Spanish professionals are publicly shaming companies offering insulting salaries after grueling interview processes that end in silence.
A viral thread on Forocoches has exploded with over 500 comments after a user shared an offer of €35,000 for a 'Senior' position in Madrid requiring 8+ years of experience. The post, titled 'Oferta de 35k para un puesto Senior en Madrid, ¿es una broma?' has become a lightning rod for frustrated professionals sharing similarly insulting offers. Forum users are documenting a pattern of companies posting inflated job titles with salaries that would have been considered low for junior roles five years ago. The thread has sparked copycat posts across Reddit's r/spain community, with users sharing screenshots of equally outrageous salary-to-experience ratios.
The ghost interview phenomenon has reached epidemic proportions according to forum discussions, with multiple users reporting completing 4-5 interview rounds including technical tests and executive panels, only to receive complete radio silence afterward. One highly-upvoted comment described finishing a final interview round in December 2025 and still waiting for any response, despite follow-up emails and LinkedIn messages. Companies are apparently using extensive interview processes as free consulting, extracting ideas and technical solutions from candidates with no intention of hiring. The practice has become so widespread that forum users are now sharing 'blacklists' of companies known for wasting candidates' time.
Most concerning is the 'experience inflation' trend, where entry-level positions now demand 2-3 years of specific experience, effectively locking out recent graduates from the job market entirely. Forum users report seeing 'Junior Developer' roles requiring 'minimum 3 years React experience' and 'Graduate Analyst' positions demanding prior consulting experience. The sentiment across forums is that companies are exploiting the weak job market to make unrealistic demands while offering below-market compensation. Users are sharing strategies for identifying and avoiding these 'fake' opportunities that waste weeks of application effort.
The forum consensus has shifted toward aggressive salary negotiation and immediate interview process questioning as defensive strategies. Users are now sharing scripts for asking upfront about salary ranges and interview timeline expectations to avoid wasting time on ghost processes. The most upvoted advice involves researching company Glassdoor reviews before any application and immediately walking away from processes that show red flags. Forum veterans are encouraging newer job seekers to demand respect for their time and to publicly shame companies that engage in exploitative hiring practices.
The viral nature of these threads suggests a fundamental breakdown in trust between Spanish employers and job seekers. Forum users are organizing informal networks to share real-time intelligence about which companies actually hire versus those just collecting free labor through fake interview processes.