After months of job hunting, I started absolutely hating the question “Why do you want to work here?”
Not because it’s an unfair question, but because after applying to 100+ jobs I was exhausted from pretending every company had personally inspired me. I’d sit there saying stuff like “I really connect with your mission” or “I’ve been following what your company is doing in the industry,” when the truth was usually: the job looks like something I’m qualified for, the salary is decent, and you actually replied to my application.
The worst one was an interview a couple months ago. It was for a completely normal operations role at a company that sells software to other businesses. The interviewer asked why I was passionate about joining them and my brain just... died. I gave this horrible answer about liking their “innovative approach” that even I didn’t believe while I was saying it. She smiled, wrote something down, and moved on. I didn't get another interview.
Since then I’ve stopped trying to sound like I’ve had the company logo on my bedroom wall since childhood.
Now I answer more honestly, but still in a way that actually relates to the job. Something like: “The reason I applied is that you’re looking for someone to clean up X and improve Y. I did almost exactly that in my last role, and I actually enjoyed that part of the job. I think I could come in without needing six months to figure out what’s going on.”
The weird thing is, interviewers seem to respond MUCH better to this.
One hiring manager immediately went, “Okay, yes, X is actually a mess right now,” and spent the next ten minutes explaining what was broken. Another told me the person before them had left because the role had grown too quickly. Suddenly we were having an actual conversation instead of me reciting compliments from their website.
I still research the company. I’m not walking into interviews saying “I need money and you called me back.” But I’m done pretending I have some deep emotional connection to a company I discovered on LinkedIn three days ago.
Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but it took me way too long to realize “Why do you want to work here?” doesn’t have to mean “Tell us why you love us.” It can just mean “Why does this specific job make sense for you?”
That answer feels a lot less fake, and weirdly, it seems to land better too.

Instead of the usual questions, ask thi Thinking back to the people who have held this role previously, what separated the ones who were good from the ones who were truly great?It instantly forces the interviewer to picture you succeeding, breaks their generic script, and subtly tells you exactly how to get a promotion before you're even hired. What's your go-to question that always changes the energy in the room?

That’s what my dad says when I cry to him. But, what if I never succeed? What if I am always the disappointment and the burden? I have been trying for 10 fucking months and have gotten to 10 final rounds and done countless interviews. At what point, do i have to accept that I have to look for a different job or get a master’s degree or literally do anything else to move forward in life?

Be honest. Did LinkedIn actually get you an interview or a job, or is everyone just collecting connections and posting certificates?

What are we really gaining from this platform?

Me? A portfolio.

But is that enough? Or is LinkedIn just professional Instagram? 💀

Hey everyone,

I’m a 28F based in Nagpur, and I’m looking to break into the SAP eco-system, specifically focusing on SAP SuccessFactors / Employee Central. I’ve been upskilling and learning the core concepts (Cloud HR, Employee Profiles, Business Rules, Role-Based Permissions) through SAP Learning Hub.

Since I am based in Nagpur, I am highly interested in looking for internship or trainee opportunities around the MIHAN SEZ area or nearby tech hubs. I know big giants like TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech have massive campuses here that handle SAP global projects, but getting your foot in the door as a fresher can be tricky.

I wanted to ask the community:

1. Are there any mid-sized SAP consulting firms or local tech companies in Nagpur that actively hire/train freshers for SAP modules?
2. Has anyone recently gone through off-campus trainee drives or walk-ins at TCS/HCL Tech in MIHAN? How do they usually hire for SAP roles?
3. Any tips on how to network with Nagpur-based SAP Delivery Managers or HRs on LinkedIn?

I am eager to learn, adapt, and ready to start immediately. Any leads, advice, or referrals would be highly appreciated!

Currently working at American Express as a Band 28, earning 8 LPA (band range: 5.5–9 LPA).
I have 2 years of total work experience and a postgraduate degree. I initially joined Amex at Band 28 through a referral because I was unemployed after graduation.

Now I’m planning to apply internally for Band 30 roles in Risk, Credit Risk, and Fraud in December. I’ve checked the eligibility requirements, and I meet or exceed the experience, education, and technical skill requirements.

The salary range for these Band 30 positions is 12–22 LPA, which I can see internally.

My questions:

Is asking for 20 LPA realistic, considering I’m currently at 8 LPA? I know it’s a 150% hike, but it’s within the new band’s range.

What’s the maximum I should negotiate for, and what’s the minimum I should realistically settle for?
If HR says “Your current CTC is only 8 LPA, we can’t offer such a huge hike” or “We don’t have the budget,” how do I negotiate without getting lowballed?

Does Amex have any internal salary hike caps when moving from Band 28 to Band 30, even when switching functions?

Would especially appreciate insights from people who’ve made internal band jumps at Amex or worked in HR/compensation.

I joined Amazon as an SDE1 after graduating this summer and was genuinely excited to work on interesting problems and learn from experienced engineers.

Unfortunately, my experience so far has been disappointing. My manager gave me two weeks to complete Embark, with almost no team onboarding. Since then, I’ve been assigned random tickets with little to no context. When I ask teammates for clarification, I rarely get helpful answers, and my manager’s advice is to use AI.

I understand the importance of being independent and using AI, but it cannot replace team-specific context, guidance, and communication, especially for a new grad.

I’m seriously considering an internal team transfer. Is five weeks too early to explore this? Is this common at Amazon, or have I just ended up on a bad team?

I’d also appreciate advice from anyone who has transferred teams or knows of teams with a supportive engineering culture and good mentorship, especially in Seattle.

Thanks!

I was a Project Coordinator before and a HSE Advisor now. However, I hate this job and Ive been thinking of changing my current job to Project Coordinator to have a better chance of leaving my current position.

I was wondering if anyone else has done something like this and if job titles come up in background checks?

My husband says yes, that it seems like I might be trying to guilt trip or might be making the interviewer uncomfortable if I mention it.
But I’ve been asked why I’m looking/why I’m looking at the specific company. I feel like it’s just me being honest with my situation. I of course follow up with an actual reason I’m interested in the company as well.
Whatcha think? Tacky? Honest?

I'm updating my LinkedIn and have a somewhat unusual career timeline. I'd really appreciate some practical suggestions, especially from recruiters.

My timeline:

• 2022–2024: Master's degree. Defended my thesis and completed everything except one minor exam in 2024. That exam wasn't offered again until 2025, so my official diploma says 2025.
• Aug–Oct 2024: Started a full-time job immediately after university at Company A as an Assistant Consultant in CFO Services. Mostly onboarding, learning financial systems and basic accounting. Unfortunately, I was let go during probation.
• Nov 2024–Jul 2025: Unemployed and actively applying for jobs.
• Aug 2025–Oct 2026: Finance-related position at Company B.
• Nov 2026: Starting a new position at Company C.

My dilemma:

I really want to keep 2022–2024 as my education dates on LinkedIn, since I completed practically my entire degree in 2024.

I also strongly prefer not mentioning Company A at all, including its parent company. I've deliberately cut ties with that workplace and don't want any public association with it.

At the same time, I don't want my LinkedIn to give the impression that I graduated and then spent over a year unemployed, especially when I actually secured a full-time job immediately after finishing my thesis.

I'm conscious of how my profile looks not just to recruiters, but also to former classmates and people from my personal life.

Options I've considered:

1. Keep my education dates and list Company B accurately, leaving the gap.
2. Change my graduation year to 2025, matching my diploma, which I'd strongly prefer to avoid.
3. Include Company A or its parent company, despite wanting no association with either.
4. List my early CFO Services consulting experience without naming Company A.
5. Extend Company B's employment dates backwards or list freelance consulting to fill the gap, although neither would reflect what actually happened.

Is there a sixth option I'm missing?

Are there any legitimate LinkedIn features, formatting tricks or alternative ways of presenting my experience that could make this timeline look more continuous without inventing employment?

I'm specifically looking for concrete solutions rather than general reassurance that employment gaps are normal.

How would you handle this?

Can you use uncommon but understandable abbreviations on a CV like this one?

I'm revising my CV to pitch small businesses as a freelancer. In one small part of my CV, a slight lack of space means that "Project Mgr" would fit better than "Project Manager." The layout is looking good otherwise and "Project Manager" is spelt out fully elsewhere on my CV.

Would this be ok or am I best to stay away from abbreviations altogether?

I'm updating my LinkedIn and have a somewhat unusual career timeline. I'd really appreciate some practical suggestions, especially from recruiters.

My timeline:

• 2022–2024: Master's degree. Defended my thesis and completed everything except one minor exam in 2024. That exam wasn't offered again until 2025, so my official diploma says 2025.
• Aug–Oct 2024: Started a full-time job immediately after university at Company A as an Assistant Consultant in CFO Services. Mostly onboarding, learning financial systems and basic accounting. Unfortunately, I was let go during probation.
• Nov 2024–Jul 2025: Unemployed and actively applying for jobs.
• Aug 2025–Oct 2026: Finance-related position at Company B.
• Nov 2026: Starting a new position at Company C.

My dilemma:

I really want to keep 2022–2024 as my education dates on LinkedIn, since I completed practically my entire degree in 2024.

I also strongly prefer not mentioning Company A at all, including its parent company. I've deliberately cut ties with that workplace and don't want any public association with it.

At the same time, I don't want my LinkedIn to give the impression that I graduated and then spent over a year unemployed, especially when I actually secured a full-time job immediately after finishing my thesis.

I'm conscious of how my profile looks not just to recruiters, but also to former classmates and people from my personal life.

Options I've considered:

1. Keep my education dates and list Company B accurately, leaving the gap.
2. Change my graduation year to 2025, matching my diploma, which I'd strongly prefer to avoid.
3. Include Company A or its parent company, despite wanting no association with either.
4. List my early CFO Services consulting experience without naming Company A.
5. Extend Company B's employment dates backwards or list freelance consulting to fill the gap, although neither would reflect what actually happened.

Is there a sixth option I'm missing?

Are there any legitimate LinkedIn features, formatting tricks or alternative ways of presenting my experience that could make this timeline look more continuous without inventing employment?

I'm specifically looking for concrete solutions rather than general reassurance that employment gaps are normal.

How would you handle this?

Hey job searchers.

I - by chance - applied to 3 jobs this week in a sector I had little confidence would find interest in me.

Lo and behold, all three companies are showing signs of interest. Two have hit me up with AI screenings, and the third nibble was a notification from LinkedIn that my resume had been viewed. I promptly located the Talent Acquisition human for that company asking for a conversation.

The reason this is surprising: I have no college degree & no cerifications, but instead, 35 years of battle scars & experience.

The AI screenings are where I'm torn. The numbers indicate half are ghosted after that first screening.

I know that means 100% the door gets shut if I don't do the screening. If I do the screening, I have a 50% chance of being ghosted. So the upside here is I've made it past some sort of elimination criteria.

I'm just not sure how I feel about participating in the screening.

It's an industry that is possibly one of the slowest to jump into tech (education), but Covid forced the issue. I also think because of the lag, & the market, they may have bought into a sales pitch on this screening technology without understanding its downsides (security, privacy, etc.).

My kiddos have aged out of K-12. I've also had two 504 students, and have gone up against a large school district's act-like-it-never-happened policies (successfully, I might add) where a FAPE violation occurred. Overall, I think educators are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the biggest battle is the politics.

THAT is my concern. I am not the best politician. I am a direct well-spoken woman. It's neither glass half-full or glass half-empty. I'll look you in the eye and say, "looks half-drank to me!"

Vendors serving education: is the political climate as toxic in your world as the vendor as it is in the schools themselves?

I've been looking at entry-level job postings lately, and I genuinely don't understand what companies expect anymore. A position is advertised as junior or entry-level, the description says it's suitable for someone starting their career, and then halfway through the requirements there's a line asking for 2-3 years of relevant experience. Sometimes they even want experience with specific tools or systems that you normally wouldn't have access to unless someone hired you in the first place.

I get that companies want someone who can contribute quickly and don't want to spend months training a new employee. But at what point does an entry-level job stop being entry-level? If someone has just graduated, completed a few projects and maybe done an internship, where exactly are they supposed to get those missing years? And it seems especially frustrating when the same companies complain that they can't find qualified candidates or that young people lack experience. You can't really build an experienced workforce if nobody is willing to hire people before they become experienced.

I'm curious about people who've actually managed to get their first job recently. Did you apply anyway despite not meeting the experience requirements? Did referrals, personal projects or internships make the difference? And for recruiters or hiring managers here, how seriously should candidates take those "2-3 years required" lines? Are they genuine requirements, an ideal wish list, or just a job description copied from another position? I'd love to hear real experiences from both sides, because this seems like one of the biggest catch-22s in job hunting right now.

Last time I was here you people were super generous and gave me a ton of ideas for getting a job. I got a few recruiters reaching me out, I made a lot of changes to my résumé and my Linkedin page, I tried strategies and still nothing.

I live in a small town in South America. I'm about 25 km away from the main city of the country, so I'm really looking for a contractor role, specially for the US since one of my differentials is my English level. And I have no idea how to look for those jobs. They are not in Linkedin, the pages that are supposed to help me don't have Project Manager or Operations Manager roles or are paid (hi! I'm struggling to pay my bills, I can't afford one of those pages), and the gurus helping people want around U$ 1000 for helping you with the strategy.

I know I'm ranting a bit, but how I'm supposed to get a job like this? I just want to work!

Last interview I wanted the role too much and was rushing to answer questions. Interview I have in 30 mins my main goal is to just slow down and formulate my thoughts more and listen more. Do you practice with a human/ai/timer/self record?

I know everyone always warns about ATS formatting, but I honestly thought the whole 'plain text resume' thing was just outdated boomer advice until last week. I’ve been job hunting for five months. Back in November, I paid a resume writer on Etsy sixty bucks to make me this gorgeous two-column resume with minimalist icons, clean color accents, and skill progress bars. Sent out roughly 350 applications. Total silence.

Last Sunday night after drinking two glasses of wine and crying over another generic rejection email I got fed up. I opened Google Docs, picked standard Arial font, removed every single graphic, table, and color, and dumped all my experience into one boring, ugly single-column document. It looked like something printed in 1998 on teh office Xerox.

i sent that hideous document out to ten job postings on Monday morning. By Thursday afternoon, I had three recruiter phone screens scheduled and an email from a hiring manager saying my background was a great match. Five months of zero traction solved in four days by making my resume look like a legal subpoena. If you are struggling with callbacks, please throw your fancy Canva templates in the trash. I dont even know whether to laugh or scream.

Hey everyone,

I recently applied for a co-op position at the TTC through their careers portal. Unfortunately, after submitting my application, I realized I forgot to attach my unofficial university transcript, which is one of the required documents.

I noticed there's an option to withdraw my application, and the TTC website mentions that applicants can resubmit before the deadline.

Has anyone actually done this before? If I withdraw my application, will I be able to apply again for the same position from scratch and upload all my documents properly? Or will it just resubmit my original application without allowing any changes?

I've already emailed TTC Recruitment and left a voicemail, but I haven't heard back yet.

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences from anyone who's been through something similar. I don't want to risk losing my application.

Thanks in advance!

Where have you had the most success finding job postings?

I found that LinkedIn Premium was the only way to get job postings that were not sponsored and oversaturated, or figuring out what specific companies you want to apply for and going after them.

I feel like Covid permanently damaged how companies view relocation. Not only are they now unwilling to pay for it, they’re not even willing to wait more than two weeks for a candidate who is willing and able to relocate themselves.

I’m currently fully remote but things are going downhill fast, and I’m trying to get ahead of it. I live in an area where there aren’t many opportunities. Putting “planned relocation to city, state” or “willing to relocate” on my resume doesn’t help when every application has a field for residential address. Every time I enter my state in that box, I wonder if it’s tied to a filter to kick out non local residents- and I highly suspect a few have been rejected for that reason so far, with no one actually looking at my application/resume. Rejected within a single day, extremely strong match qualification wise, but would have required a substantial move.

I know there are logistical risks involved, such as being asked to come for an on site interview. I could manage that. I’m more worried about it appearing during a background check, or somehow becoming known I lied.

It’s just frustrating when I am qualified for these roles to be rejected just because of where I live, when I have nothing tying me down here and could make it happen if given the opportunity.

Any thoughts or advice? Anyone run into similar issues?

Hi as a ui/ux designer i am struggling to find a job. I sent my CV to many companies and still got no response. Is there anything i should try or do to get a job?

I've been job hunting for about three months now, and I'm starting to notice something really frustrating. Some companies seem to have the exact same positions open for months. The listings disappear for a few days, then come back with a new posting date, sometimes with literally the same description.

There's one company I've applied to twice already. The first time, I got an automated rejection. The second time, I didn't hear anything at all. Yet somehow, they're still urgently hiring for that exact position. I've also noticed a few listings on LinkedIn that say they were posted just a couple of days ago, but I remember seeing them back in July.

I understand that some positions are genuinely difficult to fill, and companies might not find the right candidate immediately. But it's hard to believe that's the case with every single one of these listings, especially when some of them have hundreds of applicants.

I'm getting tired of spending time tailoring my resume and writing cover letters for jobs that might not even exist. I've started checking company career pages before applying, but even that doesn't always help because some of these positions are listed there too.

Are there any reliable signs that a company is actually hiring rather than just collecting resumes? Do you avoid job postings that keep getting reposted, or is it still worth applying?

I'd really appreciate any tips because I feel like I'm wasting so much time on applications that never had a chance in the first place.

I've seen a lot of people here get through a few interviews, sometimes a take-home too, and only then find out the role isn't approved yet or the company can't hire where they live. That stuff usually doesn't come up unless you ask, so it's not really on them.

So I think the first call is the cheapest place to ask, since a bad answer costs you half an hour instead of weeks of prep. I'd stick to what a recruiter can actually answer and save the day-to-day for the hiring manager, or you mostly get the job description read back to you.

What I'd want to know:

• Whether the role is fully approved. A flat yes says little, so I'd ask when they want someone to start. A date or a reason like a backfill is usually a good sign, while a vague whenever isn't.
• Where they can hire. Remote can mean anywhere or only certain states, which is usually a payroll thing, so ask which and say where you are.
• What the process looks like. How many interviews, any take-home, and how long it takes. If they can lay it out easily it's probably well defined, and if you get a shrug, expect it to drag.

I know it feels awkward when you need the job, but most recruiters would rather hear these questions now than after weeks of interviewing.

What's something you only found out late in the process that you wish had come up on the first call?

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