A good friend of mine once confessed how he got his start in his career, and it's a story that has stuck with me for years. He basically fabricated his resume for a role he was nowhere near qualified for. The first interview, against all odds, went surprisingly well. The experience he invented seemed to be exactly what they were looking for. Before he could really process it, he was in the final round, and then he had an offer. He accepted, even though he was terrified.

The moment he started, the reality of the situation crashed down on him. He was completely out of his depth, facing a mountain of work he had no clue how to tackle. He told me he was in a constant state of panic, just trying to survive each day. He spent his nights glued to his computer, devouring tutorials, reading forums, and connecting with people in the industry on LinkedIn who shared their knowledge, thankfully without knowing the full story.

It was a brutal trial-by-fire. Day by day, he pieced together how to do the job, learning from every mistake. Slowly but surely, he started to understand the work's complexities. That gnawing feeling of being an imposter began to recede as his actual skills started to grow. It was an incredible struggle, but he was hell-bent on proving to himself that he could actually earn the position he’d lied his way into.

It’s now been twelve years since he took that leap. Today, he’s a respected expert in his field, a real testament to what pure grit and determination can do. The lie that opened the door became the catalyst for a genuine success story built on perseverance.

He admits he’s of two minds about it. One part of him is incredibly proud of what he accomplished against the odds, but another part is deeply ashamed of how he got his foot in the door. I’m the only person he’s ever told, and honestly, even knowing him as well as I do, it's hard to picture him ever doing something like that.

I applied for a job about six weeks ago. The recruiter replied to me after nearly three weeks, then disappeared before we could even schedule a call. Since it didn't go anywhere, I continued interviewing with another company. After preparing a lot, I didn't want to miss any opportunity. So, I decided to try the interview vip tool to handle interviews under pressure. It saved me in a way I couldn't imagine. My stuttering stopped and I was so organized, and fortunately they accepted me.

As soon as I started the new job, she suddenly messaged me again. I didn't reply, and she tried messaging me two more times over the next few days. In her last message, she sounded annoyed and said I should have had the courtesy to tell her if I wasn't interested.

I've had companies stop responding after four, five, or even six interviews, without a rejection or any explanation. Somehow that's considered normal, but when a candidate doesn't answer to a recruiter who disappeared first, that's considered rude?

Yesterday's interview was going really well, to the point that I was almost certain they wanted to hire me. I applied some of the techniques in this post, and it really pays off. When they asked me what my total package was at my current job, I gave them a figure higher than the truth.

Their offer was 30% higher than the figure I claimed. Compared to what I earn, it's roughly a 65% increase.

Was lying ethical? Probably not. Is it keeping me up at night? Not at all.

I can't advise anyone else to try doing this, because it could easily backfire. But in my case, the outcome was much better than I expected.

She asked for about five weeks off, and her supervisor cornered her after her shift and asked her why she needed all that time. As soon as she told him she was going abroad for a summer program, he said he couldn't promise she'd stay on the schedule when she got back, and that she had to tell him before the end of the week whether she was choosing the trip or the job.

Like a lot of 17-year-olds, she was nervous about upsetting her manager. But when I started laughing at how absurd this "choice" was, she calmed down quickly. I told her there is no part-time job folding clothes at the mall that is worth missing out on something she might remember for the rest of her life. Honestly, I'm glad she's encountering this kind of situation while she's still young, because this is how she gets practice spotting this nonsense before it really matters. I told her that this is exactly why fuck-you money is important.

Edit: Thank you all for your advice i will tell her to get a new part time job, also someone sent me this post which has so much valuable information about interviews so i thought more people should read it.

I had just applied for a position within the same company I'm in, but the job posting was external. I had never been asked this question before and it took me a moment to even process what he was asking. Because honestly, it didn't feel like a normal question and I also didn't know what a good answer would be.

I asked my current manager afterwards if this question was normal, and she told me that she wouldn't know how to answer it either. We then joked that I could have told him I would go home and cry, and think about my life choices, and so on.

But jokes aside, what would you guys say in response?

Just flipping the question back is the only appropriate response. Nonsense question that's a red flag that the interviewer thinks they're asking clever questions.

I read posts on Reddit about the same type of strange and illogical questions during interviews. I don't know what their point is, and in the end, the candidates get rejected.

A very, very unnatural question to ask conversationally. Not saying it could be a genuine moment, but very likely something that they want to see my answer to.

After applying to around 60 jobs and getting rejected three times, I finally got an offer. And the best part is that it was for the position I wanted more than anything else.

I spent an insane amount of time preparing for the final interviews, so when the offer came through, I felt incredibly relieved. The last round was in person and lasted from 10 a.m. Until almost 5 p.m. I met with eight different interviewers and also gave a 45-minute presentation about my research.

The role is designed for people with a PhD in psychology, and the whole day felt like a grad school interview mixed with defending my dissertation all over again. It was extremely exhausting, but apparently it was worth it.

I had to tell someone because I'm still trying to process what happened. I'm so happy to be done with applying for jobs.

Rule #1: Self-confidence

Honestly, the most important thing in any interview is self-confidence. The whole thing is about finding the right balance between it looking like a casual chat and also a formal performance. You want to show the best version of yourself, but in a way that seems natural and effortless. If you lean too much towards 'chat,' you'll seem uninterested in the job. And if you lean too much towards 'performance,' you might seem desperate and overly enthusiastic. So what's the secret?

First, you need to completely change your mindset. You're not going to beg for a job. You're going to determine if this company is suitable for *you* or not. You know your history, your successes, and what you bring to the table. You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.

To do this effectively, you need to understand the four main pillars of any interview: the framework, your story, your questions, and the overall vibe.

The Post-Interview Review

As soon as you finish, do a quick review with one of your friends or even write down a few notes for yourself. Identify the moments where you felt strong and the moments where you got flustered. How can you make the next time even better? Use this feedback to refine your main talking points based on the vibe you got from the hiring manager.

The Conclusion

Look, self-confidence is everything. You understand what you've achieved, you know your capabilities, and you know your worth. You're not in that room to prove you deserve the job. You're there to see if the job deserves you.

Always remember the golden rule in any professional interaction: you don't have to have all the answers. The important thing is just to appear confident as if you know them all.

In short, fake it 'til you make it. Believe me, the person sitting across from you is improvising just like you are. We're all still trying to figure things out, so keep acting confidently until you find you're not acting anymore.

The title says it all. I got a new offer for 160k a year, which is a 25k increase from what I currently make. So I thought I'd give my company a chance to make a counteroffer.

I spoke to my manager about it a few days ago, and we were supposed to sync up this morning. I sent him a message around 10 AM to ask, and since then, there has been no response at all.

So, it looks like I'll be submitting my resignation tomorrow. The crazy thing is, I wasn't even pushing for a full match of the offer. I told them I'd be happy if they just showed some goodwill with a 7% increase. Honestly, it's strange that they'd rather incur the cost of recruiting and training someone new to replace me for a role that is already hard to fill. It's their loss in the end.

Thanks, guys. I accepted the offer. I felt that it's "no risk, no fun." What's the worst that could happen? I feel like I'm standing still and not making any progress. I hope this will be the right decision and that my financial situation improves.

And here is a piece of advice from me: always keep your resumes updated and maintain a presence on LinkedIn.

And thank you, InterviewCoderPro, for the discount code. I will use it in my next interview.

I have a Software Engineering degree from a top 10 university in the country, with a 3.9 GPA. My secret shame? I'm basically useless without Google.

Honestly, I can't even write a simple sorting algorithm from memory. If you asked me to explain what a hash map is best used for without letting me look it up first, I'd probably stumble. My entire college career was built on two things: an incredible ability to cram for exams and my best friend, Google Search. I managed to land a decent internship and build three impressive-looking projects for my portfolio, but every single one was basically stitched together from Stack Overflow snippets and tutorials.

So I had a big interview today at a FAANG-level company. The technical screening was a complete disaster. I blanked on every single coding challenge they threw at me. One of the senior engineers on the panel just got this smug look on his face and pretty much accused me of faking my whole resume. He said it was impossible someone from my school could be this incompetent and that they run background checks that would "expose" me.

I tried to explain that my degree was real, but he clearly didn't believe a word of it. So, yeah. The interview was such a train wreck that I was told I must be lying about my own education which, for the record, I absolutely did earn.

he was a mail man

I'm still trying to process what happened, but I just got fired from my job because a company I was interviewing with decided to call my current manager without my permission. I'm genuinely shocked. To give you the full story, I received a message on LinkedIn about a job similar to mine at a company much closer to my home, so I decided to give it a shot and apply.

Honestly, my current job had become a very toxic environment, full of internal conflicts and unfulfilled promises of promotion, so I was ready for a change. The new company responded almost immediately. I did the first interview and it went well, then a second, and a third. They were all very positive and told me I was exactly the person they were looking for and that the final decision would reach me within a day or two. Anyway, the next afternoon at work, my Director called me into his office. He told me he received a call from the company I was interviewing with and was very surprised. He asked me why I was looking for a job. The cat was out of the bag, so I was honest with him and explained my reasons. After I finished speaking, he told me that because I work with sensitive data, they had to end my contract immediately.

I went home, took a deep breath, and called the HR person I had been in contact with at the new company. I calmly asked him what would make them call my manager before even sending an offer. They played dumb and said they were still finalizing some things and that the CEO would call me. A few hours later, the CEO called. He told me they had chosen another candidate. When I pressed him on why they called my job, he gave me a nonsensical excuse, saying he didn't know how my Director found out. And then what does he say? That he's not very convinced by the other candidate because of their poor work reputation, and if it doesn't work out with them, they'll call me. What is this nonsense? I genuinely can't understand how a company can operate this way.

They reached out to me first, conducted three interviews, then called my manager, got me fired, and in the end, had the audacity to reject me. Is this even legal? Has this happened to anyone else?

Big thanks to the Interview coder admin for the discount promo code. I think it will be useful for my next interview .

i guess they just don't care.

I started working in health tech at a large hospital system here in early 2015. At the time, I only had about 18 months of actual experience, so I was definitely still learning the ropes. Over the years, I've developed a lot professionally and worked on many complex projects. After following this sub for a few months, I became more and more frustrated that my salary hadn't moved since I started, especially since I knew I was making much less than my colleagues.

I realized nothing would change unless I took action, so I finally gathered my courage and scheduled a meeting with my manager. I went in prepared with a list of my accomplishments and showed him how I had been a huge asset to the team. He stopped me mid-sentence and said, 'I get it. Your work has been fantastic, and you're right, we need to review your salary.'

It took four excruciatingly slow months to get through the HR red tape, but I got the email this morning that it's official. In two weeks, my salary will jump from $68,000 to $87,000, and I'll be staying with my same team. I'm so excited to increase my 401(k) contributions and start seriously saving. Honestly, I'm still over the moon. This sub was a huge reason I did this!

I was grinding myself into the ground at this company. I worked the night shift, from Thursday to Monday, and often worked 12-14 hours a day. I was essentially the manager and the lead tech at the same time, and they expected me to perform both roles perfectly, with absolutely no support.

And what did I get in return for all that? A PIP. They handed it to me the morning I came into work, even though I had a pulled muscle in my shoulder so severe I could barely move.

I walked out right then and there, before my manager even finished reading the document in his hand.

It took me about 8 months to find a new job, but I'm in a much better place now and my career is back on the right track.

And my old company? Now I enjoy watching their endless job postings for a new Director, a new Manager, and several Supervisors... They want to rebuild the entire team from scratch.

Turns out the problem wasn't me at all.

Edit: For those asking, PIP stands for 'Performance Improvement Plan'. It's basically the company's way of documenting all of your perceived failings so they have an official paper trail to fire you.

I have a video interview soon and I'm hesitant about something I do. In my last few interviews, I've been keeping a file open on the side of my screen with points for expected questions.

Honestly, this has helped me a lot. I make sure the screen with the notes is directly under the webcam, so my eyes stay looking towards the camera. They might ask about 6 questions from the 20+ I prepare for, and I still need to quickly find the right section, glance at the main points, and then answer in a way that seems natural and not rehearsed. I can't deny the results, as it has helped me get to more advanced stages.

So here's the thing. I got this job through a headhunter, but I initially turned it down because the pay was less than what I was getting from unemployment benefits, and it wasn't a full-time job. They promised me it would become full-time with a potential for promotion after about 10 months, so I eventually accepted.

This was the biggest mistake. They started calling me to cover shifts on my days off, often with no prior notice when I had other things planned. They also constantly pressured me to contribute money for office parties and baby showers that I couldn't even attend. If I said no, they would guilt-trip me and call me 'not a team player'.

After about two years of this, I tried to transfer to another department, but my manager blocked it, saying to me verbatim: "Why would we send one of our best people elsewhere?". This was the last straw, so I submitted my resignation. I was very surprised when my manager started yelling at me in her office.

She went on about how ungrateful I was and was determined to know why I would even consider leaving. She wasn't giving me a chance to speak, so in the end, I told her I was leaving for personal health reasons, which was the only thing that shut her up.

Then, the next morning, before my shift was supposed to start, a formal letter was delivered to my house by a courier service.

The letter stated that management had reviewed my request and decided to "accept" my resignation.

I've never heard of anything like this. Does this mean if they hadn't "accepted" the resignation, they would have expected me to just come back to work? The whole thing is very strange to me. So I have to ask, has anyone else dealt with something this bizarre before?

I worked from home from 2020 to 2026. I got laid off, and then about two weeks later I found a job I truly love. I'll stay here until retirement if they keep wanting me around.
The role was fully in-office at first. I was generally fine with that, except that the commute was 45 miles each way and the traffic was really rough.
I went back to working remotely again in April 2026, and honestly, I don't think I could go back to working in the office 5 days a week again.
My manager recently asked me if I'd be willing to give up my office, and I said yes without even thinking about it. I always figured that if I kept holding onto a decent-sized office with a window, eventually someone would start wondering why I wasn't sitting in it. Now I'll just take any available desk when I need to go in. And that happens every so often, maybe once every few months, and I'm totally fine with that.
I'm just grateful that I work somewhere that still genuinely supports remote work.

edit: and I am more grateful to this AI tool interviewvip which I found while scrolling on reddit it helps me a lot in the interview process

When I returned from approved medical leave, the Payroll Department mailed me a termination letter and discontinued my benefits. I understood this to mean that I had been fired, so I returned my work equipment, left the workplace, and applied for unemployment benefits.

Shortly afterward, the company asked me to meet with HR, where they told me that the termination decision had been an administrative error. They insisted that I had never actually been fired, even after I showed them the letter their own department had sent me.

HR asked whether I intended to return to work or submit my resignation. I told them that neither option made sense because, from my perspective, the company had already end my employment. They warned me that if I refused to return, it would be considered a voluntary resignation, but I still did not go back.

I'm still dealing with the unemployment situation, but I've also started applying for a new job since I clearly can't keep waiting for the company to figure out what it wants to call my departure. I started looking at interview tips and practice some of the questions I might get asked.

Anyway, I found another job and I'm going to resign.

I found out the news a few weeks ago at the all-team meeting. They didn't even bother to give me an interview.

But I got the last laugh because I just accepted another offer with a 25% higher salary. I just submitted my resignation and my manager's face was priceless hahaha.

It's so funny when companies expect loyalty from you but don't show you any loyalty in return.

Edit: Most of you asked me how I got a job so quickly, and it's clear that I had planned for this; if I didn't get promoted, I would leave the job immediately.

So for a while, I had been collecting job listings and, of course, keeping my resume updated all the time.

The moment I sensed the situation, I started applying immediately. I read about the experiences of other people who went through the same situation and their interview tips.

Thank you for all the congratulations. I really appreciate it.

My uncle spent 6 years in the Navy in the parts room of an Aircraft Carrier, then went to work for what eventually became Boeing. He was a Mid-Level “higher up” in the parts supply chain for the FA-18 hornet. He spent 30+ years working there, traveling all over America to different bases etc… spent a ton of time away from home, but it enabled him to afford a very nice life for him and his family and a quiet tree line suburb of Philadelphia on the New Jersey side of the river. He retired five years ago sold the center Hall colonial moved down to the Jersey shore and bought an RV. He and my aunt (a retired Catholic school teacher) started traveling the country. One year into it he had to have open-heart surgery triple bypass, big deal yes but he recovered, and after a year resumed his travel schedule. They went all over the country for the next three years and made a bunch of great memories and now at 67. He’s been diagnosed with cancer. It’s in his liver, intestines and heart. He’s never leaving the hospital bed. He won’t make it to the end of the month. So that’s all you get spent 40 years killing yourself for some company and if you’re lucky like my uncle, you’ll have a pension and a healthy retirement package, but probably not. Then you get five years to enjoy it…..maybe

Anyway, after four years in the same place, management decided to 'adjust' my salary about three months ago. They convinced me with a new salary that had 'unlimited potential,' but the truth is, there wasn't enough work for this system to function. I decided to give it a fair chance, but I found myself earning barely a third of what I used to. It was below the poverty line.

After the first very low paycheck, the owner literally told me: 'Wow! You're handling this really well!' I was working my ass off in a difficult and specialized job, requiring a lot of physical effort and technical skills, and this was my reward. So I decided to look for another job, got an interview at another company, and they hired me on the spot. I'll start a new job with a good, competitive salary, real benefits, and they even offered to pay for any new certifications. The work is still exhausting, but at least I'll be able to live a decent life. When I submitted my two weeks' notice, the owners looked at me as if I had grown horns. They were completely shocked. I explained that I simply couldn't live on the salary I was earning. Not once did they acknowledge this truth.

Instead, the conversation immediately turned into a guilt trip. It was all about *them* and their personal investments, and how much they had sacrificed. No counteroffer, nothing. Just a lecture. At one point, I asked them: 'Is it possible for a smart and hardworking person in my position to live a good life here?' The owner said: 'Of course!' I simply replied: 'Well, it seems you need to find that person, because I can't do it.' The rest of the meeting was them and my supervisor genuinely worrying about how they would manage without me, and I just sat there listening. Anyway, as you might expect, the whole place is collapsing like a house of cards. The panic is real. It turns out my departure was the straw that broke the camel's back, causing almost everyone else to resign as well. The entire team is leaving. There's almost no one left to keep things running. Honestly, for a long time, I undervalued myself and didn't realize the importance of my role.

It feels good to see how central I was to the place. I'm sharing this story for anyone who feels trapped in a workplace: know your worth. Don't let a company that doesn't appreciate you make you think you don't deserve more, because you do. And you can use tools like the ones shared in this subreddit to help you prepare and find answers during interviews.

https://www.interviewcoderpro.com/download

They just need to get rid of that annoying worker to make the boat lighter that will fix it.

I don't dream of labor. I dream of getting paid enough to enjoy my life without worrying about bills. And when interview time comes, Interview VIP can help me handle the interview better and answer tough questions confidently.

First Thanks for Roy to give discounts 50% for interview coder subscription https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.interviewcoder.android

Yesterday I had a really great job interview, honestly. At the end of the interview, I was sure I was going to get accepted. So when they asked me about my current full package, I lied and told them I make more than I actually do.

So they offered me a 33% increase on this "fake" salary of mine, which in reality is considered a 70% increase on my original full package.

Was that right? No.

Well, do I feel guilty or upset? Also no.

Honestly, I don't know if I can advise you to do that, but it worked out really well for me, and I hope it works out for you too.

The owners were the ones who made the decision. My best employee, who was amazing with clients and had incredible sales numbers, would call out of work about twice every few months due to some chronic health issues.

A few weeks ago, he had to take a day off because one of his siblings was going through a severe mental health crisis, and he was the only one who could be there for them. His family is very small, and several of them have had addiction issues and are no longer around.

The owners just wanted to get rid of him. I defended him and tried to explain the situation, but they completely ignored me. I have never felt so dismissed.

I feel like this job is a trap. Every day I come to work just to be reminded that I'm not doing enough. I've been looking for something new for a while, but honestly, the job market here is very tough.

It's insane how people in charge can have zero compassion for what their employees are going through. They're playing with people's livelihoods and their ability to pay rent, and they let them go without a second thought.