I don’t feel guilty.
I don’t feel sorry for any of my co workers.
I don’t give a shit about what work needs to be done today.
I owe absolutely no body an explanation.

I’m happy right now.
I’m at peace.
I don’t feel pressured, stressed, anxiety driven…
I’m happy.
That’s all that matters to me.
And I don’t care how that makes anyone else feel.

Felt the need to say this.
It’s okay to take your days off.

I had my third round interview with a mid-sized logistics firm last Thursday. Everything went great. The hiring manager loved my background, the team seemed normal, and the compensation discussions lined up with my expectations.

so Friday morning I open an email from their HR coordinator. She asks me to fill out a portal link with four professional references. Fair enough, right? Except the form explicitly requires the phone number and corporate email of my direct supervisor at my CURRENT job.

Not a former boss. Not a trusted peer. My actual boss right now.

I wrote back a very polite note explaining that my current employer does not know I am actively looking, and I offered two previous directors and a senior client instead.

She replied two hours later saying their internal compliance policy requires speaking to my current manager BEFORE they can even draft an offer letter.

Think about the sheer delusion here. They want me to walk into my boss's office, announce that I am trying to jump ship, and paint a giant target on my back for a job that isn't even guaranteed. If they decide to go with another candidate, I am left with a destroyed relationship at my current company. Its completely unhinged behavior.

Why do corporate recruiters act like job seekers have zero personal risk in this market?

I’m 26. I graduated in May 2023 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Was laid off in January 2025 and I still haven’t found a permanent job. I was hired into a contract position in July of last year that lasted until December but they decided not to renew.

I thought maybe I did a shit job but the manger said no, that he actually liked me and that I did great work, but that they couldn’t afford the expense of another drafter with how slow work was getting. Okay cool.

I left there, went on unemployment again this year in May after working at Walmart for the first 5 months of the year. $14/hour isn’t a damn thing but I did it anyway. But then they cut my hours. I mean I was getting 10 hours per week lol. Down from 40. Why? They told me it’s “what the system scheduled”. I ended up getting sick and they fired me because apparently it was a “key date”. Whatever man.

So now from May to now I’ve been eating into my savings and just applying still. My unemployment ends in about a month. And I have nothing.

The saddest and most frustrating part is that I’m watching my friends, people with the same degree as me, some in the same FIELD of work as me, celebrate new milestones, advancements, etc…

And I just want to die. My family is being weird about it. They say the usual stuff. That “there’s no reason I shouldn’t have a job with that degree”. Or that I’m not actually trying to look for work, that I enjoy sitting on my ass after working hard for my degree and paying for the whole fucking thing too.

It’s getting bad. I’ve stopped eating. Not because I can’t afford it but because I’ve started to get sick for some reason. I usually leave and go to the library to apply for jobs. Just so my family doesn’t think I’m slacking around. My dad still tells me to go inside places to “apply”. Lmao right…because that’s how it works nowadays.

I just don’t know what to do. This is one of the only times in my life I’ve been so emotionally uncomfortable that I’ve actually considered suicide. I just feel stuck and like maybe dying would release me from this hell that I am in. I won’t do it. Absolutely not. But the idea…does not sound bad.

I hope everyone here is at least doing slightly better than I am. This job market sucks.

I work a regular 9-5 job and make middle class income in the US at a medium size company. Nothing crazy, i seen plenty of my colleague quit so they can pursue their dream whether its to do something they truly enjoy or just find another employer who would pay more.

But in todays day and age, i think we should forget the notion of “dream job” and rather focus on being happy where you are at and use your job to build a lifestyle you truly wants outside of work.
With this kind of economy and job market, i just can’t see anything that resemble “perfect job” anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, i support people finding better opportunities. But i just couldn’t understand when people say “i am leaving this job to find my perfect/dream job” since that is completely subjective

I have long since forget all my dream and just go to work, get paid, and go home now…

I spent almost eight years working in operations. Started as an assistant, worked my way up, eventually handled vendor coordination, reporting, and a bunch of the boring things that keep an office running.

Then my department was eliminated.

I spent the first four months looking for another office job. I had interviews, a couple of promising second rounds, and absolutely nothing to show for it.

Eventually the savings started getting uncomfortable, so I took an overnight stocking job at a grocery store.

Four nights a week. I unload boxes, fill shelves, go home, sleep, and send out applications before my next shift.

The work is honest. My coworkers are decent. I'm glad I can pay my bills.

But I'm now struggling with something I didn't expect: what to do with this job on my resume.

My old resume ends with my operations position. That leaves an employment gap that's getting longer.

The updated version includes the grocery store as my current job, which makes it look like I went from running office operations to stocking cereal.

A friend who works in recruiting told me to leave it off because hiring managers might assume I'm no longer serious about corporate work.

But that makes no sense to me. I didn't change career paths. I got laid off and needed to keep my electricity on.

I actually had one interviewer ask why I had "transitioned into retail." I explained the situation politely, but in my head I wanted to say, "I transitioned into paying rent."

So I'm genuinely curious, especially from people who have hired candidates or returned to their field after taking a temporary job:

Would you include the grocery store job, put it under a separate "Additional Experience" section, or leave it off entirely?

It feels ridiculous that staying employed while looking for work might somehow make me look less employable.

What can I improve? Will this land me a job?

I've been with this company for just about 3 years. We've gone through 18 managers within that time.

I work hard. I'm one of the only full time employees clocking with 45 hours every week. Clocking some of the highest sales of the entire week. I've been told by management themselves I am a strong server/bartender. They've all had positive things to say about me. (all 17 of them) Until this new one.

The backstory is, I have about 5 vivid, realistic, nightmares a week about work. Without fail 5 times a week minimum. It's always me behind the bar or serving an unrealistic amount of people all by myself and I just fail everytime. This past weekend, I worked a shift as busy as it is in my nightmares. I was terrified, overwhelmed, my brain kept blanking out and I was having a hard time even processing peoples words. During this time, the big boss shows up. I knew I was done for in that moment. Management was not supposed to only have 2 of us working it should've been 3. However, it's my fault for showing the stress on my face. I was then pulled and told I will be having a sit down and basically that it's not looking good for me whatsoever. If I won't be fired I'll be demoted or on suspension. I feel extremely depressed because I feel like I don't deserve this over a normal human body reaction. After being let down by management for poor scheduling. I have no degree no backup job. I am extremely lost and terrified for the future

I'm located in New Jersey but I guess for remote it doesn't really matter but anyway I have checked for months on their job search website using my zip code for that position and nothing ever shows up in their results so I'm wondering how are people even applying and actually getting hired to work at home as an Amazon Customer Service Associate??

I know i haven't spent nearly as long unemployed as many, many others have. And please don't get me wrong here, I am BEYOND grateful that I have a job that pays my bills. I'm not trying to stand here and say "I wish i was unemployed over this!" because that just isn't true. HOWEVER, in this market, with the way this is going, with the things I've had to do and the position I'm currently in... it feels horrible.

I've been in management most of my career. I've worked majorly in customer service/retail, so I'm not struggling with the same things a lot of people are (i.e. holding several degrees and ending up a fast food worker) but I am still struggling. Again, 9/10 times I've been management to upper management, respected, listened to, or at the very least could feel some kind of pride when answering the dreaded question "So what do you do for a living?" Now I have to stand here and tell people "Yeah I'm a cashier at [insert home improvement store.]" when last year I was a Supervisor at a highly respected company.

Other people my age look at me with pity, and those older always follow up with "Are you climbing the ladder?" or "Is this just a stepping stone?" NO. THIS IS MY LIFE. This was the best I could get after 4 months! And I didn't have a massive thousand plus dollar savings account, I had my Fiance and I visiting the food bank and local churches every day for scraps. This job? Working as a cashier, 40+ hours a week, barely seeing the inside of my own home and going literal days without seeing the love of my life? This is the best thing I could have asked for right now. I sobbed the day I got the email to do my paperwork.

But I'm ashamed of this stupid fucking job. I'm humiliated every time i clock in and every time someone asks if i have free time and this town is so small that people i used to know recognize me at this store and all go "Oh! you're... here now. How's everything?" and it guts me. I finally got a job and I can pay my bills and it's steady work and I've never felt worse. I'd never go back to 352 applications, 5 round interviews to work at a fucking gift shop only to not get the job, never getting a reply back or automated AI Emails or job postings that just straight up fucking lie. Never. I'm grateful but I'm also miserable.

Just needed to get this off my chest. Keep up the good fight, everyone.

EDIT:

Thanks everyone ❤️ I’m not ashamed for fighting and pushing the bolder up the hill, I grew up in the slums of Orlando with five siblings and a single dad, so the struggle will never embarrass me. I think I let my old “office” coworkers get me down, watching them turn their nose up at me pissed me off and hit my ego.

I made it clear but want to make it even more clear that I’m proud to pay my bills and have a job. I’m just ashamed of the kind of job I have (and yes I have been a cashier/fast food worker before, I didn’t START in management) after everything. But it’s amazing to see/read the support. ❤️

You give a 10 business day notice to my work and apparently it takes 12-15 business days for a background check to come back. That cannot be the reality

I really just need to vent because I’m at my wit's end.

I’ve been looking for a mid-level role for the past 4 months. Sent out over 50 applications. Tailored my experience, spent hours tweaking formatting, and what do I get?

Either absolute silence (ghosted after 3 rounds of interviews, which is a special kind of cruelty) or an automated rejection email 2 minutes after submitting.

The worst part is the black-box hiring process. You put so much effort into a cover letter and portfolio, only to realize a bot probably scanned it for 3 seconds and threw it in the trash because a keyword didn't match.

How are you guys keeping sane right now? If you’re currently job hunting, what is your breaking point? I’m starting to feel like the system is completely rigged against actual humans.

Most of my college experience was a mess to be honest. I went in as a music major, then switched out, and was undecided for a year trying to figure out what the hell to do. I really didn't like being in college, and felt that none of the majors interested me, and I felt I wouldn't be able to survive a lot of the classes in certain majors, because I've always had a super hard time in school previously. Obviously despite that, I still NEEDED to figure out what career to choose for myself. I needed a career, but I had no idea at all what I wanted to do. I was pressured by my parents to stay in college, but because I had no idea what to do, I just switched to creative writing major, because it seemed like something I could at least get through without failing out. During this time I also happened to have really bad mental health, which combined with school just being hard in general made it very difficult to just scrape by in my classes. I didn't spend much time thinking about my future career + I didn't really see myself being alive within the next 5 years (major depression and suicidality). It was definitely the lowest point in my life at that point I'd say. in addition to my mental health issues, I was also more immature compared to now. I didnt really have a good view on reality. To be honest, looking back on my college experience, it mostly just seemed like a disaster that I barely scraped through, and I wish I could go back and tell myself what I know now, and have a normal/more productive time in college. Im honestly really upset at how behind I feel right now in my life. Most other people I know who are my age have started getting jobs before 22, and by now have a bunch of employment and internships under their belt. I just feel really shitty about this whole situation.

I've done a lot of work to improve my mental health and resilience, and I've been getting a lot better since, and I've also been working to create a path for myself. I knew that I definitely wanted a career path that wouldn't just lead to me being perennially poor. I don't care to be rich either, but I want enough to pay the necessities, and also afford me my hobbies, and I try to be as frugal and thrifty whenever possible. Basically its work so I can live in my free time. I don't want my job to be my passion. As long as I don't hate it per se, and it pays well enough, I'm good.

During high school I only did two fairly short lived volunteer opportunities. One was an hour and a half a day for a semester working in the cafeteria. The other was a stocking role in a retail store for 5 hours a week for 5 weeks during a summer. I also have my experience as a marching band section leader on my general resume in the activities section, since it gave me leadership experience.

Just during the past year, I've done a bunch of stuff. I volunteered as part of an evaluation team for the school's literary magazine. I basically just read a batch of story submissions each week, and then submitted my critiques, and we discussed each one and our critiques in person too, and we collectively decided if each entry would be accepted or not. Its proofreading experience. Then I decided that editing would be interesting to pursue, so I did a few editing projects for other people, some paid some not. One was copyediting a set of reports for one organization. One was editing a power point presentation for a brand. One was for a corporate magazine. I also just offered to proofread and edit friends' stuff. I edited a bunch of stuff for my friend's zines. That last example isn't really something I could confidently put on a resume next to everything else, but it still helped me get experience. Before this breakthrough in the last year, I haven't really done anything besides school, and I was still struggling to scrape by in school. Its not for lack of trying. I've still been applying to all sorts of jobs, and constantly learning on how to improve my job searching, my resume, and my interviewing skills, as well as trying to network (no success with networking so far unfortunately). I've done multiple sessions with my career councilor, and got my resume reworked, and got some ideas of where to go to apply. I then talked to multiple professors, and had classes which were about professional skills. So there I learned more about resumes, interviews, cover letters, professional bios, proper job application packages, and professional emails. I've been applying those new skills to my job hunting. Despite that I still haven't been able to land a real job or internship. I still have no formal long term employment experience. All those examples in this paragraph were either volunteering, or informal gig work (when it comes to the ones where I got paid). Its still pretty early in this specific process for me to determine if its working or not I think. A part of me just assumes I just need to keep trusting the process until I win.

I also did technically land an internship for a public media relations role, but the person running the company said he had to suspend the process of getting new people temporarily due to life stuff, but I'm on the list of top candidates for when they open up again though, so that's good. Once it opens up again, I'll probably be able to just start that internship, but its gonna be some time before that.

I also did more research about careers that I could apply my the skills from my degree to, and I came upon technical writing. It seems like this would be good for me in multiple ways. The hard thing is that I don't really have direct experience actually just doing technical writing. I have experience which gave me skills that are transferable to technical writing (the editing experience I have + the writing I did in classes). A few of the things I did do editing projects on were pieces of technical writing (like the reports), so I've at least edited and re written technical text. I've also been trying to learn on my own, with some online courses and books, just so I can get the basics of this down before doing more real projects in this.

I've been narrowing my internship search to editing and technical writing fields now. I'm still unsuccessful. Luckily since Im graduating this upcoming spring, I'll be open for full time work, and Im also opening myself to the option of moving to a different city if I need to for a job. So I have more options once im fully graduated. There are a bunch of technical writing and editing roles im finding and applying for, but most of them require over a year of previous work experienc in the field, and obviously I dont have that right now. This is very frustrating. Its very hard to find any openings that are actually truely entry level, and not fake entry level.

In general, I know now what I want to do for a career finally at 22 years old, and I'm starting to get some relevant experience which can transfer to that. However I feel like I lack so much experience compared to my peers who have done internships and have had an employment history, and I feel that my lack of experience will make everything a whole lot harder, and it HAS been very hard indeed. I've been trying to use every resource I can, but still little success. Any any extra advice would be nice. im willing to do anything for the most part. I feel like a bum rn, and I want my life to move forward.

I don't want to sound all "woe is me" or anything like that. I don't want it to sound like I'm making excuses for everything. Nowadays I'm doing my best to take accountability for my own issues.

I am being honest, it feels really tough and hopeless a lot of the time, but I don't want to let that be an excuse to just give up on life again. I always tell myself that no matter how bleak it may seem, that there is always a light at the end. I just want to be able to see a bright future for myself, and I want to keep working towards that. I don't want to be in that abyss again. Hopefully that last part wasn't too dramatic.

I joined a company about two months ago for a role that was pitched as working with senior leadership on a refinancing and M&A. The refi stalled shortly after I started, and most of that scope never materialized.

Three weeks in, I was told everything was going great and they were excited to have me. Around six weeks later, I noticed I wasn't as busy as I'd expected based on how the role was described, so I asked for informal feedback to make sure I was tracking. We scheduled it for Monday (today). In that meeting they let me go, citing a skills mismatch and my level of engagement.

No warning, no prior feedback that anything was off, and the conversation only happened because I asked for it. They said that it just so happens they were planning on letting me go when I asked for feedback and had been evaluating me for weeks.

Thankfully I have another offer lined up at the same salary, so I'm okay. But it's pretty jarring that a company would do this with zero feedback or warning. If I'd been relying on this job and didn't have any intuition, I'd be in a really bad spot.

Has anyone else been through this? I'm kind of shocked, depressed and confused at the same time

I lost my job when my company shut down 3 months ago (CEO had lots of debt, long story). 3 months of searching, nothing. I've applied to everything from jobs related to my major, office jobs, factory jobs, retail, etc. Ive scrolled through Indeed sometimes submitting a dozen applications a day. Literally hundreds of jobs ive applied to since I last worked, and I only got ~8 interviews. With one job I went through 2 interviews only for the 3rd to be a flop, the guy was mostly friendly but it was clear he didn't take me seriously as a candidate and he made a "good luck on the job hunt" comment at the end of the interview. I just can't anymore, I just want to go to the grocery store without my hear racing about my savings, I just want to think about moving out, being able to go out and have a life. I can't really put my thoughts into words I just feel so much rage and hopelessness.

Hi!! Sorry if what I’m trying to explain makes no sense. I’m 22y in north Texas. I’m currently working in manufacturing making $24/hr and I feel stuck. I had to leave home at 18, and wasn’t allowed to attend college. I want to be making so much more but how do I move from here to there? Everyone I’ve talked to says “oh, you have to start out making $20/hr and move up” which i understand! But how am I supposed to like, pay my rent? Eat? I can’t take a pay cut to wait and maybe get promoted.

How can I continue into a career?

For context: I worked this job from mid May to the end of July. I enjoyed my previous job very much, unfortunately I had to relocate last minute because of family issues. I know it was handled badly on my end because of the no notice, however at my last job it was just me and my boss. I was hired as a part time Summer helper (under the table pay, I was the first ever employee my old boss ever hired). We had a good working relationship, however never really talked outside of work. I’m 23, about to finish undergrad, and he’s in his mid 40s. After I left, there was no context for a month until randomly a few weeks ago he started texting me emojis. And hasn’t stopped. For every day it would just be emoji after emoji. I ignored it hoping he’d just leave me alone but it didn’t stop. Yesterday he used words for the first time but just cussed me out. I finally had enough and blocked him. I don’t even live in that city anymore, nor was I ever a legal employee. Was blocking him the right thing to do? Has anyone else had this problem?

I will be doing my trial shift this friday for this role. I’ve had previous experience work with food but my customer service skills isn’t that strong since I’m a bit introverted. I really want to get this job. Any advice for someone who is completely new to this role ? I work 10 hour shifts. Basically I only have one chance to get hired which is to prob do well this Friday 🥹

Hey everyone,

I’m currently job hunting, and I’ve noticed that more job platforms and companies are asking candidates to submit a voice note or even a video recording of themselves as part of the application process.

I wouldn’t consider myself an introvert, but I’m not particularly extroverted either. For some reason, though, recording myself on video and sending it to HR just doesn’t sit right with me. I prefer the traditional hiring process: a brief conversation with HR, followed by a technical interview and then a practical test if needed.

I understand that companies want to get to know candidates better, but I’m curious about how common this practice has become.

Has anyone else experienced this recently? Are companies and HR teams genuinely relying more on pre-recorded videos to screen candidates, or is this just something happening on certain job platforms?

Would love to hear your experiences and thoughts!

Title. I applied for an internship while I was working at another job previously and was invited for an interview. However, I started another job this month that can add relevant experiences on my resume but my future seems rocky as it is a small business and there are two of us in the office, and unfortunately I believe there just isn’t that much work for the owner to keep the both of us (my coworker is much more experienced than I am).

I'm 23 and trying to build a career in fashion and beauty in NYC. Since September, I've made 14–15 videos, written several articles, and helped with events for an independent fashion magazine, mostly unpaid. Some videos take hours to create, and I cover my own expenses.

The owner has discussed me working full-time and expects commitment, but there's no contract or guaranteed salary. The arrangement is that I might get paid through commissions or when brands and events pay him for projects. Those opportunities haven't really materialized, despite me repeatedly explaining that I need income. In the span of 2 months I’ve only earned 160 dollars.

I recently took a small part-time content job with a perfume brand. The magazine owner got upset, suggested my opportunities come from his name and magazine, and gave me what felt like a “serious warning”. We'd discussed exclusivity, so I understand there may have been a misunderstanding, but this job is independent of him.

I pay my own rent in Manhattan and receive no financial help from my parents. I can't keep working for free while waiting for potential income. On top of that, he's repeatedly commented on my body, telling me I have no breasts, should stop wearing a bra, and dress boringly.

I appreciate the mentorship and genuinely love this industry, but I'm struggling to tell whether I'm protecting a valuable opportunity or allowing myself to be taken advantage of.

Am I being unreasonable for taking paid work elsewhere? Is this normal in fashion media, or are these red flags?