I've been working there for 5 months. I've never been late, and I was usually there about 20 minutes before my shift started. This morning was rough, and I was upset and not in the best mood, and in the end I was 8 minutes late to work. The manager brought me into his office and started yelling at me, asking why I didn't call to tell him I'd be late. I honestly told him I didn't even think to call, because I knew it would only be a few minutes.

We went back and forth for a bit, and then he told me I wasn't allowed to take a lunch break since I was late and they were really slammed. I hadn't brought any food with me, so I asked him if I could at least run and grab something small before starting my shift. He said yes, but only on the condition that he deduct 40 minutes from my pay.

I said fine and left to "get food." It's been almost two hours since I left and I still haven't gone back. The manager just called me, and I told him I quit. Not regretting it (so far?)

Wish me luck!!

That was the best decision I ever made, but now I have to look for another job and go through the interview process, which worries me a lot because of the preparation. I often prepare poorly for interviews until I read this post about job Interview Technique That Turns Into an Offer and I really felt it would make a big difference for me in future interviews, and perhaps it will benefit some of you as well.

Sorry, I'm going to vent/ramble a bit...

36 years working as a database guy, and the last 22 years with the same company as their senior/top/go-to DBA/firefighter/query fixer. I got laid off a few weeks ago with no warning at all. I didn't see it coming whatsoever, and it was a hard punch to the gut.

Honestly, I have no desire to go back to corporate life right now, even assuming anyone would be willing to hire me. I don't see much demand for old-school SQL Server DBA work unless it comes with on-call duties, constant meetings, or some travel, and I'm not interested in signing myself up for any of that at this stage.

Fortunately, my wife's income is enough to cover the basics. And I have savings that can keep me going for a while. Since I've always been a serious DIY-er, I have other practical skills that I could probably turn into something if I needed to. I've been joking for years that when I retire I'll work at Lowe's just to stay busy. I'm starting to feel like that joke arrived early.

I was "lucky" enough to get 10 weeks of severance. If it weren't for needing health insurance and the support payments I still have to make, honestly I'd be in a good position to consider this retirement.

Hi everyone, I need some simple advice. The person directly under my management told me this afternoon that they're going to submit their resignation, so I'll have to inform my manager on Monday morning.

The awkward part is that I was already planning to submit my resignation the following week as well. So I'm not sure whether it's better to be honest and tell my manager about both of us at the same time, or stick to the date I had originally set.

The main reason I'm hesitant is that I'm supposed to receive a bonus in October, and this company is somewhat known for potentially letting people go immediately as soon as they give notice to avoid paying out what they're owed.

I'd be very grateful for any opinions or advice from people who have dealt with a similar situation before.

Hi! I hope this topic isn't too broad for this sub. The short version is that I basically spent until age 29 doing the same "sitting at home playing games and avoiding real life" story. I've genuinely never had a job. I also didn't get a formal education when I was younger, but recently I studied on my own and got a GED. Now I'm trying to figure out how to turn that into a real future.

TL;DR: I have no savings, no work history, and I live in a very isolated area. I have a free room and food with my parents, so I could live on a low-paying job for a while, but I don't want to spend years wandering aimlessly unless it's building me toward something real. What path would you recommend for someone like me so that eventually I can get stable work with decent pay? It doesn't have to happen right away. I don't mind starting at the bottom and moving slowly, because I'm not under urgent financial pressure. Please assume I know almost nothing about how normal adult life/work works. I'm embarrassingly behind in that area. I'm looking for direction on what to do with my life.

More details:
My goals: The thing I want most in life is a family. I don't even have a girlfriend right now, and honestly I have no idea if there are any single women close to my age around me at all lol, so it's not exactly close. But I want to be able to give and keep them from living on the edge all the time. I'm not chasing $120k a year or a big prestigious career or anything like that. I just want reliable income and work that is stable, or in demand enough that I'm not constantly terrified everything will fall apart. I know starting late limits my options, but this is still what I hope to reach.

My situation: I still live with my parents. I have $0 in savings, but they don't mind me staying here indefinitely because I help a lot. I'm in a small town in Idaho, about 750 people. The nearest town with maybe 20k+ people is about 50 minutes away, and the nearest city of about 120k+ is roughly an hour and a half away, and the nearest major metro is close to 2.5 hours away. I have no friends, no professional contacts, and no kind of network.

Me as a person: I'm tall and physically strong, but my balance is very bad. I get random dizziness/lightheadedness that can make me come close to falling, so ladders/high places aren't an option unless I can figure out that issue. I'd say I'm reasonably intelligent, but I'm not good at memorizing things just because I heard or saw them once. If I do something with my hands, it sticks much better. I'm somewhat introverted, but not to the point that I'd refuse a job involving customers or a lot of people. I might just be awkward at first lol. I can explain myself well, but I'm definitely not charming or naturally good at selling myself.

My thoughts so far: I've thought about web development, learning from home with freeCodeCamp and some other resources, and I've made some progress. I also looked at the idea of going to school/college for something like radiologic technology, but the nearest community college would be about an hour and 25 minutes away, and I assume there are prerequisites and a long application process. As far as I know, it could turn into a 4-year ordeal, and honestly I don't understand college systems well enough to judge whether that's smart or not. The other idea is to get any job I can and keep applying for better things, like starting at a grocery store or Home Depot and then trying to move to better employers later. Those are also roughly an hour away from me, which complicates things.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. I'm very lost and no one in my family can really help me make a practical plan for the future. I'd appreciate any advice from people who understand careers, training, trades, college, or even how to start from almost zero. Thanks for reading, if anyone made it this far lol. I know posts like this probably show up here all the time.

I just got a random call from an in-house recruiter. "You wrote that your French is fluent on your CV." "Yes, I wrote that. I studied a dual honours degree with French, lived in Belgium, and worked in more than one role in bilingual and multilingual environments." "Okay, but we need someone who can speak French fluently, and also read and write in it."

[In my head I was saying, sweetheart, do you even understand English?! 😁😳 At that point I changed direction and asked about the salary. She dodged and tried to book a Zoom call so she could "explain" the role to me.

HELLO, is this woman for real?

"I'm at a fairly advanced stage in a few other hiring processes, so I'd like to see where they go first. Thanks, have a nice day."

What I should have said: oui, espèce de conne mal élevée, va te faire cuire un oeuf 😁

*My CV literally says French - fluent/advanced - I haven't split it into speaking, listening, reading, and writing

A language degree isn't a weekend Duolingo streak. It means you read large amounts of literature, write long essays in the language, do translation, interpreting, oral exams... I did all of that alongside business classes and another language.

==============

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I appreciate the comments. They're genuinely helpful.

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this partly to vent and partly because I desperately need a reality check / reset strategy from people who’ve been in the trenches.

A few weeks ago, I handed in my notice at my job (mid-sized product-based company as a Web Engineer). In my head, I thought, "I’ve got decent experience, the market can't be that bad, I'll land something new in no time."

Spoiler: My little career experiment has completely backfired.

Instead of doubling down on what I'm actually solid at, I got shiny object syndrome. I started firing off applications for everything under the sun—Frontend, Fullstack, and even AI Engineer roles.

Where I am right now:

• 10 interviews lined up/completed so far.
• 0 offers.
• Failed 3 interviews with really solid companies because my preparation was scattered and unfocused.
• My notice period ends in literally a few days, and I’m about to be officially unemployed with no safety net lined up.
• Panic and restlessness are setting in hard. Sitting idle waiting for responses while knowing I bombed good opportunities is killing my confidence.

Realizing now that trying to prepare for Frontend system design, deep Fullstack backend questions, AND AI/LLM concepts all at the same time meant I was performing at 50% capacity for all of them. I got overconfident, lost focus, and the market handed me a massive humble pie.

Where I need advice:

1. Focus: Should I completely cut the noise and pivot 100% back to Frontend (where my actual depth lies) to rebuild momentum, or is it worth still applying to Fullstack?
2. Mindset / Damage Control: How do you handle the panic when your notice period is ending, you’re sitting at home idle, and you feel like you wasted your best shots?
3. Has anyone else made this "jack-of-all-trades" panic mistake during a job switch? How did you pull yourself out of the tailspin?

Appreciate any tough love, advice, or actionable tips.

TL;DR:

Left my mid-sized product company overconfident. Applied everywhere for Frontend, Fullstack, and AI Engineer roles at once. Failed ~10 interviews (including 3 great ones) because I spread my prep too thin. Notice period ends in days, no offers, panicking. Need advice on how to recalibrate my prep and focus on one lane.

I discovered this almost by accident about nine months ago, and since then I've told maybe fifteen people to try it, so I felt like it was worth writing about here.

Quick background: I was at a stage where I kept getting to advanced stages in interview loops, but in the end I wasn't getting the offer. The calls felt like they were going well, people seemed enthusiastic, and then they would either disappear or I'd get the usual "we chose another candidate" email. I couldn't understand what was happening between "I feel like that went well" and the rejection.

So I started ending every interview with a very direct question: "Before we wrap up, is there anything in my background or experience that's making you hesitant about me for this position?"

One of the first times I asked it, the interviewer paused for a second and said: "Honestly, yes. I saw that you led a team of six, but this job would have you overseeing twelve." I hadn't brought that point up because no one had directly asked me about team size. So I spent the next two minutes explaining how I had built systems that supported a much larger, cross-functional group in a previous role, and gave her a concrete example. It was clear she felt a bit more reassured. In the end, I got the offer.

Another time, the interviewer said she didn't have any concerns. And that was useful too. The way she answered quickly and without hedging made me leave the call feeling genuinely confident instead of sitting afterward replaying every answer in my head.

The reason this works, in my view, is that it takes the quiet doubt out of their head and puts it on the table while you still have a chance to answer. A lot of interviewers won't bring up their reservations on their own. They'll just note them mentally and evaluate them later. This question gives you one last chance to clarify something that might otherwise remain unanswered.

Not everyone will give you a real answer. Some people will keep saying "no concerns" no matter what. But from what I've seen, maybe a little under half will tell you something useful, and that useful thing is often exactly the point you needed to address.

I've gotten four offers in the past nine months since I started asking this question. I'm not saying one question magically did all of that, but I really do think it helped close gaps that could have quietly hurt me without me realizing it.

I've been at a small company for 7 months doing admin/data entry work. Honestly, I was really struggling mentally there. The atmosphere in the place is not good at all, and I kept telling myself to endure it, get through it, and not make a big deal out of it, but recently it became more toxic and honestly close to verbal humiliation. Most mornings I'm already anxious and waiting to see what will happen next. There were also some personal issues piling up on me, and a few days ago I finally decided that I couldn't go back there again.

Early today I sent my manager an email with my resignation, effective immediately. About 3 hours later he sent me a text saying: "Hey H, what happened?" And now the office manager is also messaging me and asking if I'm okay.

What am I supposed to say in this situation? I'm anxious that they'll start contacting my sister, whom I listed as my emergency contact, and try to get information from her. I still haven't told her the whole story. I probably should have chosen someone else for that, but am I required to answer to my former manager or the office manager at all?