There is nothing easy about looking for a job — regardless of what field one is in.
Looking and applying for jobs is tiring. In the event you hear back from an employer, going through the actual interview process and doing any of the required tasks is oftentimes a lengthy and sometimes discouraging process.
In a video that has been viewed over 3 million times, content creator and recent grad, Alyssa Caribardi (@alyssacardib), took to TikTok to share her — rather frustrating — job-hunting experience.
She starts the video, saying, "I applied to over 300 jobs, didn't hear back from anyone. Like, anything and everything I was applying to because I'm desperate."
Here's where it went downhill. In her video, Alyssa explained that her first interview went well, and she was asked to come in for a second one. "At this point, I asked about the salary because he said it was a full-time job with a salary. He said, 'Yes, I want to do one more interview with you. I'll get you the numbers at that interview.'"
Although not required in Florida — where Alyssa lives and was looking for jobs — she said that 50 percent of the jobs she applied for disclosed salary ranges, but not the one that she went on three interviews for.
Some states such as Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington, California, and New York have recently passed salary range transparency legislation, meaning salary ranges have to be disclosed in job descriptions in those states.
Alyssa was finally offered the job over the phone without knowing what the salary was. It turned out that Alyssa was offered a proposal for an independent contractor position where she would be paid based on “projects” equating to roughly $500 a month.
"My experience and qualifications aligned with this position, and other similar job postings presented salary ranges of $40,000–$60,000 per year, so that is what I was anticipating for this position," Alyssa told BuzzFeed.
Unfortunately, Alyssa's bizarre experience didn't stop there. She shared in her video that after declining the job offer, she posted a video to her TikTok account one night about her not having any plans.
Alyssa then posted about that texting exchange on her spam account. "The next thing I know, a girl messages me and says, 'Hey, was this guy's name __?'" she explained in her video. The girl proceeded to tell Alyssa that her sister and this guy — the one who offered Alyssa a job and inappropriately asked her out — were in a long-term relationship around the time that this happened to Alyssa. Turns out, the guy and this girl's sister got into a fight that night he asked Alyssa out, and this person was arrested on two counts of assault and battery. WILD!
In the thousands of comments on Alyssa's video, people shared their thoughts on her experience, like this person who didn't expect the ending of Alyssa's story:
This person who could relate to the frustration of applying to numerous jobs:
Or this person who had to take a seasonal job just to have a job:
"I am not surprised that so many other people are facing similar struggles with the job market right now," Alyssa said.
Despite the many comments agreeing with her, Alyssa told BuzzFeed that she's surprised that some people are arguing that there are plenty of open jobs right now.
