r/jobhunting

Hi! I’ve received a job offer for my dream role as a librarian at a public library and I have been asked when I can start.

I’m in the middle of moving to the city where this new role is located and I am also still working at my current job, so I would need at least 2 weeks to wrap up over there, send in my official resignation letter, and finish moving the rest of my stuff to my new place.

The problem is: I know they need to fill the role QUICKLY. The person who was previously there unexpectedly left, and it’s at the biggest library in the city and state, so it should be filled ASAP. This entire process has gone so fast. I applied, was contacted in mere days, and then had phone and in-person interviews at a quicker rate than I’ve ever experienced before.

So my question is — is telling them that I need 2-3 or 2-4 weeks to start (or giving them a start date within that time frame) going to make me look like a less ideal candidate? Would they offer the role to someone else who can start on, say, this Monday? I really need this job and I would hate to jeopardize it.

Thank you!!

I’m completely elated!!!

I graduated with my bachelor’s in Information Technology from a large University in May ‘26. I’ve been applying to a range of (tech-y) jobs nonstop from April to now, and have had mixed results.

Most of the jobs I’ve applied for have been your typical entry-level IT jobs- Business Analyst, Helpdesk, that sort of thing. I applied to a couple ‘reach’ jobs to try my luck.

And wouldn’t you know… I got a callback for an AI/Cloud Consultant position. Thought I had no chance. Did some studying, passed one technical interview, passed another, then passed a third technical panel interview. Had a final interview today with HR, and I got the job!

It’s with a fantastic multi-national corporation, and pays more than I would have dreamed myself making at this point. I had zero connections there!So:

DON’T GIVE UP!!! Grind applications every day, apply for a broad range of positions, and sell yourself!!! (I’m in tech, so I use GitHub/StackOverflow but you can show your skills anywhere.)

Thanks for all the help and advice on this sub. I’d be happy to help anyone!!

P.S. Also, DON’T GIVE UP!! You should have seen how bad I was stressing. It’ll all work out!

A few weeks ago I posted that I was terminated from my position for making typos. I was recently offered a position in the learning and development department for a company that’s a federal contractor. I will be working fully remote. I will be starting on Monday! The pay is higher than my previous job too. I’m really excited for this chapter. I want to say thank you to everyone that gave me support.

I have a Teams meeting tomorrow morning for a contract position and apparently there's no job description. I asked for it and the recruiter advised that because it was a contract position there wasn't one. My first reaction is what the hell. Now I'm wondering is it because they don't want to share the company's name. I went to the staffing agency's website and the job isn't listed there nor are any jobs. The recruiter messaged me on LinkedIn today. Is it me or is this just weird and suspicious? Anyone else run into a situation like this?

I (22M) recently graduated from college with a year+ of experience working in Marketing and Business Development for a multitude of companies, either as an intern or associate. I have a lot of projects under my belt, along with awards and accomplishments that have accumulated from these experiences.

I'm currently working for a small-business female undergarment company, and because of the opportunities I've had, I've had countless experiences working within more feminine environments and cultures. I never intended for things to happen this way; some opportunities just fell into my lap more than others. Inconsequentially, a majority of the jobs I've applied for have also been female-dominated, which I understand is just the nature of marketing in general.

Now, I want to preface this by saying that I'm a very scruffy-looking dude, and I sometimes feel like my appearance can intimidate people. I've applied to nearly 1,000 jobs and have only gotten around 8 interviews. Of those, 3 made it to final interviews, where it was usually me or another person as the final candidate.

It could be coincidence or happenstance, but every single candidate who has been picked over me has been a woman who graduated around the same time as me, but seemingly has less experience.

I want to be very clear that I'm not trying to undermine these candidates or say they were chosen because of their gender. My personality, appearance, or simply the way I present myself may not have been what the team was looking for. They could have been a better fit in ways that I don't see.

But after experiencing this repeatedly, I've started feeling more and more isolated from the idea that experience, accomplishments, and having a massive number of projects under my belt are actually the things that win employers over. That's something my professors always emphasized, and I'm starting to question whether I've misunderstood how this process actually works.

I'm also unsure whether being male is somehow creating issues for me during the hiring process. I've always felt confident in my body and who I am, but lately I feel like I'm at an unsteady point in my life, and I don't really know how to interpret what's happening.

I recognize that women have experienced this feeling for generations, especially when entering workforces that were historically male-dominated and where they weren't always given the same opportunities. I don't want to undervalue or demean anyone's experiences, and I know that ultimately, this may simply be a "me" issue.

I'm just wondering how I can approach this differently and tackle these employers with a different kind of atmosphere or attitude.

The most frustrating part is that a majority of the companies I've interviewed with seemed to really like me. That has honestly led to an even greater sense of false hope. I've received rejection emails where they were upfront about how difficult the decision was and even said they would have chosen me under different circumstances, but obviously, it never panned out.

At this point, I'm trying to figure out how to put my mind at ease and understand what I'm experiencing. Has anyone else gone through something similar, or have any advice on how I can change my approach to the job search without losing confidence in the experience and accomplishments I've worked so hard to build?

I'm a 2026 graduate, and I've been looking for a Software Engineering job for more than 6 months now.

I've spent years learning DSA, competitive programming and development. I have a decent profile, built projects, solved a lot of problems, and genuinely tried to improve myself.

I've applied through company websites, LinkedIn, referrals, cold emails, job portals, pretty much every route I could think of.

But the hardest part isn't getting rejected.

It's not even getting the chance to be rejected.

It's applying again and again, putting hours into applications, seeing hundreds of other people applying, and then getting absolutely nothing back.

At first, I was confident that if I kept working hard, something would eventually work out.

Then months passed.

Now I'm at a point where I'm still trying, but the motivation isn't the same anymore. It's difficult to keep convincing yourself that the next application might be different when you've already sent so many.

I'm only 21, so I know I have plenty of time. But watching months go by without being able to start my career is genuinely depressing.

I don't want sympathy. I just wanted to know if anyone else has been through this phase and eventually managed to turn things around.

Because right now, I'm slowly running out of hope.

I just want to know what actually is working for everyone who are job hunting (in USA)? So far, I’ve tried direct applications through company portals, reaching out to people on LinkedIn, cold emailing, contacting legit staffing agencies that help with contract and contract-to-hire positions, different job boards, and a few other things.
All these things and I still haven't had much luck. For those of you who are actually getting interviews, what’s working for you?

Four rounds. The panel one, the case one, the culture one, and then this.

Last interviewer leans back and goes.... if we hired you, what's the one thing you'd be the best person on this team at.

And I said, well, a few things really. Then I listed five. Because I have five. Ive been told over the years I have something like ten, across various reviews and feedback forms and one very expensive workshop, and not one of them ever asked me to put them in order.

I watched them stop writing after the second one.

Rejection Thursday. The same...We moved forward with someone whose strengths mapped more specifically to the role. Mine mapped to everything, which is the same as nothing.

Nine weeks for that.

Hey everyone,

I’m completely new to the internship hunt and trying to learn how to do cold outreach properly on LinkedIn, but I feel pretty lost 😭 and haven't gotten any responses yet.

Right now, I’m just sending standard connection requests, but I know my approach probably needs a lot of work. I don't want to come across as annoying, spammy, or just asking "please hire me."

I'd really appreciate some advice on the following points:

• Who should I reach out?
• What should the message actually say?
• What message after the connection note?
• How to send follow-ups?

Guys, please share your experience with the cold emails and any useful advice.

more specifically, what work from home job could a 40 year old scientist do? my mother can't find a job where we currently live because she doesn't speak the language here. she used to work with mice while she was an active scientist but she hasn't worked in years since she had to take care of my siblings. she's tried a lot of different jobs (I think they're called entrepreneurial?) like selling digital designs, which only gave lunch money, and she's applied for some jobs but they didn't accept her. my father is the only one working. I would try get a job if i could but here you're not allowed to work if you're under 18. and it's hard to actually land a from home job since everybody wants to do it. we've been looking at jobs like a subtitle typer, audiobook reader, etc but even those need skills that my mother probably doesn't have (she's applied for typer, they said she doesn't type fast enough?) please help with suggestions. if you're going to be realistic about her choices i don't want to hear it. people on reddit need to dream a little, even when it comes to jobs.

I had an interview once and the manager said, "We treat everyone like family," and then spent a few minutes explaining that they "don't really track hours" because people are expected to be willing to stay late when needed. So... Unpaid overtime, but phrased more nicely.

Another time, the person interviewing me kept looking at Slack on his laptop, and in the middle of the conversation asked me which role I was there for. But the weirdest one? A startup said the first four months would be an "unpaid trial period," and after that they'd "reevaluate the compensation" 💀

What interview red flag made you immediately think: nope, I'm out?

Ridiculous. I’ve been using Indeed, which will show you if an employer has viewed your resume. 3 resume views out of over 40 applications is crazy. I even started applying for minimum wage fast-food jobs, McDonalds, cashier positions, hostess, nothing!

I have a decent resume. Great positions, fluent in another language, I’m overqualified for many of the positions I’ve applied for. But STILL, NOTHING!

How are you guys doing it? I’m searching for any part time position, and I can’t even get a call from Burger King to chat about an interview…

I was laid off in April, and I have been looking for a job ever since. I'm signed up with two staffing agencies. One sent me on a part-time temporary job, which was filing. The other has sent me on 2 interviews, both of which ultimately chose someone else.

I have over 20 years of office and admin support experience,and I am currently working on my Bachelors degree in accounting. I finally got bored with office support, but it's all I know. That's why I'm studying accounting.

I'm beginning to think that when I walk in the door for an interview, people see the grey hair and immediately discount me as "too old."

I have a husband, and we have a mortgage. He's retired, so it's just me who needs to be out earning an income.

I even applied at Walmart and got a call about being an online shopper, but the pay being minimum wage and no guarantee of full-time hours means it wouldn't work financially.

I learned about a hiring event this week at my local Nordstrom store, and I'm going to at least go see if they make an offer. I worked retsil decades ago and hated it, but who knows? I might like it now. What do people have against older workers anyway? We are reliable, trustworthy, dependable, and serious about doing our best work.

Sorry, I guess I'm just venting because I need income, and I'm frustrated.

Hello,
I am on my second round of interviews for a position I really want and need. I have a two week trip coming up next week. Should I even tell them. Or if I am offered the position just say you would like to start in 3 weeks or give them a specific date? If I am offered it next week it would but me in that 2 weeks notice period but if I am offered this week it would be a 3 weeks start date. Thank you! This is the first job in my career that I actually want.