Teachers are the key players in realizing the goals and objectives of a country's education. This is why the process of recruiting and hiring teacher applicants who will mold the characters and values of young children is very important. This phenomenological study aimed to identify the different experiences of the Department of Education (DepEd) teacher-applicants who seek a permanent teaching position. Seven teacher applicants from the different schools in the District of New Washington, Division of Aklan, Philippines, were purposively chosen. This study was conducted from August 2022 to November 2022 utilizing semi-structured individual interviews to gather the data. Colaizzi’s method of data analysis was used in interpreting the qualitative research data gathered to identify meaningful information and organize it into themes or categories. Findings revealed that, generally, there were seven (7) main experiences encountered during the application process of teacher applicants: challenging; exhausting and costly collection of pertinent papers for the application; humiliation and emotional trauma caused by the evaluation panel; losing eagerness and determination because of the system; stress and frustrations; limited or no vacancy of a teaching position; applying all over again if not hired; and learning valuable and life-changing lesson(s). In conclusion, despite the different challenges encountered, teacher-applicants remained resilient and hopeful. They have given more concentration to developing their self-knowledge, esteem, and professional identity through all-inclusive approaches, which can completely facilitate improvement in their personal and professional milieu.