68 interviews and still unemployed: Job seeker discuss how bad the market has become

A post on Reddit’s r/recruitinghell talked about someone who interviewed with 68 different companies and made it to 15 final rounds without receiving a single offer. That alone would be a post.

But the part that has resonated most is what happened when they shifted strategy.

Looking for a stopgap, they began applying to local gas stations, Starbucks, bank teller positions, and phone sales roles, including Verizon, where they had worked successfully for three years. They removed their master’s degree from their resume. They reframed their B2B customer success experience as customer service. They are being declined for those too.

Their theory: employers search LinkedIn, see the real experience, and pass. Someone with a master’s degree and an extensive professional background is a flight risk for a barista role, and hiring managers know it.

“This market is beyond anything I’ve seen in 36 years,” they wrote. “This market is beyond [expletive].”

What Reddit said

The thread was notably short on advice and long on solidarity.

“If someone with a master’s can’t get a job at Starbucks, that’s insane. Blows my mind. My condolences,” one commenter wrote.

One netizen shared their own endpoint: “I’m moving back home to live with my parents at 41. After a year and a half of nothing, I’m done. Hope it works out for everyone.”

Another pointed to the generational comprehension gap: “Can you talk to my baby boomer parents and explain? Because they’re not getting it.”

One commenter pointed outward: “Please vote, get your friends to vote.”

Thirty-six years of watching markets come and go, and this is the one they have not seen before. That assessment deserves to be taken seriously.

Read also: One job, nearly 400 applicants: Hiring manager says hiring process is ‘literally impossible’