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Mark woke up one fateful morning, fueled by both coffee and a mild existential crisis. Without much thought, he clicked on the “Easy Apply” button for every job that popped up on his feed, convinced that his five years of experience in binge-watching TV series made him uniquely qualified for any position. Later that week, he was invited to an interview for a corporate position—only to discover he had accidentally applied to be the chief “Netflix Product Tester.”
Picture Mark, suited up but still sporting his favorite “I’ll be watching you” socks, sitting in front of a panel of serious-faced executives. As they asked him about his “relevant experience,” he confidently recounted the intricate plotlines of his favorite shows and detailed his rigorous study of snack-to-screen ratios. Let’s just say Mark left the interview with more confusion than offers, but at least he gained a reputation as a “creative thinker.” Who knew hitting the “easy apply” button could lead to such a hilariously unexpected career pivot?
D
Honestly, easy deny would be nice. As someone who was unemployed for 3 months. I’d rather get a rejection email in 48hrs than getting ghosted. Now I’ve been working for 5 months now. And I’m still getting rejection emails and phone interviews. Like bruh it took 7 months to get back to me?
O
I had one get back to me after a year. I looked at the email and had to get in my way back machine to even remember applying.
H
I got a rejection letter 5 years after I applied. I laughed a bit when I saw it
S
I had one reach out 11 years later to see if I wanted to move forward with the (same) position
M
11 years is my record too. They had a copy of my CV from when I graduated, and were offering a graduate entry level role. How they managed to not check any of the dates on anything is truly remarkable. The mad thing is they reached out via LinkedIn!!! At the time I already held a C-level position, clearly listed on my profile.
C
You finally got the 11 years experience for their entry-level position. Congrats.
D
them: “This guy is great for that position”
K
Of the several hundred applications I’ve sent out in the last eight years, I’ve gotten three total responses, all of them setting up interviews, two of which got me hired. All three responses were within two weeks of sending in the application. As for all the other applications? Eight years and counting of silence.
H
I applied to work in a coal mine back in the late 1800’s and they just got back to me about it in 2020. Crazy stuff.
B
“Do you by chance have any children available to work in our mines?”
U
I had one that rejected me, and then got annoyed a month later that I haven’t been turning up to work.
H
That’s insane
U
They also rang during the welcome party at the new company that did accept my application. Then asked if I can come to their work the next day. So pretty wild overall.
S
Did you tell them the story and why they called at the new company?
U
Nah they called me on my mobile at CoB Friday. I didn’t really bother asking what happened but I assume the Hr teams got their wires crossed or something.
S
I meant did you tell your new company the story, because it would make a hell of opener
U
I did yeah. The CEO was there too within ear shot of the call. He found it hilarious.
T
Yeah I once applied to present an investment opportunity. The guy leading the meeting fell asleep as soon as it started and snored the entire time. He was 85 and a “new hire” to lead their investment team. Obviously it didn’t go anywhere. Three years later, I got an email back from them saying they were going to decline. Yeah… I kind of figured that out already… but thanks?
T
I’ve gotten a rejection letter a year after I had already had the position and left. That one was a weird one.
M
I just had one reach out after 14 months. I wish that were a joke. The email was, “we’re interested in speaking to you further about this position” and my response was “I genuinely don’t recall anything about this company or position. Sorry.”
I
I had one like that. I had been teaching ESL for a few years and wanted to get back into webdev. I leapt at the opportunity… and the company shut down the project and laid off the entire team 11 months later. Didn’t even make it a full year.
M
Fuck. That’s brutal. Everything sucks.
T
My favorite is when they cold call you a year later, say hi I’m (name), calling about your application. And I’m always like, who are you? What company? They always seem disappointed but to you really think I remember your fucking name a year later?
P
I had a sonic send me a call for a follow up interview almost a year after the initial interview in college. Dunno what they were doing but I wouldn’t have taken the job even if I was looking lol.
T
Actually, I got my current job this way. I wasn’t happy with my previous job, so I was just tossing out applications every month to see what was available. The job that I ended up moving to was one that ghosted me 6 months. haha.
I
I recently got a job interview offer for a job I applied in April 2025. 3 weeks passed and they still haven’t sent me an email about the interview. By the time the nukes drop, I will be hired.
T
I had someone approach me about a different role in my company in December of 2024. They opened it for applications and I applied in July 2025. I finally got an offer 3 weeks ago. All of this is internal, I’ve worked here for over a decade!
O
While very strange maybe they were just prepping for a retiree waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far in advance lmao
D
It took 6months from my second interview with my current company until i got a “do you want to talk about our benefits package” call. I did have multiple email check ins asking if i was still being considered. The government is genuinely just that insultingly slow.
O
Ha, got a “how was the interview process?” questionnaire 5 months after an interview that ended with “we’ll get back to you so we can schedule a technical interview”. Another fun one was when someone asked if I was still unemployed 4 months after an interview and if I was still interested in that role, I said yeah and then they ghosted me again like what’s the point.
N
It’s like the old yarn about a man getting married and suddenly getting more attention from women than he ever did while single. Maybe they were strictly looking for people other companies had decided were worth hiring as part of their vetting process.
O
Honestly with how simple it already is its fucking disrespectful. Every job opening you could populate a table with the applicants. Then a mail-merge can send a personalised template rejection e-mail to everyone after the position is filled. Less than 5 minutes work and any company large enough to have a HR department has no excuse to not be doing it except “we don’t HAVE to so why bother?”. If it weren’t for the Boomers thinking each denial requires secretarial time I reckon a Compassionate Hiring law could sail through most governments.
N
A lot of places just have constant postings up now, whether they have an opening or not, then when the job opens up they’ll have x number of months worth of resumes and can just filter them by key words. Back when you had to have a person phone up a newspaper and pay by the word, someone to read resumes, etc, you couldn’t really do that shit, but now there’s no barrier, you can just have job listings up permanently.
B
I’ve been through enough of these to know it’s also solidly Millennial and even younger HR twits treating the process like a dating app where ghosting is normal and acceptable. I understand why women would ghost, given how men act about rejection, but this is a JOB and we have spoken three times now, you owe me the courtesy of your “no thank you.” It could not be simpler.
G
My favorite is when a company gets back to me (late by more than a month) via text or message, but they don’t identify themself. Like, okay, what even am I supposed to interview for?
M
A good number of those are scams from people that think defrauding the unemployed will be a lucrative business venture.
J
It is a lucrative business venture though. Anything preying on the desperate is lucrative at scale. $20 from 100 people is $2000. Overdraft fees, literally the definition of taking money from broke people, is a $5 **billion** industry.
P
I got rejected for a job I didn’t apply for
D
It’s so absurd to me that ghosting and non commutation is just the world standard now. Whether it’s hiring processes, doctors visits, government officials, it’s absurd.
I
I once got denied for a job and was instructed that I couldn’t reapply for a few months. I kid you not, I got called a week later by that company’s recruiter telling me that they had a *perfect* job for me! I told the recruiter I had already applied recently and they had to awkwardly confirm that I couldn’t take the job they were offering. What a fucking joke.
C
I’ve been part of enough hiring processes at work at this point that it taking 7 months to get back to someone isn’t even surprising. It’s so annoying.
I
It would be a huge weight off my shoulders if I could just click apply and immediately get rejected.
A
My favorite was when I got a call from a recruiter about my application id submitted a literal year prior who got angry with me on the phone when I said that I was no longer interested, thanked me for “wasting his time”, and told me that I was no longer going to be considered for any open positions in the future. Dude seriously expected me to sit around for a fucking *year*?
H
I had a few of those. I remember being halfway into a contract, and one contacted me about coming in person to an interview. Had to look at the application dates, cause I didn’t even remember when I applied. I just didn’t bother replying to it after that, because the start date to that position was well past what was posted.
V
A friend of mine got a rejection for an apprenticeship after he already started it at another company. Our country’s deadlines are standardized, so they know looong before they send the rejection.
C
i had one take YEARS before i got it back. i just assume all apps are NOs until i hear back. brute force them apps
M
Easy Apply: because nothing says ‘career goals’ like instant rejection
A
Better than filling everything out exactly, and then getting instantly rejected anyway.
B
LinkedIn said Easy Apply, forgot to mention it’s also Easy Deny.
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