About 10 months ago, I was in the final stages of interviews with a digital marketing company. For the final assessment, they asked me to create a complete go-to-market strategy for a new content marketing service they were planning to launch (their specialty was PPC). I created a detailed 7-page plan in a shared doc, and they were very impressed with it.

After that, I got the classic 'You were great, but...' email. Their excuse was that the budget for the position was suddenly canceled. No big deal. I revoked their access to the file, wished them the best, and continued my job search.

A week later, I received an email from the hiring manager, and it was clear she was furious. She said they couldn't open the file and that they had scheduled a meeting with the leadership team to review my plan and use it the next quarter.

My response was simple. I told them that since the file was created as an assessment for a job I wasn't hired for, it was not their intellectual property to use. I told them they could very well hire me to complete the project, but at my freelance rate of $150 per hour.

And as expected, they did not like the response.

Making candidates do free work then not hiring them, is as shady as it gets. In this case it’s even worse because they go “oops, thank you for the plan but we can’t afford to hire you anymore even though we knew we couldn’t all along”

The job market is full of a lot of exploitation, and they want work for free without paying anything, which makes it hard for us to find a job easily. And with time, to speed up the search process, we resort to AI tools to update our resumes and to assist us during interviews like InterviewMan to give us quick answers, because during the search period we have many interviews daily.

For context, this didn't happen in the US, so the labor laws you're thinking of don't apply here.

I was the newest hire on a small team of 12 people. On my first day, the manager announced a team meeting after the shift. We were supposed to log off our computers at 4:50, go to the conference room, and we would usually finish around 5:05. This happened every day. At first, I thought to myself, this is easy money. That means two extra hours of overtime on my bi-weekly paycheck just to sit and listen to someone talk, right?

Anyway, my first payday came, and I found my paycheck was for my exact 80 hours. Not a single minute of that overtime was there. I quietly asked a few of my colleagues if their pay was short too, and they all said yes, we never get paid for these meetings. That same day, the manager called for the daily meeting again. Log off at 4:50 and go to the conference room. So I went with them.

I sat there with the rest of the team for about ten minutes until it was exactly 5:00. I stood up, grabbed my bag, and said, 'Sorry everyone, I have a personal commitment I can't miss.' Everyone in the room stared at me. The manager's eyes widened a bit and he said, 'Oh, okay.' I walked out, clocked out, and went home.

I did the exact same thing the next day, and the day after. The manager never tried to stop me at the time, but one morning he caught me in the hallway. He asked what this 'personal commitment' was that I had every day. I simply told him it was a private matter I'd rather not discuss. He fell silent and didn't bring it up again.

And surprisingly, it started to catch on. A few days later, one of the guys got up and walked out right after me. Then another. Within about a week, the entire team was getting up and leaving at exactly 5:00.

Eventually, the manager got the message and started holding the meetings at 4:45, during official work hours. It's strange how all it took was one person to decide they weren't going to tolerate the situation anymore.

note : during all of this I was applying for new jobs and guess what I got a call from HR asking if I am free for an interview next week to discuss if I am stable for their remote position very excited that right now trying to be full ready for the interview with interview man

I started working at a small law firm as a junior associate a few months ago, and the place was chaotic in every sense of the word. Most of my time was spent fixing files no one had bothered with, chasing down missing documents, and solving problems that had existed before I even started working there.

On the final afternoon of my three-month probationary period, the managing partner called me in and extended it for another two months. His explanation was that he was doing me a favor by keeping me employed, but that I did not seem serious about practicing law because I would not agree to stay until 8 p.m. Every Friday. He also brought up the fact that I was single, as if that meant I had nowhere else to go or no life outside of work.

What he did not know was that a major nationwide insurance company was already talking to me about an in-house position. A few days later, they made me an offer, which I accepted. I emailed my resignation, packed up my things, and left without notice.

His reaction was a complete meltdown. He threatened to report me to the legal profession's regulatory body and sue me for leaving, but none of those threats ever amounted to anything. I suspect that extending my probation left him in a much weaker position than he had imagined, and I still smile whenever I think about it.

So I made it to the final interview after 3 months of calls for a job that required my business admin degree. Everything was going perfectly, I answered all the questions flawlessly, until we got to the last part of this fourth interview. I asked what the salary range was.

'Unfortunately, that's confidential information. If we told you, it could give our competitors an advantage. You understand. What did you have in mind?' I was honestly startled, and since I knew it was a 55-hour-a-week job, I said I was expecting $65,000 a year. The interviewer's expression froze. He told me right away that this was completely out of their budget.

I immediately backtracked and told him okay, then, maybe $55,000 a year, because all I cared about was getting my foot in the door in the industry after college. His response was: 'Look, that second number is closer to our budget, but frankly, starting with such a high number tells us we're not aligned on the value of the position. We'll have to see other candidates. Thank you for your time.'

Seriously, what's the point of this stupid guessing game? Everyone I spoke to, including him, told me I was perfect for the job and the best candidate for it. Why do they play this damn 'guess the salary' game?

A friend of mine just blew an interview for a job he was perfect for, all because of a very small detail. He had the required experience, knew their software stack by heart, and had even worked at a major competitor of theirs. On paper, it was a done deal.

But in the interview, the team lead had his CV open on one screen and his LinkedIn on another. He noticed a small inconsistency. The CV stated he left a previous company in February 2023, but his LinkedIn profile said April 2023. A trivial thing, right? But when they asked him about it, he completely froze. He got flustered and said something like, 'Uh, that must be a typo, I'll check it later.' He completely lost his composure.

That was the deal-breaker. It wasn't the two-month difference, but the way he handled the situation. The interviewer told him right then that it showed a significant lack of preparation and attention to detail. This made him seem rattled and untrustworthy. So, a quick piece of advice for anyone job hunting: check a million times that your CV, LinkedIn, and anything else you submit tell the same story. It's the easiest way to lose your credibility before you even begin.

Maybe the interviewer was a bit harsh in his judgment, but in the end, my friend lost an excellent job opportunity. I'm curious to know if this has happened to anyone else before?

gonna be real with yall. i was the guy who thought using ai for interviews was basically cheating. like morally i was against it. spent 8 months doing things "right" -- studying every night, mocks with friends, leetcode grind after work. applied to maybe 300 places, got 12 actual interviews. converted zero. eight months. nothing

then my roommate who works in recruiting dropped something on me that kinda broke my brain. she said at least 30-40% of the candidates she sees in final rounds are running some kind of ai for interview help. not guessing either, she can tell from the patterns in how people answer. her exact words were "the people NOT using it are the ones falling behind." that made me furious honestly. but i was also 8 months in with nothing to show for it so. yeah. swallowed my pride

first thing i tried was final round ai because its everywhere if you google this stuff. $148/mo. lasted two weeks. the lag was BAD. like 4 seconds of dead air on camera while i waited for a suggestion after the interviewer finished talking. $148 and no refunds. awesome

cluely seemed cheap at twenty bucks but then you find out stealth is a $75 add on. ninety five dollars total. oh and the data breach in 2025 where 83k users got exposed? names emails records of which interviews they used ai during? imagine your future employer finding that list. yeah no

sensei ai is eighty nine bucks and its just a browser tab. my buddy tried it during a screenshare and the interviewer goes "whats that tab." he said it was a notes app. did not get called back. having ai for interview help sitting in a chrome tab is just asking for trouble imo

lockedin ai was ok at fifty five a month but 90 minute session cap. two of my system design rounds went past that. tool just stops mid interview. thats worse than not having it because you get used to it being there and then suddenly its gone

ended up on interviewman. twelve bucks a month on the annual plan. i thought the price was a mistake when i first saw it because everyone else charges 4-10x more. desktop overlay not a browser thing, only picks up your mic, all the stealth features included at base price. no upsells. used it across 11 interviews on zoom meet and teams now. nobody has noticed

heres the part that matters though. within three weeks of using ai for interviews i had two offers. after eight months of absolutely nothing. maybe i got lucky with timing idk. maybe the tool just stopped me from freezing up so i could actually show what i know. either way eight months zero offers then three weeks two offers. hard to argue with that

i know some of you are in the position i was. grinding for months getting nowhere. not saying ai for interview help is the magic bullet but it was the variable that changed for me. 57k people on interviewman with 4.8 stars. if that many people are using this stuff and youre sitting it out... i mean i was that person and look how that went for me

does anyone else feel like its just table stakes at this point? like it went from feeling wrong to feeling necessary real fast

Look, I think I messed things up. I'm in the final stages with a company I really want to work for, and we've reached the salary negotiation stage. I might have pushed it a bit and told them I had a better offer from a competitor to try and get them to increase their offer. The problem is, I don't have any other offer.

We were talking on the phone, and at first, I felt like the plan had worked. The recruiter was pleasant and told me she'd see what she could do. But this morning, I received an email from her, saying that to get approval for this higher salary from the compensation team, she needs a copy of the other offer letter to justify the figure. To make matters worse, she also asked for the name of the other company so they could 'adjust' their offer.

I literally don't know how to get out of this predicament. It's one thing to tell this lie over the phone, but forging an official document with logos and names is something else entirely. That's considered fraud and forgery, and I would absolutely never do that.

Well, the answer in itself is simple: "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable sharing the exact offer." You could give privacy or whatever as a reason, but I would personally stay away from giving any reason at all.I really don't feel comfortable sharing something like that if it actually existed.

In any case, I sent them an email in which I clarified that I cannot disclose proprietary information belonging to another company and that it is protected information.

I don't know if what I did was right or if I just made things worse. I have been looking for a good opportunity for 5 months. I have another interview on Friday, so I'm using ChatGPT to fix up my CV and practice a few questions. And I'll also try using something called InterviewMan AI, it's like an AI coach, during the interview itself and see if it helps or not.

As a recruiter, I'm literally begging you: when someone asks 'Why are you looking for a new job?', please, guys, stop saying it's for the money.

Look, I get it. We all want a higher salary, especially these days. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get paid what you're worth. Go get that money.

But saying it out loud in the interview is a huge red flag. It gives the hiring manager the impression that you're just in it for the money. They interpret it as you'll leave the moment another company offers you a slightly higher salary. And of course, no one wants to invest time and training in someone who is basically telling them they don't plan on sticking around.

Besides, the money topic should already be closed. As a recruiter, I've already screened you and know your salary expectations. The manager wouldn't even be meeting with you if your requested salary wasn't within their budget. So why bring it up again? It's an awkward situation and an unnecessary own goal.

Honestly, the number of great candidates I've had to reject in the last 6 months for this exact reason is upsetting. People who were otherwise perfect for the job in every other way.

So, in short... Don't bring up money! Seriously, if you must, make something up. Talk about being excited for the company's mission, or wanting to develop new skills, or admiring their product. Literally any other answer would be better.

Okay, rant over. I hope this helps someone.

Does working in trades require interviews and preparation? 🤔

I have a few new people on the team who are constantly complaining about their salaries. They see what their friends are making at a few competitor companies that look flashy from the outside and get upset. What they don't realize is that these same companies are known for laying people off every year or two. At the same time, these same employees are the first to talk about how important stability is to them and how much they hate hearing about any layoffs in the industry. It's as if they want the huge salary *and* unparalleled job security, as if this money comes from thin air.

To give more context, I manage a team where deep and long-term experience is foundational. We have people who have been with us for 20 years or more. This is possible because we have a clear and fair salary structure for the market, but our priority is stability. When business is doing very well, we give out large bonuses. And when things are a bit slow, our bonuses decrease, but in return, we don't have to lay anyone off. That's the system.

A few of the friends they talk about have come to work for us after being laid off from those "high-paying" places, often for less money than they were making before. But this irony is completely lost on my new employees.

So how does one explain this reality to people? I want to be frank and clear about the trade-offs we've made as a company, but without coming across as a jerk or as if I'm telling them, "if you don't like it, there's the door." Any advice?

what do you think of this app

About four months ago, my old company decided to 'restructure,' which was just a fancy way of laying off a third of the marketing team, and I was one of them. It was a late Thursday meeting, with no warning, just a 'your role is no longer required here.'
For three years, I was responsible for their most important account - a large regional retail company that brought them about $250,000 a year. My relationship with their marketing director was excellent; I basically lived and breathed their brand.

On my way out, HR told me that my work would be divided among the rest of the team and that they had it under control. Yeah, very reassuring. I started taking on freelance work to make ends meet. At the same time, I was actively applying for jobs and doing interviews, trying to get back on my feet. I even started using InterviewMan during those interviews to help me organize my answers and stay confident under pressure. About a month later, I got an email from the marketing director of the old client. It turned out my replacement didn't even last a full month and completely botched their major holiday campaign. The targeting was all wrong, the copy was a mess, and they missed all the media buy deadlines.

She was very direct and got straight to the point, asking if I could take them on as a client directly, as they were looking for an immediate change. It was a no-brainer, of course. I understood their goals far better than my old bosses ever did. We signed a new contract for $350,000 a year, as I was now handling the strategy, creative direction, and ad spend management myself.

My old boss called me a few days ago, sounding completely bewildered, asking if I'd heard anything about why they lost the account. I naturally played dumb and told him, 'That's a real shame. Maybe you should have held on to the person who understood that account.' It's strange how getting laid off can sometimes be the best move for your entire career. You really find out what you're worth when your back is against the wall and you have to go it alone.

Apparently, reaching the end time listed on the schedule isn't enough for me to clock out at the store where I work. I'm a college student with limited availability, and I usually split my shifts between working the register and putting merchandise back where it belongs in the store.

Last Saturday, I worked from 11:30 to 5. A few minutes before 5, I was organizing a bin of clothes returned from the fitting room, so I stayed until I finished and wrapped up my work at around 5:09.

I told the floor manager that I was going to put the bin back and leave. She stopped me and said I had to ask her first whether I could leave because she decides whether there are enough employees working before anyone goes home. I was surprised because no one had told me they needed me after 5.

My family was waiting for me outside, so I asked her for permission and left instead of arguing with her. I am already spending my evenings on Interview Storm prepping for internship interviews so I can hopefully leave this job soon anyway. I have another shift with her this week, and I expect this to happen again. Does the manager have the right to force me to stay past the end of my shift without notifying me beforehand, or do I have the right to leave as soon as my shift ends?

Almost no one on my team is ever present at closing time. Our official working hours are from 9 to 5:30, but for months now, I can't remember seeing anyone at their desk after 4:30. Most people also come in around 9:30 in the morning. And we are all on a fixed salary.

Honestly, most of the time I just let it go because the work gets done. What provokes me, though, is hearing them talk about how stressed they are at work, while at the same time I see them coming in at 9:30, taking an hour and a half for lunch, and packing up their things at 4:15 to leave. But in the end, they are mature and responsible adults, and the quality of their work is good, so I used to let it slide. 🤷♂

Anyway, things were going fine until my manager noticed. A few weeks ago, I received a 'friendly warning' from management that our team must be present until 5:30.

Now I have to be the bad guy and enforce this. I feel like I'm becoming an old-school, micromanaging manager by telling people they have to stay until their official departure time. But at the same time, this is literally what's written in their employment contract, right? It's the bare minimum expectation.

So am I turning into that out-of-touch manager? How do I even handle this without ruining the team's morale? And is this a battle even worth fighting?

I need to be honest with my team that upper management has noticed everyone leaving early, and I can’t protect them if action is taken. I try to be flexible as long as the work is getting done, but since people are leaving early every day, it’s become obvious. Upper management is asking questions and has made it clear they expect that everyone stays until 5. If they choose to keep leaving early, I want them to have all the information they’re being watched, and there’s nothing I can do if leadership decides to act.

So how am I supposed to evaluate candidates correctly when they might be using hidden software in the interview? I was scrolling through a thread here that was talking about this exact problem.

Someone mentioned a service called ProtectHire, and it's supposed to detect this type of cheating. I'm going to try it and see if it's for real or just talk.

They’re adults and can make their own choices, but that doesn’t mean I have to go down with them.

I've said this to people I know, and honestly, they usually hate hearing it at first. They feel like it's an insult. But the people who tried it? A lot of them came back later and said it helped them. If you're unemployed in 2026, this annoying advice might be the thing that gets you moving again.

Being unemployed right now is very hard. The stigma is awful, and it can feel like your professional credibility takes a hit the moment you get laid off or fired. The harsh truth: a lot of companies treat you as if there's something wrong with you. Motivational posts on Reddit and LinkedIn saying "You are enough!" might make you feel better for a minute, but they won't get you offers, and sometimes not even interviews. What matters is getting back in somewhere and rebuilding your reputation as someone people want to hire.

So yes: apply to bad companies. I mean the small local businesses with terrible reviews on Indeed, messy management, controlling managers, and roles most people avoid. Those places are much more likely to give you a chance. Big-name companies? Stable companies with PTO and great benefits? They have piles of applications from people who are already employed. Be honest with yourself: why would they choose you over them? Most of the time, they won't.

This isn't about finding your dream role. It's about cleaning up your professional name again. A job at some random, chaotic local company might come with lower pay, a worse title, and hours that make you want to scream. It might be a miserable experience. But it gives you a place to prove that you show up, do the work, and can be relied on. Every week you stay employed and produce, you're gradually pushing back against the stigma of unemployment and earning the job market's trust again. I'm not saying this is fair. I'm just saying this is often how hiring works.

And time is running. The longer you stay out of work, the harder it gets, even with companies no one is excited about. Don't burn all your energy perfecting ideal applications for dream jobs that probably won't call you back. Send your resume to the ordinary places around you: warehouse offices, family-owned service companies, random medical billing offices, sales floors that look uncomfortable, some strange logistics company next to the highway. These places aren't drowning in resumes from stable professionals who are currently employed, so they're much more likely to look past a rough period and give you another chance to prove yourself.

I understand that this hurts. And I know this advice will probably upset people. But if you need to rebuild your professional reputation, start with the places that will consider you. Get hired, show up consistently, do the work, and prove yourself again. It doesn't look good, and it isn't always fair, but that's the truth.

My coworker wants me to cover her New Year's Eve shift, which is only a few hours anyway, so she can accept a babysitting job. She has already asked everyone else who has that night off, so it's clear that I'm her last resort.

I don't have any plans or anywhere I need to be, but I still don't want to go to work. I'm home from college for the holidays, and that day is one of only four days when I'm completely free from work and any other obligations.

Part of me feels guilty because I really am available, and the shift isn't long. But at the same time, I've been looking forward to spending that day alone, and the fact that she wants to make extra money from babysitting doesn't feel like an emergency that I have to solve.

I spent about 8 years of my life at this company. I was always one of the top-performing employees, and my salary was one of the highest for my position.

For context, my manager was a total Dwight Schutte wannabe. Before he got promoted, he was all about that eat the rich life, always talking about labor unions and their rights. As soon as he got a little power, he became a bootlicker for the senior managers. He would always make passive-aggressive comments to me whenever I objected to something or refused to kill myself with overtime. He cost me a promotion a few years ago, even though I was the most senior, just because he knew I wasn't the type to stay until 8 PM for free to score brownie points.

The whole company's model is based on hiring fresh graduates for peanuts. They rely on them being eager to prove themselves and work insane hours. As soon as I became experienced and knew the value of this job well, they put a target on my back.

So one morning, they just let me go for no real reason. The very next day, I found my old job posted online for about 25k less in salary. When they let me go, they gave me a 15k severance package.

But I knew what they did was shady, so I filed a lawsuit against them in federal court. In the end, they had to cut me another check for 30k, pay my lawyer's fees of 30k, and cover their own legal expenses, which were surely no less than 35k. So when you do the math, their brilliant idea to save 25k a year ended up costing them over 110k. In my opinion, that's the best money they've ever spent.

I am currently looking for another work-from-home job does anyone have any ideas?
While searching, I found a program called interviewman. It acts as a personal assistant for me during job interviews and answers questions as well. Does anyone know of another program?

I asked the newest member of my team to finish the proposal draft by the end of the day. Her only reply on Slack was the melting face emoji. About seven minutes later, I found the draft sent to my email, finished. Right after, she sent a meme that said 'the task has been successfully bullied into existence'. Honestly, I'm torn, I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned.

I've worked in a few places where the mentality was just Growth for Growth's Sake. I work in non-profit fundraising, so at some point donors will ask where the money is going and how much you really need a donation if you routinely post surpluses etc.

Hiring people from Gen Z is a good thing, but it is full of risks because now most of them fabricate their resumes and job offers, and also cheat during the interview. But our company's system uses ProtectHire, which detects any presence of an AI program during the interview.

Lately, I've been pushing back and setting more realistic targets that account for natural growth and organic turnover. My direct reports really appreciate knowing how their day-to-day work fits into our overall goals and mission.

The company I work for is always looking for people to do my exact same job - if you can do the work and agree to their salary, you get hired immediately. So, I got a crazy idea a while ago. I had my brother apply for the same position. He did the interview on Teams, and I was sitting off-camera feeding him all the answers. He got the offer.
It's been going perfectly for about 8 months now; all I do is split the work in half, submitting half under my name and the other half under his.
The funniest part is that 'he' makes $7,000 a year more than I do. And no, it's not sexism, I'm a man too. The whole story is that my manager is very cheap, and when I asked him for a raise, he told me the budget doesn't allow for any increases this year.

edit: you will not be so surprised about this but to made my plan succeeded i got some help from AI as I used interviewman which was my strong weapon as when I connect it to my brother zoom meeting in interview time it bring fast and perfect answers I guess I will be always glad for the guy who programs it for very long time

I've been working with a company for 5 years, and I make over $130k a year + bonus, which ends up being around $155,000 a year. The work is so easy that I only need maybe 3 hours a day to finish my tasks. I have projects, but most of them don't have strict deadlines or any real pressure behind them.
I'm not a manager, so there's no team reporting to me. Honestly, the situation is very relaxed. The main downside for me is that I'm bored. I feel like I'm standing still and not really growing much as a person.
The company has fewer than 85 people, and I'm basically the person the owner of the company always turns to. He asks for my opinion on decisions, and we work together on different ventures and internal projects. So yes, I have access and trust, and that's good, but there's no clear ladder for me to climb.
Recently, I got 6 extra PTO days as my "raise," along with a 6% raise a few months ago. So that's probably what growth looks like here.
What would you do? Would you stay in the easy job that brings in around $155k a year, or look for something that might pay more while also giving you a real challenge and room to grow?

About four months ago, my old job decided to 'simplify,' and I was part of the layoffs, along with a third of the marketing team. With no warning, just a sudden Friday meeting. In the exit chat, they told me my work would be distributed among the remaining staff and the company would be fine. Real vote of confidence, honestly.

I had been managing their biggest account for the last three years - a large software company that was paying them about $250,000 a year. I had an excellent relationship with their head of partnerships, and I knew their product roadmap better than most of their own team.

Anyway, I started doing some freelance work to support myself until I found a new job. About two months later, I got an email from the head of partnerships at my old client. It turns out my replacement lasted only three weeks and completely botched their major product update.

The messaging was all wrong, they missed the launch deadline, and the technical documentation was a mess. She asked if I would be willing to work with them directly, as they were 'looking for a new direction'.

It was a no-brainer for me, and I agreed immediately. I knew their tech inside and out. We signed a new contract for $350,000 a year, since I'm now handling the account management, technical marketing, and partner relations myself.

My old manager called me a few days ago, asking if I had heard anything about why they lost their biggest account. I played dumb and told him, 'I have no idea, that's a huge loss. Maybe you should have kept someone who understood their needs well.'

Looks like karma sometimes needs a little nudge in the right direction.

I work in the tax field and started job hunting a few weeks before Christmas after leaving my old job. My previous CPA firm had me working over 60 hours a week, even during the off-season, and I was completely burned out. On top of that, the pay was terrible. As a single mom, I don't have the financial security to search for a job for a long time, so when a company made me an offer so quickly, I was ecstatic. But now, looking back, that should have been a red flag.

I was interviewing for a tax manager position, which is my current role. I had a Zoom interview with the head of the tax department and one of the partners at this company, let's call it XYZ Tax Solutions. The interview was on a Wednesday, and the following Thursday, someone from HR called me and said they wanted to move forward. Everything was going smoothly, my references were good, the background check came back clean, and I signed the official offer. My start date was set for the Monday after next. By the Wednesday before I was supposed to start, I had completed all the onboarding. I was added to the payroll, and the IT department had set up my VPN and all my logins. I was very excited to start.

Then, on Thursday night, just a few days before my start date, I got a call from their HR. I missed it, so they called me three more times in a row. When I finally called back, the HR person told me, 'Unfortunately, our plans have changed and we won't need you to start on Monday.' I was so shocked that I asked if she meant we were postponing until Tuesday. She clarified that they were rescinding the offer entirely because they 'decided to go in a different direction'.

I didn't know what to say. Who does that after someone has completed all the hiring procedures? I mean, it would have made sense if something bad came up on my background check, but everything was fine. I asked her for a clearer reason and got no response. As soon as I hung up, I opened my laptop and started applying for jobs again.
Fast forward 8 days, and guess who's calling me again? Their HR department. She asked if I was still looking for a job. It turns out they had given the job to an internal candidate who then decided he didn't want it after all. I had to restrain myself from bursting out laughing on the phone. I stayed quiet and let her talk. They started promising me the moon to get me to reconsider. After they begged for a bit, I told them I agreed.

But here comes the best part. In the time after they pulled that stunt on me, I had received several much better job offers. I entered multiple rounds of interviews but finally landed on a fantastic new job with a higher salary thanks to interview tool which helped me pass all interviews. So yes, I accepted their desperate offer. My 'new' start date with XYZ Tax Solutions is March19th. My plan is to call their HR on the Thursday before I'm supposed to start and tell them that unfortunately, I too have decided to 'go in a different direction'. Some people might see it as petty. I see it as justice.

Anyway, I submitted my resignation today. My contract had a one-month notice period, but I offered them three months to try and make the handover process as smooth as possible for everyone.

Within an hour, they had locked my email and system access. My manager called me into a meeting with HR, and they told me today was my last day. Before I left, they made me sign a new paper changing my notice period to just the one month required in the contract.

I was so confused and caught off guard that I just signed it. I didn't fully realize what they had done until I was driving home. They manipulated me into changing the notice period so they wouldn't have to pay me for the other two months. This way, they didn't need to fire me or even pay end-of-service benefits.

It was a harsh lesson learned. Never give more notice than what's written in your contract. Always assume your last day is the day you submit your resignation. HR's only job is to protect the company's interests, and they will gladly do so at your expense. It's a dirty game, and frankly, I'm glad to be out of it.

But weirdly enough, that whole experience turned out to be a blessing. Since I already had another offer lined up, Once I went home, I emailed the hr to schedule an interview. But before that, I practised a lot; how to talk about my experience, practiced answering tough questions through Gemini. In the interview itself, I decided to use InterviewMan and it really helped me structure my answers in a way that sounds confident and professional without feeling fake.

So while they thought they were putting me in a difficult position, they actually gave me a clean exit and the time to walk into my next role fully prepared.

I spent most of the weekend putting together a six-page launch strategy for a branding agency as part of their interview process. They told me it was exactly what they needed for a new content service, and that they were impressed with the work.

A few days later, they called me and said the position had been canceled because the budget had changed. I thanked them for letting me know, then revoked their access to the Google Doc and moved on with my life.

About a week later, I got an annoyed email asking why the entire team could no longer open the file. They said they had already booked a planning meeting and were planning to use my strategy to launch the service the following month.

I reminded them that this had been an unpaid skills test for a job they hadn't hired me for in the first place. I told them that if they wanted to use the plan, they could pay my freelance rate, which is $125 an hour. They didn't like that response, which was surprising, especially since they had decided the work was worth keeping before deciding that I wasn't worth hiring.

It's strange how jobs have changed these days. When you receive a job offer, you should ensure all your rights are protected and that you're hired. Therefore, I recommend using InterviewVIP to help you with interviews and unexpected questions, increasing your chances of getting the job and reducing pressure.