By hastobeajoke - 31/01/2012 18:45 - United States

Today, I submitted my 208th job application in less than a year, and went to my 83rd and 84th interviews, only to be told once again that I'm over-qualified for the first, and under-qualified for the second. FML
I agree, your life sucks 34 928
You deserved it 2 445

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Llamassss 21

Well, that's what happens when you apply to McDonalds and Harvard.

Comments

hateevryone 14

it's tough i know. but keep trying

blink831forever 13

I wish you lots of luck OP, I hope you find the right job for you really soon.

Larion1 13

freaking inconsistency, you either too good or too bad, hope you will find work that matches you

Wow. I dnt even know you but I am super proud of your efforts.

malvoliosf 1

Well, everyone else is being nice to you, so I'm going to try to be helpful instead. 84 interviews is a lot so there may be a reason. Over- and under-qualified are legitimate reasons but they sometimes also an easy out for an interviewer who neither wants to hire you nor explain why not. There probably is (at least) one real reason. A possibility is, you come across as compulsive. You actually count your résumés? If some one in an interview told me he had sent out exactly X résumés (and X was larger than 2 or 3), I'd start getting this little premonitory migraine right between my eyebrows: this guy is going to be a HUGE pain in the ass. Try not to come across as Rain Man. Another possibility is, you come across as desperate. In fact, after 85 interviews, it would be a miracle if you didn't sound just a little desperate, but you need to keep that shit under control. Nobody wants everyone else's rejects. Try to make yourself sound selective. "So, you've been looking for three months?" "Oh, yes. I don't want tell you how many interviews I've been on [chuckle], and I'm trying not be be PICKY of course, but I take my job very seriously and I want to get a position that I can really DEVOTE myself to." "You gotten offers?" "A few, but nothing really GELLED, you know?" Get someone who can give you feedback to interview you, on a practice basis. Have whoever it is give a no-holds-barred honest evaluation, ideally in writing. Good luck.

I've actually had a few friends do mock interviews with me and I have followed up with employers to ask if there was a certain part of my interview that I needed to work on. I've come across a lot of people that said that they decided to hire internally (mostly colleges and universities) and a lot of "We really liked you, but we ended up going with someone that had x years of experience." The worst follow-up call I had was when I got, "We really liked you and it came down to you and one other person. Hopefully this won't discourage you from applying for positions in the future." This had been my third time interviewing for the company (all in different departments) and the second time I was in the top two.

I'm sorry to read that, thats a bummer man, hope everything gets better for you :(

charlieinfinite 1

Same exact story here! I am starting to feel like I've been speaking in tongues or there is some monstrous growth on my face, an I am the only person unaware of this. How can it be possible for us to apply to SO many jobs and find nothing, while even the trashiest people I've met seem to be happily employed?

Most places now days are looking for alot of experience in what field ur applying in. It comes down to even if the person who applied after you had just 1 day more experience they will pick the other person. It truley isnt fair because their looking for someone with experience when they could train you, you would get the bonus experience and in the long run you would probably be a more loyal employee. And their profits could porentially boom if they would just train ppl. Hopefully we can get some relief someday wen we get someone in the office who thinks about the peoples well being. Lets cut their pay n some of their employees n maybe theyll be living like the rest of us that are unable to find a job n having to deal with unemployment. Take away their mansions n have em live in a ghetto 1 bedroom apartment . Its depressing and because of the job situation there have been more suicides. I have seen some very successful and honest and loyal people lose everything.

TKello 6

At least you're getting interviews. I've been putting out applications after applications I get nothing back. Or if I do get an interview, I receive no call backs to tell me I didn't get it. It's a wreck right now. But I'm sorry your struggles, and honestly, if you've been to that many interviews, you should hope one of them would hire you, otherwise, it seems hopeless for the thousands of us.

Jonjon10 0