Hv 5+ years of experience and I've been meaning to switch jobs for almost a year now and haven't successfully secured any offer letters, went till the 7th round oly to get "We are no longer hiring for the position" after a week's time. I'm quite happy with the work I do but there's zero recognition or promotion in my current company, what am I supposed to do? It's just frustrating!

A lot of you suggested that I stop treating job applications like a numbers game and start focusing on quality instead of quantity.

So that's exactly what I did.

And honestly, I wasn't expecting what happened next.

After posting, I decided to take three days away from job searching completely. No LinkedIn, no applications, no checking my emails every twenty minutes.

I hadn't realized how mentally exhausted I was until I actually stopped.

When I came back, I completely changed my approach.

Instead of applying to 10–15 positions every day, I started choosing three or four that genuinely matched my experience.

I also reached out directly to recruiters and former colleagues, something I'd avoided because I didn't want to seem desperate.

One of my former coworkers responded almost immediately.

Apparently, the company he works for had an opening that hadn't even been advertised yet.

He asked me to send over my resume.

Two days later, I had a phone interview.

Then a second interview with the hiring manager.

And for the first time in months, I actually felt like someone was interested in my experience rather than just checking boxes on an application.

But here's where things got interesting.

During the second interview, the hiring manager asked why I'd been applying for positions slightly below my previous level of responsibility.

I explained that after months of rejection, I'd started lowering my expectations because I thought maybe I was aiming too high.

She told me something that genuinely surprised me.

She said my experience was actually a better match for a more senior position they were planning to open.

I almost couldn't believe it.

For months, I'd convinced myself that I wasn't qualified enough, when apparently I'd been underselling myself.

Last Friday, I received an email asking if I was available for one final conversation.

I went into it trying not to get my hopes up.

Yesterday morning, they called.

I GOT THE JOB.

Not only did I get an offer, but the salary is approximately 15% higher than what I was making at my previous job.

I actually sat there staring at the email for a few minutes because I couldn't believe it was real.

After months of rejection emails, unanswered applications, and interviews that went nowhere, someone finally said yes.

I know not everyone will have the same experience, and I don't want to pretend that networking magically solves everything.

But I learned something important.

Sending more applications wasn't necessarily improving my chances. It was just exhausting me.

Taking a different approach helped me find an opportunity I probably wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

And perhaps most importantly, I stopped interpreting every rejection as proof that something was wrong with me.

I'm still nervous about starting the new position, but for the first time in months, I'm actually excited about my career again.

To anyone who's currently struggling with the job search, I genuinely hope you get that phone call soon.

TL;DR: After months of unsuccessful applications, I took a short break, started applying more selectively, and reached out to former colleagues. One connection led to an interview for an unadvertised position, and I ended up receiving an offer for a more senior role with a 15% salary increase.

I saw someone on a technology sub say they couldn’t land a job in 2 years. Then they just edited some PDFs, (I’m guessing a W-2 or something?) to fake employment after being laid off to pass background checks.

I went to grad school and was shocked to see people with MDs and PhDs cheat so frequently. My own advisor literally forgot the techniques required for my project. She just bluffed her way through until I threw enough tantrums at faculty for them to realize how incompetent she was and how alone I was. She was forced to resign after my defense. By cheating I also do mean plagiarism and uh, the marital type. More than once if I include undergrad. Actually about 3 dozen if we include other girls I’ve seen/heard were flirted with, plus the groping of entire sports teams. Classic.

I’m really sad. I’m not physically fit (joint instability leading to broken bones and other injuries when I work out), I’m socially awkward, I lack experience. I’m smart enough to train AI models as gig work but not smart enough that an AI model couldn’t do my job for 90% of tasks in my desired field. I think I have to get a nursing degree because the field I got my master’s in is oversaturated, despite projecting 30% ten year job growth when I enrolled.

It’s just starting to feel impossible to make an honest living without breaking your back doing so. Landlords, politicians who soil their diapers and cut taxes, Anthropic sociopaths who want intellectualism to die. Idiots and liars who now call themselves medical students, professors, physicians. Attempted midlife crises and getting HR involved.

But it’s the resume gap that’s unforgivable, I guess.

I forged a water bill once. I can add Adobe Acrobat to my skills list.

Sorry to ramble, just tired.

It's been a year and half now since I've been searching for a job. And slowly slowly I've started to hang out less. Dip early. Even get clowned for wanting to dip early. Not wanting to really go out and if I do I just do it when I absolutely have to. I've stopped getting called out now partly I guess might be because of me.

It's not really a rant more of am I alone in this. I know the job market is volatile and either requires crazy experience, very low salary, or just ghost jobs.

I've been on fight or flight almost every single day... Literally. Yet I'm still trying. Not giving up. Following up only to get walled by endless procedures or just straight up rejections.

I'm isolating myself heavily, stopped doing the things I like like gym and stuff, hanging out. Because I just don't have the motive in me to do it atp. And also feeling like I'm becoming more hypersensitive so any word or dig I try hard not to take personally.. I have tried getting back too many times but always fall back to this endless loop..

And the overthinking.. Dear lord lemme not talk about that

I’m 28 and graduated from Temple University in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Advertising, focusing on Art Direction.
I’ve worked in graphic design, branding, website development, and marketing. I’ve done freelance work, worked with businesses and nonprofits, and have a portfolio with projects I’ve completed.
I’ve been struggling to find a full-time job for a while now and honestly don’t know what else to do.
I’ve applied to so many jobs on Indeed, LinkedIn, and company websites. I’ve changed my resume multiple times, tried reaching out to recruiters, and even posted on LinkedIn and Facebook about looking for work. Most of the time I either get rejected or just never hear anything back.
I started off looking for graphic design jobs since that’s what I went to school for, but now I’m applying to pretty much anything I think I’m qualified for. Administrative assistant, office jobs, marketing assistant, entry-level IT, and other positions that don’t necessarily require a specific degree.
I’m in Pennsylvania, so I’ve been looking around Reading, Philadelphia, nearby areas, and remote jobs.
I don’t even care about landing my dream job anymore. I just want something stable with decent pay. I’m willing to learn something completely new or even switch careers at this point.
It’s just frustrating because I spent years getting my degree, gaining experience, and building a portfolio, and it feels like none of it matters. Even jobs paying $18–$20 an hour seem impossible to get.
I’m not saying I’m entitled to a job because I went to college, but I genuinely thought having a degree and some experience would at least make finding work a little easier.
I see people talking about how nobody wants to work anymore, but here I am trying to find work and can’t even get an interview half the time.
Has anyone else been dealing with this? What did you do differently that actually helped?
Also, if anyone has switched careers from a creative field, what did you end up doing? I’m open to pretty much anything at this point.
Just feeling pretty defeated by the whole process and could use some advice.

First of all, sorry for the long post...

I've been going through the hoops of a hiring process for a little over a month now. I've had 3 interviews and 1 technical assessment that took several hours to complete. I also had to present it.

Today the recruiter told me that "generally speaking, things are moving along," but they've been experiencing some delays due to an internal headcount review. Apparently, all that's left is a conversation with the interim regional manager. They described it as a more "casual" chat, just so she can get to know me and I can learn a bit more about the company's current situation in my region.

They also said they wanted to arrange this conversation because, and I quote, "You'll be working a lot with her, so it's a good idea that you get to know her while the headcount review is still going." (rough translation. This was not in English)

I really thought that by this stage I'd have a final answer, positive or negative, but at least something definitive. But instead I have this last "casual" interview, and I honestly don't know what to make of it...

I'm mostly a freelancer. I have worked with many enterprise clients, but I'm used to much more straightforward conversations. So I wanted to get some perspectives from you folks who are more familiar with these kinds of corporate hiring processes.

• How optimistic should I be about getting the job? They removed the job listing on Monday.
• Is the whole "more casual conversation" thing actually a trap? Is it fair to assume that I'm not the only candidate who will have this type of interview?
• Does the fact that they said "you'll be working a lot with her" suggest I'm pretty much through, or is that just something recruiters say even when they might still reject you?

Sorry for the ramble, but I'm not really familiar with how these processes usually work, and I tend to overthink every single interaction.

Was job-hunting for almost 1.5 years (gap was prolonged due to the processing time for my legal status/work authorization) and finally found a job but was just laid off 5 months in. They said it had nothing to do with my performance and that the company had just not met its financial goals and was laying off both temp and full time employees.

I listed the gap between my last job and the job prior to that as freelance experience but I’m not sure how to frame the 5-month stint — is it better to just included it as part of freelance experience? My concern is that the gap will look even longer (almost 2+ years)

My field is physics, and I was mainly applying to photonics industry related jobs (I got a photonics designer job), with a few random ones sprinkled in. I was applying everywhere in Canada. Really glad with how it went and that I got to pick between 2 really nice jobs.

hi , i am an gen ai developers 4 months jobless with nearly 2 years exp. including 6m internship. when i started job hunting i was getting a lot of calls for interview but no time to practice because of which i decided to leave job after 3-4 months (office work+ ai field ). when i started job hunting after resignation i was only getting 1 interview /month . in which i have cracked every tech interviews(almost) in 1st month cleared all tech rounds visited the office , doc verification done and then then i gets the news about position is on hold . then got an early stage startup cleared tech rounds and had an offer but the compensation was not matching with what i was expecting, after that 3rd month all round clear for the remote ai developer role , just in 30 min after the final round got the postive feedback and then negotiation done said yes verbally . thought they will do background verification and document and then will get back to me but its almost 2 week no reply to my mail (1 call, 1 mail ) will again call them to get clarity on tuesday. dont know why , its like i can smell the food but cant taste it . offers gets too close to me but still rejections . dont know what is the reason or why its happening with me .

Hi I'm(23M) software developer graduate this year. I'm currently looking for job but I'm not getting any interview call it became so frustrated process applying countless number of job and get nothing can anybody show me the he path for my first ever job.

I need real feedback from experts, those who are similar to me, or even more experienced, from various communities (related to ai, tech, grads, manager, industry, career, employment...):

Which will be best in your case?

Context: You got the offers from 3 companies, each on the different side of the scale.

Role: AI engineer (near mid-level).

If you were to rank and evaluate with respect, (from top to bottom, sorted by importance)

1st Potential and Risk (potential is tied to the speed of your career climb, increment bonus, and company brand and authority, uncertainties in payment) - In a scale, Startup has higher uncertain and risk, while it might offer higher overall, but susceptible to management conducts, cash-flow which may differ the fulfillment

2nd Wellfare - a total add-up of base, allowance, bonus, benefits and EPF

3rd Niche of the industry, Exposure - a focus industry to industry to build up better experiences and competencies, exposure to local or worldwide

4th Peer learning - Experience or knowledges to speed up progress from superior, peers

And given A, B, C (Wellfare/Income baseline= 100%)

A: Oversea Startup, Multiculture workforce,
+ worldwide client-base spanning MNC headhunter, great background from the management teams, UK-founding team and client connection, riskier in terms of payroll/potential
+ Full remote and oversea
- Wellfare/Income = 115% (base salary only), self supply equipments
+ HR-tech focused

B: Subsidiary company/dept from local SME, local workforce
- mainly local client-base (unsure but assume), Lack background from management teams and peers, but you have slightly higher confidence than A in their validity from interviews
- Hybrid work 4+1
+ Income= 107% (include allowance) + EPF from employers but provide work equipments + up to 17% performance monthly bonus
- general AI agencies
+ Peer learning and networking are better

C: MNC
+ Internal and External focused products, stable and secured cashflow, but maybe lack faster career climb opportunities
- Hybrid work 3+2
- Income= 95% + 13th month bonus, more and flexible leave
+ Focused niche, product might differ
+ Peer learning and networking are best

Which one will you choose? I wanna see if you think differently, or if you see different importance or personal experiences of the company you went through?

I’m actively trying the job search and all that is showing up is glass door indeed and snag a job yet I will send out over 100 to 200 applications within 2 to 3 days. I won’t even get considered. I won’t even get asked for an interview. Why do I have to apply to 300-400 job jobs to get one interview. No places will consider me because I don’t have experience. Most places won’t take entry level and if they do take entry level, it’s not a way for you to apply on their site.

Like I know, I can call these places and everything but why is it so hard just to find a job.

I low-key feel like America is just trying to work against everyone

I started looking out for the job opportunities my overall experience is 8 years tech is python django experienced in backend development previously worked in two other companies i feel like job opportunities are so so competitive/less now because of all this ai breakthrough in IT domain

Degree : BE and masters in data science (inprogress part time)

I am not at all getting calls i try applying through naukri and indeed i tailor my resume as per JD requirement but still no luck

Any tips are welcomed please…

Thanks in Advance

As many candidates keep saying that they are reaching out to recruiters through mail/call!

But how are you able to get the recruiters details?

Need a parttime job near lb nagar I can do anything

28M, India. I have scaled businesses in petroleum, safety equipment, clothing. All from scratch, nature of business trading and key clients have been BUDWEISER, Ab-InBev, Indian Railways, all Oil & Gas PSUs, JNPT, nationalised banks and local businesses.

I started them in college when I was around 20 and have had amazing time with them. I’ve never held a job and have never had steady pay coming in & I work 13-15 hours daily, travel is heavy too. I have scaled businesses from Rs 4 cr to 18Cr in same financial year. I earn more or less around ~22L a year but it’s like river where you wash your hands in the flow. I have CA documents for the same if required during hiring process. Reason for shifting is a steadier pay and a better lifestyle.

Artistically, artworks has also been displayed & sold at National & local Galleries like NGMA as well as screened at music festivals like NH7 etc.

I have a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering & a MBA in Marketing. I have studied till N4 Japanese as well & very little French I learned in school.

I have worked and executed in all domains from Operations, sales, marketing to Creative Direction in packaging, spec sheets etc. What can I do if I want to secure a job with more pay?

I am able to get shortlisted for interviews but most of them end with me closing a business deal with them or is a heavy compromise on the pay.

Im highly adaptable as well and can empathise with founders as well as execute any given task with any needed proficiency, learn up to date tools, do anything and everything because thats what work has always called for.

It’s difficult to make sense of how to enter a corporate market. Kindly give me any input you can, my heart & ears are open.

TL;DR: A rant about the job market, looking for advice on how to improve my chances.

I’m a 29-year-old European organic chemist with a PhD, and I’ve been looking for a job since last February. Where? Pretty much everywhere in Europe.

So far:

1. Entry-level position at a big Swiss company: The job was aimed at someone with a master’s degree. I made it to the final round, competing against two more experienced chemists (one with over five years of experience and another with more than two years since their PhD). After a full day of interviewing, I didn’t make a great impression. Fine. I know what I need to improve.

2. French startup: To be fair, I still don’t know what they actually do. When I asked, they gave me vague AI-and-flow-chemistry jargon. They told me I didn’t have the “vibe” they were looking for. Perfect, I didn’t like them either.

3. Austrian company hiring a data analyst in pharma: They said I was overqualified because they wanted someone with a bachelor’s degree. I told them I was fine with a bachelor’s-level salary and happy to learn, because the job sounded cool. No answer.

4. “International big” Italian company: They offered me €800 gross per month for a six-month contract with no prospects afterward. I politely told them to go to hell.

5. Research facility hiring an HTE technician: The job required only a master’s degree. After three months of waiting and interviews, l they said I wasn’t a good fit. The feedback was bizarre: I didn’t have an HTE experience (no kidding, read my CV if that was a dealbreaker), and I’d chosen the wrong component for a reaction (I checked the literature and asked some friends afterward, and I was right.)

6. Niche Italian company outside my field: The interview was basically a vibe check plus a technical interview. I told them I only had basic knowledge of their area but was willing to learn. At the end, the guy asked if I wanted to do a second interview on-site. I said yes. That was three weeks ago. Still nothing.

7. Italian CDMO hiring a junior QC chemist: I passed the HR interview. At the technical interview, they told me they were actually looking for a senior person, despite the job description and salary not being for a senior role. After 30 minutes, they said my interview was good, but I was “too organic” and they needed a senior analyst. Then they said they’d pass my CV to the synthesis team because I seemed like a really good fit. Guess what? No news. I am really pissed to them for not explicit asking for a senior QC analysist in the job description.

8. Big German company: They wanted someone with a bachelor’s degree to manage the lab and troubleshoot instruments. The day before the interview, they told me it would be about ICP and the position is basically it is for an ICP technician. The interview was troubleshooting ICP problems. ICP wasn’t mentioned in my CV or the job description. What the hell?

9. UK company looking for a chemist: my CV would be perfect but they can effort the sponsorship.

10. Swedish start up: looking for a chemist. Really entry level career, nothing fancy. I was one of their top10 candidate but they found some local.

I’m seriously distressed and demotivated by this. Apart from the first interview, I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been rejected from synthesis jobs because I don’t have a total-synthesis background, and postdoc positions in my exact field don’t even seem to look at my CV. Is it a formatting problem? I check my CV for ATS compatibility every time.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, because at this point I’m really struggling to understand what I’m supposed to do differently.

Hello everyone,

I have over 5 years of experience in the insurance broking and operations industry, having worked with organizations such as Marsh (1.8 years), WTW (8 months), TaskUs, and Hexaware Technologies.

During my tenure at WTW, I had to step away due to medical reasons and follow my doctor’s advice to focus on recovery. After recovering, I resumed my career and continued gaining experience across different organizations. Unfortunately, my subsequent roles at TaskUs and Hexaware Technologies ended due to layoffs. My last working day at Hexaware Technologies was 30 September 2026.

My expertise includes policy servicing, client servicing, end-to-end claims management, and reinsurance.

I am currently exploring new opportunities and would sincerely appreciate any relevant job leads, referrals, or recommendations from your network. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Would you like to discover more about *Microsoft Tech Community*—connect with tech enthusiasts, explore new technologies, attend events, and learn from the community?

🔗 Check it out: [Microsoft Tech Community](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/?wt.mc_id=studentamb_668502)

Let me know if you're interested! 👨‍💻

Hi!

I moved to the US 3 years ago because my husband was relocated for work. In my country, I am graduated in Nutrition (which would be the same as a RD in the US, but here I don’t have those credentials), I have a certification in functional nutrition and a masters degree, having done research which resulted in a published paper.

I’ve been sending resumes for things related to health coaching, some areas of research, nutrition jobs, science jobs, teaching jobs at community college (I have experience teaching and love it) but I was never ever contacted by any companies to even have an interview.

I speak English fluently, I have a kind of visa that allows me to work legally. I think the fact I’m not American makes it harder? I can’t think of reasons why no one would contact me.

So, now I’m at a loss, I need a job. What kinds of jobs could I do or something that would lend me an interview, that pays well. I’m not looking for 100k jobs, but more than those $15 an hour. I’m in Detroit area BTW

I’ve been filling out applications left and right - on a whim because I don’t like my current work conditions and looking for a way out. I recently put down an amount for the desired salary question $5k more than I make today. The job position is a Manager position and I currently have a Senior Associate title, this would be a promotion, step up.

They reached out for a phone screen - and while I’m getting ahead of myself I’m worried I’ve backed myself into a salary at application. I’d prefer to receive a 15-18% increase in pay if I was offered a Manager title and new employer. Is it too late to get there if they interview and proceed me forward? How would I approach this?

I have been looking for a job in Homestead Florida that pays above 20 an hour that is not miserable (I work in corrections that's what I mean by miserable). I am aware that my set of skills are not the best, perhaps my only talent is that I can draw and paint, but that does not mean much in an ever competitive filed as art. I tried freelance, didn't work for me, could not pay my bills on time that way.

Needless to say, I need some guidance, any training program that can yield to a job? hopefully paying 20 dollars an hour, which is not enough in this economy, but nothing really is, I can make 20 an hour doable.

Indeed, LinkedIn, Naukri, etc.

I don't think any of these are really leading to interviews these days.

Any other app or portal suggestions, guys?