In mid-January 2023, my temporary contract with my employer ran up and I was laid off. Since then, I have applied to over 140 jobs. I know the number because I have to track and report all of my applications in order to get unemployment benefits.
Most jobs didn’t call or email back. Only a handful called to do an interview. Only one place hired me in late March for what seemed like a simple payroll/data entry position, and within a week, I realized it was a pyramid scheme. I came down with a bad flu the next week, and while I was recovering, I was fired via text.
I don’t remember where I heard this, but it was said that many of these jobs aren’t actually hiring at all, and they’re putting out bogus applications on job sites to make investors think they’re a big, growing company worth investing in. I can’t help but feel like there’s truth to it.
I can cite the whole Fake Listings thing for you. It is true.
About between 1-in-4 and 1-in-3 job listings in the US are just fucking fake. A combination of identity theft scams, attempts to prove growth to investors, and attempts to suppress labour complaints by understaffed and overworked employees.
I sent out SO many applications and got so few interviews I could count them on one hand. When I actually GOT to the interview stage, I usually advanced pretty quickly.
A few jobs ended up having to shelve the position for various reasons. A couple ended up going with someone else. And the others actually proceeded to the offer stage.
But this was after MONTHS of applying and hearing NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING. Several times I was told that they “selected other candidates”, only for the position to pop up AGAIN the next week! Once job did this THREE TIMES.
This should ABSOLUTELY be illegal. These places ask for basically a fucking essay before you can submit an application. It is literally taking away time and effort that could be directed at places that would actually have a chance of hiring you.
I applied to hundreds of jobs over the course of years and got one legitimate interview, which immediately got me hired.
