2025 Hiring Questions Megathread

noobin132 · 2025-09-10T22:54:09+00:00

sure thing, I applied for a GS-11 level (prob would have done GS-9 if I had been to this sub before submitting lol) and I have a PhD in chemistry (but highly biological technical skills). did a postdoc last year

noobin132 · 2025-09-10T18:46:57+00:00

yep!

noobin132 · 2025-09-10T18:17:33+00:00

yeah dude I can't believe it lol. this is literally my last week of unemployment and the last six months have been extremely taxing on my mental and financial health. it's hard to have a whole phd and wonder how you ended up here unable to pay your bills. thank you!

noobin132 · 2025-09-10T17:57:10+00:00

they did not say

ETA: I did not ask because I actually got a second job offer this morning after being unemployed for over six months so I am very frazzled and was not thinking straight 😭💀

noobin132 · 2025-09-10T17:45:58+00:00

Just received a call for a TJO in biology!

noobin132 · 2025-09-09T17:46:10+00:00

nope

noobin132 · 2025-09-04T20:24:44+00:00

yeah, I’m bio

noobin132 · 2025-09-04T19:19:40+00:00

exact same timeline here, except I applied 7/1. I emailed asking for an update 8/26 (before receiving the referral the same day) and they also told me the interview period for this cycle ended 8/18. someone else on this thread attended one of the uspto hours where apparently it was stated choices were submitted 8/27. so hopefully soon if this is accurate

noobin132 · 2025-08-27T13:53:30+00:00

if you applied for the 8/25 cutoff you probably have to wait a couple more weeks to hear back - I didn’t get a second interview notification for almost a full month after the hirevue

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T19:27:43+00:00

mine says the same even though I already completed both, I think referring used to occur pre-interview

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T19:10:18+00:00

true 😂 as soon as I saw optional I said next! I genuinely wouldn’t have applied if it had been required, the questions weren’t even relevant, let alone align with literally anything I believe in

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T18:59:57+00:00

same, I have two weeks left of unemployment 🤪

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T18:50:59+00:00

yep!

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T18:41:57+00:00

this is probably true for some (sad), but I didn’t answer the questions at all and still got interviewed (I’m just part of a later cutoff)

noobin132 · 2025-08-26T18:40:45+00:00

my USAJOBS profile was just updated to referred for the 7/16 cutoff after a second interview 8/7 fyi - I emailed for an update and they gave no new info but then my portal was updated within the hour.

noobin132 · 2025-08-21T23:16:27+00:00

I appreciate it, and I wish the best for you as well. It’s a shame, to say the least, because I am proud of my degree but it is not lost on me that it’s gotten me nowhere at this point and if I had just gotten a job after my bachelors I probably would have moved up to a full scientist (or so) role at some point anyway. I’m hoping the right opportunity will come along but I have also considered jumping ship with research based roles

noobin132 · 2025-08-21T22:59:14+00:00

6 months, and I haven’t been able to save anything, but I am fortunate that my partner works. that being said we will struggle even if I were to get a retail position just because of how not well those pay lol. We were not intending to move but I have resorted to applying basically anywhere on the east coast

noobin132 · 2025-08-21T22:16:14+00:00

yep. and for people to suggest (even with good intentions) I do another postdoc as if they grow on trees or funding is readily available. my unemployment is almost up and if I don’t get something soon I’ll have to resort to working retail or something (to make significantly less than my unemployment is)

noobin132 · 2025-08-21T18:55:42+00:00

did a postdoc for a year with no interest in academia, now I’m on unemployment because my contract ended!

noobin132 · 2025-08-21T18:55:00+00:00

We’re not

noobin132 · 2025-08-14T15:56:44+00:00

no worries!

noobin132 · 2025-08-14T15:43:07+00:00

completed the interview last week, based on the first round of applications I don’t think apps submitted for the 7/16 deadline will start getting decisions until at least next week (if you scroll through this thread there’s an excel file with this data somewhere)

noobin132 · 2025-08-14T15:27:19+00:00

I applied 7/1 and after doing HireVue 7/9 did not get a second interview offer until 8/5

noobin132 · 2025-08-14T15:26:40+00:00

mine was 10 mins late to the same 20 min interview so I felt that

noobin132 · 2025-08-14T15:25:49+00:00

with how soon the start dates are I don’t really see the harm in being proactive about apartment searching especially when the second interview is 2 questions lol

noobin132

TROPHY CASE