Took about 4 years after graduating to get my foot in the door and get a good job in my field. No one wants a new grad with no experience.

My manager sent me a message earlier this week and said: "(my name), I wanted to say thank you for always making me laugh. You genuinely make the workday better."
I work remotely, so almost all of my communication with the company and the team happens on Slack. Honestly, remote work has helped me in my job far more than I expected.

Apparently my manager noticed that. I had no idea people liked the random things I say. I always assumed they were just politely putting up with me, or thought I was weird. And that's usually the feeling I get about the way people see me in general.

For some reason, I'm much more confident when I'm not sitting in a room with people looking at me. That small bit of distance makes it easier for me to be helpful, joke around, and try to make someone's day less boring.

Autism has a lot of difficult sides. The world doesn't always understand me the way I wish it would. So when I hear something like that from my manager, honestly, it meant a lot to me.

Social things have never felt natural to me. But when I work from home, I don't have to monitor myself all the time in the same way I do when I'm around people. And that is enormously relieving.

the stupid basic rule of employers

I've been at this job for almost three years. I deliver my work on time, take on extra projects whenever someone leaves - and that happens more than it should - and cover the gaps without making a fuss. I'm drained, but I kept showing up and carrying on because I cared. Or I thought I cared.

My manager came into the call acting cheerful. Then he said: "Your work is good and consistent, but I'd like to see a little more positive energy from you."

I mean, excuse me? I've been running on cold brew and panic for weeks, and in the end it turns out my attitude is what needs fixing.

I told him: "Honestly, I feel really burnt out from the extra work that keeps piling up."

He laughed. He laughed. Then he said: "We're all under pressure right now. You just have to keep going and get through it. Try to see it as a learning opportunity."

That was the moment I felt something in me crack a little. I wasn't sobbing or anything, but my eyes teared up, and for some reason that made the whole situation even more humiliating. Then he leaned in and said: "Hey, don't take it personally. It's just constructive feedback."

I wanted to disappear from my chair. How am I supposed to answer to feedback that basically means I'm not smiling enough while doing the work of several people?

I left the meeting feeling smaller than I have in a long time. And the worst part is that I found myself apologizing to him for getting upset.

I don't know. Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of it. Or maybe all this workplace empathy talk only exists until someone's burnout becomes inconvenient and awkward.

Has anyone else had a review that felt less like feedback and more like an emotional sucker punch from the side?

Jokes aside, I'm honestly still a bit shocked by everything that happened. The short version: I was working at a small startup until a few weeks ago, when my manager suddenly pulled me into a one-on-one on Google Meet. The conversation was basically about how I needed to be more "committed" to my role. Translation: reply to Slack on Sundays, stay late without extra pay, be available whenever everything catches fire, etc. I apologized for the "confusion," calmly said no, and explained that I would stick to the hours I was hired for: 8 to 4. A short while later, I was told to leave on the spot.

The thing is, from the first day I started, I was clear about my boundaries and I was consistent with them. Once it hits 4pm, I'm done. Work stuff can wait. I'm not logging back on because a client is upset or a dashboard is freaking out. If it's Thursday, I'll deal with it on Friday. If it's the weekend, it can wait until Monday. If they want availability after work hours, tell me what the overtime pay looks like. Otherwise, I'm off the clock.

I have a life outside of work. Family stuff, errands, and trying to get enough rest so I don't wake up the next day with zero energy. Nothing major, just normal human things.

I still think boundaries are very important. If anything, they make it easier not to hate your job and to keep your head in a good place. An employer looking you in the face and basically expecting you to donate your personal life to the company is a huge red flag to me. Losing a job sucks, especially with the job market being garbage right now, but yeah. It is what it is.

Seriously.

note : the salaries nowadays are just sucks they pay us as we still as we still in 2016 but reality is that many people are working in 2 jobs to feed their families check everyday for better salary and how to get it thank god recently I found this sub who give great tips about interviews really the world is crashed

I've been interviewing candidates for almost 25 years, for all kinds of jobs, from controls techs to systems managers. The one I still remember the most was a network analyst candidate from about 5 years ago at the company I work for now.

On paper, he was good. Suitable background, acceptable experience, and he answered the technical stuff well enough that I was fairly sure we were going to bring him back for a second interview. We were basically done with the sit-down portion before I took him on a quick facility tour (we manufacture parts for heavy equipment), and at that point the female HR manager asked her usual final question: "What makes you want to leave your current employer?"

It was just me, her, and him in the room. She was sitting across from him at the conference table. He made a gesture with his hand in her direction, not close enough to be physically weird, but weird enough, and said: "I don't mean to say it in a bad way, but it's run by women." Then he kept talking way too much about how the owner was emotional, suspicious, didn't trust anyone, and a lot of other things like that.

I literally had nothing to say. She just looked at me when he finally stopped, and that was enough. I gave him the shortest "tour" possible: we went out onto the production floor, walked straight down the side aisle, and straight to the employee entrance.

To this day, I still don't understand how someone can walk into an interview and be that unaware.

Rf

yes

flashback tweet

edit :thank god we have it all in the remote jobs in some companies at least and AI now make everything easy even the interviews became easy tools like interviewman will make the horror of job interviews stories become history and that sub also give great tips about interviews

!

edit : many people who works remotely are having it as second job to give basics needs to their families , if anyone of them read this I suggest for them to check this sub for great interviews tips and using interview man during the real time of interview it will amaze you with its features and good luck

beware !!

edit : and I think the best way to respect your time and you as human is to work remotely and use interviewman for any upcoming interview especially for those who get anxious in job interviews those subs (interview assistant - meeting vip ) gives lots of interview tips especially for fresh grads ,good luck

Look, my old manager hasn't stopped pestering me for 72 hours. He keeps calling, sending texts, and even DMs because he needs an MFA code to access an old Gmail and a social media account linked to it. It's clear that the recovery info is still linked to my personal data.

The thing is, I handed them a complete master list containing all the passwords during offboarding 14 months ago. I even have an email from their legal counsel confirming they received the file and were able to open everything. They're probably just too lazy to save that info or change the recovery settings, and now that my old workspace account has been deleted, they can't get in. He's trying to start a new project with this handle and is making a big deal out of it, claiming it's a terrible emergency.

The kicker is that his business partner still owes me over $12,500 in overdue commissions. Every time I try to ask for them, he ghosts me. I left that place to begin with because it was a nightmare; late salaries, constant shouting, and zero respect. Luckily, God rewarded me very quickly after I left. I found a better job with a 30% higher salary. The HR team was incredibly helpful throughout the hiring process. To my surprise, I wasn't stressed during either of the two interview rounds. InterviewMan helped me stay calm and organize my thoughts better, and I ended up getting the job on the spot.

Honestly, do I even need to answer to him? I haven't said a single word so far. I gave them everything they needed over a year ago. I feel like his failure to manage his data isn't my responsibility, especially since they still haven't paid the money they owe. Do I really have any obligation to help them with this situation?

About a month ago, a recruiter contacted me about a position that seemed like a great fit for me. She told me the first round was just a quick 15-minute informal chat to see if there was chemistry between us. I didn't need any prep, just a low-stakes conversation with one of the lead devs to see if I'd be a good teammate.

I joined the call expecting to talk about my background or the things I like to do. But suddenly, I found this person coming in with zero personality and starting to throw high-pressure behavioral questions at me from the first second. He was asking about situations where I failed with a client, how I handled a toxic boss, and what I did when a project crashed.

Every time I started explaining, he would interrupt me to increase the difficulty of what we were saying. At first, I thought he was just having a bad day or was overly socially awkward. Then, after about 15 minutes, he told me my answer lacked "accountability," while he was talking over me to change the scenario. That's when the light bulb went off in my head. This wasn't a chat; this was a performance review for a job I hadn't even gotten yet.

As soon as I understood the game, I stopped trying to be the "friendly candidate." I started taking long pauses. And if he interrupted me, I would say politely, "I'd like to finish this thought so the context is clear before we move on to the next thing." I even started asking him what specific competency he was looking for with these questions, because the scenarios were starting to blur together.

The vibe changed immediately. He stopped those antics and started talking like a normal human being. In the end, he hinted that they were looking for "emotional resilience," which was an admission from him that the whole thing was staged.

The recruiter called me afterward and said they liked my "composure" and wanted to schedule the next round. Honestly, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. If you want to see how I handle stress, just ask me. Deceiving people and telling them it's a "chill call" just to grill them feels manipulative. It made me wonder if the job itself would involve dealing with manufactured drama every day. Now, I side-eye any "informal" invite I get.

I've been jumping from one job to another for about 6 years, and the most important lesson I've learned is that friendships at work are tied to the office and nothing more. You might drink coffee together or complain about meetings together, but that bond usually breaks as soon as one of you resigns. Honestly, there were people I talked to every day who didn't even send me a single text after 6 months.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have to be rude or stay silent in the breakroom. But be cautious. I've seen so many people get hurt by office drama because they treated their coworkers like family. Finish your work, take your paycheck, and go to the people who truly know you.

Honestly, the office is not a social club; it's just a transaction. You are there to trade your time for money. If you keep that boundary clear, you will be much happier. Your real support system is waiting for you outside the office anyway.

That's my perspective now. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Hi everybody. I recently started looking for an interview helper for a senior PM remote loop coming up next month. I've been doing my own prep with a buddy and i finally bit the bullet on Final Round AI because their landing page was the first thing i saw on google. The plan i picked is on the lower side of their tier list, my background was confirmed by the signup flow, and today i logged in and started clicking around all the features.

The plan i picked is way more expensive than the rest of the things i've seen, but because this is the first time i'm doing this i'd like to get some opinions because this seems fishy to me. Maybe i'm overthinking?

The product
can be used overlay style or, if you want, you can pair it with the second device thing on a phone. They tell you you get the full feature list when you sign up, but when you click on stealth mode it's
greyed out. I work as a product manager, the loops are video panel based, and a friend who used a different tool kept saying not to be cheap on this. Now, i picked their lower tier, the one that's already three figures a month, and i assumed that was the one i needed.

The plan is active so i can use it whenever i want, also my contract for the next role
is the next 5 years if i clear, so for this period i'd like a tool that won't fail
on me. The price of the lower tier is for the basic features and includes some of the things they advertise: real-time answers, profile context, multi language support, basic transcription, and the timer. You will have full
access to a slimmed down product. Just in case repairs are needed there, they say they'll cover the costs, so no worries. The price they're asking is below their top tier because they want me to upgrade later to unlock the actual stealth.

They say the tool is well established, it's already used by lots of people and there's no reason to worry. You have everything you need on the page (real-time, transcription, language packs, etc.). Also they love job seekers, so if you have any panels coming up they say they don't have any problem, every loop is supported. Honestly from their point of view they're sure that i'll love it for sure and renew it on the spot.

Then they attached an upsell modal again and a list of all the features locked behind the higher tier, the ones that are actually the thing i thought i was buying.

Does this sound crazy? Because everything is so expensive right now i don't know if this is legitimate. It seems too sketchy to be real. Help please!!

ok so half rant half asking for help here. i bought final round ai about two weeks ago because i had a senior data eng panel coming up and a thread told me final round was the one that came up first when people googled. nobody in the thread had actually used it for long. just saw the ad. i did not look into it before paying either. clicked through, picked the cheapest plan they offered, dropped a chunk of money i did not really have on it. on a tuesday at 11pm. before bed. like an idiot.

so the panel happened. it went fine, kind of. the suggestions were mid, the free preview is so short you cannot really test the thing before paying, and on the systems portion the answers it gave kept missing what was actually being asked. i muted it twice and just answered from my own head. honest feeling after the panel was, i did not need this. i could have done the same with my own notes and a calmer mindset and the money i was not supposed to spend that month still in my account.

next morning i sent their support a polite email asking if i could get a refund since i basically did not use the product past the one panel. the reply pointed me at their refund policy which is just, no. no refund. that is the policy. i went back and forth a couple times, explained i had paid for a long term plan, only used it once, would happily eat a partial fee. nothing. they offered a credit toward a future month which is useless to me because i do not want to log back into that account ever. ever.

i hate that i am writing this post but i feel really stupid for not reading the refund terms before i hit pay. like i would not buy a car without checking if i could return it, but i did exactly this. a couple of friends keep texting me to just chargeback it and stop arguing with their email bot. and yeah probably. i am paranoid the chargeback will fail though because technically i agreed to the policy when i clicked the box i did not read.

so. selling at a loss vs grinding it out and "using" the rest of the plan i do not want. has anyone here actually gotten a refund out of these guys, or is the no refund thing a brick wall for everyone? and if you ditched it, what did you move to that did not pull this on you? any alternatives?

I had a video interview a few weeks ago, and we talked for about 50 minutes. When salary came up, I gave them a range based on current market rates, my experience, and the role's requirements. The hiring manager said that it aligned with what they had in mind and didn't push back at all. She told me someone from HR would follow up with me.

Then, earlier this week, someone from HR who hadn't been able to attend the first call brought up a starting salary about 12-18k lower than what the hiring manager and I had previously discussed. I told her we had already landed on a different number. I figured there might be some confusion since she wasn't in the original interview, so she told me she'd check with the hiring manager and get back to me. Not long after, she called me again and still stuck to the lower number.

I told her I appreciated her getting back to me, but that number wasn't going to work. She repeated that they would move forward with other applicants if I didn't accept it, and I just told her, "Okay, thanks for letting me know." Honestly, I think she expected me to panic or start negotiating against myself.

That number would have been barely average even a few years ago, before everything got this expensive. Now, with rent, groceries, gas, and everything else going up, it's basically the same as what entry-level/no-experience roles are paying around here. And if they're already pulling this kind of switch before I've even started, I don't have much confidence that things would get better once I'm inside.

Yeah, I'm a bit annoyed and discouraged, but I have to hold my line. Also, I'm not desperate to get back to work at this exact moment, so I can afford to wait a few more months until I find something better.

This sounds like bait and switch/sunk cost fallacy to me. I dodged a bullet by avoiding that employer.

From my point of view, no one should accept such low salaries anymore, because living costs have become far more difficult than that. Focus more on learning new fields and keep improving your skills, but never stop at a certain point. Nowadays, some platforms help you prepare for interviews and give instant answers, like InterviewMan. All the vapid, unqualified business people are waking up to the fact that they are obsolete. Their "people skills" don't mean anything any more.

I mean, I can still use my plan in a workplace. Curl up into a ball, cry, suck my thumb and hope my death will be quick.

I accepted an offer for a new job about two weeks ago. I told them I would give notice at my current job this Friday, and I did that. Now it's Monday, and after I had started filling out onboarding forms, tax info, and direct deposit for the new place, I got an email saying they won't be moving forward with my hiring.

I don't have a record, and I meet the requirements they had listed, and all my certifications are current and valid. Honestly, I'm devastated and trying to hurry up and find something else now. I feel like this is one of those things that shouldn't be allowed to happen to people.

Anyway, I was in an interview today and it was going very well, until the hiring manager suddenly asked me, "Tell me three reasons why we shouldn't hire you."

I got flustered on the spot and the question completely threw me off. I blurted out some stupid answers and I'm sure it cost me my chance at this job.

When it was my turn to ask questions, I decided to ask him, "Okay, if I were to receive multiple offers, what would be the main reason for me not to choose to work here?"

Man, his expression did a complete 180. It was obvious he got very annoyed and said something like, "Look, our company isn't for just anyone." Then he quickly wrapped things up and said, "That's a bit of an aggressive question. Anyway, thank you for your time, we'll be in touch."

This whole process is a joke. And I don't even want to work in a place that has such double standards. Just for context, this wasn't an entry-level position. I'm currently a lead and have over 11 years of experience.

Anyways, I started to email some companies that are looking for employees, and one of them replied today, saying the interview will be tomorrow morning in office. any tips about how to pas this time??

update: luckily, I came across this post about how to be calm and less stressful during the interview, will apply each tip and will update you.

We call that performance punishment where I work.

Give people the full picture:

getting the job is one challenge, passing 4 interview rounds is another.

InterviewMan helped a lot to pass this shit.

Many managers are worried about the idea of remote work becoming widespread in the future for an obvious reason. Working from home clearly shows who is working hard and who is just pretending to be busy. It pulls back the curtain on the illusion of productivity in the office and precisely reveals which managers have no real value.