r/BehindHiring

Hi all,

Last week, I was supposed to have a 1 hour interview with a panel.

I mentioned that my goals are not aligned with my current company. However, I think things went rough and short when I started answering about the workload issue that I am currently facing. I was expecting more situational questions but since I opened the workload issue, it was cut short. Further, it resulted to a rejection in the position.

To all HR people here, may I know if this is really a factor? I want to be as honest and candid as possible in an interview.

Did my answer really caused me a lot? How can I answer if the panel digs deep with the alignment of goals?

I just really want to move forward with my career.

Appreciate all your insights.

I keep going to interviews, spending considerable time studying and preparing, and during the interviews I can actually feel the momentum building. The conversations flow well, they seem engaged, and it gives me hope that maybe this one will finally work out.
Then a few weeks later it’s either a rejection email or complete silence. Sometimes they just ghost me entirely.
I’m not delusional enough to think I’m the perfect candidate or that I absolutely nailed every interview. I know every interview is a learning experience and I always reflect on what I could improve. But I also genuinely have hands-on experience in the exact field I’m applying for, which is why this whole process confuses me so much.
At this point I honestly don’t understand what I’m missing.
Has anyone else gone through this where interviews seem to go well but nothing ever materializes? I’d really appreciate a third-party perspective from people who’ve experienced hiring from either side.

I know this question has probably been asked before, but I genuinely want to hear from recruiters and hiring managers.

I'm a recent MPH graduate, and since February I've submitted well over 150 applications for entry-level public health jobs. I've tailored my resume for different positions, applied across multiple areas of public health and different locations, and have had about eight interviews. Every single one has ended in a rejection.

I'm in my twenties and really want to start my career, but after months of searching I feel crushed, demoralized, and honestly just exhausted. I know I'm not the only one. It seems like a lot of recent graduates are going through the same thing.

I guess what I'm trying to understand is this. From your perspective, why is it so difficult for recent graduates to get that first opportunity? I completely understand wanting someone with experience, but it feels like there's no way to gain experience if no one is willing to take a chance on you.

I'm not trying to blame recruiters or hiring managers because I know there are things happening behind the scenes that applicants don't see. I'm genuinely just trying to understand why so many entry-level candidates are struggling right now.

For those of you involved in hiring, what is your perspective? Is there something applicants like me are missing? I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts.

I got that line, or some copy-paste of it, more times than I could count this past year. Other half the time I didn't even get that. Just nothing.

Some backstory. I have a long work history. Good jobs, references who'd pick up the phone for me, supervisors I left on good terms with. I only left my last one because of a family emergency. Came back to look for work, sent 20-something resumes over about a year, and got denied or ghosted on almost all of them.

I know 20 is nothing next to what a lot of you have done. I've read the posts here. 200, 500, someone hit 1,670 over 18 months. That's the part that got to me. It stopped feeling real, like I was feeding forms into a machine with nobody on the other end. I gave up applying and started my own small company just to have money coming in.

Here's what I kept getting stuck on. The government counts job openings every month and publishes the number. Nobody counts the rejections. There's no public record of how many people apply and hear nothing, or get auto-rejected by software before a human ever opens the resume. "We're hiring" is on every career page. "We took 400 applications and made zero offers" is nowhere.

So I built the thing I wished existed. It's a public record of what happens after you hit submit. You add your outcome (company, role, no answer / rejected / interview / offer). No account, no name, no email. Every entry is a dot on a map you can move around, and it adds up the numbers companies don't publish.

It's close to empty right now and its work in progress. The first records are my own rejections. If you've been through it and want to put yours down, it's here: Dear Candidate

Not selling anything, there's nothing to buy!. I just couldn't find this anywhere and needed it to exist. No sign up, no emails. If you have any feedback let me know.

15 years marketing experience. Scaled 2 startups to successful exits. Honestly a great resume .... other than the 3 layoffs in the last 18 months. All RIF's, none performance based, just that's life working for smaller growing companies without a long ass runway. So anyways, I've been out of work since January. Getting steady interviews, moving along in most of them, just cannot land a role right now.

In my previous 15 years , every single time I've ever gotten to the final interview, the one with the CEO or founder, that's generally just a culture thing or a quick check in, I've gotten the job.

In the last 6 months I've had 5 of those. 5 of them I thought were a lock. Haven't gotten a single one. 3 of them went with someone else. Yes I stalk the company Linkedin to see who beat me out. And all 3 of them look like really solid hires, so I can't be upset. The other 3, as far as I can tell, just cancelled the position. Just not going to hire anyone in the near future.

I've never seen a market where I am literally going up against probably 15-20 candidates that are actually skilled, actually know what the fuck they are talking about. It honestly used to be they'd start the interview process with 6-8 people. 6 of them were obvious no's. 1 was really good, and one was a maybe if option 1 doesn't work out, but we aren't super stoked about it.

I honestly don't even know what I could do different. Other than say, "Yeah, I'm so fucking good with AI that you can fire everyone else on the team today and I'll step in and run everything with no drop in production, and I'll even increase pipeline and closed won by 300% in my first 6 weeks. And I'll do it for a 1/4 of the going rate for a marketing intern."

Anyways, fuck my life. Sorry to everyone else that's going through it.

I'm curious if this is just a tv thing or actually something that happens.

Also it got me wondering whether there are other factors such as personality, that would lead to someone perhaps less qualified, getting hired for a job anyway

24 F on F-1 OPT. I know I should not lose hope and I won’t. But it’s so frustrating. I have a bachelors degree in accounting and auditing and a masters degree in finance. I also have about a year of experience in risk advisory working at big 4 at my home country and full 10-month internal audit internship experience at a fortune 500 in US. I’m targeting internal audit roles that require 0-5 years of experience. But only get rejections, barely get the HR phone screen, and when I do, it doesn’t go forward with the reasons either they don’t want people who doesn’t have a citizenship/GC or they want more experienced/more specialised experience. I’ve been preparing for my CIA part-1 exam and planning to take the exam this month, in hope that helps a bit. I’m really tired of not understanding what to do. The roles that I think i can absolutely nail are internship for which i get auto filtered since i’m not in school anymore. The entry level (0-2/3) years of experience roles are also rejecting me god knows why (am i under qualified/overqualified).

I also tried a different angle where I target Financial Analyst/FP&A full-time roles and internships, because I’m interested in that as well and because I saw some of my fellow finance graduates with 0 experience land financial and senior financial analyst roles, but I’m getting no luck there as well.

I have tailored my resumes to the jobs i apply, nothing is working. I sometimes even say no to the sponsorship question, just to test whether i’ll get an hr phone screen, and sometimes i do, but nothing goes forward. The only reason/feedback i get is “they have found other candidates that better align with the role” when i know i am very well perfectly aligned with the JD for some roles that I applied, the exact work i have done.

And I do not wish to spend the a huge amount on the consultancies who random stuff your resume with keywords and apply and apply, and when you get a job, they take a huge percentage of your first years salary. And still don’t promise you a job.

I would like any suggestions if you guys have.

I've been conducting interviews for years, and I know when someone is lying to me, but let me tell you, lying about the university you attended or why you left your job is not the same.

You shouldn't see the interview so much as an exhaustive exam but more as a negotiation, where the product the company wants to buy is your skills. Focus on that, but since it's a negotiation, you need to have a few tricks up your sleeve. In my experience, I'll tell you what differentiates a good negotiator at the interview table and what we know they're lying about, but we let them.

1. Regarding your salary at your previous company:** This one is probably obvious. HR professionals are usually paid to find the most qualified candidates at the lowest cost to the company. That's why, during negotiations, if they pressure you to reveal your salary (which we will pressure you to do), don't give the real amount if you want a bigger raise.

2. Lie about why you're looking for a new job.** Don't tell us you didn't like your previous work environment. That makes you seem like a difficult person to recruiters and makes us think you might cause problems in this job. Instead, say you're looking for new professional challenges.

3 - Lie about how your old boss made you feel.** Look, I've worked with some real jerks in the office, and everyone knew it. But even though we all know tyrants exist in companies, don't tell anyone at another company that your old boss was one, because we're not from there, and again, we'll see you as a difficult person incapable of leadership.

4 - Lie about where you see yourself in the next 5-10 years.** Although I also see myself running a farm with cows, I'm not going to tell people at the company. The company wants you there for a long time and they're thinking about the future with you. It's like going on a date and saying you're afraid of commitment.

5 - Sell yourself!*** I've interviewed top professionals who are far superior to an entire department, but they don't see themselves as such, and during the interview, they sabotage themselves. Don't use expressions like "Well, I didn't do it alone, I had help." Instead, say, "We faced problems along the way, but we managed to solve them." That positions you as a leader and humble.

**6. Make sure your strengths shine through in your CV.** This is super important. I've seen people on social media doing amazing things, but then when you ask for their CV, it doesn't reflect what you see online at all. Your CV is your introduction; treat it like a marketing company where you have to sell yourself in five seconds. You have no excuse with the number of free tools available for this.

These are just a few tips, but there are many more that I know. I just think these are the ones that might help many of you.

And above all, believe in yourselves much more; there is always someone out there looking for a person with exactly your skills, but you have to know how to sell yourselves so that they find you.

I'm trying to understand why I keep getting rejected for relatively simple roles like data entry and video editing.

My background is in game development and 3D animation, so I feel I have the technical skills to learn these jobs quickly. I've had multiple interviews, but after the interview I usually don't receive a follow-up call or any feedback.

I'm starting to wonder if employers see my experience as a red flag and assume I'm overqualified, likely to leave quickly, or expecting a higher salary.

Has anyone here experienced this from either the job seeker's or hiring manager's perspective?

If overqualification is the issue, how can I present myself better for these kinds of positions without being dishonest about my background?

P.S. I used ChatGPT to help organize and clarify my thoughts for this post since explaining my situation in writing isn't my strongest skill. The experience and question are entirely my own.

I’m a senior software engineer specializing primarily in computer graphics.

The AI wave has had some impact on my work. After I started combining AI with my current area of expertise, I was able to produce some very solid results.

I’ve also started receiving many job opportunities from other companies. In the past, my compensation was mostly in the range of CAD 200K–300K, but the offers I’m receiving now are all CAD 500K+, and one total compensation package even reached 1M.

It’s genuinely surprising and exciting.

I know there are a million factors involved, like resume quality, the job market, referrals, experience etc. That's not really what I'm asking.

FYI: Im very well aware of what i apply for, what resume i apply with and what jobs i apply to

I'm just curious about this,

I apply almost every day( spending hours literally since 6 months). I search LinkedIn, Indeed, company career pages, graduate portals, pretty much everything. I tailor my resume for each application.

Most of my friends work part-time, so they only apply occasionally. But somehow we all end up with the same result...barely any calls

Im just so depressed and lost

Hey y’all this is for any HR people, hiring managers, etc. anyone who has run comprehensive background checks on potential employees. What are the real red flags? What approach do you suggest someone who may not look too good on paper take (ie: bring it up at a reasonable point in the interview process or what until asked by the interviewer)?? What are the most common deciding factors that take an otherwise good candidate out of the running after the background check? Is there any way to salvage a job offer? For context- no crazy felonies, no repeat offenses and the job isn’t the FBI or CIA- it’s an hourly healthcare support role- doesn’t even require a specific degree or any type of licensing.

I’m not sure if this is the right Reddit or not but i didn’t pursue my degree (environmental science) in 2014 when i graduated, not because I didn’t want to, but because I wasn’t getting any job offers and I had to get a job.

I ended up having to take a roll in quality assurance in a food manufacturing site which led me to greater and better things eventually in the pharmaceutical/ biotech area. I was laid off last month and I never really got it out of my head that I want to pursue my dream career.

So today, I dropped off my physical résumé to a firm in my area that isn’t actively hiring an environmental scientist, but they seem to open up rolls occasionally in hopes that I could at least have a meeting or talk with the I’m not sure if it’s a recruiter or hiring manager. I did call last week and the front desk receptionist forwarded me to the number of the recruiter for that area of expertise and I left a message but I never heard back so I thought I would just bring my résumé.

Thoughts on this? Do you think that I will at least get some kind of conversation to explain what I’m looking for and why making a change?

I’ve spent the last year building AI infrastructure that interfaces directly with recruiting platforms. In the process of figuring out how to automate applications without breaking the parsers, I had to learn exactly how these systems digest PDF files.

If you're wondering why your Easy Apply goes into a black hole, or why Workday makes you retype everything, here is what’s actually happening under the hood.

1. Workday (The Keyword Filter) Workday is incredibly keyword-density focused. When it parses your resume, it actively scores it against the job description and produces a match percentage. Recruiters often set filters based on this score. If you’re below a certain threshold (often 60-70%), no human ever sees your file. This is why tailoring your CV for Workday actually yields callbacks, but the manual data entry makes it a nightmare to do at scale.

2. Greenhouse (The Structure Stickler) Greenhouse parses section headers very aggressively. If your resume gets creative and uses "My Professional Journey" instead of "Experience," or "What I Know" instead of "Skills," its parser often drops those fields entirely. Fancy dual-column Canva layouts routinely break Greenhouse's text extraction.

3. Lever (The Data Validator) Lever is much more forgiving on crazy formatting and columns, but it is brutally strict on contact info extraction. If your phone number isn't in a standard international format (e.g., +1, +33), it might map it to null.

4. Ashby (The Modern Parser) Ashby is newer and has a significantly better parsing engine than the legacy systems. It handles multi-column and heavily designed resumes better than most. However, if you embed actual tables inside your PDF to align your dates, it will still scramble the text sequence.

5. SmartRecruiters (The Aggressive De-Duplicator) SmartRecruiters has solid text parsing, but it is incredibly aggressive on candidate de-duplication. If you apply to a new role but you previously applied there 3 years ago with a different email, it will often merge your profiles based on name/phone number and sometimes prioritize your old resume data in the recruiter's primary view.

TLDR on how to beat them:

1. Stop using columns. Plain, single-column formatting is the only way to ensure Workday and Greenhouse read your bullet points in the correct order.
2. Use standard headers. (Experience, Education, Skills). Do not deviate.
3. Mirror the exact phrases. If the JD says "Python3", don't write "Python". Workday's exact-match logic is not always smart enough to bridge the gap.
4. Always use PDF. DOCX parsing remains highly inconsistent across older ATS versions.
5. Standardize your phone number. Use the +[country code] format.

I'm deep in the weeds on this stuff right now. Let me know if you have questions about specific ATS systems or how different AI autofill tools interact with them!

I've been tracking job application data for the past year using aggregated data from various AI job application tools.

Here are the callback rates by submission method across roughly 1M applications in the US and Europe:

Method	Callback Rate
LinkedIn Easy Apply (PDF dump)	1.8%
LinkedIn Easy Apply (native form)	2.3%
Workday portal — generic CV	3.1%
Workday portal — tailored CV	8.4%
Direct company portal — tailored CV	12.7%

The gap between Easy Apply and direct tailored submissions is massive, and the mechanics explain why.

When you use Easy Apply to dump a PDF, that file drops into a queue with thousands of others. The recruiter usually just sorts the spreadsheet by keyword density. Your PDF gets ranked against keywords you never saw and couldn't match.

Applying directly on a Workday portal with a CV rewritten to include the exact terminology from the job description means the ATS scores you higher before a human ever opens the file.

The practical problem is that tailoring a CV for every single application takes an hour. Most people default to Easy Apply because they have to, and then hear nothing back.

There are tools built to solve this (Jobloo, LazyApply, Sonara, etc.) and I'll do a breakdown of how they compare later. But the main takeaway from the data is that Easy Apply is burning your time.