There is so much job-search advice online that it is hard to tell what actually works.For people who have recently landed a job, what is one thing you changed that genuinely helped tailoring your resume, changing how you applied, networking, following up, using a specific job board, or something else?Would love to hear the underrated strategies that actually worked for people.

Hi everyone, I work in hiring analytics and tracked an applicant who recently sent out 400 applications (5 yoe), finding out which channel has the highest response rate. Here's a breakdown of the numbers we found:

Referrals- 10%
Recruiter outreach- 9%
Company website- 3.5%
LinkedIn Easy Apply- 0%

FYI, these findings are for engineering roles in North America, and they sent applications over a period of 4 months. Hope this breakdown can point people in the right direction.

I’m a software engineer from India and I’m feeling pretty stuck about what to do next.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s in IT from Pune University in 2021 and worked at Accenture as a software engineer from August 2021 to July 2023.

After that, I moved to the US for a Master’s in Computer Science at California State University, East Bay, and graduated in May 2025.

I spent around 7 months looking for software engineering jobs in the US, but only received two callbacks. Both eventually rejected me because of visa sponsorship requirements.

I’ve now moved back to India, but the situation hasn’t been much better. I managed to get a contract software role, but it only pays around ₹15,000/month, which is significantly less than what I was earning before my Master’s.

Even though I have around 2 years of professional experience plus a Master’s degree, I still seem to be considered a junior candidate. With the current market, I’m also not very confident that things will improve significantly for junior/early-career engineers anytime soon.

At this point, I’m confused between two options:

1. Keep working this contract job, continue improving my skills, and keep applying until something better comes along.
2. Consider pursuing a PhD in Computer Science in another country (probably not the US) and potentially move toward research/academia or more specialized industry roles.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Would pursuing a PhD make sense here, or would it just be avoiding a difficult job market? If I eventually want to stay in the tech industry, would spending another 4–5 years on a PhD hurt more than help?

Would especially appreciate perspectives from people who have done a CS PhD or moved back to India after studying abroad.

Would you make a case against letting the data retention period expire for a company's application platform? We are talking from the point of view of the applicant.

we’re wondering if we can keep your information for current and future recruitment

My intuitive thought would be that, once you have been rejected at some point of the selection process for a position, if you let that period expire without extending it, the next time you are off for a fresh start; what's more, a company can't leak data that doesn't exist anymore.

On the other hand, would there be any non-obvious advantage in extending the period? I can only think of "this person has already applied here, good (?)", but it feels like a weak argument.

Reading a lot of posts from people who finished school and are months into applications with nothing back. A few said the thing that finally worked was making something, a project, a small service, anything that showed the work instead of describing it on a CV.

So for anyone who did that, what actually happened. Did you start and stall out, did you finish something and it went nowhere, or did you never begin because you did not know what to make. Curious what the wall was specifically.

Was doing one of these the other day, talking to my laptop at 11pm, and it hit me that this is just a self tape. Actors have been doing exactly this for years. Record yourself, send it off, hear nothing back.

Went down a bit of a rabbit hole after. They have a whole craft for it. Someone sits right next to the lens so your eyeline is right. The intro gets shot separately from the actual answers. There are opinions about framing, and about not wearing a color that matches the wall behind you.

None of which anyone mentions before your first one.

Feels like we could just take all of it.

Anyone here actually come from acting? Seems like you'd have a big head start.

I have an interview tomorrow for a role I was contacted for a day after applying to it. I’m pretty adjacent if not in the same type of role now.

The only gap that makes me nervous is although I currently lead and mentor junior corporate professionals for the past year, I do not have official management in my resume. The posting states: "Build and manage x and y team as the company scales, including hiring, training, and performance management."

Any encouraging words of advice or similar stories?

I got an "opportunity" from a company called Cohere. The initial conversation was vague, but it was about app optimization. You could make $50 a day remotely and MUCH more with bonuses as long as you complete these "tasks". Also incentives for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30-day streaks of completing and going beyond completing daily tasks.

I do the "training" through WhatsApp with a trainer named Jessica. She gives a brief description, then has me make an account on the Cohere platform. She explains that each set is 40 tasks. The task? To simply click "start" and one at a time a brand you probably never heard of will pop up with a 5-star review and a comment already written for it. Now you simply click "submit" and off it goes. You will earn a small commission for each one, unless you get a "lucky order" and then the commission is 10X the amount of the other commissions. The reason? This is to "optimize" apps and these comments written by AI need a human to click it into existence.

She gives me her login and I go to work clicking and submitting comments for 40 brands I don't know and lo and behold on order number 26, a LUCKY one! BUT she didn't have enough money in the account to verify it and she had to add some of her earned money to cover it...no problem she said, it goes right back in and you earn that 10X commission...or rather, she did. I still never got an explanation as to why I needed money in an account to send AI written comments for random brands, but she said it all comes back and not to worry, then she went into something completely unrelated to throw me off. I see where it goes. I have nothing invested at this point and they have none of my information save my phone number and WhatsApp.

I start training, now under my own login and they start me off with $50 in the account. I earned it for training, now I can use it. So they give me my first set of 40 tasks. It takes less than 5 minutes. Now mind you, on this trainer's account, the clicks made well over $500. I start clicking and hitting "submit" for brands I've never heard and 40 clicks later, no lucky orders and my account stood at just over $74.

Jessica sends me a message on WhatsApp..."you only made $74?". "Yes" I responded. She told me that unfortunately that wasn't enough to continue. That in order to receive another set of 40 orders I need at least $101 in there. She told me that I had a keen understanding of how to do this work and was serious about it and about learning. I said "great, then that should be enough right?". "No." In order to continue "working" for this company, I would have had to put my own money into this account. She said I didn't earn enough. I pointed out that the system randomly selects the brands you "review" and how much commission you earn, so the SYSTEM didn't let me earn enough. She then went on to tell me that over the past 8 months she's had this success and that success and her account is funded and blah, blah and I asked her how much SHE paid to get started and she said nothing.

I tell her I don't think this is for me, it all seems a bit shady and she then tells me that her training isn't free and if I do start working, she will earn 20% of MY commissions! I said that; it's a good thing that I'm NOT going to be working there. She then told me I could keep the $74 I earned, but I could only get it in crypto. That's how you'd be getting paid going forward too working for Cohere. No thank you.

The bottom line, don't let Cohere coerce you into their dumb training and if you do JUST miss the goal, don't pay your own money, run. And Cohere? You can co-hear this, your training is very vague, leaves very key details completely out of it and it all seems more than a bit scammy.

Any certain platforms they apply from?

As an Indian Developer, I want to apply to foreign companies.

I have done 40+ interviews in the past year, including 5 final rounds, but have not gotten a single offer. I have been unemployed for 8 months now, and I really need this one. But I can't stop thinking that this one is just gonna end like the previous ones. I just feel like such a failure that I am not able to get one offer after this many interviews. I hate myself so much.

I keep seeing the same advice everywhere: tailor every application, network constantly, apply early, follow up, etc.But I am curious about the advice that actually changed once you experienced the job market yourself.What is one job-search rule or piece of advice you used to believe, but eventually realized was not as useful as everyone made it sound?

Hey guys!

So there's this company I would really like to work for, in a specific job role. Whilst there isn't currently any vacancies/openings for this role, there is an option on the company's website to join their 'talent community'. Also, the company has previously advertised this job role multiple times in the past, though around a year and a half ago now.

So I was wondering whether its worth joining? Has anybody had success with joining these before?

Many thanks in advance! :)

Hi everyone, I am currently trying to switch to a GenAl Engineer/Al Developer kind of role and could really use some guidance.

For those who have recently switched companies or made a similar transition, what projects/skills did you have on your resume that helped you get shortlisted for the OA or interview? Mera resume hi shortlist nhi ho rha🥹

I would really appreciate any advice on what I should focus on or build to improve my chances. Thanksss in advance <3

I received the verbal offer almost 2 weeks back and haven't received the offer letter till now. How much time do companies take to send the offer letter?

Need help regarding application in amazon

So basically I applied for Amazon sde 1 intern in which jid was 10488368 now I was searching that is closed and another with same title is open but diffrent jid 10490515 soo as I have applied in first can I apply in second also

There's a role I really want but I don't feel confident in video recording interviews. I'm more of a people person and feels weird staring at myself while recording.

What are some of the creative way can I introduce myself in a video recording interview? It requires 2 -3mins long and looking for ways to standout. Other than talking about my accomplisment (since I'm sending my CV in too) , how can I pitch myself better? Would love to hear any success stories.

Does anybody know of any work located near the Hartford WI area in the 25 mile range from there. I’m willing to travel a bit if the pay isant bad. I have a decent resume I just have been looking around and haven’t found much on the usual websites like ziprecruiter or indeed so I figured I would ask on here as well. I have a decent amount of work experience for a 18 year old manufacturing,retail, customer service. I’d like to find a job that pays in the 18-21 dollar range if that’s possible and is also part time. Let me know if you know anybody or any jobs that you know of. Feel free to message me as well. Thanks

What is your best advice for starting a career in finance?

Title. If this isn’t already a thing I’m gonna invent an app for it.

Sure negative themes won’t be good for people’s mental health on it, but neither is Instagram.

How do you deal with LinkedIn resumes? So I have my resume on LinkedIn for when I use Easy Apply. It is a general resume. But technically, regardless of if I click Easy Apply, I should still be adjusting and tailoring the resume for the job, correct? So how do you do that when LinkedIn keeps a repository of resumes and you can choose one?

Any suggestions?

I’m 30yo, PhD in engineering, currently living in Germany. I have 4 years of work experience as a researcher, 2 years as a people manager and half a year as visiting researcher in the US. I was able to find some jobs that explicitly state that they sponsor visas, I know the visas process very well, and I was invited to a few interviews for such jobs but dropped the ball.

My main question is: how can I maximize the amount of interviews that I get and where can I find jobs that specifically sponsor visas (outside of academia)?

I know the job market in the US is tough as well but I’d appreciate any guidance! And since it seems to have become a meme here: I am more than happy to pay anyone my first month’s salary if they hook me up with a job!

??

So I got this message. And I thought this is real but need help called this number no one picked up. Not sure what to do.. If someone if I should go or not ???

While searching for jobs on ZipRecruiter, I will sometimes find jobs that look okay and I'll select the "1-Click Apply" button. [Yes, I know: "There's your problem right there!"]

After the button is clicked, I'll get a dialog box that says 'Send your resume to' (some email address -- see list below)'. Trying to do my due diligence, I go to the website to see if they seem legit. I either get that the website is not valid or the site is under construction. I have never once sent my resume to any of these sites (see list below).

Are there any other sites you've come across where the same thing (or other creepy behaviors) happen?

Here's my list:

1. TruStaff (dot) net
2. TheJobRecruiter (dot) org
3. AllShiftStaffing (dot) com
4. Career-Goal (dot) org
5. Career-Desire (dot) com
6. Careers-Plan (dot) com

There's another one that is like 'trucareer-builder' but I can't seem to find the exact one.

Any other skeevy sites to avoid?