u/proxima-centauri-

I wish I did not have to look at this insufferable space where everyone is bragging about their next-to-nothings or dishing out expert advice on anything and everything.

I started only couple of weeks ago and about 4 out of 10 shifts, I came back late. The delays were anything between 30 mins to 75 mins. Major reason being, I couldnt find the address. We deliver mostly in the country side and it can be quite tricky to find addresses. One ocassion, it was a mix of reasons all at once: couldnt find addresses, stuck in traffic, too many totes and too little delivery time, customers being very slow etc.

I just wanted to ask, how often do you get late and what's the most common reason and do managers give you trouble for getting late?

I am in my early 40s and have been unemployed for 9 months now (first time in my life). I have a PhD in STEM and worked in various roles at universities.
I knew I was going to lose my job with 3 months notice. So, I am job hunting for more than one year now and still the number of job offers I received in this one year = Zero. I did 8 interviews during this time. I apply to around 10 jobs each month. I cannot find more relevant roles than that and every application takes a lot of time. Reading the job description carefully, tailoring the CV, writing the cover letter etc.
The whole recruitment process is so inconsistent and varies from one employer to another.

1. Do you use AI to tailor your CV and cover letter?
   - Yes, everyone does it
   - Use it smartly
   - If you dont use AI, employers AI screening will reject you as your CV and cover letter are not optimised with keywords
   - Employers say in JD - Dont use AI, its ok to use AI, use AI wisely.
   In the end, its very hard to tell what works in your favour. And whether your completely original work gets flagged up as AI written.
2. Employment gap
   Some say, no one cares about your employment gap and some say that more than a couple of months, it becomes a big red flag. But once I am past the few months of unemployment, if every employer is biased, how will I ever get back to employment.
3. Overqualified
   Employers want fresh graduates with every skill and experience there is under the sun. They are fresh graduates and can't possibly have experience if no one ever takes them. On the other end, if a person with lot of experience applies, they reject them as being overqualified. What exactly do these people want? Now, I am still sane and I know the job is below my experience level and if I am applying, it means I want the job and happy to do it.
4. Interview process
   These are mostly theatrical in my opinion. Heavily biased to work in favour of those who are naturally good at performing, good at telling stories and can bla bla some nonsense or made up stories on the feet. If you are not born with that talent, you will always be at a disdvantage. So, the best person to do the job is rarely the one that gets hired. Now, I agree they have about an hour and have to have some means to select whom to hire. I dont know what the right solution is but I know its quite a flawed and biased process.
5. If you are any of the following, its always an uphill battle: women, disability, older age, non-native english speaker, foreign sounding name etc etc.
6. Feedback post interview
   This is the worst part of the interview process. If they ever genuinely tell you, you will have a chance to make it better for next time. But, you will only ever get a generic BS template for feedback. This is because they will never want to officially admit the real reason. I just totally disregard feedback. I just spend some time to do my own reflection and see where I can improve next time.

After an year of doing this, I am no better at understanding what I am doing well, what I am not and where I could do better. The whole process is so inconsistent, confounding and in my opinion a matter of pure luck. And AI has muddled the water so badly both in the hiring process and actual jobs themselves.

Good luck to everyone on the job hunt!

The other day I dropped my kids off at school and noticed a Dad with two kids (around 4 and 6) in the school grounds. One kid with a scooter was dragging his scooter among a big plot of daffodils and another with a bicycle was riding them all over the poor plants. Both were destroying daffodils and the father just walked along leisurely. Not a word from his mouth. The kids emerged at the other end with half the plot of daffodils destroyed and a bouqet in each of their hands. They then threw the flowers to the side and happily went along into the school building.
I have noticed this behaviour in other places too where kids just go around on a rampage destroying flowers and plants in public spaces and their parents just stand by and let them loose.

I know parenting is hard and some take any opportunity to not engage with them for a short while and let them be. But, this antisocial behaviour and zero respect for public property is not going to end well for the kids as they grow up. It might just plants now but its the behaviour that needs to be nurtured and reinforced from childhood.

Between my PhD and postdoc in Molecular Biology, I spent more than 15 years and it looks like the end. After nearly an year of unemployment, I feel hopeless. I keep applying for jobs at universities, industry, charities, etc but its just endless rejections. Where I do get interviews, I dont get offered the role. And now my employment gap of one year will make it much harder. In the meantime, I work minimum wage warehouse slog of a job to keep a roof over our head.
Anyone in a similar situation? How long for? I am in the UK.

I live in the country side and drive a lot. I feel like tailgating is becoming increasingly common. I definitely have not seen this level of aggressive tailgating in the past.

There are a few categories among them though:

1. Tailgate dangerously and then overtake in dangerous places and then they are gone.

2. Tailgate and swerve aggressively from side to side to force you to go faster. But they don't have the guts to overtake. For example in a 20 mph zone.

3. Tailgate all the time but can't or won't overtake you no matter what. You go slow they go slow, you go fast they go fast. They will not use any opportunity to overtake but refuse to maintain a safe distance.

4. Tailgate for a while and realize it's pointless and then fall back.

Dear tailgaters: Tailgating is illegal, pointless, dangerous and idiotic behavior. You achieve nothing and if any it only triggers many drivers to drive even slower. Keep a safe distance and overtake when you can. If you don't like the speed limits on certain roads (eg, 20 mph zones) take it up with the government. Tailgating is not the solution.