u/ronburgandy37

i don't really know how to start this so i'll just say it, the last 8 months were the hardest of my life.

i was laid off in september. i thought i'd find something in a month, maybe two. i had good experience, solid resume, i knew my stuff.

300 applications later i was eating into savings, explaining to my family why it was taking so long, and quietly having a breakdown every sunday night before another week of silence from recruiters.

the interviews i did get were somehow worse. i'd sit down, the question would come, and my brain would just ... go blank. things i knew cold. things i'd done for years. gone. i'd stumble through some answer and know the second i hung up that i didn't get it.

started to wonder if i was actually as good as i thought i was.

what changed wasn't confidence. wasn't a better resume. wasn't some linkedin hack. i just found a way to have a safety net during calls so when my brain froze i always had something to fall back on. started converting interviews. got an offer yesterday.

8 months. one change.

if you're in the middle of it right now and it feels endless, drop a comment. happy to talk or share more about what helped.

I'm going back to work. Starting June 2nd. Honestly still processing it.

Three months ago I got laid off. No warning. Just a calendar invite at 9am and a 15 minute call. I had rent due in two weeks and nothing lined up.

The first month I applied to everything. I'm talking roles I was overqualified for, roles I was underqualified for, anything that looked remotely possible. I was sending 15 to 20 applications a day and getting maybe one callback a week.

The interviews I did get were rough. In February I went through 4 rounds at a company I really wanted. They had me do a full take home project over the weekend, a complete go to market strategy with slides and everything. Sent it Sunday night, never heard from them again. I still check my inbox sometimes.

In March I made it to the VP round somewhere else. I had prepared for two weeks for that call. Two minutes in she told me they decided to go internal. I didn't even get to introduce myself properly.

I started having anxiety before every interview. Like actual chest tightness before jumping on Zoom. Because I knew I had the experience, I knew I could do the job, but the moment someone asked me a hard question I would either freeze or just ramble and lose them. I could feel it happening in real time and couldn't stop it.

By interview 40 something I was genuinely starting to lose confidence. Not just in finding a job, in myself.

A friend told me about a tool called Ace. I was skeptical honestly. It sits invisibly on your screen during the call, your interviewer cannot see it. It listens to the conversation and suggests answers in real time based on the context you gave it, your CV and the job description you put in before the call.

First time I used it I noticed something weird. I wasn't panicking. Because I knew if I blanked there was something there. That safety net completely changed how I showed up. I was calm, I was clear, I actually listened to the questions instead of just waiting for my turn to nervously speak.

The company I just signed with put me through 6 rounds over 5 weeks. Different interviewers, different formats, one panel with 4 people at once. I felt sharp in every single one.

Best salary I have ever been offered. Better role than I thought I would land coming out of this.

If you are in the middle of a job search right now and feeling what I was feeling two months ago, drop a comment. I will share exactly how I set Ace up before each interview. It is free to try at tryace.app.

Hang in there. It does end.

i cannot believe i'm typing this right now.

89 days ago i got laid off. no warning, nothing. just a calendar invite at 9am and a 15 minute call where hr read from a script. i had $800 in my account and rent was due in two weeks.

i just started applying to everything. like everything. roles i was overqualified for, roles i had no business applying to, anything that looked like it could pay my bills. 15, 20 applications a day. i stopped being picky around week three.

the interviews i did get were brutal.

one company had me do a full take home over the weekend. i spent all of saturday and sunday on it, sent it over sunday night feeling genuinely good about it. never heard from them again. i still have the file on my desktop.

made it to a final round somewhere else after five weeks of back and forth. hiring manager opened the call, said they went internal, hung up. the whole thing was four minutes. i didn't even get to introduce myself.

by month two i was not okay. not sleeping, snapping at everyone, waking up every morning and just lying there before checking my phone because i already knew what was in there.

and the interviews kept getting worse. i would get on zoom knowing i was qualified, knowing i could do the job, and the moment someone asked me something i didn't expect my brain would just go blank. i could feel it happening. the silence stretching out. me rambling just to fill it. losing them in real time.

i hung up from so many of those calls and just sat there.

six rounds at the same company. signed my offer letter this morning.

if you're in the middle of this right now, this subreddit kept me sane. thank you.

guys i cannot believe i'm typing this right now.

so i got laid off in january. no warning, nothing. just a random calendar invite at 9am and a 15 minute call where hr read from a script. i had $800 in my account and rent was due in two weeks.

i just started applying to everything. like everything. roles i was overqualified for, roles i had no business applying to, anything that looked like it could pay my bills. 15, 20 applications a day. i stopped being picky around week three.

the interviews i did get were brutal.

one company had me do a full take home over the weekend. i spent all of saturday and sunday on it, sent it over sunday night feeling genuinely good about it. never heard from them again. i still have the file on my desktop.

made it to a final round somewhere else after five weeks of back and forth. hiring manager opened the call, said they went internal, hung up. the whole thing was four minutes. i didn't even get to introduce myself.

by month two i was not okay. not sleeping, snapping at everyone, waking up every morning and just lying there before checking my phone because i already knew what was in there.

and the interviews kept getting worse. i would get on zoom knowing i was qualified, knowing i could do the job, and the moment someone asked me something i didn't expect my brain would just go blank. i could feel it happening. the silence stretching out. me rambling just to fill it. losing them in real time.

i hung up from so many of those calls and just sat there.

what actually changed things was finding a tool that sits invisibly on your screen during the call and helps you in real time. you load your cv and the job description before you join and it gives you answers tailored to your actual situation. first time i used it i didn't panic once. just felt like i had a safety net and that changed everything about how i showed up.

signed my offer letter this morning. six rounds at the same company. never blanked once.

if you're in the middle of this right now drop a comment. happy to share exactly what i used.

I know some of you have been here longer than me. I see you. This one is for you.

89 days ago I got laid off. No warning, no performance review, nothing. Just a calendar invite that showed up at 8:47am and a 12 minute call where HR read from a script. I had $900 in my account and rent was due in 18 days.

The first few weeks I was applying to everything. 15, sometimes 20 applications a day. I stopped being picky around week three. I was applying to roles I was overqualified for, roles I had no business applying to, anything that looked like it could pay my bills.

The callbacks were rare. The interviews were worse.

I did a full weekend take home for a company I really wanted. Sunday night I sent it over, went to bed feeling good about it. Never heard from them again. I still have the draft saved on my desktop.

I made it to a final round somewhere else after five weeks of back and forth. The hiring manager opened the call, said they had decided to go in a different direction internally, and ended it. The whole thing lasted four minutes.

By month two I was genuinely struggling. Not just with the job search, with everything. I would wake up and feel that weight before I even checked my phone. Every interview felt like another chance to disappoint myself.

The anxiety was the worst part. I would get on a Zoom call knowing I was qualified, knowing I could do the job, and the moment someone asked me something I did not expect I would just fall apart. Freeze, ramble, lose them. I could feel it happening and could not stop it.

Then I changed one thing about how I was showing up to interviews.

Six rounds at the same company. I was sharp in every single one. Signed my offer letter this morning.

If you want to know what I changed, drop a comment. I will reply to everyone.

I'm going back to work. Starting June 2nd. Honestly still processing it.

Three months ago I got laid off. No warning. Just a calendar invite at 9am and a 15 minute call. I had rent due in two weeks and nothing lined up.

The first month I applied to everything. I'm talking roles I was overqualified for, roles I was underqualified for, anything that looked remotely possible. I was sending 15 to 20 applications a day and getting maybe one callback a week.

The interviews I did get were rough. In February I went through 4 rounds at a company I really wanted. They had me do a full take home project over the weekend, a complete go to market strategy with slides and everything. Sent it Sunday night, never heard from them again. I still check my inbox sometimes.

In March I made it to the VP round somewhere else. I had prepared for two weeks for that call. Two minutes in she told me they decided to go internal. I didn't even get to introduce myself properly.

I started having anxiety before every interview. Like actual chest tightness before jumping on Zoom. Because I knew I had the experience, I knew I could do the job, but the moment someone asked me a hard question I would either freeze or just ramble and lose them. I could feel it happening in real time and couldn't stop it.

By interview 40 something I was genuinely starting to lose confidence. Not just in finding a job, in myself.

A friend told me about a tool called Ace. I was skeptical honestly. It sits invisibly on your screen during the call, your interviewer cannot see it. It listens to the conversation and suggests answers in real time based on the context you gave it, your CV and the job description you put in before the call.

First time I used it I noticed something weird. I wasn't panicking. Because I knew if I blanked there was something there. That safety net completely changed how I showed up. I was calm, I was clear, I actually listened to the questions instead of just waiting for my turn to nervously speak.

The company I just signed with put me through 6 rounds over 5 weeks. Different interviewers, different formats, one panel with 4 people at once. I felt sharp in every single one.

Best salary I have ever been offered. Better role than I thought I would land coming out of this.

If you are in the middle of a job search right now and feeling what I was feeling two months ago, drop a comment. I will share exactly how I set Ace up before each interview. It is free to try at tryace.app.

Hang in there. It does end.

I'm going back to work. Starting June 2nd. Honestly still processing it.

Three months ago I got laid off. No warning. Just a calendar invite at 9am and a 15 minute call. I had rent due in two weeks and nothing lined up.

The first month I applied to everything. I'm talking roles I was overqualified for, roles I was underqualified for, anything that looked remotely possible. I was sending 15 to 20 applications a day and getting maybe one callback a week.

The interviews I did get were rough. In February I went through 4 rounds at a company I really wanted. They had me do a full take home project over the weekend, a complete go to market strategy with slides and everything. Sent it Sunday night, never heard from them again. I still check my inbox sometimes.

In March I made it to the VP round somewhere else. I had prepared for two weeks for that call. Two minutes in she told me they decided to go internal. I didn't even get to introduce myself properly.

I started having anxiety before every interview. Like actual chest tightness before jumping on Zoom. Because I knew I had the experience, I knew I could do the job, but the moment someone asked me a hard question I would either freeze or just ramble and lose them. I could feel it happening in real time and couldn't stop it.

By interview 40 something I was genuinely starting to lose confidence. Not just in finding a job, in myself.

A friend told me about a tool called Ace. I was skeptical honestly. It sits invisibly on your screen during the call, your interviewer cannot see it. It listens to the conversation and suggests answers in real time based on the context you gave it, your CV and the job description you put in before the call.

First time I used it I noticed something weird. I wasn't panicking. Because I knew if I blanked there was something there. That safety net completely changed how I showed up. I was calm, I was clear, I actually listened to the questions instead of just waiting for my turn to nervously speak.

The company I just signed with put me through 6 rounds over 5 weeks. Different interviewers, different formats, one panel with 4 people at once. I felt sharp in every single one.

Best salary I have ever been offered. Better role than I thought I would land coming out of this.

If you are in the middle of a job search right now and feeling what I was feeling two months ago, drop a comment. I will share exactly how I set Ace up before each interview. It is free to try at tryace.app.

Hang in there. It does end.