jobs left where I can work for someone who actually *does* something, right? How do I find them? submitted by /”

“Not sure if I'm just having a panic attack but I can't afford rent and have always been a hard worker. No one is hiring. I was a narrative designer and game writer for the games industry and my industry has fallen apart, but I figured I could get something. But nothing nearby for retail is getting back to me, and it makes me feel like I have some sort of plague. It's hard to breath. It's been going on like this for years, but there was always something to leap frog to for a few m”

“I’m shitting it to say the least. I’ve worked in IT for 15 years now, from fixing a printer to installing and configuring networks etc you guys know the shebang no need to go on. I have been out of work a while now like most people and maybe stupidly moved somewhere more rural and a bit stuck in the past. Seen this role advertised for Senior Network and Infrastructure engineer. They want someone who is going to come in lead and optimise their existing setup. I don’t know if it’s the job spec the”

“Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice because I genuinely feel quite lost with work and my career. I’m 23 and I’ve basically only ever worked as a barista. My first job was at Starbucks, and after that I moved to a small independent coffee shop. I’ve been doing this kind of work for around 5–6 years now. The thing is, I feel like by this point I should be really good at it. Instead, I constantly feel like I’m not a good barista and that I’m somehow just not good at my job. I’m regularly told”

“I sell fake grass on the in-home one call close model. I’m really good at it. It pays a lot. I fukn hate it. I have a graduate degree from one of the most highly regarded public universities in the US, I planned to be a full time academic, I’m a former business owner, I’m well travelled, insanely well read, I’m close to bilingual (close enough to be able to sell fake grass in Spanish), I’ve lived a full life with a diversity of experiences. I have nothing in common either with the clients, other”

“https://www.reddit.com/r/Accounting/comments/1uuqlmo/im_a_cpa_making_20_an_hour_at_the_irs/ I had a meltdown at work and got fired. Now any job interview I have is going to be over as soon as they ask why I left my last job. I might as well kill myself. submitted by /u/DeadPants182 [link] [comments]”

“Fuck this, back in the rat race again. Best thing to start a morning with a rejection. Haven’t talked with the HR yet but I think it’s almost certain. submitted by /u/Gamer_Joe_at55street [link] [comments]”

“I am exhausted and haven’t been able to land any stable job in design for the past two years. I’m a ux/ui designer, packing designer ,brand designer and illustrator. I was thinking of switching to another filed and fabricate my CV and portfolio, to just make some random projects fast so I could enter some designing niche and finally get a job. submitted by /u/madelineeeeeeeee_ [link] [comments]”

“F- = stuck with all the options in F but never have the complete skillset and/or social skills suck (and you’re evaluated on it despite choosing a career that would fit your lack of social skills)”

“Reddit doesn't acknowledge any real life experiences. There are only people who get jobs because they're the ceos son or they're unemployed. No other context exists”

True! I’m just salty 😂

“I'm 1.5 years semi-to-unemployed, with a background in sales/marketing in startups and other tech companies in various industries. All cool industries though (film, mental health) I'm having a very hard time getting a job, like everyone else. Many people tell me my business development skills would transfer well to nonprofit fundraising, and honestly, I'd like to work for a mission-oriented organization and am seeing some (not all) roles I'd like, and feel qualified for, at nonpr”

“This is my first time ever getting invited to a second-round interview, so I’m excited but also super nervous 😭🙏 Has anyone interviewed specifically for the Customer Service Advocate position at UnitedHealth Group/UnitedHealthcare? I completed the HireVue interview yesterday, and now I’ve been invited to a second interview with the hiring manager. I’d love to hear from anyone who has gone through this process! What was the second interview like? What kind of questions did the hiring manager as”

“Hey there, Im struggling in my current career and feel like my spark has disappeared. Most of the jobs I qualify for pay a little above minimum wage. I have a bsc. And a post graduate diploma yet, I feel like I am struggling to keep myself afloat financially. I have worked a number of positions, ranging from geospatial roles, to research positions and service sector jobs. Im most qualified for geospatial roles but have not been enjoying them. My boyfriend has told me to go into nursing, however”

“I have been sending resumes and applying for warehouse jobs in my area. I am staying away from the food distribution companies because I do not think I am a good fit. I have had one rejection email, but that is it. I have stayed away from them guessing my age on my resumes. Most just want the last 10yr work history. I had that job for 17 and was layed off. So, I am basically starting over. Would it be a bad thing to show up with resume in hand and ask if they are hiring? submitted by”