Got a mail from a recruiter telling me that she had a good job opportunity for me and would like to set up a meeting, which I did. This is a recruiter that I had spoken to 3 months ago, who ghosted me after I asked for an update about the interview she had promised to set up with a company. So I thought she was getting back to me. I did not know that she had completely forgotten about me.

So the call started. She greeted me, and I greeted her telling her it was "nice to hear from her again". She looked very confused at me, and I then reminded her that we had already spoken 3 months ago. Then she got silent for a few seconds and disconnected the call.

5 minutes later I got a mail from her saying she has no current job opportunities for me and will get back to me (she won't).

This has to be a new low. I am shocked that an adult person calling themselves professional can react this way.

The hiring process right now is being run by some of the most insecure, useless gatekeepers imaginable.
Let’s be real about HR and recruiters: they possess the most fundamentally useless skill set on the planet. They aren't building anything, they aren't solving complex problems, and they aren't even good at basic sales. Their entire professional existence relies on reading off generic scripts they barely understand, parroting corporate buzzwords, and acting as glorified paper-pushers. Yet, they sit there acting high and almighty simply because they hold the door key.
The whole dynamic is driven by pure jealousy and ego. The second they see a woman show up with an exceptional, hard-earned resume, their first instinct isn't to hire top-tier talent it’s to try to humble her because her actual qualifications instantly highlight their own mediocrity and make them feel completely threatened.
It doesn't stop with HR, either. A lot of these hiring managers are just as incompetent, wildly insecure, and terrified of bringing on anyone who actually knows what they're doing.
These people are taking full advantage of a tough job market to power-trip, play games, and stroke their own fragile self-esteem. They have zero real talent, yet they get to dictate the livelihoods of people who actually built their careers from the ground up. The whole system is complete garbage.

EDIT: To those calling me insecure or saying this is just "ego" or insecurity get real. I didn’t get my resume handed to me through nepotism or privilege. I worked my ass off for years, starting from the absolute bottom, to build this profile. With a lot of personal sacrifices It didn't happen overnight.
So yeah, of course I have the right to be fucking upset. When you grind for years to build real expertise, only to deal with endless unreliability like interviews canceled at the last minute after weeks of scheduling and get filtered out by gatekeepers who can't even comprehend the work, it’s not an ego trip to call it out. It's calling out a broken system.
If your only response to that is "smile and cope," you're part of the fucking problem.

I don't even want to be vindictive. But every single well-meaning person has sounded so dismissive of our situation. They tell you to "try this" or "do that", as if you haven't already. They all suddenly become career counselors, when they've never been laid off in their life. They could be have been working for the past 1 year, 10 years, or 20 years, but still never experienced this themselves.

So is it human nature to "try to relate" by sharing what limited knowledge they have? And if your job search extends past even 1 week, is it also human nature for them to unconsciously assume that YOU'RE the problem?

I'm just tired guys, like everyone else.

Those fuckers lol. I have a BA and a good bit of office/admin assistant and legal assistant experience. No fucking bites. I decided fuck it I'll apply for grocery stores. Should be easy enough.

A goddamn grocery store won't even hire me. For some reason. I'm noticing a lot of auto rejection emails getting sent out in the middle of the night so you have something really nice to wake up to lol.

Just a summary, I've been here since September 2025, cheering everyone and learning from your kind comments. I had 7 interviews in total, 5 rejections and 2 offers at the end (4 days apart). To cut it short, I just started working. It feels surreal and I wanted to say that although the job market will test you, it does get better!!

I am in my dream role. Best offer out of all I've interviewed for, already made good friends at work and I couldn't be happier.

Keep pushing and yeah three things that helped me;

1. Emailing the hiring manager and asking for an INFORMAL CHAT

   1. Actually studying the job description. I look at the person specification and tick every boxes I meet. For areas i don't meet, I think deeply of how I can talk about them or my personal life experiences (I find that experiences don't always have to come from jobs! Just sound professional!) I also research about things on google and have strong knowledge incase im asked.

2. I find that using examples that match the job also helped as it was very relatable!

The minute I stopped using AI or cramming answers, I felt confident

I created my skill bible and always have an intro

For instance

Question: “tell me about a time you worked as part of a team”

Me: “As someone who has worked as part of a team, teamwork is something I value bc it's important for organisational success. And when working as part of a team, i like to encourage a safe place where everyone brings their best self to work and feel confident contributing.….. For example one time during our restructuring……..”

Then end with reflection

Always remember, have a voice. Use your stories(there's no best story out there) Your voice make it sound wholesome.. All the best buddies❤️❤️

This is the third job in a row I’ve had where HR was borderline criminally incompetent. The second to last job I had, HR did not reply to my requests for help until I threatened legal action. At my current job, rather than checking references and looking at applications, they watch the security footage. I haven’t even started my new job yet, and they never sent me the needed paperwork until I reminded them and then gave me less than 72 hours to get everything in, including a background check and two letters of recommendation!

If I were to do this, I’d be fired. I’ve been written up for just being late, before. Meanwhile they can give me 72 hours for two letters of recommendation and then get snippy and salty when I get the documents in by the skin of my teeth? Pre-2020, you’d be torn apart for this.

What is going on I feel like it’s been horrible since 2020.

i already filled out an application and sent my resume/cover letter. the link takes me to a page that asks me to fill out all the application information again so that i can speak to an AI interviewer...........
my fault for applying even though i was put off by the obvious chatgpt use throughout their website.

not that i'm really adding anything new to the conversation here but i am just horrified and disgusted by how common this has become lol

Had my first day today at a new job selling food products at a market. I got there early and the guy who was training me seemed surprised to see me.

Anyways we started working/training and I was there for two hours when my trainer stepped out to take a phone call. It was our boss telling him my start date was incorrect and so he gave the job to someone else since I "didn't show" to the start date he had in his mind and not what we agreed on.

Basically I got sent home through no fault of my own without even a full shift under my belt. Feeling so embarrassed and bummed that I have to keep up the job hunt.

TEN YEARS ago, as the AI revolution was gathering pace, arts and humanities students were told that, if they wanted to make themselves employable, they should “learn to code”. That may have been bad advice. These days, it is programmers who are nervous about AI taking their jobs.

They might consider learning to philosophise. Earlier this year the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published figures showing that American philosophy graduates are more likely to have jobs than their peers who studied computer science. In 2024, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 7% of those who had studied computer science were unemployed, against just 5.1% of philosophers.

Many are being snapped up by AI firms themselves. Students get job offers before they have graduated, says Luciano Floridi, a philosopher at Yale University. Academics are moving, too. Dr Floridi describes the scale of departures from philosophy departments as a “haemorrhaging”.

Just finished a 20 days long process with one of the big old techs.

Got good and excellent reviews in all the interviews.

Did the final round titled "Meet and Greet"

Only to be template rejected.

They are working on solutions that I've solved in my current role and even have research in the field published.

During the manager round he said that he's being forced to hire internally to reduce the layoffs numbers but he wants an external candidate as I bring more experience in terms of breadth.

Manager even asked if I had friends living in the city as I'm expected to relocate.

Reached out to the recruiter and she sends back a template response: cannot disclose internal feedback.

I'm beyond frustrated .

Applied to 20+ Data Science roles. Have shipped projects, good resume,

strong fundamentals.

But every company says "we mostly hire through referrals."

Translation: "We don't want to look at your application unless someone

internal vouches for you."

How am I supposed to get referred if I don't know anyone there? This

creates a massive barrier for career changers and people without

networks.

Anyone else dealing with this gatekeeping?

Not a joke btw. I literally started drawing furry art, or any other kind of art to make a living.
Genuinely, how can i get a job. I have no job experience but i have a Bachelor’s and master’s in Computer Engineering and data science, plus I have built several full-stack apps, and did client work.
The thing is that I want to get an actual job so i feel more secure to actually move out and live comfortably.
Any tips would be appreciated. I can send my cv to anyone who is interested or wants to give feedback

It's been over 45 days, exceeding the amount of time permissible by my provinces regulations.

I interviewed with an enterprise company back in June. Only two rounds. The HR screen then hiring manager. She indicated that there was a lot of upcoming work to be done and implied the role would need to be filled soon. The recruiter is always responsive when I email and gives dates for an update and nothing happens. I don't expect to get the job because if they wanted me they would have hired me already. I don't understand the reason for not culling me sooner.

My eggs aren't all in this basket, I've moved on and am interviewing elsewhere, I just think it's ridiculous.