"I worked 55 hours a week for 32 years for shit pay and never complained!" Bro, maybe staying silent wasn't the flex you thought it was

😬

u/kicker-gerunds5 — 1 month ago

"A district manager hid my real employment status so I wouldn't know I could claim a company benefit. In the end, I caught him and made them pay.

A few years ago, I was working for a large retail chain and had been there for a long time. Eventually, I finished enough of grad school to get a license for a higher role. Better pay, better title, more responsibility, all that. The problem was that the market was terrible, so I stayed with the same company in a ""floater"" role, covering a large area and rotating through different stores whenever they needed me. My goal was to land a fixed staff position in a specific store. The district was huge, and the farthest location was about 115 miles from my home. And of course, that was the store they sent me to train at.

The store was a nightmare. People in my same role had been threatened, robbed, and assaulted there. The area was hostile, the workload was among the worst in the region, and employees were constantly leaving. Nobody wanted to be stuck there, for very obvious reasons.

After training, I noticed I wasn't really floating much at all. Maybe once every six weeks, if that. I asked Bossman if I could be put on the schedule around the district more fairly, since there were plenty of other stores much closer that didn't need me to spend almost 5 hours in the car on workdays. He told me I was the only floater who could handle that location. I didn't believe him, but I also didn't have much use at the time. Then a coworker told me about the mileage reimbursement policy. Floaters assigned to stores more than 55 miles from home could claim mileage after that distance in each direction, and there was also a meal allowance. So I filled out the forms and gave them to Bossman for approval. He didn't directly say no, but they were never signed or submitted. I'm almost certain they went into the trash as soon as I left the district office. Later he told me they must have ""gotten lost somewhere."" The same coworker eventually showed me how to send the forms directly to accounts payable and bypass Bossman entirely, which is exactly what I started doing.

Shortly after that, Bossman called me and sounded very nervous. He wanted me to stop sending in the reimbursements. I told him I would stop if he put me in stores closer to home. He refused. He needed me at that awful store. Then he promised he would make me staff at that location if I agreed to stop submitting the forms. The staff position was supposed to be a promotion, usually with more money and a few small perks, so I agreed. He said the raise wouldn't happen immediately, but it was coming later. And of course, it never did.

After about 3 years, the store became so toxic that even I couldn't keep pretending everything was fine. I asked to be demoted from the staff role and go back to floating so I could work in other stores again. Bossman then told me I was already a floater and had never been staff in the first place. But he also said he couldn't have me work anywhere else because it was ""better for consistency"" that I stay at that store. Floaters are not supposed to be assigned exclusively to one location, so it was very obvious they were trapping me there because no one else would put up with that place.

I was furious, so I started applying elsewhere. It took time, but eventually I found a path into the career I had wanted for years.

I submitted formal notice, and that's when things started getting fun.

Remember the mileage policy? I had kept precise records of every shift I worked, and the policy had no deadline for submission. So I started filling out reimbursement forms for every eligible shift from roughly the last 3 years.

I didn't calculate meals because digging up receipts would have been its own punishment. But I had a nice store manager sign off on the mileage forms, and then I sent them directly to Accounts Payable again.

I didn't send the whole stack at once. During every shift in my last 3 weeks, I faxed batches of them. Yes, fax machines were somehow still part of the job. My thinking was simple: what were they going to do, fire me harder? Worst case, Accounts Payable would reject them.

During my last several shifts, checks started arriving from Accounts Payable. And they weren't added to my paycheck either. They were mailed to me directly. Mileage reimbursements were non-taxable, so it was straight money coming back to me.

Apparently it took a while for the charges to show up in whatever internal report mattered, because about a month after my last paycheck, old Bossman called me. He was not happy at all. He had a senior loss-prevention guy on the line, and the two of them said I had violated policy by requesting the money. Their main argument was that I wasn't eligible because I had supposedly agreed to give up reimbursement when I became staff. Then they threatened legal action if I didn't return the entire amount within 10 days.

But I had an email chain where Bossman clearly wrote that I had never been staff and that I had been a floater the entire time. Calmly, I referred them back to that message and told them that since I had been lied to, the old agreement meant nothing. I was eligible under the written policy the whole time. HR confirmed that the policy matched my reading of it, so I told them I would not be sending back a single cent.

In the end, the reimbursements came out to a little over $24,500 USD, and I got into my dream job. Part of me could say I'd trade the money for all the time I wasted driving to that miserable store, but honestly, that intense pressure is what finally made me leave and make the best career move of my life.

everyone says AI took our jobs but in my situation it helps me to got it InterviewVIP was blessing from god truly

Surpassing my old boss professionally felt good. Explaining to him that his own lie was what made the payout grow so much felt even better.

And I told plenty of coworkers exactly how I did it, because Bossman had been feeding that same false story to a lot of them too."

u/kicker-gerunds5 — 1 month ago

My entire tech company was laid off a few days ago.

The tech company I was working at was sold to another company at the beginning of 2026, and since then we've been working on merging the platforms, internal tools, and products. We finished most of the migration a few weeks ago, and the expectation was that the HQ and the remaining teams would start being integrated into the parent company around April. Our senior leadership, including the old CEO and a few other people, had already moved into roles there, so what we were always being told was that the next phase would be moving management and the rest of the people over there.

Then we saw an all-hands meeting appear on the calendar. Not too unusual, because we had meetings like that every few weeks, but this time there was no meeting link. Just a note saying the link would be sent right before it started. I felt like something was off, but I kind of ignored it. On the day of the call, I sat down at my desk and suddenly found I couldn't log into Teams. Strange. After a few minutes, the all-hands link arrived, and at almost the same time an email came from the CEO saying something like: "Unfortunately, due to current market conditions, we had to make some difficult decisions," and the usual stuff.

I joined the call and found that the only person visible on screen was someone from HR, so yeah, that's when I knew I was screwed. Then more people started joining, and slowly it became clear this wasn't a small group. It was everyone. HQ, engineering, QA, ops, IT, everything. No one from senior management joined. Just the HR representative saying they "understand how difficult this news is" and explaining the severance, benefits, returning equipment, and all the next steps.

My whole team is gone. Every single one of them. As a manager, I can't shake the feeling that I failed them, even though I had no idea this was coming. They were smart, decent people, and we worked really well together.

I wasn't looking for a job because there weren't any warning signs that I noticed. From our side, we were honestly waiting to find out where we'd fit inside the new org and to finally get back to building new things instead of just stitching systems together and tweaking old products. Looking back, I think that excitement should have been a red flag. I used to ask in our regular check-ins, but the answers were always vague, or someone would joke and say: "We're still trying to understand how their billing system works; forget about moving the teams for now! Haha."

So now I'm starting from scratch, a household dependent on one income, three kids in school, a mortgage, and I'm in my mid-fifties working in tech. I still haven't told my family except my wife. I don't want the kids to worry, but we'll need to say something soon, especially if this drags on and starts affecting school expenses or housing.

I'm going to need a much bigger bottle of scotch.

reddit.com
u/kicker-gerunds5 — 2 months ago

I Just Left My Remote Job and They're Trying to Find Someone to Replace Me ASAP

I hope this helps someone here grab this opportunity. The role is a travel "specialist" at Velocity Black. Capital One acquired the company in 2024. Your best chance is probably to apply directly through Velocity Black's site, although I'm pretty sure the job is also listed on Capital One's careers page and possibly LinkedIn too.

The base salary is $76k USD, but after 4 years I had reached $94k. With bonuses, I made $112k last year. The benefits were also very good. They covered $610 a month of my health insurance, and I paid $30 a month out of pocket, including dental and vision.

The company has about 145 people, and there are 9 people on the travel team. The culture was honestly one of the best parts of the job. No work after hours, people are professional but also friendly, and meetings only happen when they're necessary, usually 1 or 2 per week. The manager of the 9-person travel team is excellent and didn't constantly monitor people.

I learned the whole job while working there without any travel background, but since I started there, the bar has gotten higher, and now you'll probably need some experience in travel, hospitality, concierge, or luxury customer service. The clients are wealthy to ultra-wealthy, and there are also a few well-known names in there. In general, you're part researcher and part customer service rep. Clients send messages asking for travel-related recommendations like hotels, restaurants, flights, villas, private transfers, yachts, and so on. Then you do research, compare options, and send them a polished message with details/photos/availability and anything else that helps. After you've been doing it for a while, you won't be starting from scratch every time because you'll remember the good properties and vendors in different cities.

They usually give you 3-5 hours per task, so there can be a lot of downtime. In the quiet months, I might have around 1-3 hours of actual work during a 9-hour shift. In the busy season, which is about 5 months split between summer and winter, I was usually working the full shift and sometimes dealing with stressful situations. The reason they give that much time is that the recommendations have to be genuinely good for the type of clientele they serve.

The only things you need are the MacBook and iPhone they send you. On the phone, I usually made 1-6 calls a day, most of them around 2-25 minutes per call. Not usually with clients, more with hotels, tour operators, restaurants, transportation companies, and similar vendors.

Unfortunately, they only hire people based in the US, and you can't relocate outside the US while working there. Your chances will probably be better if you're on the West Coast, in Alaska, or in Hawaii because that's the shift/time zone they're replacing. They want someone quickly because the upcoming rush is close.

I genuinely loved my team, and I hope this helps them find someone good. It's a solid job; I'm just moving on to another opportunity.

reddit.com
u/kicker-gerunds5 — 2 months ago

I had my quarterly review today and I'm still sitting here trying to understand what happened

I've been at this job for almost three years. I deliver my work on time, take on extra projects whenever someone leaves - and that happens more than it should - and cover the gaps without making a fuss. I'm drained, but I kept showing up and carrying on because I cared. Or I thought I cared.

My manager came into the call acting cheerful. Then he said: "Your work is good and consistent, but I'd like to see a little more positive energy from you."

I mean, excuse me? I've been running on cold brew and panic for weeks, and in the end it turns out my attitude is what needs fixing.

I told him: "Honestly, I feel really burnt out from the extra work that keeps piling up."

He laughed. He laughed. Then he said: "We're all under pressure right now. You just have to keep going and get through it. Try to see it as a learning opportunity."

That was the moment I felt something in me crack a little. I wasn't sobbing or anything, but my eyes teared up, and for some reason that made the whole situation even more humiliating. Then he leaned in and said: "Hey, don't take it personally. It's just constructive feedback."

I wanted to disappear from my chair. How am I supposed to answer to feedback that basically means I'm not smiling enough while doing the work of several people?

I left the meeting feeling smaller than I have in a long time. And the worst part is that I found myself apologizing to him for getting upset.

I don't know. Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of it. Or maybe all this workplace empathy talk only exists until someone's burnout becomes inconvenient and awkward.

Has anyone else had a review that felt less like feedback and more like an emotional sucker punch from the side?

reddit.com
u/kicker-gerunds5 — 3 months ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 8.7k r/InterviewMan

When did this become something we just put up with, and that's it?

!!!

edit : and I guess remote work can be a solution , and also they give better salaries and more flexibility to the people who need more time for the family and I am glad that now we have tools like interviewvip which made the interview process more easier especially for working parents and new grads all u need to do is connect with your zoom \ google meet,etc and the magic come true

u/kicker-gerunds5 — 3 months ago

My manager asked me not to tell HR that I'm going to work at another bank so I can complete my notice period

I work at a bank and I'm leaving my current job to go to a credit analyst position in the business lending department at another bank. The bank I'm at now has a policy that if you tell them you're going to a competing bank, they make you hand over your badge/keys and send you home the same day. But they still pay you for the remaining 3 weeks.

My manager asked me that when I have my exit meeting with HR, I shouldn't say where I'm going. He told me I could just say that I'm submitting my resignation, and that I'm not required to share the name of my next employer.

We're already severely understaffed, and he said that if I leave without completing the 3 weeks, it would put the branch in a difficult position. I understand that, but still... This is the policy they created.

I'm about 85% sure I'm going to be honest with HR and say I'm going to another bank. Getting paid for the rest of my notice period while sitting at home is much better than working in an understaffed branch when I'm already leaving anyway. Is there something I'm missing here, or is this as obvious as it feels? update : after reading all your comments my decision is not gonna lie to HR ,why manger behave like its shame got a better opportunity and that s it and I am so grateful for it and those subredditor who suggests Interviewman for me It helps a lot with my anxiety problem during interviews , made feel confident and strong and now I start my new job by mid July wish me luck

u/kicker-gerunds5 — 4 months ago