For the past two years, navigating the job market has been demoralizing, especially for those who are just now graduating college and entering a tumultuous workforce rife with ghost jobs, smug artificial intelligence agents and disturbing “blue people.” As a result, spraying and praying — the act of blasting out hundreds or even thousands of AI-generated resumes to job postings out of desperation — is becoming the norm. Now, according to career experts who spoke with SFGATE, overwhelmed employers are rescinding job offers and ghosting applicants, creating even more pain, confusion and regret among recent college grads.
Per a June 2026 report from Resume Builder, which included survey responses from 1,000 respondents between the ages of 20 and 28 who graduated with a bachelor’s degree within the last year, 34% percent said that they had a job offer rescinded right after accepting it. Among that 34%, 21% said this happened to them once, while 13% said it happened to them multiple times. Sixty-eight percent of applicants in the June report said that they were ghosted by employers after interviewing, and 65% believed that AI led to cuts in entry-level jobs in their departments.
While ghosting has always been an issue, “today, it’s totally out of control,” Stacie Haller, Resume Builder’s chief career adviser who was quoted in the report, told SFGATE. Spraying and praying is inundating recruiters, she said, and the chances are that many entry-level applicants aren’t qualified. But bills need to be paid, and “people are getting desperate,” she said, adding that while this method might seem to make sense at first, it’s also “the quickest way to get depressed.” Many organizations that overhired during the pandemic and that are trying to find ways to implement AI may have no idea how many employees they actually need, either, Haller said.
This was always the goal with AI. Hell, some jackass even tried to set up AI as an attorney in court.
Time to go back to physical canvassing and relational networking?
[edit] I have to say, every single job I’ve ever got was due in part to pre-existing relationships. I’ve tried all the other methods over the years, and it’s the only one that’s ever provided me more than pain and frustration.
I’d been in communication with all my employers or at least someone employed there for non-employment reasons prior to being hired.
Several years ago I was called and told I had gotten a job only for it to get taken away because the CEO didn’t think I was excited enough on the phone call.
Excuse me for finding myself short for words in the moment, fuck face. It had been ~about five years since I’d quit my miserable job at Rite Aid and was doing gig IT deployment jobs through a major recruiting company while getting multiple interviews for multiple full time jobs that went no where.
This is an ad for that AI resume generator site.
Remind me the point of higher education again? I’m not seeing its ROI anymore.
Same as it’s been for the past 20-30ish years, to scam unsuspecting young adults into a lifetime of debt.
I have the somewhat unique experience of being a 2x uni dropout so I have some of the education and none of the qualifications. Just ended up getting a job in a factory as an operator and becoming an engineer anyway within 5 years. Now I just wonder where I might be if I didn’t waste that time and money and got a job straight out of school.
