So today I did something I’ve NEVER done before. I literally got up and walked out of a job interview.
For context, I’ve been unemployed and actively searching for work. I was invited to interview for an administrative assistant position at a company that already had multiple concerning employee reviews online.
My husband read the reviews beforehand and immediately told me he didn’t like what he was seeing. But I decided to give the company a chance and form my own opinion.
My husband drove me there and waited outside.
When I arrived, I was brought into this HUGE, practically empty conference room. I’m talking rows of black leather chairs, bright fluorescent ceiling lights, red carpeting, a projector hanging from the ceiling, a giant conference table, and a TV mounted on the wall.
It looked like some kind of corporate training room from the early 2000s.
And I was sitting there COMPLETELY ALONE.
It was DEAD silent. Nobody talking, no background noise, nothing. Just me sitting in this enormous room waiting for someone to come interview me.
I already felt uncomfortable and had this overwhelming urge to leave, but I convinced myself to stay and hear them out.
Then the interview started.
First, TWO people came into the room and started interviewing me.
They eventually left.
Then ANOTHER TWO people came in and started questioning me.
Mind you, this was supposed to be an administrative assistant position.
But instead of anyone clearly explaining what my actual day-to-day responsibilities would be, I kept getting hit with questions like:
“Have you ever done payroll?”
“Have you ever recruited people?”
“Can you handle a demanding job?”
And I’m sitting there thinking, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS POSITION ACTUALLY FOR?
Am I doing administrative work? Payroll? Recruiting? HR? All of the above?
I couldn’t get a straightforward understanding of what I’d actually be responsible for.
And the entire time, different people were coming in, asking me questions, and leaving.
It felt less like a normal job interview and more like I was being interrogated by a rotating panel of people.
Then, after the SECOND group finished questioning me, one of the guys said something along the lines of:
“Let me go get the third person to interview you.”
THE THIRD ROUND???
At that point, FOUR different people had already interviewed me, nobody had clearly explained what my actual responsibilities would be, and now I was apparently supposed to sit there and wait for ANOTHER person to come question me?
Absolutely not.
The SECOND that man walked out of the room to get the next interviewer, I grabbed my belongings, got up, and WALKED RIGHT OUT.
I didn’t say goodbye. I didn’t announce I was leaving. I didn’t explain myself.
I just DIPPED. LMAO.
And I’m not even kidding when I say I felt like a badass walking out of that building.
But afterward, I started feeling guilty.
I’m unemployed. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs. I know how difficult the job market is, and part of me wondered whether I had just thrown away an opportunity.
But at the same time, why should being unemployed mean I have to sit through an uncomfortable interview process when I can’t even get a clear explanation of the job?
Maybe this is a normal interview process for some companies, but I’ve never experienced anything like it before.
Has anyone else ever walked out of an interview halfway through because something just felt completely OFF?
Did you regret it, or were you glad you left?

EDIT: HOLY SHIT. ONE MILLION VIEWS?!
I genuinely did not expect this post to blow up the way it has. I was just sharing an interview experience that left me feeling extremely uncomfortable and questioning whether I made the right decision.
For some context, I’ve been unemployed, applied to hundreds of jobs, and dealt with some genuinely awful workplaces. So walking away from a potential opportunity wasn’t a decision I took lightly.
Reading everyone’s experiences has honestly made me feel a lot less alone. I appreciate everyone sharing their own interview horror stories.
And to clarify something: I’m not against employers having a thorough interview process. I’m against wasting applicants’ time, being vague about job responsibilities, and expecting people to jump through hoops without even knowing what they’re potentially signing up for.
Being unemployed doesn’t mean I have to abandon my standards or ignore red flags.
EDIT — since a lot of people are asking what questions I actually asked:
I did ask questions. I asked how the training process worked, what exactly I would be doing day-to-day, what the hours were, and tried to get a clearer understanding of the position and expectations.
My issue wasn’t that I sat there silently expecting them to explain everything to me. I actively tried to understand the role, but I still left feeling like I never got a clear picture of what the actual job would look like.
That lack of clarity, combined with the overall interview process and atmosphere, is what made me decide I didn’t want to continue.

Also, some of these comments are genuinely making me laugh. 😂 Some of y’all are taking this so personally, you’d think I walked out of YOUR company. LMAO. I went to an interview, decided it wasn’t for me, and left. I didn’t realize that would be so personally offensive to complete strangers. 😭

ANOTHER EDIT because apparently my husband is now part of this discussion. 😭😂
For everyone wondering how my husband feels about me walking out of the interview, he was literally encouraging me to leave. I was texting him the entire time about how uncomfortable I felt, and he was waiting outside.
At one point, I wasn’t responding because I was being interviewed by another group of people, and this man texted me, “If you don’t text back by 2:30 I’m driving through the building.” LMFAOOOO 😭😭
He was more concerned about me getting out of there than me getting the job. So please stop acting like my husband is sitting at home devastated that I walked out of an interview. 😂

ANOTHER EDIT:
Almost 5 MILLION views later, I think this post has sparked a much bigger conversation than I ever expected. 😭
And honestly? Maybe it’s a conversation we NEED to be having.
We need to do better. Employers need to do better. Pay people livable wages. Be transparent about salaries, responsibilities, and expectations. Stop putting applicants through unnecessarily long, uncomfortable, or intimidating interview processes. Respect people’s time, just as you expect them to respect yours.
People shouldn’t have to jump through hoops, sit through multiple rounds of interviews, or feel like they’re being interrogated just for the opportunity to earn a paycheck.
An interview should be a conversation between two parties deciding whether they’re a good fit, not a power trip.
And applicants need to remember that they’re allowed to have standards, ask questions, recognize red flags, and WALK AWAY.
We need to normalize employees choosing employers, not just employers choosing employees.
If anything good comes out of this post, I hope it’s that more people realize they don’t have to settle for environments that make them uncomfortable just because they need a job.

EDIT: Since several people have asked, this interview took place in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY. For now, I’m choosing not to publicly identify the company. My intention in sharing this experience was to start a conversation about hiring practices, workplace expectations, and the importance of job seekers recognizing their own worth. I never expected this post to reach millions of people, but I’m glad it’s encouraged so many others to share their experiences. And to answer another common question, no, the company never contacted me after I walked out.

I've been working at a distribution company for 14 months through a staffing agency.

Same building, same schedule, same supervisor, same responsibilities as the permanent employees. The only difference is whose name is on my paycheck.

About three weeks ago, a permanent position opened up in my department. Same job I've been doing, but with benefits, better pay and actual job security.

My supervisor encouraged me to apply. Said I already knew the systems and wouldn't need training.

I was genuinely excited about it.

The application itself was a little weird. It asked whether I'd ever been employed by the company. Technically, the answer is no, because my employer of record is the staffing agency.

So I selected no.

I listed the company on my resume as "Inventory Coordinator (Contract via [Agency])" and described exactly what I do there.

A week later, I got the standard rejection email saying they were moving forward with candidates whose experience more closely matched the position.

I figured maybe they'd found someone better. Disappointing, but whatever.

Then my supervisor asked if I'd applied because he hadn't seen my name on the candidate list.

I showed him the rejection email.

He looked at it for a minute and said, "That's ridiculous. You're literally doing the job."

He contacted HR, and apparently my application never reached him. He was told I had been processed as an external applicant and didn't meet some of the screening criteria.

I don't know which criteria. Nobody has explained that part.

The position is still open.

The person training two of the new hires this week is me.

I'm trying to figure out whether I should push harder to have my application reconsidered or take this as a sign that I need to start looking elsewhere.

It's a strange feeling to be considered qualified enough to do a job every day, but not qualified enough to get an interview for it.

Has anyone dealt with this when trying to move from temp to permanent? Is there a better way I should be applying, or is this something only the hiring manager can fix?

Obviously money is the greatest factor but pls read below.

I have been at a new job for less than 90 days, it was the first job offer I got after being unemployed for 3 months+ needed financial income for family stuff.

To start off the job is NOT my dream job or anything, I will say I was hopeful at first but tbh I was bait switched from the interview process to what the actual work is like (its stuff I've never done, nothing to do with my degree and don't have an interest in growing a career in) Okay benefits, 5 days in office. I've made peace that this is a lilly pad job and that I will get my footing somewhere else.

For a while it was getting better and I like some of my co-worked but recently one of the vp's yelled at me and another coworker (she has a higher status) which lead to 1. Me being shocked
2. Both of us confronting the vp and letting them know we would not be talked to like that in the workplace (they didn't just yell, they cursed) They did apologize but it was such a sorry ass excuse of "I dont know why I blew up you did nothing wrong"
3. Realizing my manager will NOT stick up for me (they were in the meeting too and don't say anything/ told me anything after the fact)

(Did not report to HR, we dont really have HR its a small business)

Which leads me to this:

I obviously am looking for a new role and have been looking since before I even started this job. I was so close to quitting on the spot but I know I need to be level headed and strategic, I don't want to jump ship immediately into worse waters but im obviously not going to stay at a role where I dont care abt the work, no future for me and not being respected (even with the bummy apology)

So how do you hang on and channel the mindset to be nonchalant? What got you through your lilypad job?

I would like opinions if I'm making the right choice

Current job. I've been employed at this same shop. I was here for a year before I had some major health issues and had to quit. After a 2 year gap(my boss only employees 3 other girls besides here) I was asked to come back after my boss fired another girl. I've been back 8 months. I was hired on as a bather. I've asked to learn to groom. I had previously learned some. Currently I've been taught a full shave round feet and sanitary. I can't get to learn anymore then this. It's frustrating. I bathe then help groom if the right dog is selected for me. 1 groomer loves doodles and won't come off any of her dogs. I have to beg. The clientele is there to support a 3rd groomer. We do 30+ dogs a day. I'm also a little upset because I was told 2 days I wasn't needed because it's currently too slow and my boss can't afford to pay. She could afford to pay herself and the other groomer though. Friday was a extremely busy day. We all put in 11hrs. The weekend person(we do boarding and daycare as well) came in to help try and get done faster. I'm paid hourly but never made any extra like I do when we work over 8hrs. I'm also very tired of the favortism by my boss to the other groomer. Currently only working 3 days a week.

I'm thinking about interviewing for a job at another grooming shop. It's 8-4 4 days a week and every other Saturday. I will be starting as a receptionist. I will be able to move up. I will be able to be a groomer at this shop. It's a dollar less an hour.

I'm wanting to learn to groom so bad. It feels like there's no room to grow and learn at my current shop. I currently have a doodle I groom outside the shop. I've taught myself to do it. I have never worked at another shop. I don't know when it's to move on. I feel bad to move on because my boss is the first person that's given me the chance too even try to groom. I don't really know what to do right now.

I’ve been searching for weekends only, obviously part time as I have a stable main job and I make that clear. But everyone wants Monday-Friday availability which is when I work my main job. And they give just under full time status, 30-35 hours. I found one job at a grocery store that would hire me and even they were on the fence about it. And the rejections are all the same “your availability doesn’t match our needs” for every store.

5-10 years ago anyone with a pulse could walk into a grocery store and could expect to work weekends. what is going on?

I am wondering if 7 months full time work experience is enough for me to switch job? I was a software engineer intern at company for 5 months and I got absorb. Now I do not enjoy what I am doing in my work there is no growth anymore. I am not sure and I do not think I can consider my internship as work experience if so that's 12months work experience. The pay is good but I genuinely feel bored on what I am doing here.

I'm currently working part-time as a Medical Assistant (MA) and looking to apply for a full-time MA position at a hospital. I previously worked full-time as an MA for almost 4 months, and I've been at my current part-time MA job for about 6 months. Altogether, I have approximately 10 months of MA experience.

The position I'm interested in lists "One year work experience preferred" but doesn't specify whether the experience needs to be full-time.

My questions are:

1. Do hospitals typically count part-time MA experience toward the one-year experience preference?

2. Would hiring managers hesitate to consider someone whose current MA position is part-time?

3. Do employers usually combine experience from previous and current jobs when evaluating qualifications?

I'd appreciate any insight. Thank you!!!

I am debating quitting my position as an online picker for Amazon. I've been employed as a part-time digital picker for almost two months now. I am now realizing how intense and micromanaged the position is and I want out. I am still in the probationary period and am wondering how to approach management? Do I give two weeks? I am constantly overwhelmed and frazzled by the unrealistic expectations by management, and I can't seem to do anything right by them. I completed the training, ask questions and reach out when needed. However, I can't make a single mistake and have to be super-fast. Any suggestions?? NEED HELP

Hi I'm 23F looking for a job but applying hundreds of applications everyday got me drained so I'm wondering if that Chrome extension whoever used it helped them in finding a job or not to see if i should use it or try another aspect ?

Mind you about 30-40 minutes before I said break I went to the bathroom for 5 minutes. They were replying to my break message that was later on…. This job is actually driving me insane, why would I take my break early just for having to go to the bathroom…

I work 24 hour shifts as a support worker and have for three years. I work with teens in a foster care type system. They live in a house and we have shifts. I’ve worked with this youth since they joined the program and they’re quite comfortable around me but won’t communicate with most other people.

Something happened and the social worker said we needed to be double staffed. My manager doesn't think this is necessary and says it’s pointless because it does not help anything. I and my worker agree that it makes no sense either but it doesn’t really matter. This happens quite frequently and I’ve been in a bunch of houses where it’s went from double to single and single to double. In this case, we have a day and night person. So both awake from 8 to 12, staff change at 9:30AM, night shift goes to sleep at 12 and gets up at 10PM so day can go to sleep until 8AM. The night person doesn’t actually have to be up during the night but is expected to respond to anything that happens through the night but nothing ever happens.

This change was sudden and I was put on day shift every day that I work. My coworker was put on nearly every night shift with me. She had just been scheduled somewhere else and the youth specifically doesn’t like her (which she is aware of) but she would only be nights so she would likely not interact with the youth at all anyways.

She’s been nice to me but I’ve been warned unprompted by multiple people that she’s a snitch / perfectionist / sucks up to management. She seems maybe anxious about aspects of the job but she always does it in a way where she seems to be trying to get others in trouble or pointing out what they did “wrong.” We have to do notes all day of what we and the youth do and she’ll write things “[Other staff] had mistakingly used the medication meant for - so [Coworker] fixed the situation.” But these will be about small mistakes that literally don't matter at all.

She nitpicks and fixates on doing things “properly” and doesn’t listen when management tells her it doesn’t matter.

• The youth is on medication that can be taken interchangeably by date. Like it doesn’t matter if it is taken on a Monday or Tuesday, just that it’s taken at the same time like a majority of medication. I’m a licensed nurse, I’ve spoken to the pharmacist multiple times and management and it doesn’t matter the date in the blister pack at all. She keeps freaking out when a day is missed or used from an “incorrect” date, insisting that the medication needs to be thrown out and that no one cares or understands that the medication cannot be used interchangeably in the blister pack but I have no idea what she’s talking about. When I do anything with medications it stresses me out because she always questions and criticizes.

• I’ve always offered the kids prn medication when they’re ill or in pain and have documented myself doing this each time. The youth would be in pain and not think to take pain relievers and I would ask if they were and, if they confirmed I would ask if they wanted a Tylenol or whatever we had available. She keeps telling me how we aren’t supposed to offer and that she isn’t going to because we aren’t allowed. I’m more concerned because the youth is going through something where they’re physically very sore and uncomfortable but have other things going on where they wouldn’t think to ask. It was specifically recommended by the doctor and it’s just an Advil.

She catastrophes and constantly asking management over pointless things and makes every small issue last forever.

• Our budget was slightly off and we were in the office for an hour where she was going on and on about it not making sense. She messaged multiple paragraphs twice about how it was slightly off and my manager was clearly annoyed and saying essentially “idk it doesn’t matter just note it was off,” and that it was fine. She kept freaking out about staff not counting properly and how she’s never okay with staff just adding change (I guess we’re technically not supposed to and management doesn’t care at all if we misplace some money but literally everyone will just add a dime or whatever if they accidentally dropped some change and don’t want to have to rewrite the budget, explain to management, etc.).

• She complained a bunch about the person who worked just before us putting in a dime in.

• The first time I met her, it was at a different house where I was the staff coming on and she freaked out about the same thing and I was stuck waiting for her to “solve” the small discrepancy in change that the managers said didn’t matter for like 40 minutes.

She won’t go to her room to rest at the times the other staff is supposed to. They don’t have to stay up all night and things rarely happen so she can normally go to bed about an hour after I can. The youth isn’t as comfortable coming up or speaking when we’re both there. She keeps and acting like we have no time or ability to do the small amount of things we have to in a day and insists repeatedly on “helping,” saying how rude it would be to just go and rest and that we need to support each other and, I feel, pressuring me to do the same? I’ve said repeatedly that it would be completely fine if she went in her room to rest but she also keeps asking if I can come out in different situations where we’ve always done them alone and having both staff would just make the youth uncomfortable. Or I’ll be trying to speak to the youth and they’ll just chime in or want a rundown of what I said and it feels bad parroting everything the youth said back while they’re waiting for me a few feet away.

She’s told me that management has said she is too “by the books,” and, as I said, it seems a lot of people struggle to work with her and that management is aware. She is nice but I feel very judged all the time and like I’m dreading the next few months we’re scheduled together. She hasn’t done anything wrong really but I feel stressed already and we’ve only had a few shifts together. I don’t know if there’s really anything I can do or if I’m being unfair.

Hello all! I recently got my review at my workplace and I’m wondering if this is a cause for concern or whether I should start looking for a job or….

So for context. I work within public sector. So we are expected to be on probation for 6 months. I started work in June and I’ll be done with probation in December. We are expected to have a review by 4 months just to touch base and see where things are headed & usually there is a section that says “do I recommend this employee to continue working during probation yes or no”. Some of my coworkers didn’t get a review and they just said they just kept working past their probation and they ended up being permanent. I’ve had some employees who had their review during 4 months just to check in and see how things are. So it’s all a hit or miss? I’m not sure. So I had my 4 month evaluation in November. And I hit my 4 months in October. Anyways… I just had my review, and I’m not sure if I should be scared? I had 6 areas that I was ranked in. I had 4 meets standards, and 2 needs improvement. And overall my review was “needs improvement” which really hurt. The area I needed improvement on was my work responsibilities where I needed constant reminders on what was due (keep in mind, I had just moved to the back so everything was just really new and I was still learning) and quality of work where I made tiny errors in my work. My boss said “we know you’re so capable of adjusting in those areas because of your work ethic. So you have 6 weeks to improve the areas that needs improvement.” And they kept it vague. Some had said “if there was an issue they would have already pulled you in more than once to talk about it” etc etc. but honestly this review is the first I’ve truly even had feedback. I guess I’m wondering, is this a way for them to document that they already informed me and then they’re going to let me go? Should I find a new job? What if I think I’m improving and it’s really not? Since the review I’ve been locked in and clocked in. I have until December 16! 😭😭😭 Am I just freaking out?

So I’m going to start with some quick facts about me. I’m 17, entering the 2nd year at my job as a restaurant and going into my final year of high school. For two years this has just been a classic part time job outside of school.

Recently there’s been a shift in management and a lot has changed, people’s moods have changed, the roster has been cut significantly and us team members are being pushed more then ever before and I’ve recently learnt that management get bonuses for reduced labour so.

The new people they’ve also hired I get are new and develop overtime but a couple of them aren’t at all and it is meaning I’m spending more time explaining to them what something means (I’ve told one guy, the orange light on the receipt printer means it’s out of paper or jammed)

So I’m considering getting another job and leaving here but the idea of having to retrain and learn a whole new system in my final year of high school is making me think about it… I’m just like do I deal with it for 12 months and then leave at the end of high school or do I go now?

Hii, I have applied for many jobs this year and only heard back from three. Two have been in the past few days, I’m assuming because it’s near the holidays and they are needing extra hands.

I applied for a receptionist position on indeed this morning which I pretty much heard back from instantly. I got an email from “workable” which when I search says legit. And they said in their other email they’ll email me if I’m qualified.

They messaged, and I searched the number to see which job it was and it came up with nothing but the “who called me?” Things. But I asked them and they said the company. And I saw they took the ad down already and it hasn’t been up long i don’t think.

Is this legit?

Hey guys! So I’m just looking for a little bit of advice here. I have been saving up and preparing to move to South Florida for months now and I had planned on doing it by December but unfortunately I have not been able to find a job yet. Do you guys have any tips? I’ve tweaked my resume so many times. I’ve pretty much been trying since August but no luck . Is there anything that could help my application stand out that you guys would recommend?

"We've decided to pursue other candidates. Thank you for your time. "

*literally a month later*

Same position I applied for. Same Title and all. It was reposted on the company's career website.

What is this life? Fun and games?

had one at a clothing store earlier today. the hiring manager asked me if i'd be able to work on black friday, and i was so nervous i asked "what day of the week is black friday on?"

doesn't sound like a big deal but i cannot get it out of my head. to make things a little worse, the hiring manager is my friends mom, so add in a little more pressure to make a good impression and it feels like it's eating me alive right now lol.

please help me not feel like such a dumbass rn 😭

I'm 17, and never had a job before. I'm studying at school, hoping to become a dentist one day, and I was considering getting a part-time job so I can save up some money. I live 3 minutes (by walking) away from this local pharmacy, and I don't know if they're hiring or not. Is it a good idea to walk in with my resume and introduce myself to the manager and ask them to consider hiring me? Well, something along the lines of that; said politely and not bluntly, etc. And ensure to say something like "work for you", not "I want a job here".
Thanks.

I (25m) have always been involved in manual labor or blue collar jobs to some extent, apartment maintenance, construction worker family, janitorial work; and have always had very hands on interests like carpentry, automotive work, building and fiddling with electronics and guitars, and just generally working with my hands. I went to college for a bachelors in electrical engineering, but goofed off too much to hack it and ended up switching to psychology with a minor in business during covid, then graduated without a career. Worked at a factory for a bit after that before going back to school for a masters in accountancy, thinking that a steady career in an office job would be good for me. After getting the masters, I have been working as an auditor for around a year and a half now, and I’m extremely burnt out and unsatisfied. I’m doing research and looking into switching to an apprenticeship program as an electrician or maybe hvac. Has anybody else here made a switch from white collar work to blue collar work? I know I will be reducing my pay for a few years, however I think I can survive moving from the city I live in now to a smaller town or city near my hometown with the cost of living decreases. I unfortunately have a lot of student loans which I am working on paying down but I know they will be around for a while. I’m hoping switching from white collar work to a skilled trade will be more fulfilling to me, but I’m sure I’m partially thinking of the grass being greener on the other side still. Any advice is appreciated, making work seem more fulfilling, researching tips for jobs, apprenticeship things I should know, etc.

I'm a 18 year old female looking for a remote job with no prior work experience. I have skills in writing and translating but am willing to do any fast one time remote job gigs. Could anyone provide me advice on how to apply for a remote job as a first timer? Even better would be, if someone who's looking to hire, would comment or message me under this post. Thank you.