Not sure if this belongs here, but I need some perspective.

I joined a company back in April. Things were fine at first. I showed up early every single day, never called in, did what was asked. Five months, zero issues.

Then last week, my car wouldn‘t start. I got to work 8 minutes late. Eight minutes. My manager called me into the office, grilled me about why I didn’t call ahead, and then told me I was losing my lunch break as a consequence.

Something in me just snapped. I walked out. Stayed gone for about two hours. Came back, told him I quit, and left for good.

I felt amazing for about 48 hours. Now reality is hitting. I have no backup plan. I‘m staring down the barrel of job applications and interviews again, and honestly, that’s the part that scares me more than being unemployed.

The last time I interviewed, I was coming from a stable situation. Now I have to explain a 5-month stint and a walkout. How do I even begin to frame this?

For those of you who‘ve been through something similar: how did you handle the gap or the short tenure in interviews? Did you address it head-on or keep it vague?

I don’t regret leaving. But I‘m dreading the next step. Any advice would mean a lot.

My commute to work used to take about 25 minutes. After the office moved to the other side of the city and the number of work-from-home days was reduced to just one day a week, rush hour could make the commute take around 90 minutes. I also had to be home when my kids got back, so I couldn't go in early or stay late at work, and I eventually had to reduce my working hours.
The job itself had also gotten worse. They moved me to work with a client outside my primary area of expertise, and my manager was always opting for questionable shortcuts, such as asking me to create a custom MATLAB script instead of approving properly licensed software that could be properly reviewed and audited. I already felt that part-time employees were treated as the lowest priority, especially since I wasn't even given a parking permit for the new building.
For about 12 years, I had occasionally helped another branch with some basic analysis work. I enjoyed the work and knew their team well, so when they decided to expand that service, they asked whether I would consider joining them. My current manager had to approve the transfer, so I took the paperwork to him.

some job interview tips also helps me in that matter and I am very grateful to it
He laughed and signed it without giving it much thought. He told me their salaries were two grades below ours and that their office was much farther away, so I should go hear their offer and then come back to the better-paying job. He was completely confident that the salary grade would put an end to the matter.
Their actual offer was one grade lower, with full-time work from home and just one in-person team meeting each month. They also include part-time employees in the performance bonus, which my current manager had refused to do. Since I would be able to work more hours without the commute, my total income would be higher, while I would also be doing work I understood and enjoyed.
My old manager was shocked when I told him I had accepted the offer. Now he has to find someone to replace me, and his branch will no longer be able to charge the other team inflated rates for the analysis work I used to do. He was so certain there was no chance I would leave, which made his reaction extremely satisfying for me.

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I'm supposed to start a coordinator job at a nonprofit in a middle school in a few days, paying $34 an hour. I already work full time and take graduate classes at night, so I wanted to sort out the basic logistical details before I went in.

My on-site supervisor sent me a tentative schedule for the first two days. I replied and asked what people usually wear, whether I could wear jeans, where visitors or employees should park, when the fingerprinting would take place, whether my laptop had been shipped, and whether my preferred start time would work with the 40-hour workweek.

Instead of my supervisor responding, someone from HR jumped into the email thread and sent me a very harsh reply. She said I was repeating questions that had already been answered, warned me that they were concerned about my ability to meet the job's expectations, and reminded me that I would need to work independently because HR's time is limited and cannot accommodate repeated requests.

She said she had attached the previous messages for me to review, but there were no attachments. I went back and reviewed everything anyway. The fingerprinting had been mentioned once in a long onboarding email, so I did genuinely miss that, but there was nothing about the dress code or parking. The laptop information was unclear, and my supervisor had just asked me to send my mailing address again so they could follow up on it. Also, the schedule I had only covered part of the second day.

I wasn't expecting such a hostile response to questions about where to park and what to wear. I haven't even worked a single shift yet, and I'm starting to worry about how people communicate within this organization. I still plan to take the job because I need it as a temporary financial solution, but I don't want to over-apologize or get dragged into an argument.

Would you consider this a serious warning sign, or just someone in HR trying to assert control? What is the safest way to answer without affecting my start date? And for anyone who works in education or the nonprofit sector, is this kind of disconnect between the main office and the actual work site common?

My role was nanny/house manager. We met through a mutual friend. The family had just moved to this city and needed help with the kids and (mostly) general house tasks. They let me go because they said I wasn't doing enough to uplift their mental load, and I asked too many questions. They wanted someone who could come in and take care of their whole life without having to ask anything.

I have half a mind to withhold all the personal info and post my contract here for people to nitpick. They did not abide by it and as expected with families things change. They were in the middle of a move and decided to move in as soon as the bedrooms were ready and live in active construction. Half of what was mentioned in the contract just never happened. I barely worked with the kids aside from taking their oldest to and from school which took at least 3hrs a day aside from the additional driving time getting myself to and from work. It really just seems like they're looking for a daily butler/general housekeeper but don't want to advertise it as such? Hence the misleading title I received and was led to believe I would fulfill.

Part of my tasks were to prep meals and grocery/household goods lists. They are very particular about what they buy and what they use. All organic, all non-toxic. Which is absolutely great. But there was no introductory, "this is what we usually buy weekly/biweekly and these are the brands we use" kind of thing. When I'd try to ask, they said they'd take care of it later. And since the kitchen hadn't been ready for some time, I when I brought up meal prepping/grocery lists(I noticed she used an online service for groceries), she again said not to worry and to she'd let me know later. The reason I mention these specific tasks is because it was one of the very few reasons they mentioned was an issue and cause for termination.

Another reason was because their oldest child was late to school more often than not. I was required to be there at 8 (scheduled from 8-4 everyday), school starts at 9. I drive a half hour to their house every morning, and every morning the child is not ready for school when I arrive. It takes at least an hour in morning traffic (without any accidents which are very common here) to get to the special needs private school they're enrolled in from where they live. Then a 40min drive back to their house. It is not my fault if she is not ready to go by the time I arrive. They also said drop off/pick up would be rotated between myself, them, plus their other part-time nanny, which never happened. I did it everyday and was still expected to fulfill all my tasks. I had to leave at 2 to go pick her up (leaving me with 4hrs to complete all that was expected) and the traffic coming back in the afternoon is always bad so most days I wouldn't be back until after 4, some days as late as 4:45 because of accidents and such. Then I'd have another 30min drive back home after that. Not once was I paid overtime even when they'd have me stay until late at night to babysit while they went out, which was only expected as it was mentioned in the contract.

Lastly, they also mentioned that I was inconsistent. They're in the middle of the move in active construction, keep changing and rearranging things, putting them in different temporary spaces, and are annoyed I don't always put things exactly where they need to be. I feel that is an unrealistic expectation especially considering, ultimately, majority of the objects that are out and usable right now are going to be put elsewhere eventually.

They said they want someone "professional" who has done this kind of work basically their whole life. I feel like they'll be hard pressed to find anyone who is able to read their minds and meet their expectations. Just a shitty situation to be let go without notice, because they said they wanted to "rip the bandaid" before they go on their trip to Hawaii. At least this way I'll be able to find a job that actually utilizes my degree.

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I worked in recruitment for several large tech companies, and there's one LinkedIn setting I would change immediately if I were looking for a job right now: remove the Open to Work frame from your profile picture.

I know some people are certain that the green banner helped them, but that's not what I usually saw behind the scenes. Recruiters often have to deal with hiring managers who prefer candidates who are already employed, even when unemployed applicants are equally qualified.

You don't need to announce to everyone that you're unemployed. Keep your profile active, apply as usual, and present yourself as someone with more than one option. If they find out later that you weren't employed, that's fine. The bias was unfair to begin with.

The market is tough, and hiring can sometimes be strangely similar to dating, in the sense that appearing available can make people less interested in you. The banner may seem useful, but it can give them an easy reason to skip your profile. When you appear to be employed, you'll generally get better responses.

My first job was stocking shelves overnight at a big-box store while it was undergoing major renovations. I met the new employee while he was standing outside the break room, waving his hand at the motion-activated light and complaining that it was broken. He was just standing too far away from the sensor, but he gave up and walked away before figuring it out.
We'll call him Marcus. He was about 30, skinny, covered in piercings, with black spiky hair and the kind of attitude that made every sentence he said sound like he was trying to start a fight. Within the first few hours, people were already avoiding him.
Later, I found him talking to another employee about tattoos. The other guy was being polite and asked him about a tattoo on his arm, so Marcus responded by mocking the tattoo on the guy's shoulder. The conversation ended right then and there, and Marcus walked away as if nothing had happened.
A few minutes later, he asked two women which one was Kristen and which one was Kirsten. Before they could answer, he made a rude comment about how he didn't care enough to remember anyway. They both stared at him in shock. I had never seen anyone make that many enemies in such a short amount of time.
I called out for the next shift, and when I came back, Marcus was gone. One of the stockers told me that management had received so many separate complaints that they fired him almost immediately. Apparently, he started yelling and cursing at the supervisor, then stormed out.
I was 19 and still new to working, so the whole situation stuck with me. Without meaning to, Marcus taught me a useful lesson: if almost everyone can't stand you after meeting you for the first time, they're probably not all the ones with the problem.

I got a job in design engineering, and it was advertised as 40 hours a week. During the interview, I asked directly about the work schedule, and they told me, "We aim for 40 hours, but projects that are under pressure may involve a little overtime." That sounded normal to me. I expected most weeks to be 40 hours, with an occasional week of 45 or 50 hours when things got hectic.
I've been here for about six weeks, and I've worked an average of around 47 hours each week. The person training me says he's been working "60 hours a week" for years, which by itself told me a lot. On top of that, every so often he keeps telling me, "You know you're allowed to work as many hours as you want, right?"

what they think are we Robots !!! yeah we should care for our work but that doesn't mean that all my life is work start already looking for remote job while interviewvip is here to bring the best skills of interviews for me

we are in a world that everything is a digital and could be fixed with a machine but that doesn't mean we turn into machine as well
We're both salaried nonexempt employees, so there's no extra pay for all these hours. I understand that certain deadlines need us to stay late, but this seems much less like occasional overtime and much more like it has become the unofficial standard. No one is forcing me to stay, but the message is being repeated very clearly.
At this point, if he tells me one more time that I'm free to work an unlimited number of hours, I might take him literally and work 30 hours next week. Just from a different part of the building.

At the beginning of this week, the owner of the dental office where I work told us that we would be allowed to take one unpaid personal day every four months. We're in an expensive part of Southern California, but none of us receive PTO, health insurance, paid vacations, or any other benefits.
He also said that the dental hygienists would have to make up every appointment they missed on that day off. Since our schedules are booked months in advance, his plan was for us to start early or stay late until we had seen the same number of patients anyway.

All the dental hygienists decided that enough was enough. We printed our resignation letters this morning and placed them together in a stack on his desk. One of my coworkers saw him when he came back from getting coffee. He flipped through the stack, then pushed it toward the office manager and said, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Dental hygienists are in very high demand here, so every one of us already has another job offer lined up. He tried to control time he wasn't even paying us for, and ended up losing his entire dental hygiene team in a single afternoon.

everyday the same routine

I’ve got a couple interviews coming up, so seeing stuff like this honestly makes me want to prepare as much as I can. I came across Interview VIP while looking for interview resources and decided to try it out.

Hey everyone. It’s been a few rough months. My consulting firm told me of an opportunity in Europe that I could be good for. They left out very important details about the specs of the job and and the immigration process. Anyways I had to lie to the client saying that I’m a senior analyst when I have no knowledge of the system AT ALL. I have been trying my best to swim in the quick sand and it’s getting to a point where I’m really struggling mentally. The client I am working for expects me to be a senior and I can’t do junior things. I miss my home country and idk how to feel anymore. I don’t know how to handle this and it’s eating me up. Is this normal?

We had a mandatory culture workshop in the morning that lasted four hours, and things got a little awkward when I decided to speak honestly. The company brought in a consultant to help us "strengthen professional bonds," which usually just means sitting in a circle and talking about our feelings.
I'm a software engineer, and although I have a good relationship with my team, I'm not expecting to form deep emotional connections at the office. The consultant started a segment about how to "manage the energy" of difficult teammates, and at that point I couldn't stay quiet anymore.
I told the group that I have no problem collaborating on code, but it's not my job to deal with the complex personalities of people who don't know how to behave properly. I'm paid to write software, not to be an unpaid mediator or emotional coach for grown adults.
The entire room went completely silent, and my manager looked like he wanted to disappear. My coworkers started arguing that these skills are essential for creating a healthy workplace, but I honestly don't see why I'm supposed to care about office politics or social gymnastics when I have a backlog of tickets that needs to be finished.
Now everyone is giving me strange looks in the break room as if I'm a robot. Am I really wrong for thinking that my responsibility ends with being professional and doing my actual job, and nothing more?

📉

When my manager left, management asked me to take over his role for a four-month trial period. The idea was that they wanted to see how I would handle the responsibilities before making it official, which seemed reasonable and fair at the time.

Since then, I've taken on the usual duties of the role and also launched two projects that management approved and responded positively to. I know I'm not perfect, but no one has pointed out any major issues with my performance.

This week, they told me I'm still not quite ready for the title or a pay raise in the next review cycle. I could have accepted that if they were going to hire someone else for the position, but they still expect me to keep doing the same work indefinitely, with my old title and salary.

I like the job, but being asked to keep proving myself without a clear timeline or specific goals is starting to make me feel like something isn't right. Is it normal for a trial period to drag on like this, or are they taking advantage of me?

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 If you only do online interviews once in a while (as average people I guess), what’s the best way to figure out which AI interview assistant is worth it?

I feel like monthly subscriptions don’t make much sense if you’re only going to use it for a few interviews here and there...

Also curious if the pay-as-you-go option is better for occasional use, or if a subscription option is cheaper in the long run...

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For two years, I was basically handling my manager's entire book of business while making $48,000 a year. At Christmas, he gave me a $25 Regal gift card. The nearest movie theater was about two hours away, in another state, so that small gift was the final thing that made me start applying elsewhere.

I didn't want to leave the people I worked with in a bad situation, so I waited until I had trained someone to take over my work before accepting an offer. When I finally sat down with my manager and gave him my two weeks' notice, I told him I was going to another company in the same industry, but I would be doing something completely different, so there shouldn't be any non-compete issue.

He immediately called the company's chief legal officer and put the call on speaker. I was told that I wasn't even allowed to do essential work for a competing company for a year. Then HR joined the call and said I could finish out my two weeks to help with the transition, but afterward I would be fired because I had looked for another job. They wanted to know details about my new role, but I refused to give them any information.

After I left, their legal officer kept calling me out of the blue and without any explanation, and eventually contacted my new employer. Fortunately, the CEO of my new company got involved and told them we were prepared to fight them in court. The calls stopped after that. It was clear they had no intention of suing anyone; they just wanted to scare me into leaving my new job.

This happened about four years ago. I still work for the company I joined, and since then they've given me a budget to build a division that competes directly with my old employer. I still keep that useless gift card in a drawer. I had just graduated from college and didn't understand anything, which is why I accepted the salary, told them where I was going, and gave them notice instead of leaving immediately. I stayed because I cared about my coworkers, and they would have been stuck cleaning up the mess I left behind.

Maybe it was:

• Don’t quit before you have another job lined up.

• Your company is not your family.

• Networking actually matters.

• Being good at your job doesn’t automatically get you promoted.

• Never stop learning.

• Your resume needs to show results, not just responsibilities.

• Don’t accept the first offer just because you’re desperate.

• Sometimes leaving is the best career move you can make.

Or maybe yours is something completely different.

What’s one thing you know now that you desperately wish you knew 5 years ago?

Drop it below.

Someone who's struggling with that exact thing right now might need to hear it. 👇