The job market is unrelenting, humiliating, and entitled. You spend days, weeks, or even months competing for a job, only to realize that the company is hiring internally. Recruiters bait-and-switch like no tomorrow, and you somehow seem both over- and underqualified. Don't ask me how that makes sense; it just does. If you've unfortunately been a witness to the job market in recent months or years, then you know what I'm talking about.
You spend hours perfecting the perfect resume, utilizing free and paid tools to ensure that a company's ATS picks yours out of the thousands of resumes they receive weekly. SEO isn't limited to editorial; you also need to be privy to popular word choice, even though you're applying for a software engineering job. Wake up and smell the resumes, everybody. This is the new normal.
Let's say that you finally land the interview. All goes well! You even somehow chum it up with the hiring manager and the person who works above them. Your handshake is perfectly firm, so as not to emanate a "beta" vibe. Yuck, but true. Now, the final hurdle is securing the written contract. Nowadays, verbal offers hold no merit, and you must wait for the contract to be sent to you. HR finished the background check; you have a concrete and binding contract. These are the rules.
You get the contract. You feel the weight of the world fall off your shoulders. Is this what heaven feels like? Should you go and buy a bottle of Moët & Chandon expeditiously? You've earned it! As soon as the champagne touches your lips, you feel a sense of impending doom. Is this too good to be true?
Your new employer seems to think so. Your offer, which was only just given to you, is retracted. How could this be? You were overqualified?! Scroll to read about this scenario below.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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