I don’t feel guilty.
I don’t feel sorry for any of my co workers.
I don’t give a shit about what work needs to be done today.
I owe absolutely no body an explanation.

I’m happy right now.
I’m at peace.
I don’t feel pressured, stressed, anxiety driven…
I’m happy.
That’s all that matters to me.
And I don’t care how that makes anyone else feel.

Felt the need to say this.
It’s okay to take your days off.

I had my third round interview with a mid-sized logistics firm last Thursday. Everything went great. The hiring manager loved my background, the team seemed normal, and the compensation discussions lined up with my expectations.

so Friday morning I open an email from their HR coordinator. She asks me to fill out a portal link with four professional references. Fair enough, right? Except the form explicitly requires the phone number and corporate email of my direct supervisor at my CURRENT job.

Not a former boss. Not a trusted peer. My actual boss right now.

I wrote back a very polite note explaining that my current employer does not know I am actively looking, and I offered two previous directors and a senior client instead.

She replied two hours later saying their internal compliance policy requires speaking to my current manager BEFORE they can even draft an offer letter.

Think about the sheer delusion here. They want me to walk into my boss's office, announce that I am trying to jump ship, and paint a giant target on my back for a job that isn't even guaranteed. If they decide to go with another candidate, I am left with a destroyed relationship at my current company. Its completely unhinged behavior.

Why do corporate recruiters act like job seekers have zero personal risk in this market?

I spent almost eight years working in operations. Started as an assistant, worked my way up, eventually handled vendor coordination, reporting, and a bunch of the boring things that keep an office running.

Then my department was eliminated.

I spent the first four months looking for another office job. I had interviews, a couple of promising second rounds, and absolutely nothing to show for it.

Eventually the savings started getting uncomfortable, so I took an overnight stocking job at a grocery store.

Four nights a week. I unload boxes, fill shelves, go home, sleep, and send out applications before my next shift.

The work is honest. My coworkers are decent. I'm glad I can pay my bills.

But I'm now struggling with something I didn't expect: what to do with this job on my resume.

My old resume ends with my operations position. That leaves an employment gap that's getting longer.

The updated version includes the grocery store as my current job, which makes it look like I went from running office operations to stocking cereal.

A friend who works in recruiting told me to leave it off because hiring managers might assume I'm no longer serious about corporate work.

But that makes no sense to me. I didn't change career paths. I got laid off and needed to keep my electricity on.

I actually had one interviewer ask why I had "transitioned into retail." I explained the situation politely, but in my head I wanted to say, "I transitioned into paying rent."

So I'm genuinely curious, especially from people who have hired candidates or returned to their field after taking a temporary job:

Would you include the grocery store job, put it under a separate "Additional Experience" section, or leave it off entirely?

It feels ridiculous that staying employed while looking for work might somehow make me look less employable.

I work a regular 9-5 job and make middle class income in the US at a medium size company. Nothing crazy, i seen plenty of my colleague quit so they can pursue their dream whether its to do something they truly enjoy or just find another employer who would pay more.

But in todays day and age, i think we should forget the notion of “dream job” and rather focus on being happy where you are at and use your job to build a lifestyle you truly wants outside of work.
With this kind of economy and job market, i just can’t see anything that resemble “perfect job” anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, i support people finding better opportunities. But i just couldn’t understand when people say “i am leaving this job to find my perfect/dream job” since that is completely subjective

I have long since forget all my dream and just go to work, get paid, and go home now…

What can I improve? Will this land me a job?

You give a 10 business day notice to my work and apparently it takes 12-15 business days for a background check to come back. That cannot be the reality

I know i haven't spent nearly as long unemployed as many, many others have. And please don't get me wrong here, I am BEYOND grateful that I have a job that pays my bills. I'm not trying to stand here and say "I wish i was unemployed over this!" because that just isn't true. HOWEVER, in this market, with the way this is going, with the things I've had to do and the position I'm currently in... it feels horrible.

I've been in management most of my career. I've worked majorly in customer service/retail, so I'm not struggling with the same things a lot of people are (i.e. holding several degrees and ending up a fast food worker) but I am still struggling. Again, 9/10 times I've been management to upper management, respected, listened to, or at the very least could feel some kind of pride when answering the dreaded question "So what do you do for a living?" Now I have to stand here and tell people "Yeah I'm a cashier at [insert home improvement store.]" when last year I was a Supervisor at a highly respected company.

Other people my age look at me with pity, and those older always follow up with "Are you climbing the ladder?" or "Is this just a stepping stone?" NO. THIS IS MY LIFE. This was the best I could get after 4 months! And I didn't have a massive thousand plus dollar savings account, I had my Fiance and I visiting the food bank and local churches every day for scraps. This job? Working as a cashier, 40+ hours a week, barely seeing the inside of my own home and going literal days without seeing the love of my life? This is the best thing I could have asked for right now. I sobbed the day I got the email to do my paperwork.

But I'm ashamed of this stupid fucking job. I'm humiliated every time i clock in and every time someone asks if i have free time and this town is so small that people i used to know recognize me at this store and all go "Oh! you're... here now. How's everything?" and it guts me. I finally got a job and I can pay my bills and it's steady work and I've never felt worse. I'd never go back to 352 applications, 5 round interviews to work at a fucking gift shop only to not get the job, never getting a reply back or automated AI Emails or job postings that just straight up fucking lie. Never. I'm grateful but I'm also miserable.

Just needed to get this off my chest. Keep up the good fight, everyone.

EDIT:

Thanks everyone ❤️ I’m not ashamed for fighting and pushing the bolder up the hill, I grew up in the slums of Orlando with five siblings and a single dad, so the struggle will never embarrass me. I think I let my old “office” coworkers get me down, watching them turn their nose up at me pissed me off and hit my ego.

I made it clear but want to make it even more clear that I’m proud to pay my bills and have a job. I’m just ashamed of the kind of job I have (and yes I have been a cashier/fast food worker before, I didn’t START in management) after everything. But it’s amazing to see/read the support. ❤️

I joined a company about two months ago for a role that was pitched as working with senior leadership on a refinancing and M&A. The refi stalled shortly after I started, and most of that scope never materialized.

Three weeks in, I was told everything was going great and they were excited to have me. Around six weeks later, I noticed I wasn't as busy as I'd expected based on how the role was described, so I asked for informal feedback to make sure I was tracking. We scheduled it for Monday (today). In that meeting they let me go, citing a skills mismatch and my level of engagement.

No warning, no prior feedback that anything was off, and the conversation only happened because I asked for it. They said that it just so happens they were planning on letting me go when I asked for feedback and had been evaluating me for weeks.

Thankfully I have another offer lined up at the same salary, so I'm okay. But it's pretty jarring that a company would do this with zero feedback or warning. If I'd been relying on this job and didn't have any intuition, I'd be in a really bad spot.

Has anyone else been through this? I'm kind of shocked, depressed and confused at the same time

I’m 26. I graduated in May 2023 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Was laid off in January 2025 and I still haven’t found a permanent job. I was hired into a contract position in July of last year that lasted until December but they decided not to renew.

I thought maybe I did a shit job but the manger said no, that he actually liked me and that I did great work, but that they couldn’t afford the expense of another drafter with how slow work was getting. Okay cool.

I left there, went on unemployment again this year in May after working at Walmart for the first 5 months of the year. $14/hour isn’t a damn thing but I did it anyway. But then they cut my hours. I mean I was getting 10 hours per week lol. Down from 40. Why? They told me it’s “what the system scheduled”. I ended up getting sick and they fired me because apparently it was a “key date”. Whatever man.

So now from May to now I’ve been eating into my savings and just applying still. My unemployment ends in about a month. And I have nothing.

The saddest and most frustrating part is that I’m watching my friends, people with the same degree as me, some in the same FIELD of work as me, celebrate new milestones, advancements, etc…

And I just want to die. My family is being weird about it. They say the usual stuff. That “there’s no reason I shouldn’t have a job with that degree”. Or that I’m not actually trying to look for work, that I enjoy sitting on my ass after working hard for my degree and paying for the whole fucking thing too.

It’s getting bad. I’ve stopped eating. Not because I can’t afford it but because I’ve started to get sick for some reason. I usually leave and go to the library to apply for jobs. Just so my family doesn’t think I’m slacking around. My dad still tells me to go inside places to “apply”. Lmao right…because that’s how it works nowadays.

I just don’t know what to do. This is one of the only times in my life I’ve been so emotionally uncomfortable that I’ve actually considered suicide. I just feel stuck and like maybe dying would release me from this hell that I am in. I won’t do it. Absolutely not. But the idea…does not sound bad.

I hope everyone here is at least doing slightly better than I am. This job market sucks.

I lost my job when my company shut down 3 months ago (CEO had lots of debt, long story). 3 months of searching, nothing. I've applied to everything from jobs related to my major, office jobs, factory jobs, retail, etc. Ive scrolled through Indeed sometimes submitting a dozen applications a day. Literally hundreds of jobs ive applied to since I last worked, and I only got ~8 interviews. With one job I went through 2 interviews only for the 3rd to be a flop, the guy was mostly friendly but it was clear he didn't take me seriously as a candidate and he made a "good luck on the job hunt" comment at the end of the interview. I just can't anymore, I just want to go to the grocery store without my hear racing about my savings, I just want to think about moving out, being able to go out and have a life. I can't really put my thoughts into words I just feel so much rage and hopelessness.

Im 20 this is my first job. I work at a fast food chain known for chicken. I leave crying everyday. I tell myself its just for one more year as i graduate with a degree in computer science by then but i feel so dumb at work.

I have audhd. Im a slow person. Im also small. I struggle to carry heavy things no matter how much i work out. My heaviest bench is 50 and ive worked out for 3 years for godsake so i require extra help with things that are high up or heavier, especially due to my motor issues. I bump into things all the time so i try and be careful and slow or else i fall. Its already happened multiple times.

I try hard at everything i do but i just need time and patience to get used to it. The thing is i am fast at repetitive tasks like building the plates or like customer service. But i just needed like a couple of shifts to get used to it. Ive been called slow out right and either laugh or yell at me. I get yelled at frequently. I dont know if thats just apart of fast food. Theyre quick to ask me why something went wrong when i know i didnt do anything wrong.

They get mad at me for using a system that helps me best and go faster but then get mad when i use their system and go slower even tho i told them right off the bat im AUTISTIC.

Its not that i dont try im just physically slow and i need space to organize things in my head, not to be physcially shoved aside as they mess up my work and put it out, only for it to be wrong and now im lost because they messed up a system that worked because they wanted to be .5 seconds faster.

I dont like when they laugh at me when i do things that seem weird. Its one thing when maybe i forget where i put my glasses or whatever yeah thats funny but when im genuinely struggling to meet their expectations... i feel so worthless.

I ask for help but i never recieve it.

They also silently look at me alot and hand me a platter and just point at the entire thing and expect me to read non existent clues as to why its wrong. I dont know why. I cant notice or understand until you point it out how am i to read your mind. It makes things slower because youre expecting me to know whats wrong by just... giving me a mean look.

I was once bullied by a coworker constantly and they sided with her. Only one manager did her best. Shes so kind to me. I gave her a friendship bracelet because i wanted to show how much her kindness means to me.

I try to do small kind things with my other managers and coworkers but they kind of give me a weird look. Or i get in trouble for stepping away for 5 minutes to rest in a 6 hour shift. Once i tried explaining why what someone did was upsetting to me and why i was confused and i just said nevermind and walked off and they laughed.

Some coworkers make worse mistakes than me yet im scolded. Ive been hear for nearly 2 years.

Another thing is when i ask them to speak up they dont then get mad at me when i dont hear them. Its a loud restaurant they blast the music. I cant tell if i have hearing loss or theyre unreasonable for expecting me to hear them.

Ive honestly been feeling like a worthless sack of worms

Am i just not meant to be in the work force? Should i look into disability? I feel genuinely dumb most days and like im a burden on society.

Is this all on me??

Hi!! Sorry if what I’m trying to explain makes no sense. I’m 22y in north Texas. I’m currently working in manufacturing making $24/hr and I feel stuck. I had to leave home at 18, and wasn’t allowed to attend college. I want to be making so much more but how do I move from here to there? Everyone I’ve talked to says “oh, you have to start out making $20/hr and move up” which i understand! But how am I supposed to like, pay my rent? Eat? I can’t take a pay cut to wait and maybe get promoted.

How can I continue into a career?

I will be doing my trial shift this friday for this role. I’ve had previous experience work with food but my customer service skills isn’t that strong since I’m a bit introverted. I really want to get this job. Any advice for someone who is completely new to this role ? I work 10 hour shifts. Basically I only have one chance to get hired which is to prob do well this Friday 🥹

For context: I worked this job from mid May to the end of July. I enjoyed my previous job very much, unfortunately I had to relocate last minute because of family issues. I know it was handled badly on my end because of the no notice, however at my last job it was just me and my boss. I was hired as a part time Summer helper (under the table pay, I was the first ever employee my old boss ever hired). We had a good working relationship, however never really talked outside of work. I’m 23, about to finish undergrad, and he’s in his mid 40s. After I left, there was no context for a month until randomly a few weeks ago he started texting me emojis. And hasn’t stopped. For every day it would just be emoji after emoji. I ignored it hoping he’d just leave me alone but it didn’t stop. Yesterday he used words for the first time but just cussed me out. I finally had enough and blocked him. I don’t even live in that city anymore, nor was I ever a legal employee. Was blocking him the right thing to do? Has anyone else had this problem?

I'm 23 and trying to build a career in fashion and beauty in NYC. Since September, I've made 14–15 videos, written several articles, and helped with events for an independent fashion magazine, mostly unpaid. Some videos take hours to create, and I cover my own expenses.

The owner has discussed me working full-time and expects commitment, but there's no contract or guaranteed salary. The arrangement is that I might get paid through commissions or when brands and events pay him for projects. Those opportunities haven't really materialized, despite me repeatedly explaining that I need income. In the span of 2 months I’ve only earned 160 dollars.

I recently took a small part-time content job with a perfume brand. The magazine owner got upset, suggested my opportunities come from his name and magazine, and gave me what felt like a “serious warning”. We'd discussed exclusivity, so I understand there may have been a misunderstanding, but this job is independent of him.

I pay my own rent in Manhattan and receive no financial help from my parents. I can't keep working for free while waiting for potential income. On top of that, he's repeatedly commented on my body, telling me I have no breasts, should stop wearing a bra, and dress boringly.

I appreciate the mentorship and genuinely love this industry, but I'm struggling to tell whether I'm protecting a valuable opportunity or allowing myself to be taken advantage of.

Am I being unreasonable for taking paid work elsewhere? Is this normal in fashion media, or are these red flags?

• Around 60,000 Microsoft employees are eligible for the new buyout program across four countries, said a person familiar with the matter.
• The move comes six months after Microsoft announced its first-ever voluntary retirement program to a small set of U.S. workers. 
• Employees must decide whether to take the offer in December, and those participating will leave on Dec. 31.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/10/26/microsoft-msft-voluntary-buyouts.html

I recently got my first full time job. I get two days off every week but they don't stay the same. Is it socially acceptable for me to ask for a specific day off if I ask a few weeks in advance? I'm autistic so I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to things like this

It looks like all my job applications are going into a deep black hole of Linkedin, Indeed, Workday etc. A few rejection responses I get are automated. I strongly feel that my application is getting lost in the 100s of others and some AI is screening it well before it reaches a human. One of my friend told me to email my resume directly to the person responsible for hiring. Is that a good move? Have people found success with it?

Im just looking for a part time entry level job as im a senior in hs and just need some experience and money. I dont really have professional pics of me so thats why ive been putting it off. but if i were to use a cute one of me infront of a farm do you think this would increase my chances or the black pfp would be the same? 🤣

I am so tired of this job market.

I was laid off from my software development job in August. I managed to find another position relatively quickly, and I thought I could finally breathe again.

Well, that didn't last.

I've been at my new job for about seven weeks, and I'm already desperately trying to leave.

I was put on a PIP within my first month. It was supposed to last one week, but it's been two weeks, and somehow I'm still employed. I have no idea where I stand.

I'm not even putting this position on my resume because I've been there such a ridiculously short amount of time.

So here I am, job hunting again.

I've been reaching out to recruiters, contacting people in my network, and filling out applications. And so far? Absolutely nothing.

Yes, I know it's only been two weeks. I know that's practically nothing in this job market.

But wow, I JUST went through this.

I JUST dealt with the applications, the waiting, the uncertainty, and the fear of not finding another job.

And now I'm doing it all over again.

The worst part is that I'm still employed, so I should theoretically feel more secure while job hunting. Instead, I'm constantly worried about whether I'll even have a paycheck next month.

I'm a software developer. I want to write code, solve problems, learn new things, and contribute to a team. I don't think that's asking for much.

I'm not expecting companies to throw offers at me after two weeks, but I'd love to at least see some indication that my applications aren't disappearing into a black hole.

I'm exhausted. I'm frustrated. And I'm terrified of going through another period of unemployment.

I don't want to spend my life constantly searching for my next job.

I just want some stability.

I dont wanna get too specific but i work at a wedding venue. Im not particularly passionate about weddings / i think marriage is a scam tbh…..

However i make very good money for what i actually have to do is not that hard.

Clients constantly complain to the management about me. I just fundamentally think i am wrong for this job even though my management has never alluded to the fact i am failing or anything. I feel morally horrible like i made a day worse for these people that was supposed to be the best.

Ive been applying to other things for months and cant find anything anyways.

Ive had to go down to 1 day a week because my mental health is severely suffering.
No, i cant pay my bills on one day a week but i dont know what else to do. I feel like im just not functioning very well. Its creating a bad feedback loop where i show up to work mentally ill and get more complaints.