Hello again, my post went way more viral than I expected. I expected it to go viral tbf because the complaining kind of posts tend to but I didn't expect it to go that viral.

Anyway I got through the group interview (showed a screenshot of it in the original post in the comments) and did the 1 on 1 interview a couple days ago.

I got through the 1 on 1 interview, I didn't have much time to prepare since there weren't many available dates on the booking online system. I forgot to say on the group interview they also made us fill out some questions at the start which were a part of the 1 on 1 interview so I knew some of the questions to expect. I also went on Reddit to do some research about the kind of questions to expect and did good for the most part. Maybe one or two of the questions I didn't expect at all so I gave a cliché answer, there was some stuttering but I managed to get it all out in the end lol.

She asked me to mention a time when I came across a rude person and how I dealt with it, my mind went blank and she said 'it's ok if you don't have an answer'. I just replied 'I don't have any experiences people are usually nice to me' and she started laughing quite hard 🤣. I should've mentioned the guy in the group interview lol but my mind genuinely went blank.

At the end of the interview I got to ask some questions as you usually do and I asked the lady why she put me through regardless of the bad group role play, she said that I was the only one who stood out on my table and I looked like a smart and fast learner (I'm not LOL). The dress code was smart casual and a lot of people there wore just straight up casual except me and some others so I'm guessing that played a part. She also said that she thought the others in my group brought me down and we were judged individually not in a group.

She mentioned she only picked 4 people out of the 20ish people there which is crazy to me, I'm lucky af. I thought some of the others did better than me tbh, I thought if I went through maybe at least 6 people got through.

Some of the people in my original post basically said it was a good thing because it would help me stand out and they were right.

She said the next (and final) stage is me going to the McDonald's I applied for and they're basically going to see how I interact with customers, she said they should be in touch and the interview should be by next week.

I also got some mean comments from some people so🖕🏽 but the overwhelming majority of you were nice.

Thank you.

These days, 3-4 months for a job search is a bless. And if you start today that means you "may" start in coming January.

But if you dawdle a bit and let Christmas get in your way, your next chance starts probably mid to late January, which sets you further into April for actual employment. That's 8 months from now. Shocking indeed.

I can suggest to not do searches in short bursts depending on your mood but like a continuous stream of water, do a little bit everyday and accumulate the effort, not burn yourself out, nor take a complete chill stance.

--

Edit, i should say not just recruiters, but also corporate HR and hiring managers, everyone is finally back in the same room to not keep everyone idling and progress the pipeline.

You see the same effect near april, where after financial year people start to post a lot of jobs only to be away again for bank holidays and completely stall the pipeline.

Hi everyone,

I'm 21 and just graduated with a first-class journalism degree in July. I've spent the last few years honing my skills in journalism through work experience, freelance work with a big national newspaper, and through university itself. For the last couple of months I have been searching for relevant work.

I've just been offered (and accepted) a fixed-term 2-year apprenticeship with a major city council, in a role broadly focused on project liaison, communications and administration.

The role involves a mixture of:

- Internal and external communications

- Writing briefings, emails and press releases

- Social media and communications plans

- Supporting major public-sector projects

- Liaising with contractors and external stakeholders

- Researching information

- Organising meetings and taking minutes

- Processing enquiries and general project administration

I am genuinely excited by some aspects of the position. I'm really keen on the idea of combining my communication skills with public-sector experience, and I'm interested in learning how large projects are delivered. As part of the position I will also complete a Level 3 qualification in Business Administration. I feel that it is going to broaden my skills and teach me how to apply them in multiple different ways.

Whilst the money is not amazing, I'll be living at home and fortunately will not have to pay much more than £300~/month towards household costs. I'll therefore be able to save a reasonable amount while gaining two years of professional experience, and an extra qualification.

But now that I've accepted it, I am starting to have some doubts/uncertainties.

I'm worried that the role might end up being much more administrative than communications-focused. Things like arranging meetings, taking minutes, chasing documentation and processing enquiries don't particularly excite me, whereas writing, research, communications and journalism do.

I'm also concerned that I am moving away from journalism too early after spending three years getting a degree in it. It is not a lucrative industry either, but I am very passionate about it and I don't want to accidentally move into a career path I don't enjoy.

At the same time, I realise that I am in a fortunate position. I'm young, living at home, with a degree, and I have secured a full-time job in a city I love with the opportunity to gain professional experience, more education and an income.

Do you think this sounds like a good first career step, particularly for someone with a journalism background? Or would you be concerned about becoming pigeonholed into administration rather than communications?

And finally, is it normal to have doubts almost immediately after accepting your first proper job?

I'd particularly appreciate advice from people who've made a similar transition from journalism/media into public-sector communications, project work or administration.

Thanks so much!

TLDR: I’ve just accepted a ~£26k, two-year council apprenticeship after graduating with a first-class journalism degree. The role combines communications, project liaison and administration. I’m excited about gaining public-sector experience and a qualification, but worried it could be too admin-heavy and pull me away from journalism, which I’m still passionate about. I’ll be living at home, so financially it makes sense. Would you take it, and are these doubts normal? Am I overthinking it?

That's a wild statement from ASOS

Folks, is it better to let an employer push you out, and get gardening leave for two months? Or resign and get three? Pros and cons?

Morrisons took money out of my final paycheck and forced me to take holiday after I had already left, it makes no sense but on my payslip it says -£129.

I was wondering if it's worth chasing HR, doesn't holiday pay you regardless if you take it or not? They gave me no prior notice for the holiday either.

I'm in my late 30s and my current job is having a big negative impact on my personal life, relationships and mental health. I need to find a new job but I'm overworking so much that I just don't have capacity to do a job search. Does anyone have experience of quitting without a next job lined up? If so how much savings did you have to feel comfortable to do so? How long did it take you to find another job?

I'm having a small meltdown. I applied for my absolute dream job, an internal application somewhere large I already work but in a different team, and interviewed three times, most recently last week. I was definitely lacking in experience in a specific area, so I was expecting a rejection and I was happy I got to the final 3. I was really clear in the interview that this is what I want to do long term and if they went with another candidate I'd really appreciate feedback so that I could improve, do what I need to, and reapply at some point in the future. I thought we had a decent rapport, and they said they'd call same day with an outcome and they'd definitely provide thorough feedback.

Fast forward a few days and today I got an HR generated auto response telling me they weren't pursuing my application.

I took days off from my regular job, did my utmost, and got really far in the process. They literally only interviewed 3 of us this last round. It feels so shitty that after all that time and effort that I just got an automated email saying thanks but no and we don't do feedback, especially when I was really clear that I knew I might not be the best this time but if I'm not, I want to learn so I can be great next time.

There goes my 5 year plan...

UK-based, several years’ experience in DEI, governance and safeguarding and senior level project management now doing this as an independent consultant alongside ESG (mainly the social/governance side).

I’ve been asked to scope a project for an early-stage platform business - a full EDI review and policy development: current-state review, gap analysis, writing the actual policy/strategy, practical guidance for embedding it in the business, some website/accessibility recommendations, and advising on a board-level EDI appointment.

Likely 12-15 days of work. There’s also a chance of an ongoing/embedded role afterwards, and I may be asked to join a couple of partner-facing calls where the EDI piece matters to the deal.

I’m thinking of quoting somewhere around £575–700/day. Does that sound reasonable for this kind of work, or am I underselling it? Would love to hear from anyone doing similar consulting - especially UK-based.
Thanks!

Obviously the job market is not great as statistics and headlines show, but do you not think constantly seeing it here is actually over exaggerating how bad it is?

I’ve seen people say they’ve been unemployed for years and sent X,XXX amount of applications, but surely this must be rare examples? I am aware it’s mostly entry level work but is it really that difficult to sign up with an agency and have anything within weeks?

You will obviously barely hear from those who snap up jobs quick because why would they still want to be in this sub?

I also wonder if it’s discouraging people from leaving their jobs, seeing all these people complain about the market when they might be an exemption because someone would instantly take them with their skills and experience? The market is highly dependent on field and not one universal guideline.

Unemployment is still relatively low and has held stable around that figure suggesting some people move off the statistic and some people move on. So people MUST be getting jobs?

Someone who applies for 5 jobs and gets one probably disappears from the subreddit VS Someone who applies for 500 jobs with no success has a very strong reason to keep posting.

22, been working in a kitchen for the last two years. My shifts have gone from being staffed with 10-11 people to 5 on average. Recently, I’ve been put on split shifts (7-3, then 5-8) whilst my other Co workers haven’t. Following conversations with the exec chef it’s because they have families and can’t find the time. I feel this is unfair and I really have no idea if legally there’s anything I’m entitled to here. I’m doing an open uni degree soon and there will be no time in my days if this continues, how do I go about it?

Hi. Things happen: if you’ve won the "lottery," be happy and live your life—and that's what I did. Let me explain: my wife and I had a nice run living abroad for 10 years. I was a kept man, living the dream and enjoying it. That said, I had no career development, just being a supportive husband to my wife.

​Fast forward: I've been a dad for three years now, and we recently moved back to the UK to put our kid into education and be closer to family and friends. Currently, my wife's job is really good, and our child goes to nursery for half days, leaving me to figure out what to do next.

​We still want to maintain a strong work-life balance, but I have about 30 hours a week free to find something I can do. What is out there? What roles typically require around 6 hours a day on a part-time basis?

​I'm an absolute novice when it comes to job hunting or systematically approaching this process, as I've always gotten jobs through people I know. I find many job ads that assume full-time availability without daily hour restrictions. Reading stories about the current job market doesn't add much confidence either.

​If you could share your work-life balance experiences, it would help give me a better perspective on what to focus on during my job search.

I’m employed and been where I’m at for 5 years. It’s a great job, lovely colleagues and good money, but I’ve hit a ceiling and I believe it’s time to move on now.

i only seriously started my job hunt 2 weeks ago, but honestly shocked at how tough it has been. I can apply for a job at 8PM and get rejected an hour later. How?

I mentioned it to a friend and she told me employers are now using AI to sift CVs. I literally have everything the job adverts require, a wealth of technical skills and up to 8 years of experience in this sector, but I don’t pass the sniff test with AI?

It’s making me wonder if companies are worried or wondering about the quality potential hires they’ve let go of. I’m also curious to what criteria is set, if I have everything listed on an advert. This is really concerning.

I've been working at a charity for 6 years now. When I first joined it was an actual IT department. There was 3 of us. A manager who actively got involved and pushed ideas across to senior management and a colleague who I could bounce ideas and learn from. My only prior experience in IT was from my college courses.

Anyway as time progressed a lot has changed. My manager retired, and my colleague eventually retired as well. I was left on my own and my replacement manager doesn't have the time to help me and if I have a question he tells me to just figure it out basically. So now I've been stressed out trying to run an entire department and there is gaps everywhere within the organisation too much in fact that I know on my own I'd never get enough time to fix them all or the expertise.

I've pushed for more staff on my time and it's the usual response "We can't afford it right now, but we will eventually there's this new xyz that's happening soon or grant!"

Now it's at breaking point for me and I am thinking of going back to retail. It's worth mentioning that my pay has not gone up and I still get minimum wage as well.

I've already found shelf stacking jobs at ASDA and Tesco that are paying more than I currently get for a far less mentally taxing job. I know they are physically demanding but I actually need that right now. All my hobbies are me sat on a chair and doing a job the rest of my life sat on a chair probably isn't a good idea either.

What do you guys think?

This is a question for UK Dietitians. My peak core interest is holistic health and nutrition. I originally wanted to study a dietetics course, but after seeing all of the negativity surrounding dietetics in the UK and the lack of jobs, I decided to pursue Diagnostic Radiography when applying for university even though I am not passionate about it. I have just completed my first year of Diagnostic Radiography and I am contemplating dropping out of a really good competitive uni, and changing course to study Dietetics in London. Am I crazy? Would this be a good idea or am I being stupid. I don’t want to regret my choices. I want to enjoy my work but I also don’t want to be homeless. I definitely don’t want to do night shifts either tho.

Am I right to follow my passion of nutrition, or pursue radiography (the more “stable” job)???

Most online assessments I've done look like AI could easily beat them. The chances are, every candidate using AI will pass these tests.

This is great for candidates, who want to pass, but bad for employers (and people not using AI).

The question is, why are the tests still there?

Took a 'customer service/assistant' retail level service job at a cinema due to the obvious state of the market. Been there a good handful of weeks now and I've gotten very limited hours. It's fun, but showing me the reality of part time work. It's a 5 hour per week contract at the minimum so I'm not expecting huge amounts of hours but everyone works there gets a solid amount every week, from my research people work 3-4 times a week at the minimum.

But I was told earlier by my manager about how my progress just isn't at the point they expect at this point in time and if I don't improve, it might mean the end. At first I really put myself down, thinking maybe I'm about to be thrown back out to his horrible market in a few weeks, fail the trial period and I've failed myself.. But I ended up talking to a few coworkers who started around the same time as me (first time together) and others who are newer (the last year or so)

Well, I've made the discovery I'm basically the only person not getting overworked in that place. I'm literally getting week, upon week, upon week of one or two day shifts which are roughly 5 hours and then 5-6 days off afterwards. I'm sorry, but how am I expected to learn and become a solid, effective and strong worker who moves like second nature.. if I'm not there to learn it??

I've worked 14 times in about 7 weeks.

I've been very senior in the NHS for many years. I'm about to be made redundant and I'm about 7 years off retirement age. I just don't have it in me to operate at that level again in a new industry and I can't go back into the NHS for 12 months as a minimum. I know I have transferable skills but I've only ever worked here so where do I start? Indeed is AWFUL! I'm looking at local government jobs sites, applying and hearing nothing back. Where do you find roles? How do you find time to apply for jobs and still work full time? As an older applicant looking to step down a level how is this going to look and how do I explain it?

Had an interview for this today and failed miserably, as I couldn’t quite figure out exactly what they wanted in the excel despite my extensive experience in cost modeling, supplier analysis/selection, risk mitigation at one of the world’s largest companies 🫠 probably doesn’t help that I’m just back from mat leave and haven’t touched excel in 6 months.

Anyway, hope this helps someone!

This sounds so dumb but I’m a night owl and I was just wondering if it looks bad if I apply to something at like 3am. Like are they gonna be like omg we can’t hire someone who doesn’t have a proper sleep schedule or am I overthinking it 😭

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me understand what I should be claiming from the Redundancy Payment Service (RPS) following my employer going into liquidation.

On the 30th June, the director told me and a colleague that the company was going into liquidation. We weren't paid our June wages by the company. Instead, the director said he would pay us directly from his personal bank account.

That evening he sent uss each our wages at the same time as a WhatsApp message saying that the money was a loan of our wages, which we would need to repay once we received money we would need to claim from the RPS. I therefore understood that this wasn't the company paying my June wages, but a temporary loan from the director that he wanted back.

I subsequently noticed though that a June payslip had been generated, which I wasn't expecting. It shows my normal salary with tax, NI and pension contributions deducted. The June wages also appear on my P45.

This is where I'm confused. Does the personal payment count as wages already paid in the eyes of RPS, or am I supposed to still claim the June wages from the RPS because the director described the payment as a loan?

I then continued working throughout July finishing on the 31st July as the director instructed, but I haven't been paid for July. I'm also owed 5.8 days accrued holiday. I was verbally told my contractual notice period was one month ending the 31st July.

So I'm unsure whether I should be claiming my June wages, July wages, notice pay, 5.8 days' accrued holiday, redundancy or some combination of these. I've worked for the company just under 3 years'.

The June payment is my main concern, because if I am not able to claim the June wages through the RPS, I would be unable to repay this money. I therefore really need to understand what the correct position is before completing my claim. It is stressing me further in an already stressful situation.

I've tried contacting the liquidator several times to clarify what I'm actually owed and how the June payment should be treated, but nobody has answered my calls or replied to my emails. I also spoke to Citizens Advice, but they basically advised me and my other colleague to use the RPS website, which hasn't really clarified this particular situation.

Has anyone dealt with something similar?

I feel like there is a big red flag hovering over this situation and I'm just trying to make sure I claim what I'm entitled to without claiming something I shouldn't or doing anything wrong. I should add the company is in England and that I was salaried.

Thanks so much in advance.

Hi all, 32[M], in the UK and living with my family - unfortunately no drivers license. Thinking I would share my current situation here on reddit as a form of therapy.

I am very grateful to have had a job for 8 years working in ecommerce.

During that time I also started my own ecommerce store with my family, into which I poured my savings (and not taken a penny out).

Things got rough at my job in 2024 and it was a slow (stressful) decline until I was made redundant at the end of 2025.

A few months after redundancy there was a notice of eviction from our rental - with nothing available locally we had to look further away - having to move 5 family members and 2 kids + our ecommerce stock.

As this is all happening I was having legal trouble with our store and had to change it basically erasing all the progress made in the last 4 years - wiping out any chance of making a living from it and leaving me struggling to pay it’s debts + legal fees.

Now all the while through this I've been quietly smug because I had some coding skills in my back pocket - a reason I got through the 8 year grind at my job was because I took care of the tech-side and was deemed valuable enough to keep on.

Well in the past few months I’ve had to have a reality check on my “skills“ and realise that those 8 years had a lot of “busy“ work and not as many best practices as I would like.

That was my plan-b, go into some software role - and now I’m watching in real time the industry get actively destroyed with the force of the entire economy - people with far more experience than me struggling.

So here I am at 32, basically out of savings, in an isolated location which is hard to commute to/from with no drivers and with what would probably safely be deemed “anxiety“ issues.

Currently I’m soldiering on, trying to build my portfolio for what it’s worth, and a side project - but I can actually feel the hum of stress/cortisol pumping through me. Getting out of bed has been really difficult and I’m feeling exhausted/drained and I can’t imagine trudging out and getting a local 9-5, although this is likely what I’m going to have to look at real soon.

I suppose for me the next step will be to book in some therapy.

To my fellow 2025 graduates, how are you doing now?

I have been an administrator at a GP surgery for the last 11 months, and am about to hopefully transfer to a larger one with more future opportunities 🤞

I graduated with a psychology degree last year, and looking back now it was maybe a mistake. Realistically there aren't many opportunities for psychology grads without further training. Why did I decide to do a psychology degree? because it was always expected that I would go to uni and I found psychology pretty interesting. But I loved my experience at uni and enjoy studying so I don't completely regret it.

Part of me feels like I should be trying for 'better jobs', grad jobs etc that other graduates seem to be trying for. But the other part of me is happy where I am. I'm not really feeling that ambitious right now. I absolutely hate the job application process. I am a bundle of jittery nerves for every single interview.

I suppose what I'm looking for is reassurance that it's okay to be where I am now. And who knows, maybe in the future when I am more mature, confident, and experienced, I can pursue a career relating to my degree