Q: I had been out of work in my industry since Feb 2020. I spent the entire time sending out resumes to countless job postings. I would often send my resume out to 200+ job listings and not even receive a single interview. During the entire period, I probably had 3-4 real legitimate interviews. In one of them the guy interviewing me was some schmuck who I replaced in a prior job that I was eventually let go from due to internal politics and bullshit outside of my abilities. So this guy basically already had a bad opinion about me, and I knew I wasn't going to get that job. I've felt essentially blacklisted from my industry despite the fact that I never once got written up or reprimanded in my previous position at Apple. However, when I applied to go back, I was not re-hired. It pissed me the fuck off because I had recruited a guy from my master's program out of the kindness of my heart to help someone else out, and all he did was bring negative stories about me and gossip ...
