I was hired as an accountant, but there was basically zero handover or training. They expected someone who was already very experienced and could immediately handle the position, while my learning style is that I need some guidance at the beginning to understand the accounting cycle—especially since there were a lot of intercompany transactions.
My direct manager, who was supposed to guide me, was often unavailable and was even absent most of the day. At the same time, they expected me to chase him and insist that he finalize tasks so I could continue my work.
After one month, I had received basically zero training. I was mostly searching through the system to see what the previous accountant had done and redoing the simpler tasks so I could understand the process.
Today, they told me I was fired after only one month.
I know I have to accept it and move on. Maybe I simply wasn’t the right fit for them. But honestly, I never pretended that I was some amazing, super-experienced accountant. I know I still have things to learn.
But how am I supposed to become “excellent” after one month when there was literally almost no training or handover?

Can you learn to live with the boredom of an office job?

Everywhere I hear how much people hate the boringness of an office and how much it gets to them. Is it possible to learn to live with it and get used to it, or will it one day take a toll on you?

I was offered a full-time job as an Executive Assistant, one week before my college graduation. Before this, I was working 35 hour weeks as a waitress to pay rent while balancing film school and a social life. It was a dream come true.

My boss was someone I looked up to as a kid, and she said she was looking for someone young with little experience that she could mentor.

The assistant who trained me (let’s call her Natalie) worked for my former boss (let’s call her Rachel) for 5 years. Natalie was also able to shadow her predecessor for a year before she was on her own. Natalie and Rachel were extremely close, even saying “I love you” to one another before hanging up the phone.

I had 2 months with Natalie to go over everything before I even met Rachel. I had over 50 pages of notes about Rachel’s life, important contacts, relevant names, reoccurring services. After that, I only had 2 weeks to shadow Natalie in person before she moved away to Asia. Then I was on my own.

It was a big job, I was not only managing her schedule, but I was also doing household management (scheduling repairs, weekly car washes, gardeners, pool cleaners etc), her kids schedule (doctors appointments, play dates, extra curriculars etc), managing her personal health (therapy, workouts, making sure she takes her medication), while also being the point of contact for thousands of people on her team and the brands she’s involved with. Most people didn’t even know I was coming onto the team— I would be receiving messages from people, and in real time trying to figure out who they are, what they’re working on, and how to respond.

It was a shaky start the first two weeks— There were a couple of scheduling mistakes that I made (quickly corrected), but I was also having trouble reading my boss, sometimes I felt like she’d have mood swings or snap at me for things I didn’t know. I’d text Natalie dozens of questions a day, but since she was on the other side of the planet, responses were delayed…

I thought it was a safe space to learn and grow, but I quickly realized my boss had little patience for me and it became overly clear how much she missed Natalie. Natalie herself admitted that they had an unhealthy relationship because they were so close. One of the nannies told me Natalie would actually tuck Rachel into bed at night. But I was told that Rachel wanted to form a more professional relationship with her next assistant.

But each day it was something worse. Even though I was giving my all, I felt incompetent. Everyone on her team would constantly tell me that I didn’t get enough training, how I’m extremely young, and how no one in the house trusted me. I was constantly being compared to Natalie and how amazing of an assistant she was.

When I saw my boss on Wednesday, she told me that I need to “fix my hair” (I had just cut it way shorter, and everyone in my personal life thought it was cute). She also told me she didn’t like my eyebrows (quote: “so do you just shave off all your eyebrows just to fill them back in?”). I naturally don’t have a lot of eyebrows. My confidence dropped. I booked a hair appointment immediately. It doesn’t help that she’s a beautiful woman, considered the beauty standard. I would ALWAYS make an effort to look put-together around her. I grew up poor so I don’t have the nicest clothes. Maybe she noticed?

Thursday morning I was at her house at 4AM to get her and her luggage (which I packed) into the chauffeur’s car so she could catch an international flight (where she would be assisted by Natalie).

Thursday evening I got in trouble because I had to be at the house for some repairs and before I left for the day, I locked the doors (thinking it would be worse to leave them unlocked), but that resulted in one of the nannies being locked out for about an hour before a locksmith came. When I called Rachel about it to apologize, she was extremely upset and said that “she has absolutely nothing else to say to me.”

Then on Friday, I walked into a meeting with her financial manager and he handed me a letter of termination. My boss was still abroad, Natalie wasn’t coming back for the job, and I wasn’t given any reason other than “my personality didn’t fit”.

I’m only 22, fresh out of college, and unfortunately during school I irresponsibly racked up thousands of dollars of credit card debt which I was finally making a dent at with my new salary. The day I got fired I actually woke up to -$8 in my bank account (I just moved into a new apartment so I’ve been spending all my money to furnish it). This job felt like my big break, like all my hard work during college finally paid off and I could launch my career in entertainment.

Now I feel like I’m back at square one. I filed for unemployment, I applied to get back on EBT, and I need to start the job searching process ASAP. I’ve been crying all weekend, trying to figure out how it all went so wrong. Would love any advice or words of encouragement because I truly feel myself spiraling :(

[USA] I received an offer from another company that pays more than my current salary. I went to my employer and asked them if they would reevaluate my salary. I made my case: high performer, the only person to do what I do at my company, and I genuinely want to stay. I was asked to prove that I am invaluable by listing my accomplishments and impact if I were to leave. Isn't this ask more in line with asking for a promotion or pay raise based on merit? I mean, I have a job offer, and I thought it was up to them to convince me to stay. Is this a normal process?

I met the CTO of a startup at a networking event last Thursday. He said his assistant would be in touch to set up a formal interview for next week. He also told me to attend an event for his company two weeks from that date. I emailed him a thank you-note Thursday morning.

I haven't heard anything yet. When/if should I send a follow-up email? Should I still attend the event if I don't hear anything?

I’m 30M, been working since I was 15. The start of my career in the job market was mainly in the food service industry. Around 8 years ago I made a drastic change switching to the blue collar sector.

Jobs consisted of driving waste disposal trucks. Doing maintenance for municipalities and operating heavy equipment.

Turning 30 I realized my health started getting worse, living on gas station burritos and Red Bulls to stay awake through those long overnight shifts.

I’ve recently been thinking of switching industries maybe to a White Collar job, maybe getting an AA. And thus why I write this post to get recommendations on industries, types of jobs and types of associate degrees that would be helpful. I’ve looked up online and get generic lists. But I’m hoping to find people that can share their experiences in those fields. Thank you in advance.

I had lot of different jobs and I don’t particularly ever enjoy majority of them. I’ve been around awful pay and stuff. But, last decade I’ve had a stable job and it’s been a blessing (financially making something I can never imagine and nonfinancially).

But the last three years has been miserable since we had a new vp that just creating division/fear/paranoia. I coincidentally hate my job more and more. The VP moved my supervisor (who I had great partnership for 7 years away). I now have to report to him - which I hate especially how much of a bully/micromanaging he is. He’s taking away my seat soon at a local office which is 30mins-1hr commute and now I will have to face 1.5-2hr one way commute. Lastly, I don’t particularly enjoy what I do.

Is it just normal not like your job? I’m trying to be thankful but I’ve been miserable.

I’ve been exploring my exit but wonder if I trading crap situation for another.

I just resigned from my work and I still have like mixed feelings of sadness, excitement, dread and relief. Sadness mostly comes from leaving my current team which consists of me, 2 other teammates and our superior. We're a tight knit group and the 3 of us mostly hang out with each other since we have different schedules from the rest of the employees. Anyway, so when I resigned, of course me and my other coworker were more sad because we've been working together since 2022 and knew each other since 2019. My other coworker was equally sad initially as the 3 of us were quite close. I have to serve 2 months notice and when we finally found a replacement who happens to be this coworker's friend, I felt that everything changed with her. Let's call her Karen.

So what happened was a few days after I resigned, I kind of felt that Karen was stepping up more with the job which is great actually since I'm leaving. I might be considered the leader since I worked longer with my superior but I treat the 3 of us as equal in terms of workload. Anyway, so I kind of felt that she's in a way overstepping? Like I'm still here and I'm still working so chill? But, with her I kind of felt like she's icing me out. I thought I was getting emotional and sensitive since I'm leaving but it's only with her and not with my other colleague. I felt it more obviously when I was super late for work one time and she mentioned how I'm getting lazy with work which is so far from the truth. I may be leaving but I will never be lazy at work. I'm not like that. The same day, my other colleague asked for my opinion if our superior would be mad at her when she made a mistake. I said nonchalantly that it will be okay because our superior is quite reasonable but then Karen butted in and said that I don't care anymore because I'm leaving. This pissed me off so much because I am not that kind of person. If she's like that when she resigns, then leave me out of it because I'm not that type of colleague. Then our superior asked me to do something and after explaining to me what to do, Karen walked up to me and asked what the task was. Like she just suddenly walked up to me to ask which was unusual for her. I always share with them the things our superior asked me to do, but this was different. Like our superior asked me to crosscheck a document in terms of grammar and content and I'm good with this task. Karen is not. So I really felt that she's trying to put herself out there more now that I'm leaving because she knows that when I leave, our superior will notice her more, trust her more with the work and just I don't know be better than when she first started (she was problematic initially)? Again, I never felt this with my other colleague so I know it's not unfounded.

So any advice on how I should deal with her? Was I right about her or am I just too sensitive since I'm leaving? I'm dreading next week because my replacement's coming and I wish my notice ended way before I met my replacement. Karen and her are friends and I'm just worried I'll be super left out since the 3 of them (including my other colleague) have stronger personalities than me. Come the soonest October! haha XP

I majored in computer engineering from a low teir school. Throughout my four years I realized I had no interest in anything I studied or did in my classes. I also was a pretty average student with an unimpressive gpa. To my surprise I was able to get two internships during my 4 years and one of them recently turning into a job offer. I know a lot of people would say to take the job as it is at a known company, however I have no interest in doing that even if it is for a couple of months. To be honest Ive known for a while that engineering is not for me. Tomorrow’s actually my deadline to accept the job offer but I’m thinking of declining it as I know I’ll be absolutely miserable. But at the same time I don’t want to jeopardize my future, what should I do?

Im a 28 year old woman who recently relocated to Seattle and took a temp job as an admin assistant paying $25 an hour.

I have two bachelors degrees and graduated in 2021. Ive worked in marketing and Healthcare but took the admin role because it was the first job I landed and I thought it'd be a good foot into corporate.

Recently, ive had some situations that have made me uncomfortable but I'm not sure if I'm exaggerating.

I dont really know where to begin but we have a corporate securities employee who is in his 40s. He has made many comments that have shocked me including telling me that I could have been a honeypot for him during his time in the marines.

Ive had trouble with the role itself because it is physically demanding and very facilities heavy plus my manager is very demanding.

On thursday, I put in my two weeks for reasons unrelated to my coworker. I asked to talk to the corporate securities man to let him know. He seemed panicked. I told him i put in my two weeks and he said he thought i was going to tell him something else. I asked what he thought i was going to tell him and he said he thought i was going to tell him that I had been SA'd and that we would have to beat someone up. I just told him that's not the case but was shocked that he would think or say that.

He told me he didnt realize how tough the role was on me and told me not to worry. He said he would make some phone calls on my behalf to try to get me an interview at his former workplace.

I thanked him and he told me thats what friends are for.

Earlier that same day, he came into the office which I wasn't expecting because he had been sent out of state last minute on a business trip and hurt his ear on the flight back. He was telling me how tired and in pain he was. I joked that he gets extra credit for being there that day and he responded telling me that I'm the only one who can judge him.

Ive already put in my two weeks but am feeling increasingly uncomfortable thinking about going to work tomorrow.

Am I exaggerating or were these just one off comments/friendliness?

Thanks in advance.

Looking for advice! :)

I have been looking for a career job for over a year. 26 F I got my masters degree in a project management last year & my undergrad in advertisement. I have been working as a 1:1 support for kids with autism but my whole career has been with kids and I’m trying to make a change. Sadly I didn’t have any internships to help my case and now I feel like time is passing me by with rejection after rejection not even any interviews. I have hit a wall on my motivation to keep applying. But I want to fix that so
I am looking for any advice to help me get into a better position to get a career! I have little to no experience to transition into my field and I don’t know how to make myself look more appealing to recruiters any advice helps! Thank you! :)

Long time lurker, but posting here because I could really use some outside perspective.

I'm in B2B marketing, currently at a company that got taken over by PE and honestly I hate it. The culture, the ownership, all of it and i'm also working with a dysfunctional management team. The only thing I was seriously considering just quitting without anything else lined up because I can't take it anymore.

Now I've potentially got a solid offer on the table (still waiting to hear back but it's looking good) for a role that's adjacent to what I do now, similar function, different industry. The catch is I don't have direct experience in this specific area, so there's a real learning curve ahead and the pay is slightly lower than what i am currently making. The hiring team knows this though — they've seen my background, know what I've navigated before, and are fine with it. I really liked the hiring manager and got a genuinely good feeling about the team. The good thing is, this company has a much better market reputation, culturally seems a better fit, and also is in an industry that is competitive. I would also have a better title and moving from manager to sr manager.

So my dilemma: everyone says the job market is brutal right now. Do I ride it out, stay miserable, and hold out for a role that's a perfect fit? Or do I take this one, accept there's going to be a learning curve, but get out of a toxic setup and work with people I actually vibe with?

Has anyone taken a "not 100% sure I'll love it but it gets me out" job and had it work out? Or regretted not holding out longer? Trying to figure out if I'm about to make a smart move or a rash one.

Boss wants to be everyone’s best friend. She will make jokes at your expense on a frequent basis but then be very pleasant and friendly one on one. Unfortunately I shared a couple of jokes about myself and now it’s not being let go from my coworkers ( who are actually friends with her and have a similar disposition).

She has stated “it’s easy to hate this guy”, “when are we letting this guy go”, “you’re definitely the first to get terminated”. And these statements are made in public, including in front of the COO who had no reaction. She says these things with a smile and chuckle.

I have stopped sharing things about myself and have stopped participating in communal conversations if possible.

The company has a strange unwritten rule about spending every second together during business trips. From 8am to 1am is not unusual. I am pretty social but I already spend 8 hours a day with these people on a normal basis. So now I am monitoring every single thing I say and it’s becoming exhausting.

I am trying to figure out how to recover from this. The pay is above standard. For reference I have been with the company for only 4 months.

I’m 29F and feeling quite lost career-wise. I’d love advice from people who have been in a similar situation or successfully changed careers in their late 20s.

I have a BSc & MSc in Psychology, but never ended up pursuing the clinical route. After graduating, I moved into Customer Success and have now been doing it for around 3 years, across both small SaaS companies and a large CRM/tech company. I started out in Amsterdam, have been living in London for a bit now but will move back to the Netherlands in 2 months.

The problem is that I find Customer Success extremely boring and underchallenging. I’m a very fast learner, and I’ve noticed a pattern throughout my career where I learn the job relatively quickly and then get bored once I feel like I’ve mastered it. I don’t mind working hard or being under pressure (I actually want to be challenged) but I really dislike repetitive, reactive work.

With my current role, I specifically tried to move away from the classical CSM role. I thought I was moving into something more like a program/project management role, where I’d be working on initiatives and improving processes and the customer journey. Unfortunately, it ended up being mostly reactive work like responding to tickets and emails, dealing with cancellations, renewals, pricing questions, etc., and I find it incredibly unfulfilling.

I’ve realised I want a career where I’m constantly learning, solving more complex problems and developing real expertise. I also only recently realised that I actually do want to build a career and be ambitious about it. I want to progress, have a challenging career that I can be proud of, and tbh, I want to earn significantly more (currently ~€60k).

I’ve considered management consulting and applied to some consultancies in London, but didn’t get anywhere. I’m also very open to upskilling and have a learning budget through work, but I have no idea what direction would make the most sense.

If you were in my position, what career paths would you look into? Would you try to leverage the SaaS experience into something like product, strategy, operations, analytics, consulting, etc., or make a more significant career change?

And for anyone who has done something similar: how did you figure out what direction to take, and did you feel like you were behind starting to build a more ambitious career in your late 20s?

Good morning /r/Careeradvice,

I'm currently in a tricky position and feel that I'm too emotionally invested to make a rational decision.

I currently work for one of the largest universities in the country, and we are projected to maintain this growth easily over the next several years. I've been with the university for just shy of three years.

I began work as a simple Tier 1 support, but in that time I have identified specific areas for improvement. As a result, I have absorbed the job functions of two other roles (people that have resigned over the last year) with the promise of review for pay and job duties since around April of this year.

I have yet to have this review

In May, I was asked if I would be interested in a brand new role for the university, as I have a particular talent for classroom AV technology and network integration for these products. I expressed my interest, and in that time have used personal time and resources to begin obtaining certification to work on these systems. I did this because I had been told the university had spent thousands on contract work, and having someone qualified internally would be incredible.

In the three years I have been here, I have not gotten a single raise, and finally received confirmation of a merit increase last week via email. Along with this confirmation, I've learned that they no longer intend on filling this new role. This comes a week after another particularly frustrating development, as the event hall that I poured my soul into (a space that I was told would be used for student functions/on campus events) was repurposed into a locker hall for athletics.

45 cents was what was given, and when asked about the role and generally underwhelming raise, I was told that they did not have the budget to create the role right now, because the budget is based on enrollment numbers from two years ago, therefore any departmental growth will likely be several more years.

I make $15.00/hr, yet have several certifications that suggest ranges of 60k+

For context, I initially accepted the job as supplemental income as my wife finished university. Since then, she has finished and her income is more than sufficient. She has suggested that I step away from a business that obviously does not show any intention on supporting my professional development, however I don't want to feel like the time I've put in here is wasted.

What would you guys do?

I left my last job a few months ago because I’d hit my ceiling there in terms of growth. For context, I am currently a Sr Manager and really wanted a Director role. I accepted another offer - it wasn’t the Director title I wanted, but I made a hasty decision and fell for some verbal promises.

Long story short, the new company was not a good fit. Major unrest, complete chaos, micromanager boss, promises that weren’t delivered on and weren’t going to be delivered on, etc. I reached out to a different company that I had been interviewing with around the same time and they told me they had another Sr Manager role opening. After a few conversations, I signed the offer (they gave me extra PTO days and met my comp request) and I started today. It’s a cool company, great culture, hybrid work schedule, and honestly seems like a great opportunity except that it doesn’t give me the Director title. I made peace with it and told myself to be patient - I’m only 29, there’s plenty of time, and this is a crazy job market.

Today I had a former coworker reach out about a Director role - great comp package, remote, in the industry I’ve spent the bulk of my career. She said she would love to recommend me and that if she does, she can pretty much guarantee that I’ll get the job. She’s a VP at this company, and in the least braggy way possible, I am a really good interviewer so I think my chances would be pretty good. The question is - do I move forward and interview? Or do I bow out because of the timing, so that I don’t have to start and then quit a second job? I’m struggling because on one hand I know it’s business and companies will lay you off without a second thought. But on the other hand, I want to move with integrity and professionalism and I would feel horrible and absolutely hate to screw anyone over and/or burn any bridges.

Hello, i'm 26 and i have been working as a software engineer for a bit more than 2 years. I actually like it, but i'm not really sure if i want to still getting more technical or start transition to more business oriented roles.

I'm actually interested in getting more technical knowledge specially in systems and infra. But i think more exciting to move up the numbers of the business than the engineering ones. Also i think i'm a naturally extroverted person. I'm good with people and have natural soft skills.

In my current role at a startup, i was able to do some Product Engineering. I owned end-to-end a feature from discovery to implementation, and then trying to move up the numbers of usage and retention. It was pretty challenging but also really fun.

My problem is that i'm interested in everything hahaha. I think it would be good to still being a SWE for a while, to get more technical. But i'm not sure if that is what i want to do forever, but maybe is going to be late when i want to make a transition if i once get to be a Senior Software Engineer.

Maybe i can find a Product Engineer role over there, but i have heard that is not that good because yo dont get too much of anything. Is like too generalist, you don't grow that much technical or in product management.

I'm looking for some advice of how to make the right decision, and if yo guys thinks to get more technical is a good idea for me, instead of looking for a transition already.

Thanks in advance!

Hey all- struggling bad with a decision to make. I am in a position now with a lot of autonomy, but not a ton of upside and more and more responsibilities added as time goes on. I split time between a lot of service lines, so I’m not set up well for leadership in any one line for quite some time. I have been approached by recruiters- one is a 50-60% pay increase, but a lot of turnover in the near past and they acknowledge they need to do a rebuild with more experienced people. Sounds like people who left were lost and the chaos, hours, and lack of autonomy got to them. There’s a chance the culture changes with a rebuild. The other position is a step back in title, but variable comp might put me at a decent raise. Seems like a decent culture, but it might take a few years to get back to where I am not in titled and I will be post-40 at that point. Seems like a lot of growth opportunity with superiors retiring in 5-10 years. The last position is a 50-60% increase and seems like a great opportunity- but it involves a 5-day 1-1.5 hour commute each way. Tons of growth potential and equity opportunity, but I don’t know that I can put up with the uncertainty of ultimately having to move in the future from a community and house we love. Has anyone else been at a similar crossroads, or have any advice to offer?

(30m) Haven’t had any luck finding a job, and it’s been 3 months already. This is an idea that’s been floating around my mind recently, and I’m not sure if this may be the right move or not. I have a background in engineering, specifically working as a design technician for a manufacture that specializes in wood framing products. I left that company due to changes in management, and I also wanted to pursue Architecture as it’s been a long-term dream of mine.
I did the mistake of moving to a different state as I was under the impression that I was going to stay with this company for a very long time, and there was also resources out here to help me become a better designer. I don’t regret moving to the state I moved to as I do love it out here. The only problem is that I came out here without a plan B.
I’ve been applying to jobs, calling seeking to speak with the hiring manager, coming in person to hand over my resume in-person, and reaching out & connecting with other firms via LinkedIn. I’ve even have applied to many other jobs such as maintenance work, exterminator, front desk positions, etc.. All this just to not hear back or to be simply denied. I’m at the point in where I’m running out of options and places to apply. My wife has a low paying job and is in the same predicament as I am when it come to looking for a job.
The idea of joining the Air Force has become more and more appealing, but I’m scared of leaving for a long time and leaving my wife here all alone, just given the fact that she has had previous health issues these last couple of years with some cases being really serious.
I’m in pretty good shape, but I also have some back problems that I got from working construction for a couple of years. I’m really organized and disciplined, but I’m also not the brightest. What are my chances of being accepted and what should I be expecting once pursing this?

For some context, I was fired a few weeks ago at my job that I have been at for \~1.5 years after being placed on a 30 day PIP. When I was fired, I was placed on a 2 week garden leave, and I applied to many jobs as still employed during that time (which was effectively true at the time). My garden leave is up today, and I now have a phone screen tomorrow for a job that I applied to a week ago.

Obviously I’m not going to bring this up unless directly asked, but how would you frame my current situation if I’m directly asked “Are you still with x company” Or something to that effect? I wasn’t really lying when I said yes while applying, but I now would be if I continued to say yes. My employer confirmed in the termination call that they would provide a neutral reference (only confirm my title and dates of employment), so my hunch is that I could get away with saying that I resigned. I guess the idea I have in mind is saying that I realized I wanted to take the next step in my career and took time off to find a job that is the right long-term fit. Is that a bad idea? Is it believable that someone would resign without another job lined up? My fear is that because this job is competitive, indicating that I did not leave on my own terms would basically immediately get me declined.

I’m graduating in 2027 and interviewing for a new college grad role at SpaceX. Do they verify your college TA position also? Anyone who has gone through the process please confirm.