r/jobsearchhacks

I've been in recruiting long enough to have seen a few cycles where companies cut during downturns and hired back when things improved.

These are not struggling companies. Meta's revenue grew 16% last quarter. PayPal processed over a trillion dollars in payments last year. The cuts are not because the business is failing, they are because the business figured out it can do the same work with fewer people and AI handling what junior and mid level roles used to cover.

The category they worked in just stopped making sense to keep at the same headcount.

What makes this harder to navigate than a regular layoff is that the usual advice does not fully apply. Finding a similar role at a similar company is a shorter term solution if the same logic is playing out everywhere, and it is.

The people I have seen come out of situations like this in the best position are the ones who moved quickly, were honest with themselves about which parts of their skill set were most exposed, and made a deliberate decision about where to go next rather than just applying to the same type of role out of familiarity.

applying on linkedin is genuinely insane. you click easy apply, it sends your resume into the void, you never hear back. you don't know if 5 people applied or 5000. you don't know if the role is even still open. the recruiter "viewed your profile" 3 weeks ago and then nothing.

how are y'all dealing with this. is there any way to actually tell if a posting is real or just a ghost listing.

I’ve been job hunting for a few months now due to a PIP my boss has put me (and 75% of the rest of the team) on, and it’s due to speed. All the other jobs I’ve been searching for mention “fast paced” in their descriptions or “multitasking” as a requirement. I can’t help but wonder if these companies think that makes the position actually desirable to job seekers like me. I guess I appreciate the honesty, but this is literally the reason I’m trying to quit my current job. We’re all on PIPs because we aren’t fast enough. No one can reach the unrealistic quotas. Quantity is more important than quality.

I’ve been in other “high paced” jobs, and they’ve been miserable. I don’t multitask, and psychological studies have actually proven that the human brain can’t multitask. Yet every job I’ve applied for has that as a requirement.

Contrary to these employers’ assumptions, not everyone wants to work their butts off every day, feel exhausted at the end of the day, crash when they get home, and get burnt out after working there for a month.

Stress is bad and unhealthy. I don’t know why these companies advertise this “fast paced” description as if it were something good or desirable to potential employees. The job I just applied for is VERY different than my current one, but during the interview, the manager said, “This is a very fast-paced job.” And then my heart sank.

I don’t work well under stress. It isn’t that I’m lazy, stupid, or don’t want to work. I just want to work at my own pace. I want to make sure that one project has been completed accurately before I move on to a new one, instead of zooming through 50 projects at a time with 200 small mistakes.

Do jobs that aren’t “fast paced” even exist? Can I just type “slow paced” in the job search?

After applying on a company website Do recruiters look for you on social media or job search websites like LinkedIn indeed? What if the resume on job boards is different from the one I tailored to a job is this a red flag for the recruiter

I got 2 offers. I've already accepted one and the other one I'll probably decline. My start date is in two weeks and I'm currently going through background check and onboarding, for which I have little worry. I have another interview lined up later in the week. This new job I'm starting seems like a good opportunity and fit for what I want next. Should I cancel my next interview to free up space for others? I've seen other people write they'll continue their job search until first start date or first paycheck to be on the safe side, but I've not gotten any red flags from this company to suggest I would need to do that.

Recruiter said ill pass my notes and resume to the hiring manager is that a good or bad thing?

I am 28 and not found a job for over a year since 2024 of NOV.. I am in Canada and am applying like crazy but nothing. I have a degree in global development and MA in polisci and have had only one interview last month and got nothing and am feeling depressed/stuck and not progressing anywhere

I am doing part time stuff for my parent but I feel the longer this goes on, they are trying to decide my path for me such as saying I should start my own company and are really pushing that and don't really want to do that or going back to school but feel that's not so helpful as I need experience. Unsure how courses can help

I am frustrated as people my age are in higher positions and I've barely started an entry level role

Honestly what can I do or any tips as I am getting pissed. I applied for one summer job program and didn't even get an interview

Is it still a thing to walk in with your CV asking for a summer job in a pub or cafe ? I'm quite nervous to try... In the UK btw.

Hi! I have an initial job interview for a job I really want and that aligns with my career goals. I currently have a job offer with another company, but obviously, it would be more ideal to get this position. If they ask me if I have another job offer, should I say yes? Also, should I mention that I am interviewing elsewhere? This is the main job I'm currently looking at, but I don't want to seem desperate, and I just want to do anything that increases my chances of getting this position. I would love any input. Also, I am currently in NYC and the position I want is in NYC; the position I don't want it hybrid in another location, not sure if that is super relevant, but I thought I should add that context.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated! I wish everyone well in this job market!

For months I kept bombing the “why do you want to work here?” question because I was trying to sound inspired. I once told a company that made warehouse barcode scanners that I was “drawn to their mission,” and the recruiter looked at me like we both knew I had just committed a small crime. Another time I said I had “always admired” a payroll software brand I had learned existed 19 minutes before the call. I wasn’t lying to be shady, I was just following all the advice that says you need to show passion.

Then I had an interview where I was too tired to perform. I had spilled coffee on my sleeve, my upstairs neighbor was drilling something, and I had already been rejected twice that week. When they asked why I wanted the role, I just said: “I’m not going to pretend I grew up dreaming about procurement dashboards. But I like work where small fixes save people hours, I like teams that write things down, and this role seems like it has problems I actually know how to untangle.” I thought I had ruined it.

The hiring manager laughed and then asked the best follow up questions I’ve had in months. We spent ten minutes talking about a broken handoff process I fixed at my last job, not about “company values” printed on a careers page. I didn’t get that job, but the interview felt human for once, and I’ve used that answer since. My hit rate is better now. Not magic, not some guru trick. Just less fake worship of the employer and more specific reasons I can do the work without hating my life by week three. Weirdly, that seems to land much better.

Saw this online somewhere. Do you thinks it’s true?

“Unpopular opinion: Job hopping will increase your salary faster than loyalty.

Most companies budget small raises. But they budget larger salaries for new hires.

It’s not personal.

It’s just how compensation systems work.

Understand the rules of the game.”

Have schizoaffective disorder and it got really bad these past few years to the point where i was hospitalized for nearly a year.

Used to work professionally in a field i won’t disclose but it was competitive so I’m generally pretty competent at things. Don’t think I’ll stay in that field owing to stress and low pay (oxymoron with competitive i know)

Illness is now well-treated, ive got professionals following me, strong support network and I’ve been stable for a long time now. Going to do some prep for job hunting and then start looking.

Only thing is, I have a huge gap in my history and I don’t think that explaining my illness is going to help lol. What do I do?

I cant keep waking up feeling like the stress from unemployment is gonna take over me completely and i am gonna have a horrible break down every single day. Everyday feels like i am going deeper into an endless abyss. I feel so guilty anytime i do anything unproductive. Distractions are great for some time, but the emotional exhaustion is always there. And people think that I am not trying hard enough but they have no idea about the shit that goes in my head the moment i open my eyes. It feels like I am never gonna have a job. I just need the pain to be gone.

been job hunting forever and getting straight up ghosted. Honestly I was depressed and probably sounded like a robot in interviews.

​So last week I decided to just force myself to be aggressively positive.

​what i did:

​Forced myself to smile while talking so I didn't sound dead

​Stopped acting defensive about gaps & just hyped up the future

​Treated the recruiter like a normal person, like how you'd chat up a stranger at the bus stop sometimes

​Blasted hype music 10 mins before instead of stressing over notes

​Anyway... all 3 of my last phone screens moved me to round 2 within 24 hours. One recruiter literally said "we love your energy."

​ I totally underestimated how much people just want to hire someone who they feel good being around. If you're stuck in a rut, just fake the high energy. It feels cringe but it works.

​Wish me luck

It’s being almost one month since I am applying daily in companies from LinkedIn , naukri and indeed but not get call single call. What should you guys advise? If any one had gone through the same situation please let me know , I am so frustrated with the company I am in right now too much micromanaging.

I want to preface this by saying I'm not a recruiter, I'm not a career coach, I'm just someone who was applying for jobs for four months with basically zero response and then made one change and things started moving. So take this for what it is.

I was applying for project coordinator and ops roles, mid level, nothing exotic. My resume looked fine to me. Clean format, chronological, listed my responsibilities at each job, had a summary at the top that said something like "results-oriented professional with experience in cross-functional coordination." You know the type. I sent maybe 60 applications over three months and got maybe 4 or 5 responses total, most of them automated rejections.

A friend who works in recruiting looked at it and said one thing: "you're describing your job, not your impact." Every bullet point I had was a duty. "Managed vendor relationships." "Coordinated between teams." "Handled scheduling and logistics." She said none of that tells anyone anything because every person who ever had that job title did those same things. She asked me to go back through and for every bullet poin t ask myself "so what happened because of that."

I spent one evening rewriting. "Managed vendor relationships" became something like "renegotiated contracts with 4 vendors, reducing processing time by about 3 weeks per quarter." "Coordinated between teams" became a specific thing about a launch I helped not fall apart. Not everything had a number but I tried to get specific about outcomes rather than activities. Also cut the "results-oriented professional" sentence entirely because apparently everyone has that and nobody reads it.

Sent maybe 20 applications with the new version. Got 6 callbacks in the first two weeks. I dont think my experience changed, I think I finally described it in a way that made sense to someone reading 200 resumes in a day. Anyway hope this helps someone.

Note - I'm not so updated with social media & my son told me that moderators run this group so please feel free to tell me if this is the wrong community to talk to or if its not relevant. Happy to be redirected.

For reference - I worked in recruiting and ran my own shop for the last 35 years, mainly across US, Australia, Asia. I have sourced for tech firms, MNCs, startups (Series A and up). I am retired now and in my free time assist people (mostly US) with navigating the job market.

I wanted to share some tips that might help this community, especially around ATS systems, interviews, career gaps, and how the system post once you submit your application.

First, regarding the ATS systems and why hiring feels luck based:

1. Most folks think ATS is a barrier to overcome. It is not. ATS systems are purely management systems. They rarely auto reject anyone and it is not a system that you have to "game". I do not know where this notion of tailoring your resume to game the ATS and have your resume reach your recruiters desk came from, but it is incorrect. The ATS is simply a management and tracking tool. Over the span of my career, the new ATS that came up can reject someone instantly based on location, IP, AI based resumes, but tt cannot instantly reject someone based on their experience, or YOE, lack of keywords, etc

Simply put, if I post a job through ATS, and a 1000 applicants apply, I am going to get all 1000 of the resumes unless if the ATS found out that the person who applied is not from the country where the job was posted, or if their in -house AI system detected fraud based on phone numbers, email IDs or faulty work experience.

When the resumes come in, every ATS lets me search by keyword. I type in "Tableau" aand a hundred resumes surface. I am in no way going through all hundred. I am mostly finding my candidate in the first twenty, shortlisting, and moving on. My job at that point is done. The remaining eighty never get opened. Most ATS sort applications on the descending order, meaning I see the applications in order of who applied first.
This is probably why people think "hiring is luck based" and to be honest, it is not entirely wrong. You could be the most qualified person who applied and I will never see your resume simply because of timing.

My advice is simple. Do not obsess over being the "best" application. Be the earliest one and the relevant one. It's simple probability.

2. Tailoring your resumes to the JD - This is an extension of 1.

Please, do not do this excessively. The concept of matching your resume to the JD and gamifying the ATS probably came up in the last 5 years or so through resume coaching firms or career coaching firms. These teach people to tailor their resumes but what people end up doing is fabricating their resumes. There is a massive difference between the two. This is a core problem the industry is suffering from right now.

Somewhere along the line people started stuffing keywords into resumes purely to get past the ATS. Skills they do not have, experience they have not done. Some even go as far as hiding keywords in white font on white background so it registers in the system but a human eye cannot see it. The result is that every resume now looks complete on paper. We know exactly what combination of skills and experience we need, we apply our filters, and suddenly everyone matches. It is unfair in two directions. The candidate who was honest about their skills gets buried under people who fabricated theirs. And on our end we are spending more time, energy, and cost screening than we ever did before. The technology was supposed to reduce that effort but its going the other way. This is probably why you see us asking for some form of tamper proof resumes in job descriptions. This is also why I also feel there won't be a concept of a job post anymore maybe 2-3yrs down the line. Its simply going to a matter of picking a candidate and reaching out to them.

To be clear - Tailoring is when you have a data analyst and a PM experience, but for a particular role you only showed PM experience, and less of the DA or none of it. You are not lying/ fabricating because its the truth. People seem to be doing the opposite. Putting in experience that they never did or skills they never have.
It also becomes obvious during the interview process as well as the verification process. We recruiters use verification techniques as well as companies like The Work Number or past offer letters etc, to verify everything you have said on your resume. If you have changed the dates of your experience to match a JD or reduce YOE, Work the Number, who has the payroll data of practically everyone, can instantly flag it and its a big no no for us. This usually happened post the screening but is happening at the resume intake now.

3 - To use doc or pdf for resumes - never use doc especially if you are applying on Linkedln Easy apply or jobs hosted on Ashby/Lever/Greenhouse ATS. Linkedln Easy apply does not automatically show your resume to us on preview, we have to download it and it forces us to move away from our workflow. Margins on doc are also almost always misread by most ATS. Always use pdf. Even better if you can use overleaf resumes or UniTalent Tamper proof resumes . Both render resumes in latex code which is perfect for the ATS to read.

There are no margin issues or extraction issues. UniTalent resumes are immensely being preferred right now because they cannot be edited and are issued by the firm, not made by the candidates, so there is a certain degree of trust we have on them knowing that there wont be a skill added in white font on a white space somewhere, or that the resume has been edited to match the JD. We almost always spend more time when we see the UniTalent tag. Recruiters know its tamper free and hence we trust it. These have especially taken off when AI resumes started entering the market. If you are in the US, you might have seen job postings stating a preference for Unitalent tamper proof resumes over normal ones.

4. On career gaps - very simply put - lie about it.

5. On salary negotiations - If you are at an entry level role or mid senior level role, please do not negotiate for salaries, especially in this economy. As much as stupid or bad it sounds, there is an oversupply of talent in the market and we and our clients know that we will find someone willing to work for for less, almost always. A recruiter is not going to negotiate most of the time because they want to close the role asap and move on. Its the bitter truth, but it is what it is.

6. Don't apply blindly - looks for job locations with high JVRs (job vacany rates). Randstand Intelligence has this data.

7. Dont apply blindy again - Almost 30-40% of all jobs on the job boards are ghost jobs. We call them collectors, and their sole purpose is to collect resumes for recruiters or ats bases or built-in house talent databases. A common way to spot them is if the same role is posted everywhere - every state/ most countries/ every major cities.

8. On where the industry is heading :
   There are two directions the sourcing and hiring industry is heading right now -

9. AI becomes the sole recruiter from end to end - all the way from sourcing, to interviewing to decision making. This is going to go mainstream and as much as inhumane it feels, candidates have to get used to it. It's simply economics, if the cost of hiring goes down for one firm, other agencies are simply going to adopt the same to stay competitive. Entry level roles are affected most by AI.

10. The CV and concept of a job post is going to go. AI has accelerated a lot of things for recruiters, but equally so for candidates. Fake but picture perfect resumes, AI portfolios, AI interview help, AI voice modulations during interviews etc, AI applications/ cover letters etc. This is going to move the industry from CVs to straighup ledger based/ blockchain systems. Its a battle out there for everyone at this point. Most likely, every activity such as a job application, feedback, verification results are going to be on a single platform so that recruiters spend less time screening for gamification and more for the role. Most US firms already and we too, use UniTalent for that, some of our competitors use Greenhouse Real Talent, VerifyEd, etc. Linkedln too is increasing their verification now. Update your UniTalent or LinkedIn profiles, most of us have started sourcing from them rather posting jobs.

Happy to answer questions that come up and are within my expertise. Happy to point towards any research needed as well that might help in understanding the industry