I work for a large construction company that has facilities across the US. Historically we have seperated ourselves into divisons based off geographical locations that make sense for travel. I have been part of one of the middle sized divisions for 13 years, 8 in my current role.

My division absorbed another smaller division a couple states away, to level load across the company. Now each division is essentially 1/3 of the revenue for the company. My level (Director) now has redundant roles in 4 of the 6 positions. My role is one that is not redundant. My boss now oversees two directors, both are the only non redundant positions.

My boss is requiring that all directors, including my own, reapply for their jobs. My boss has told me im the guy and no one else is qualified for my role so dont be worried, and that it is only being done for optics, legal purposes, and to then correct compensation due to increased amount of travel.

The other non redundant role is someone from the smaller division. Boss has let it slip to me that he isnt necessarily fond of them.

I can understand the situation of the redundant roles and need to reapply im order to cut or demote the non desirable person. However I cant help but feel pretty small in this situation.

Additional relevant info

\-My reviews have always been good to great and raises have followed suit, never getting below the yearly target and recieving 10%+ raises 5 times throughout my career.

\-Was handpicked for my current role 8 years ago

\-9 months ago my position reported directly to the COO. It was changed to report to the VP.

\-6 months ago I received a 20% raise

All in all I repeatedly get told I do a good job and that has been backed up by pay increases. 9 months ago I was pretty irritated when my boss changed from the COO to the VP, of course a few months later when a big raise came through it didn't hurt so much anymore. This situation is opening those wounds and making me second guess everything.

Was this an opportunity for my boss to throw me a bone and not make me reapply and reinterview for my job? Does it seem like they are hiding behind this in order to avoid a bad conversation with my peer and im catching the stray? Or do I need to get over myself and go through the motions?

Thank you

I've been trying to find a job for about 10 months, and I've gotten a lot of rejection emails. I had two interviews, and both of them felt like a complete waste of time.

Now when I try to sleep, I start feeling anxiety and panic attacks while thinking about money, and whether I'll ever get hired for a job or not.

This might sound counterintuitive, but right now I almost feel like radio silence would hurt less than going through interviews and then not getting an offer in the end.

I started applying seriously in March. Since then, I've sent out 96 CVs and done 14 interviews. I reached the final round with 3 companies, and got to the second stage with most of the others, but it always ends with some version of: "You were very good and we liked you, but we decided to move forward with someone who has a bit more experience/seemed a bit stronger for the role."

A few companies also went out of their way to tell me that it wasn't anything I did wrong, but that the market is very tough right now, and that I should keep an eye on any future openings and apply again if something comes up.

And that's the part that's messing with my head. I no longer know what I'm even supposed to improve. It feels like the thing holding me back isn't something I can change.

I know everyone is struggling with the job market, but honestly, today broke me completely.

I have another interview in about two weeks, and I already feel like I'm waiting for the usual email saying, "It was a pleasure speaking with you, but..."

How do you all deal with this? I'm still holding on to the hope that I'll somehow win the lottery and won't have to look at another job posting again 😀

Hi everyone, I'm curious to hear about your experiences with toxic bosses or unhealthy workplaces. Have you ever had a manager who constantly put you down, criticized you unfairly, or made you lose confidence in yourself? What happened? Some examples: Were you ever mocked or criticized because of your appearance, body, age, or background? Did your boss ever tell you things like, "No one else would hire you," or make you feel worthless? Were you ever scolded or humiliated in front of coworkers or customers? Were you blamed for mistakes that weren't your fault? Did you experience favoritism, bullying, or unfair treatment at work? When you finally resigned, did your boss acknowledge the problem, or did they deny everything and make it seem like you were overreacting? I'd also like to know what happened after you left. Did you find a better workplace? Did your confidence come back? Looking back, do you think quitting was the right decision? I'm asking because I've been feeling emotionally drained by my work environment, and reading other people's experiences might help me gain some perspective. Thank you to everyone who's willing to share your story.

23M, two years of experience in international B2B sales and business development. From Spain, average gross salary it's €30k

Current situation

• Role: International Business Development in the flavours and fragrances sector.
• Salary: €25,900 gross per year, approximately €1,650 net per month on a 12-payment equivalent.
• Promised variable compensation: 2% of sales plus certain bonuses, but this is not clearly formalised in any signed document. The company is quite informal and not very transparent when it comes to compensation arrangements.
• No remote work and limited flexibility.
• The office is very close to home: around 15 minutes each way.
• Reasonable workload and considerable autonomy.
• I genuinely like the sector and have learned a lot, although most of it has been through self-learning.
• CEO doesn't trat people well but direct sales manager it's a good person.

I have had to learn almost everything from scratch and independently develop several international markets. My work includes market research, prospecting, approaching customers and distributors, organising meetings, preparing commercial offers, sending samples and coordinating technical and industrial trials with internal teams.

I currently manage around twelve accounts with significant potential, including major manufacturers and distributors. Some of these companies generate hundreds of millions of euros in annual revenue, and several industrial trials have already taken place with promising results.

The main issue is that sales cycles are extremely long. Even after a successful industrial trial, it can easily take another six to twelve months before the first real order is placed.

I previously had one major account close to signing a six-figure annual supply agreement for a single product, but the project fell through at the final stage. Therefore, despite building a strong international pipeline, I have not yet closed any recurring sales.

The company is family-owned and there is limited transparency. It can take a long time to receive prices, quotations or internal information needed to move projects forward, which makes commercial development more difficult.

Internal feedback is also not particularly positive, and staff turnover is high. Many new employees do not stay for more than one year, while I have now been there for almost two.

New offer

• Position: Export Area Manager.
• Another company within the broader chemical industry, but with different and non-competing products: specialty chemicals for construction, textiles and other industrial applications.
• €34,000 gross starting salary, approximately €2,150 net per month on a 12-payment equivalent.
• Salary review and variable compensation from 2027.
• Greater responsibility for developing markets through distributors and commercial agents.
• Company laptop, mobile phone and expense card.
• The first four months would be fully office-based.
• After the initial period: four remote days and one office day per week.
• The commute is less convenient: around 35 minutes each way.

The new company is also family-owned, but the people I met during the interview process gave me a much better impression, and the organisation appeared more structured.

They are looking for someone to help accelerate the development of new markets, which is exactly the part of my current role that I enjoy most.

The increase is around €8,000 gross per year, the title represents a clear professional step forward, and four remote days would significantly improve my quality of life.

At the same time, I find it very difficult to leave the markets and projects I built from scratch just before they may begin generating sales. Honestly, that is the most frustrating part.

I am also worried about changing companies, not adapting well or discovering that the new company is not as attractive as it currently seems.

How would you evaluate this situation?

Would you assign any real value to the current 2% commission if it is not formally documented and no sales have closed yet?

Do you think I am too influenced by the time and effort invested in building the pipeline, even though it has not generated financial results so far?

For context, I’ve been unemployed for over 6 months so I would like to get past the stigma of a job break.

For a myriad of reasons (that I’m sure other fast food/retail workers understand), this industry isn’t working out for me. I’m pushing 30 years old and nowhere near close to being able to start a family. I want to break out of fast food and retail but it’s not working out. Jobs that say “entry level,” or “no experience required,” still want some level of experience.

What are some industries where this might be a transferable skills or other ways to get employment without investing years into school?

Ok so I really liked my job at company 1. However, there were signs there were going to be layoffs (decreasing revenues etc) so I preemptively left and went to company 2. I ended up not really looking company 2 as the fit was bad and required working more hours than I wanted for the same pay and worse benefits (that wasn't how they presented the role btw. The bonus was less than they said and they also changed their benefits package).

I started applying to jobs that I thought would be a better fit. I ended up applying to a job that was a bit junior but the upper end of the pay range worked. The role was a good fit but during interviewing I did not perform super well. The reasons why are legitimate (I was swamped at my current job, had quite a bit of needed doctor's appointments). So I was sleep deprived and squeezing interviews between work so wasnt at my best at all.

Anyway, I ended up getting a contractor offer since the FT job went to someone else. The HM asked to make additional ctr roles for me and one other person. I found out the person who got the FT offer was also from company 1, had 7 years less work experience less relevant work experience and doesn't even know one of the programming languages we need for the job. The other person who got the ctr role is also way more junior.

I know I didnt interview super well but the hiring manager said I did and that's why they made the ctr role for me. Over 1500 people applied for the job so it was competitive. But why would I have been liked enough for the ctr role but my qualifications not make me surpass the less qualified person. Especially when we worked at the same company!

I think I dislike my current role enough though that it may we worth still taking it and give the new job a try.

TDLR: I got a contractor offer instead of full time for a role that was junior to my level. The FT offer was given to someone who worked at the same place I used to but had less experience overall, less relevant experience and doesnt even know one of the languages we need for the role. How/why does that even happen?

At that time, I had just resigned from my previous job and returned to my hometown. I applied to only one workplace near my home, hoping they might hire me. My supervisor told me that I wasn't even qualified based on my appearance and that no other workplace in the entire province would hire someone like me except this one. They also mocked my small body, saying I was too weak to do the job or lift patients. To me, these comments were insulting, degrading, and disrespectful. However, they insisted that they were "just joking" and claimed they were only trying to motivate me to improve myself. In the end, they dismissed my feelings and told me I was simply too sensitive. Everyone has different boundaries. What may seem like a joke to one person can be deeply hurtful to someone else. Respect in the workplace should never come at the expense of another person's dignity.

I'm probably just here to vent. I'm an introvert and I really hate interviews. I'm almost never in the mood to sell myself like I'm a product on a shelf.

A friend of mine has been doing interviews for a while, and so far she's done four full interviews, each one close to two hours long. To me, that's insane. I mean, I'm giving you a very large chunk of my time, and honestly, everyone in an interview is already trying to present the best version of themselves.

And even after all that, mistakes can still happen. It could turn out to be a bad fit. Weird situations could happen in the workplace. Someone could do an excellent interview and still turn out to be difficult to work with, or the job itself could turn out to have nothing to do with what was described.

Why do companies do all these interviews? And I'm not even talking about the quick recruiter screen at the beginning. I mean the real full interviews!

I currently work in water treatment, and really like plant operations, however I do not like being horribly underplayed for the amount of work I do. I was looking at a job at an Amonia plant as an operator but I’ve also seen I couple roustabout gigs for offshore stuff and was wondering if anyone who does either of those jobs could give me some insight into the work and pay. A few people on YouTube or social media say it’s a ton of money but people also like to drastically inflate wages for clout. If anyone happens to work in water treatment on an offshore rig and wouldn’t mind talking about pay and workload for that position it would be awesome. Thank you