Many job seekers have been sharing just how difficult it is for them to land a job, like this one TikToker who said that they applied to 300 positions and got only five responses.
Others claimed they have applied to the same job multiple times for them to get it, and someone else stated they’ve only seen a jump in response rate after they got crafty with artificial intelligence prompts to craft cover letters and fine-tune their resume.
Another TikTok user named Megan (@m_blairskiii) is also suffering from the vocation-hunting blues. She posted in a viral clip that’s garnered over 412,000 views as of Saturday that she has been “ghosted” so many times by potential employers that she was happy to receive a rejection letter from one. To her, it means that there’s someone actually taking a look at her resume.
“The job finding market is so depressing. Today I got excited that I got a rejection email bc that means they actually looked at my application,” Megan writes in the overlay text. “I have about 20+ applications floating around rn and the norm is just no response at all.”
@m_blairskiii We love it here #jobsearch #job #fyp #rejected ♬ Summer Background Jazz – Jazz Background Vibes
One commenter responded that they found themselves in a similar situation as Megan, writing, “Felt this. Manifesting job offers for all of us.”
Another said it took them a long time to receive a rejection notice from one of the companies they applied to.
“Today I got rejected from a job I applied to 8 months ago,” they wrote.
Others seem to be experiencing similar ghosting issues with businesses that they’ve applied to.
“I’ve literally applied to over 110 jobs, got maybe 10 responses back, three interviews,” a user said. “I wasn’t even picky.”
Someone else said they feel as if employers aren’t even intending on hiring anyone that they receive applications from.
“I was JUST thinking about this earlier today,” the commenter wrote. “I swear everyone is just collecting applications with no intention of hiring anyone.”
If you’re looking for a new job and are also being ghosted by the employers you’re reaching out to, robots may be to blame. The Muse wrote an article delineating how algorithm-based job application software could be automatically disqualifying certain resumes to the omission of specific keywords, or if they don’t adhere to a specific format. So, if you’re not hearing anything back, it may be time to get some advice on how to re-structure your resume to make it more scanning-software-friendly.
Other TikTokers have shared their “hacks” for landing job interviews, like this woman who said that after sending simple follow-up emails, she booked three interviews after months of being ghosted herself.
And once you’ve got that first-impression meeting scheduled, you may want to prepare for that interview as best as you can. One tech sales employee shared her tip for a way that helped her to stand out in her first discussion with a company, stating that she gave the “best” interview of her life as a result.
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment.
