r/jobsearchhell

From Feb 2026 to Oct 2026, 160 applications, 9 interviews ( 6 went to the final round with one interviewer not showing up and one interviewer literally eating during the interview), I finally got an offer!!

The new job is also a 46% increase from my last role and a field where it is relatively safe from AI takeover.

I am so incredibly fortunate and thankful.

I hope everyone gets their dream job soon!!!

I was laid off for the third time in 3 years 7 months ago. I am done with tech startups but with this record I can’t even get an interview now. I am not a low performer, but I suppose that record does not look good in a super competitive market. It perhaps looks even worse that 2 of the companies went bankrupt, which is out of my control. I don’t know what to do at this point. I have not had a single interview in 4 months even after applying to probably 500 jobs and I physically want to throw up if I have to fill out another application. I have contacted anyone and everyone I know for referrals. Applied to roles a level or two lower. Removed the last 2 years and acted like I just did contract work during this time while looking. It has made no difference. This feels to hopeless and pointless…even waking up these days feels like a chore.

I'm 32 and willing to work hard. Why can I not get hired anywhere ? I'm talking even Walmart stocking, or Amazon and Lowe's lowest level and nothing.

Electric gets turned off in 9 days so weekly pay is my only option at this point.

Not even sure why I'm making this...

I'm not a felon, like working nights and outside and I'm not afraid of hard work.

Commission sales is bs and that's about all I can't do it go door to door 😭

Yes I've gotten money from friends and church and it feeds my children not even myself.

Fml. Fml fml... I didn't even get myself fired from my last job a trainee fucked me over.

I can't lose my kids. I fucking can't.

Fml fml fml fml fml

Got laid off in September.
Same company offered me another job at a lower starting pay $2 less than what I was making but the new role also had bonus potential, which was based on customer reviews.
I Turned it down because in part because I was not happy a job I was just hired for 3 months prior was being eliminated,and I was being forced to take a pay cut. I also believed I was getting another job and could collect the severance.

Well, Surprise, didn’t get the Job I was hoping for and when I reapplied for another job in the said company, I was turned down twice. Another job has ghosted me, pretty sure I’m being punished for turning down the first role.

I now get to navigate the worst job market in 20 years. I have Student loans, CCs and a Car payment. Unemployment won’t pay half my car payment, let alone my other bills.

Part of my issue is this will be my 3rd job in the past year. I left my previous role last September because I was pulling myself out of a bender with Drugs and Alcohol. Then I got a job in December that gave me notice I would be laid off in February because the funding for my role was rejected, Then I got a contract role that lasted a month, and now this. I hate myself for turning the role down. Its a lesson learned.

So anyways point and laugh and make fun of me. I deserve it.

I was about to archive yet another rejection email without replying, but one small detail made me stop. The email had come directly from a recruiter instead of the usual automated inbox.

I lost my job on March 18 after my position was eliminated during a company restructuring. Since then, I had been applying to around 6 to 12 jobs most days, yet I had only gotten one phone screen in about three weeks.

The rejection email included the usual language about how they had chosen candidates whose experience more closely matched the job requirements. Without thinking too much about it, I replied, "Thank you for considering me. If circumstances change, I'm still interested and willing to relocate to the area for this role."

The next morning, the same recruiter emailed me and asked me to schedule a virtual interview. I had already crossed the job off my list, so I was very surprised when I received an interview invitation from them.

I had the interview at the end of that same week. It didn't lead to an offer, and I received another politely worded rejection email this morning, which was disappointing because I really wanted the job. But in the end, replying to the first email got them to reconsider me at a time when I thought the door had already closed.