r/askrecruiters

As a candidate with referrals it's really confusing that someone on the inside wants me to work there, is telling the hiring teams that I would be great for the company, and then three weeks later I get an automated rejection without ever talking to a single person.

Why are you not listening to your employees? Can you not filter by who has a referral and who doesn't when you're looking at applications? Are you getting like 100+ referrals for one job opening? If I was a recruiter I'd be elated that someone in the company was doing my job for me, I guess.

I'm not angry but I am frustrated that this happens all the time and it feels like knowing people isn't even worth it anymore.

Looking for some perspective from recruiters/hiring managers, particularly those who work with senior-level professional positions.

I recently completed a final panel interview for a Principal-level position that I’m extremely interested in. I have about 9 years of directly relevant experience, exceed the minimum experience requirement, have both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and believe my background aligns very closely with what they’re looking for.

I had an initial interview with the hiring executive, which went very well, and was advanced to a four-person final panel. Before the final interview, the recruiter also allowed me to provide supplemental materials to the panel, including professional recommendations and a 90-day plan for the position.

The final interview was last Friday and, from my perspective, it genuinely could not have gone much better. I answered every question with specific examples from my experience, handled the follow-ups well, and received positive comments about my instincts and thought process. The conversation became very natural, with plenty of back-and-forth, humor, and discussion about the organization and its culture. I left feeling extremely confident about both my performance and the fit.
The hiring executive had previously mentioned wanting to fill the position ASAP.

It’s now Wednesday, and I haven’t heard anything. On Monday, I sent the recruiter a brief email asking if they could provide a rough timeline for a decision or next steps because I have some upcoming decisions/administrative items with my current employer. No response yet.
I’m not planning to follow up again right now. What I’m trying to understand is what could be happening behind the scenes.

For recruiters/hiring managers:
- Is 3 business days of silence after a final panel completely normal, even when the company wants to hire quickly?
- If the panel selected its candidate, what normally happens internally before that person actually gets the call?
- Could compensation/HR approvals explain several days of complete silence?
- Would you read anything into the recruiter not responding to the timeline question?
- At what point would the silence actually start making you question the outcome?

Obviously, I have no idea who else interviewed or how they performed. I’m not assuming the job is mine simply because I felt good about the interview. I’m mainly struggling to reconcile an interview that felt exceptionally strong, and included several positive signals, with suddenly hearing absolutely nothing afterward.

For those who have been on the recruiting side, what would you make of this timeline?

I’m in the final stages with a few companies, but one process is likely to wrap up several days before the others. If I receive an offer, what’s considered a reasonable amount of time to ask for to review/consider it? Is 5 business days pretty standard, or is asking for a full week pushing it?

Hi,

I did an LSE program over the summer that is relevant to the program i am applying to and was wondering how i should format it into my cv. Here is how i have t for now:

The London School of Economics Summer School, London, United Kingdom June 2026

AC110 principles of Accounting-- A+ or AC110 principles of Accounting | Final Grade: A+ 

Hey everyone,

I need a reality check on my interview approach. I’ve had several interviews for IT support roles lately, and getting past the initial recruiter chat is never an issue.

When I make it to round two with the IT leads/hiring managers, I honestly walk away feeling confident. I answer all their technical and troubleshooting questions without freezing up, and the conversations feel solid. But the rejections keep rolling in at this stage, so I’m clearly missing something specific they want to hear.

I’ve been reading up on how to fix this, but the advice feels all over the place. Half the stuff I see pushes rigid frameworks like Amazon’s STAR method, while the other half says to just "be yourself and show passion."

For IT managers or people who’ve cracked this:

Is there a specific way IT leads want troubleshooting scenarios broken down that goes beyond just giving the right technical answer?

Does using rigid frameworks like STAR actually help for technical support interviews, or does it come off scripted?

What are some subtle green/red flags you listen for when a candidate seems confident but still misses the mark?

How can I actually practice and get realistic feedback on what I'm saying before my next interview?

Hello! I recently received a job offer and have a pre-planned two-week international trip about a month after the proposed start date.

Ideally, I’d be open to working remotely for some or all of that time if the company allows it, rather than take the full two weeks off. I’m also prepared to discuss other arrangements depending on their remote-work/PTO policies.

I haven’t formally accepted yet, so I’m planning to disclose the trip to the recruiter before accepting and make sure expectations are clear upfront.

For recruiters/HR folks:

• Is this generally the right time to bring it up?
• Does the fact that I’m willing to work remotely during some or all of the trip make a meaningful difference?
• How commonly do companies accommodate pre-planned travel this soon after a new hire starts?
• Would you recommend approaching this as a heads-up and asking what arrangements are possible, rather than making a specific request upfront?

Mostly looking for recruiter/HR perspectives on how you’ve seen situations like this handled.

Have a friend who several years ago engaged in some criminal activity that wasn't Felony level but were pretty serious misdemeanors and has several convictions from them. No theft but primarily domestic related including breaking and entering and assaults. Friend suffered a severe manic episode due to some misdiagnosed mental health issues they never knew they had. Long story short, friend is medicated and has been doing great for 5-6 years, never had a criminal history of any type prior and not since. Though the charges were not related to their career field directly, they obviously don't look great in a background check and they have ample explanation for them but it doesn't always turn out well. Friend has 20+ years in a professional field with several certifications and accolades fwiw.

They have had several jobs since these criminal charges but are running into some walls trying to move to their next position, having a few companies deny them after making an offer and realizing the previous convictions. So the question I have is, what time is best to disclose this background information to the recruiter? I can see arguments ranging anywhere from "Upon first phone call about the job" all the way to "When an offer is made and a background check is conducted". Is it ALWAYS better to disclose before the check is initiated or can it be advantageous to simply wait until its discovered or not, during the background? As a recruiter I would imagine the answer is generally "ASAP" but realistically is that always the best case?

Does interviewers or any step while applying for jobs ask you or except you to prove graduating?

Or is it just CV and HR or technical questions?
Because I am so curious if anyone can even know that someone wrote a different university name than the one they actually graduated from

Im sure all of us get pinged on LinkedIn by recruiters that will say two lines about a role asking to set up a call and give no other specifics - location, hybrid/on-site/remote or even a salary range.
I’m in CA that requires to post salary ranges.
I don’t want to waste time on the best of opportunity if that means relocating, moving from my current hybrid to onsite, or a salary range that is no where close to my expectation.
I’m curious is this an acceptable response to such requests?

Thanks for reaching out, I’m interested in learning more about the opportunity.
Before we jump into the call to go over details, can you please provide the location, work environment (hybrid, on site, remote) and the salary range for this opportunity.

I find it hard to believe that many companies use ai to filter resumes and just throw out the ones ai doesn’t think fit.

I know my company does not do this were small/medium sized about 750 employees. Does everyone just assume this because they don’t hear back? Or are majority of companies actually doing this?

Hey Redditors,

I am a Supply Chain Graduate with a Master in Engineering Science (M.Eng.Sc) degree in SCM. I graduated 13 months ago. After 8 long months of Job search, i landed a Job in a company. I started experiencing unprofessional behavior in the first month itself.

I stayed for 3.5 months through the repetitive manual data entry work, severe anxiety, and a toxic work culture. I also had signed a 2 year bond. Then i made the decision to resign. I resigned without serving the notice period of 30 days, since i was breaking the bond and they wouldn't pay my notice period salary.

Since i resigned, they haven't contacted me about buyout or bond amount. They didn't even acknowledge that i resigned until i sent them a follow up to my resignation.

Current situation, I'm applying to other jobs, I have no experience/relieving letter, and I desperately need a job.

I'm currently listing this employment under the experience section because it's the only experience that I have. Should i keep it there, or go into the job market again as a fresher, saying that the 3.5 month stint was just a trainee job (i was in the training period).

I gained ERP and SCM experience from there, and since I LIVE IN INDIA, EPFO records reflect this employment too.

I'd really appreciate your feedback.

Hi recruiters,

I’m currently applying for product roles in IT, and I’ve noticed that the hiring process seems to have become much slower.

I suspect recruiters are also facing a new challenge.

Job platforms now have auto-apply features, making it very easy for candidates to apply to hundreds of jobs.

At the same time, AI has made it much easier to tailor resumes and applications.

So I wanted to ask recruiters:

How do you identify candidates who have genuinely put effort into an application versus those who are simply mass-applying?

How do you view AI-assisted resumes? What makes you like or dislike a resume that was written with AI?

And how do you evaluate the metrics candidates mention on their resumes? Adding percentages and numbers has almost become standard, so how do you determine whether those achievements are actually credible?

I’d genuinely like to hear from recruiters about the challenges you’re facing today and what advice you would give candidates navigating this new hiring environment.

I know that AI is used a tonne to filter out applications before it even gets to a person these days.

I also read something recently that a bunch of companies are filtering out people over a certain age. (Specifically often women around my age. Yay.) I'm 40 and retraining in a different field, so the odds are already against me.

When I was younger I was always taught to put dates on everything, worked at XX from xxxx to xxxx, etc. And to put grad dates etc.

But now that I've heard how much AI is being used to scan applications and filter out which ones are 'worth' being read and shunting the rest to the don't bother to read pile, and especially if it's filtering people out based on apparent age and dates, how to you write your education and job history, to make it through the ai pre selection?

:edit:

Timeline of events:

2 weeks ago: met with recruiter for pre-screening call, he thought my experience was perfect for this role and sent my information to the regional HR department

1 week ago: met with HR Manager in my state, and Operations Manager from my city. Interview seemed to go well.

HR asks when I can start (formality question I assume)

I told her the recruiter mentioned the role was hoping to be filled by the end of the month

She says “we’re not looking to rush, but want to make sure we find the right candidate for this role”. Totally fair and valid (could be a red flag for rejection)

At the end of the interview, she says they’re hoping to make their decision by the end of the week / early next week, and they are still have a couple interviews to do.

HR mentions she’ll be off on vacation this week, and I should expect to hear from the regional HR lead in my city.

Am I just being bullshitted? It’s been exactly one week since my last interview.

Should I reach out to my recruiter? Or try the HR lead?

Should I just wait it out another week?