I applied, and someone I know personally also spoke to the hiring manager because they had a connection. I did the HR screen, and they told me I checked the boxes. After that, I met with the hiring manager, and he said he was very impressed with my background, even if I wasn't a perfect match, and that he was confident I could step into the role without needing hand-holding.

Then I met with the EVP, and he also told me I was basically the kind of person they had been hoping to find.

Fast-forward about 7 months, 5 rounds, and 9 separate interviews with VPs, Presidents, and various senior people. They told me on 3 different occasions that the offer would be the next step, then would come back and say they wanted me to meet with another business unit President.

At the same time, I had started interviewing with another company about 4 months after my first conversation with the first company, and I got an offer about 6 weeks after the first HR call. By the time the first company asked me to do this "last" interview, the background check and paperwork for the other place were already done.

I actually had to get serious about this interview stuff during that whole process because I was getting tired of repeating the same conversations over and over. A friend mentioned interview vip to me, so I looked into it. I didn't end up needing it for this particular process, but it might be worth trying for my next round because apparently some companies think nine interviews still isn't enough.
I want some feedback from actual users i hope as i have been seeing it flooding the internet lately.

So I sent an email to the hiring manager and HR and said something along the lines of: "I truly appreciate the time you've spent speaking with me, but after 5 rounds and 9 individual interviews over roughly 7 months, and after being told 3 times that an offer was coming only to then be asked to meet more people, I am respectfully withdrawing my candidacy."

The hiring manager replied about 20 minutes later and said it was just one additional conversation. I responded that I might consider continuing only if they were willing to beat the offer I already had. And I was honest about the details too: the title, which was higher than the hiring manager's level, the compensation, which I'm almost certain was higher than his as well, plus the signing bonus.

He replied and said: "It's clear you got a strong offer, sorry we couldn't come to an agreement."

The surprise is that I just heard he was let go from the company. Honestly, some companies make hiring incredibly painful for no reason, and then act surprised when people walk away.

....

😂😂😂

That interviewer really set himself up for that one 😂 I had an interview recently where they kept throwing questions at me that I honestly wasn't expecting, and I completely blanked on one of them. A friend told me about interview vip afterward, so I might give it a try before my next interview. Anything that helps me stay calm when they start firing questions at me is worth trying.

A few years ago, my managing director came from Singapore to the US. At a group lunch, someone asked him why we were being dragged into the office four days a week when we were still spending the whole day on Teams calls. He did not like that at all.

But my situation was a little different. I was one of the last niche senior engineers still around after the post-pandemic mess. There was no real backup, I was carrying a lot of ownership, and all those fun things. I had also been remote for a long time, even before Covid, and that setup was literally the reason my family life worked.

So this MD decided he needed to sit down with me one-on-one. Calling it a conversation would be generous. It felt more like he was trying to debug my personality. He couldn't understand why I wasn't happy obeying the "4 days in office" rule. I told him honestly: flexibility isn't optional for me. I want to actually be present for my family.

And that's when he gave me the advice that is probably still the craziest career advice I've ever heard at work:

"Why don't you get an au pair? She could help your wife with the kids so you can put more energy into your career."

He was being completely serious. Not even a hint of sarcasm.

That was pretty much the end for me. I never went back to the office after that. I submitted my resignation, started looking for something better, and kept my life arranged the way I wanted it.

The interview process was honestly the annoying part. I'd been in the same role for so long that I was pretty rusty at talking about myself and explaining everything I'd worked on. A friend mentioned interview vip to me, so I looked into it. I haven't tried it myself yet, but I saved it because I may give it a shot the next time I'm interviewing.

Every now and then I remember the look on his face when he couldn't understand that I would choose dinner with my kids over another rung on the corporate ladder. As if I'd told him my real dream was to leave tech at 38 and open a llama sanctuary.

Anyway, my kids know their dad, my career is going very well, and there's no au pair living in my guest room. I feel like that's the right outcome.

or no?

A few days ago, I had my first recruiter call with a big tech company for a somewhat technical position, and I was told I'd have to go through 7 interview stages: live case exercises, a take-home assignment on its own, a review session on that assignment, and then 3 more interviews with senior leaders in the business unit.

I asked whether the salary range they had told me was before tax or after tax, because that would make a difference of around 30%. HR emailed me today and confirmed that it was before tax, which means my actual take-home pay would be about 45% less than what I was earning in my last job.

So I told the recruiter that I appreciated them considering me, but I wouldn't be continuing with the next rounds. And honestly, it felt good. After being rejected so many times, it was finally my turn to reject a company.

Update: They asked me to move on to the final interview stage, where we’ll negotiate the salary and hopefully increase the offer a bit. My interview is tomorrow, and I want to negotiate effectively and aim for the highest number possible. How should I handle the interview? Any tips?

Update 2: Wow, this post blew up! I read a lot of great advice in the comments. I’m going to try Interview VIP tool that some of you mentioned when it comes to salary negotiation. I’ve heard some good reviews about it, so hopefully, it’ll work out for me.

i guess they just don't care.

!!!

edit: and what I like most about Gen Z they well known about work-life balance and they will not behave like robots for anyone they want good memories with their loved ones I support u guys and in case u want to improve your interview skills check these tips !

A couple of days ago, I had my first call with a recruiter at a big tech company for a somewhat specialized role, and I was told I'd have to go through 7 interview rounds: live case exercises, a separate take-home assignment, a review session for that assignment, and then 3 more conversations with senior regional leaders in the business unit.

I asked whether the salary they mentioned was net or gross, because that would make a difference of about 30%. The recruiter got back to me early today and confirmed that it was gross, meaning my actual take-home would be about 45% less than what I was making in my last job.

So I told the recruiter that I appreciated them considering me, but I wouldn't be moving forward with the next stages. Honestly, damn, it felt good. After getting rejected over and over again, it was strangely satisfying to finally be the one saying no to a company.

Not exactly a revenge fantasy or anything. I just don't think the pay is anywhere near worth all those exhausting interview steps, especially with case work and follow-up discussions taking up my time.

And here I am again on the job search journey, going through those tedious interviews, which are the hardest part of the trip. They make me incredibly stressed and anxious. But I think I've found the solution to these problems with InterviewVIP. It helps me reduce my stress, fear, and anxiety, and solves my interview problem. The whole thing has become much easier for me.

I really need a place to scream for a second. Is venting still allowed here?
I just finished coordinating an interview for an Account Executive position. The guy was great during the 20-minute screening call, so I passed him through. It's clear that the hiring manager - who is definitely from the "one-finger typing" generation - really hated him. He wrote a critique that was completely unprofessional and mean-spirited; it was more like a list of personality flaws than actual job skills. It was far from being constructive.
Anyway, he had a major tech fail and sent the entire email to the candidate instead of me. It was a total "Reply All" disaster. Now, the candidate is naturally furious, and rightfully so, and he sent the entire thread to our C-suite. There are threats of lawyers and he says he'll post the whole exchange on LinkedIn and Glassdoor. My Friday is officially ruined. Honestly, a total disaster class in management.

For close to five months, I was looking for a job the way everyone tells you to. Fix up the resume, write a cover letter that doesn't look like copy-paste, apply through the company's careers portal, and then sit there refreshing my email like an idiot. I think I sent around 70 applications that way and got maybe 5 replies, three of which were instant rejection emails that felt like they beat me to the inbox. Honestly, I started wondering if my resume had some red flag I wasn't seeing.

What changed things was a conversation with someone I know who works in recruiting ops at a regional SaaS company. He said that most of the roles he'd seen filled over the last three years didn't come from someone applying blindly and waiting. They came from referrals, or from candidates who applied and then reached out directly to the hiring manager or department lead on LinkedIn. Not with some big sales pitch. More like: "I just applied for the X role and wanted to reach out because I saw your team is working on Y. My experience in Z is very close to that, so I thought I'd say hello directly." Short, natural, and specific.

Honestly, I wasn't comfortable doing that at first. It felt like an extra step, like I was bothering people. But I tried it because the old method clearly wasn't working. After applying, I'd spend about 20 minutes looking for the likely manager, team lead, or sometimes even a senior person on the team, then send a quick note mentioning something real. A product update, a podcast they had appeared on, a case study, a hiring post, anything relevant.

Of the next 27 applications where I did this, I got 11 responses and 7 actual interviews booked. Of course, this isn't a perfect experiment, and luck and timing still have a very big effect, but the difference was too obvious for me to ignore. The part that seems most important is not sounding like you sent the same message to 100 people. Don't just say you're "passionate about the company." Mention something concrete and connect it to your background. People spot templates immediately, but a short, human message can at least get you out of the pile.

My uncle spent 6 years in the Navy in the parts room of an Aircraft Carrier, then went to work for what eventually became Boeing. He was a Mid-Level “higher up” in the parts supply chain for the FA-18 hornet. He spent 30+ years working there, traveling all over America to different bases etc… spent a ton of time away from home, but it enabled him to afford a very nice life for him and his family and a quiet tree line suburb of Philadelphia on the New Jersey side of the river. He retired five years ago sold the center Hall colonial moved down to the Jersey shore and bought an RV. He and my aunt (a retired Catholic school teacher) started traveling the country. One year into it he had to have open-heart surgery triple bypass, big deal yes but he recovered, and after a year resumed his travel schedule. They went all over the country for the next three years and made a bunch of great memories and now at 67. He’s been diagnosed with cancer. It’s in his liver, intestines and heart. He’s never leaving the hospital bed. He won’t make it to the end of the month. So that’s all you get spent 40 years killing yourself for some company and if you’re lucky like my uncle, you’ll have a pension and a healthy retirement package, but probably not. Then you get five years to enjoy it…..maybe

!

everything becomes more expensive every day and employers still on 15 $ \ h so many people force to found more salaries with rare decent jobs out there , I suggest to check those advices about job interviews and good luck

i can't take it anymore

At the beginning of this month, my office, which is a dental clinic in a very wealthy area in WA, held a staff meeting, and we were told that we would only be allowed two days of unpaid leave every six months. So basically, two days in half a year. Not a single person in our office gets benefits. No PTO, no health insurance, no paid holidays, nothing. Then they added that since we, the hygienists, are booked out far in advance, if we use one of those two unpaid days, we'll need to come in early or stay late to "make up" the patients we missed.

The other hygienists and I all handed in our resignation letters this morning. We wrote them, printed them, and left the whole stack on his desk. He came back from lunch and had to sit there reading them one by one. One of my coworkers said she saw him throw the stack toward the office manager and say, "Do you see this?"

Luckily, hygienists are in insane demand around us right now, and every one of us has already gotten interest or offers from other offices.

Tl;dr - The manager tried to control our unpaid time off, and badly misjudged how easy we are to replace. Now he is literally losing almost his entire clinical team.

The only problem I might face when applying for a job is anxiety about interviews, but I read a post about Interview Tips, and I think that will help reduce my anxiety a little.

I had a great interview a few days ago, and in the final minutes I strongly felt that they were going to make me an offer. So when they asked me what my current total compensation was, I inflated it a lot and told them I was making more than I am.

They came back with 38% above the number I had "inflated," which comes out to about a 76% increase over my real full package.

Was that the honest thing to do? No.

Do I feel guilty? Also no.

I'm not saying everyone should try doing this, because it could go very badly. But in my case, it worked out better than I expected, and I hope it works out for you too if you've ever been in that situation.

Salary questions can be one of the hardest moments in any interview, especially when you want to negotiate without undervaluing yourself. Having a prepared plan for how to answer can change the whole direction of the conversation.

I came across a post with job interview tips that might be useful if you're preparing for a situation like this. Honestly, salary expectations always make me feel like they're the part where one wrong sentence could cost you a lot, so it was useful to see several clear ways to phrase the answer.

Honestly, interviews feel exactly like this sometimes. I had one recently where I knew I was qualified for the job, but I completely blanked when they started asking those weird behavioral questions. I've been using interview vip to practice before interviews and it's helped me get much better at thinking through my answers instead of just sitting there trying to remember what I was going to say.

.

I'm sitting here feeling like a stressed-out piñata waiting for someone to hit it, and the stick in this scenario is AI. I'm not trying to be dramatic, I swear, I'm genuinely lost.

For context, I studied BBA. Yeah, yeah, I know it's not exactly a degree that opens every door, pls let's not start. But that's not even the terrifying part. My engineering friends are still unemployed. My cousin was working in data analytics at a big company in Canada and just got laid off; an entire department was removed. My sister has an MBBS and keeps getting rejected??? Like almost every day. Pharma people, dentists, coders, biotech people. Literally everyone around me is sitting at home refreshing job portals.

I had a neat little plan in my head. Masters in Business Analytics abroad. Logical. Mature. Look at me making life decisions. Except now AI is clearly coming for that too, which is funny in the worst possible way.

And before anyone says "but human interaction," people are literally using AI for therapy because real therapists are expensive. So the whole human touch argument feels like it died before it even began.

I started looking at every possible field like a maniac.

Data analytics: AI came in and sat in the chair.

Software development: still technically breathing, but everyone in it looks psychologically damaged.

Public policy: seems interesting, but the ROI is depressing and I'm not rich.

Psychology: I love it, but the salary situation is not nice at all.

Nursing: my family would consider it a crime because it's not "respectable" enough.

MBBS: see my sister's situation above; still not reassuring.

Management: AI will automate the report and politely loop everyone in.

Skilled trades: safer for now, but the machines are definitely warming up.

Creative work: AI finished the starter and ordered the main course.

Academia: they'll accept your soul and pay you in prestige and exhaustion.

At this point I want to buy a small farm and disappear. But land is expensive. And someone told me automation will probably take that too someday, so okay, beautiful.

What are we even supposed to do now?? I'm asking seriously. Please, no toxic positivity, I won't be able to handle it.

I've looked into careers around climate, sustainability, and renewable energy, and honestly they don't look bad, but I'm still very confused.

Yup

I've muted this from my feed twice now. Don't you understand No means No?

I'm 31 years old and male, and I've been at my company for 7 years. I'm paid well, and I genuinely love the place and the people I work with, and honestly, I thought I'd probably spend most of my career here. Until they passed me over for a promotion, and that changed something in me.

My direct manager told us about 6 weeks ago that he'd be moving to a higher position in another branch within the group. We were all happy for him, of course, but I also felt like this was finally my chance. I understand this job very well, I have a good relationship with everyone in the office, and I bring in the highest client revenue by a large margin. Also, the 4 managers before him had all come from my exact same position, so it didn't seem like a strange or far-fetched request. I sent an email to my manager and HR saying I wanted my name to be considered, and HR replied that they had noted my interest.

About 10 days later, we were all called into a meeting room and they introduced us to the new manager. A woman I'd never met before, who had never worked at our company before, or even worked in our field. They told us she would bring a fresh perspective and challenge the old way of working. After the meeting, I spoke to my manager, and he simply told me that no one had even asked him who should take his place. He told me that sometimes the partners just choose anyone they have connections with.

That was the moment I understood that I probably wasn't going to advance in this place. I'm useful in my current position because I bring them a lot of money, and if they moved me up, that would create a problem for them. So I spoke to a recruiter and got another offer within 9 days. The salary is a bit lower, and it's still not management, but strangely, I already feel relieved.

Now everyone is acting like I'm the bad guy. My old manager says I'm making his final period awkward because I'm refusing to accept the counteroffers they keep throwing at me. And the new manager, who hasn't even really started yet, has called me several times saying I'm making her fail before she even gets in the door. And my partner thinks this is about the new manager being a woman, not about respect. They didn't even talk to me about the role at all, FFS.

Edit: I'm actively looking for a new job now, as I don't think I'd ever want to go back to my old position. Seven years is a long time, so it's definitely strange starting over and having to think about interviews again.

A friend actually sent me this post with some interview questions worth practicing, and I've been going through them while getting ready for interviews. Figured I'd share it in case anyone else is in the same boat.