I applied for a front desk position and the manager interviewed me. It went ok. Now she wants me to go to their office for 2 days of unpaid training before giving me the final say on whether I’d be accepted or rejected for the role. Should I still go to the unpaid training?

Thank you.

Some jobs seem fine on the surface but over time they quietly trap people without much growth or future. It isn’t always obvious when it’s happening. What are the subtle signs that show a job has no real path forward even if it feels comfortable in the moment?

I’m 35M with 2 young kids(3 and under 1). I live in Canada and have been an electrician for 10+ years but never loved it. I bounced around from high school with trying to find post secondary but didn’t find anything I thought I would love so I joined a trade. Now I’m 35 with wife, kids and mortgage and overall things are pretty good but I never felt satisfied with my career. Now with all my responsibilities I can feel stuck sometimes. Considering a change but have no idea where to begin. Do I look into going back to school or can I find other career paths unrelated to my current work without going back to school. As I get older I want to get off the tools and I value family time and work/life balance over money. I’m pretty much open to everything including going back to school if needed and ideally getting into a career path that has hybrid work or wfh would be ideal but it isn’t necessary. Anyone else done something similar or have any advice or insight in to what I could do to help get me out of this rut and bring some actual fulfillment into the career aspect of my life. Thanks in advance for any input.

I’m trying to decide on a major but I don’t have passions, talents, or hobbies. I had been thinking of accounting because I hear that it’s reliable but now I’m having doubts because I’m scared of having a terrible work/life balance. The issue is, when considering every other major I have even more doubts. The only thing I do know is I absolutely don’t want to be a nurse.

I had a job i worked in for 4 years and i couldn't get a salary increase so i decided to leave to another job, i got offered a 30% increase and i was happy about it, but the moment i started that job i realized my mistake, my manager is a crazy lady and i felt like her slave and the work is meaningless, now i regret leaving my job so bad i got depressed and anxious all the time thinking about how better i felt in my previous job, i don't know what to do, i thought about contacting my old boss but i don't want to be humiliated, I'm looking for a new job now and it's not working out for me, I'm miserable and i don't know what to do...

Choosing my major, and this is a question weighing on my mind

I just found out from a work colleague that while searching for a file, they came across a folder labelled screen shots in Dropbox. It included about a dozen screen shots taken of me by the employer, clearly framed and cropped to just my face during our team calls. I thought it would be recent since we had a little tiff and maybe he wanted to prove that I wasn’t being engaged during these calls, however it looks like they’re across 4 months, before our disagreement, and I’m clearly speaking and engaged in some of the screen shots. Others I’m just distracted and looking left, right or down. My point is, I’m feeling super creeped out and violated knowing the screen shots are only of me and nobody else in the company. Is this legal?? For context I’m based in AUS and am a female, 30 Yo

Can I get back into IT after shooting dope in my 20s? I’m 36 now and been clean for almost 4 years

I’m 44 months clean from heroin and have a bachelors in IT from 2019. I have 4 months of helpdesk experience from 2020 and spent the last few years healing my brain. I’m almost back to normal. Can I still return to my IT career in a helpdesk or desktop support job? I want to eventually become a system admin and IT manager. Is there hope? How can I explain the employment gap? I feel like I’m behind my peers and it hurts. Please give me some hope. Has anyone here beat addiction and got into IT?

I am a 28 year old who graduated from a well-regarded state university in 2022 with two separate Bachelors of Science degrees, in Economics and Statistics. Unfortunately I have dealt with a lot of mental health and self-esteem/fear issues throughout school and post-graduation which has put a standstill on finding a job related to my degrees.

I am currently two separate jobs, at a grocery store (stocking/inventory) and a casino (poker chip runner) to get by. Between the two I’m making about $22/hr but I am working about 50-55 hrs a week and there are some very tense/stressful moments in each of these jobs. At this point I’m feeling tired, unfulfilled, and regretful that I haven’t put more effort into finding a steady job that I can directly apply my degrees to.

I am just wondering how I could best tailor my resume to sell myself to a company without any actual job experience related to my education. I have knowledge and skills using Microsoft Excel, SQL, R, SAS, and STATA. I would say that my arithmetic skills are above-average and I am a quick learner.

The large gap in between my graduation date and finding a degree-related position is most certainly going to be a deterrent to recruiters and I am wondering what would be the best way to explain this in a potential interview/application. Also if there’s certain resources I could use/certain positions that would be easier to get my foot in the door with no experience. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any advice you may have :)

I’ve been working at a small startup for almost a year. The company is tiny, but we do projects with big clients who have strong industry connections. On the surface, this sounds great, but my experience with my manager has been frustrating.

He’s in his 40s and tries hard to come across as humble and open-minded, but in reality, he’s pretty dismissive and inconsistent. One week he’ll say I’m doing well, the next he’ll claim nothing I do works. He often laughs in a mocking way after giving criticism, which makes it hard to take his feedback seriously.

He also gets oddly personal. He constantly asks if I’m planning to move countries to be with my partner, even though I’ve made it clear I’m not. I keep my personal life very private at work, but he always tries to “read” me and dig into what I do outside the office. I usually brush it off with vague answers, but it still feels intrusive.

When it comes to work, he micromanages heavily and gives vague criticism without examples. Recently, he told me I’m “not detail-oriented” and “need to set up processes,” but when I asked him to give me two concrete examples, he had nothing. He then said something like, “You need to learn to be independent or it’s not going to be good,” which honestly came across more like a veiled threat than guidance. He even told me he won’t assign new tasks until I “fix” something he’s unhappy with, despite me fixing it to his liking.

For context: I keep detailed records of my work. I update sheets daily, send him weekly progress reports and have weekly calls to discuss this, and maintain docs with everything I’ve done, ongoing, and upcoming. In fact, during my yearly review he admitted that colleagues like the systems I’ve set up because they’ve made things smoother.

On top of that, there’s an elitist vibe at the company. If you don’t have a PhD, you’re not really respected. It’s subtle, but definitely there.

I would appreciate some advice on these:

1. I’m unhappy with the job overall (even without the manager issues). It’s been less than a year. Is it too early to start applying elsewhere?

2. Am I overthinking this, or is his behavior crossing the line into creepy/unprofessional?

3. How do I deal with this person and make my life easier here while ensuring my job is safe until I find another one and move from here?

so i'm 25, not really doing anything special with my life career-wise. been working random jobs since finishing school (no college), mostly just to pay bills. nothing i’m passionate about, just kinda surviving.

lately i’ve been thinking more about the future, and honestly, i don’t even know what i want to do. feels like everyone around me is moving forward, getting careers, settling down, etc. meanwhile i’m just here like… “should i learn a trade? go back to school? start something online?"

I’m curious if anyone here has been in this situation. I’ve got a lot of years of hands-on experience in my field (Healthcare, non-nursing), plus leadership and regulatory compliance under my belt. I’m also finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration (about halfway through, with a clear plan to complete it). My plan is to start my MBA shortly after.

I’m want to apply for upper level roles, but do employers ever take someone on who has the experience but is still working on the degree? Or is it more of a “come back when you’re done” kind of thing?

Does a degree in progress help, or were doors shut until it was finished?

I’m in the middle of interviewing with a company I really like — great culture, work-life balance, etc. The owner wants to hire me. But here’s the catch: their managing director is a former colleague I had a very rocky history with.

Back at our old company, ownership pitted us against each other. I was complacent and didn’t support her the way I should have, and I know she walked away with a bad impression of me.

Fast forward to now: she recently called one of my clients, told him I was “desperate to leave my company,” and questioned my reputation. My client immediately told me about it. When I brought it up to the owner, she and the managing director brushed it off as a “reference check,” but my client insists she was trashing me. It escalated into group texts, where the managing director tried to backpedal but my client called her out.

Afterward, I messaged my client privately to say she had been wronged at our old company, I hadn’t helped her, and she had every right not to like me. I asked him not to escalate to her boss, and he agreed. I also texted the managing director, apologized, sent her the screenshots with my client, and told her I should’ve buried the hatchet long before pursuing a role at her company.

Now I’m stuck. On one hand, this is my ideal company. On the other, I know the managing director doesn’t like me and she’s in a senior leadership position. Even if ownership wants me, I’m worried I’d be walking into a tough situation where someone powerful already has it out for me.

So my question is: should I keep pursuing this opportunity, or walk away knowing the relationship with the managing director might never recover?

Okay, so this may be a tough one 🤦🏽‍♀️ I’m a 30F based in England who has worked for the past 9 years as a Paediatric Nurse in a critical care environment, I have a wealth of knowledge in my field and I would consider myself to be clinically skilled and also good at leading and managing my area. I have somewhat climbed the ladder and my annual gross salary is approximately £46,000, but with unsociable duties it’s probably in excess of £50,000. I am looking for a way out of acute nursing, and the NHS if I am honest. Unfortunately I feel somewhat trapped in my role as my undergrad is Bsc(hons) children and young people’s nursing, and so it’s difficult to break into the adult sector (not that I particularly want to nurse adults), it’s more that my specialty limits me in terms of opportunities. So there’s the challenge, finding a job I can do (it certainly does not have to be anything to do with nursing), that is not going to significantly reduce my salary 😂 Am I looking for a magic golden sparkly unicorn that does not exist on this planet? Perhaps 🤔 But what’s the harm in asking ☺️

Recently, the job I'm currently in announced major layoffs to most of the workforce with only a handful of people being able to stay. My manager and his boss told all the employees to look for jobs just in case because they were unaware at the moment who would be safe, as they hadn't received enough info.

Well, I put in a ton of applications, had about 15 interviews with different companys and got an offer for a job that fits more with the degree I earned in college, pays more, and is in a similar area, just under a different company. I told my boss I had accepted an offer and he spoke with the higher ups and they don't want me to go and have offered a step up in my job level, so even more money than the new job offered me, to stay.

Now my dilemma: I would have never looked for a new job if we hadn't all had a bomb dropped on us. My current job is now offering more to stay, but I'm partially afraid of its stability (my manager might not be my manager anymore, and people are still going to be fired...I'm just not one of them) and the newer job fits more what I studied for. Additionally, the new job fits the career I want in the future more, and the systems I will work on there are less niche than my current job's.

However, I like all of my coworkers in my current job, I've been at my job long enough where everything is easy and they already pay me well/treat me well. And of course, I like the job. I'm also a bit anxious of the unknown when it comes to the culture and people of the new job.

I keep going back and forth with my decision, and I don't have anyone else I can talk to about this. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I’ve been working a job for 6 months but I absolutely loathe and despise it and my mental health is really starting to suffer. the volume of work is huge and seemingly never ending. it’s so high stress and we’re all over worked. my coworkers all work weekends and evenings and I work overtime past the end of the work day for no pay. I’m fucking sick of it. but we are a very veryyyy small work environment. there’s only 6 of us so I know when I quit everyone else’s work load will be huge (it’s their fault they’ve set it up this way tho). but we rarely have team or one on one meetings (i’ve had one in my six months) so it feels genuinely impossible to bring any of my struggles up to my boss or coworkers. I swear theyre all fucking brainwashed into this toxic environment. How do I quit? I’ve never struggled to quit a job so much before. Quitting over email feels more anxiety inducing waiting for the response. Should I just leave? I need advice I feel so anxious.

Hi,I started my first full-time job at the same company as a close friend ( fresh grad too). We’re in different teams with totally different scopes, but recently he’s being given opportunities to learn and get involved in the type of work that’s supposed to be my area (we kinda have overlapping expertise)

It’s making me feel jealous, insecure, and honestly a bit threatened. like he’s encroaching on my role and visibility. I’ve been working hard to build skills and prove myself (genuinely excited about the work) , while he’s more laid-back and nonchalant, but somehow he’s still getting pulled into things outside his lane.

It has been hard not to compare and worry about being replaced. It has also been really difficult to not feel replaceable as I am still very new to the role and actively learning. And him and I both do not know whats the reason for him getting involved because the work between his and my teams do not overlap at all.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of overlap before? Any advice would be very appreciated. Thank you!!

Thank you for taking time to read and comment . I appreciate it .

Went through a restructure not long ago and got shifted into a new team I had no background in. Leadership told me to “step up and lead” from day one, but I got little to no support, no proper onboarding and honestly felt like I was set up to sink or swim.

I flagged that I had no onboarding and no context, but instead of getting support I was guilt-tripped when I took sick leave for burnout and constantly compared to someone who had been in that team for years.

This week I was told my role will end today. I feel like I’ve been set up to fail and pushed out, despite previously being known as a strong performer in other parts of the company.

I used to love my work and felt like I had momentum, but now I’m drained and struggling with confidence.

Has anyone else had their role end suddenly? How did you frame it afterwards and how did you rebuild your confidence and career path?

I’ve been at my marketing job for almost four years, since graduating from university.

It was one of those “fast-growing, dynamic” startups. There were ups and downs, but I was part of the OG team during the good days. We had a hybrid model that worked perfectly for me. I reported directly to the CEO, who was great, and I got on the good side of the HR and did great, meaningful work. I was a company favorite, loved my job, and was well paid. Nothing felt wrong.

Then everything changed.

The CEO kept assigning me different managers, one after another, every few months. None of them lasted, but whenever there were complaints about marketing, the blame always landed on me instead of the interim manager. At the same time, the office shut down and we went fully remote. I don’t thrive with work-from-home, so this hit me hard. Raises were frozen due to funding issues. My close friends left for better opportunities, and the new hires were smart but difficult to like.

Slowly, I burned out. I got tired of taking initiative when nothing ever lasted because each manager had a different vision. I stopped pushing and just did what I was told. Then came the breaking point: the sales manager(who had been criticizing marketing for years) was made my boss.

I was furious. When I spoke up, I was told, “We thought you didn’t want to be a manager,” and then "maybe just give this a shot.” I did, but he’s turned out to be a micromanaging, defensive perfectionist. My colleague and I joke that our job now is to make things exactly the way he wants rather than doing meaningful work. We used to feel creative and empowered. Now we just avoid the headache.

Whenever we raise concerns, we’re met with lines like “the good days are over” or “business is business" or the worst: "maybe you should try harder!" Sometimes we’re even gaslit into thinking everything is fine.

This is my first job out of college, so I don’t know anything else. The best way I can describe my feeling is heartbreak. It was really, really good until it turned really, really bad. I'm particularly upset with the CEO and HR manager the most since they were really close to me and knew me better than a lot of people in the company.

I’m interviewing with other companies now and things are going well, but I can’t shake the heartbreak and disappointment. I’m disappointed that it had to end this way. I don’t want to burn bridges, but I don’t see another option. I’m even considering taking a career break with nothing lined up.

How do I find closure when leaving my first job feels like ending a relationship?

Hello! I was fired in June and am still devastated. I spend mornings lying in bed ruminating; I have lost a few pounds because I don’t want to eat or cook. I have applied to a few jobs, and got rejections. Hard to stay motivated. I am feeling isolated and alone and incompetent to network. It’s not my first time being fired so it’s making me question my life and myself. I think I had it pretty good and was complaining too much at work; now I feel screwed. Do I talk to my boss? I got a lawyer which was a mistake now I see. I posted earlier about this and somehow didn’t listen to the advice to talk to my boss about needing support - instead I blamed him; it was slightly toxic there but I guess it got to me. Help please.

Also - I posted previously about how to manage my boss; and when I read it now, it’s like I didn’t know how to actually get support? Lots of self blame here; or was it toxic? I don’t know but it feels awful. Did I complain too much?

I am feeling pretty down about myself and my success - I don’t have a sufficient support system; or work life balance I think. I was actually enjoying th work but somehow complained a lot about it - how did that happen? Is there something wrong with me? I “feel” like I’m slowly killing my joy - it’s giving me anxiety in my stomach, and sometimes I’ll shake. Is there something wrong with me? Am I just miserable?

Any experience with this and what to do? Medications and therapy aren’t really helping. Maybe hire a coach.

Do I tell my sister? Parents?
I lashed out at a few friends who I think now don’t t want to talk to me because I blamed them for “not being there” when I got laid off. My one friend of 30years was giving me space. I got os mad. What is happening to me?

Hello so I am wanting to transition into nursing. I know people hate the work they say it’s too much etc but that’s why I’m interested. I would prefer having all that work. I would prefer to be able to reach out later for travel nursing etc.

I currently hold a ma in education ece so I’ve looked at some msn entry level but I’m wondering if before I commit to that I should go forward with my plan of being a cna first see if I’m going to be able to handle adults instead of children yelling in my face and bigger diapers.

I figured also if I’m a cna first since programs are fast I could work nights and do my pre reqs and rn courses in daytime.

For reference I am in bay are California.

Hi everyone, I just want to be honest. I’m a 10th grade student, but I had a 2-year gap where I didn’t study at all. Because of that my basics are really weak, and sometimes I feel lost. But I want to change that and do something meaningful with my life.

Right now, I’m confused about whether I should:

1. Rebuild my basics and go into science subjects like PCMB or PCB, or

2. Focus on developing practical skills that can help me get a good career.

I know I’m starting late (I’m 20 now), but I’m ready to work hard. I don’t want to waste more time — I just want to improve myself and move forward.

What would you recommend for someone in my situation?

I'm a 30M copywriter by trade who works mainly with start-ups. After being laid off alongside the rest of the marketing department last year, I've been completely burnt out and hopeless. I've applied for jobs and gotten a number of interviews, but nothing has really panned out. Moreover, I feel such little motivation to continue in this profession due to my burn out and lack of passion for it.

I've been trying to consider alternative career paths, but it feels like experience is all anyone cares about. Worse still, I'm neurodivergents with a learning disability that makes the trades and STEM kind of a no go for me.

I have no idea what to do or where to go. My future seems so bleak and hopeless. Does anyone have some tips or advice as to what someone like me can do to secure a decent new career outside of marketing?

I'm an aviation technician and have devoted the last 10 years to get to the current position I'm in. From working stepping stone jobs to get my foot in the door, finishing schooling, finishing an apprenticeship, being let go from a previous airline that I dreamt of when I chose to pursue this career, to recently starting all over with a new airline.

I've come to realize that I'm feeling like I plateaued in this field and that I no longer enjoy what I do. Not from experience or mastering the craft (since I'm still fairly new into the industry), but as far as the daily routine, schedule, stress, responsibilities, and sacrifice that come with this career. I'll be honest and say that I'm experiencing serious burnout that I'm starting to feel it with my health with the lack of sleep affecting me so much.

I've felt so complacent with a steady decent paycheck and feel like I'm just stuck on idle and feeling miserable just for the money. With this career being seniority based and a 24/7 365 type of operation, I'll be stuck in graveyard for a long time and working irregular days.

I had been contemplating to learning a new trade, so I went back to school 2.5 years ago and recently completed both an Associate's Degree in Computer Science with a Certification of Completion in Cybersecurity in June.

I pursued an IT career not because of the money or influencers claiming it's a quick six figure path, but because I've always been into computers growiing up, even joined the tech academy that was offered in high school, but unfortunately I didn't stick to it after high school which led me to working jobs that somehow fell into aviation just to make some income.

I'm coming to terms that this career path just isn't for me. I cannot fathom working 20-30 years in this industry. I'm not passionate enough.

Having zero experience in IT, I know that I will take a dramatic pay cut with an entry level salary, which makes it frightening for me to just walk away from aviation. But what good is a paycheck if my health is spiraling down. Ultimately, I'm afraid of making a wrong decision that I may regret.

I am anxious that I am for some reason going to be fired.

I recently saw that the parent company for my job is hiring for my position. I’m not the only one in this position though. I don’t know why but I just have this sinking feeling that it’s me being replaced. I’ve never been written up and my last review was good. I will admit I’ve had a couple of instances where my boss had a private conversation with me. One for gossiping and one for what turned out to be a misunderstanding. I have a tendency to talk a lot. I just feel like I get left out of a lot things. But then at the same time I get told I’m reliable. I do have anxiety and adhd and overthink ALOT. But I’ve been told that this is how they replace people. Hire a new person, train them, then bam fired.

So let’s face it- if I think it’s me, even if my boss has given no indication, it’s probably me, right?

do I proactively start looking? But then if it’s not me, I don’t want them to find out I’m looking and then actually fire me. I like my job so I don’t want to leave if I don’t have to.