i’m at a small call center and it’s a chill place but they brought this new guy on, he’s nice enough i guess, the dividers make it hard to talk to anyone so i’m not anything beyond polite with everyone, but he farts ALL DAY. and they’re silent but they stink. i know it’s not me or anyone else since the smell goes away when he’s not there or something. this is my first job in an office and i have no idea what to do. i don’t know who hr is either. i would wear a mask with vicks but the headsets make it hard and i already struggle with breathing. i would ignore it it’s making me sick and having to throw up and spend the rest of the day and night nauseous. i also am upset by the idea of breathing in fart all day. it’s my first office job, before now i always worked service industry jobs where it would be completely normal to just walk somewhere else for a second (which also means that people would just do that if they needed to fart). someone please help!

I shared my interview experience on several platforms, including here.

My original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/jobs/s/WROeCntHyo

Today, the recruiter contacted me and said the company had seen my Threads posts and wanted me to remove them within 24 hours. Otherwise, their legal team was considering legal action for defamation.

I told the recruiter that I also posted about the experience on Reddit and Xiaohongshu (RedNote), that I will not be removing my posts, and that if they want to pursue legal action, they are free to do so. I’ll be waiting to be served.

What I don’t understand is this: they asked about my salary history. I told them that employers are prohibited from asking applicants about salary history in California. The interviewer responded by telling me, “I’m probably more American than you.”

I then shared what happened to me on social media. Instead of contacting me to investigate what happened, I’m now being told that their legal team is considering a defamation claim.

Some people commented that I should have simply made up a number and answered the salary-history question. But that misses the point. I chose not to answer a question I understood to be prohibited under California law.

Since my original post, another Southern California applicant contacted me. She said the same hiring manager did not ask her about her salary history, but an HR representative based in Hong Kong did. According to her, she told HR that the question was prohibited in California, but HR continued asking and even requested previous pay stubs.

If a company wants to hire employees and operate in the U.S., it needs to understand and comply with U.S. and state employment laws. And please learn to respect your candidates and employees. Just because certain behavior may be accepted elsewhere does not mean it is acceptable in the U.S. If a company simply cannot adapt, it is probably better to stay in Asia and avoid potential lawsuits.

The company is Master Kong (康师傅).

I had a job interview recently where the interviewer asked me the usual question: “Why do you want to work for our company?”

Normally, I would give the standard answer about how I admire the company’s values, how the position matches my experience, and how excited I am about the opportunity.

This time I decided to be honest.

I told them that the main reason I applied was because the job description matched my experience, the salary was better than my current job, and the position offered more opportunities to learn.

I also told them that I didn't have some lifelong dream of working for their company and that, realistically, I was looking for a job where I could do good work, be fairly compensated, and have some room to grow.

There was a short silence after I said it.

The interviewer actually laughed and said, “That's probably the most honest answer I've heard to that question.”

The rest of the interview felt much more like an actual conversation.

We talked about what I was looking for, what the company could offer, and what they expected from someone in the role.

I don't know whether being honest helped or hurt my chances. I haven't received a final decision yet.

But it was strangely refreshing not to pretend that I had spent my entire life dreaming about working for a company I only discovered because I saw their job posting.

Maybe that's what companies actually want to hear, or maybe they just want us to become slightly more convincing actors during interviews.

I'm in a really tough spot and hoping someone has advice. My company just announced a restructuring. They said my current role is being eliminated but offered me a 'new' position. The catch is it's the exact same job but with a 15% pay cut.

I've been with them for five years and have consistently exceeded expectations. This feels like a slap in the face. They're basically saying 'take less money or you're out'.

I don't know what to do. I have bills to pay and a family to support. Is this even legal? Has anyone else experienced this? Should I try to negotiate or just start looking for a new job immediately?

I had an interview last week for a senior inventory coordinator role at a regional company that distributes commercial hydraulic hoses and industrial grease. Normal middle-class office job. I have seven years of experience managing warehouse stock, my references are clean, and I can run an inventory database with my eyes shut.

Everything was going smooth until the hiring manager hit me with the dreaded culture-fit question.

he leaned into his webcam with dead seriousness and asked, "What inspires you about our company mission, and why do you want to build a career in the commercial fluid distribution space?"

I froze. It is industrial grease. Nobody on planet Earth wakes up at seven years old dreaming of wholesale hydraulic fittings. It is a utility company. I am applying because I am great at tracking physical goods, I want a steady paycheck, and my landlord expects rent on the first of the month.

Instead of being honest, I had to spend three minutes inventing a fake emotional backstory about how supply chains connect local communities and how I have always respected reliable industrial hardware. We both knew it was pure theater. Why do corporate recruiters demand this fake PASSION for unglamorous back-office jobs? its exhausting having to pretend that moving boxes of gaskets is my spiritual calling. i should of just told him I like not starving to death. Why cannot competence be enough?

wish me luck everybody!!

Full disclosure: I’ve worked within Talent Acquisition for the several years and have very few insights as a job seeker this decade outside of what I’ve read or heard. In the US, I have experience with full cycle recruiting, as well as other support positions within the department. These opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

Let’s face it, the job market sucks for job seekers. It’s also been terrible for hiring teams. Due to the economy, current employees are leaving their roles at a record low rate and entry level positions in particular are down 7% this year. Ghost jobs exist in an environment that doesn’t properly regulate. There is a growing lack of trust between the job seeker and recruiters.

Pain points:

When posting on large platforms, ad campaigns have been increasing in costs. YOY we’re looking at a 15-50% jump in cost per apply (CPA) depending on the position and territory. This has been the case since the post covid return to work era circa 2022.

Candidate sourcing has gotten harder. When reaching out to passive candidates, response rates and positive response rates especially have cratered. Additionally, search result output candidates with the wrong skillsets / level of experience more often.

Time to fill has increased, part of this is due to operational scaling issues, but most of the issue is indirectly a result of new hiring practices.

The cause:

AI. It was oversold as a cure-all that can take on responsibilities and create operational efficiency at a large scale. AI is being pushed through some companies to screen and filter applicants. Job platforms use AI to link the “right” candidates to the right jobs, but based on ATS kpi, it’s been getting progressively worse.

A job that I recruited for in 2022 that needed 3 headcount took 100 applicants from 1 job board (indeed) and around 3 weeks to fill. The job recently reopened 2 months ago and it only just closed. There were 300+ candidates for the same 3 headcount for the same territory. We utilized 4 major platforms and multiple job scraping sites.

Its of my personal belief that job platforms with the greatest market share no longer need to jockey for positioning and have quietly agreed to squeeze both job seekers and employers for as much time and money as possible, respectively. As a result, active workers avoid the messy job market and employers are firing less and focusing more on retention.

There are more AI written resumes and applying has become easier than ever. We find that people who are redirected to the career site are much more likely to be a quality applicant than those who just press easy apply and don’t read the description.

Ill leave you with a few stats:

2+million people have been out of work for 6+ months.
It takes an average of 400-750 applications for 1 job offer.
78% of applicants are okay with AI applying on their behalf.

We’re losing the human element of recruiting and everyone is feeling it.

Hey there. I'm a third-year computer science student, based in Egypt, with a 3.7/4.0 cGPA. I'm looking for remote work as on-site jobs/BPO work here pay far too little, so the problem is that I feel like a "jack of all trades, master of none". I can pick up almost anything quick enough if I have decent documentation or guidance, but I don't have one specific specialization and it's giving me impostor syndrome.

I was the student leader and a committee representative for the student union with a batch consisting of ~1500 students. I've built and self-hosted a web platform for my university on my own VPS. It gathered around ~200 active users and 1000+ unique visitors a week from my university.

I've been deep in computers since 2017, mostly on gaming communities, where I picked up a mix of skills like software development, system administration, cloud hosting, IT support, 3D modeling/game asset editing, staff team management, data entry (130+ WPM), and player support. All self-taught or taught by other individuals on those communities.

I have a variety of technical skills, which include but are not limited to System Administration (Windows/Linux), Cloud Management (DNS, self-hosting), firewall config (UFW), Docker, and coding in PHP, Python, JavaScript, and SQL (MySQL/MariaDB).

I've also done self-directed research into OSINT, structured evidence logging, and some red-teaming work on frontier LLMs (most notable research I've done, in which I've tested the susceptibility to sycophantic drift of a few frontier LLMs).

I have worked for 3 months as a Sales Development Representative at a BPO (lead generation, CRM logging, customer communication) and 18 months as IT Support and Administrative Assistant at a local company.

So, for someone like me, what's the smartest thing to do in terms of remote work? I would love some input from anyone who has some advice. Note down that I know that remote work is generally not easy to obtain, but hey, it's still ten times better than working locally.

I've been applying and searching for a new job for several months. I apply and then never hear anything. Even with companies that reach out with questions/clarifications on my application. Sometimes I even get an interview for the position... but then, nothing. No word. No generic copy/paste response saying I didn't get the job. I'm finding it incredibly frustrating.

Hello! Sorry i have no idea where to ask this but I applied to a few part time jobs and they keep asking if i have full time availability. What does that mean? Because I truly don’t understand if im applying part time I obviously do not have full time availability unless I am misunderstanding. Thank you for any help!!

I've been job searching for about four months and had one of the stranger things happen this week.

I applied for a role I was genuinely excited about, did a recruiter screen, then a 45-minute interview with the hiring manager.

Three days later I got a pretty standard rejection saying they were moving forward with candidates whose experience was more aligned with what they needed.

Fair enough.

Nine days later, the recruiter emailed me again.

She said the hiring team had “recalibrated the profile” after continuing interviews and asked whether I'd be interested in applying again.

The job is still the same title, same manager, same team, and as far as I can tell, almost the same description. A couple requirements were softened from “required” to “preferred.”

She specifically said I would need to submit a new application because they opened a new requisition.

I'm interested in the job, so I'm not offended. I'm just trying to understand what this usually means.

Did their first-choice candidates turn them down? Did they realize their original requirements were unrealistic? Am I now the backup plan?

More importantly, would you treat this as a completely fresh opportunity, or ask the recruiter directly what changed before restarting the process?

So basically what the title says. Has anyone done the math?

Everyone keeps telling me that I will eventually find something but so far in my experience of job searching since the beginning of the year it seems like there are not enough jobs for the people in the workforce rn...

I know Im not the only one but man I just feel stuck. Im a 31 year old dude. I have my high-school diploma. All of my experience from the beginning is car mechanic related. I had an issue where I just started having panic attacks out of nowhere and things just kept escalating until it basically ruined my life. It was like a 30 year old midlife crisis. I just dont want to live like that anymore and I think my brain knew it first. I now work at Amazon to pay my bills and am just trying to figure out what's next. My body hurts from the abuse I did to it. I found out im bipolar. I have a hard time with communication now. I feel like im relearning about myself. The only thing that would even possibly interest me is something computer related but everything ive read online makes it seem like its so oversaturated that I would be wasting my time. Im a terrible book learner. But I wouldn't be against trying. Its been 10 years since I made an attempt. What do I do at this point? Have any no brainer paths you would take in my position? Have any advise? Im all ears. I come from an almost poverty family and am the first to graduate high-school and buy a house so at this point I feel like Im on my own. What do I do internet people?

Today I had the worst interview experience of my life.

It was at a GP practice in a nearby town for an admin and telephony role. I arrived and they are 20 minutes late seeing me. Frustrating, but not a big issue, it's a doctor's office, I get there might be delays. Finally someone comes to take me to a meeting room, no apologies for the wait.

They ask how my journey was. I said it was good and commented on how the bus stop was right outside the practice, so it was easy to find. She replied "oh, you travel by bus?" And clearly sounded disappointed. We get to a meeting room and the practice owner is there. They spend the first 5 minutes talking about the bus. About how they really don't want someone who relies on public transport. I assured them I am fine with the trip and have verified I will be able to travel reliably to and from the practice but they kept going on about the bus.

Eventually they move on and ask me to tell them about myself. I begin telling them my work history and experience and the practice manager interrupts and says "no, tell me who *you* are." Okay, would rather not be cut off, but fine. I tell them how I've recently been working on a sci-fi novel. Again, he interrupts and says "you'll never get it published."

??

I met you 10 minutes ago, I never even mentioned trying to get published? I know if I ever want to be published it would be a long path. It just seemed like an unnecessary, blunt, and rude comment for no purpose. For some reason I decided to continue with the interview.

First real question. "How have you handled angry patients in the past?" Okay, kind of a damning question about the role, but important to know in health care. I start to talk about my process and I'm barely on the second sentence when he interrupts me *again* and asks if I let aggressive patients affect me mentally. I reassured them no, I recognise they're rarely mad at me, but mad at their situation, so I don't take it personally.

Right, ready for question 2. All they say is "that's all the questions we have for you. Are you free Tuesday for an unpaid trial shift?"

That's it? That's all they had to say? I was in mild shock at how quick everything was that I stupidly agreed. I am just about to write an email advising that I will not be attending the trail shift.

And on top of all that, the practice owner was yawning none stop throughout the entire interview, not that it even lasted long.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. This isn’t normal. Never happened to me before.

I have a job I like, but it doesn’t pay the bills. I have to have at least two to live just a frugal paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. I got two job offers recently. I couldn’t even make it through orientation. Nothing bad happened. The jobs didn’t seem hard. I just started crying and couldn’t stop. “Is this all there is?” or “how long will this last? until I can really start to live?” I couldn’t bear the thought of continuing to live a life so mundane, scripted, automatic when all I want is to get out. But I can’t stay in my room my whole damn life. But I can’t exist in society either because I Am Not Real and I Am Not A Human. I want to anything else but a Person. Every time I have the opportunity for something to change, something to be better, I run away.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me I want to work I want to work but I just fucking break down and lose myself whats wrong with me

I actually cannot do customer service anymore. I am 24f and I’m DONE. entitled customers & insufferable shop owners have me at my WITS END. I’ve been in food service since I was 16, with a little retail in there. It is draining my soul and I should not be so stressed about a minimum wage job that doesn’t even completely cover my bills. I feel so stuck and I don’t know what to do.

I honestly just need something to get me through the next year. I can’t do customer service for another year. I dropped out of college so I don’t have a degree. I would love a work from home job because I already am basically a housegirlfriend. I just am out of ideas as to what I can do. I’m overwhelmed, physically & mentally drained, and honestly depressed. I need something somewhat stable so I can pay my bills, but I no longer want to overwork myself for a job that does not benefit me in the long run.

Please help with ideas.

Had a final round interview on Tuesday. Everything went great, the team seemed chill, and the hiring manager said they were ready to move forward. Then HR reaches out today asking for three references.

Standard stuff, right? Except the email specifically states that one of them HAS to be my current, direct supervisor. Not a former boss. Not a coworker. My actual boss at the job I am currently sitting at right now.

i emailed back politely explaining that I haven't given notice yet because there is no signed offer on the table, so contacting my boss would put my job at serious risk.

The recruiter replied in ten minutes saying its company policy to verify current performance and went "if you have a transparent relationship with your manager, this shouldn't be an issue."

Are you kidding me? Who in their right mind tells their boss "hey I'm trying to leave this company, please tell this other place if I'm good so they can decide if they want to hire me"? What planet do these HR people live on?

I’m a 3rd-year student in India currently learning Java and Spring Boot and trying to become stronger at backend development.

I’ve worked with Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA, REST APIs, JWT authentication, SQL databases, and DSA. I’ve also built a few backend/full-stack projects.

For people working in Java backend development, what skills or concepts do you think students often overlook when preparing for internships?

I’d especially appreciate advice on what to prioritize beyond basic CRUD APIs and DSA.

I dont know if its because im Gen Z and recently getting into the workforce but for life of me I dont understand how to use the work telephones. For information I work at a tjmaxx and theres these telephones by the registers that have 20 different buttons and basically most of the buttons have no indication on them maybe because they’ve been scrubbed off from years of never being changed idk. I dont know how to call, mute the call, put it on hold, on these things, I asked my supervisor once and they explained it in a very fast and confusing manner. I didnt bother asking again Ive left the calling and work including the telephone to my coworkers. Anyone have a guide on how to use these things? I tried searching I could not find a video or basically prescribe what kind of telephone I was talking about so never could find a video. Im in dire help this irritates me a lot.