Do you have any positive expectations (realistically speaking) about landing a decent job in the next 6 months - given the current situation / economic outlook?
Spent 35 minutes today fighting a Workday portal because the parser completely mangled my PDF upload. I had to sit there manually re typing every bullet point (of course, the bullets turned into weird symbols:) and fixing the dates line by line so the ATS wouldn't auto fail me over a formatting glitch. ...Even tailored the actual document before uploading it.
I finally hit submit, and the rejection email landed in my inbox exactly 14 seconds later.
It didn't even pretend a human looked at my background. It was just an instant, automated trigger filtering me out.
If the system already knows it's going to bounce a candidate in 14 seconds, why is it allowed to hold the application hostage until we do half an hour of free data entry for their HR stack?
Final panel. Multiple people. Smiles, “next steps,” the whole performance… and then nothing.
They ghosted me like I never existed
What’s messing with my head is the double standard they enforce like it’s law. I’m supposed to reply within 24 hours. Prep. Calendar gymnastics. Keeping my face neutral on Zoom. Staying “professional” when my stomach is doing flips. Sending the thank-you notes. The follow-ups. Trying to sound interested but not desperate. Trying to be a person and a product at the same time.
But when it’s their turn to do the bare minimum?... Silence. No “still deciding.” No “role on hold.” No “we went another direction.” Just radio silence like I didn’t prep, rearrange my day, and show up ready to be judged.
They want professionalism performed upward. Downward, it’s optional.