Yesterday I had the initial HR phone screen from a big tech company for a pretty technical role, was told that I would need to go through 6 rounds of interview including live case studies, another take home case study, and then analysis of my take home case study, then another 2 rounds of interview with the global heads of the business group. I had questions on whether the salary given was post-tax or pre-tax, as it would be 35% of difference. HR got back to me just now and told me it was pre-tax, which means my take home would be 40% less than my previous job. Told the HR, I appreciate the opportunity given, but I won't be moving forward for the next interview rounds. Damn it felt good, after receiving so many rejections, it was finally me to reject the company.

It's not a revenge story per se, it's just I do not believe the salary was even remotely worthy of going through so many excruciating rounds of interview and take up so much of my time.

This feels like the biggest missed opportunity of my career. Recently, I interviewed with a very popular US-based MNC. All candidates, including me, went through five rounds of interviews. However, only I was shortlisted for the final in-person round. Unfortunately, in that last round I was asked questions from an area where I’m weak, and I couldn’t answer even the basic ones. I performed poorly. The role requires a specific set of skills, and in the earlier rounds they evaluated everything thoroughly except that one particular skillset . But in the final round, they focused only on that skill I’m weakest at. Today, I spoke with the HR, and she told me I didn’t do well in the last round. She also mentioned that while that skill is necessary, it isn’t considered the baseline for the role (though I personally feel it is a must-have). She said they’ll discuss internally and get back to me. I can’t help but feel this is going to be a negative outcome. To me, it feels like the biggest lost opportunity of my life.

After almost 7 months of countless interviews and rejections I received a job offer and accepted!!! Waiting for the start date due to the background check but I’ll pass no problem. HR is hoping for sometime next week. All of my other paperwork is complete.

I applied through Indeed after reading about the role and was like, “ahh, what the hell? I have the background with all of these skills they’re looking for”. That background was in finance for major banks vetting clients before we did business with them. For this role it’s extremely similar but it’s for a large tech distributor and their “clients” are their vendors. I’m sure these types of roles exist outside of finance but this is the only one I’ve personally come across. It seemed like dumb luck. Fast forward, their HR team calls me, brings me in, brings me in again, and here I am! I wish the pay was a little more BUT I no longer have to make the expensive, hellish journey to NYC and I don’t have to wear fancy corporate clothes lol Can’t forget solid benefits either of course.

It’s weird though because I thought I’d be way more excited? Don’t get me wrong, I am, but I think the past 7 months have sucked the absolute life out of me and made me so damn numb to this entire process. Hopefully that goes away real soon.

I wish you all the best in your searches !!! Keep fighting that fight!! It may seem hopeless at times but it’s not. Please hang in there 🙏🏻🤞🏻

This post is really just to vent and to take any advice you all have to give. But yesterday I received an automated rejection email from a company I had been interviewing with the entire month of August. I met every single one of their requirements, and nailed all the interviews, even making it to the final round.

I work in HR, so I know how important it is to find a culture match. I truly felt a strong match to this organization and really enjoyed everyone on the team that I met. But to be sent a “no-reply” felt like SUCH a slap in the face.

I ended up asking the recruiter directly if there was any feedback, and she literally said “there’s no feedback to provide, best of luck in your search!”

I’m at a loss. I’m so discouraged. I’ve been unemployed for a year. I’m 30. I want to start my life. I want a house with a yard for my dog, to start a family with my boyfriend at some point in the near future, etc.

I just don’t know what it is about me that is making companies just interview me and end up going a different direction last minute.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

I got a call from a hiring manager for the job which was about Content creation, and after asking about me and my experience in social media and content creation,

She asked me "Why do you need a job?"

I paused for 5 sec and responded "Money?" 💵

She immediately ended the call, and left me wondering

Is there any other way to respond to this?

What answer is suitable for when they ask about the reason for my 2-3 years of unemployment since graduating university.

I had an interview today. The technical manager and the hr were in the call the whole time.

The technical manager asked questions, most of which I answered properly. But he had a very condescending tone whenever I admitted that I don't know much about something as I'm still learning it. But this is something I face all the time. I never minded that.

But next up the HR started asking me questions about my strengths and weakness. Classic.

Then asked me about the person that inspires me, about the books I read, what I learnt from those, my favorite moment from my childhood and whole lot of questions like these. And also following up those answers with another question.

This went on for so long, to the point where I had to share too many infos about my personal stuffs. I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen, but I didn't have any professional answers to those questions.

Can anyone here please tell me what are they trying to understand from these questions?

I have been interviewing for a position. I have moved on to the next interview within 24 hours each time. I was supposed to do my final interview in person, but they moved it to zoom and scheduled it at a closer date because they wanted to “wrap up the process as soon as possible”. Is this a good sign?

Mastering Your Job Interview: A Comprehensive Preparation Guide | Clutch Jobs Blog

I had a final round interview nearly two weeks ago for a manager position. This morning, the hiring manager (who is director level) emailed me directly asking if I’m available to connect by phone or Zoom later today.

HR had previously mentioned there were only two finalists, so I assumed I’d hear either way by now. This unexpected follow-up feels significant.

One detail: this director also oversees two vacant specialist roles under the manager, which they hadn’t planned to hire until the manager was in place. There’s a chance they may be offering one of those roles instead, though I don’t know for sure. Maybe I’m just doubting the more likely outcome which is they offer me the job I applied for.

For those with experience: when a director reaches out like this after final interviews, is it typically to extend an offer (of some kind)? Or could it still be a rejection? Curious what others have experienced in this type of situation.

https://www.reddit.com/r/interviews/s/6LxD6lNUPD

Edit: the interview has been rescheduled for next week so i have more time now. I am preparing my best for the same!

I was being interviewed for the role of Product Manager at Akamai. Initially, I was told that there will be 4 rounds of interview - HM, Tech, Stakeholder and Leadership round. My first three rounds were over. It's been 2 weeks and I am yet to hear about the last round(leadership round). I reached out to the HR, but unfortunately I didn't recieve any response. Should I remain hopeful? as 2 weeks have already passed since the last interview.

Hi, I have applied for Data Cloud Engineer MTS role and went through all technical rounds, now i have last few rounds remaining. I have upcoming interview with a product manager. I don't feel very confident with behavioral questions.
I was hoping someone could share their experience interviewing with a product manager at Salesforce. What kind of questions should I expect in this round, and what's the best way to prepare?

This happened around 10 years ago but it still baffles me to this day. So I thought I would share.

I was 23 and had just graduated with a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from a good English university. Due to a parent getting sick and passing away in my final year, I didn't apply to any graduate schemes and was suddenly thrust into the shark pit that is Engineering entry level positions.

I was scared and took the first interview I was offered, at a company that designed insulation for machinery.

Bought myself a suit and drove over. When I arrived, to my surprise there were loads of other graduates also there. Red flag number 1.

I spoke to the receptionist and was told that I needed to take "the exam" before I was "allowed" to interview. Exam?! I started sweating buckets, I was not told about any exam and I began to panic thinking of all I had forgotten in the 2 months since I finished my degree.

I was led into a room filled with other hopeful grads and I sat down and opened the paper.

It was 50 multiple choice questions... -What is the largest ocean? -Who was the first American president? -If you have 20 sheep and all but 4 die, how many sheep do you have? -Draw an isosceles triangle.

I was a bit stunned at the choice of questions but finished up, handed in my paper and after 10 minutes I was "permitted" to take the interview.

I entered a room and was greeted by the Head of the Company and the Head of HR. We did some introductions, sat down and the CEO said. "I am very disappointed in you" I was taken aback, "I'm sorry, what?" "You scored 49/50, the highest result so far on our exam. But the question you got wrong is appalling for someone wanting a career in engineering."

He flipped the paper round and pounded his finger on a question. It was a maths equation but written badly. 3x4÷2+7x8 or the like.

"Explain yourself"

I looked at the answer again, maybe I had made a mistake, but no it was correct. I told him my answer was right.

"How could you possibly get that answer" "I used BODMAS" (PEMDAS for my American friends) "I have never heard of that, everyone knows you go left to right." I argued my case but was met with a smug "we will agree to disagree" Another red flag.

We moved on and he told me about the company and how they manufactured insulation rated from -500C (-868f) to 1000C (1832f). I must've made a face because he asked me what's wrong.

"-500C is impossible" "Well our cutting edge technology makes that possible" "No, it's actually physically impossible for anything to go below -273C"

He threw down his pen clearly annoyed. "What if I said I will call our Engineering chief right now? Would you stand behind that statement?" I said "go for it"

This poor guy was dialled in on speaker and confirmed that a) BODMAS was an actual thing b) nothing can go below -273.15C c) their top tier insulation definitely cant go to -500C

Boy did the interviewer look pissed.

We wrapped up after 10 more minutes where he gave clipped responses to all my questions. I was asked to wait again in reception "in case there were any follow up questions"

After 5 mins I thought, screw it, I am out of here. I thanked the receptionist and left.

As I was reversing my Mum's VW Polo out to leave there was a big knock on the window and my interviewer was stood there. I wound down the window confused and he said "Just wanted to let you know, you have the job, I will call you tomorrow to discuss when you will start" After all the song and dance earlier, I was quite surprised. "No thank you, I'm going to explore other opportunities" He looked so hurt, and I remember him staring daggers at me, hands on hips as I drove away as fast as I could.

The whole thing was just so bizarre and there were so many moments where I should have just packed up and left. I'm now happily a Senior Engineer at a big engineering company, but I wonder time to time how miserable I would've been if I had said yes to my horrible first interview.

I quit my job two years ago because I was burned out. Since then, I’ve been busy with my wedding, moving in with my husband, and traveling. Now I’m ready to jump back into work, but I’m a bit worried about explaining this gap, especially since I’m in an Asian city where people can be more conservative and judgemental towards the fact that I was just taking a break for my health and well-being.

I’m even considering making up a reason if I have to. Any suggestions on what I could say in an interview?

Thanks a lot

I had an interview with a company on 8/12. I was informed by the intake interviewer that it would be 1.5 to 2 weeks before the next interview was scheduled due to the staff being on vacation. My main concern with everything is with holiday on Monday, and previous scheduling issues (due to AI scheduling sending the a link for a completely different position) I am wondering when would be the most appropriate time to reach out?

I applied to this company (privately owned medical research institute) as a new college grad and was rejected. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to land another job in the same field doing biomedical research. Fast forward two years, I re-applied and managed to get an interview for a similar role this time.

The reason why I want to bring up being previously rejected is so I can say something like I’m actually glad I didn’t get the job right out of college, that I’ve grown a lot both professionally and personally so now I can bring the best version of myself to the company now that I’ve got more experience.

I feel like this could be compelling but idk if it’s taboo to mention that I’ve been rejected by them before. Is it even worth mentioning or am I better off leaving it out?

TIA!

For ARPT employees or recently passed the exams and interview. Can you give me at least a hint or idea what were the questions or possible na tanungin? Thank you in advance.

So I thought I’d share a little lesson I learned the hard way.

I had an interview last week for a role I really wanted. Leading up to it, I spent hours watching YouTube videos about “top 10 interview questions,” “perfect body language tips,” and “the one thing recruiters want to hear.” I felt confident because I memorized all these “perfect” answers and tricks.

Then I walked into the interview… and everything went sideways.

None of the questions were anything like the ones I’d practiced. They were asking me for specific examples, scenarios, and real experiences, not the polished one-liners I’d rehearsed. I got so nervous because all those “hacks” I memorized suddenly felt fake. Instead of sounding confident, I came off stiff and over-rehearsed. The more I realized I couldn’t apply their tips, the more anxious I got, and it showed.

Looking back, I wish I’d focused less on memorizing YouTube scripts and more on understanding my own strengths, practicing authentic storytelling, and just being myself. Those videos made me think there was a magic formula, but real interviews are messy and human.

Has anyone else gone into an interview thinking you were totally prepared, only to realize you’d practiced for a completely different scenario?

Hi everyone,

I'm in a really confusing and frustrating situation with what I thought was a dream job offer and could use some outside perspective on whether this is normal for a huge company or if I'm being strung along.

The Situation: I interviewed for a specialized engineering role at a very large, well-known aerospace MNC.

The Good Signs (Why I've been holding on):

• After two great interviews about five weeks ago, HR called to say I was their #1 choice and the feedback was excellent.
• I've had multiple verbal confirmations since then, including "Yes, it's confirmed, you're selected."
• My official status in their HR system (Workday) is "Offer."
• Last week, I received an automated system email with the subject "Congratulations" that said they were "progressing with my contract" and asked me to update my personal details.
• They discussed relocation benefits with me (flights + hotel).

The Problem / Red Flags:

• It has now been over a month since the initial "top choice" call, and I still don't have a written offer letter.
• The stated reason for the delay has always been that they are "waiting for finance approval" on the final salary package.
• HR has gone completely silent. I sent a polite, time-sensitive follow-up email on Monday for the offer letter, which has been ignored.
• I called HR today (Thursday) around noon, but it went to voicemail. I sent a polite follow-up text. It is now end of day, and I've still heard nothing back.
• The original start date they gave me (Sept 1st) is now obviously impossible, but they haven't communicated anything about this.

I'm getting extremely anxious because I need to plan a major relocation from another city and can't do anything without a signed contract. Also this is my only hope for a job, been a year into the job search....

My Questions for you:

1. Is this level of delay (5+ weeks) and complete ghosting normal for a massive MNC, or is this a sign of a deeply broken process?
2. Am I being strung along, or is this likely just a massive internal mess and I just need to be more patient?
3. My next planned step is to email the hiring manager tomorrow (Friday) morning if I still hear nothing from HR. Is this a smart escalation or too risky?
4. At what point is it wise to just mentally walk away from this?

TL;DR: Verbally offered a job at a dream aerospace company a month ago. System status is "Offer" and I have a "congratulations" email. Now HR has been ghosting my emails and calls for a week, blaming a "finance delay" that I was told a week ago. The original start date is impossible. Is this a giant red flag, and should I escalate to the hiring manager?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I was approached by AlphaSense for the role of AI Research Engineer. I have no idea on what to expect in the process because generally for AI/ML/DS positions a wide array of questions are asked from different topics. If anyone has appeared for similar role at AlphaSense, it would help a lot if you can share your experience. Thanks a lot!

I'm trying to gauge a range on how long I should wait before I reach out to the potential employer? I know it's a holiday weekend coming up and people may be on vacation and I also don't want to seem impatient.

My future(?) supervisor from a company I have applied to said he wants to come visit me at my current job to show off my merchandising skills. Said they aren't gonna tell anyone who they are but it would be nice to meet me in person and see what kind of store I run. Has anyone experienced this before? Being that i am on vacation this week, is it possible my current team could screw this up for me by not maintaining my standards?

Hey guys i finally landed an interview, the position is a  Hybrid Development Representative at Toast.

Anyone here know what interview questions i could expect?

Thank you for your assistance!

Pro: I actually got the job even though I was so awkward towards the end of the interviewed!! They are an amazing hospital with great people.

Con: They are absolutely low balling me. Coincidentally, at my current hospital we got one of the kiddos at the school I applied for. His behaviors are very dangerous, one of the most dangerous I’ve seen yet. It gave me a glimpse of what I would be dealing with at the hospital I got a job offer to. The hourly pay range is 22-34. I have 6 years of experience and the work I am going to be doing is extremely hard. They originally offered me 24.80 which is crazy low. I need at least 28 for it to be worth it. I asked for 28.50 just in case. The most they can offer me is 26.50.

I say all that to say even though I got the job I have to turn it down because the pay is so little, sadly.