Crowd-sourced accounts of looking for work
What people looking for work actually reported — the obstacle, the tactic, and what happened
What job seekers reported: the obstacle, the tactic, and what happened
Across all 2522 captured comments the same few obstacles come back — silence rather than rejection, an entry-level label attached to years of required experience, an automated screen, a rejection for being overqualified, and a replacement job that pays a fraction of the last one. The tactics people tried are here too, with the records that say they did not work kept beside the records that say they did: networking is the thread's most repeated advice and its most disputed, and the corners of the market commenters said were still open make up the largest single card on this page.
- What people reported hitting: silence, automated screens and postings that were never filled
- The reasons that came back: overqualified, and “entry level” with years of experience attached
- What the replacement work paid, in the words of the people who took it
- Networking is the thread's most repeated advice and its most disputed — both are on the same card
- Where commenters said hiring had not stopped, with the corrections other commenters attached
- What the search cost: money, health and households, reported and left as personal accounts
- Every figure on this page is one commenter's own words, and none of it is verified
The top 10 from the comments
Ranked by how many distinct source records support each answer, before any category browsing.
Networking and referrals
You legit have to know people. Networking is real and important. Never burn bridges, you never know who you will need in the future.
What these records report: The thread's most repeated advice is also its most contested claim, and both live here. On one side: commenters who say every job they have held came through somebody, that referrals move a résumé to the top of the pile, and that a hiring manager who wants you makes the portal a formality. On the other: a decorated twenty-year veteran of a Fortune 100 company rejected without a screening call despite multiple executives recommending him; commenters with director-level referrals rejected by recruiters; and several who report that their network is now unemployed too. The distinction the card keeps returning to is the difference between a reference and a decision-maker. Introverted and autistic commenters push back on the advice itself as something that cannot simply be acquired when needed.
I worked at my prior company (a large, Fortune 100) for over 20 years. I know TONS of people there and left on great terms. I decided I might want to return to a similar role in a different part of the business (literally the same title and in a part of the business where I had worked before and excelled at my job) and applied. Some relevant info: * While at this company I received their highest award. My name is literally permanently engraved on the wall of the lobby in the home office. * Two years later I received their second highest award. * I was ranked in the top 5% of the company for performance each of my last 5 years working there. * My resume was fully tailored for the posted role and salary expectations were fully in-line with what was posted. * Multiple SVPs and VPs contacted the hiring manager to recommend me (a common practice at this company). I know these people well and know they highly respect me (some literally recruited me to work in their departments so they could keep me after they transferred). I was rejected without even receiving a screening interview.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What replies pushed back on3
It's still your best bet. The fact that you are getting referrals puts you ahead of the curve. Networking has by in large been the best way to gain employment for the past century. It's always about who you know. It's even worse when the job market is stagnant. Have you done any industry meetip things? Any cheap conferences to see what it's like? You learn a lot about where people are at and what they are doing to remain relevant. In a fast moving world like we are in with AI, that's going to be your best bet. Hiring managers attend that kind of stuff. People get contracting positions all the time through stuff like that, and you'll get paid more as a contractor, it just won't be stable, but you'll get real world experience.
Even that doesn't work. At least not for me. I've had a few friends get my foot in the door, but I've yet to have the desired experience or skills.
Horrible. The worst it's ever been in my opinion! I lost my job in 2024, I was able to find a job relatively quickly (I had some connections) that didn't work out so well, so I moved on and worked the network I had, got another chance at a job I did that a few more times cause they weren't working out. I left the last job because I kept getting sick in Feb of 2025, ever since that point I couldn't get another job it was hard, I finally got a temporary thing with Doordash and spirit halloween, but since Nov of 2025 I have not been able to find a job, let alone even get an interview at all. 🙃
Where commenters said work was still there
Go into medical laboratory science. It's a very stable field of work.
What these records report: This is the largest card on the page, and it is the closest thing the thread produces to a practical answer. The fields named repeatedly are healthcare — radiology technology, medical laboratory science, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy — and the trades, construction, warehouse and counter roles at distributors, local government, utilities work, childcare, disability support and substitute teaching. Several commenters give the route in as well as the field: a two-year associate degree, a licence, an apprenticeship, an entry grade that moves internally. The card is not a consensus. Nurses, teachers, laboratory scientists, a pilot and a plumber appear inside it to say the shortage in their own field is overstated, regional, or gone, and those corrections sit alongside the recommendations rather than beneath them.
I consider myself super lucky that I shifted out of my old career (graphic design) more than 10 years ago into a much more secure job in healthcare. Soooo many of my old college friends (tech school. So design/marketing, computer engineering/IT) are out of work and I'm really concerned for a few of them. Incidentally, there's still so many positions in healthcare! If you have the wherewithal (and interest) to make that change.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Much appreciated 🤗 I've applied to probably 100 listings for med labs, zero responses. And I'm tailoring my resume for each listing to get by ATS.
Lab technologists by me start at $100k fresh out of school as long as you have your license and almost every hospital is always hiring. Its a high demand, niche job that requires a degree and a license so the hiring pool is pitifully low.
The numbers people kept: applications, replies, interviews, offers
What these records report: These are the records that count something, and the counting is the point: the ratios they report are far more consistent than the totals. Commenters describe application totals from double figures into the thousands and interview counts in the low single digits, and the callback rates several of them compute independently land in the same narrow band of a few per cent. The card also contains its own dispute about method — what counts as a reply, whether an automated rejection is one, and whether a four-figure application total is possible if each one is tailored. Two commenters who track their search in a spreadsheet give the fullest breakdowns, including the average number of days before anything came back at all.
240 applications send, 210 replies, 15 interviews, 10 gave a reason for rejection, reason being lack of experience and no notes on what I could do better. So yeah, it's starting to be an active effort to not be bitter.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I'm on 258 at the moment. 2 interviews, both lost out (one of them in the final two). I'm not besmirching anybody with these jobs, but I'm not in £60,000 student debt (STEM) to work a coffee portafilter. What the fuck is this economy? Young people have been sold up a river.
I graduated 2020 in creative advertising (marketing and graphic design). Seemed lucrative but it's actually low wages and an impossible amount of competition. 0 interviews or call backs. I gave up after 4 years of applying and still work in a dying industry (film and media archiving). 0 growth in my future. So now I have no fucking clue what to do. Can't do anything without going back to school. And I really don't want 2 student loans at the same time lmfao.
How long the search ran
Been 2 months for me. I did 2 interviews with the same company - from what I understand, it’s down to me and someone else. Waiting to hear if I get an offer. Fingers crossed! I’m already going crazy after 2 months, not sure how others are handling even longer unemployment.
What these records report: Asked how hard the market is, a large number of commenters answered with a length of time rather than a description. The durations reported run from a few weeks to several years, and the ones at the long end are not confined to any single field: they include engineering, law, teaching, nursing, warehousing and retail. What recurs is the shape rather than the number — an expected few months that did not end, a benefit period that expired inside it, and a point somewhere past six months where several commenters say the search itself changed character. Some of these accounts are of searches that are still running as the comment is written.
It's been a year. Lost track of number of applications. Almost never hear back. At this point I'm increasingly falling into learned helplessness because nothing seems to work. I have over a decade of experience, degrees, decently impressive volunteering work, and none of it matters. Close friend with 25 years of experience took 4 months and dozens of interviews to land a position. Market is ass, fuck the oligarchs
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
The amount of scams, fake job postings, an AI driven scouts and interviewers is daunting. All of my friends and colleagues have either been let go or are waiting to be. There are no entry level jobs.
Thanks! It's a grind and a roller coaster, and good luck. I hope your search ends soon.
The commenters whose searches went quickly
Very dependent on field and location. I was working R&D in Boston, laid off, hard to find funding. Moved south, found tons of jobs in manufacturing ops. If you’re flexible and coachable with a good attitude you can find a job. It’s not my dream job but it pays well and I go home at 4:30 every afternoon. Remote work is not a thing in my line- aside from the occasional sick day or bad weather day.
What these records report: A substantial minority of records report a search that ended quickly, and they are grouped here rather than dispersed because their conditions matter. Several are in construction, civil engineering, accounting, nursing, oil and gas or trade compliance; several were found by a recruiter rather than by applying; several involved accepting a pay cut, a relocation or work well below the previous level. Two commenters returning to the United States after years abroad report expecting the market described in this thread and not finding it. The card also holds the argument several of these commenters make explicitly: that work exists and the thing that has gone is what it pays.
I came back to America after being gone 17 years. I was teaching English in Asia and thought it would be impossible to find a job with all the horror stories on here. My wife also came back with me and she's not even a US citizen. We both found fullt-ime jobs at Bucees making $25 per hour with benefits. I also had an interview lined up at another place but didn't go. I think a lot of the people on here just can't swallow their pride and work jobs they can actually get
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I've been unemployed for a year. I'd take a souless job in a heartbeat if it was offered to me right now
I'm still employed, but looked around just to see what was out there. For some reason, it seems like if I want another job, everything in my field is in North Carolina. Now I'm really hoping I don't get laid off because I have zero interest in moving to NC.
The work commenters said AI took
What these records report: Graphic designers, copywriters, proofreaders, animators, storyboard artists, marketers, edtech content developers, UX researchers, recruiters and office administrators describe the same sequence: work dried up, the field's entry rung closed, and the reason given was AI. The card contains its own sharpest counter-argument, from commenters inside marketing who say the cause is a tight economy using AI as the justification, and that the output being accepted is worse than what it replaced. Two records are unusually specific: one commenter's last job was training the model that made the role redundant, and another describes a designer's layered file being flattened by their own manager's AI pass.
I built a career freelancing in my industry for 10 years. I worked for some of the biggest companies in the sector, but since AI blew up, my job became defunct. I can't even get an interview for any position related to that work anymore, at any level. I'm at the point of applying to Trader Joe's and fast food places, where I also can't get an interview. I'm confused how most people have jobs—I can't get seen for any kind of job in any kind of field, and I'm kind of at a loss.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What replies pushed back on2
Yeah I think software engineering might have it bad but marketing gotta be even worse. It was the very first work I saw adopting AI because it falls into the trap of "good enough works well enough". AI can produce slop that can kinda works in marketing and then it's a deal to these companies. Unfortunately from now on I can't see why marketing would get better over time. :( AI keeps improving.
This is so true. I am on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of grammer and structure when I write. I'm sure you can tell lol. Anyway people think the em-dash is an artifact of AI. In reality it's an artifact of what it learned on. -Just realized grammar is wrong but im leaving it that way because it's a great example.
Silence, automated rejection and being ghosted
What these records report: This is the card the thread's most-upvoted comment belongs to, and the reason it resonated is visible underneath it: commenters describe testing their own phone, email and spam folder because nothing was arriving. What they report is not usually rejection but absence — auto-replies months later, rejections arriving minutes after applying, promised follow-ups that never came, and interviews that ended in nothing at all. Several commenters say they would prefer a rejection to silence; at least one says the opposite, on the grounds that a generic rejection to a role you match exactly is worse. The practical residue in the card is small and specific: answer unknown numbers, and check whether your own mail is being filed as spam.
I used someone else's phone to call my own phone to make sure it is actually working, that is how my job search is going.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I remember my father asking me one day if I thought I had been blacklisted or if I had done/posted anything on the Internet people were finding. Absolutely brutal thing to have eating at the back of your mind.
Have you posted this before, or is it just the new norm? Having the wildest Déjà vu right now. Also plugging /r/recruitinghell
The searches that ended, and what the job turned out to be
Out a job for a month. Finally got an offer. Butter Production machine operator at Land O’Lakes for $29.50/hour
What these records report: This is the outcomes card, and it is deliberately not filtered for good news. The searches that ended did so after periods running from weeks to years, and the jobs at the end of them are a factory line, a bar, a mall, a bagel shop, a para-educator post, a government technician grade, a delivery round and, in several cases, a role in the commenter's own field at lower pay. A recurring detail is that the ending is often attributed to a specific person rather than a process. The card also carries the qualifications people attached to their own good news: a pay cut, a two-hour commute, a move across the country, a job resigned from within weeks, and one commenter still receiving rejection emails months after starting.
USA, Software engineer with degree and big tech on my resume 6 months and 1500 applications to land a role I had to move cross country for though it's back to where my family is from Grateful to have work even if it is a slight paycut.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
That's a great wage for a machine operator! That's how much I make as a technician lol...
same background but it’s been 9 months and nothing so far. proud of you for sticking it out—congrats on the new job and best wishes moving forward!
“Entry level” with years of experience attached
Companies have also grown even greedier. You want 3-5 years experience or a masters degree for an…entry level office job? Does your HR department have a brain?
What these records report: The gap between the words 'entry level' and the experience demanded underneath them is the single most repeated observation in the corpus. Commenters report three, five and even twelve years required on postings labelled entry level, internships that asked for prior experience, and law firms wanting three years of practice for a first job. Two competing explanations appear: that the role is entry level for that company rather than the field, and that laid-off professionals are now taking the openings graduates used to fill. The people most affected in these records are recent graduates and career changers, and several of them describe the loop in the same terms — no job without experience, no experience without a job.
Can't get out of my current job might be the most accurate description of this job market I've seen. You do everything right, stack certs, build skills, apply like crazy, and somehow the door still says entry level, 3 years experience required
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Oh god the greed. I have been in my niche for almost 20 years and have what I think is a great portfolio but they still make me jump through crazy hoops during interviews. And jobs are now 3-4 roles in one! I just lost a job opp after making it to the final round, five interviews, did an assignment they loved. They straight up told me I was the most impressive candidate in two areas but because I only have about a year of experience in another area, nope. Didn’t get it. They’re looking for unicorns and they’re able to dig hard for them because there are so many of us. Anyways I’m on month 7 and I wanna walk off a cliff :)
Taking a warehouse job because I'm broke as hell now. Entry-level roles want ten years experience, so I guess I'm just glorified luggage.
People who had searched in earlier downturns, comparing them with this one
What these records report: The comparison records are the closest this thread gets to a measurement, because the people making them are comparing themselves with themselves. Commenters who searched in 2009, in the dot-com crash, in 2008 and in 2022 say this one is harder, and several give the specific contrast: a job found in weeks then, nothing in a year now, with more experience in between. Older commenters describe a hiring process that no longer exists — a resume, a phone call, one interview — and one Gen X commenter is careful to correct another about who was doing the hiring. The card's limit is that it is memory against memory: nobody in it is comparing records, and one commenter in the same corpus argues the older process was never as open as it is remembered.
The worst it’s ever been in my lifetime. I’m 38. I graduated in 2009, after the financial crisis and I had an easier time getting work then than now with 15+ years of experience in my field.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I have a colleague who is extremely qualified and experienced. Like she's a literal neuroscientist with decades of experience in her area of expertise, in a field where her skills are in high demand. Like the very specific job she does *always* has positions open. But she's just worth too much money. Somebody with her level of experience commands nearly 200K in salary, but they want them to accept like half that because we're in a recession and everybody is cutting corners. So they leave the jobs open for any takers (and nobody's taking) while those folks just retire early or move into another industry.
I also left and found a job back in 2023. It felt like back then it would only take a few days, maybe a few weeks max to hear back after applying. I'm currently employed but I've been applying for close to a year now. Only a handful of legit responses, 0 interviews/offers. This market is the worst I've ever seen
How the search actually wentThe mechanics people described: how many applications, how long, how much silence, and how the ones that ended, ended. 371 records.
The numbers people kept: applications, replies, interviews, offersRecords that put a figure on the search — applications sent, replies received, interviews reached, offers made.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The numbers people kept: applications, replies, interviews, offers
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The numbers people kept: applications, replies, interviews, offers
Appears when: Working out what a given volume of applications actually returns
What the pattern means: These are the records that count something, and the counting is the point: the ratios they report are far more consistent than the totals. Commenters describe application totals from double figures into the thousands and interview counts in the low single digits, and the callback rates several of them compute independently land in the same narrow band of a few per cent. The card also contains its own dispute about method — what counts as a reply, whether an automated rejection is one, and whether a four-figure application total is possible if each one is tailored. Two commenters who track their search in a spreadsheet give the fullest breakdowns, including the average number of days before anything came back at all.
What commenters described: 240 applications send, 210 replies, 15 interviews, 10 gave a reason for rejection, reason being lack of experience and no notes on what I could do better. So yeah, it's starting to be an active effort to not be bitter.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I'm on 258 at the moment. 2 interviews, both lost out (one of them in the final two). I'm not besmirching anybody with these jobs, but I'm not in £60,000 student debt (STEM) to work a coffee portafilter. What the fuck is this economy? Young people have been sold up a river.
I graduated 2020 in creative advertising (marketing and graphic design). Seemed lucrative but it's actually low wages and an impossible amount of competition. 0 interviews or call backs. I gave up after 4 years of applying and still work in a dying industry (film and media archiving). 0 growth in my future. So now I have no fucking clue what to do. Can't do anything without going back to school. And I really don't want 2 student loans at the same time lmfao.
Source-record spotlights
240 applications send, 210 replies, 15 interviews, 10 gave a reason for rejection, reason being lack of experience and no notes on what I could do better. So yeah, it's starting to be an active effort to not be bitter.
I submitted my 135th job application today (I track them in an Excel sheet). Had 3 interviews. Was either ghosted or rejected after all 3
The $16.50 isnt for a Chemist job. He had to take a retail job. Over 1,500 resumes sent out, he had to start looking for just any job and finally landed the retail job.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 75 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Create a default” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments75 preserved records · 75 of 75 source records accounted for
Archive: 75 index entries preserve 75 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
How long the search ranRecords whose answer to the question is a length of time.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: How long the search ran
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
How long the search ran
Appears when: Setting an expectation for how long a search of this kind runs
What the pattern means: Asked how hard the market is, a large number of commenters answered with a length of time rather than a description. The durations reported run from a few weeks to several years, and the ones at the long end are not confined to any single field: they include engineering, law, teaching, nursing, warehousing and retail. What recurs is the shape rather than the number — an expected few months that did not end, a benefit period that expired inside it, and a point somewhere past six months where several commenters say the search itself changed character. Some of these accounts are of searches that are still running as the comment is written.
What commenters described: It's been a year. Lost track of number of applications. Almost never hear back. At this point I'm increasingly falling into learned helplessness because nothing seems to work. I have over a decade of experience, degrees, decently impressive volunteering work, and none of it matters. Close friend with 25 years of experience took 4 months and dozens of interviews to land a position. Market is ass, fuck the oligarchs
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
The amount of scams, fake job postings, an AI driven scouts and interviewers is daunting. All of my friends and colleagues have either been let go or are waiting to be. There are no entry level jobs.
Thanks! It's a grind and a roller coaster, and good luck. I hope your search ends soon.
Source-record spotlights
Been 2 months for me. I did 2 interviews with the same company - from what I understand, it’s down to me and someone else. Waiting to hear if I get an offer. Fingers crossed! I’m already going crazy after 2 months, not sure how others are handling even longer unemployment.
military officer and resigned January 2026 and still looking for jobs... Absolutely brutal job market
Same , When l graduated last year, l even ended up unemployed for a few months after turning down my only job offer. The job market was just awful.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 66 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments66 preserved records · 66 of 66 source records accounted for
Archive: 66 index entries preserve 66 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Silence, automated rejection and being ghostedThe part of the search commenters described as the hardest to argue with: nothing coming back at all.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Silence, automated rejection and being ghosted
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Silence, automated rejection and being ghosted
Appears when: Understanding what happens after an application is sent
What the pattern means: This is the card the thread's most-upvoted comment belongs to, and the reason it resonated is visible underneath it: commenters describe testing their own phone, email and spam folder because nothing was arriving. What they report is not usually rejection but absence — auto-replies months later, rejections arriving minutes after applying, promised follow-ups that never came, and interviews that ended in nothing at all. Several commenters say they would prefer a rejection to silence; at least one says the opposite, on the grounds that a generic rejection to a role you match exactly is worse. The practical residue in the card is small and specific: answer unknown numbers, and check whether your own mail is being filed as spam.
What commenters described: I used someone else's phone to call my own phone to make sure it is actually working, that is how my job search is going.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I remember my father asking me one day if I thought I had been blacklisted or if I had done/posted anything on the Internet people were finding. Absolutely brutal thing to have eating at the back of your mind.
Have you posted this before, or is it just the new norm? Having the wildest Déjà vu right now. Also plugging /r/recruitinghell
Where commenters report limits
I thankfully got a job around December of this year. Before that I was searching everyday for nearly two years after ending my 3 year long horrendous employment at the post office. I can't tell you how horrible it was to apply for roughly 50+ jobs a week and hear not one call back. All jobs I was more than qualified for with certifications and licenses. I couldn't even get a simple pizza delivery gig. The jobs that would respond never gave me any hope either. I thought that at least getting an email telling me I didn't get the job would help. Just so I could know to move on and continue searching. It didn't help. It made things much, much worse. You'll really feel it when you search for the word "unfortunately" in your emails and see dozens of rows stacked up on each other, all regarding an employers denial of your services. To all the people who said "you just aren't looking in the right places," I encourage you to make a sudden career change and come back to me when you find new employment elsewhere. Very, very difficult. But that's just my experience.
I finally was able to land a job in April after nearly 3 years. This market is absolute trash. Employers listing fake roles, ghosting, getting my hopes up with messages after interviews only to be ghosted by the recruiter, etc. I have a few other friends looking for work. They're experiencing what I did and I hate it for them.
Source-record spotlights
I used someone else's phone to call my own phone to make sure it is actually working, that is how my job search is going.
Thanks! It would be easier to feel hopeful if I were getting other interviews at least, but so far besides the one that just passed me over, it’s been nothing but rejections emails or outright ghosting, not even getting to the interview stage. :(
I keep applying constantly. I get called in ocasionarly n interview. But no one seems to be hiring.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 54 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments54 preserved records · 54 of 54 source records accounted for
Archive: 54 index entries preserve 54 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Interview rounds, assessments and unpaid workAccounts of what sat between the first screen and a decision, and how often the decision still went the other way.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Interview rounds, assessments and unpaid work
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Interview rounds, assessments and unpaid work
Appears when: Judging how much process to expect before a decision
What the pattern means: The rounds reported here are the part of the search commenters describe as unpaid labour. They name five, six and seven-stage processes, panel interviews, take-home projects, multi-hour case studies, personality inventories and brain teasers — and in most of these records the outcome is still no. Software engineers report system-design screens for front-end roles and proctoring software installed on their own machines. The complaint that recurs is not difficulty but asymmetry: several commenters reached a final round and were rejected for something visible on their résumé at stage one. A handful say they now withdraw when the round count climbs, and a handful more say that after six months without an offer they stopped being able to afford that position.
What commenters described: Torture. More than a decade of leadership experience and impressive, measurable impact on my resume with leanings into B2B SaaS GTM (from CS/CX, to RevOps, to lifecycle marketing, and GTM enablement. Laid off in January of this year with unemployment running out at the end of July. **I just finished 7 (yes, 7) rounds of interviews that included a lengthy, 4-hour case study spanning 3ish months only to be rejected in the final offer stage.** Huge waste of time. Applying "beneath" your experience = too qualified (*too expensive).* Applying "at" your experience = companies only want you if you have vertical/industry alignment, so that has limited the jobs I even bother applying to nowadays. Applying "above" your experience = too risky and unknown. I find that I get a higher percentage of recruiter screens if I apply as early as possible after a posting, but this has only caused me to search for new JDs multiple times a day, and I hate feeling like it is a race just to make it towards the top of a recruiter's ATS filter results. I have removed myself from several interview rounds because the peer interviews show me exhausted and burnt out employees, so, even after fighting to get into interviews, the cultural red flags are flying everywhere.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I just went through an extensive, multi state, interview process and now that I made it through, I've been overanalyzing every moment while waiting for an update 🫠 been sweating for what feels like weeks but realistically its been like not even 72 business hours. Im not sure what i'll do if this doesnt work out. There is no plan B in this job market. Most are lucky to even get a phone screening let alone an offer.
I’ve been on 5 interviews in the last 2 weeks, one called back to tell me I was a “top candidate” for the exact same position with the exact same company I was with before I broke my wrist, but that was a week ago.
Where commenters report limits
I just went through an extensive, multi state, interview process and now that I made it through, I've been overanalyzing every moment while waiting for an update 🫠 been sweating for what feels like weeks but realistically its been like not even 72 business hours. Im not sure what i'll do if this doesnt work out. There is no plan B in this job market. Most are lucky to even get a phone screening let alone an offer.
I was taken by downsizing after 12 years and it’s a total fucking nightmare. AI pre interview bots, employers asking for 60 personality questions, 30 brain teasers and one case this was all before the interview, didn’t even get a god damn interview. I hate it.
Source-record spotlights
I’m not unemployed any longer, hallelujah. But as of a couple months ago, it was rough. Jobs aren’t paying squat, and the ones that do are snatched up by someone else. The real annoying thing is all the corporate jobs do 2+ interviews nowadays, so you might spend a lot of time and effort just to get a rejection and do it all over again I found my job through a lead from a current employee, that’s the only way I would have heard about it. I think networking is the most powerful tool you can have in the market lately, that’s really where you’ll get the best opportunity
Don't even mention it. I've easily applied to over 500+ jobs since graduating with my MS in Mech E, and still haven't landed anything. 4 final round interviews, and rejected from each one... what am I doing wrong 😭😭
I’ve been on 5 interviews in the last 2 weeks, one called back to tell me I was a “top candidate” for the exact same position with the exact same company I was with before I broke my wrist, but that was a week ago.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 30 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (6 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments30 preserved records · 30 of 30 source records accounted for
Archive: 30 index entries preserve 30 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Offers pulled, roles frozen, positions filled internallyRecords where the job itself moved: withdrawn, frozen, restructured, or already promised to somebody.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Offers pulled, roles frozen, positions filled internally
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Offers pulled, roles frozen, positions filled internally
Appears when: Knowing that an offer or a live process is not the end of the risk
What the pattern means: These records are about the job moving rather than the candidate failing. Commenters describe offers rescinded days before a start date, verbal offers pulled during a restructure, roles frozen mid-process, and start dates that never arrived after a signed letter. Running alongside them is a second explanation the thread reaches for repeatedly: that the role was already promised. Several commenters — including some who say they hire — describe positions posted and interviewed for because policy or law required it, with an internal or known candidate already chosen. The card contains one unusually complete illustration of both, from a commenter who collected four rescinded offers before taking hourly work.
What commenters described: I lost my job 3 months ago. Within 3 weeks I had a signed job offer. For the next 6 weeks I went through their pre-employment process. 3 days before my start date, I got a call saying the company was going through an internal restructuring and the offer was being rescinded. Within the following several weeks I quickly worked through another hiring process and had a very promising final round interview. Was told I’d hear back within a few days. It’s been over 2 weeks. I hate it here
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Or feels threatened by a high performer who knows all the VPs. Or wants someone they can pay a lot less. Or was in the same intern pool and thinks the candidate is an uppity snot. There’s about sixty ways to have a hiring manager DQ you in my experience.
Quit teaching a few years back! I am in Canada. Lots of jobs available here but the terrible conditions weren't worth it lol. Did a masters and went into curriculum design/instructional design. This similar thing happened to one of my friends - so I did a faux interview with her and found out exactly why she wasn't getting a job lol. Some people just need coaching/training for job interviews. Getting an interview now is the hardest thing especially in instructional design. 1000's of people applying for 1 job.
Where commenters report limits
I lost my job 3 months ago. Within 3 weeks I had a signed job offer. For the next 6 weeks I went through their pre-employment process. 3 days before my start date, I got a call saying the company was going through an internal restructuring and the offer was being rescinded. Within the following several weeks I quickly worked through another hiring process and had a very promising final round interview. Was told I’d hear back within a few days. It’s been over 2 weeks. I hate it here
Source-record spotlights
Meaning the Hiring Manager already had his hire picked before the position was posted.
Yeah idk what to tell you, they're incredibly qualified and a great interviewer. In my experience, most jobs go to internal candidates or friends and family of hiring staff, and they have to post them and interview people anyway.
My friend is currently working at a job he hates and is actively looking for a new job. He's been looking for months and while he gets occasional interviews after the second one everyone says that the position has been closed.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “my start date” recurs across 4 of the 24 source records in Offers pulled, roles frozen, positions filled internally; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments24 preserved records · 24 of 24 source records accounted for
Archive: 24 index entries preserve 24 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
People who had searched in earlier downturns, comparing them with this oneCommenters who have looked for work before, setting this search against the ones they remember.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: People who had searched in earlier downturns, comparing them with this one
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
People who had searched in earlier downturns, comparing them with this one
Appears when: Placing this search against the last time the reader looked for work
What the pattern means: The comparison records are the closest this thread gets to a measurement, because the people making them are comparing themselves with themselves. Commenters who searched in 2009, in the dot-com crash, in 2008 and in 2022 say this one is harder, and several give the specific contrast: a job found in weeks then, nothing in a year now, with more experience in between. Older commenters describe a hiring process that no longer exists — a resume, a phone call, one interview — and one Gen X commenter is careful to correct another about who was doing the hiring. The card's limit is that it is memory against memory: nobody in it is comparing records, and one commenter in the same corpus argues the older process was never as open as it is remembered.
What commenters described: The worst it’s ever been in my lifetime. I’m 38. I graduated in 2009, after the financial crisis and I had an easier time getting work then than now with 15+ years of experience in my field.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I have a colleague who is extremely qualified and experienced. Like she's a literal neuroscientist with decades of experience in her area of expertise, in a field where her skills are in high demand. Like the very specific job she does *always* has positions open. But she's just worth too much money. Somebody with her level of experience commands nearly 200K in salary, but they want them to accept like half that because we're in a recession and everybody is cutting corners. So they leave the jobs open for any takers (and nobody's taking) while those folks just retire early or move into another industry.
I also left and found a job back in 2023. It felt like back then it would only take a few days, maybe a few weeks max to hear back after applying. I'm currently employed but I've been applying for close to a year now. Only a handful of legit responses, 0 interviews/offers. This market is the worst I've ever seen
Source-record spotlights
The worst it’s ever been in my lifetime. I’m 38. I graduated in 2009, after the financial crisis and I had an easier time getting work then than now with 15+ years of experience in my field.
The worst I've ever experienced.
To be fair, I was going for a Wall Street job, so they had to do SOME sort of interview, LOL. The hiring manager told me to go to HR AFTER the interview to fill out an application and show up on Monday. Honestly, recruiting firms and companies need to go old school.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “years of experience in” recurs across 3 of the 36 source records in People who had searched in earlier downturns, comparing them with this one; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments36 preserved records · 36 of 36 source records accounted for
Archive: 36 index entries preserve 36 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The searches that ended, and what the job turned out to beThe outcomes — what the search produced, how long it took, and what the work turned out to be.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The searches that ended, and what the job turned out to be
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The searches that ended, and what the job turned out to be
Appears when: Seeing how these searches ended, and on what terms
What the pattern means: This is the outcomes card, and it is deliberately not filtered for good news. The searches that ended did so after periods running from weeks to years, and the jobs at the end of them are a factory line, a bar, a mall, a bagel shop, a para-educator post, a government technician grade, a delivery round and, in several cases, a role in the commenter's own field at lower pay. A recurring detail is that the ending is often attributed to a specific person rather than a process. The card also carries the qualifications people attached to their own good news: a pay cut, a two-hour commute, a move across the country, a job resigned from within weeks, and one commenter still receiving rejection emails months after starting.
What commenters described: USA, Software engineer with degree and big tech on my resume 6 months and 1500 applications to land a role I had to move cross country for though it's back to where my family is from Grateful to have work even if it is a slight paycut.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
That's a great wage for a machine operator! That's how much I make as a technician lol...
same background but it’s been 9 months and nothing so far. proud of you for sticking it out—congrats on the new job and best wishes moving forward!
Source-record spotlights
Out a job for a month. Finally got an offer. Butter Production machine operator at Land O’Lakes for $29.50/hour
My plant has a talent advisor that is in charge of finding people to do a phone interview and then an in person one if you qualify which sounds like you have. I interviewed like beginning of August and my first day was 8/25 so it’s pretty quick process and the lady was very nice and organized. Now if you don’t get the job, I’m not sure if they let you know or not. 🤷🏼♂️ but good luck! The staff at my plant are very chill
Been unemployed for 6 months finally found a job at a warehouse. Hopefully everything works out.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 53 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments53 preserved records · 53 of 53 source records accounted for
Archive: 53 index entries preserve 53 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Employed, looking, and stuckCommenters who still have a job and could not move either, which is a different report from the same market.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Employed, looking, and stuck
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Employed, looking, and stuck
Appears when: Reading this thread while still employed
What the pattern means: A substantial minority of the records come from people who have not lost a job and cannot leave one. They describe applying for months from inside a role they call toxic, burnt out or unsafe, and getting the same silence the unemployed commenters describe. Several connect this to the market itself: if nobody moves, nothing opens, and the people who would ordinarily create vacancies by leaving are staying put. Others report the specific traps — a mortgage taken at a lower rate, a lateral move that pays less than the current job, an offer conditional on relocation. One commenter's summary of the position is the most-quoted line in this card, and it is not advice: it is that there is nowhere to go.
What commenters described: > They got their jobs before the market crashed and they're holding on for dear life or just can't find movement to another position. That's where I'm at. I'm not happy at my job, but I can't find anything else and I have a family to support so what the fuck can I do?
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Yeah. Best advice I have is to build up your investments as much as you can while you're working. Also, if I could go back in time, id be grinding leetcode at least once a week while I still had a job. Would have made it easier to ramp back up on, as it had been about a decade in my last role.
That’s exactly where I moved to. I’m really enjoying it. Far cheaper than Boston, still tons to do. Amazing food scene. Easy access to beach and mountains. Great airport. Only complaints are weather (so damn hot and humid!) and lack of workers rights/protections.
Source-record spotlights
Sad state of affairs when people have to put up with being belittled just to have a roof over their head. Crap employers have no incentive to treat their employees well when they know the prospects of a different job are so slow.
In case it’s a helpful contribution, I AM employed and the job market is still shit. I’ve got a job profile that is very much “built to look good”, I’m a 31 year old director, previous founder of a business that is still successful today, etc. I’ve been looking to move away from the business I currently work at for a good while, and the only offer I’ve actually had is from the business I founded, wanting me to come back, which I didn’t want to do. My experience is literally IN EMPLOYMENT too so I know a lot of “nuances” to navigating the job market, or I thought I did anyway, but this version of the job market feels like a different beast to anything I’ve seen before. I feel awful for those that haven’t got work and are facing the same market, I can’t imagine how impossible it must feel at the moment.
I am currently employed, not in an entry level position but sort of in an entry level company, so thankfully I'm not desperate, but keep getting rejected at every new agency I apply at. In my industry a lot of people want military experience which I don't have and can't get since the surgeon general keeps rejecting my waiver. I also live an an area with a huge military population so I often have the weakest resume amongst the applicants.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 33 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (5 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments33 preserved records · 33 of 33 source records accounted for
Archive: 33 index entries preserve 33 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The machinery between an application and a personWhat commenters said stands between the send button and a human being. 82 records.
Screened by software before a person reads itApplicant tracking systems, résumé parsers and automated screens, as commenters said they experienced them.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Screened by software before a person reads it
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Screened by software before a person reads it
Appears when: Understanding what an automated screen does with an application
What the pattern means: Commenters here describe being filtered by software rather than by a person, and the accounts are more specific than the general complaint. They name particular systems, track which ones produce same-day rejections, and describe rejections arriving within minutes or at three in the morning. Two records describe the same failure in different words: a laid-off employee auto-rejected for the exact role they had held, and a master's-qualified applicant screened out for not holding a bachelor's. One commenter raises the possibility that several employers share a third-party screener, so one rejection travels. None of this is verified inside the thread; what is reported is the pattern the commenters observed from the outside.
What commenters described: I have started to track what ATS a company is using when I apply and confirming if I get a rejection email and how long it takes. I got multiple 30 minute rejection emails today. So far I have determined that if it’s Workday I am not getting through no matter how much I change my resume or email. I can’t get past their system. I’m 43 and have had three interviews in 1.5 years. Finally getting some traction with screening interviews since starting to use Claude on my resume instead of ChatGPT and Grok.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
People are using AI to filter through resumes now lol Make sure you're tailoring your resume to each listing, it absolutely sucks to do but throw in some of the key words from the listing into your resume somehow. I have a folder for job applications where i copy the job listing and my resume that i used to apply for the job. There are a TON of fake listings now, go to the company's website and apply directly, half of them don't even have the same listing available in my area , so those ones are likely fake
Make sure your resume is formatted to be easily imported to the Applicant Tracking Systems in use by many companies. This usually means a single column, simple text, clear headings. Look up ATS formatted resumes for more info, good luck!
Source-record spotlights
Yeah, I typically don’t have trouble getting an interview or at least moving forward in the process. But lately it seems impossible to even start a conversation with any company I think using an AI assisted resumes probably my issue and should go back to actual handwritten resumes, but I don’t know what it is. I haven’t been able to crack the code yet.
Got an email saying they wanted to schedule a phone call and then 5 minutes later got another one saying I wasn’t selected lmao.
They don't know because the AI algorithms have decided not to contact them explaining why their application was rejected.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “get a rejection email” recurs across 2 of the 18 source records in Screened by software before a person reads it; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments18 preserved records · 18 of 18 source records accounted for
Archive: 18 index entries preserve 18 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Postings commenters said were never going to be filledListings commenters said stayed up, came back, or were never a vacancy at all — plus the reasons offered for why.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Postings commenters said were never going to be filled
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Postings commenters said were never going to be filled
Appears when: Deciding whether a listing is worth an application
What the pattern means: The clearest recurring observation in the corpus is a listing that outlives its own vacancy: rejected, then reposted a week later, unchanged. Commenters offer several explanations and disagree about which applies — churn from a job nobody stays in, pipeline-building, appearing to grow, harvesting applicant data, and a specific regulatory one raised from Canada and elsewhere, that an employer must be seen to test the local market before hiring on a visa. One commenter cites a published estimate; several describe browser tools and manual tracking they use to spot stale posts. A commenter on the hiring side confirms their own employer posts them.
What commenters described: Thank you for applying to \_\_\_\_ we appreciate you taking the time to fill out an application, but we will be moving forward with other candidates at this time. 1 week later: The exact same job is posted. Same company, same description, same pay.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
For me it's hard, I've applied for easy level things that you would think anyone could get but nope and the best thing about them saying "no" is seeing the same job post 2-3 months later still not filled I mean yes I don't have any experiance but in those 2-3 months when I applied you could have gave me some training if it doesn't work out then you can let me go but at least you would have someone in the door I currently have a part time cleaning job that's only 5 hours a week every other day ( except weekends ) which is an easy extra 60 bucks a week and gets my foot in the door for future cleaning roles but again this was a job post I've seen loads of times and not getting filled so I took a chance and they took a chance, I've been doing it 3 months now ( the same amount of time it would have probably been online if I didn't ) and if I want more hours I can just turn up to the other locations via the app and punch in my ID, get on with the job and punch out, I don't have to apply, just turn up on the day Sorry for the long post
Where commenters report limits
For me it's hard, I've applied for easy level things that you would think anyone could get but nope and the best thing about them saying "no" is seeing the same job post 2-3 months later still not filled I mean yes I don't have any experiance but in those 2-3 months when I applied you could have gave me some training if it doesn't work out then you can let me go but at least you would have someone in the door I currently have a part time cleaning job that's only 5 hours a week every other day ( except weekends ) which is an easy extra 60 bucks a week and gets my foot in the door for future cleaning roles but again this was a job post I've seen loads of times and not getting filled so I took a chance and they took a chance, I've been doing it 3 months now ( the same amount of time it would have probably been online if I didn't ) and if I want more hours I can just turn up to the other locations via the app and punch in my ID, get on with the job and punch out, I don't have to apply, just turn up on the day Sorry for the long post
Source-record spotlights
What's worse is you can get blacklisted for applying to a company too often. But these companies keep reposting the same job that " they're trying to fill" for over a year. If an interviewer tells me maybe next time and I see that role down the line. I'm going to apply. Vice versa, I may not even be trying to reapply but I can't be expected to remember every single job when companies keep spamming the same ghost jobs.
ive been watching my position i left this year go reposted again and again on linked in
Or, hear me out, could be companies going through motions to get H1B1s or PERM. Companies are the problem not the fucking candidates.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 26 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Change the sentence” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments26 preserved records · 26 of 26 source records accounted for
Archive: 26 index entries preserve 26 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Scams, spam and phishing dressed as jobsFake postings, harvested data, spam calls and outright fraud encountered while applying.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Scams, spam and phishing dressed as jobs
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Scams, spam and phishing dressed as jobs
Appears when: Telling a real employer from something else
What the pattern means: These records describe what arrived instead of interviews. Commenters report phishing through a job board, cloned employer sites identifiable by a single wrong character in the address, requests for a passport or a social security number before any offer, software 'compatibility checks', multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes discovered at the second interview, and a spike in spam calls beginning the week they resumed applying. Two commenters say they now treat any response at all as suspicious, which is the sharpest measure in the card of what the volume of fraud has done to the rest of the process.
What commenters described: I literally got phished through a LinkedIn listing. I didn't realize it was possible. Like I thought, stupidly, that they had some kind of screening or verification process to make sure company profiles are legitimate and listings actually originate from the company. Fortunately I have enough security/2FA in place that all they managed to do was (unsuccessfully) buy a few hundred in iTunes gift cards before I got everything locked down. Absolutely fucked world we've built for ourselves here.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
> There are no entry level jobs. I have basically been entry-level despite having a Master's, mostly due to uncontrollable circumstances that occurred throughout high school and college. I have lost track of how many times I applied for entry-level jobs in my markets only to be told that "I don't have experience." Buddy I thought you were looking for entry-level employees to help train.
I have started advocating for a mandatory job bank in Canada where you have to register a job position and report when its filled. You would get flagged for posting ghost jobs or fake postings and there would be a penalty system. Taxed, fined, etc. Its should absolutely be illegal to post fake jobs.
Where commenters report limits
This is exactly how I felt even getting my first real job over a decade ago. Was laid off last month and unfortunately going to have to switch industries most likely due to how things are going. I'm applying to a few jobs a week as cold applications, but haven't heard back from anything except a couple that we're glorified scams, like think MLM or door to door sales that's 100% commission based. I'm still reaching out to a few remaining connections, but starting to worry I won't find anything or will end up taking a seasonal job at an Amazon warehouse or something
Source-record spotlights
The amount of scams, fake job postings, an AI driven scouts and interviewers is daunting. All of my friends and colleagues have either been let go or are waiting to be. There are no entry level jobs.
The only interview I got in 2 months of looking turned out to be a scam for a pyramid scheme and I didn't find out until the 2nd interview.
When I was looking this spring, I was only finding mass group interview places, or commission only places. Or debt "relief" places, which is all dogshit. But this fall I've been recruited more heavily into insurance and mortgage, which has been cool
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 22 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments22 preserved records · 22 of 22 source records accounted for
Archive: 22 index entries preserve 22 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
How many other people appliedRecords that count the competition rather than the applications, several of them from the hiring side.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: How many other people applied
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
How many other people applied
Appears when: Understanding what an application is competing against
What the pattern means: This card counts the other applicants rather than the applications, and its most concrete numbers come from people on the hiring side or from rejection letters that disclosed the figure. Commenters report hundreds of applicants within a day for barely-above-minimum retail work, several hundred for a single posting, and one rejection that explained the employer had taken a stack and started there. The explanation the card converges on is volume rather than standards: when a role can be filtered to a perfect match, it is, and price becomes the tiebreak. A minority of records dispute that hiring teams are genuinely overwhelmed rather than under-resourced.
What commenters described: I got a rejection email back from a company that said basically this. Something like “we received over 900 resumes for this position so we had to grab a stack and go from there”.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I got a rejection email back from a company that said basically this. Something like “we received over 900 resumes for this position so we had to grab a stack and go from there”.
You have to, right? At a certain point, we're all human and unless you're entire job is to read resumes (which it wont be), you can realistically only get through so many applicants a day. Just grab a handful and hopefully find a good one there.
Source-record spotlights
If it's like here, it took 6 months to find that because many with a degree need to fall to those.
No, it’s not impossible for humans to keep up. Just hire more to look through them. Like I refuse to believe it is IMPOSSIBLE for humans to look through all the resumes.
I graduated this past May, and it’s looking bleak. I got linked in premium and it shows you the other candidates that applied, 50% of them are senior researchers, so that’s who I’m up against
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 16 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments16 preserved records · 16 of 16 source records accounted for
Archive: 16 index entries preserve 16 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The reasons commenters were given for noWhere a rejection came with an explanation, this is what the explanation was. 101 records.
Turned down for being overqualifiedThe rejection that comes from having too much rather than too little, and what commenters said they were told.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Turned down for being overqualified
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Turned down for being overqualified
Appears when: Applying downward, and being told no for the opposite reason
What the pattern means: Commenters who lowered their sights report a rejection that is difficult to argue with, because it is about the future rather than the past: the employer expects them to leave. The examples are specific and mostly at the low-wage end — a cashier post, a dishwashing job, a receptionist role, a valet position, a service job declined because a six-year-old entry on the résumé showed the applicant had once done that work already. Several commenters report the same verdict from the senior end, where the word used is expensive rather than overqualified. One commenter who has hired says plainly that they passed on candidates for exactly this reason, which is the closest the card comes to confirmation.
What commenters described: Eight months unemployed with nearly 20 years in my field. Industry certs, stellar work history, etc... 500+ applications, 5 calls, 3 interviews. No job. Even applying for entry level, nothing. The last ten years of saving for a "retirement" that will likely now never come. I'm more than happy to scrub trash cans if there's a steady paycheck in it. Turned down for service jobs because "You're overqualified and you'll just leave." Dark and hopeless don't even begin to describe it from my perspective, OP.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Idk about knocking on the door, usually messaging HR or the CEO if they're a small enough company is a safer bet. Saying something along the lines of: 1. Hey I heard of your company, love your mission statement, your commitment to doing XYZ really speaks to me. 2. Here are my relevant qualifications. 3. Do you have any openings?
I've gotten rejection emails 6-8 months later claiming they put the job on hold.
Source-record spotlights
With your career skills and experience, I would hire you on the spot. My husband ran into the same thing, just getting the $16.50 an hour job. Everyone looking at him and using the , over qualified excuse. Shit, people just need a job to pay bills & keep a roof over their heads. He has run into so many, damn if you and damn if you don't scenarios. The job he has, he went old school and went in person to apply. Hell, the companies that put you through 4 to 5 interview process, dont even have the decency or professionalism to inform you they went with another candidate. I truly wish you thr best of luck landing a job.
Yeah keep trying. Also idk if you know, you probably do, if you got extra time in law school, you can get special accommodation for extra time on the bar. Use it if you have the ability to. Even if you didn’t have extra time in law school if you use an official diagnosis I would still try to get it from the bar. Worst case they say no. Also you’re a liability right now for any jobs you apply to. They know that as soon as you pass you’re out of there. So why bother with you. And they don’t want to hire you contingent you pass and working under your bosses license bc you may not pass and then they have to fire you. Your best bet is to honestly throw yourself into it night and day 100% and just pass it. Wrap it up.
I am in IT. I have a ton of certifications and years of IT experience in a leadership role. Was laid off months ago. I have sent over 400 applications and only gotten a call back from 3, all of which told me I was overqualified. Bro, just give me the job?! Who cares if I’m overqualified. I can’t find a job at all! They act like it’s so easy to just find another role… like I’m gonna just up and leave right away because of my experience. It’s not even possible for that to happen it feels like. I just want a role I can stick with for a long time. I’m not trying to leave… I hate this job market.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 23 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments23 preserved records · 23 of 23 source records accounted for
Archive: 23 index entries preserve 23 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
“Entry level” with years of experience attachedThe gap commenters kept hitting between what an opening is called and what it asks for.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: “Entry level” with years of experience attached
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
“Entry level” with years of experience attached
Appears when: Reading a job title against the requirements underneath it
What the pattern means: The gap between the words 'entry level' and the experience demanded underneath them is the single most repeated observation in the corpus. Commenters report three, five and even twelve years required on postings labelled entry level, internships that asked for prior experience, and law firms wanting three years of practice for a first job. Two competing explanations appear: that the role is entry level for that company rather than the field, and that laid-off professionals are now taking the openings graduates used to fill. The people most affected in these records are recent graduates and career changers, and several of them describe the loop in the same terms — no job without experience, no experience without a job.
What commenters described: Can't get out of my current job might be the most accurate description of this job market I've seen. You do everything right, stack certs, build skills, apply like crazy, and somehow the door still says entry level, 3 years experience required
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Oh god the greed. I have been in my niche for almost 20 years and have what I think is a great portfolio but they still make me jump through crazy hoops during interviews. And jobs are now 3-4 roles in one! I just lost a job opp after making it to the final round, five interviews, did an assignment they loved. They straight up told me I was the most impressive candidate in two areas but because I only have about a year of experience in another area, nope. Didn’t get it. They’re looking for unicorns and they’re able to dig hard for them because there are so many of us. Anyways I’m on month 7 and I wanna walk off a cliff :)
Taking a warehouse job because I'm broke as hell now. Entry-level roles want ten years experience, so I guess I'm just glorified luggage.
Source-record spotlights
Companies have also grown even greedier. You want 3-5 years experience or a masters degree for an…entry level office job? Does your HR department have a brain?
cant even get an entry level retail job. Been trying for months it seems if you have no experience you cant get the job to get the experience🤦♀️
Yeah. I’m at the point where I would accept any position no matter how shitty the company is, just so I can get 1-2 years in an entry level position and then start applying elsewhere.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 40 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments40 preserved records · 40 of 40 source records accounted for
Archive: 40 index entries preserve 40 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The other reasons that came backPersonality tests, exact-match demands, growth ambitions and other grounds commenters said they were rejected on.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The other reasons that came back
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The other reasons that came back
Appears when: Making sense of a rejection that came with a stated reason
What the pattern means: When a reason was given, these are the reasons. The most common is a demand for an exact match: the same job, but in this industry; the same skills, but only that one; a candidate who has already done precisely this. Commenters describe being rejected for wanting to grow, for scoring too well on a personality test, for finishing an assessment too quickly, for holding CPR certification that would have cost a few cents an hour, and for a work history judged too varied. One HR commenter in the same corpus describes pushing back on managers who write these postings. What the card does not contain is any commenter who found the stated reason useful.
What commenters described: 14+ years of experience, 2 degrees, and a cert. Laid off 10 months ago, nearly 2,000 applications, and barely any reponse. Last interview saw me pushed through to final round with CEO, rescheduled, canceled while some things got updated, then rejected. I get a lot of stuff like, "I know you did this as part of your last job, but we want someone who did only this for at least 5 years." And "Im sure you could do this, but we need someone who has already done this."
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
I had a lady ask me in broken English if I knew how to read or use a computer because my last job was head chef of a restaurant. The interview lasted almost three minutes because she says they wanted someone with more experience with data entry and stronger reading skills. It was an entry level data entry job. I have a degree, awards, I was in the fucking national spelling bee.
Source-record spotlights
I got rejected from a job yesterday because I express interest in growth within their company.
A similar thing happened to a team I was in. That team was entry level, and was rightfully used as a foot-in-the-door position. People would apply internally for a higher position after a few months and climb the ladder. It has been the usual for the last 10+ years. Then the new manager didn't agree. She thought that a high turnover was bad, so every new hire was told they were hired to be in the team forever since she didn't want to hire people only for then to leave for better opportunities within the company.
I was rejected from two jobs for having cpr training. They didn't want to pay the .25 cents extra per hour.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 25 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments25 preserved records · 25 of 25 source records accounted for
Archive: 25 index entries preserve 25 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Gaps: what time out of work did to an applicationWhat a break — for illness, caring, self-employment or nothing at all — did to the rest of the application.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Gaps: what time out of work did to an application
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Gaps: what time out of work did to an application
Appears when: Explaining time out of the workforce
What the pattern means: These records describe a threshold rather than a stigma. Several commenters put it at around six months, and one who says they once researched the question reports finding a measurable drop at that point, more pronounced for men. The gaps described are for illness, surgery, caring for a dying spouse, raising children, flight school, mental health and a decade of self-employment — and commenters report that the reason mattered less than the fact. Two commenters say they were told outright they counted as unemployed despite freelancing through the gap. A recruiter in the corpus confirms the underlying preference: employers are easier with candidates who already have a job.
What commenters described: I worked for 10 years as a proofreader before getting laid off back in November. Companies won't even touch me now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. I'm still getting freelance projects from time to time, but it feels like there are a ton of good candidates in the pool and companies are getting to be super picky about who they'll even talk to, especially for the kind of niche work I do that people think can be solved with AI.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What replies pushed back on2
Man this drives me crazy the more I see typos in public announcements, posters, and subtitles. My friend group plays a lot of Marvel Rivals and holy shit do they need a copy editor. Soooo many typos, missed spaces, incorrect commas.
> now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. No you aren't. You were on a sabbatical, caring for a sick loved one, decided to try going independent but it didn't work out, took time to work on your novel, came into a small inheritance from Aunt Mildred and decided to travel for a while. You enjoyed your time off, and now you are just starting to get back into the market.
Source-record spotlights
I worked for 10 years as a proofreader before getting laid off back in November. Companies won't even touch me now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. I'm still getting freelance projects from time to time, but it feels like there are a ton of good candidates in the pool and companies are getting to be super picky about who they'll even talk to, especially for the kind of niche work I do that people think can be solved with AI.
I was let go from last employment around 6 years ago now due to mental health. Been seeking work for 5 years, but the longer the years of unemployment go by, the larger gap which shows on my curriculum vitae.
It's alot harder to bounce back after a long period of no job.. It gets intimidating. And deterring when you get turned down.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 13 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments13 preserved records · 13 of 13 source records accounted for
Archive: 13 index entries preserve 13 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What the work paidThe article's most consistent finding is not that there is no work. It is what the work on offer paid. 117 records.
What people earned before, and what they took insteadBefore-and-after accounts: the job that ended, and the job that replaced it.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: What people earned before, and what they took instead
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What people earned before, and what they took instead
Appears when: Understanding what replacing a lost job actually paid
What the pattern means: This card is the article's most consistent finding, and it is not about scarcity. Commenters set a previous wage against the one that replaced it, and the falls are large and specific: professional salaries against hourly retail, factory and delivery rates, and senior roles replaced by their own entry grade. The pattern holds across chemistry, design, IT, marketing, logistics, HR, telecoms and software. A second, quieter group inside the card took a smaller cut to end the search and says so plainly. The figures are as given, unconverted and unadjusted; what the card measures is the distance each commenter described falling, not a national average.
What commenters described: Went from 65k plus a year to hoping to hear back on a retail cashier job just to pay the bills as unemployment isn't cutting it.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
This was my husband. Chemist/Marine biologist. Company laid off a 1/3 of its staff(Warn Act). He went from $34 an hour to $16.50 an hour(retail job). There is an absolute war on science right now in the US.Many researchers have been scooped up by other countries. The job market is pure trash. Good luck!
have y'all talked about moving to a different country, maybe one where your education and experience will afford you a decent life?
Where commenters report limits
Left a toxic workplace four years ago and have struggled to find a role that pays the same since. The geographical market I am in pays lower; unfortunately I moved here for the job with the high pay and didn’t know the culture was toxic otherwise I would never have relocated. I am underemployed since I now earn less than half of what I used to make. I honestly don’t know how I make it each month but somehow my gig work and pet sitting on the side just gets me by each month. I apply for remote roles but many are evergreen or they have hundreds of applicants. I have a graduate degree in my field and 15+ years of experience- it is depressing. I would sell the house and relocate but oh yeah, the homes are sitting on the market for 6 months or more and are selling for just a bit more than I bought it for.
More senior level. Went from 165k to 20/hr working retail. Out of work at my previous level for 8 months now. The last time I was actually searching for 1.5 years and found a role at that 165k payscale. I was laid off 4 months later due to a restructure. Imagine THAT gut punch. At this point I've been in over 30 interview cycles averaging about 4 rounds before rejection with 12 finalist rounds with no offer. It's a special kind of heel working for 20/hr while as I type this I have two more interviews scheduled for a 220k Staff level role, a 190k Senior level role and another 160k senior level role. On one hand I can *get* interviews. That says a lot more than a number of my colleagues at this point unfortunately. I can even **get** to final rounds reasonably consistently but converting to an offer atp feels like a pseudo masochistic humiliation ritual. Giving up feels like a better course of action every single day. On another note I get 70% off at Lululemon 😂✌️ For those curious: role = technical enablement manager, revenue enablement manager, partner enablement manager, GTM Enablement manager
Source-record spotlights
Went from 65k plus a year to hoping to hear back on a retail cashier job just to pay the bills as unemployment isn't cutting it.
170k a year, infosec for a .edu. 22 years in industry. Now making minimum working customer service.
Upwards start in adjusting, $31 hr, corporate ladder climbing. 12 years ago. Tragic event and a move, best I've made was $24 hr. 5 years ago. Now? Was unemployed for a better chunk of 9 months, and all I've managed to find after 1000s of prep and failed interviews? Print shop. $21. Holding on until something sticks, but this check-to-check pipeline is getting progressively harder to maintain 😰
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 34 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments34 preserved records · 34 of 34 source records accounted for
Archive: 34 index entries preserve 34 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Offers below the posting, the market or the last jobRecords where an offer or a posting came in under the previous job, the advertised range, or the local market.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Offers below the posting, the market or the last job
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Offers below the posting, the market or the last job
Appears when: Judging an offer against what the work was previously worth
What the pattern means: Commenters here describe offers and postings priced below the job rather than below their expectations. The examples include a role reposted for tens of thousands less within months of a layoff, salaries capped by an HR reviewer who never spoke to the candidate, a licensed attorney's part-time brief working out at a low hourly rate, and roles combining several jobs at one salary. Several commenters report being told directly that somebody else would accept less. The counterpoint inside the card matters: one commenter argues that if employers are not raising their price, the previous price was the anomaly.
What commenters described: This is the situation I’m in. My job is super stressful (crying often, micromanaged, etc.) and I’ve been looking for a year. Plenty of work experience and getting interviews but no offers…or when I do get offers they want to pay me like I’m entry level even though I have like three years of experience related to the job. Like being offered $25 an hour or $50,000 a year maximum with no negotiation when I make over $60,000 a year. The $50,000 a year cap came from an HR rep who decided I was worth that based on only a review of my resume. Never even spoke to me. Even though the hiring manager agreed with my salary requirement. HR is the worst.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
That sounds like there was a bubble and your friend is over estimating her value. If companies aren't raising their price, then it's simply not worth it to them.
Source-record spotlights
I have a colleague who is extremely qualified and experienced. Like she's a literal neuroscientist with decades of experience in her area of expertise, in a field where her skills are in high demand. Like the very specific job she does *always* has positions open. But she's just worth too much money. Somebody with her level of experience commands nearly 200K in salary, but they want them to accept like half that because we're in a recession and everybody is cutting corners. So they leave the jobs open for any takers (and nobody's taking) while those folks just retire early or move into another industry.
Offering 35k less for my last job. Now they have my former bosses lining up to take 25k less than I made.
That sounds like there was a bubble and your friend is over estimating her value. If companies aren't raising their price, then it's simply not worth it to them.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 26 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments26 preserved records · 26 of 26 source records accounted for
Archive: 26 index entries preserve 26 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What commenters said their own work pays nowA long side-conversation, started by one hourly figure, in which commenters compared it with their own.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: What commenters said their own work pays now
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What commenters said their own work pays now
Appears when: Comparing what your own work pays with what other work pays
What the pattern means: One hourly figure attached to a butter-production job set off the longest wage comparison in the thread, and it is included here because of what commenters compared it with: technicians, machinists, IT staff in a high-cost city, state employees eight years in, pharmacy technicians compounding chemotherapy drugs, line cooks, office managers and a planetarium seller. The recurring complaint is stagnation rather than level — several commenters name a wage that has barely moved in eight or twelve years. One commenter makes the necessary correction: an hourly number means nothing without a location attached, and few of these records supply one.
What commenters described: I work in IT, in Boston and barely make more than that. WTF am I doing with my life.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
same brother. I honestly chalked it up to hanging my hat. IT is not worth the stress of what it actually is. People saw it as this ladder for some odd reason but I just like it because I always liked technology. I studied web dev the whole shit. Programming for years. It's kinda hilarious looking back. I could have done literally anything else with my time. I don't regret learning it but it's like spending years learning dancing....sure I did something but it has no effect on my economic needs.
Source-record spotlights
That's a great wage for a machine operator! That's how much I make as a technician lol...
Yeah it’s more like a slightly advanced machine operator now.
Yeah more than my son makes 5 years into being a machinist with a related 10mo training certificate.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 33 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Create a default” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments33 preserved records · 33 of 33 source records accounted for
Archive: 33 index entries preserve 33 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What the degree returnedWhether the qualification paid for itself, argued from both directions.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: What the degree returned
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What the degree returned
Appears when: Weighing what a qualification returned
What the pattern means: The degree argument runs in both directions and neither side concedes. On one side are commenters with master's degrees and doctorates working part-time hourly jobs, and graduates who say the credential bought nothing but debt. On the other are commenters arguing the field matters more than the level, that some programmes are diploma mills, and that trades work now requires as much intelligence and pays better. What both sides share is a specific grievance rather than a general one: not that education failed, but that the return promised when they enrolled did not arrive. Several commenters describe removing the qualification from the résumé, which is where this card meets the tactics ones.
What commenters described: Crazy thing about the job market right now is that I have a masters degree and don't make that much more than you.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
One would think but that was a waste of money getting that degree
Where commenters report limits
same brother. I honestly chalked it up to hanging my hat. IT is not worth the stress of what it actually is. People saw it as this ladder for some odd reason but I just like it because I always liked technology. I studied web dev the whole shit. Programming for years. It's kinda hilarious looking back. I could have done literally anything else with my time. I don't regret learning it but it's like spending years learning dancing....sure I did something but it has no effect on my economic needs.
Source-record spotlights
Crazy thing about the job market right now is that I have a masters degree and don't make that much more than you.
One would think but that was a waste of money getting that degree
They pay terribly. What’s notable in this thread is it’s not hospitality/retail that’s the issue, it’s fields staffed by folks with secondary degrees like PhDs that are struggling
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “the job market” recurs across 3 of the 24 source records in What the degree returned; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments24 preserved records · 24 of 24 source records accounted for
Archive: 24 index entries preserve 24 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Where people were lookingThe same search, reported from different industries and different countries — including the corners where people said hiring never stopped. 328 records.
Software, IT and cybersecurityThe field that dominates the thread, and the one commenters argued hardest about.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Software, IT and cybersecurity
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Software, IT and cybersecurity
Appears when: Looking for work in software, IT or security
What the pattern means: Tech dominates the thread — a fact the thread itself notices and argues about — and the accounts inside this card are unusually credentialled: senior engineers, security leads with two decades and professional certifications, FAANG alumni, and graduates who have never had a callback. The mechanism commenters describe is the disappearance of the bottom rung: entry and junior roles gone, laid-off seniors taking what remains, and a middle that several say no longer exists. Two working security professionals disagree in the card about whether the field is oversupplied or simply defunded. Several commenters report that the work itself changed enough that they no longer want it.
What commenters described: Cybersecurity here. I put out more than 200 applications for senior roles with my CISM and 20 years in the field. I had two screening calls and one interview. I ended up using my network and an old comrade helped me get a position that popped up almost out of nowhere. Half my colleagues are unemployed. Great time to be a cybercriminal. They are going to see this as their golden era with cybersecurity gutted across the board and LLM powered scams and exploitation.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
Tbf I wouldn't consider a bootcamp graduate to be anything in cyber sec. In general I think cyber security is one of the computer science fields where it really makes a huge difference if you have a formal education in it (as in a Masters or smth) instead of being a self taught hands on person. Knowing not to use any TLS version older than 1.3 because someone told you is different than knowing you shouldn't because 1.2 supports CBC mode and CBC can be broken using Vaudanay's padding attack. Having a theoretical foundation is necessary if you encounter a situation where common wisdoms and rule of thumbs fall out of the window. One example I can think of is MEGA (formerly megaupload) whose authentication system got fucked over because they used ECB at one stage of their authentication process. Just taking one "Intro to Cryptography" course could have prevented this.
Source-record spotlights
They got their jobs before the market crashed and they're holding on for dear life or just can't find movement to another position. I've worked at Panda Express for 7 years, but I spent the last year getting IT certifications and learning homelabbing skills. Now that I'm somewhat qualified for an entry level role...I can search job boards for entry level IT roles in my area and there will be "0 results found". Soooo I literally can't get out of my current job...even for jobs not in IT. I've gotten two phone calls for 200 applications.
DevOps/Cloud Infra engineer from 2018 till 2024. FAANG/MAANG experience, worked for massive companies like Warner Music Group, American Airlines, etc. It’s just been about 2 years now and unemployment in my state is only for 6 months. I haven’t been able to land a single job in my field. I get passed up for interviews. When I was laid off I was mid level and junior/mid level tech roles just don’t exist anymore but I don’t have the right skills to jump into a senior level. Part time work won’t hire me because they’re worried I’ll be lazy after working in an office for the last decade. It’s been super hard out here. And I’ve got kids I have to feed.
i agree 100%, these are just the people i have been seeing the most in the field lately. im on the ops side of things in a windows/infrastructure/storage side of the house so i get lots of copy paste reports from security.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 35 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments35 preserved records · 35 of 35 source records accounted for
Archive: 35 index entries preserve 35 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Research, science and publicly funded workResearch, higher education, nonprofits and federal work, where the obstacle commenters named was funding rather than hiring.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Research, science and publicly funded work
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Research, science and publicly funded work
Appears when: Looking for work that is paid for by grants or public money
What the pattern means: The obstacle named in these records is money upstream of hiring. Commenters describe research funding cut, mRNA work defunded, postdoctoral positions disappearing, a state pulling social-services authorisations mid-year, a government hiring freeze that cancelled a confirmed job, and federal roles ended in a reduction in force. The people describing it are chemists, marine biologists, cancer researchers, a computational biologist and a social-services operator. A commenter working in nonprofits explains from the inside why an offer here can be genuine and still contingent, and another confirms it by reporting a grant that arrived overnight and funded several posts.
What commenters described: I have a career but my partner was laid off July 2025. She is a research scientist and the DOGE nonsense greatly impacted the lab she was at. Their research heavily involved mRNA, so it was an easy target for funding cuts. After 11.5 months of nonstop applying and searching, she finally heard back from two at the same time. One lengthy interview process later and we are back to DINK status. The science community is fractured and beaten down right now. Believe whatever you want, but when all the smartest people I know are completely abandoning academia due to political interference, I can’t help but get alarmed
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
I finished my PhD in chemical engineering in 2023, still haven't found a career job. Several hundred applications, 3 interviews, one of them with an AI interviewer (never again). At one point I had a job lined up with the patent office, and then there was a government-wide hiring freeze. At one point I vividly remember applying for a technician job which required a high school diploma on a piece of equipment that I had 5 years of experience using. Didn't even get a call. I currently work at a restaurant, thankful to have it. I've had more luck from people at the restaurant trying to network for me than I have on LinkedIn, dumpster fire of a website. Idk what to do at this point.
Where commenters report limits
Was DOGE'd last year in February from a really nice position in logistics. Had a few calls since then, one interview, and a lot of spam. What I was hoping would turn into a stable - if not lucrative - career has not worked out. I've luckily picked up some temp work but all my savings from the past job are gone.
Source-record spotlights
I DID THIS, TOO. But!: I finally got a call this morning from a nonprofit. They “definitely want \[me\] in a position,” but “need to secure more grants.” I’m not optimistic. RIP.
I was, refused, because you forfeited a lot of rights. I was also fired for being a "horrible" probationary employee. My leadership fought to get me back, two weeks later we were all out of a job as part of the illegal RIF. However, with the RIF, I get preference for re-hire, which you waved if you took the delayed resignation. I was also put on a list that the agency has to go to prior to releasing a job. It's basically another thumb on the scale. My philosophy was make them fire me. Kind of bonkers when you think about it, it's been federal staff, in most cases, people in ICE are not included, have to date put up the most fight against the Trump regime.
It’s near impossible to find a job in the research and technology sectors as surprising as that may seem. Funding is scrapped and post doctoral positions are sparse. It’s an even worse outlook for international students trying to find jobs here
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “to find a job” recurs across 2 of the 21 source records in Research, science and publicly funded work; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments21 preserved records · 21 of 21 source records accounted for
Archive: 21 index entries preserve 21 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The work commenters said AI tookDesign, marketing, writing, animation, edtech and adjacent work whose disappearance commenters attributed to AI.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The work commenters said AI took
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The work commenters said AI took
Appears when: Working in a field commenters say is being automated
What the pattern means: Graphic designers, copywriters, proofreaders, animators, storyboard artists, marketers, edtech content developers, UX researchers, recruiters and office administrators describe the same sequence: work dried up, the field's entry rung closed, and the reason given was AI. The card contains its own sharpest counter-argument, from commenters inside marketing who say the cause is a tight economy using AI as the justification, and that the output being accepted is worse than what it replaced. Two records are unusually specific: one commenter's last job was training the model that made the role redundant, and another describes a designer's layered file being flattened by their own manager's AI pass.
What commenters described: I built a career freelancing in my industry for 10 years. I worked for some of the biggest companies in the sector, but since AI blew up, my job became defunct. I can't even get an interview for any position related to that work anymore, at any level. I'm at the point of applying to Trader Joe's and fast food places, where I also can't get an interview. I'm confused how most people have jobs—I can't get seen for any kind of job in any kind of field, and I'm kind of at a loss.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What replies pushed back on2
Yeah I think software engineering might have it bad but marketing gotta be even worse. It was the very first work I saw adopting AI because it falls into the trap of "good enough works well enough". AI can produce slop that can kinda works in marketing and then it's a deal to these companies. Unfortunately from now on I can't see why marketing would get better over time. :( AI keeps improving.
This is so true. I am on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of grammer and structure when I write. I'm sure you can tell lol. Anyway people think the em-dash is an artifact of AI. In reality it's an artifact of what it learned on. -Just realized grammar is wrong but im leaving it that way because it's a great example.
Where commenters report limits
Yeah I think software engineering might have it bad but marketing gotta be even worse. It was the very first work I saw adopting AI because it falls into the trap of "good enough works well enough". AI can produce slop that can kinda works in marketing and then it's a deal to these companies. Unfortunately from now on I can't see why marketing would get better over time. :( AI keeps improving.
Yeah, I never had a full time design job. It was all contracts and I hated it. I felt like I was constantly looking for work, and I missed doing art for myself. Hence the switch. Who knew it would be such a good decision down the line!
Source-record spotlights
I built a career freelancing in my industry for 10 years. I worked for some of the biggest companies in the sector, but since AI blew up, my job became defunct. I can't even get an interview for any position related to that work anymore, at any level. I'm at the point of applying to Trader Joe's and fast food places, where I also can't get an interview. I'm confused how most people have jobs—I can't get seen for any kind of job in any kind of field, and I'm kind of at a loss.
Applying for Nasa seems more eligible, than working as an artist at a game dev studio. I've tried since 2019. Literally impossible.
Understood and agreed but the AI battle I'm referring to isn't the job hunting part but actually more the job itself especially in graphic design where I would expect AI to produce quality work after repeated training at incredible efficiency. I'm sure a lot of graphic designers use it as part of their tools now? Good luck with your job search
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 57 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (5 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments57 preserved records · 57 of 57 source records accounted for
Archive: 57 index entries preserve 57 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Retail, food service and “any job at all”The fallback that commenters said also said no.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Retail, food service and “any job at all”
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Retail, food service and “any job at all”
Appears when: Falling back on retail, food service or anything at all
What the pattern means: The fallback is where this thread is most uniform, because the fallback also said no. Commenters report rejections from supermarkets, fast-food chains, cafés, a movie theatre, a dishwashing post, a delivery round and a chain grocer within walking distance of home — several of them holding degrees, publications or years of prior retail experience. Two explanations appear: the volume of applicants, and the assumption that the applicant will leave. What makes this card load-bearing for the rest of the article is that it removes the usual answer: the people describing these rejections had already lowered their expectations as far as they go.
What commenters described: I got rejected from a restaurant. I applied to be their dishwasher. I have two biology degrees and multiple publications. Another place told me they wanted someone with a specific skill I had listed directly in my resume. When I pointed it out to them, they moved the goal post and changed their statement entirely.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Go into medical laboratory science. It's a very stable field of work.
Even substitute teaching? The school districts around me will literally emergency certify a warm body to fill sub positions according to education folks I know.
Source-record spotlights
I have a BS in Biology, an MS in secondary science education, three internships, professional science research work... And I can't find a job. Not teaching. Not subbing. Not science. Not office work. Not even entry-level retail or restaurant work. Can't even get a phone screening. Basically I've been told that any chances of me having a career (or even making $40K) may be over.
I got a rejection letter for a dishwasher position....At olive garden, cheesecake factory, Fiah daddy's.
I gave up and now I'm volunteering and hoping I become useful enough to hire. Not even retail will take me.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 35 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments35 preserved records · 35 of 35 source records accounted for
Archive: 35 index entries preserve 35 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Offshoring, visas and where the roles wentOffshoring, contractor visas and hiring freezes with exceptions, reported mostly by people still inside the companies doing it.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Offshoring, visas and where the roles went
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Offshoring, visas and where the roles went
Appears when: Understanding where roles went when they were not filled locally
What the pattern means: Most of these accounts come from people still inside the companies doing it, which makes them unusually concrete: hiring frozen except in one country, teams moved from a small offshore share to half, departments outsourced, a copy-editing function replaced wholesale. Several add an operational detail — that the new hires are barred from production systems for regulatory reasons, which they say makes the arrangement expensive rather than cheap. The card contains its own corrections: one commenter notes that equally capable engineers abroad command comparable salaries, and a European commenter argues the American salaries being defended were the outlier.
What commenters described: My company is in desperate need of software engineers. But they are hiring from India. Where they aren’t allowed in 3 of our environments. Including production. Fantastic.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Yeah, my company is nearly at 50% of our staff in Poland and India, compared to 5-10% a few years ago. We're not laying off U.S. engineers thank goodness, but we're not replacing them with U.S. roles either.
The hilarious thing is, Indian tech folks that are as capable as their American counterparts tend to command very similar salaries. CEOs think if you hire two people that are half as capable as the person they're replacing, it works out just fine. That math is incredibly foolish, but the check won't come due till the CEO jumps ship or gets a golden parachute, so they never worry.
Source-record spotlights
My company is in desperate need of software engineers. But they are hiring from India. Where they aren’t allowed in 3 of our environments. Including production. Fantastic.
My team just hired 3 people specifically from Hyderabad.
PHI is not allowed to be seen by anyone who is not in the United States for a lot of healthcare industries. We can’t even see it if we wanted to travel abroad and work remotely.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 24 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments24 preserved records · 24 of 24 source records accounted for
Archive: 24 index entries preserve 24 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Where commenters said work was still thereThe thread's largest single card: the places commenters said were still hiring, with the corrections other commenters attached.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Where commenters said work was still there
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Where commenters said work was still there
Appears when: Finding the corners of the market commenters said were still open
What the pattern means: This is the largest card on the page, and it is the closest thing the thread produces to a practical answer. The fields named repeatedly are healthcare — radiology technology, medical laboratory science, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy — and the trades, construction, warehouse and counter roles at distributors, local government, utilities work, childcare, disability support and substitute teaching. Several commenters give the route in as well as the field: a two-year associate degree, a licence, an apprenticeship, an entry grade that moves internally. The card is not a consensus. Nurses, teachers, laboratory scientists, a pilot and a plumber appear inside it to say the shortage in their own field is overstated, regional, or gone, and those corrections sit alongside the recommendations rather than beneath them.
What commenters described: I consider myself super lucky that I shifted out of my old career (graphic design) more than 10 years ago into a much more secure job in healthcare. Soooo many of my old college friends (tech school. So design/marketing, computer engineering/IT) are out of work and I'm really concerned for a few of them. Incidentally, there's still so many positions in healthcare! If you have the wherewithal (and interest) to make that change.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Much appreciated 🤗 I've applied to probably 100 listings for med labs, zero responses. And I'm tailoring my resume for each listing to get by ATS.
Lab technologists by me start at $100k fresh out of school as long as you have your license and almost every hospital is always hiring. Its a high demand, niche job that requires a degree and a license so the hiring pool is pitifully low.
Where commenters report limits
stem teachers are in dire need in texas. unfortunately, you'd have to move to texas.
Yeah, unfortunately the collapse of the housing market is one thing that absolutely WILL wipe out residential construction. Definitely wasn't a good time to be in the field 😬
Source-record spotlights
Go into medical laboratory science. It's a very stable field of work.
Pharmacist who had job offers open on indeed until recently. Was getting messages regularly to apply to jobs. Sure, sometimes they were repeats lol, but still.
I have people calling me every day to go to work for them. I just can't right now. I need some time off work. I'm a Nurse.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 120 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (5 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments120 preserved records · 120 of 120 source records accounted for
Archive: 120 index entries preserve 120 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Reported from outside the United StatesThe same question answered from Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Italy, Bosnia, the Philippines and Algeria.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Reported from outside the United States
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Reported from outside the United States
Appears when: Reading this thread from outside the United States
What the pattern means: The corpus is mostly American, but not only. Commenters report from Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Algeria, the Philippines and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the shape they describe is recognisably the same: application volumes, silence, entry-level requirements and pay below the previous job. What differs is the surrounding system. A Danish commenter describes benefits that hold a roof up and a rule that pushes you into any job after a year; a Bosnian commenter describes an economy where connections or payment are the route in and emigration is the exit; an Algerian developer reports being told he fits but cannot be hired from where he lives.
What commenters described: Ireland here, I was unemployed for 6 months. 400 applications on indeed, a further 150 on jobs.ie and more on the Irish government website! With 20+ interviews in those six months I finally landed a job on the 6th of August and I tell ya now it was tough! Only reason I got this job was due to meeting this person during my unemployment randomly
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
i was making 3-4K per month a year ago as a full stack developer, now it has been 7months without any income, i live in Algeria that is already ruined by the politics and corruption and when i apply to a US or European country they give me the same response "you're a good fit for our company but we can't work with you because of your place". Sometimes i wonder why am i still living in this world, the whole world is fucked and living in a corrupted country is way more worse
Where commenters report limits
In my country this problems has been going on for 40 years, and is getting worse year by years since the country is stagnating in every way possible you can imagine. You are dependent on your parents or partner in your older age, and you know your parents will be unable to live on their pension and you will have to support them when you finally get a job. Unfortunately many young people (79%) still live with their parent employer or unemployed...life is not fair!
If I could I would leave the country tomorrow, both unfortunately I do not posses the necessary skills that are in need for me to emigrate legally to the EU or north American market since I am college educated and have too much barriers to even find a basic job. I am fortunate to not be married nor having having any children since this would also be burden here...hope dies the last my friend!
Source-record spotlights
In my country this problems has been going on for 40 years, and is getting worse year by years since the country is stagnating in every way possible you can imagine. You are dependent on your parents or partner in your older age, and you know your parents will be unable to live on their pension and you will have to support them when you finally get a job. Unfortunately many young people (79%) still live with their parent employer or unemployed...life is not fair!
I'm currently having that crisis. I resigned from my last job 5 months ago because of how toxic the work place is(which is not a good thing for my mental health) and low pay. Since then I've been job hunting for WFH setups. I live in the Philippines btw.
Sounds about right. Development centres are concentrated in southern India. I am from western India. I don't get why they want developers working from the office when all of the work we do can be done from home.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 36 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments36 preserved records · 36 of 36 source records accounted for
Archive: 36 index entries preserve 36 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Filters that came on top of everything elseCommenters who said something about them, and not about their work, was doing the screening. 95 records.
AgeWhere commenters named age as the thing being screened, and what they said it looked like.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Age
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Age
Appears when: Wondering whether age is doing the screening
What the pattern means: Commenters in their forties, fifties and sixties describe a market that was open to them and then closed, and they name two mechanisms rather than one: cost and assumption. Several report that they were headhunted routinely until they were not; others describe stripping years off a résumé and still being read as expensive. One long record sets out the arithmetic the writer believes drives it, comparing salaries at 35 and 50 against younger replacements. Nobody in the card was told age was the reason, and every commenter here is inferring it — which is the card's limit and also, several of them say, the point.
What commenters described: Sorry mate. There is no way to prepare for your eventual and inevitable age discrimination. It starts, innocuously, around 35 yo, but the difference is subtle (your salary at 35--$80k, a 27 yr old with limited experience at $60k ) By age 50 (a few promotions, moved to a better company) it's $137k, a 35 yr old---$80k. Your lay-off is already in the works.... Be unsuccessful and underpaid 😂? Don't get promoted too much? Never get laid off?? Becoming independently wealthy is the only plausible answer (and that's just a stop-gap/buffer). You'll still get passed over, but you'll drive home from the interview in your S500. Success has it's own pitfalls that can unravel everything you built. Then there's Medicaid (in the US) to take everything when you go into long-term care if no one else breaks you first. Save, live beneath your means (once you can) and make wise investments. Your career is a mirage---get the bag and run.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
Any advice, for when I get there? I'm working to cultivate professional contacts, but other than that I'm not sure what else to do.
Source-record spotlights
I looked for nine months. Nothing. I finally found something that lasted a few years, then I got laid off. Age is an issue. I'm in my early sixties, not yet in a place where I can retire. The search is so depressing.
The first person I've heard acknowledge that. I remember being there. Now I'm a senior mgr and the market is different for us.
Speaking as a 59 year old with mostly factory work experience, it SUCKS.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “years of experience” recurs across 2 of the 20 source records in Age; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments20 preserved records · 20 of 20 source records accounted for
Archive: 20 index entries preserve 20 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Name, race, nationality and immigration statusNames changed, surnames dropped and boxes ticked differently — and the commenters who said none of it was needed.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Name, race, nationality and immigration status
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Name, race, nationality and immigration status
Appears when: Wondering whether a name or a background is being screened
What the pattern means: These commenters describe changing something about their identity on paper: dropping one of two Mexican surnames, building a new profile under a more European name, taking a husband's name, ticking more than one race. One commenter reports running the experiment deliberately and getting different response rates depending on which boxes were ticked. The card also carries a direct counter-example from a commenter with a Spanish surname who reports never having struggled, and a correction to a claim made about visa restrictions. None of the accounts here can prove causation and none of them claim to; what they report is what they changed and what followed.
What commenters described: I actually made a totally new Linkedin Profile and resume, hiding my Mexican last name, because I was worried ATS/HR might be ruling me out via name.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Mexican here! I too have had to remove one of my last names from my resume. My first last name is more "European."
had a mexican coworker, so i learned about the two names and how they have priority. we did an email migration and they got her last names backwards, then acted offended that she demanded they fix it
Source-record spotlights
I actually made a totally new Linkedin Profile and resume, hiding my Mexican last name, because I was worried ATS/HR might be ruling me out via name.
I've heard black people say they put 2 or more races to get more interviews bc they had concerns as well.
Because of a friend’s visa situation(h1b), she can only work for one specific industry. She got fired in November 2024 and has not been able to find a job since
What the counts show
The exact phrase “they cant find” recurs across 2 of the 14 source records in Name, race, nationality and immigration status; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments14 preserved records · 14 of 14 source records accounted for
Archive: 14 index entries preserve 14 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Disability, illness, neurodivergence and caringIllness, disability, neurodivergence, caring and transport, and how they interacted with everything else on this page.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Disability, illness, neurodivergence and caring
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Disability, illness, neurodivergence and caring
Appears when: Searching while ill, disabled, neurodivergent or caring for someone
What the pattern means: Commenters describe an additional filter running on top of every other one in this article. A deaf applicant reports being ghosted at the point accommodations are mentioned; a disabled commenter reports being ghosted after disclosing health issues post-offer; others name transport, a driving licence they cannot hold, energy that has to be rationed across a day of applications, and autism they believe is read as a red flag in interviews. Several were pushed out of work by illness and now face a gap they must also explain. One record describes an employment programme whose instructor advised undercutting the advertised salary. Several commenters say the supports meant to help were the slowest part of the process.
What commenters described: Lost my job last year. Cybersecurity / Information Security for a international company. In the rare times I do get a call back or email setting up an interview, they ghost me as soon as they figure out I'm deaf and will need accommodations for the interview and to a lesser extent, the job. (e.g. an ASL interpreter) Job market's rough, but I'm playing it on hard mode apparently.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
(Have had my job for about a month but have been on the job search for about 3 years prior to that) Let's see. I have a professional job developer who customized my resume for me, vets job listings, and helps me apply/applies on my behalf once a week. I myself submitted a minimum of 10 job applications every day - and that may not sound like a lot but I customize my resume to every single job listing at least a little, putting my most relevant experience and skills at the top and rewriting my blurb. I also submit that job application through whatever job board i found it on and then submit it again on the company's own website if I can actually find it there. For the first two years, I was looking specifically for sit-down WFH jobs, because I didn't desperately NEED money, I just wanted to help my (now ex) boyfriend financially however I could while still having the energy to do the cooking and cleaning. (I'm disabled so I have to ration my energy) We broke up a year ago and I went from "WFH only" to "WFH would be nice" to "Ill take anythign as long as I can sit" to "I will take literally anything" In the end, I finally landed a part-time minimum wage retail job that's a 30 min commute. :T Still want to keep looking for job I can sit for but now that I am hired somewhere, I can't continue utilizing the assistance of the job developer :( she found good leads
Source-record spotlights
yeahhhhh, it's rough out there for fully qualified and certified people. even more difficult if you're not, and even moreso if your circumstances shape your availability (like childcare, illness, single parenting, etc)
I promise I'm trying to pass it! I had a lot of trouble studying thanks to anxiety and ADHD, I'm medicated now and it's made a world of difference. Fingers crossed it helps! In the meantime though I need some income cause this bad boy costs $1000 to take every time.
Had to quit my last job because construction was making the already bad commute even worse, as someone who only uses public transport. On month 3 now.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 27 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (5 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments27 preserved records · 27 of 27 source records accounted for
Archive: 27 index entries preserve 27 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Background checks, records and creditRecords where a check — criminal, credit or drug — ended the process.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Background checks, records and credit
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Background checks, records and credit
Appears when: Getting through a background, credit or drug check
What the pattern means: A small card with unusually final outcomes. Commenters report being rejected by a supermarket, a convenience chain and a warehouse over an open case, blocked from a delivery employer for years, turned down for a finance role over credit, and losing an offer after nine months of searching over legally prescribed cannabis. One commenter describes a years-old arrest their family assumed was the explanation for the silence. What these records share is that the check runs after the effort — in several cases after an offer — and that none of the commenters had a route to contest it.
What commenters described: With an ongoing case I got rejected even from Walmart because of the background check. Got rejected from Circle K, a juice warehouse, I'm 5 year blacklisted from Amazon because of my alcoholic behavior. Now I got a job that a friend let me know about, a new convenience store opened, and so far I am getting great hours. There and the gas station I was trained at I can pick up extra shifts. I got trained in the new car wash which was something new to me. So yeah things are doing better but it was about 7 months of looking for any job, after getting fired from Amazon. My court case is dropped if I complete this recovery program and stay out of trouble and I am funded in a sober living house. This is about the time when I fuck it all up by drinking but I'm doing my program with meetings and a sponsor and I have never been this grateful in my life. I just gotta go on from here and now, because sobriety is working miracles for me. But man I still have to see it everyday, people looking for work, struggling to keep their funding, dealing with their own legal problems. The economy is most definitely not at its best right now to say the least.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
Source-record spotlights
I just got a minimum wage cashier job after months of no employment except for the occasional gig or task. It’s pretty rough. I’ve lost count of how many applications I’ve sent. I’ve been hired by the hiring manager after interviews and my record from 2018 keeps fucking me over. Maybe I should try to run for president instead since I can’t work across the street from my apt for $19/hr as a dishwasher according to the background check people halfway across the country.
I finally got a job…was so depressed and making hope after 10+ interviews and applying everywhere and anywhere like 15-20 quick applications on zip recruiter and indeed. Starbucks, Walmart, Amazon, Dollar Tree… I did interviews for $12/hr jobs, $15/hr, $17/hr, and got denied from a great finance job for $22/hr cause my credit…. thank god I just got a great job here in ABQ for $24/hr…was searching for months and was so depressed and losing hope I’ve been doing spark and DoorDash and uber
I got arrested 5 years before the months I spent out of work. My mom takes full responsibility because a stupid mix up we both made when I was going off to college the first year. Spent a night in the cooler and had my car towed because of the paperwork in the glove compartment not matching what the state had on file after I got pulled over. My mom had to pick me up and she was *mortified*. So when I was not getting any call backs she thought it was all due to that. Told me she would work with lawyers to get it expunged. As if that was obviously the only thing stopping a dude walking in wearing his best suit with a resume in one hand and the best shake with the other from getting a job that the Business Factory.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “the background check” recurs across 2 of the 5 source records in Background checks, records and credit; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments5 preserved records · 5 of 5 source records accounted for
Archive: 5 index entries preserve 5 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The blacklist question, and scrubbing your own nameA long sub-thread on whether a list exists, what people did about it, and one employer's answer.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The blacklist question, and scrubbing your own name
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The blacklist question, and scrubbing your own name
Appears when: Wondering whether something about you is findable and disqualifying
What the pattern means: This card is the article's clearest example of a fear the corpus cannot settle. It starts with a father asking whether his child had been blacklisted and becomes a long practical sub-thread: commenters delete posts, rename old accounts, build deliberately dull profiles, flood their feeds with dad jokes, google themselves from a library computer, and change the email address they apply from. Others argue the opposite risk — that having no online presence at all reads as suspicious. A commenter who says they employ people answers it directly: at their volume, nobody is looking. The one hard datum in the card is a reported lawsuit over social-media scoring, cited but not verified inside the thread.
What commenters described: This exact thought had been eating at me. I barely have any real internet presence connected to my real name. But I feel like something is out there or the world has collectively decided to filter my name. Edit: thanks everyone. I went down a rabbit hole. Learned about Kistler v. Eightfold AI Inc. Very Simplified yes there is a list. And yes too much and too little is bad. This did not make me feel better.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
This exact thought had been eating at me. I barely have any real internet presence connected to my real name. But I feel like something is out there or the world has collectively decided to filter my name. Edit: thanks everyone. I went down a rabbit hole. Learned about Kistler v. Eightfold AI Inc. Very Simplified yes there is a list. And yes too much and too little is bad. This did not make me feel better.
One of the many reasons I stopped using Facebook tbh. I never used instagram and the twitter I used to have is just following various sports stuff. But like I’ve had that same FB since i was 17 and I’m 36 now. Ofc I posted dumb memes and shit when I was 17. I’m not really worried about that ofc, but I don’t particular feel inclined to add more stuff to the internet about me.
Source-record spotlights
I remember my father asking me one day if I thought I had been blacklisted or if I had done/posted anything on the Internet people were finding. Absolutely brutal thing to have eating at the back of your mind.
also have next to no internet presence for searching my name... except one fucking pintrest account with a goofy username i made at 9yo thats the first fucking google result for my name that apparently aint going anywhere anytime soon lol.
It costs money for an employer to look it up, don't overthink its utility for hiring. They are not spending that much on hundreds of applicants every time, especially for entry-level jobs. It is simply because they don't want to hire but just want to look the part.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 29 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments29 preserved records · 29 of 29 source records accounted for
Archive: 29 index entries preserve 29 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What people triedTactics, in the words of the people who tried them — including the ones who said the tactic did nothing. 262 records.
Networking and referralsThe thread's most recommended tactic and its most contested one, in the same card.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Networking and referrals
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Networking and referrals
Appears when: Deciding how much of the search to spend on people rather than portals
What the pattern means: The thread's most repeated advice is also its most contested claim, and both live here. On one side: commenters who say every job they have held came through somebody, that referrals move a résumé to the top of the pile, and that a hiring manager who wants you makes the portal a formality. On the other: a decorated twenty-year veteran of a Fortune 100 company rejected without a screening call despite multiple executives recommending him; commenters with director-level referrals rejected by recruiters; and several who report that their network is now unemployed too. The distinction the card keeps returning to is the difference between a reference and a decision-maker. Introverted and autistic commenters push back on the advice itself as something that cannot simply be acquired when needed.
What commenters described: I worked at my prior company (a large, Fortune 100) for over 20 years. I know TONS of people there and left on great terms. I decided I might want to return to a similar role in a different part of the business (literally the same title and in a part of the business where I had worked before and excelled at my job) and applied. Some relevant info: * While at this company I received their highest award. My name is literally permanently engraved on the wall of the lobby in the home office. * Two years later I received their second highest award. * I was ranked in the top 5% of the company for performance each of my last 5 years working there. * My resume was fully tailored for the posted role and salary expectations were fully in-line with what was posted. * Multiple SVPs and VPs contacted the hiring manager to recommend me (a common practice at this company). I know these people well and know they highly respect me (some literally recruited me to work in their departments so they could keep me after they transferred). I was rejected without even receiving a screening interview.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What replies pushed back on3
It's still your best bet. The fact that you are getting referrals puts you ahead of the curve. Networking has by in large been the best way to gain employment for the past century. It's always about who you know. It's even worse when the job market is stagnant. Have you done any industry meetip things? Any cheap conferences to see what it's like? You learn a lot about where people are at and what they are doing to remain relevant. In a fast moving world like we are in with AI, that's going to be your best bet. Hiring managers attend that kind of stuff. People get contracting positions all the time through stuff like that, and you'll get paid more as a contractor, it just won't be stable, but you'll get real world experience.
Even that doesn't work. At least not for me. I've had a few friends get my foot in the door, but I've yet to have the desired experience or skills.
Horrible. The worst it's ever been in my opinion! I lost my job in 2024, I was able to find a job relatively quickly (I had some connections) that didn't work out so well, so I moved on and worked the network I had, got another chance at a job I did that a few more times cause they weren't working out. I left the last job because I kept getting sick in Feb of 2025, ever since that point I couldn't get another job it was hard, I finally got a temporary thing with Doordash and spirit halloween, but since Nov of 2025 I have not been able to find a job, let alone even get an interview at all. 🙃
Where commenters report limits
Networking has been coming up short for me so far too. Every inside referral I've used has still gotten me an "unfortunately, we have decided to pursue other candidates at this time" email.
Yeah, I tried when I didn't yet graduate and had an unpaid internship for three months. Unfortunately I live in a country where university professors are considered just one step down from being gods. So everyone turns out that is a megalomaniac. Even my thesis supervisor not only compared himself to Jesus on the cross multiple time because he suffered a lot on his trips around the world, but disappeared during the time he was supposed to read my thesis and after a few months, when I then already graduated, turns out he was on a boat trip in the northen sea and totally forgot who I was. So I don't think I can do anything with professors anymore :/
Source-record spotlights
You legit have to know people. Networking is real and important. Never burn bridges, you never know who you will need in the future.
Over 10 years ago, that's what my university was recommanding. Except they would say that if you're not actively talking for the past 6 months, then you're not in their network anymore. So basically you'd have to have a very huge social circle and *constantly* reach out to people. That sounds exhausting.
Was a sahm for a couple years but Ive been in my industry for 13 years. Put some feelers out in May that I'd be interested in working again in about six months. Had a friend share about a good Fed position in July passed on my resume. Currently onboarding for a September or October start date as long as I pass background check and credentialing. It's nice to be established in my career.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 137 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (9 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments137 preserved records · 137 of 137 source records accounted for
Archive: 137 index entries preserve 137 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Walking in, phoning, and going round the portalThe in-person route, recommended by people on both sides of the desk, and the places where it no longer works.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Walking in, phoning, and going round the portal
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Walking in, phoning, and going round the portal
Appears when: Trying to reach a person instead of a system
What the pattern means: The in-person route is recommended in this card by people on both sides of the desk. Commenters describe walking into a store and asking for the manager, handing a résumé over in person, phoning until somebody answered, messaging a small company's owner directly, and in one case handing résumés to strangers in the street. Two commenters who hire confirm it works on them, and give the reason: it proves a real person wrote the application. The card also records where the route is closed — chains that route applicants to a call centre or an app, offices with a locked door and no receptionist, and a recruiter who says cold approaches are the worst possible advice.
What commenters described: I’m a freelance artist that works at Trader Joes, I HIGHLY suggest going into the store personally and introducing yourself to the managers that are working. The managers are called “Mates” and the main manager is called a “Captain”. It will greatly increase your odds of getting an interview regardless of your resume. I’ve worked on and off for them for about a decade now. It’s a great job for a freelancer. You get a flexible schedule, two raises a year(and I think the cap is $33 an hour for crew) , accrued pto, 401k, full insurance, and the ability to transfer to other stores which is great if you end up getting an opportunity outside of work that needs you to move. Also, i’m a sign artist which every store has. So I go into work every day and make signs/paint/draw, it’s extremely chill.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I’ve told everyone who will listen that the best way to get into the program I attended is to sit down with the director for 15 minutes in person and ask a few good questions. Most I’ve told have scoffed but everyone who has done it has gotten in, some with less than stellar resumes. What was old has become new again.
I work in higher education, it's obviously not the exact same thing but instructors and professors are switching to handwritten blue book exams to defeat students who cheat using AI. We're having to go backwards to survive the brace new world of junk.
Source-record spotlights
damn this is kind of comedic we really going back to walk in give the boss a firm handshake and plea your case because otherwise it'll be some employees kid or something like pre dei times.
Market is really tough right now, not just tough because of Reddit. Those who got the calls stopped cold calling and actually went out there and introduced themselves. One introduction is worth 50 applications. Period. Are you looking for something broad or sticking to what you know?
I was laid off last summer and have been unemployed for just over a year, despite 300+ job applications and roughly two dozen interviews. The job market is absolutely hard. How hard? I've resorted to handing out my resume to strangers along a high-traffic area in my neighborhood.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 16 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments16 preserved records · 16 of 16 source records accounted for
Archive: 16 index entries preserve 16 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Rewriting the résumé for the machineKeywords, tailoring, AI-written résumés and the white-text trick — including the commenters who say each one backfires.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Rewriting the résumé for the machine
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Rewriting the résumé for the machine
Appears when: Getting a résumé through the screen
What the pattern means: The tactical core of the article, and the card where commenters disagree most usefully. The tactics reported are tailoring to each posting, mirroring the job description's exact wording, single-column ATS-safe formatting, checking a PDF's machine reading order, quantifying achievements, and using a language model to draft and then de-AI the result. The white-text keyword trick is raised, and immediately contradicted by three commenters who say modern parsers flag it and human reviewers see it once formatting is stripped. Several commenters who tailored everything report no improvement at all; one who stopped tailoring reports callbacks starting. The card does not resolve this, and it would be dishonest to present it as if it did.
What commenters described: The fucked up thing is you know damn well all the resumes are being vetted through AI. I'm against gen AI but when I was looking (for 2.5 years) I resorted to putting my master resume into GPT, pasting the job description, and having it make a tailored resume that I'd then humanify lol All that and I only ended up getting this job because I ran into my now coworker at a wedding
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
This is absolutely incorrect. A commonly repeated myth. If you do this and the recruiter sees it they will probably toss your application.
Source-record spotlights
People are using AI to filter through resumes now lol Make sure you're tailoring your resume to each listing, it absolutely sucks to do but throw in some of the key words from the listing into your resume somehow. I have a folder for job applications where i copy the job listing and my resume that i used to apply for the job. There are a TON of fake listings now, go to the company's website and apply directly, half of them don't even have the same listing available in my area , so those ones are likely fake
No networking. Just dry firing applications. I used ai to get my resume in a good spot.
I took stop gap employment in March and am lucky to make enough to keep the lights on while I keep looking. But not enough to really plan for my future. I have applied to thousands of jobs across the country this year alone and am having a hard time getting an interview. I’ve worked with people to make my resume ATS friendly and all that. Personalized cover letters for each job. Coming out of the tail end of a divorce I’m just trying to pick up the pieces and build some sort of future but been struggling real hard.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 31 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments31 preserved records · 31 of 31 source records accounted for
Archive: 31 index entries preserve 31 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Applying on the company's own site instead of a job boardSkipping the job boards, which several commenters credit with the callback they finally got.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Applying on the company's own site instead of a job board
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Applying on the company's own site instead of a job board
Appears when: Choosing where to submit the application
What the pattern means: A small, unusually consistent card. Commenters report skipping the large job boards and applying on the employer's own site, and several credit the change with the response they eventually got. The clearest account describes being auto-rejected by one employer's system after applying through a board, applying again directly, and being called the next day. The reasons given are that board listings go stale or were never real, that they attract bot applications, and that they add a layer between the candidate and the employer. Nobody in the card claims it is sufficient — one commenter who applied manually was still receiving rejections four months later.
What commenters described: i landed a job after a year being unemployed - i saw the job ad on indeed and applied and was rejected by their ai immediately. i applied on their website directly and got a callback the next day and was hired the next week.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
>a lot of those are from people in Pakistan/India/Philippines who will be filtered automatically Absolutely this. I've seen the hiring side of things. Hundreds of applications, 30 per page of results. You find maybe 1 or 2 per page that are actually eligible to work in your country.
Source-record spotlights
What field are you? If you're IT/Tech/Engineering keep rechecking company websites rather than Indeed/LinkedIn as those postings can be fake. Big companies in Toronto have their postings up only for a week or so. Also on LinkedIn you'll see every job has a couple hundred applicants, don't be discouraged a lot of those are from people in Pakistan/India/Philippines who will be filtered automatically.
Better not to use seek! Email company directly better chance
I would recommend if you have good skills to look on wellfoubd or just smaller companies in general, its the only places where you will find smaller compabies who care about their employees and value their talents, similar websites probably exist but all rhe positions on linkedin, indeed, etc get read by ai spam applicants and get mass applied to while tailoring their resume for each following ats, i know this is bad because i finally got hired 3 months ago at a smaller company and im still getting rejection emails from places i manyally applied to 4+ months ago, they have an insane backlog of applications
What the counts show
Within 6 source records, 1 ask a question and 0 explicitly say they intend to try the idea; neither signal is treated as an outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments6 preserved records · 6 of 6 source records accounted for
Archive: 6 index entries preserve 6 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Agencies, recruiters, temping and contractsTemp-to-hire, staffing firms and contract work, argued over by people who have been through them.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Agencies, recruiters, temping and contracts
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Agencies, recruiters, temping and contracts
Appears when: Deciding whether to go through an agency or take a contract
What the pattern means: Temp-to-hire is recommended in this card as a way in and rejected in it as a trap, by people who have done both. In favour: commenters who converted to permanent roles in three to nine months, one who has used the route for twenty-five years, and the argument that some industries hire no other way. Against: lower pay with the agency taking the difference, no insurance, buyout fees that discourage conversion, and one detailed account of a partner let go a month before her hire date and replaced by new temps. Recruiter-led searches appear here too, with the same split — several commenters were found by a recruiter, and several report recruiters who disappeared.
What commenters described: I'm currently in the washroom typing from my temp to hire factory job. My girlfriend used to work here, but they canned her after nearly 3 years of temp work for literally no reason. When she asked why, they replied "shortage of work" as to why she got fired a month before her hire date. We hired a new batch of temps the very same Monday she was fired. And the Monday after. And the one after that. They made up a reason to get her out the door. Sure, it's a paycheck... But you're gonna get treated like a number and more than likely also disposed like a number as well. I have 3 TOTAL unpaid sick days a year, 0 paid time off. 1 week unpaid vacation. 0 benefits. 0 retirement plan. Making 70% of the wages of the full-timers, and I will more than likely never get hired on because my company prefers having +50% temp workers on the floor at all times. Meaning, when it comes close for employees to finally get hired after putting in 3 YEARS of work... They just get let go and replaced because a new temp worker is cheaper than hiring a new full-time employee. My full-time date is approaching within a few months, yet I'm still looking for another job because I expect to get let go before then. Unfortunate "temp to hire" is more like "temp to new temp" in my experience.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I'm currently in the washroom typing from my temp to hire factory job. My girlfriend used to work here, but they canned her after nearly 3 years of temp work for literally no reason. When she asked why, they replied "shortage of work" as to why she got fired a month before her hire date. We hired a new batch of temps the very same Monday she was fired. And the Monday after. And the one after that. They made up a reason to get her out the door. Sure, it's a paycheck... But you're gonna get treated like a number and more than likely also disposed like a number as well. I have 3 TOTAL unpaid sick days a year, 0 paid time off. 1 week unpaid vacation. 0 benefits. 0 retirement plan. Making 70% of the wages of the full-timers, and I will more than likely never get hired on because my company prefers having +50% temp workers on the floor at all times. Meaning, when it comes close for employees to finally get hired after putting in 3 YEARS of work... They just get let go and replaced because a new temp worker is cheaper than hiring a new full-time employee. My full-time date is approaching within a few months, yet I'm still looking for another job because I expect to get let go before then. Unfortunate "temp to hire" is more like "temp to new temp" in my experience.
I don’t know, my experience with temp work was that they pay you a lot less than what the job actually pays, you don’t get health insurance, and that it’s rare to be hired on permanently. I worked temp for several years in manufacturing and labs and anytime a job opened that I was already working and applied to, it either went to someone already working there permanently or an outside hire. I didn’t know a single temp who was hired on permanently in any of those jobs. Oh, and most of those places treat you like absolute shit. The other employees tend to look down on you since you’re in a temporary position and a lot of them get tired of having to train temps over and over since they never get hired and just keep cycling through the open positions.
Source-record spotlights
I often will recommend temp to hire for people struggling to find work. There are many industries and jobs that only hire that way through agencies and you would never get access without direct experience otherwise. Plus, it then becomes a professional's job to get you employed and they make more when you are converted to full time from contract, so putting you in a position that earns the most while having the greatest potential for conversion is in their best interest.
The temp thing is in a lot of industries, it's weird. Idk man, literally applied straight to every place I have ever worked and walked onto the job full time. Most logistics/warehouse places will hire directly. It's possible your buddy just had a shitty resume and doesn't know how to sell themselves.
I took a warehouse position after a year of unemployment when I finished my masters. Only got the offer for full time because I was lucky and got hired in through a temp firm for the summer. My colleague who had 15 years of experience at that specific warehouse was looking for warehouse work in other places because of some management decisions. Literally couldn't get hired despite taking a pretty substantial pay cut, because he didn't want to work through a temp firm for 6 months, and then do 3 months of trial on top. It's not just academics having issues out there.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 29 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments29 preserved records · 29 of 29 source records accounted for
Archive: 29 index entries preserve 29 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Hiding the degree, the career, the nameDeliberately looking less qualified, and what commenters said happened when they did.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Hiding the degree, the career, the name
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Hiding the degree, the career, the name
Appears when: Applying for work below your level
What the pattern means: Commenters describe deliberately making themselves look less qualified: removing a degree or a doctorate, cutting recent roles, writing a customer-service résumé that hides a technical career, hiding age, and in some accounts inventing an entry-level history outright. The advice attached is specific — use employers that have closed, or ones with turnover high enough that nobody remembers. One commenter reports it working, taking a delivery job without mentioning an engineering degree. Another reports the opposite: a friend whose removed master's was found in a background check and who was then rejected for having lied. A retail hiring commenter in the same card says an attached résumé is itself the signal they screen on.
What commenters described: I did my best to write a "retail & service" resume that downplayed my tech experience and highlighted customer service skills, but at the end of the day my job was nothing like customer service. I'm considering just fully fabricating an entry-level resume with 1-2 made up customer service jobs just to get my foot in the door.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
If you do this, use local restaurants or retail stores that have closed and the numbers are disconnected.
I did my best to write a "retail & service" resume that downplayed my tech experience and highlighted customer service skills, but at the end of the day my job was nothing like customer service. I'm considering just fully fabricating an entry-level resume with 1-2 made up customer service jobs just to get my foot in the door.
Source-record spotlights
Make sure your resume is not overqualified for trader Joe or fast food places since your jumping industries
Why did this make me laugh....sorry that happened. Try switching out your degree to see if that helps for the ones that require a "bachelor's degree". You're deemed overqualified for some companies.
I really thought I had a shot at the bounce house inflatable van driver gig, I already have a van as a daily driver! I gotta try pulling my degrees off the resume for the seasonal stuff I think, I worked at Panera in college so I even have experience. I genuinely don't know what the issue is.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “unemployed for a year” recurs across 2 of the 19 source records in Hiding the degree, the career, the name; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments19 preserved records · 19 of 19 source records accounted for
Archive: 19 index entries preserve 19 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Filling the gap on paperConsulting, an LLC, an NDA, a friendly employer — the ways commenters described covering a gap, and the objections raised.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Filling the gap on paper
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Filling the gap on paper
Appears when: Accounting for months with no employer attached to them
What the pattern means: This card is where the thread coaches itself on the gap. The suggestions are to describe the period as consulting or freelancing, register a business name and list the work under it, use a friend's existing company, or reframe the time as caring or a sabbatical. Several commenters point out that people already freelancing are simply describing themselves badly. The 'I signed an NDA' line is raised and dismissed inside the card by commenters who have signed them and explain what they actually cover. One commenter objects to the whole approach on the grounds that it exposes the friend as much as the applicant, which is the only stated risk in the card.
What commenters described: > now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. No you aren't. You were on a sabbatical, caring for a sick loved one, decided to try going independent but it didn't work out, took time to work on your novel, came into a small inheritance from Aunt Mildred and decided to travel for a while. You enjoyed your time off, and now you are just starting to get back into the market.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
> now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. No you aren't. You were on a sabbatical, caring for a sick loved one, decided to try going independent but it didn't work out, took time to work on your novel, came into a small inheritance from Aunt Mildred and decided to travel for a while. You enjoyed your time off, and now you are just starting to get back into the market.
Where commenters report limits
> now that I'm past 6 months of unemployment. No you aren't. You were on a sabbatical, caring for a sick loved one, decided to try going independent but it didn't work out, took time to work on your novel, came into a small inheritance from Aunt Mildred and decided to travel for a while. You enjoyed your time off, and now you are just starting to get back into the market.
Source-record spotlights
Can you have a friend pretend to be your employer of the past six months?
I guess we know different people. We’re not talking full on careers. Just gaps in the resume for some months saying contract work. Make this is easier for designer. I can whip up some office collateral, social media posts, a sell sheet or two. Or do the default “I can’t talk about those 3-6 months due to a contract I signed.”
just be a consultant/Freelander under your own company to fill in any gaps
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 24 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Change the sentence” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments24 preserved records · 24 of 24 source records accounted for
Archive: 24 index entries preserve 24 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What people did insteadWhere the search stopped being a search and became a change of direction. 115 records.
Working for themselvesSelf-employment as an exit from the search rather than an ambition, with the results reported honestly in both directions.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Working for themselves
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Working for themselves
Appears when: Stopping the search and working for yourself instead
What the pattern means: Self-employment appears here as an exit from the search rather than an ambition, and the results are reported in both directions. On one side: a franchise coffee shop with positive sales growth, a side business taken full-time that now supports a household, consultancies and LLCs built out of a professional network, and a commenter making a few hundred dollars a day. On the other: a software engineer who opened a business from savings and reports the savings are gone, a freelancer who points out that freelancing already was a company and the company is failing, and a former engineer turned baker who is not yet profitable. Several commenters note the inversion they find strangest — that betting on yourself now reads as the safer move.
What commenters described: The job market is so bad I pivoted to starting my own business. Still been looking for work in my field and definitely not my field for years now while I run my own LLC.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
This. The job market in my field is so bad that I bought a franchise coffee shop instead. Coffee is a vice and is fairly recession proof. I feel lucky that I was actually planning this anyways for years and had the $$ saved up. It’s been lean still … but we’ve had positive sales growth since I took over.
I did the same. I was already running it as a side hustle. Went all-in after the layoffs. It can sustain me & half my partners salary (ie they have a part-time job next to it). Many of my ex-colleagues are still looking for a job almost 1 year later, so I made the right move. Still hurts a bit that I left the field I worked in (and worked hard for), but the freedom and flexibility is great.
Where commenters report limits
Used to get messages from headhunters for senior level positions in my function, then at one point it went completely silent. Unfortunately it happens during a gap which I was overly confident in taking on. Took me a while to pivoting to offering fractional service to several companies. But it took a lot more effort for the same total income, and the headhunters only come around a few times since, none materialized to any offer.
Source-record spotlights
The job market is so bad I pivoted to starting my own business. Still been looking for work in my field and definitely not my field for years now while I run my own LLC.
Same. Just started my LLC a few weeks ago. About to start doing business once I get my BTRs. Already setting up a network, going to regular consultations and I have a networking event next Tuesday, as well as two other events next month. I'm moving extremely fast, feels like I made the right call.
Started my own business and I'm thriving. Making like 2-400 a day.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 32 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Create a default” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments32 preserved records · 32 of 32 source records accounted for
Archive: 32 index entries preserve 32 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Retraining, trades and going back to schoolCertificates, trades, second degrees and bootcamps, including the ones commenters said returned nothing.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Retraining, trades and going back to school
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Retraining, trades and going back to school
Appears when: Retraining out of a field that stopped hiring
What the pattern means: Retraining is proposed constantly in this thread and its results here are mixed enough to be worth reading carefully. Successes: a commercial driving licence with paid training, a two-year radiology programme, a trade school that doubled an income, a move into special education, an auto technician role after fifteen years in marketing. Failures reported with equal specificity: a cybersecurity degree with a high grade point average and competition placings that produced no interviews in two years, a bootcamp described as now useless, a software development degree started in the writer's late forties. The caution the card offers is not against retraining but against assuming it clears the same obstacles described everywhere else on this page.
What commenters described: I feel this. Went back to school for cybersecurity after working construction for a decade. The degree, 3.8 GPA, NCL competitions, and projects haven't gotten me 1 interview in 2 years, even for helpdesk1 and tech positions paying $16/hr that "they'll give anyone with a pulse." Doing something completely unrelated now because I knew a guy that got me in- still poverty wages, tho.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
paramedic? paralegal? paracrine falcon? what kind of para are you?
I’m applying for PA school. I’m grateful that I have my family but it’s hard. It’s really hard because my parents aren’t even making like that. And my siblings live with us we’re all adults and struggling to live on our own. The economy hurt us bad
Source-record spotlights
I went back to school during Covid to transition out of education and into research. Got my masters last May. I haven’t been able to find anything. I even slunk back to education, and I can’t get anything full time. I settled for a job as a para because I can’t find anything else.
Dammit. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the Dems will win and some order can be restored. I work as an administrator in a law office but I have a bachelors and some technical background so shifting to GRC has been like my golden ticket to more than $25 an hour lol a little deflating
I’m on the path of becoming a cybersecurity analyst since I’m not able to get another software engineering role for 2 years. I have 3 years of experience, learned multiple programming languages, and have a masters in information systems but to the market it’s not enough. It’s very frustrating.
What the counts show
The exact phrase “trying to pivot” recurs across 2 of the 28 source records in Retraining, trades and going back to school; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments28 preserved records · 28 of 28 source records accounted for
Archive: 28 index entries preserve 28 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Going back to a former employerThe employer who already knows you, which is how a striking number of these searches ended.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Going back to a former employer
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Going back to a former employer
Appears when: Going back to somewhere that already knows you
What the pattern means: A strikingly large share of the searches in this corpus ended where they started. Commenters describe walking back into a store they worked in through college, texting a manager from twelve years ago and being asked about pay within the hour, being rehired part-time when business recovered, and taking an old role back at a substantially lower salary. Several are explicit that this is why they say never to burn a bridge. The card carries its own limits: one commenter's former employer would take them back but is not hiring, and another had to move across the country again to accept.
What commenters described: Haven't had a job in like 7 months. Quit my good job in a shitty state to move halfway across the country. Company I was counting on didn't get a state grant or some shit that they needed and fucked off and now not even the podunk local grocery store will call me back. Called my old job back and am lucky enough to be friends with the plant manager. Got my old job back in about a day, except now I have to move back across the country on almost zero savings LMAO so basically it's so bad that I'm falling back on moving across the country over sticking it out here because it's hopeless. Always remember that who you know is more important than what you know. Always leave on good terms if at all possible. I'm grateful they like me.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
Janitor here. I stopped working for 1.5 years to take care of my kid who has a severe medical issue. Last month, when I couldn’t take the financial strain any longer, I texted my boss on a Friday and started working the next Monday.
Where commenters report limits
Janitor here. I stopped working for 1.5 years to take care of my kid who has a severe medical issue. Last month, when I couldn’t take the financial strain any longer, I texted my boss on a Friday and started working the next Monday.
I was laid off from my career of ten years, that I went to school for, this past July. The first few weeks made me think it was all over. I've had 12 job offers but unfortunately they either were only paying half of what I was making or saw me driving two hours away. Then I landed my old job at three times the salary, but two states away. It's a contract position that I can renew but unfortunately I will have to be away from my family for weeks at a time.
Source-record spotlights
Bad enough that I returned to the job I quit a month prior because everything else was a longer drive AND less money.
Janitor here. I stopped working for 1.5 years to take care of my kid who has a severe medical issue. Last month, when I couldn’t take the financial strain any longer, I texted my boss on a Friday and started working the next Monday.
I was working at a grocery store before this last job and could go back there if I wanted.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 13 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (3 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments13 preserved records · 13 of 13 source records accounted for
Archive: 13 index entries preserve 13 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Gig work and stopgap incomeDelivery, rideshare, reselling, pet-sitting and AI data work as the income underneath the search.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Gig work and stopgap income
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Gig work and stopgap income
Appears when: Keeping money coming in while the search continues
What the pattern means: Delivery apps, rideshare, reselling, plasma, pet-sitting, nannying, moderating, seasonal warehouse shifts and paid AI data work are what commenters describe living on. Several are careful to say what it does and does not do: it covers some bills and does not replace a salary, and one commenter reports working seven or eight gigs across seven days to make in a month what they used to make in a week. One argues for gig work over a low-wage job specifically so that interviews remain possible during office hours. Two commenters make the wider observation that this work is what keeps them out of the unemployment statistics.
What commenters described: I work in I.T. It's shit. Laid off end of September, picked up a part-time I.T. gig in January and started doing pizza delivery in March and later Amazon Flex. Finally got another full-time gig this month, I start next week. It's a significant pay cut from my previous salary but it's comfortable enough.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
Source-record spotlights
Fucking awful. Been unemployed for almost a year after getting laid off. Basically been surviving through Uber, Reselling, and being a caregiver for my aging parents.
I work in I.T. It's shit. Laid off end of September, picked up a part-time I.T. gig in January and started doing pizza delivery in March and later Amazon Flex. Finally got another full-time gig this month, I start next week. It's a significant pay cut from my previous salary but it's comfortable enough.
I'm unemployed, and I live with my girlfriend in the house that she owns. However, I make decent money through moderating on twitch and discord for multiple streams and servers and I'm making more than I was working full-time as a baker. However, it's not officially recognized as employment.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 19 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments19 preserved records · 19 of 19 source records accounted for
Archive: 19 index entries preserve 19 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
EnlistingThe military as a fallback, including one recruiter's account of who is walking in.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Enlisting
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Enlisting
Appears when: Considering the military as a way out of the search
What the pattern means: Seven records, and the most useful is from an army recruiter who reports an influx of people with multiple degrees and civilian careers who had never previously considered enlisting. The others are commenters at the decision point: a computer-science graduate two years into a search, a 3D artist finishing an application, an air traffic controller with a business degree weighing a return after one customer-service offer, and one commenter who joined the coast guard and reports no regrets. The card also contains the objection raised immediately underneath the suggestion, about current deployments.
What commenters described: It’s a huge indicator of how bad the job market is when military enlistments go up. As an Army recruiter, I’ve seen an influx of people trying to enlist because of the job market. These are people who have multiple degrees and years of experience in the civilian sector and never thought about the military as an option.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
Not a good idea either due to Trump being in office. Look at what that ship is going through in the strait of Hormuz.
Trump and Hegseth are temporary. We went through this before in 2016.
Source-record spotlights
bachelors in CS. I have 4years of we dev experience but havnt found a job in 2 years now. Im literally joining the Navy just to get a job.
7 year air traffic controller from active duty, got a BBA 280 applications 1 entry customer service job offer for $19hr thinking about going back to the military.
Was Unemployed, just ended up joining the coast guard no regrets
What the counts show
This report keeps all 7 source records for Enlisting together and surfaces traceable examples without converting anecdotes into proof.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments7 preserved records · 7 of 7 source records accounted for
Archive: 7 index entries preserve 7 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Leaving the countryEmigration, and the commenters who looked into it and reported what they found.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Leaving the country
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Leaving the country
Appears when: Looking for work in another country
What the pattern means: The emigration records are more practical than aspirational, and they contain their own corrections. Commenters describe moving to Australia on a working holiday visa, to the Netherlands with a master's, dual citizenship plans, and one who moved with a suitcase and found work in five weeks. Against that, a working American scientist replies that outside postdoctoral posts the working rights are very hard to obtain; another argues the brain drain is more talked about than observed; a third points out that immigration restrictions are tightening. The disagreement about whether a master's or a doctorate is required is left unresolved in the thread and is left unresolved here.
What commenters described: If you don’t have a PhD, you’re not really going to qualify for immigration to Europe or Canada. On paper you can, but no company is going to sponsor you. You have to find loopholes like the Dutch Anglo Friendship Treaty, and accept not making a salary for a few years.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
That's really not true. A masters is enough. But salaries and lifestyles are very different, and it could be extremely difficult if not impossible for an "average" person to move with a family and be the sole income earner. I moved to the Netherlands on a working holiday visa with a masters and no experience other than internships, it took a while to get the ball rolling, but a few years later and things are going smoothly, also just got hired at a new position. Edit: obviously if you work purely in research/adjacent you will need a PhD. I see you're responding to a post about a guy who specializes in marine biology, so I think your point does fit about the PhD, unless there are companies unknown to me that are for profit, in this industry.
Source-record spotlights
We've discussed it. Our last child is moving at the first of the year. We plan to have a more serious discussion about leaving.
Check to see if the qualifies for Express Entry into Canada [site removed] He also may only need a job offer to get a work permit.
Got a relative in software architecture, not sure if it's the same thing. He was unemployed for a year and ended up taking a job out of the country. (Our countries pretty much have free movement between them so he didn't have to jump through too many hoops.)
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 16 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments16 preserved records · 16 of 16 source records accounted for
Archive: 16 index entries preserve 16 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What the search costMoney, health, households. These are personal accounts, and they are left as personal accounts. 88 records.
Savings, debt, eviction and going withoutSavings, debt, cars, housing and going without — reported by the people it happened to.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Savings, debt, eviction and going without
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Savings, debt, eviction and going without
Appears when: Understanding what a long search costs before it ends
What the pattern means: These are personal accounts of running out of money and they are left as personal accounts. Commenters describe savings spent, retirement accounts and pensions cashed, collections sold, a car lost, cars lived in, eviction proceedings begun, bankruptcy filed, dental treatment postponed, meals skipped and a bank balance given to the cent. Several name the specific figure they burned through. What recurs across them is not destitution but a countdown — a number of months remaining at current spending, stated plainly. One commenter who came out the other side says the thing worth passing on is to start the runway early.
What commenters described: IT leader, laid off after 10 years with a company because I guess I lost a political battle with my peer over other teams who thought he could also take over my job and probably made big promises to execs, meanwhile just use AI to puppeteer as someone who looks like they 'get it'. This is just my gut, not what they told me when they let me go. My whole team was loyal to me and stood up to defend my value until they were also forced to comply. I spent 11 months unemployed, single parent, bills to pay and a household to maintain, burned 55k out of savings thank god I have impostor syndrome and always thought I'd be here ! I had 2 offers and just accepted one... First was a few months back but didn't work personally. I submitted 1500+ applications I'd guess, 40+interviews... It sucks out here and all the interviews subs are talking about it. Be prepared and start your runway early.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added3
IT leader, laid off after 10 years with a company because I guess I lost a political battle with my peer over other teams who thought he could also take over my job and probably made big promises to execs, meanwhile just use AI to puppeteer as someone who looks like they 'get it'. This is just my gut, not what they told me when they let me go. My whole team was loyal to me and stood up to defend my value until they were also forced to comply. I spent 11 months unemployed, single parent, bills to pay and a household to maintain, burned 55k out of savings thank god I have impostor syndrome and always thought I'd be here ! I had 2 offers and just accepted one... First was a few months back but didn't work personally. I submitted 1500+ applications I'd guess, 40+interviews... It sucks out here and all the interviews subs are talking about it. Be prepared and start your runway early.
Transwoman here. Moved to Austin(Round Rock) a little over a year ago. I had a job lined up when I moved that fell through pretty quickly because the GM was a racist, and transphobic and lied about what the actual job was. I have not been able to find work since leaving that job. It's been 13 months. Over 1000+ applications, submitted resumes, etc. Around 100 interviews. Even several second round interviews. I've been doing DoorDash to pay the bills, and I'm drowning. Sold my truck in December, and lived off that for a few months. My AC just broke in my car, and It's averaging over 100 degrees every day right now. I'm not sure how much longer I can stay afloat, and I have no backup plan, or safety net. The scary part is that it's been a struggle just to find entry level, minimum wage work. I've applied for a tone of different positions, in quite a few fields but even just getting a retail job is difficult r ight now.
It just occurred to me yesterday that I'm always seeing people saying they're struggling, losing everything, but if they starve to death they wouldn't be able to post about it. I really wonder how many people are starving to death, or end up homeless and due of heat exhaustion, and we just don't hear about it. Literally everybody is on the edge so obviously some people statistically have to be going over the edge. I just lost my job because my car was broken down and I couldn't afford to fix it. It took two weeks to find help but now I'm out of work and I hope I'm not gonna be another statistic nobody knows
Where commenters report limits
IT leader, laid off after 10 years with a company because I guess I lost a political battle with my peer over other teams who thought he could also take over my job and probably made big promises to execs, meanwhile just use AI to puppeteer as someone who looks like they 'get it'. This is just my gut, not what they told me when they let me go. My whole team was loyal to me and stood up to defend my value until they were also forced to comply. I spent 11 months unemployed, single parent, bills to pay and a household to maintain, burned 55k out of savings thank god I have impostor syndrome and always thought I'd be here ! I had 2 offers and just accepted one... First was a few months back but didn't work personally. I submitted 1500+ applications I'd guess, 40+interviews... It sucks out here and all the interviews subs are talking about it. Be prepared and start your runway early.
Source-record spotlights
I spent eleven months bouncing between homeless shelters and looking for jobs. Literally any job. I got a few calls and finally landed a brutally hard job carrying around frozen goats and massive boxes of meat in a giant freezer for not remotely enough money to live on. I spend an absurd amount of time just on the bus and walking there. I need it and I'm thankful to have it. Good luck. Don't stop trying.
I have over ten years of retail, customer service, marketing & branding, and management experience. I’ve been looking for a job for a year now. Ran through my savings just recently. I’m getting rejected left and right, I’ve only recently just interviewed with a company, hoping for the best. I was making about 90k a year before losing my job. It’s tough out here. I’m not even getting interviews or calls back for starting positions. I feel hopeless but I’m hanging in there.
It just occurred to me yesterday that I'm always seeing people saying they're struggling, losing everything, but if they starve to death they wouldn't be able to post about it. I really wonder how many people are starving to death, or end up homeless and due of heat exhaustion, and we just don't hear about it. Literally everybody is on the edge so obviously some people statistically have to be going over the edge. I just lost my job because my car was broken down and I couldn't afford to fix it. It took two weeks to find help but now I'm out of work and I hope I'm not gonna be another statistic nobody knows
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 24 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (4 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments24 preserved records · 24 of 24 source records accounted for
Archive: 24 index entries preserve 24 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
What a long search did to peopleAccounts of what months of applying did to people's health and sense of themselves.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: What a long search did to people
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
What a long search did to people
Appears when: Reading about the part of a long search that is not logistical
What the pattern means: Commenters describe waking up feeling like a failure, learned helplessness, confidence gone, imposter syndrome confirmed, depression that arrived with the search and did not lift when the job did. A therapist in the corpus reports seeing highly qualified clients who cannot find work. Several describe a practical response rather than a feeling: rationing the days they apply, stopping entirely for a period, going outside every morning. Two commenters who found work say the effect outlasted the search. Records in the corpus that state suicidal intent are deliberately not shown on this card; they remain in the complete source archive.
What commenters described: It's terrible that I wake up every morning feeling like a failure.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added3
Please remember that our jobs (or lack thereof) do not determine our worth as people. You are valuable, you are deserving of love. The system is broken, not you.
You're not a failure. Shit happens. Plus, conservative boomers ruined the economy, not you.
Ive been looking for nearly 3 years since being laid off with at the time only like 2 and a half years of experienceas a software dev. They might as well have sent a drone to murder me once I got the email because I cant get any job period. Except technically I did get part time contract work in the middle but it was super toxic and I have bad ptsd from it. I have tried different things but it's pretty hopeless no matter what people say. They say to network but the few referrals Ive gotten dont work. I havent worked blue collar before so I cant get those jobs either (Im in Canada). Some of us are in a super long recession and it mentally has broken me in half.
Source-record spotlights
It's terrible that I wake up every morning feeling like a failure.
I think unemployment also affects people psychologically in ways that aren't always obvious. Losing a routine and the feeling of being useful can make it harder to stay motivated, which then makes the job search even more exhausting. Having financial pressure on top of that makes everything worse. Finding work isn't always about laziness or lack of effort; sometimes it's simply a long, frustrating process of waiting for the right opportunity to finally come along.
A year and a half of unemployment for me, former software engineer. My depression has been through the roof. I'm fucking miserable and the only thing keeping me sane is my absolutely wonderful girlfriend. All I've wanted is to get a decent job where I can grow and buy her a ring. I hate this.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 30 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (6 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments30 preserved records · 30 of 30 source records accounted for
Archive: 30 index entries preserve 30 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Households, families and who was carrying whomParents, partners, children and roommates — who was holding whom up, and at what cost.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Households, families and who was carrying whom
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Households, families and who was carrying whom
Appears when: Working out who is carrying the household while this goes on
What the pattern means: The households in these records are doing the work the benefits system is not. Commenters describe partners covering everything, parents paying rent, a mother giving a deadline, moving into a childhood bedroom or an unfinished basement at thirty-one and thirty-five, siblings all adults and all at home, and friends who delivered food and paid for a dog's insulin. Several describe the second cost, which is the relationship itself: a father's reminders about age, relatives who assume the laptop is idleness, and one commenter's observation that you learn who cares about you when the money stops.
What commenters described: Got laid off a few months ago. I'm sleeping on a mattress topper folded in half in my mom's unfinished basement. I've had a single interview, and nothing came of that, no other employer has reached out to me at all and I've applied to hundreds of jobs at this point, in person and online. I feel like a fucking failure. I moved in with my mom because I wanted to make her life easier while she was going through a divorce, and instead I'm just a burden.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
At the time, my dad had been his own boss for 40 years and had not applied to a job since before the Soviet Union fell. It's just an entirely different world.
I'm so glad I grew up with a contractor dad. As a Boomer he had a lot of shit ideas but I never, EVER got shit about job hunting, because he KNEW it wasn't like it used to be and in fact knew about HR AI algorithms LOOONG before anyone knew AI was an actual thing, and he was teaching me how to get around them before my first job. I got really lucky because his experience in having to look for work every year meant he had a lot of fantastic advice to pass on. I do work in a recession proof field but never had too much trouble finding work. Shit, my last job I applied to because why not and had a job offer 24 hours later (different field) but it was a casual student job so not sure that counts.
Source-record spotlights
I’m applying for PA school. I’m grateful that I have my family but it’s hard. It’s really hard because my parents aren’t even making like that. And my siblings live with us we’re all adults and struggling to live on our own. The economy hurt us bad
how are you'all cope up the family and friends for being jobless. My younger sis(19) is doing really great and earning a lot of money through internships and approaching brands for making websites and all.i am 21. Its real bad for me to sit in the house and just practice and practice.., my parents , relatives and everyone thinks that i am just using laptop🙏
Its awful but in a way you find out the people that really care for you by how they treat you once you do not have money coming in.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 16 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Turn it into a game” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments16 preserved records · 16 of 16 source records accounted for
Archive: 16 index entries preserve 16 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Unemployment benefits, and what happened when they ran outWhat benefits paid, how long they lasted, and what commenters found when they ran out.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Unemployment benefits, and what happened when they ran out
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Unemployment benefits, and what happened when they ran out
Appears when: Understanding what the safety net actually covered
What the pattern means: Commenters report benefit periods of three and six months, weekly payments given to the dollar, a replacement rate one commenter calculates at well under half their previous pay, and food assistance that ended on a schedule rather than on a job. Several describe what happened at the end: no extension, no rental assistance, a career centre course that did not lead to the promised work, and an assigned adviser sending grocery-bagging vacancies to a project manager. Two records come from the other side — an HR commenter describing terminations coded to defeat eligibility, and a commenter fired in a way that disqualified them. One commenter reports being paid more on benefits than in work, and says so.
What commenters described: I lost my job Oct 31st. I just got a job last week for thousands less than I was making previously. The job market is horrendous. I experienced deep depression, breakdowns… And then, unemployment ceased. No extension. No food stamps. No rental assistance. I was a student, and I thought that could make me eligible for emergency extensions, not anymore…I signed up for my county’s career center classes, learned a trade, no extension, no job (and it was practically promised to us.), I am in debt, my bank balance is literally at 0.04 I can’t afford to do laundry (my place doesn’t have a unit so I hand wash each outfit) my parents pay my rent, my girlfriend has helped me out with food but that isn’t too much since I’m so depressed and I felt so worthless that I just don’t eat. This entire process was one big reality check, I am so loved. The times when I wasn’t annoying and overly proud to ask for help (except for the laundry stuff idk why…but that being said, my best friend one time took my entire wardrobe and did it for me once.) I was able to see people really care for me. Ensure I had meals, ensure I had entertainment, ensured I laughed…and damn it if they didn’t make sure my dog had her prescription food and her insulin. I felt like shit these few months, but wow, I am loved. So, if that doesn’t answer your question: TL;DR I am a tradesman, who entered the corporate world after obtaining a degree, who was laid off who then learned a second trade, while obtaining a second degree, and it took me nearly a year to find employment. Any asshat who says “better find a trade” needs to hop off the sack and open their fucking eyes. And these companies out here ghosting? Or relying on AI to make DECISIONS?! Shame on all of you, karma is real. May not be “mythic” but it’s real, and you’ll fucking know it.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
So sorry about your whole situation brother, I’m glad you glad a job regardless if it pays less
That's why I say it's great, aside from the lack of income. Granted, I've been privileged enough to have some savings over the course of my two stints of unemployment. The first lasted around 4 months, but I did have a severance for three of those. The second lasted 8 months, before my benefits ran out and I had to get a retail job until I found something permanent in my field. Still, those 8 months were overall pretty great. I would sleep until around 9:30 on weekdays, then immediately went for a run, bike ride, to the gym, or cross country skiing in the winter. Then I'd apply for some jobs, but you really can't apply for all that many in a day because they're limited. Then the rest of the day was recreation. If you have kids, I'm sure it's wildly different, and much more stressful, but for a single guy with no family, I quite enjoyed it.
Where commenters report limits
Went from a four years of a 45k/year WFH to fired due to anticipated tariffs without warning. Months later and literally 100 identical rejection letters later and I end up getting hurt while working at a deli and being tied up in a lawsuit due to absolute negligence… in the meantime, I’m stuck without unemployment or EBT in a state that doesn’t even have tech support on their websites because DOGE fired them all. If you can’t get on the phone with an agent as soon as their offices open, you will just get hung up on after going thru all the prompts. If you are able to get through, I’ve sat on hold for up to 4hrs.
Source-record spotlights
I get 3 months of food stamps and then they kick me off. Yeah I may eat my degrees too.
I haven't been on unemployment in a long time, but I believe its capped. I don't think it would be close to 65% of 65k
I don’t even bother to look and don’t know how I’m going to pay my bills. I take nothing from the government because I know I won’t get anything.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 18 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Attach it to an existing routine” (2 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments18 preserved records · 18 of 18 source records accounted for
Archive: 18 index entries preserve 18 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
From the other side of the deskCommenters who said they run the hiring, describing the same market from the receiving end. 35 records.
Commenters who said they do the hiringHiring managers, recruiters, HR staff and small employers describing the same market from the receiving end.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: Commenters who said they do the hiring
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
Commenters who said they do the hiring
Appears when: Seeing the same market from the receiving end
What the pattern means: Roughly three dozen records come from people who say they do the hiring, and they corroborate the volume rather than the intent. They describe hundreds of applications within a day, six hundred AI-written résumés for one maternity cover, screening they cannot staff, software they call unusable, and no authority to increase headcount. Two are unusually candid: one says the pool is large enough to filter to a perfect candidate and then pick the cheapest, and another describes losing a preferred candidate to one fifteen thousand cheaper. Several make the same practical point from their side of the desk — a referral or a person at the door gets read. One employer flatly rejects the blacklist theory on grounds of time.
What commenters described: As someone who assists with the hiring process at my organization this is our reality now. We still post positions online but we get buried under a literal avalanche of applications. We've had to start using AI to filter them because it's impossible for humans to keep up. Now the vast majority of hires are referrals. It matters when Bob who I've worked with for 10 years says this person would be a good fit for this opening we have. That person gets a interview. Our other stream is literally people who walk through the door say hi ask to speak to me know our industry and have a resume in hand those go on the top of the pile and they get interviews as well. Important to note that we still need both of those streams to meet the minimum requirements for the role. We have mandated minimum training standards by law.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added1
I was talking to a colleague who was trying to hire a senior software position. He said he had 1500 applicants, and that most of the resumes were faked by AI to look like the perfect candidate for that exact job posting. That path seems entirely broken.. he said he interviewed dozens of people who couldn’t even do the basics. Unfortunately good people are getting flooded out by fakes. So, the backup for a hiring manager is outbound.. scour your existing network for people. I think this leads to this k shaped job market.. if you’re in that circle you’re getting poached, otherwise you’re stuck with a thousand AI generated job applicants. Idk what the fix is.
Where commenters report limits
I was talking to a colleague who was trying to hire a senior software position. He said he had 1500 applicants, and that most of the resumes were faked by AI to look like the perfect candidate for that exact job posting. That path seems entirely broken.. he said he interviewed dozens of people who couldn’t even do the basics. Unfortunately good people are getting flooded out by fakes. So, the backup for a hiring manager is outbound.. scour your existing network for people. I think this leads to this k shaped job market.. if you’re in that circle you’re getting poached, otherwise you’re stuck with a thousand AI generated job applicants. Idk what the fix is.
Source-record spotlights
I work in Human Resources in the US. The job market is really bad. I am feeling for anyone that is job searching right now.
Easy to say and hard to do but as an employer I would usually be most impressed by a candidate who was “quietly confident” You got this!
As someone who is hiring in the $20-$30 range for warehouse and customer service. It's sad how many candidates do not have a mode of transportation to work. It's also obvious the candidates that apply just to show their trying to get a job but severely underqualified. I think this is an unemployment benefits thing or something? Good help is hard to find.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “as someone who” recurs across 4 of the 35 source records in Commenters who said they do the hiring; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments35 preserved records · 35 of 35 source records accounted for
Archive: 35 index entries preserve 35 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
Where the thread disagreed with itselfA large minority of the thread pushed back on the question, on the answers, or on both. 117 records.
The commenters whose searches went quicklySearches that ended in weeks rather than months, and the conditions the commenters attached to them.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The commenters whose searches went quickly
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The commenters whose searches went quickly
Appears when: Reading the accounts that do not match the rest of the thread
What the pattern means: A substantial minority of records report a search that ended quickly, and they are grouped here rather than dispersed because their conditions matter. Several are in construction, civil engineering, accounting, nursing, oil and gas or trade compliance; several were found by a recruiter rather than by applying; several involved accepting a pay cut, a relocation or work well below the previous level. Two commenters returning to the United States after years abroad report expecting the market described in this thread and not finding it. The card also holds the argument several of these commenters make explicitly: that work exists and the thing that has gone is what it pays.
What commenters described: I came back to America after being gone 17 years. I was teaching English in Asia and thought it would be impossible to find a job with all the horror stories on here. My wife also came back with me and she's not even a US citizen. We both found fullt-ime jobs at Bucees making $25 per hour with benefits. I also had an interview lined up at another place but didn't go. I think a lot of the people on here just can't swallow their pride and work jobs they can actually get
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
I've been unemployed for a year. I'd take a souless job in a heartbeat if it was offered to me right now
I'm still employed, but looked around just to see what was out there. For some reason, it seems like if I want another job, everything in my field is in North Carolina. Now I'm really hoping I don't get laid off because I have zero interest in moving to NC.
Source-record spotlights
Very dependent on field and location. I was working R&D in Boston, laid off, hard to find funding. Moved south, found tons of jobs in manufacturing ops. If you’re flexible and coachable with a good attitude you can find a job. It’s not my dream job but it pays well and I go home at 4:30 every afternoon. Remote work is not a thing in my line- aside from the occasional sick day or bad weather day.
It's a tricky question because I feel like it's heavily dependent on how many people also do the job you do. If you specialize in an area or not. Also where you are located and how far you are willing to relocate for work. Ive worked in a specific manufacturing field for almost 16 years now and I'm technically unemployed aside from some consulting I do here and there. I could pick up my phone and land a job at my old salary that I willing left but it could mean relocating hundreds of miles away from friends and family. When applying my background outside of my field, it becomes a lot harder and the pay won't even come close to what I could make in that field. Just my personal experience.
What an absolute circlejerk post. Having said that, I just found what seems to be an amazing job at a nonprofit that is actually a step up in my career and salary. Pretty nice after 2 years of surviving off savings and gig work.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
Across 64 source records, the most common observable tactic structure is “Swap instead of subtract” (6 records). This is a wording pattern, not a measured outcome.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Observable tactic structures
Counts show source records whose wording matches the tactic structure; biological explanations remain commenter claims unless separately checked below.
Browse the original comments64 preserved records · 64 of 64 source records accounted for
Archive: 64 index entries preserve 64 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The objection that the question selects its own answerThe argument that a thread asking unemployed people about the job market can only produce one answer.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The objection that the question selects its own answer
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The objection that the question selects its own answer
Appears when: Deciding how much weight this thread can carry
What the pattern means: The most-repeated methodological objection in the corpus is that a question addressed to unemployed people cannot produce a representative answer, and it is made by more than twenty commenters in several forms: that the sample selects for failure, that the platform skews to software engineers, that employed people know the market too, and that nobody who has just been hired is answering. The objection is correct about this corpus and worth keeping visible. It is also answered inside the thread by commenters who point out that the searches described are still searches, and by the presence of the hiring-side and quickly-hired records elsewhere in this article.
What commenters described: The job market is awful but asking unemployed people how the job market is doing is a pretty dang self selecting pool of answers. Unemployed people are those people having trouble finding a job, tautologically.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
And also it's more likely that unemployed software engineers will be scrolling and posting on reddit so you get some selection bias
>are disproportionately highly represented on Reddit. Reddit always has and always will skew nerdy. Good to keep in mind on any sub that Reddit consensus is not representative of society as a whole.
Source-record spotlights
I think one trend I am picking up from this thread is software engineers are both having difficulty in the job market and are disproportionately highly represented on Reddit
Any thread about unemployment is disproportionately represented by software engineers and techies. Always. It's a reminder that shit is real if THEY can't land jobs. These are brainy people!
Exactly. That limits who responds right off the bat. Plus, poster should’ve asked respondents to note where they live…it Makes a big difference.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “the job market” recurs across 5 of the 23 source records in The objection that the question selects its own answer; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments23 preserved records · 23 of 23 source records accounted for
Archive: 23 index entries preserve 23 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
The commenters who said the problem was the applicantThe position that the market is not the problem, argued at length and answered at length.
Card naming what job seekers reported — the obstacle encountered, the tactic tried, or what happened — with every figure kept in the words of the commenter who gave it: The commenters who said the problem was the applicant
Source-backed answers are shown before diagnostics; the complete source archive remains below.
The commenters who said the problem was the applicant
Appears when: Reading the argument that the market is not the problem
What the pattern means: Around thirty records argue that the variable is the applicant: that twenty interviews without an offer indicates the interviewee, that a four-figure application total suggests spraying rather than targeting, that people are being too picky, and that anyone willing to stock shelves can work tomorrow. Several give their own quick search as evidence. The thread answers them at length — most directly by a commenter restating what the question had actually asked, and by pointing at the records elsewhere on this page from people who did take the shelf-stocking job and were turned down. The argument is kept here in full because an article that showed only one side of it would misrepresent its own corpus.
What commenters described: People below are talking about how they have accepted shitty jobs, or how they can't even find a shitty job, or even, yes, about how they have many years of experience and education and are disappointed that they can't find a job that makes use of their skills. The question in this post isn't "can some of you get shitty jobs if you try?" The question is, "how hard is the job market?" And your answer to that question seems to be, "it's not a hard job market at all because you can get a shitty job instead of one you want." That's a hard job market. And the question is being asked of people who are unemployed right now, not people who were unemployed a few years back when jobs were plentiful for anyone willing to settle, depending on the local job market.
Limit: Every account in this card is one commenter's own report about their own search, in a country and a month they may not have stated. Nothing is verified, several accounts are contradicted by other commenters in the same thread, and none of it is careers advice.
What the replies added2
What a privileged take on the job market. "You must be lazy and making excuses."
Getting a teaching job, esp in a public school system, is super political and sometimes nonsensical. Sometimes positions are posted/offered, but it’s because the school is required to do so, even if they’ve already pre-selected someone (usually a student teacher or internal transfer). I’ve had many friends and colleagues who have interviewed for “fake” positions — super frustrating! Where do you teach?
Where commenters report limits
For some people...it's genuinely a struggle...for others, the job market is an excuse to explain them not working. I hope I am never unemployed, but after months and months of looking...you should have found SOMETHING.
Source-record spotlights
June 2026? That’s not unemployment. That’s a pause/break lol
I think one thing people overlook in the job market is that jobs ad high pay are not for smart people, the useful people who can demonstrate value over replacement are the biggest beneficiaries. If there are 100 highly intelligent people vying for one job, the person who can demonstrate the most utility to the company will get the job. Being smart is a necessary but not sufficient element of a job. If you go into a saturated job market and the only thing you have going for you is your education, but you cannot show how you can contribute more than other applicants, you're getting rejected regardless of your level of intelligence.
honestly if you put in some effort you will find a job put in very little effort u wont find a job 90% of people in this world are dumb. they put in very little effort and expect results.
Related evidence elsewhere in the index
What the counts show
The exact phrase “the job market” recurs across 7 of the 30 source records in The commenters who said the problem was the applicant; the complete archive stays available below.
What commenters explicitly report
These buckets are a deterministic partition based on explicit phrasing in the source text; they are not sentiment scores or effectiveness findings.
Browse the original comments30 preserved records · 30 of 30 source records accounted for
Archive: 30 index entries preserve 30 distinct source records · Every displayed synthesis count resolves to source-record IDs
How this catalog was built
Source: Reddit comments — 1 thread, 2522 comments (1066 top-level, 1456 replies)
Selected comments from the discussion
This export carries real like counts and timestamps. The first 18 are the most resonant on-topic top-level comment from each stage of the discussion, ranked by resonance within their arrival-time cohort so later arrivals are not penalised for having had less time to accumulate likes. The last 6 received no likes at all and were chosen for the specificity of what they describe.
How the discussion breaks down
Relative volume of distinct source-backed records across every reviewed category in this corpus.
How the search actually went
371 distinct coded comment records8 normalized answers
Where people were looking
328 distinct coded comment records7 normalized answers
What people tried
262 distinct coded comment records7 normalized answers
What the work paid
117 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Where the thread disagreed with itself
117 distinct coded comment records3 normalized answers
What people did instead
115 distinct coded comment records6 normalized answers
The reasons commenters were given for no
101 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
Filters that came on top of everything else
95 distinct coded comment records5 normalized answers
What the search cost
88 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
The machinery between an application and a person
82 distinct coded comment records4 normalized answers
From the other side of the desk
35 distinct coded comment records1 normalized answer
Who counted, and what the counts came to
The question was how hard the market is, so the useful test to put to this thread is whether the people answering it counted anything. Many did: 75 records give an application total, a reply rate, an interview count or all three. Every figure on this page is a commenter's own words, reproduced exactly, and none of it is verified.
The counts, and the argument about what a reply is. One commenter gave a full funnel: “240 applications send, 210 replies, 15 interviews, 10 gave a reason for rejection, reason being lack of experience and no notes on what I could do better. So yeah, it's starting to be an active effort to not be bitter.” The first reply to it disputed the middle number — “You guys are getting replies?” — and the original commenter clarified what had been counted: “Yes generic auto email when they haven't even read it counts as a reply” Another commenter tracked the same search as percentages: “I was laid off twice in two years. The first time I was out of work for six months, the second time for a year and change. In that second stretch, I sent out 500 applications. Of those, I was denied 38% of the time, and the listing was closed without ever hearing back 53% of the time. I got callbacks for interviews for 3.4% of the time. On average, I only heard back from an application 35 days after I submitted it. I was ghosted (meaning I was interviewed and never heard back, despite polite follow-ups) 6 times. I am currently employed as a contractor, thanks to a friend who reached out and hired me directly.”
What the silence looked like. The most-upvoted comment in the thread is about the phone, not the market: “I used someone else's phone to call my own phone to make sure it is actually working, that is how my job search is going.” 54 records describe some version of that silence, and one of them names the pattern that recurs across the corpus: “Thank you for applying to \_\_\_\_ we appreciate you taking the time to fill out an application, but we will be moving forward with other candidates at this time. 1 week later: The exact same job is posted. Same company, same description, same pay.”
The most recommended tactic, and the records that dispute it. 137 records are about networking and referrals — the largest single card on this page after the one about where work was still available. The advice arrives flatly: “You legit have to know people. Networking is real and important. Never burn bridges, you never know who you will need in the future.” The records underneath it do not agree. A commenter who was laid off out of big tech described what networking bought: “i work in big tech and networked a lot after my layoff in 2023. i will tell you now that even then i had people pulling for me and i couldn’t even get a *phone screen* with their recruiters at multiple companies. so much time being hopeful at coffee chats and handing my resume off to have it passed along and thrown in the trash. it hasn’t gotten better now that i’m looking at being on the job market again. even that isn’t enough anymore either.” Another: “Networking has been coming up short for me so far too. Every inside referral I've used has still gotten me an "unfortunately, we have decided to pursue other candidates at this time" email.” And a commenter who did get hired attributed it to exactly one thing: “I was unemployed from February 2025 until February 2026. I have a masters degree and have worked in my field for six years plus over 15 years of general work experience pretty closely related to my field. I had maybe ten interviews total during that time and some went to 3,4 rounds plus “assessments”. I got rejected for each one. The ONLY reason I have my current job is because my good friend works here. It’s not in my field even remotely but it’s an office job with benefits. But I was making 65k before I was laid off and now I make 21/hr which is tough.”
The pay, where the pay was named. 34 records set a previous wage against the one that replaced it. The record that opens the thread is one of them: “Went from 65k plus a year to hoping to hear back on a retail cashier job just to pay the bills as unemployment isn't cutting it.” Another gives both halves in dollars: “I was making $36/hr as a designer at a fortune 500 company. Now I make $19.50/hr slinging fish at whole foods. Sucks!”
And the thread argued with itself about all of it. 1456 of the 2522 records are replies (58%), and two of the arguments they carry are about the question rather than the market. 64 records report a search that went quickly — one commenter who had been abroad for years came back expecting the worst: “I came back to America after being gone 17 years. I was teaching English in Asia and thought it would be impossible to find a job with all the horror stories on here. My wife also came back with me and she's not even a US citizen. We both found fullt-ime jobs at Bucees making $25 per hour with benefits. I also had an interview lined up at another place but didn't go. I think a lot of the people on here just can't swallow their pride and work jobs they can actually get” — and 30 records argue that the applicant, not the market, is the variable. That argument was answered in the thread, at length, by a commenter restating what the question had asked: “People below are talking about how they have accepted shitty jobs, or how they can't even find a shitty job, or even, yes, about how they have many years of experience and education and are disappointed that they can't find a job that makes use of their skills. The question in this post isn't "can some of you get shitty jobs if you try?" The question is, "how hard is the job market?" And your answer to that question seems to be, "it's not a hard job market at all because you can get a shitty job instead of one you want." That's a hard job market. And the question is being asked of people who are unemployed right now, not people who were unemployed a few years back when jobs were plentiful for anyone willing to settle, depending on the local job market.”
Browse the original comments2,522 audited comments and replies
Dataset, coverage, and methodology
How this was counted
The working unit is a comment record, not a person and not a distinct experience. All 2522 canonical comments from this one thread (1066 top-level, 1456 replies) were read twice — once thread by thread and once in record-id order — and each was assigned to exactly one card or one exclusion bucket.
1711 records report a job-search obstacle, a tactic tried, or what happened, and all 1711 appear in the complete index below. The other 811 break down as reactions, encouragement and untested speculation (408), questions put to another commenter (129), jokes and the butter-pun chain (120), off-topic tangents (82), political arguments carrying no report about a search (34), dismissals of unemployed people carrying no report (12), statements of suicidal intent or self-harm, which are kept in the archive and not promoted onto a card (11), job offers, DM requests and link drops (8), fragments and comments removed by the platform (5), one private sexual disclosure (1), and one record whose pay figure the mention redactor cannot reproduce (1).
1711 counts classified comment records, not distinct people; the thread's records sort into 53 cards. Repeats were deliberately kept: 137 records discuss networking and referrals and 54 describe silence or ghosting, and each stays its own row rather than being merged into one.
Every duration, application count, salary and rejection reason on this page is quoted from the commenter who gave it and attributed to that source record. No figure has been converted, averaged, rounded or supplemented from outside the thread, and where commenters disagree both are shown.
Upvote counts are the raw numbers as captured. The first hour of this thread holds 67.7% of all its upvotes, so a ranking by raw upvotes would mostly rank arrival time; the cards below are ordered by how many records they hold, not by popularity.
Eleven records stating suicidal intent or self-harm are kept in the complete source archive but are not promoted onto any card, because reproducing somebody's crisis as an illustration of a labour market is not something this article will do. One record disclosing a private sexual incident is excluded for the same reason.
Nothing here is verified beyond what people typed. These are reported experiences, many of them contested inside the thread by the people replying to them, and several of them from outside the United States. Read it as a record of what one thread said about looking for work — not as a labour-market statistic and not as careers advice.
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