u/PrettyCoast1

I’d be exploring the whole world

For me definitely game of thrones and last of us

Since January Ive applied for 40+ roles and almost half didn't even acknowledge the application.

Interviews feel more competitive than ever, recruiters are overloaded, and every job post seems to amass 300 applicants within hours.

Its hard to stay consistent without letting the process wreck my confidence.

Biggest things I hear people say,

• tailoring CV's for each role
• apply early
• networking instead of “easy apply” spam
• taking breaks before burnout hits - which I hate because when I'm on a break I feel guilty for not doing more, when I know I should be taking a break! Its a vicious circle.

Anyone else finding the market unusually brutal right now, or is it just me?

H

I'm still trying to process what happened in an interview a few days ago. It was with a very well-known company here, and I was very excited, had all my notes prepared, and felt I was fully ready and going to nail it.

It was a video call, which I'm used to. The meeting was supposed to be 45 minutes, and I joined exactly on time.

As soon as the interview started (it was scheduled for Thursday at 5 PM), the guy, a business manager, joined and seemed kind of hyper, but I thought maybe he just had a long day or something. That was just the beginning... He had zero professionalism. He asked me maybe two questions about my experience, and before I could even finish my answers, he would cut me off to start rambling about his life and his employees, going completely off-topic.

He spent about 95% of the interview lecturing me about things that shouldn't be said at all - his ex-wife whom he divorced, his problems with his landlord, and how one of his best employees is "ungrateful" and doesn't appreciate him enough. He even mentioned the names of former employees and bad-mouthed the last person who held the position I was applying for, and went into details about their personal problems.

He was swearing the whole time, and I could barely get a word in. This guy is clearly a huge narcissist. Honestly, I feel sorry for anyone who has to work under him, it's clear he's a toxic person and speaks ill of his team in front of complete strangers.

While he was rambling on with this unprofessional talk, I was trying to think of a way to get out of it. I seriously considered pretending my internet disconnected. In the end, he looked at the clock and realized he had been talking for over an hour (it was 6:15 PM). What a terrible waste of time. I had such high hopes for this company, but now I just feel disgusted.

Has anyone ever experienced something like this before?

Let’s hear it someone’s might help prevent it next time

We went to a wedding dinner, and her friends were there. I greeted them and said, “Wow, don’t you ladies look all spiffied up,” just being friendly. My wife agreed and told them they looked amazing.
When we sat down, she asked, “Do they look better than me?” I said no, because they didn’t. Then she asked if I thought they were attractive. I just said they looked well dressed and left it at that.

She gave me an unsatisfied “hmmm.” I know she’ll probably bring it up again but honestly, did I answer that right?

I took over IT from a guy who’d been here forever like early startup days. Left on good terms, so everyone assumed things were in decent shape.

They weren’t.

Started poking around and found a bunch of inactive accounts. Some were ex-employees, a couple I couldn’t even match to anyone in HR. Still licensed, of course. We’ve probably been paying for them this whole time.

Mailboxes were worse. Shared inboxes with no owners, random vendor emails still coming in, even a distro list with someone who left years ago still getting copied on stuff.

Then Finance pulls me into a meeting and asks for a full breakdown of what we’re paying vs what’s actually being used. I said I’d have it ready next week… which felt reasonable at the time.

Now I’m digging through everything and realizing this isn’t cleanup, it’s archaeology.

Best part though one of the “ghost” accounts? Still being used. Not officially, just kind of… became a shared login because it had access to everything.

So now my report is basically:
we’re paying for people who don’t work here, people who might’ve never worked here, and one mystery account that no one owns but everyone depends on.

Should be a fun meeting.

I’m still annoyed writing this HR asked employees to chip in $50 each for a luxury gift and catered lunch for the CEO’s 50th birthday instead of the company paying. It’s especially frustrating since many junior staff can barely afford it.

What made it worse was the pressure: an HR coordinator went desk to desk with a checklist, visibly tracking who contributed and implying it would reflect on the department. Now people feel like saying no could hurt their reputation or performance reviews.

It basically feels like a forced “loyalty tax.” I’m tempted to pay just to avoid trouble, but it feels wrong to fund a celebration for someone who earns far more and recently cut our remote days.