Go to college, graduate and get a job. Oh, how we wish it were that simple. In reality, around 7.4 million people are unemployed in the United States alone. That’s more than the number of jobs currently available in the country.
To say bagging your dream job is no easy feat would be an understatement. Many people accept whatever they can get, and even then, it can take months, if not years of applying to finally be offered a position. Point in case: a person who revealed online that they submitted 2,452 job applications and received one offer.
The jobseeker’s screenshot is one of thousands of posts featured the Recruiting Hell page. It’s somewhat of a virtual support group for anyone who needs reassurance that they’re not alone in employment purgatory. The page has more than 1.6 million weekly visitors, many of whom are taking a short and much-needed break from the painful recruitment process.
From job ads with wild expectations like, “Able to run 3-5 miles at a 12-13 minute pace,” to hilariously relatable memes, Bored Panda has put together a list of the best posts from the community. Many might make the gainfully employed breathe a huge sigh of relief, while the rest cry into their crumpled cv.
#1 This Explains Every Hiring Process I’ve Ever Seen
Image source: NextCode_Placement
#2 The Streets Have Spoken
Image source: MoreFarmer8667
#3 Because This Happens All The Time With Me
Image source: Agile-Wind-4427
Things are not looking good when it comes to the job market. But if you’re one of the millions of people desperately seeking work, you probably already know that. In the United States alone, 7.4 million people are unemployed. Some are graduates fresh out of college, others had work, then they didn’t.
According to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, layoffs reached more than 1.1 million in 2025, while job creation failed to keep pace. Only 584,000 jobs were added. This is many people to settle for whatever they can get.
And, as some experts warn, the U.S. is in the midst of an underemployment crisis. In other words, a growing number of workers are settling for underpaid or part-time work that does not meet basic living expenses.
#4 You Don’t Want To Work For Companies Like This
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#5 Yup
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#6 Yeah Lemme Jump Right On That
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People who have spent years studying now find themselves taking on menial jobs, just to try and make ends meet.
“I’m also working weekends at a friend’s cafe, washing dishes, and I’m still applying and interviewing for other opportunities. But it’s the same story, no offers. At the same time, I’m debating whether to switch professions or even go back to school, even though I already have a master’s degree,” marketing and communications professional BC Dodge told Al Jazeera.
#7 I Was Offered An Unpaid One Week Trial. Rejected It
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#8 Life Experience
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#9 Good Strategy To Get A Raise?
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Despite making a name for himself in Washington’s nonprofit sector, he now finds himself struggling to find full-time work. Dodge was laid off from his job in 2024 when the company decided to restructure. After hitting numerous brick walls, the communications expert turned to part-time work.
“The pay was well below what he had been earning before, but he accepted it anyway,” reports Al Jazeera. “Some income, he reasoned, was better than none.”
The Economic Policy Institute has warned that underemployment is on the rise, with 8% of the U.S. population finding themselves in this position. That figure is up 0.5% from 2024, and 1.1% from 2023.
#10 Figured Y’all Would Like (Or Dislike) This
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#11 Love When They Ask What Would Help, Then Ignore Every Word
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#12 This Is So Accurate
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“Some people have lost their jobs and found new ones that pay less, but others have kept their jobs, but their healthcare premiums have increased,” says Jillian Hishaw, a personal bankruptcy lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Their electric bills have also gone up. Their salaries no longer cover basic living costs.”
#13 Please?
Image source: Loud-Possibility-244
#14 Employers Want To Pay As Little As Possible
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#15 This One Question Exposes Toxic Workplaces Instantly
Image source: Qwalah
Hishaw adds that the current situation is causing more and more people to come knocking on her door, inquiring about personal bankruptcy filings. It’s all in a desperate effort not to lose their homes to foreclosure.
“In one day last week, 85 foreclosures were filed in Mecklenburg County [where Charlotte is located],” revealed the lawyer. “Foreclosures happen daily, but 85 in a single day is unusually high. Two years ago, the daily average was 10 to 20, but now filings are approaching triple digits each day.”
#16 Why Do Companies Put You Through Multiple Interviews When They’ve Already Decided On An Internal Candidate?
Image source: Agile-Wind-4427
#17 “The Youth Just Don’t Want To Work”
Image source: PranayJhaTheMan
#18 When Capitalism Is Hijacked…
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Meanwhile, some job seekers say they’re submitting thousands of applications, and still not getting any joy.
33-year-old James Richardson from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is one of them. He told the BBC that without help from his parents, he would be homeless.
Richardson says he’s applied to more than 1,200 jobs since being let go from his role as an information security analyst for a government contractor in October. And that sometimes his application is rejected within 15 minutes of submission.
“It feels like there is no-one on the other side even bothering to take a look at your experiences and credentials,” Richardson said.
#19 You Need To Have Experience Before You Start Working
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#20 Explain The Gap In Your Resume
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#21 Me On My First Job
Image source: Agile-Wind-4427
#22 What Is The Chance Of This Really Happening?
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#23 The Most Brutal Labor Chart You Will Ever See
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#24 Recruiters…genuine Question: Why Do Some Of You Do This?
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#25 90% Of Jobs Can Be Taught
Image source: PranayJhaTheMan
#26 Reality?
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#27 Linkedin Is Slowly Turning Into Instagram With Resume
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#28 They Took Their Sweet Time To Review It
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#29 Why Are Companies Still Ask For Cover Letters ?
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#30 Being Unemployed Should Not Be Held Against You
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#31 30? Try 500+ Applications
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#32 Woke Up To This Shocking Email This Morning
I have no criminal or felony charge history whatsoever, and yet they STILL rejected me. This is the FIRST time I ever got rejected this year. Also have had other emails from other Workday Talent Acquisition Teams like this from Goodwill’s and ALDI’s in the past. WORST HIRING TEAMS I’VE EVER HAD THAT REVIEWED MY APPILACTIONS IN MY LIFE!
Image source: Disastrous_Major2676
#33 Actual Response I Got From A Job I Applied To. At Least They Are Honest I Guess
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#34 They Always Want To Pay The Lowest Salary They Can
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#35 If You Are The Daughter Of The CEO, You Get To Be Vp Right Out Of College
Locally, we have a hospital called MercyHealth. The CEO Javon Bea makes like 16+ million a year, one of the most well played CEOs in America. He makes more than Mayo Clinic’s CEO.
If you google him, you’ll see he recently closed down a hospital he promised he wouldn’t. And the hospital was located in the poorest neighborhood of Rockford IL.
Above is nepotism at the best. His daughter graduates college in 2009 and lands a VP job right off the bat. She makes almost 1/2 million.
Image source: [deleted]
#36 The Texts I Got After Accepting Another Role
After getting an offer and accepting (because they said I had to give an answer that day), I got another offer that was much better the next day which was still two weeks before the other job would start.
I told them it had better pay, more stability and wasn’t contracting, and I got a bunch of texts from them trying to scare me into staying. Feel like I dodged a bullet not joining them.
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#37 Imagine Having 2 Years Of Experience Just To Be Lumped In The Same Category As People With No Experience
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#38 I Srsly Believe This Is How They Recruit Nowadays
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#39 Future Interview Question: “How Are You Training Your Subconscious To Perfect Your Sales Pitch In Your Idle Time (Sleep)?”
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#40 Work Or Pass Away
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#41 Humiliation Ritual
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#42 Hey So That’s Actually Not What Remote Means
If I wanted to relocate, I’d be looking for jobs that offer relocation.
Also, this is a bookkeeping job paying $60k. They’re not actually gonna pay for cross-country relocation, they’re going to find a San Diego resident who is vaguely qualified and hire them because it’s cheaper in the short run.
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#43 Saw This On Linkedin. I Think It’s A Good Summary Of The Situation
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#44 Job Hunting In 2025 Be Like
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#45 Yeah, I’m Not Even Going To Comment On This
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#46 Rejected Before Applying
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#47 What A Rookie Mistake
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#48 Recruitment In 2025: You Applied For 1000 Jobs And None Of Them Were Actually Hiring!
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#49 So Many People Can Relate To This
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#50 Apologies To The Models In The Stock Images
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#51 I Know Of Colleagues With Enviable Resumes Who’ve Been Benched For Years, As Well. It Gets Worse If You’re Over 45-50
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#52 All We Care About Is Money
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#53 Merry Christmas Everyone
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#54 Amazing News
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#55 Does It Ever Work
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#56 This Is An Administrative Assistant To CEO Position…
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#57 Insane Reply To Earlier Post
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#58 Is This Becoming The New Norm For The Interview Process? Because This Feels Insane
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#59 Hr Manager: “Please Explain Your Gap In Employment?“
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#60 They’re Catching On 👀🤣
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#61 Found This Comment On A TikTok Post
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#62 I Wish I Was A Nepo Baby
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#63 Apparently This Decides If I Can Pay Rent :)
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#64 I Really Have No Words
Job description for founding engineer btw. Although they have the same requirements for every opening. I did apply since I was desperate for job but anyway. I found a job a month back but this one job description kept bugging me and thankfully I found this subreddit 😭 Edit: This IS NOT an ad for the company nor is it fake. I applied to this a few months back and its still an active opening. Edit 2: For everyone asking the company is called Icon – AI ad maker (IM NOT PROMOTING IT!)
Image source: Teenwolf156
#65 Job Application Asked Me If I Was Ok With Dropping Out Of School???
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#66 How Long Before They’re Asking For Skull Measurements?
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#67 A Normal Interview Question
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#68 How Hr And Recruiters Are Hired:
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#69 Every Employee Can Relate
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#70 This Is So Accurate
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#71 Didn’t Even Try To Hide The AI Prompt
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#72 Cuting My Legs From Underneath Me
So check this out this was about a month ago I applied this position I went to two different interviews and I discussed it with the people I was interviewing with and with the recruiting agency and they all agreed for me to start today and then when the day came it they told me that the funding was taken away and the job was on hold they waited until today to tell me I quit my previous job in order to be here.
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#73 My Manager Gave Me A Feedback Using Chatgpt
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#74 Ask Stupid Questions, Receive Stupid Answers
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#75 Trying To Get A Job In This Market
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#76 You’re Either A Data Labeller Or A Beta Labourer
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#77 We’re Still Doing This In 2025…
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#78 I Was Still In The Building After My Interview???
Second round of interviews. They tell me to expect an email in the coming week…for admission to another 2 interviews. Got this message 2 minutes later. Didn’t even think to check my email until hours afterward.
All for a fast food position.
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#79 We’ve All Been There
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#80 🙃🙃🙃🙃
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#81 Taking Boomer Advice Never Works !
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#82 Finally Got A Job After 9 Months Of Search!!!
I almost lost all hope on getting anything after 9 long month of searching as a new grad in mechanicalengineering. Took me 21 interviews with 21 different companies and that’s not including the phone calls that don’t produce actual interviews(probably like 20 more). The first 20 interviews took weeks from scheduling to final response or ghosting (4 of them). The last one was, fill application, call, interview, offer, whithin two weeks.
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#83 Why Do Jobs Discriminate Based On Location? I Have No Kids, No Pets, No Obligations, No Furniture, And No Family. I Will Be Able To Move Instantly With A Reasonable 2 Week Notice. She Ghosted Me After This Message Even Though I Was A Solid Applicant!
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#84 This Cannot Be Real Life Bro
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#85 Tech Job Market These Days
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#86 Why Is This Joke In A Kids Movie Lmaoo
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#87 Saw This Gem On Linkedin
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#88 Hr Got Mad After I Rejected The Interview Call
Image source: Agile-Wind-4427
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