The job market is absolutely cooked right now, and I’ve been watching this play out in real time through various online discussions where people are sharing their employment horror stories. What started as one person’s cautionary tale about quitting their finance job due to burnout has turned into a sobering collection of experiences that really highlights just how tough things are out there.

The original poster’s story is unfortunately becoming all too familiar - nine months of rejections after leaving a finance role, being told they’re “overqualified” for positions they desperately want, or “too expensive” for roles they’d happily take at reduced pay. It’s a catch-22 situation that would drive anyone to distraction. You’re damned if you’re overqualified, and you’re certainly damned if you’re underqualified.

I’ve been noticing something increasingly frustrating in my corner of the IT world lately. Every job posting I come across, even for the most mundane technical roles, seems to have “AI experience” slapped on as a requirement. It’s like someone in HR discovered a new magic word and decided to sprinkle it on everything like fairy dust.

The whole situation reminds me of those early 2000s job ads that demanded “5 years of experience in a technology that had only existed for 2 years.” Except now it’s worse, because at least back then people generally understood what they were asking for, even if the timeline was unrealistic.

Recently stumbled upon a job listing that perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with the current tech hiring landscape. Picture this: an “entry-level” developer position requiring 3+ years of team management experience, preferably a master’s degree, and - here’s the kicker - offering a salary that’s actually below minimum wage for full-time work in Australia.

The mental gymnastics required to label a position requiring three years of experience and a master’s degree as “entry-level” is truly Olympic-worthy. We’re talking about someone who’s invested potentially seven years between education and work experience, yet they’re supposed to accept a salary that would’ve been questionable even back in the early 2000s.