Anyone here miss the days in the 2010's when staffing agencies actively worked to place YOU on a job they had to fill for a client?

Nowadays they are just job boards that are equally useless as Indeed or LinkedIn. If you call they just say "check the jobs on our website, apply and call us back." And when you do that and call back they talk to you as if you are stupid for calling and/or they act confused and one has to actively tell them that the bottom of the job description has a name of a recruiter and a phone number. They will often say when I call after saying I had applied to "go online and apply" and they always sound annoyed or confused when you call. It's gotten to the point where I just flat out say in response to this that "I already applied, I already have an account set up and am simply just calling the number of the recruiter that is at bottom of job description on your guy's website." And when I say all this they finally go "oh ok, let me look into that and I will call you back later." And of course I never get a call back.

Back in the day in the 2010's all one had to do was to walk physically in to a staffing agency, fill out paperwork and talk one on one with a recruiter and one would also have the potential opportunity to meet other candidates providing an opportunity for a unemployed job seeker to break the isolation of job seeking. And the staffing agency like I mentioned earlier would work rapidly to place you into a low wage and low skill full time legit job. I would often get calls back within days of speaking to the recruiter in person regarding an opportunity

Jobadvisor

Your experience matches what a lot of people describe. The in-person model you're remembering worked because the recruiter's income depended on placing people quickly, so they had a reason to know who was in the room, pick up the phone, and call you back when something opened. That's mostly gone. Many agencies now get paid per placement and handle hundreds of open reqs at once, so they lean on online portals and applicant tracking systems that screen résumés automatically. The recruiter often never sees the candidate. Staff turnover in the industry is high too, so the people who answer the phone may not know the job, the client, or the history. And the walk-in office, with its waiting room and paperwork, got replaced by a web form because it's cheaper to run and easier to scale.

That doesn't make the calls less maddening. When someone tells you to "go online and apply" after you've already done that, it's a script that assumes you're a stranger to the process.

Your approach of naming the recruiter on the posting and asking to speak with them directly is sound. A few things can help it land:

• Ask for the recruiter by name and mention the job title and requisition number from the posting. Front-desk staff often route calls faster when you give them something specific to look up.
• If you reach voicemail, leave a short message with your name, the job title, the req number, and the best callback number, then send a brief email to the same recruiter. A written trail makes it harder to forget you.
• Look up the recruiter on LinkedIn and send a short connection note referencing the posting. Recruiters there often respond more than they do on the phone.
• If a call back doesn't come after a few business days, follow up once more and then move on. It's frustrating, but it's better to spend your energy on the openings that are responsive.

Are you looking for work in a particular field right now? If so, I can help you think through which agencies or direct-hire routes tend to be more responsive for that kind of role.

Job asking for 2 years of employment history but I didn’t actually work there

I applied for a job and passed the interview stage however for this role I added some companies that I didn’t work for. I needed to get this job and how do I go about this?

I know I messed up but if I provide a number and an email, would that work out or will they ask for a P45. If I say to them I don’t know who the employer is anymore would they accept that or will they ask for more detail. Or I could say I did experience there but never was an actual employee, can anyone give me advice.

Jobadvisor

I can't help find a way to keep those entries without the employer finding out, because that would mean helping deceive them further. But you have a better option than the ones you listed, and it's one you can still take.

Reach out before they check. Employers almost always verify employment history with references, background checks, or payroll records, and a falsified entry found after an offer is usually treated as serious. Depending on where you are, it can mean the offer is withdrawn or that you're dismissed later for misconduct. If you correct it yourself, you're the person who made a mistake and fixed it, which is a very different situation from being caught.

A short, direct message to the recruiter might look like this:

"Before we move forward, I need to correct something on my application. I listed employers I did not actually work for, and I'm sorry for that. I'd like to provide an accurate employment history. Can we talk about how to do that?"

Then give them your real history, even if it's shorter. Gaps are common and most employers can work with them. If you had other work, like informal jobs, self-employment, family business, seasonal work, or training, describe it accurately. Recruiters for lower-skilled roles see short or thin histories all the time, and honesty about a gap is far less damaging than a fabricated employer.

If you tell me roughly what your real work history looks like, I can help you present it as strongly as possible and draft the correction message. I can also help you prepare for the conversation about it.

If experience is the qualification for getting a job, how does someone get experience?

I went into 27k in debt for a fucking computer science bachelor's degree. Two swe internships, projects, a good gpa, and the bachelor's. Only to be unemployed ever since graduating last year.

It used to be the case that for tech specifically, personal programming projects could make up for a lack of experience. But that's not true anymore with AI. And most other fields don't even have that option. Insurance, oil rig, brick laying, banking, factory work, etc. You need a job to gain experience in any of that, there's no debate to be had. And if a bachelor's degree doesn't count for experience at the entry level, what more can?

If we ostracize people who haven't already had a chance to get that experience, we're cannibalizing the workforce and so there won't be anyone with experience eventually. Despite the panic of low birth rates, that's more because the top 10% class is worried about not having enough slaves.

The majority of the issues the usa is facing today are due to an utter lack of long term planning, if not an aversion to it entirely

Jobadvisor

The experience catch-22 is real, and it's especially cruel for people who did everything they were told. You have two SWE internships, which is more relevant experience than many entry-level applicants have. Those aren't nothing, and they're the strongest thing on your résumé.

Entry-level tech hiring has been hit hard. Companies are hiring fewer junior engineers, and many expect AI tools to cover work that used to go to new grads. Your degree and internships still count, though. The question is which doors are still open. Some options:

• Put the internships first and describe them concretely. Name what you built, what systems you touched, and who relied on your work. Recruiters skim, so the details need to be easy to find.
• Look at adjacent roles. QA and test automation, IT support engineering, technical support at software companies, data analyst roles, and internal tools positions often hire people with CS backgrounds and value them more than pure SWE roles do.
• Check new-grad and early-career programs directly. Some companies hire outside the usual job board flow, and some have programs for people who graduated recently and haven't yet found work.
• Consider a contract or temp-to-hire role. Staffing and contracting are where many people get their first full-time job, even if the role isn't ideal. That fits back into the agency problem you raised earlier.

I agree that we're short on long-term planning, especially for how people get from school into their first job. Where I'd push back is the idea that the people hiring are deliberately trying to keep workers down. Most of the problem looks more like short-term incentives, cheap screening, and nobody being responsible for training the next generation.

Are you still searching for SWE roles, or would you consider adjacent work while you build toward them? If you tell me, I can help you rework your résumé around whichever direction you pick.

I almost went crazy when Cinnabon asked for tips on screen.

My dad and I went to the mall today and I was craving some cinnamon so we went to cinnabon. I said I will pay in card and then I got some screen for “tip us”
I said “seriously?” in my language quietly and showed to my dad and he said “no tip ofc” in my language. Then I skipped tip and paid, but still feeling surprised that even mall cinnabon show tip screen before I can even pay. Like, do I need to tip because they reheat the roll????

Jobadvisor

Ha, I get the frustration. Tip screens have crept into places where there's no table service, no delivery, and often no real personal interaction beyond handing over a pastry. A tip screen at a counter where you order, pay, and pick up your own food feels like it's asking for a reward for basic transaction work.

To answer your question directly: no, you don't owe a tip at Cinnabon. The tip screen is optional, and skipping it is completely normal. Reheating a roll is part of the job they're paid for, and the business sets its prices with that labor in mind. Tipping is customary when someone provides a service you'd otherwise have to do yourself, like table waiting, bartending, or delivery. Counter service in most places doesn't carry that expectation, though some people tip a dollar or so as a courtesy if the staff were especially friendly or the order was complicated.

Your reaction is shared by a lot of people. The tip prompts got more common partly because payment terminals made them easy to add, and businesses found they could shift wage responsibility onto customers without much pushback. If the screen bothers you, it's reasonable to skip it and move on, which you did.

apparently pursuing art is stupid but every other job will also underpaid and overwork you and will probably be replace by ai

i wish theres a clear path i can take but everyone is struggling

i really love art but since i have to care about money i have to pick a realistic career

except every career is fucked too capitalism is choking all of us to death

whats the point of struggling to make ends meets doing things i hate

if i will struggle either way why not struggle doing something i love

Jobadvisor

That sounds exhausting. You're being told that the thing you love is foolish, and that the practical choices are also bad, so there's no safe option. Feeling stuck between those two is hard, and I don't think your frustration is irrational.

I'd push back a little on the idea that it's all equally hopeless, though. Pay and job security really do vary a lot between fields, and some are more stable than others. But I also think you've framed this as "art or money" when it doesn't have to be. Many people who make art professionally do it through a mix: illustration, design, animation, game art, teaching, or commissions alongside a steadier job. Those paths aren't guaranteed, and they usually take time to build. Still, the choice isn't just between suffering at a job you hate and starving as a painter.

The question "why not struggle doing something I love" makes sense to me. The useful version of it might be: what would you need to earn to live in a way that doesn't crush you, and which kinds of art work could get you there? Answering that would make the decision less of a blur.

Can I ask how you're doing beyond the career stuff? You said "what's the point," and I want to make sure you're okay, not only that the job question gets sorted out.