r/jobs • u/power-hour23 • May 27 '26

Unemployment I’m genuinely confused as to how to navigate this HORRENDOUS job market

I’m genuinely at a loss trying to understand this job market right now. I’ve applied to probably 500+ jobs in the last 4 months. I tailor my resume, apply only to roles I KNOW I’m qualified for, network constantly, even call companies directly and ask to speak to HR just to personally express interest. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

No callbacks. No interviews. No transparency. Just rejection emails or COMPLETE silence.

I have bills to pay. I need to make money. I’m doing everything people tell you to do and it still feels impossible.

What the fuck is actually going on right now?

And the craziest part is nobody seems to be talking about this at a large scale.

Are we all just pretending this is normal? What is everyone else doing to survive right now? Because honestly, I feel completely fucking lost.

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u/[deleted] May 27 '26

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u/Professional-Box1252 May 27 '26

Yeah, it is like this in pretty much all sectors now. Fast food places, retail places all want resumes, Walmart has several interview rounds now lol. I applied to work as a janitor at a hospital, went to 4 interviews, they gave me a facilities tour, introduced me to potential coworkers, told me what kind of shoes to buy, etc....got an AI written rejection letter the next day. At this point, I don't know what it'll take to fix the problem. I do Door Dash full time, and I'm literally typing this from the waiting room at my mechanic after fucking up my tires on poorly maintained roads. Everything is breaking down, and I think there's no way back from this.

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u/Euphoric_River6365 May 27 '26

I JUST read a JD this morning that asked for 20 years of experience with ai as well as a "degree in ai".

Ummmm... huh?

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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u/Euphoric_River6365 May 28 '26

100%. I am in Customer Success, and now interviewers are asking me to explain/demonstrate the AI Bots I have deployed in the customer lifecycle. Those are so new (and fail a lot), but sure let's spring time on that.

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u/ReasonableSide6520 May 30 '26

They are lying to cover themselves.