Please don’t roast me too hard, I already feel physically sick even typing this out.

I got hired six months ago as an internal operations specialist. Three weeks in, the manager who hired me abruptly quit, teh rest of the team got shuffled into different departments, and I somehow completely slipped through the cracks. For months, nobody assigned me anything. I reached out twice early on asking where I should jump in, got vague "we’re restructuring, just sit tight" replies, and then... silence.

I won't lie, at first it felt like a weird blessing, but after a while the guilt just ate me alive. I basically spent the last four months logging in, moving my mouse, and fixing maybe two broken spreadsheets a week while collecting a solid paycheck.

Well, reality finally caught up. We got a new regional director on Monday, and out of nowhere she put a 45-minute "Q2 workflow and portfolio review" on my calendar for tomorrow afternoon. She explicitly asked me to walk through my "core deliverables and current bottlenecks."

i dont even have a folder to show. Do I just come clean and explain that management completely dropped the ball on onboarding me, or do I frantically invent six months of busywork tonight?

When I go into my local office once a week, I’ll have to be on Teams calls all day long given that every person from my team lives in a different state than I do.

It just so happens that everyone else from my team also happens to get to stay 100% fully remote since they all don’t live anywhere near an office.

Therefore, I’ll be the only one from my entire team who has to go into an office (while everyone else stays 100% fully remote on my team).

Anyone else have something similar happen and what did you do?

I told my mom I was going to try and volunteer somewhere to boost my resume, but she said it means nothing after you graduate High School. Is she right? Or is it still worth it?

I'm 29 and have spent the last 6 years working in casino surveillance. A lot of my job involves investigating suspicious activity, reviewing footage, writing incident reports and documenting stuff for compliance.

I'm trying to move into fraud investigation or corporate compliance, but I'm getting nowhere with applications.

My official title is surveillance operator, which I think makes recruiters assume I'm just watching security cameras all day.

Has anyone successfully moved from casino surveillance into a corporate role? I'm starting to wonder if my experience is actually transferable or if I'm gonna have to start from scratch.

I know I’ll probably get flamed for this because people are struggling to find work right now, but I honestly feel like I’m suffocating.

My manager put in her two weeks out of nowhere last Tuesday. Yesterday afternoon, our VP pulled me into a private room and essentially said the team is mine now. No interview, no real discussion, just "we know you can handle this." Sounds great on paper right? Except the bump is literally 4% more money for what is easily double the workload, plus managing three people who used to be my peers.

the thing is, I actually liked my boring mid-level role. I closed my laptop at 5 PM sharp, went for a run, cooked dinner, and slept like a baby. Watching my manager over teh last year was terrifying—she was on Slack at 11 PM every single night and looked perpetually on the verge of tears. I dont want that life, even if turning it down paints a massive target on my back.

My partner thinks I’d be insane to say no and that it’ll kill any upward momentum here. But is it really career suicide to just want to remain a regular worker bee? My brain is fried and I have to give them an answer by tomorrow morning.

I spent the last three years being the golden child of our operations team. First one in, last one out, cleaned up messy client accounts that other managers gave up on. I documented processes nobody else wanted to touch.

so when our team lead announced she was leaving last month, I assumed the promotion was a done deal. I had the numbers, I trained half the staff, and my annual reviews were flawless.

I sat down with our VP on Tuesday. He smiled, praised my work ethic for ten minutes, and then told me they offered the role to an external hire. When I asked what I lacked, he looked me in the eye and said: "Honestly, you are just too valuable in your current seat. If we move you up, our operational numbers will tank because nobody else can handle your volume."

Let that sink in. I worked myself into being completely TRAPPED. The slacker across from me who does the bare minimum gets to coast, while I got penalized for being efficient. They gave me a tiny three-percent merit bump and expected me to train my new outside boss on the internal software.

Its a sick realization that being irreplaceable just means you are unpromotable. I should of quiet-quit two years ago like everyone else.

Why does modern management constantly punish the exact people keeping their departments alive?

I work in IT and occasionally I get grilled on other people's stuff by the manager.

For example an hour ago I got chewed out because my colleague marked that he received a device from an offboarding. He didn't actually and the offboarded employee still has it and is trying to return it. This isn't something that can be easily confused because there is a note on the task that can not be edited that says on this time and date my peer received this device with this serial number from this person written by my peer. For whatever reason my manager has reached out to me and only me to ask why my colleague marked he received the computer when he hadn't. I said I'll ask him but that may be a question better directed to the individual in question in the future rather than his peer. My one on one was then pulled forward and I was lectured about not taking ownership over the work. Thing is we're peers with the same responsibility and in this case it was literally his responsibility as he claimed he received the device on a day when I was not there.

I have no clue what I'm supposed to do anymore. I'm not a manager and I have brought this up to my skip level and to HR in the past and they just say "well it's not your responsibility to manage your peers". To top this off I was given a verbal warning about this last year when my manager had me coach another peer in a unofficial one on one. But they also do nothing about it and my manager continues to pull this stuff.

What is the appropriate response to a situation like this?

I work in account management at a small logistics company. One of our biggest clients reached out to me privately asking if I'd be interested in an operations role at their company.

The position pays better and is something I'd actually want to do. Problem is, I'm the main person handling their account and my boss put me in charge of their contract renewal next month.

I haven't responded yet because I'm worried it'll somehow get back to my boss. We're a pretty small company and word travels fast.

Would you explore the opportunity quietly or is this one of those situations where you should be upfront from the beginning?

I’m turning 25 soon and looking for career advice.

I completed my bachelor’s and master’s back-to-back in the social sciences/humanities, both funded through scholarships and assistantships, allowing me to do everything debt-free (I'm fine financially).

I’ve had some great academic and professional opportunities, but most of my experience has been short-term. My concern is that, especially in today’s job market, employers value years of consistent work experience, demonstrated skills, and a track record of doing the same job well more than anything else.

I worry that there’s a window early in your career to get your foot in the door, build a few years of experience, and then use that foundation to advance, earn more, or pivot into other fields. The longer you delay that process, the harder it might become to break into entry-level positions.

My situation is that I have a competitive, prestigious 10-week internship lined up for the spring. It could open doors, but it doesn’t directly lead to a job, and there are no guarantees afterward. Taking it means delaying my search for something stable even further.

So far, my resume has consisted of various opportunities lasting several months to a year or two, with some common threads throughout. I’ve had a lot of success, and my resume might look impressive to the right person, but I worry that eventually, the lack of consistent, relevant work experience becomes a liability. I could be 25, with impressive academic and extracurricular accomplishments, still trying to break into a conventional entry-level job.

Am I overthinking this, or does delaying the start of a "career" genuinely make it harder to establish yourself later? At what point does exploring opportunities become a liability rather than an advantage?

I'm writing this post because I have been unemployed for the last 2 years, and it's continuing. Honestly, it's been one of the most difficult phases of my life.

Initially, I thought it would take a few months to find a job, but as time passed, the self-doubt, overthinking and frustration kept increasing. I constantly question myself, my skills, my decisions and my future. Some days I feel motivated to try again, while on other days, I struggle to find the energy to do anything.

The financial pressure makes everything even harder, especially when your savings are running out and you still haven't found a way to get back on your feet.

I also wonder how other people in the same situation are dealing with everything. What is your family situation like? Are your parents supportive or do you face pressure and criticism from them? What do your relatives, friends, and society say when they find out you are unemployed for so long?

Sometimes, it's not just about finding a job anymore. It's also about dealing with mental pressure, comparing yourself to others, losing confidence and wondering whether things will ever get better.

I'm not posting this to complain or seek sympathy. I just want to connect with people who understand what this feels like, share our experiences and motivate each other.

My unemployment has been going on for 2 years and I'm still struggling with self-doubt and overthinking.

It would genuinely help to hear your stories, especially from people who have been through something similar and managed to turn things around.

Let's talk openly without judging each other. Sometimes, knowing that we're not alone in this situation can make a difference.

How long have you been unemployed, and how are you holding up?

HI I accepted a role of PT genius at Apple (I’m a rehire as I was a genius for 4 years until 2019) and I’m supposed to start Friday. This is only guaranteed 20 hours a week, with ability to pick up hours.

I was also interviewed at another retailer (lululemon for an assistant manager position) that’s full time with a little bit more an hour.

I’m struggling to choose since I have somewhat of an experience and expectation with Apple but I’m curious as to what doors having assistant manager on my resume could help open.

I know that if I go the other route, I will most likely be blacklisted from ever reapplying at an Apple Store or at least getting hired. But I know lululemon has been in a bit of a financial decline so I’m worried about longevity and stability. Can anyone give me any advice?

Thanks

For context, I'm a highschool student. My motivation for everything has been imagining others, especially people from my country, happy and healthy. Recently, I've been feeling that having this as a motivation is quite naïve. Of course, no one can heal the entire world and everyone in it. I just want to help as much as I can. I'm worried that basing my career off of this might cause me to become jaded or cynical in some way. Perhaps my fears are unfounded, but it scares me to think that one day, I might stop believing in the goodness of the world and in helping others.

My desired career is based in STEM, which I've always had trouble with, though to be frank I've really enjoyed it. Yet, if it becomes "too much" and certain ideals of mine change, will I just be stuck in a job I resent? Being miserable would probably make everything worse, which would really affect my ability to even help others.

I don't want to get too personal, but it took a long time for me to realize why I even got up in the morning. Having a reason to do what I do would prove the greatest benefit to myself.

Im currently a 17f in trade school for welding. I enjoy welding but I know out in the field it wont be as easy as it is now. Ive always enjoyed being creative which is what brought me to welding because I hated school and I found welding to be the most creative trade. Im currently looking into switching to digital marketing but I dont know too much about it.

My goal in life is to eventually own a business or have a career where im not limited to how much money I can make. I always hated the thought of being paid a certain amount hourly or working my way up someone elses business. I want to work hard for something and have my pay depend on how hard I work but im not sure what other careers would meet my goals.

I want to protect myself. My role is to communicate IT Changes to the business effectively. I also play an enablement and change role, and have been essential in deploying AI across our global company. But - I feel it. The insecurity. Upper management only gives af about margins. With AI coming for communications as we know it, I need to start prepping for a career shift. Any advice? I’m interested in adoption and enablement, product management, UI or UX to give a couple of examples as to where I think I could head. I have a BA in anth and soci.

Background (quick): Finance degree, graduated early. BDR at a big tech company for a year, then ran my own service business for 2.5 years (peaked at $16K/mo, averaged ~$10K). Shut it down to move closer to family, took a remote marketing job that imploded after 7 months, then spent 4–5 months job hunting with a few final rounds but no offers.

A buddy owns a cash-offer/distressed-seller real estate company. I was embedded in the communication channel and the other agents before were crushing. They ended up leaving and he offered to pay for my license, and I'd co-own (50%) a separate realty LLC that handles all his listing deals, splitting commission 50/50. His pitch was 10 appointments a month and ~$7.5M in listing volume a year, roughly $135K to me pre-tax. I told him upfront I couldn't survive on commission only and asked for a base or draw. Got licensed end of August, moved down following week.

September: rates went up, zero appointments, company is burning cash and company cards are maxed out.

The "2 weeks" staying at his place is now 2 months

I've self-funded the realty LLC startup (~$2K)
He can't pay for my training anymore, so I'm paying a top local broker monthly myself. That broker is feeding me showings and leads since he knows my situation

I had 2 listings. He pulled one to turn into a rental, so I'm down to 1, with no traction yet
2 other deals in the works: one pays me $600. The other was supposed to pay $2,500, but he took an offer that cut my share to $1,000

~$480 in annual MLS dues hit in November
Have yet to secure another listing yet. October has been busy with appointments but no listing conversions yet.

Where i am at:
~$2K left in checking/savings by end of month after current bills
~$70K net worth, mostly invested (haven't touched it, wont touch it)

Best case, ~$1,600 coming in from current deals, with $480 of that going straight to MLS dues, plus the monthly training cost

Working full days, so no time for a side job
Can't afford to move out. One car repair and I'm wiped out

I don't think anyone acted in bad faith. It just went sideways fast and I'm stuck in the middle. But decisions keep getting made that cut into my income, and I have no say in them.

The question:
If I stay, the pipeline could pay off, it's my only real path to income right now, I'm building a network, and the city isnt my favorite but its better than hometown. But there's a long lag between work and pay, the company can't afford a base, I can't move out, my cash keeps draining, and there's no room for a side job. If I go home, I can focus on landing a local job, live stress-free with food and housing covered, and hustle for side money. But I'd be back to square one, could lose momentum on my listings, risk getting complacent, and my income potential drops to zero. There's also a third option: the broker training me offered to bring me onto his team, but that would mean cutting ties with my buddy's company and potentially my only housing option in the city.

How would you think about the opportunity cost here?

I'm 25, I've bounced around a lot, and I'm worried I'll still be bouncing at 30. I don't want to give up on building something, but I'm tired of being broke on active income.

And here is a final point: if you were to ask, what job would you do if you could? Answer: no clue

Second point: even if i knew the answer above, lets say i go home, what job will i get there? I didn’t have much success in the first place, what would change?

I was thinking about getting into construction since i have enjoyed certain aspects of real estate but i don’t come from that background. No problem with that but as we know, job market is tight.

My biggest fear is getting desperate, taking anything, taking a big backward step with my career, pigeon holding/getting stuck, finding myself in not such a good position

TL;DR: 25M, two months into a commission-only realty partnership with a friend. Projected $135K, made $0 so far. One listing got pulled for a rental, another deal's payout was cut from $2,500 to $1,000, and ~$1,600 total is in the pipeline against monthly training costs and $480 in MLS dues. Down to ~$2K cash by month-end (~$70K invested). Stay or cut losses?

I'm 27k in student loan debt, with no job, no savings, two swe internships on my resume, projects, and a useless cs bachelor's degree from 2025.

I got absolutely no call backs for anything my senior year or for the year post graduation. My "new grad" status expired a long time ago.

To pursue another career I'd need to go back to school for another bachelor's or masters degree, which I do not have the ability to do. The only work experience I have is in this field, I have absolutely no substantial skillset or work experience outside tech.

Going to food service, warehouse, retail, and other minimum wage types of jobs won't help long term. I don't see how going for another degree/field will really change anything. I put in the best effort I could have for this one. The job market will change again, I once again will be shamed for "not having enough experience", I again will be buried in more student debt.

What should I do after having burned and destroyed my career, my future, my life?

I’m based in NY. I have a fashion design degree, 7 years of experience, but after years of a gap, I can’t get back into the field, and I am seriously considering looking for options that I am good at and what I like.

If anyone knows of a platform or career explorer test something like that that helped you, I would like to take it. I appreciate it!

I’ve been offered a 6-month contract and can’t decide whether it’s a good idea in this market. Would love outside perspectives!

Background: Data/analytics, ~4 years of experience in tech. My first job lasted 2 years and I’ve been at my current one for 1 year 10 months. I’d been planning to look for a new job around mid-2027 anyway.

Current job (full-time, hybrid):

• ~$135k total comp
• Great healthcare, 4% 401k match
• Stable, but the work is getting less interesting, and I'd like to get a remote job eventually

Contract offer (W2, fully remote):

• 6-month fixed term covering a maternity leave
• $160/hr, 32 hours/week guaranteed (up to 40)
• No health insurance or 401k or PTO
• The work is cleaning up the data setup they already have, using tools I already know well. I’d also learn a couple of new ones and get exposure in a new industry (ecomm).

Here is what worries me:

• The job market. If the search afterward takes 6+ months, I'd end up losing money eventually.
• Since it’s a maternity cover, it likely won’t turn into a full-time job.
• Will 2 years → ~2 years → 6-month contract look like job-hopping?

Should I take it?

\Edit: what makes this attractive is that even after healthcare and additional taxes (no self-employment taxes due to the W-2 status) I'll be essentially earning 1 year of pay in 6 months.*

I've been thinking about how different generations work together, and I'm curious about people's actual experiences.

I've worked in teams with Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, and recently started thinking more about how age, experience, and workplace dynamics might influence the way people collaborate.

I'm curious whether generational differences are something people actually notice in their day-to-day work, or whether factors like personality, seniority, company culture, and management styles play a bigger role.

A few things I've been wondering about:

• Do you prefer working with people around your own age, or does age not really matter to you?
• If you've worked in a team with a wide age range, have you noticed differences in communication, collaboration, or expectations?
• Do younger and older employees tend to work together as peers in your workplace, or are those interactions more often between employees and managers?
• Have you experienced any misunderstandings that you think were related to generational differences? Or have you seen situations where having different generations was an advantage?
• Has your perspective on working with different age groups changed as you've progressed through your career?

I'd be really interested in hearing about specific experiences, whether positive, negative, or completely uneventful.

I'm especially curious whether generational differences are as significant in practice as they're often made out to be, or if we tend to attribute normal workplace differences to age.

I (28f) have been at my current job for almost 5 years. I started in NYC where our office was located but was really fortunate to keep my job once moving out of state and am now fully remote. My department is me, my boss, and an assistant.

My boss is going on maternity leave and I was given the option to either relocate back to NYC for the duration of her leave (job would pay for my NYC apartment), or for the firm to hire someone that would be senior to me. I turned down the offer to relocate as it would be a big disturbance to my life and there would be no financial compensation or title change. We’ve now hired someone senior to me who will be starting only two weeks prior to my boss going on leave.

On top of my current workload, I’ve already been given additional tasks and meetings to oversee while my boss is away. I was under the impression that hiring someone new (and my senior) would mean they are taking on my boss’s workload while mine would stay relatively the same. I’ve only just found out the new hire will be taking on more menial and seemingly lower-level tasks due to the fact that she has very little time to train with my boss. In a recurring meeting that will eventually include our new hire, my boss even told people that I “know her better” and can help make decisions when she’s away.

I’m meant to have a talk with my boss tomorrow regarding department changes / responsibilities. I’m not sure how to voice my concerns on having her director-level work dumped on me while a new hire gets a senior title and higher pay without sounding whiny or bratty. I also already get special treatment being that I’m fully remote and am afraid to come off like I’m taking advantage of the situation or don’t want to work hard.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I'm disabled and don't drive. I don't think I'm an idiot. I think I'm extremely emotionally intelligent, have high interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness, and am a great reader and writer, etc., but I just have a shit memory from anxiety and epilepsy. I nearly failed most of my math and science classes in high school, and I should not be trusted with machinery. I've worked retail for four years and I'm pretty good at my job, but I don't want to be broke all the time. What options do I have? I do have a B.A. in English/Creative Writing (only thing I was good at besides art), but the writing/editing field is super competitive and they work you to death and don't pay you all that well. Sometimes, I wish I'd majored in something else. I might need to start there even though I think that job would isolate me and make me unhappy. I tried teaching and that made me unhappier than retail, so that's a hard pass. Writing/editing would definitely pay better than retail. I might just never make much money. I wouldn't be stressed about it if the cost of living wasn't out of control, but it is.

What would you suggest? Remember: I can't drive. That's an issue in America.

Hi. I just graduated this Friday with a degree in Sound Technology from ITLA in the Dominican Republic. I had the highest GPA among the Sound Technology graduates. All my classmates are celebrating, but I still haven't posted anything on my socials.

When I was about to start college, I had dreams of helping independent bands and artists in my country who might not have a lot of money, and of helping my church achieve a whole new level of sound quality. But somewhere along the way, while I was still studying, that light started to fade.

Now I'm depressed and questioning my existence after feeling like I've wasted my youth. All my friends are making good money, and I can't even find a job in my field.

AI stole my spark the moment I first heard an AI-generated merengue song in 2024. I knew us music producers had no hope.

On top of that, my institute focused almost entirely on music production. Our electronics class consisted of listening to the differences between types of saturation. I don't know how to solder a cable, let alone anything about electronics.

The same thing happened with acoustics. We were asked to draw a floor plan of our rooms and even design a studio in Autocad, but I don't have the slightest idea how to properly soundproof a room.

The live sound portion of the program, which is practically the only area offering job opportunities in my country, was also taught very poorly. I have no idea how to set up an entire sound system by myself. I barely know my way around the Behringer X32.

I sent my portfolio to a film studio here in the Dominican Republic, and they completely ignored it.

I spoke to my institute to ask whether they offered scholarships to graduates who wanted to pursue a second degree, and to my surprise, they told me they don't offer scholarships to former students. I'm screwed.

I wanted to hear some advice from someone with experience because I can't take all this mental shit anymore. I don't want to end up living on the streets.

I don't know whether pursue a bachelor's degree at a university abroad, take live sound courses here in my country or study a completely different degree unrelated to sound.

Hi everyone, I am a current student in the Greater Boston area graduating in December with a degree in Econ, i’ve been looking for internships and full time roles but haven’t had much luck. Looking for advice on what I should do next because I feel quite lost.

To tell a little about myself, I was originally a biochem major but I found an interest in the financial/econ field from a few classes I had taken and decided I wanted to switch majors. But that switch occurred in my junior year so I was already behind in the cycle. To catch up I took on small roles and unpaid internship/externships in equity research and FP&A, I also self studied a lot of concepts and am taking a python certification course on my own time (I feel like having some programming on my resume helps in this day and age). I would say I am intermediate in my excel skills but I am always studying more concepts and trying to grow my skills. I have made it to 2 final rounds (out of 300+ applications) but I was rejected both times for someone with more traditional experience.

Graduating in Decemeber also feels like a brutal time with how weird it is in the cycle ,along with how rough the job market is, I recently have not been hearing back from anyone. I have thought about going straight for a masters degree, but I want to earn money and real experience so I can afford school and have my application stand out.

Right now, I am really debating cold emailing small firms to ask for winter internships (even unpaid) but I still feel like i’m late to this because I have been mainly focused on full time roles. I need to strengthen my resume somehow, though I worry that my background isn’t what they are looking for. 

What should someone in my shoes do to just get my foot in the door?

Thank you.

If anyone could share their experience with getting an MIS degree and how easy/hard it was to get a job out of college, taht would be great help. If you could also share what college, that would help as well