A Bengaluru-based engineering graduate has sparked an online debate after claiming that sending over 500 job applications in just one month failed to land him even a single interview. His post has struck
a chord with many freshers who say breaking into the job market has become increasingly difficult.
The 2026 BTech graduate shared his experience on Reddit, saying he had exhausted nearly every possible avenue while searching for employment. According to the post, he submitted applications through LinkedIn, multiple job portals, and the career pages of various companies, yet none of them resulted in an interview call.
Expressing his frustration, the graduate explained that despite his relentless efforts, the silence from recruiters had left him feeling helpless.
“Hey everyone, I’m a 2026 B.Tech graduate, and I’ve been desperately trying to find a job. In the last month alone, I’ve applied to over 500 roles through LinkedIn, job portals, company career pages, and pretty much everywhere else I could find. I haven’t managed to get even a single interview,” he wrote.
The graduate clarified that he was not chasing a high-paying package or a prestigious company. Instead, he said his immediate goal was to gain hands-on industry experience and build a foundation for his career.
“At this point, I’m honestly not looking for some huge package or a dream company. I just need an opportunity to work, gain real experience, and get an experience certificate that can help me move forward in my career. I’m open to pretty much any genuine tech role where I can learn and contribute. I’d also be more than happy to work with an early stage startup,” he added.
Explaining why he turned to Reddit, the graduate said he had run out of ideas and hoped the online community could help him find a genuine opportunity.
“I’m posting this on Reddit because I genuinely don’t know what else to try right now. If anyone is hiring, works at a startup, knows someone who needs a fresher, or can point me towards an actual opportunity, please reach out,” he wrote.
He titled the post, “I applied to 500+ jobs in the last month and got zero interviews. I’m genuinely in disbelief at this point.”
The post quickly drew attention from other users, many of whom said they were facing similar challenges while entering the job market.
One Reddit user suggested taking a more proactive approach instead of relying only on online applications. The user wrote, “hey don’t “apply” for jobs solely, you can try reaching out to the founders / HR persons directly in DM that works.”
However, another commenter said that even direct outreach had not improved their chances. They shared, “Ill do you one better, i reached out to 100+ hr and still no interview, i have internship experience as well of 5 months, im immediately available and also ready for internship first as well But recrutiers dont wanna hire whatsoever And im above average and even outstanding in many topics.
I know rag, mcp, agent orchestration, harness engineering and transformer architecture, langchain, Langgraph and basically everything there is one needs for an entry level job but no this fuckasssssd market is not fair We’re trying to break and fucking concrete wall with a spoon.”
Not every response was discouraging, though. One user shared a positive experience, saying, “I got a interview through sojojob. Took a month though.”
