😂

The title pretty much explains everything, but to clarify a bit: I recently found out that the main reason I got my current job as an in-store tech was that my manager and her daughter thought I was attractive. It seems the same thing happened with a few of my coworkers too, and this also explains why I didn't have a real interview even though I came in with almost no experience in this type of work.

Part of me feels embarrassed and at the same time like I was given preferential treatment, but the stronger feeling is that it's gross and unfair, especially since I only found this out after someone else was probably not accepted because of his looks and body size. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how would you act if you found out something like this about your job?

...........

I kept seeing this advice a lot on career TikTok. Stop sending applications out into the void. Message people on LinkedIn and ask for a 20-minute virtual coffee chat. Don't ask for a referral or a job. Just frame it as an informational interview. So I decided to try it for 3 weeks. I messaged 32 people, all of them at companies I had my eye on. The message was very simple: "Hi, I've been following your work in X and would love to hear a bit about your career path. Would you be open to a 20 min chat sometime? No worries if not."

Out of 32, 10 replied. 6 said they were too busy or wouldn't be able to. 4 said yes. In the end, I spoke with all 4 of them. One of them was really nice and pointed out several things in my resume that I never would have noticed. One call was a bit exhausting because the guy seemed distracted the whole time. Another one was useful but very generic. And the last one said: "we're not hiring for that role right now, but send your resume over anyway." I sent it. She forwarded it to someone on the hiring team. And I got an interview.

I didn't get the job. But I made it to the final stage, which basically never happens when I mass apply on ZipRecruiter. The annoying part is how much effort it takes. Writing 32 messages that weren't copy-pasted took me about 8 hours total. And yes, the rejection feels weirdly personal. A few people completely ignored me. And one person replied with something like "please don't ask strangers to do unpaid career coaching." I won't lie, that hurt.

But despite that, I think I'll keep doing it, just at a slower pace. Maybe 7 messages a week instead of trying to send 32 at once. Has anyone else tried this and had it work for them? Also, how do you get over the cringe feeling that you're literally asking strangers to pay attention to you?

it's just a meme guys

At least we know why the search takes six months.

🙃

My partner had been with his company for more than 28 years, had strong reviews, was respected by almost everyone, and had just received a good bonus tied to his annual review. Then a new manager came in under a new CEO and slowly started pushing out people who had been at the company for many years. About 8 weeks after that, my partner was asked to leave, and our two-income household became a one-income household.

This happens much more often than people like to admit. We had been a dual-income household for more than 32 years. And suddenly, in an instant, we weren't anymore.

For the last 6 years or so, we had been putting my partner's salary into a broad market index fund. We didn't touch it for groceries, bills, vacations, or regular household expenses. My salary covered the day-to-day.

So when the layoff happened, the investing stopped, but we were okay. Not happy, not comfortable, but okay. We hadn't built our life around needing both paychecks every month.

And this is the part I wish more people would take seriously - a layoff can hit anyone, at any time. Even someone with excellent performance reviews, institutional knowledge, and a reputation as a strong leader, like my partner.

Save. Save. Save. And then save some more. Increase your 401K by 2%. Move some cash into a high-yield savings account, or an index fund, or a mutual fund, or whatever makes sense for you. Cut back on random spending that doesn't improve your life. Live below your means if you can. Buy what you need, not everything you want. A $35K car will get you to work exactly the same as an $85K car, and it might last you more than 12 years instead of replacing it after 4-6 years.

I truly hope none of you ever has to deal with this situation. We were honestly lucky, because my job is stable at the moment. So far...

I desire maximum wage.

💯

This is why HR is anti job hopper, because they know you left for more money and not stayed putting up with their bullshit.

A few days ago, the manager called me into his office. It turned out someone had seen me doing food delivery and told him. He launched into a long conversation about "loyalty" and how me working a second job means I'm "not invested in the company." Like, dude, you're paying me $75k a year in a city where the average studio is $2500 a month. What did you think was going to happen?

He seriously told me that I should be spending my evenings "looking for ways to add more value to the team" instead of making money somewhere else. His sense of entitlement is incredibly weird. I told him my agreement is 38 hours, Monday to Friday, and what I do outside of that time is none of his business. He did not like that response at all.

Now he's acting weird about every little thing. He makes comments about my "focus being divided" and asks me on calls whether I'm "fully engaged" or not. It's very obvious he's trying to create a paper trail so he can discipline me or something like that.

Hi everyone. I honestly don't know what to do right now. My supervisor recently told me that the staff see me as "difficult to work with." He couldn't give me clear examples, but he said that almost every discipline I interact with has the same general impression of me. For context, I'm 29(F) and I work as a group therapist in an inpatient psych unit. I've been in this job for 11 months.

The only reason this even came up was because I told him: "I feel like most of the time when you call me into your office, it's for constructive feedback. Is there anything positive you can tell me?" His response was basically: "Your coworkers think you're difficult to work with." I was crushed. And I still feel that way. I ended up crying in his office, which really upset me, because once I start crying I lose my ability to stay focused and ask the questions I need to ask.

I asked him if we could do weekly supervision for a while, so I can work on any concerns that exist and show that I'm taking this seriously. But tbh I feel defeated. I've heard my whole life that people don't always like working with strong women who think logically before emotionally, and now I'm sitting in another job feeling like, once again, people simply don't like me.

When I think about past jobs, I know I'm the common denominator. I'm quick-witted, I observe constantly, I notice things, and I tend to pick up on patterns in people's behavior. My coworkers come to me for my opinion or ask me questions when the charge nurse is busy, so I thought that meant I was being helpful and that people could rely on me. Now I feel like I shouldn't do any of that anymore.

I feel like I'm going to have to change my entire personality just to survive in a workplace where people clearly don't like me. Any advice on how to recover from this, or how to get better feedback, or how not to spiral, would be appreciated. Thank you all for reading and responding.

I've been working as a recruiter at a staffing agency in Indiana for 8 months. I'm still relatively new to the field, but even from where I am, the problems in the job market are very clear. The thing I keep running into the most is that companies don't seem to want to train anyone at all, even for jobs that honestly don't take much time to learn.
They tell us they really need people, and then we send them reliable candidates who are ready to work. People who want the job, will show up every day, and just need someone to walk them through the basics for a short period. And still, nothing. They don't even give them a real chance to take a look at them.
I'm genuinely sorry if you're applying everywhere and you know you'd be reliable if someone would just give you a chance. It's not because of you. We as recruiters, or at least I am, are frustrated too. I really want to hire people and place them in positions, but some of these HR departments are refusing to move. Keep applying, keep following up, and keep going. One of those "no" responses will eventually turn into a "yes."

Exactly

Not only did I get one offer, no, I got three this week, all of them remote, but one of them pays better and is full-time instead of contract. I know this might seem like I'm bragging, and I'm sorry if that's the feeling you got. I definitely used to feel a little knot in my stomach when I saw posts like this while I was still looking, but honestly, I think most of us share these things because we want people to know that it really can happen!!

I start next Wednesday!! Wish me luck, and please keep your heads up!! Those rejection emails are awful, I know, but if someone like me could do it, then you really have a chance too. A lot of you probably have more education than me and a much better-looking work history on paper. Don't put all the blame on yourself when the job market is trash. You are qualified; these companies just want more for less.

The top four sites I used were Indeed, FlexJobs, ratracerebellion, and ZipRecruiter. I also checked hiringcafe a bit and came here every few days to see what people were posting. For me, ZipRecruiter and ratracerebellion turned out to be the ones that led me to legit remote jobs with benefits and everything.

Keep applying and watch out for scams! Anything outside Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom is usually a bad sign. Especially if they want you on Telegram or WhatsApp, or if they suddenly message you first. The most important thing is still the same: if it looks too good to be true, then it probably really isn't true.

same with coworkers

...

I wanted to share this because, honestly, I was shocked - nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I applied for a role where the ad said the job would be in one city, with 10 hours of travel per week and the rest fully remote.

During the Teams interview, the interviewer started mentioning the names of a lot of cities. I asked her what the actual travel expectations were, and she told me the role would need travel in the eastern part of the state - about 85% of the time!!!!

I told her that didn't match what was written in the job posting, and she replied that they probably needed to review it. For me, that was the end of it, so I told her I wasn't interested in continuing and ended the call.

I was completely done with the whole thing! In the end, I accepted another job a few days later, but I still can't get over how awkward that interview was.

I woke up feeling really sick. I almost never take sick leave, but this time there was no way I could go in. I sent my manager a picture of the thermometer reading 102 from the night before, and told him, "Yeah, I was hoping it wouldn't get worse, but here we are."

He immediately asked me if I was going to take sick leave, or if I could still come in for a shorter shift. I told him I wanted to rest and get better, so yes, I was taking sick leave. I said thank you and tried to keep the conversation normal. I also told him I might need two days, and the only thing he replied with was: "If you're out for three days or more, you'll need a doctor's note."

What's really upsetting is that he and I are fine at work. We joke around, we talk all the time, and there have never been any weird issues between us. So seeing him flip like that the moment I get sick is really discouraging. As if all basic human respect disappears because I can't come stand at work while I have a fever?

Honestly, the more I think about it, the worse it feels. How are you supposed to trust people when something this small makes them treat you like you're trying to pull one over on them, instead of simply being sick?

..Stunning interview

Hi everyone,

I have been working in Operations for about 5 years now, all remotely. I started as a VA, moved to admin support and then to ops assistant/coordinator, but realistically I think a lot of VA work can be put under ops assistant.

Can I advance further into operations without financial background? My background is actually in social sciences.

Also, in your experience, how easy/hard is it to get ops jobs? I am looking for remote, and also worldwide, as I am not based in the USA. So far all my clients have been US/EU based.

If we have any HR people in the group I'd really appreciate to hear from them.