u/FindingJOB26

I had applied to Fidelity as a Data Analyst, taking a referral on a fresh job back in June'26.

Just after applying on that referral, the very next day in less than 24 hours, an HR rep called me & asked me the general questions -

last org, lwd, when can you join?, last loc, can you relocate, last ctc, then came the REAL ques,

HR : what's ur expected ctc? - as my last ctc was 4.6LPA as i had joined my last org as a fresher
Me: i'm expecting around 8 to 10 LPA as a 2YOE DA, to be working in BLR. ( based on what i found from ambition box, glassdoor, & consulting with other DA employees working in BLR)
HR : we can provide the standard industry hike ( 30 to 35%) around 6.5LPA (there's nothing as such, it's the low ball offer to desperate(immediate joiners) candidates.
Me : I have AI skills, & certifications & I will be joining as an experienced person.
HR: you can negotiate it in HR round.
Me: okay & asked 2 questions
Me: when should i expect interviews? - said within 1 or 2 weeks,
Me: When are you planning to complete the hiring process - said within this month.

I said okay, as i wanted to know the timeline & when i should be ready to relocate.

After that complete silence for 2 weeks, completely ghosted, called her multiple times during work hours, neither did she pickup nor did she called back, & after 1 month, got an email you have been rejected & we have moved forward with another candidate. Mind you, this company is in the top 10 best places to work in Linkedin 2026 list of the same category. Informed my experience to the person who referred me, never going to apply to this shitty org again!

I don't know if the market is bad or not, but stating this experience, i feel it's intentionally designed for desperate people so that the HRs can lowball the offer as much cheaply as possible, as desperate people are the ones to take watever they can get, & that's why every MNC HR wants immediate joiners. So, all kinds of upskill gyan you get from all sorts of sources are basically useless, you will only have a job if you can work cheap even with all the latest skills & required certifications in your domain.

The more i experience this the more i feel, the candidates who secure the offer then use it to OFFER SHOP or who don't join in their joining date as they got somewhere better, or leave within the 1st month of joining, truly do the RIGHT THING.

Hi All,

I resigned from my support role few months back from a global MNC which i secured from off campus hiring, serving my lwd of np on april 2026 & have been searching for Data Analyst job roles since May. Ik DA roles are in demand for some1 with 2 YOE & also has a future, ALSO not a good coder hence DA is where my interest lies truly.

I was in a support role assigned to me without clear knowledge & simple option of either "take it or leave ", so had to take it unwillingly & i started job hunting after 1YOE but was not getting anything promising, also without 2YOE u can't get a referral.

I was trying out jobs by taking referrals since Jan'26 but all of them wanted some1 to join immediately or within 30days to even be considered for hiring process pipeline, so i was rejected there only. Some things were not in my hand unfortunately. So after completing 2YOE+ i left without an offer & was available to join immediately, relocating if required since May'26.

Since May I had been shortlisting thru linkedin jobs posted within 24hrs & applying by reaching out to ppl working in that company which posted that role & all i'm getting is silence or an automated rejection mail stating " we found someone else". IK referrals atleast gets u noticed by recruiter & gets u a call but there was none. Figured it was reserved for internal ppl. & this is the condition i'm in right now.
Also using Naukri(using all the tricks for better profile reach) but all kinds of rubbish out of context/domain jobs are coming up. My last job had a horrible 24/7 work culture hence i'm not interested to join anything like that anymore neither a startup as they are the flag bearers of toxic Indian mgmt + their exp certificates are valueless when applying to global MNCs.

I was in queue for interviews of some jobs but they went on HOLD. Some HR's called me from my referrals but after listening to my expctd ctc wich was reasonable for a Tier 1 city survival ( last ctc was 4.6LPA , expectd a range was 7 to 9 LPA , even tho it was higher when i searched for 2 YOE DA role salary range for that XYZ company for that Loc) they completely ghosted me ( even tho when i asked about the interview which she replied would be within 2 weeks from then & the hiring would be completed by month end) only to get a rejection email later!

Like WTF!! so basically you want the cheapest option available not the most updated one, I have all sorts of projects & certifications of Microsoft, Oracle, Google that i did in data & AI domain while working in my last job & here i'm getting ghosted for my reasonable salary expectations.

All the Gyan from Linkedin influencers & IG of upskilling & updating & all kinds of application tricks to get noticed/callbacks in reality actually doesn't work ( speaking from my experience now) also you need to be an immediate joiner & willing to relocate at a low salary to the job loc even if its a T1 city. People are probably getting the jobs & switching cos they know some1 high up in that company to get them a reservation for that role iguess. Even some of my referred applications are still sitting there open for more than 2 months now whereas hiring is completed within 2 months, Iguess they are open for the Reserved candidate to join then will get closed as happened earlier.

I'm jobless since few months & i don't know what to do as all sorts of ways i thought would work to get a job is getting SILENCE & unfair rejection in this Indian Job market of 2026.

I'm seeking some serious advise from the community here as Ik a lot of knowledgeable ppl still exists here today & i don't come from a financial stable/secure background to start something of my own, so not an option. PLEASE HELP!!!

HIGHLY APPRECIATE : if u can help me out with a job role in DA in your organisation or maybe some secret gyan of how actually ppl switch without having some1 high up & influential in another company to reserve that job role.!!!

I seriously need some genuine 100% working advise & motivation as its horribly depressing right now.