If you’re job searching right now and feeling exhausted, ignored, or downright disrespected, I want you to hear this loud and clear: It’s not you.
The Job Search Reality Check
The job search today feels like an emotional rollercoaster. It’s easy to feel like you’re doing something wrong, but the truth is, the system is broken.
The corporate hiring process has reached new levels of dysfunction, leaving talented professionals questioning their worth. But let’s be real, it’s not a reflection of your skills, experience, or value. It’s a reflection of the flawed and often discouraging hiring practices in today’s job market.
Here are just a few examples of what candidates are experiencing right now:
🚩 The Vanishing Act: You spend hours preparing for an interview, have what feels like a great conversation… and then? Silence. No rejection, no update, nothing. HR disappears into the void.
🚩 Free Labor Disguised as ‘Preparation’: You’re asked to put together a full strategy, a business plan, or a project proposal before the interview, essentially giving them free consulting work, only to never hear back.
🚩 Ghosting, But Make It Professional: Recruiters reach out with urgency, tell you you’re a great fit, and then… poof. They vanish.
🚩 The Never-Ending Interview Gauntlet: You go through five, six, sometimes even eight rounds of interviews, only to be hit with a lowball offer that’s borderline insulting.
🚩 The Friend Fade: Colleagues and contacts you thought were friends stop responding when you reach out for job leads or support. Suddenly, their enthusiasm for networking disappears.
🚩 Job Posting Recycled, Yet ‘Filled’: Companies posting the same job multiple times, only to tell you the position has been “filled” after you apply. Then, weeks later, the exact same job pops up again. This sends mixed signals and is a clear sign of a lack of transparency and respect in the hiring process.
It feels like a game, but the rules are unclear. You’re left wondering:
- Is this position truly filled, or
- Was I just another name in their recruitment funnel?
- What am I missing?
- Will I ever find the right job?
- Why am I not hearing back, even after a great interview?
- What’s wrong with my resume or cover letter?
- Am I not standing out enough, or is it just that there are too many applicants?
- Why do companies ask for so much and then offer so little?
- How can I keep going when nothing seems to be changing?
- Is this really the right career path for me, or am I chasing something that isn’t meant to be?
- Am I invisible in this market, or are companies just looking for something that doesn’t exist?
You Are Not the Problem
All of this can make you feel like you’re doing something wrong. That maybe you should have answered a question differently, written a better cover letter, or been “more impressive” somehow. But the truth? The system is broken.
This is a buyer’s market right now, and companies are taking advantage. They’re cutting costs, stretching candidates thin, and showing a shocking lack of respect for job seekers.
Dodging the Bullet
It may not feel like it, but sometimes not getting the job is actually a blessing. A company that ghosts you, devalues your work, or drags you through an unreasonable hiring process is showing you exactly who they are. If they treat candidates this way, imagine what it’s like working there.
Would you really want to spend your days in a place that doesn’t respect your time, expertise, or basic professional dignity? Probably not.
You Are Still Worthy
It’s hard. It’s frustrating. It’s lonely. But do not let this process define your worth. The right company, the right opportunity – it will come. And when it does, you’ll look back and realize those “rejections” were really redirections.
Keep going. You are talented. You are valuable. You are not the problem. The nonsensical hiring system? That’s on them.
