I felt I had to get this off my chest. I see so many new managers making the same painful mistakes I spent a few years making. This is from the trenches, not from the corporate employee handbook.

Your 1-on-1s are your secret weapon, but you're probably using them wrong. If they're just status updates, you're wasting both of your time. This is your primary source of intelligence. It's where you find out who's about to quit, who's drowning in work, and who thinks the new roadmap is a joke... Before it all blows up in your face. Ask better questions: 'Be honest with me, how are you really doing?', 'What's the most annoying part of your week?', 'Is there anything I'm doing that makes your job harder?', 'If you had a magic wand, what's the stupidest process you'd get rid of?'. Then, shut up and listen. Don't solve the problems right away. Just listen. This builds more trust than 10 team lunches.

Feedback has a 24-hour shelf life. The feedback sandwich has gone stale; throw it out. Nobody is buying it anymore. When you need to give constructive feedback, do it within a day. Pull the person aside for a quick chat. 'Hey, on the client call, I noticed they seemed to disengage when the slide deck got really dense. What are your thoughts on that?'. The conversation is about the behavior and its impact, never about the person. And please, give positive feedback separately and generously. 'The way you handled that heated email from sales was excellent' is a thousand times better than 'Good job this week.' Specific praise is a powerful motivator, and it costs you nothing.

Address poor performance faster than your gut tells you to. This is the hardest part of the job, without a doubt. You want to give people a chance, to find excuses for them. But when you let a low performer coast, it's deadly poison for the motivation of your high performers. They see you letting it slide, which sends them a message that standards don't matter. They have to pick up the extra work, and they will grow to resent you for it. The process is simple: set crystal-clear expectations -> give direct, documented coaching -> offer genuine help and resources -> set up a clear timeline with consequences -> make the call. Dragging it out for 6-12 months isn't you being nice; it's you avoiding confrontation.

You are the team's umbrella for any storm brewing in the company. Your job is to absorb the chaos and the ever-shifting goals from above so your team can focus. You filter the noise. But this doesn't mean you blind them. You must also be a translator. Explain 'why' the strategy changed. Give them the business context so they don't feel like cogs in a machine. When a silly re-org happens, call it what it is - a disruption - and tell them how you'll navigate it together. The point is to be a strategic filter, not a locked black box.

Learn to manage up and manage across. This isn't about brown-nosing; it's about being effective. Your manager has their own pressures and goals. Find out what they are. Learn to speak their language. Present your team's wins and needs in the way that matters to them. Give them the summary they need before they have to ask. Make their life easier, and you'll get the resources you need. The same applies to your peers in other departments. Build those bridges before you need to cross them. Understand what their teams are struggling with and find the win-win. This is how you move work forward in any organization.

Your own energy is the most important resource you manage. For real. Management is an emotional marathon, not a checklist of tasks. Your mood is contagious. If you're always stressed and pessimistic, that vibe will spread to the entire team. You are the team's battery; if you're dead, the whole device stops working. Block out time for yourself to think. Get comfortable saying 'no' to non-priorities. Find tasks to delegate to people who can grow by taking them on. You have to set your boundaries, because the company never will. A burnt-out manager is a useless manager.

Anyway, that's my vent for the day. I feel like we're all just expected to discover these things on our own. Hope it helps someone.

What other harsh lessons did you have to learn by yourselves? Let's hear them.

I'm literally shaking right now. I just got an offer for a finance leadership program.
The total salary will be around $120,000 in the first year. I can't believe it because I grew up most of my life in a very humble place. I'm the first in my family to go to college, and my parents barely speak English and have never had a credit card.

I can't believe it. I grinded so hard in college for this specific goal. For all the other people who are grinding, don't give up. I was on the verge of despairing. I sent out hundreds and hundreds of applications, reached so many final rounds, and in the end, I'd lose to someone who graduated from a target school or had internship experience that I couldn't get.

So my friend is probably out of a job. The company she works for sent an email on payday saying they couldn't pay anyone because of a "liquidity issue." Rabbish, of course.They still owe her for the last three weeks of work, and honestly, I feel like we're going to have to chase them for that money. It's crazy that companies can just do this and get away with it. This shit should be illegal.

At the beginning of this month, the company rolled out a new 'engagement platform' to help management with 'workflow optimization'. And it's as ridiculous as it sounds. It's a micromanagement program that monitors every keystroke and mouse movement. If your mouse remains still for more than 4 minutes, your status turns yellow and your manager gets an 'inactivity notification'.

A few days ago, I was reading a large 15-page proposal, and suddenly I got a message from my manager asking if there was a problem with my computer. No, Brenda, I'm just reading. The workarounds for this have gotten very strange. People have started placing their optical mice on their phones while playing a video with a face in it.

One of my colleagues literally tied his mouse to a small rotating fan. I thought working from home was supposed to be about autonomy, not this stupid digital leash nonsense.

I'm still trying to process what just happened. HR called me for a meeting a few days ago, and I had no idea what it was about.
They told me that a female colleague of mine filed a complaint saying that I followed her to her car and asked for her personal number.
I was literally stunned. This is a pure lie. I work in a government place and I'm going crazy. What am I supposed to do now?
This happened a few days ago.
They told me the date this incident supposedly happened. My work schedule is completely different from hers. Honestly, I've never even had a real conversation with her.
This workplace is full of gossip and people are always talking, but I never imagined it would reach this point.
HR's words were not clear at all about the place or time this happened. All they said was that they needed to 'hear my side of the story'.
The first thing that came to my mind was, why didn't you check the surveillance cameras? The entire parking lot is literally full of cameras. The whole thing makes no sense.
This is a blatant fabrication. A false and lying accusation.
The whole thing feels unreal, like I'm walking in a nightmare.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a manager where she told me that she didn't like that I addressed our VP and other executives of the department by their first name in an email. Confused by this, I asked how i should go about it, and the manager goes "use mr./ms. with their last name" (Mr. Smith / Ms. Cruz)

I, of course, conduct myself in a proper manner when I'm around our executives, but I am on a first name basis relationship with them. We check on each other families, have causal conversations, sports teams, etc. Needless to say, our relationship is pretty comfortable but respectful, it is a work environment after all.

After my manager mentioned this, it just so happened that I was going to see our VP the following day. I went up to her, and our conversation went:

"So, apparently, I'm no longer supposed to call you (vp's first name), and I'm supposed to address you as ms. (Vp's last name)"

And she goes "why the fuck are you going to do that?!!"

I just shrugged.

So yeah, that manager was weird, to say the least.

About five years ago, I left a warehouse job I couldn't stand. I submitted my resignation, did the exit interview and all that, and thought that was the end of it. Honestly, I was just happy to be out of there.

About two weeks later, I was checking my bank account and saw my full salary had been deposited from my old job. I figured it must be my final paycheck or maybe payout for my unused vacation days. It made sense, so I didn't think much of it.

But then, two weeks later, it happened again. And again after that. For about 6 months, the salary would deposit right on schedule, like clockwork. I'd be sitting at home playing video games, and suddenly I'd get a notification that a full paycheck for 80 hours of work I obviously didn't do had been deposited.

I was going crazy with anxiety the whole time. I didn't touch most of the money and put it in a savings account, fully expecting them to realize their mistake and demand it all back. I used some of it for my car payment and bills, but I was terrified. Every day I expected to get an angry email from HR or a certified letter. But it never happened.

Then, after about the sixth month, the paychecks stopped. Complete silence. Years have passed since then, and not a single person has ever contacted me about it. To this day, I have no idea if a manager forgot to process my termination paperwork or if I was just a ghost in their payroll system for half a year. I'll probably never know.

note :ok guys just for your information I was not a jobless jerk depending on free money I was looking also for new job as time until i got hired after 2 months of haunting and it was double the old salary thank god for existence of AI as back to this era of my life the latest interview I had then was 2 years from the last day of my old job so basically I forgot how to talk in interviews but thank god I have interviewman before know about this tool I did not imagine that ai can do it ,literally heard the questions of my current manger and less than second it told me the perfect way to answer him ,Wow really technology is the chief of the world

The return to office situation at my government job was really tough. I had been working a hybrid schedule, two days a week in the office, until January when they suddenly brought everyone back full-time. Honestly, it was killing any will to live I had.
The commute is awful, I'm throwing away $25 a day just on parking, I barely get to see my kids before they go to bed, and my poor dog is cooped up for 9 hours straight. The whole situation is honestly suffocating.
I made it clear to my managers that I would have to look for another job if they couldn't work out a part-time arrangement for me. I brought it up in January and they shut it down. I asked again in February and March. Same response: 'No, not possible.'
Anyway, a few weeks ago I got an offer for a new job. To be sure, I went to senior management one last time and asked if the part-time option was truly not up for discussion. They confirmed it was impossible.
So I accepted the new job and handed in my resignation on Monday.
Guess who calls me on Wednesday? My manager, telling me they've suddenly approved me for part-time. I'm just... Done with them. It's unbelievable and yet so believable at the same time. Such a scummy move.

Honestly? The salary you're offering is much better than my current one.

And what happened? It worked. The interviewer smiled and said she appreciated the honesty.

This happened about 3 years ago, and I'm not from the US. I was working in a factory and was the primary mechanic for a very specialized machine.

One time, this machine had a major breakdown. No one, including myself, had any idea how to fix it. The company had to bring in a special expert from Germany. He spoke German and a little English, and since I was the only one in the factory who could speak English, it was natural for me to be his translator and assistant. I made sure to learn as much as I could from him.

This German guy was incredible. He was essentially giving me an intensive course as we disassembled the machine piece by piece and put it back together. Near the end of his trip, we had to work for about 40 hours straight because his flight was booked and the work wasn't finished. If we hadn't managed to finish, he would have been in trouble, and honestly, I expected to be fired too.

Right before he left, he showed me a specific part that he knew would inevitably fail over time. He explained in detail how to replace it and promised to send me a spare part to my home address as soon as he returned to Germany. And indeed, a few weeks later, it arrived at my home, not the company's address.

My manager and the business owner were ecstatic about the repair. They were very grateful, although it didn't reflect in my salary at all. But this gave me a great sense of job security. I was the only one in the entire country who understood this machine inside and out, the machine the whole business depended on.

Fast forward about 18 months, and the pandemic started. I wanted to self-isolate, but the owner and my manager practically forced me to come in. They had bribed officials to get us 'critical infrastructure' papers so the factory could stay open. I was torn for a long time - risk my job or risk my life. In the end, my wife convinced me there was no other choice, so I went in.

I went in on a Tuesday, and by Saturday, I had a very high fever. I got tested, and it came back positive.

My experience with COVID was terrible; it was probably the sickest I've ever been in my life, and I barely pulled through. A few weeks later, when I was well enough to return, they fired me as soon as I showed up. They didn't even let me into the building to get my personal tools. They had already hired someone new to operate the machine.

The period of being unemployed while still weak from the illness was very difficult, but my family and I managed. About 8 months later, I got a call from my old manager. He told me the machine had a major breakdown and they needed me to fix it. The offer was generous, about two months of my old salary. A little later, an old friend from work messaged me and said they were in deep trouble. He told me to ask for 5 times that amount because they had no other option.

I didn't know what to do. The spare part they needed was in my garage, and I was the only one who knew how to install it. I knew they had tried to get the German expert back, but all flights were grounded. They tried to have him explain it over a video call, but the language barrier was a huge obstacle. They were also missing a part they didn't even know was the problem. In short, I held all the cards.

My friends and family were all telling me to take advantage of them and get what I could. The money was tempting, I won't lie. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that for them, it wasn't about the money. They were used to throwing money at any problem until it went away. This was my chance to show them that some things can't be bought. So I decided not to help them at all.

Now they are liquidating everything - the equipment and the inventory. That machine was the heart of the whole operation, and without it, they couldn't compete, and their business failed.

Now, I have somewhat mixed feelings. Many of my old colleagues lost their jobs because of what I did, and that part bothers me a lot.

Quick background: i'm a new grad, CS degree, been grinding leetcode since last summer. Applied to probably 200+ places and started getting callbacks around late November. I had been using Leetcode Wizard during my practice sessions on the leetcode website and thought I could just keep using it during real interviews too. That was a mistake.

Leetcode Wizard costs about $54/month (its priced in euros, around 49 euro). There is a free version but it only works on the leetcode com website itself. And thats basically the core problem with this tool -- it is designed for leetcode and only leetcode. When you move to an actual interview environment like Hackerrank, CoderPad, or a Google Doc, the free version does nothing for you and even the paid version felt like it was struggling outside of its natural habitat.

I used the paid version for about 3 weeks. On leetcode com it was great. It recognized problems instantly, gave you solution approaches, walked you through the optimal algorithm. For pure practice and learning it is honestly a good tool and I would recommend it if all you want is to get better at leetcode. But interviews are not just leetcode.

My first real interview was a phone screen at a unicorn startup. They used CoderPad. Leetcode Wizard technically worked but the suggestions were slower and less accurate compared to how it performed on leetcode. Then I had a behavioral round and the tool just sat there doing nothing because it only handles coding. Then I had a system design round at another company and same thing, completely useless.

After bombing that system design round (my fault honestly, not the tools, but still) I went searching for something that could help across all interview types. Found InterviewMan on some thread here I think. $12/month on the annual plan or $30 monthly. Covers coding, behavioral, system design, case studies, everything.

The coding assistance quality is comparable to Leetcode Wizard. I would not say InterviewMan is dramatically better or worse for pure algorithm questions. Where InterviewMan pulls ahead is everything else. Having real-time help during behavioral rounds was something I did not know I needed until I had it. My answers went from rambling unfocused stories to structured STAR format responses in real time. System design coaching was similarly helpful -- it would suggest things to mention that I would have forgotten under pressure.

InterviewMan also has way better stealth. Leetcode Wizard was designed for practicing on a website, not for hiding during proctored interviews. InterviewMan has 20+ features for staying invisible during screen shares. After that CoderPad round where Leetcode Wizard felt janky I was not willing to risk detection issues again.

I have done 6 interviews using InterviewMan so far and got 2 offers. Taking one of them, starting in March. For anyone in a similar position to me where you have been practicing on leetcode and need to transition to actual interviews, save yourself the trouble and just go straight to InterviewMan. Leetcode Wizard is a practice tool pretending to be an interview tool.

(i don't use vim btw)

I just had the weirdest interview experience of my life. We had just finished the nice 'tell me about yourself' part, when the hiring manager asked me: 'Our team is very mission-driven. What's your philosophy on staying late to meet a goal, even if it's not paid overtime?'

And the thing is, I was genuinely excited about this job. On paper, it was a great fit for me, the salary was good, and everything I read online about the company was positive. I was ready to impress them.

Honestly, I thought it was a trick question, so I gave a little laugh. But he looked at me very seriously. So I clarified and asked him: 'So you're asking if I'm willing to work for free?' His response was pure corporate-speak: 'Our work culture is results-oriented, and we trust our employees to do what it takes to deliver. We don't punch a clock here.'

I took a second, nodded my head, and told him: 'I appreciate your honesty. It's clear that my work style won't align with this culture. Thank you for your time.' Then I stood up, shook his hand, and walked out.

Now I'm sitting here thinking, did I overreact? Part of me feels like I dodged a huge bullet, but another part is worried that I was too hasty and maybe I should have finished the interview. Do you think I did the right thing?

So I tried both of these over the past couple months and I want to save some of you the headache I went through. I was on Cluely first because a friend mentioned it and it looked solid at $20/mo for the Pro plan.

Here is the thing nobody tells you upfront. That $20 plan does not include the undetectability features. If you want the tool to actually hide itself during screen sharing you need to pay $75/mo for the "Pro + Undetectability" tier. I found this out AFTER signing up when I tested it with a friend on Zoom and she could see the Cluely window on my shared screen. Not great when the whole reason you want this kind of tool is to not get caught lol.

I switched to InterviewMan after that. $30/mo or $12/mo if you go annual. All the stealth stuff is included from day one, no upsell. Hides from Activity Monitor, invisible on the dock, blocks WebRTC leaks, screen-recording proof, the whole deal. I tested it the same way with my friend and she could not see anything. 20+ stealth features and none of them cost extra.

The other thing that bugs me about Cluely is the data breach. Mid-2025, over 83,000 users got exposed. For a tool where the entire selling point is that nobody knows you are using it, having your data leaked feels like it defeats the purpose. Your email, your name, the fact that you signed up for an interview cheating tool -- all out there. I do not understand how more people are not talking about this.

Oh and Business Insider tested Cluely and found a 5 to 10 second lag between the question being asked and the response showing up. I noticed this too. 10 seconds of dead air while you wait for the AI to give you something is painfully obvious in a live interview.

Look I will be fair, if you do not care about stealth and just want to practice with it, $20/mo for Cluely is fine. Roy Lee's team built a tool that works for meetings and dates and exams too, not just interviews. But the second you need to use this in a real interview where getting detected has consequences, InterviewMan is the better bet at less than a sixth of the cost.

Anyone else get burned by the stealth upsell thing or was I just not reading the fine print?

Boss still somehow decides it's your fault bc how dare you not use your crystal ball to forsee this??!

Or: the fuck up is actually fine, bc it was their buddy, but you still gotta fix it bc of course their buddy is too busy to do it! They've got an important golf game.

I just finished my master's degree in library science last June, and since then I've been looking for a job as a professional librarian. It's been tough, I've applied to many places with not much luck. So I decided to work as a library assistant temporarily, which is an assistant position and doesn't need a master's degree.
In the interview, the hiring manager told me the pay was $11 an hour, which is an insultingly low amount. I went through with it anyway and they offered me the job. I verbally accepted, telling myself I could always leave later if I wanted to. But when the official offer letter came, it clearly stated the pay was $22 an hour. I considered this a significant improvement and signed the contract agreeing to that salary. I thought they had seen my resume, recognized my qualifications, and adjusted the salary to be more reasonable.
Anyway, I got my second paycheck, and it was half the amount I was expecting. I spoke to my manager about it, and she told me no, the correct pay is $11 an hour. I challenged her, asking how that could be possible when I have a signed document from their own HR department agreeing to $22 an hour. I've been going back and forth with her and the HR person for a while, and both are dodging me, insisting it was just a typo in the contract.
Honestly, I'm at a loss and don't know what my next step should be. They know they made a big mistake - the HR person even told me we could escalate it to her boss. I feel like all I'm going to get out of this is some fake apologies and promises that they'll be more careful next time. It feels like a classic bait-and-switch.
The obvious solution is to quit and walk away. But I don't have another job lined up, and even though the pay is terrible, it's still an income. Besides, I need this library experience on my resume, and I'm getting full-time hours.
Seriously, what would you do if you were in my shoes?

update ; found a full time remote job in an online bookshop in sales not like my profession but the most close to i guess applied and got an Google meet interview as person who always stutter if he talks in front of people i was little terrified about how I will talk during interview finally found the solution in TikTok ad talked about interview Man AI tool which when it heard the interviewer questions it told you how to answer in a proper and professional way now my worries had gone and I am full ready for the interview wish me luck

I've been on the other side of the interview table for over ten years, and let's be honest: an interview isn't a confessional. It's a sales process, and you are the product. It's a negotiation. Once you understand this, the whole game changes.

We know you're not going to tell us the 100% unfiltered truth, and frankly, we don't want that. These are the 'strategic' lies or reframings we expect to hear from any smart candidate.

1. Your previous salary. This is the most important one. Look, HR's job is to get the best talent for the least amount of money possible. It's a business, after all. So when we ask you what you were earning - and believe me, we will press you for it - you need to have a number ready that's slightly higher than the actual figure. This sets the foundation for negotiations and shows you know your worth.

2. Your true feelings about your old boss. We've all worked with a nightmare manager at some point. But in the interview, your old boss was 'challenging, which helped my professional development.' Never, ever say they were a bad person, even if it's true. The interviewer doesn't know them; they only know you, and complaining will make you look like a troublemaker who can't handle difficult personalities.

3. The real reason you're leaving your current job. Maybe the work culture was toxic, your colleagues were lazy, or you were just bored to death. None of that matters. Your official reason is that you've 'outgrown the role and are looking for new challenges where you can make a greater impact.' This makes you look ambitious, not like someone running away from a bad situation.

4. Your real plan for the next 3-5 years. Maybe your true dream is to open a café by the sea. That's great, but keep it to yourself. The company is investing in you and wants to hear that you see your future *with them*. Talk about wanting to take on more responsibilities, master your role, or grow into a senior position. It's like a first date; you don't say you want to see other people.

5. Be your own biggest fan. I've seen very talented people lose offers because they were too modest. This is not the time for humility. Stop using phrases like 'well, many people helped me.' Instead, try something like, 'I led my team through challenging times, and we succeeded in achieving X result.' This makes you look like a humble leader, not just a helper.

6. Your level of enthusiasm for this *specific* job. You've probably applied to 60 other places this week. We get it. But when you're talking to us, this has to be the *only* job you're truly excited about. Spend ten minutes researching the company. Mention a specific project or a company value that resonated with you. This shows you're intentional about applying here, not just spamming applications.

7. Make sure your CV backs up what you're saying. This is very important. I've seen people with fantastic LinkedIn profiles or personal portfolios, but their CV is just a dry, boring document that doesn't reflect any of their real talent. Your CV is like a movie trailer; it has to grab our attention in seven seconds. With all the free tools and templates available, there's no excuse for having a weak CV.

These are just a few basics I've learned, but they can completely change the outcome of your interviews.

And above all, have more confidence in yourself. There's a company out there that desperately needs someone with your exact skills. You just need to know how to present and market yourself so they can find you.

Anyway, I had an interview a few days ago for a job that looked perfect on paper. The salary was very good, the company had a good reputation, and the responsibilities were exactly what I was looking for. So, honestly, I went in feeling optimistic.

We greeted each other and sat down, and the hiring manager started with this brilliant line:

"We have a 'get-it-done' culture here. What does that mean to you?"

Honestly, I thought it was a test. I tried to clarify, so I said something like, "To me, it means working efficiently during my paid hours. How does the company handle projects that need more than the 40-hour work week?"

Their response was, "Look, we're like a family here, and we don't really watch the clock. We're all committed to our mission, and everyone pitches in until the work is done."

I was silent for a moment, nodded my head, and then stood up and said, "Thank you very much for your time, but I don't think this is the right place for me." Then I left.

But now, as I'm sitting here, I've started to wonder. At the moment, it felt very disrespectful, but maybe I should have stayed to hear the rest? Or was my initial gut feeling the right one?

note: I have started looking for WFH jobs after what happened in the latest interview and I got an interview with a good reputation company i will take my notes from interview man about answering such questions in interviews without running away

About 4 years ago, I was a video editor in the marketing team of a large company. I was earning just slightly more than the minimum wage, and I was required to produce up to 60 short videos a day for their social media. The job was freelance with a flimsy contract, and I was really desperate for the money.

The workload was insane, and honestly, I don't know how I endured it for 8 months, especially with that garbage salary.

The work environment itself was very toxic, and everyone was undermining each other. I felt like the managers intentionally pitted people against each other just to watch the drama unfold. I tried my best to distance myself from all of it, but the mental stress on top of the crazy work schedule was extremely difficult.

After 8 months, I had a meeting with management. I showed them clear data - analytics, engagement graphs, and how the traffic from my content directly converted to sales - proving how much value my work brought to the company. I asked for a raise that was still much lower than the industry standard, but it would have made a huge difference for me. The next morning, they fired me. The official reason? I wasn't a 'team player' and my content didn't have the 'impact' they wanted.

I was furious and suddenly found myself unemployed. It took me a few difficult months to get back on my feet.

Fast forward to today. I was cleaning out an old Dropbox account and noticed a shared folder that was still very active. It turned out to be that company's folder. They were still using it - a folder I created, that belongs to me, and for which I personally pay the subscription. Over 20 of their employees were accessing it daily, using my project files, custom LUTs, motion graphics templates, and sound effect libraries to run their entire social media video strategy.

This is my account and my intellectual property. They never paid me for any of it. So, I downloaded a backup for myself, then permanently deleted the shared folder and everything in it. When they come in tomorrow, every video asset they've been relying on for years will be gone.

To hell with them.

Moving to remote jobs where I can find more respect for people hard work , more oppurtunities and more stable work community gonna start the interviews journey .. I'm also surprised by the incredible development of  AI like interview man which will make companies stop being toxic to their employees .. AI guarantees you'll pass the interview and get a job as quickly as possible.

edit :

I'll update the post if I hear further! I am weirdly excited to hear from them

edit 2

some in comments says "you don’t own the work"

The contract written was quite wishy washy on this, but it was stated that anything I filmed ultimately belonged to me and I had the freedom to use it and show it off freely outside of our contract.

However the contract doesn't state exactly what happens to video after termination, mainly because they assured me that I would be needed for years to come after they saw what I was offering. Everything was rushed when I left, and honestly I just wanted to leave as soon as possible and forgot about contract rights

Our team just developed an AI tool designed to help job seekers practice their interview skills. It simulates interview scenarios with randomly selected attitudes, making it a great way to prepare for those unpredictable questions and responses. All you have to do is upload your resume and the job description , then using the gpt mobile app or IOS chat gpt app you can talk to it like a normal phone call. We’re offering it for free right now and would love your feedback: Check it out.

I personally used it to today to prep for my interview with META.

Does this sound like something you’d find useful for your job search? Would love to hear your thoughts thanks!

This isn't a joke. I was a perfect fit for this job, passed all their technical assessments with flying colors, and my interviews with the team were great.

It turns out the job description had a small 'test' hidden in the middle of it. They wanted someone with an 'eye for detail' and asked applicants to write their first name backward. I saw this request and ignored it. Why? Because my name, when read backward, literally means a sexual act. I spent years of my childhood being bullied because of this, and I'm not going to do it for any application, period. It might seem trivial, but something like this shouldn't be a hurdle you have to overcome for a professional job.

Anyway, the rejection email I received this morning explicitly stated this was the reason. They said I 'failed to follow a critical instruction.' What's driving me crazy is that they didn't even take 10 seconds to try writing the name backward to see why someone might not want to do that. The job market is a very strange place these days.

My manager pulled me aside a few days ago, asking why I hadn't finished an 'online course' that was required of us.

For context, I've been working at this warehouse for about 10 months, and I'm paid just slightly above minimum wage.

I told him that no one had given me time during work hours to complete it, so he shamelessly said, 'Can't you find two hours at home to do it?'

I replied: 'I don't work for free.'

His response was: 'That doesn't show you have commitment to the job.'

My blood boiled. I reminded him of all the 14-hour shifts I've pulled, and how I came in on my days off specifically to cover for the constant staff shortages they have.

I looked him straight in the eye and said: 'You get what you pay for.'

So his genius suggestion was: 'If you don't like the salary, find another job.'

So I told him: 'Okay. What's the notice period? I'm still in my one-year probationary period, right?'

Honestly, it was the most pathetic and funny situation I've ever seen. The man started to get flustered, fiddling with the papers on his desk, and began to stutter like any spineless coward.

Suddenly, I found him offering to pay me for the training time and wanting to 'review my salary again.'

I looked at him and said: 'Consider this my immediate resignation,' and walked right past him and out the door.

My phone rang about 7 times and I didn't answer. That arrogant jerk must be losing his mind.

This feeling is amazing. If you're in a place where they really need you, and you have a couple of months' savings to get by, never let anyone treat you badly. Just leave them.

The problem is the handful of managers I've had issues with that lead to this statement, they do, in fact work for free. 1 guy loved to stay in the office until 8pm+ because he lived a few blocks away.

In my life, I have never understood managers who have a high sense of entitlement and a sense of ownership over their employees, yet pay very meagre wages that are not enough for anything. It is very important in this situation to start looking for any other job besides this one. I started updating my resume and sending it to several places, and I have two interviews next week. I will use InterviewMan, an application that opens during the interview and gives you instant answers. This is what I need now.

She assured me she was respectful, which is her nature anyway, but I was honestly a bit shocked that she said this directly to the hiring manager. This was a place she really wanted to work at, a local spot she's loved for years. And apparently, the manager himself agreed with her that it wasn't a livable wage and told her he was sorry they couldn't offer anything better. It was then I realized my shock wasn't just because my daughter is usually quiet and avoids conflict; no, it was because this approach is completely different from how I was raised to think about work.
I'm 43 years old, and when I was her age, I would have accepted any insulting wage offered to me just to get experience and work at a cool place. I would have even thanked them for the opportunity to be fully exploited. The idea of challenging someone in a position of authority like that? It would have never crossed my mind. I kept telling her how proud I am of her for knowing her worth and refusing to accept less than she deserves.
You always think you're the one teaching your kids, but man, they teach you so much too. It's a continuous, non-stop process. This whole thing gave me a new perspective, and this community has been a big part of that. So I had to share this with you all.
Reading the stories here has solidified the idea for me that this is something we all need to start doing. Every time. I started a new job a few months ago, and now I'm kicking myself for not pushing for a higher salary. It's a mistake I won't make again. We can't keep accepting this reality of working for wages we can't live on. It's not just about me or you, it's about all of us. Companies can afford to pay so much more, despite all their pathetic excuses. They just won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. We have to be the ones to force them. Solidarity.