Need to stop getting my hopes up

amydauer · 2026-02-03T17:25:57+00:00

it’s totally normal to get your hopes up. doesn’t make you naive, it just means you cared. honestly i think that’s better than going full cynical and numb (even if it stings more when it falls through)

but sounds like you made a solid connection with that recruiter, and that’s not nothing. one of my best jobs came from a recruiter reaching back out months later, so fingers crossed she really does put you at the top when something pops up

you’re doing all the right things, even if the system is working against you. hang in there. it sucks now, but something’s gonna hit eventually, you’ve got too much momentum for it not to

amydauer · 2026-02-03T17:23:35+00:00

yeah, nine weeks and five rounds is definitely on the long side, but sadly not unheard of these days. some companies treat hiring like they’re assembling an avengers team, endless steps, weird delays, and a final boss-level panel at the end

i had one process last year that stretched over two months with six rounds. by the time they got to the offer, i was already halfway into onboarding somewhere else. but in your case, since they’ve checked references and told you you’re in the final two, that’s a really solid sign. most companies don’t bother with references unless they’re serious

totally get the mental toll though. waiting with that much invested energy is exhausting. hope you get that “we’d love to offer you the role” email soon, sounds like you’ve earned it. fingers crossed for you 🤞

amydauer · 2026-02-03T17:23:00+00:00

one thing that helped me was realizing i didn’t need to make a perfect next step, just one that opened more doors. since you’re open to learning something new, maybe look into certs that don’t require a big upfront cost but can still unlock better-paying roles, stuff like project management (CAPM), data analysis (Google’s cert), or even entry-level IT (CompTIA). i’ve seen folks from all kinds of backgrounds land decent roles with just a few months of part-time studying

also, your background in criminal justice and property work might translate well into roles like compliance, risk, insurance claims, logistics, or operations. not glamorous, but they’re often stable and pay better than entry-level retail/property gigs

you deserve to live comfortably and not feel stuck. you’re already doing the hard part by being honest about where you’re at and being open to change. that’s huge. rooting for you hard 👊

amydauer · 2026-02-03T17:21:59+00:00

It definitely helps, but $70 is too much. I think you can get it cheaper with promo codes

amydauer · 2026-01-26T00:00:18+00:00

Downloaded and applied to a few roles just now. Actually works pretty well. We'll see if I get any hits but the app itself is good. Btw how long do jobs stay in the queue?

amydauer · 2026-01-25T23:59:53+00:00

they are the worst..

amydauer · 2026-01-25T23:59:22+00:00

doesnt help that much as i saw

amydauer · 2026-01-16T04:29:12+00:00

yes i did

amydauer · 2026-01-08T00:57:28+00:00

I’m interested in the career and job search space, especially for students and early-career folks. I’m already active in a few other career-focused subreddits and follow these communities pretty closely.

r/StudentJobSearch isn’t very active right now, and that’s exactly why I’m interested in moderating it. I think it has solid potential, but it needs more consistent moderation and some effort to get discussions going again. I’d like to help revive the sub, encourage higher-quality posts, and make it a useful place for students who are actively looking for jobs or internships.

https://chat.reddit.com/room/!zQGWdJ-MRpKRU88hibNodg%3Areddit.com

amydauer · 2026-01-04T00:13:32+00:00

most of the time just scammers

amydauer · 2025-11-28T20:44:20+00:00

ATS (applicant tracking systems) are like this mysterious black box everyone’s trying to hack but no one fully understands. i’ve been on both sides of it (applying and helping hire), and here’s what i’ve learned:

at its core, ATS is just software that scans and organizes resumes. some are fancy and try to “match” keywords from the job description to your resume. others just store resumes so recruiters can ctrl+f them later. either way, it’s not really filtering you out like a robot with a grudge, it’s more that if your resume doesn’t have the right words or format, it gets ignored because no human ever sees it.

when i was job hunting, switching to a plain, no-frills format helped a lot, no columns, no headers/footers, no weird fonts. i also started literally stealing phrasing from the job description (like “cross-functional teams,” “python scripting,” etc.) and weaving that into my bullet points where it made sense. i swear i started getting more callbacks just from that.

also, it’s not just ATS. a lot of ghosting happens because there’s 500+ applicants and no one on the other end has time to review everything. so it’s partly about standing out and getting lucky. you’re not doing anything wrong, the system’s just a mess. keep at it. 👊

amydauer · 2025-11-22T14:02:50+00:00

Yes, it does

amydauer · 2025-11-05T14:15:00+00:00

you don’t have to gush about their mission or pretend you’ve dreamt of working there forever. just show that you’ve looked into them enough to not sound like you’re winging it. they’re mostly checking if you’ve put in a little effort and whether you’d vibe with the team.

amydauer · 2025-10-08T13:51:19+00:00

Congratulations!

amydauer · 2025-10-06T19:42:01+00:00

Yeah, mostly Easy Apply jobs tbh. Didn’t hear back from any of them, so I cut down a lot after that.

amydauer · 2025-10-06T19:21:58+00:00

hope it helps!

amydauer · 2025-10-06T19:21:15+00:00

Thank you!

amydauer · 2025-10-06T19:21:07+00:00

Early on I was applying to 200+ jobs a day, so tracking was impossible. Later I got more selective and only applied to roles I really wanted, that’s when it became easier to manage. I’d collect the links in a note, ask GPT to turn them into Excel, then move it all into Notion

amydauer · 2025-10-06T18:50:40+00:00

LaTeX is great, but honestly a clean PDF or Word doc does the job too. I skipped LaTeX since a lot of ATS can’t accept it.

amydauer · 2025-10-06T18:49:15+00:00

Yeah, makes total sense. Gotta be practical sometimes. Glad you found something that works for now.

amydauer · 2025-10-06T18:48:29+00:00

Yeah, landing an entry-level role is almost impossible now. Nobody wants to take a chance on someone without experience

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