I just need to vent because the job market is a complete circus of contradictions right now. I have hit the final rounds with four different companies recently, and the reasons for rejection is frustrating.

Company 1: Reached the very end, no feedback. Found out later they hired someone with more general years of experience, even though I was the one with the actual domain expertise they asked for.

Company 2: Made it to the final round. I had the exact domain background and they even added an extra interview because they were undecided. End result was a rejection probably because it was not a cultural fit.

Company 3: Massive interview loop with multiple technical and coding assessments. Despite passing the technical evaluations, they told me the final choice had a more technical background.

Company 4: Another long process. Because of previous feedback, I focused heavily on the technical side for the final. They rejected me for lacking domain expertise. To make it worse, the recruiter claimed the person they hired had more years in the domain. In reality, I saw their hire post later and realized they actually have zero experience in this specific domain while I had 3+ years.

The worst was a recent AI startup. The recruiter scheduled a phone interview just to tell me they offered the job to someone else thirty minutes prior. She spent the rest of the call being dismissive of my background while asking if I might fit elsewhere.

It feels like a losing game. If I have the domain knowledge, I am not a cultural fit. If I pass the coding rounds, I am not technical enough. Startups are demanding years of industry experience in AI agents when the tech has barely been mainstream for two years. I even built AI projects end to end and it’s not enough. It is exhausting to be told you are simultaneously overqualified and underqualified for the exact same roles.

Now I am reaching a point where I am just confused as to what I’m doing wrong and how to get back up again. I need some tips on how to handle this shift. If anyone has advice on how to cold email with zero filter or how to be bold without coming off as desperate, let me know.