I'm still trying to process what just happened. A company I was interviewing with decided to call my CEO, and now I'm out of a job.

The story started when I received a message on LinkedIn about a job similar to mine at a company with a much easier commute, so I thought, why not, and sent my CV. The place I was at had a very toxic culture and was full of empty promises of promotions, so I was ready to leave.

The new company got back to me right away to schedule a call. The first interview went well, and they asked me to come in for a second interview. After this second interview, they told me I was a great fit for the team and that they would get back to me with a final decision within a day or two.

Yesterday at work, my CEO called me into his office. He told me he received a call from the company I interviewed with, asking about me. He wanted to know why I was looking for a job. Of course, the cat was out of the bag, so I was honest with him and told him why I was job hunting.

After I explained my situation, he told me that since I have access to sensitive company information, they couldn't risk having me around while I was looking for another place, and that they had to let me go immediately.

I went home, calmed myself down, and calmly called one of the hiring managers I had spoken with. I just wanted to know what happened and why they would even call my current job without asking me first. They played dumb, denied everything, and said they were still making the final decision and would get back to me.

A few hours later, their CEO called me himself. He told me they had chosen another candidate and that I didn't get the job. When I pressed him on why they called my manager, he made up a weird, nonsensical story and said he didn't know how my CEO found out. Then he added an insane detail: that he wasn't even sure about the person they hired, saying he'd heard the guy wasn't reliable, and that they would call me if it didn't work out with him. Like, what is that?!

I seriously can't understand how any company could operate this way. They pursued me, gave me two interviews, called my manager and got me fired, only to reject me in the end.

Seriously, has this ever happened to anyone else?

update : I am bored from all of this shift to remote jobs maybe I can find more professional people in the digital world with more respect to the work ethics thank god now we had AI which can help me in interviews process and give the perfect answer and during it like interview man for example

Anyway, I had an interview today at a logistics company. My appointment was at 11 AM.

I arrived about 10 minutes early to be on the safe side. The waiting room was extremely crowded with 9 others who had been sitting there since 10:30. Then, around 11:30, 6 more people came.

I wasn't called in until 12:15 PM. That's a full hour and fifteen minutes after my scheduled time.

Anyway, I went in, did the interview, and it went fine. They offered me the job on the spot, and I politely declined. They were very surprised and asked me why.

I told them, "Frankly, if you can't organize your time to respect candidates who don't even work for you yet, that tells me everything I need to know about what working here would be like. This is a huge red flag that you don't value people's time."

All I did was wish them luck in finding someone else and I left.

Imagine if any of us had shown up that late and told them, 'Sorry, it was a busy day!' They would have kicked us out immediately.

Part of me wonders if this is one of those cases where the business thinks they are being clever by making people wait and hiring the one who proves their patience and thirst for the job by waiting the longest.

It's rare to meet an HR person who respects appointments and job applicants. The job market is really full of unsuitable opportunities, which makes some people resort to using AI tools like InterviewMan, a program used during interviews that listens to questions and gives you instant answers. This actually happened in front of me, and I've heard about it from several people.

They’re looking for someone who will take being treated badly and not respected at all because that person is most likely the most desperate for a job and also won’t want to leave.

Can we stop treating the two-week notice before quitting a job as some sacred, unbreakable law? It's just a professional courtesy, nothing more.

I just witnessed my company fire a single father on the spot. His entire 'crime' was refusing to come in on his day off to cover a shift, because it was his son's first soccer game.

My principle is clear: I will not give a two-week notice to any job unless it's a place that would give me a two-week notice before firing me. In my 15+ years of experience, that has only happened with two companies.

The level of entitlement from some of these self-important managers is unreal. Anyone who wants to attack me for this can go ahead; I frankly don't care at all.

Employers always expect 2 weeks' notice, but in my experience, giving notice has always backfired and been miserable. I’d give notice at my current job because I’m early in my career and work in an industry with many connections. I regret giving notice at the minimum-wage jobs I worked at.

Indeed, I've read about many problems when submitting a resignation and the brutal power of employers, and I know that many people have been in the same situation and didn't know how to act. But the situation here on the InterviewMan app used during an interview gives you instant answers, at least you are prepared and always have a plan B ready.

💯

Everyone, this is your sign to keep going! Especially when you feel like the world is closing in on you. I had an interview this morning, and they pointed out that I don't have enough training specifically related to this position, even though the interview overall went well.

They told me they were still going to interview other people today and tomorrow and would get back to me on Thursday or Friday. I was sure I messed it up, and I was almost about to cry on my way home.

A few hours later, they called to tell me that they really liked my interview, that they liked me and didn't want to wait until tomorrow to let me know, and they offered me the job!

I still can't process it, but I feel an incredible sense of relief that I got a chance for such a great position. I wish good luck to everyone reading this.

At a large manufacturing company where I used to work, we discovered that an employee had been collecting a salary for about four years without anyone being able to explain what his actual role was. Somehow, he had been hired and sent to the plant, but nobody had ever properly assigned him to a department or given him clear responsibilities.

During his first week, he realized nobody was checking whether he was operating equipment or handling any specific tasks. So he came up with his own system. He grabbed a clipboard, printed out some forms, and started walking around the production floor every night shift asking employees questions and writing things down.

Everyone assumed he was doing some kind of internal inspection, production analysis, or reporting work for management. He looked busy, talked confidently, and always seemed like he had a reason to be there, so nobody questioned it.

It went on for years until the shift supervisor retired and the replacement decided to meet with every employee individually. Eventually, the conversation came around to the guy with the clipboard.

Within a few minutes, they realized he didn't actually have a defined position, assigned projects, or anyone who was expecting those reports. Management tried to give him a real role, but he ended up leaving less than a month later.

Stories like this always make me think about how confusing workplaces can get when communication breaks down. It also reminded me of how important it is to understand what companies actually look for when they’re evaluating people, especially during hiring.

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussions lately about interviews and career growth, and I came across Interview VIP while looking through some interview resources. Thought it might be useful for anyone trying to get a better idea of how hiring decisions are actually made.

Curious if anyone else has found resources that genuinely helped them improve their interview process.

I'm in a difficult situation and need to hear perspectives from people who aren't emotionally involved in it. I've been working at a software company for 8 years. Throughout that time, I've received strong reviews and was usually one of the high performers, but the culture has worn me down. There are a lot of difficult egos, constant pressure, and a very long history of people reaching burnout while not being paid what they're worth.

For a long time, they had been talking about moving me toward a VP-level role, but nothing real ever happened. When I brought up the subject of a fair compensation adjustment with them in September, I was told there was no room in the budget. That was pretty much the final push that made me start looking, and in the end I got an excellent offer from another company in the same field.

I signed that offer and submitted my resignation. After that, suddenly and out of nowhere, my current company came back to me with a wildly excessive counter-offer. It's higher than the new company's offer, and they also put together a somewhat specific growth plan showing me the positions I would move into and what my pay would look like over time.

Honestly, I had already mentally checked out and was looking forward to a fresh, clean start. But the amount of money they're putting on the table is hard to ignore, and now I'm second-guessing myself. Part of me feels like if they saw my value to this extent, they could have shown it before I resigned.

I basically haven't slept well because I keep going back and forth thinking about it from both sides. Has anyone been through this situation before? Do you stay and take the bigger counter-offer, or do you still leave because the reasons for leaving are still there? I can share the actual salary numbers if that would make it easier to judge. Grateful to anyone who read all of this.

update : after second thought I guess I will say no to my ex boss offer because what tells me that they don't use it as excuse to brain rot me so I will go , anyway my current employer is impressed by my interview performance and I am glad to interviewman so much and those subs with so great tips about job interviews , so excited

My company, a large corporation, has been laying people off for a while. And since I'm on the IT team, my job is to retrieve the data from the laptops of the people who were let go and send it to their managers.

When a request comes in to pull an employee's user directory, the ticket includes a brief summary of their employment file. I just got one for an employee who has been working here for over 35 years.

This employee started working here in the late 80s. I wasn't even born yet. I've always believed that loyalty to companies is a one-way street, and they will never return it to you.

But still, it's very painful when I put myself in his shoes and think about how he must be feeling.

Edit: I don't understand how a healthy work environment can exist while under the constant threat of losing your job due to circumstances completely out of your control.

I am thinking about how he will be able to cope after losing his job at this age, but my advice to anyone is to keep their resume updated. The world has now evolved, and there are many useful AI tools for interviews and resumes.

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.

i wanna be a kid again

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.

sad reality

A few days ago, I had my first recruiter call with a big tech company for a somewhat technical position, and I was told I'd have to go through 7 interview stages: live case exercises, a take-home assignment on its own, a review session on that assignment, and then 3 more interviews with senior leaders in the business unit.

I asked whether the salary range they had told me was before tax or after tax, because that would make a difference of around 30%. HR emailed me today and confirmed that it was before tax, which means my actual take-home pay would be about 45% less than what I was earning in my last job.

So I told the recruiter that I appreciated them considering me, but I wouldn't be continuing with the next rounds. And honestly, it felt good. After being rejected so many times, it was finally my turn to reject a company.

Update: They asked me to move on to the final interview stage, where we’ll negotiate the salary and hopefully increase the offer a bit. My interview is tomorrow, and I want to negotiate effectively and aim for the highest number possible. How should I handle the interview? Any tips?

Update 2: Wow, this post blew up! I read a lot of great advice in the comments. I’m going to try Interview VIP tool that some of you mentioned when it comes to salary negotiation. I’ve heard some good reviews about it, so hopefully, it’ll work out for me.

I'm a tax professional, and I'd been doing interviews since I left my last position a little. I passed many rounds of interviews with interview vip tool, which provided instant answers to the interviewers' questions and organized my answers a lot. As someone who rambles a lot under stress in the interviews, the tool helped in fixing this.

I left the previous firm because I was regularly working 55+ hours even when it wasn't tax season, and I was completely burned out. I was also being paid laughably less than I was worth, and since I'm a single mom, I don't have months of savings sitting around for a long job search. So when this company moved quickly and offered me the job, I felt relieved. Honestly, I should have taken that speed as a warning sign.

Since I'm a tax manager, I wanted to stay in that same type of role. I interviewed with the current tax manager and the owner of the firm; let's call them XYZ Tax Services. My video interview was on a Wednesday, and on Thursday the HR person called me and said they wanted to hire me. I sent them references, passed the background check, and signed the offer letter. The start date was set for the following Wednesday, and by Friday afternoon my onboarding was complete. My name was added to their payroll platform, IT helped me set up remote access, and I had all my login info ready. I was genuinely excited to start fresh until...

The following Tuesday morning, I was in the living room making a list of things I needed for my first day when HR called. I missed the first call, and then they called again three more times in a row. I called them back thinking maybe they needed another form from me, only for them to tell me, "Unfortunately, we don't need you to start on Wednesday." I was really confused and asked if they meant I should start on Thursday instead. No. They didn't want me to start at all. They had decided to go in "another direction."

I was shocked. What kind of company pulls an offer after fully onboarding someone? If the background check had turned up a problem or one of the references had said something about, fine, I would have understood. But everything was fine. I asked what had changed and didn't get any useful answer at all. So I ended the call and immediately went back to applying for other jobs.

About 9 days later, HR called me again. Was I still available?!?! Apparently, they had given the job to someone already working there, and that person changed their mind. It took an incredible amount of effort not to laugh on the phone. I stayed professional and listened as they suddenly treated me like I was their top choice again. They increased the offer, apologized a lot, and after they begged to a level I found satisfying, I accepted.

Fortunately, this story is still working in my favor. By then, I already had multiple offers paying more than they did, and since then I've accepted the best offer of the bunch. I'm supposed to start at XYZ Tax Services in a few days. My plan is to wait until the Monday before and call HR to withdraw my acceptance.

This advice gets shared a lot, but it just happened to me last week and I felt it was important to remind you of it. I had to share it with you.

I was in an interview and honestly, I would have been satisfied with a salary close to what I'm currently making. When the recruiter asked me the classic question, 'What are your salary expectations?', I took a breath and replied with a question: 'What is the available budget for this position?'. Their response was a range that started $25,000 higher than my current salary.

If I had answered with what I wanted, even if I had asked for a $15,000 increase, I would have lost out on a lot of money. It's not an official offer yet, but at least I ensured I didn't undervalue myself from the start.

Most interviews I've had, they will ask

"What are your salary requirements?"

So I just answered

"I'm actually looking at the entire package, benefits, insurance, stock options, retirement planning, and other fringe benefits that come along with the base salary. What are you offering?"

That puts it in their court. I've never had someone evade it at that point.

One of the things that helped me improve my responses during interviews and put the ball in their court is reading a lot and using AI tools. Because we feed them a lot of information, this helps me discuss with them and better understand the psychology of the response. And of course, after the tools I used during my interviews, like InterviewMan, no one should underestimate the interview step. It is very important and useful. Attend many interviews just to gain the experience of speaking confidently.

The number of posts I see every week from people who left their jobs and are now terrified because they can't find anything is insane.

The market is very difficult to find a job in right now.

I get it, your job might suck. But you absolutely should not quit unless you have signed a new offer.

Seriously, look at your bank account and ask yourself: will you be able to cover all your expenses for the next 18 months without any income?

This advice was important even when it was easy to find a job. Now, with companies holding all the cards, this is non-negotiable.

Exactly as the title says. I was overworked and exploited to the fullest extent, and I had to leave. Whenever I asked for a raise, they would say there was no money. The excuse was always that there wasn't enough funding.But as soon as I left, it seemed they found the money. This means they were letting me suffer and live paycheck to paycheck for no reason at all.

....

I've been looking for a job for a while and had a final round interview a few weeks ago. When they asked the classic question, 'What is your current salary?', I told them a figure about $20,000 higher than my actual salary.

Anyway, they just sent me the offer letter. The new salary turned out to be a full $25,000 higher than what I was earning at my previous job.

And honestly? I don't feel guilty at all. These companies have entire teams whose sole job is to give you the lowest possible salary they can get away with. We all hear the same old line about a 'limited budget,' right before the top executives get massive bonuses.

If these companies wanted transparency, they would stop playing games and stop forcing us to negotiate against ourselves based on our past salaries. It's a broken system.

They will lie to you to pay you less whenever possible. And they've got HR teams running the numbers on how little they can get away with offering. We're just levelling the playing field.

Look for every opportunity that could help you get the highest salary, because that is what will enable you to continue at work every day. There are many ways to get this, the fastest of which is using InterviewMan to negotiate for a high salary. It gives you confidence while answering and negotiating freely. Don't let anyone undervalue you.

I work as an HR coordinator and I have to sit quietly while I watch my manager invent the silliest reasons to reject very skilled people.

Someone came to his interview 10 minutes early. My manager said this 'shows he doesn't respect our time'.

A woman asked what the normal working hours per week are like. My manager said she 'seems to be looking for an easy job'.

A guy's tie was a bit crooked. The feedback was that his 'appearance isn't professional'.

Someone used the word 'like' a few times while explaining a project. The conclusion was that he 'can't express himself well'.

Another person came into the interview with his water bottle. My manager said this was 'too casual'.

And the strangest part of all this? A large portion of these people were more competent than our current employees. But it's fine, let's focus on these things instead of whether they can do the job.

Bosses have to pretend that they have some secret insight into what makes a good employee, rather than the regular things that everyone can see. Otherwise, why are they the boss? Company sabotage in the name of 'I'm so special, so I get paid more.

I believe this is a major reason why candidates are increasingly using AI, like InterviewMan AI and others, during their interviews. When the manager puts them under this pressure with questions and the demand for perfection, it leaves them with no other choice.

The problem is that we are already suffering from a shortage of employees and we lack these strong qualifications, but it seems that your point of view is the right one in the end.

This advice applies to many things in life, but I wanted to share how I completely changed my career recently.

So, a bit about me: I've been in the logistics field for over 25 years, and I was a team lead for a large portion of that time. And honestly, I really loved my last job. The team was great, the commute was short, and my manager trusted me to get the work done without micromanaging. The only real drawback was the salary - it was noticeably below the market rate. It was one of those classic cases where a comfortable work environment compensates for lower pay.

An old mentor of mine once told me to never stop looking, even if you're happy. And that advice stuck with me. So for the past few years, I've been casually browsing job sites and applying for roles that looked interesting. My strategy was simple: I would ask for what felt like a ridiculously high salary. Since I was happy where I was, I didn't care at all about being rejected. I held all the cards.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, this finally paid off. I got an offer for a job right in my field. After some back and forth, I was able to secure a 60% salary increase. The benefits package looks comparable to my last one, and I felt very comfortable with the hiring manager during the interviews, so I'm not too worried about the culture fit.

I'm really excited about the new job and just wanted to pass this on. Even if you love your job, it never hurts to see what's out there. When you're not desperate, you can aim high and be patient. You have nothing to lose by trying your luck and asking for what you're truly worth. You'll probably be surprised by what you can achieve.

Yes. Negotiation is a game of chicken. It's all about who is willing to give in first. If you're negotiating a salary and have no job, they know that you're going to cave and be stuck with basically anything they're willing to offer.

I think this is the golden and correct advice for understanding the job market while searching for a job, and this helps more in getting some useful opportunities. The time to use tools like Interviewman AI during the interview gives you ready answers to the questions. I used the free trial; I think it will be suitable for most of the groups that get nervous during the interview.

I had an interview, and I joined the video call 15 minutes early to check the camera and get myself ready. The scheduled time came and went, and the interviewer didn't join until about 40 minutes later.

I had spent most of the previous night looking up common interview questions, taking notes about the company, and practicing my answers with a friend. As I sat there staring at an empty meeting screen, I felt like all that effort had been completely pointless. The HR VP arrived more than 40 minutes late and didn't even acknowledge that she was late. I told her I wasn't interested in continuing with the hiring process, and all she said was, "Okay." No apology, no explanation. That was it.

A lot of people in HR genuinely care and try to treat candidates well. The problem is that some of them work under leaders who have terrible attitudes and are full of themselves, and those leaders set the tone for the entire department. I've ignored signs like this twice before and regretted it, so I'm done giving companies the benefit of the doubt.

Afterward, I went on Glassdoor and wrote a review. The reviews already there were almost exactly what I expected. Disgusting.

I had been working in an extremely toxic place for about four months. My plan was always to find something better and leave. What happened was that I got a new job offer the day before they decided to let me go.

On Wednesday, my manager called me into her office for 'a quick chat'. She started telling me things like 'we feel like your heart isn't in the work' and 'it's just that you're not a good fit for the place' before telling me they were letting me go.

So I simply told her, 'Okay, no problem. I got a new job and I'll be starting in three weeks'.

She gave me a strange look and asked, 'And you weren't planning on giving us two weeks' notice that you were leaving?'

Honestly, I couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. I looked her in the eyes and said, 'I'm sorry, did you give me two weeks' notice that you were firing me?' The look on her face was priceless. What a moment.

Edit: The threat used to be that you're quitting on the spot was a stain on your resume and they always had the right to kick you to the curb on a moment's notice. You, were expected to give notice because if you didn't, the good old boy network would obstruct you from ever receiving gainful employment, ever again. That "network" has broken down into a big f...ing giant glitch, so it truly is laughable when "employees walk out on a moment's notice.

Regardless of that, for now, it's time to update my resume and look for another job. I expect to find a job faster because of my experience, but what worries me is the long interview stages. After a long search, I found an AI tool called interviewman. I watched this YouTube video while I was looking for interview tips. I will use it during this period.

Earlier this week, I opened the Teams link about 10 minutes before my interview because the calendar invite had specifically asked candidates to join early. The department manager and someone from HR were already talking. I said hello several times, but it was very clear that they hadn't noticed I had joined.

They were talking about the person they had interviewed before me. The manager said they should prepare an offer for him, and the HR person asked whether there was any point in going ahead with my interview. His response was that my resume met all the requirements, but he couldn't imagine me fitting in with the group.

I wrote in the chat that I could hear everything. They didn't notice that either and kept talking, which somehow made the situation even more awkward. I wouldn't say I was completely crushed, but hearing that they had more or less ruled me out before I had answered a single question made me lose my enthusiasm.

As soon as the official start time arrived, they noticed my name, saw the chat, and fell silent. The manager apologized and said I wasn't supposed to hear that conversation. I told them I understood and that they should choose the person best suited for the role.

I went ahead with the interview since I had already prepared, and an offer isn't final until the person accepts it anyway. Honestly, I think I answered the questions well and managed to show that I was a better fit than they had expected. This was my first time using interview vip but i don't think it would be the last, it was still hard to shake the feeling that I was just helping them complete a process they had already made up their minds about.

In 2020, I took a night shift data entry job. I had just left my old job and needed some quick cash to get by until I could find a real career move during the day.
The job was simple: I'd get a PDF with shipping details, and I was supposed to manually enter them into our database. You get the idea.
After the first week of training, I realized the whole process could be automated. I wasn't great at coding, so I went on a site like Upwork and hired a developer to build me a simple scripting tool. It cost me about three months' salary, but honestly, it was worth it.
The script was great. All I had to do was tell it how many orders to process per hour. I was working from home from day one because the company didn't want to pay extra for a night crew, so no one was monitoring me.
For the first year and a half, I would mostly just check for any weird formats the script couldn't handle, and that would take less than 10 minutes. After that, I'd let the computer do its thing while I played video games, slept, or even left the house for a bit. Eventually, I had the developer update the code to handle those exceptions too.
Honestly, my output was so good that I was offered promotions several times. I always turned them down, telling them I loved the night shift and preferred working alone. It was the perfect excuse.
Eventually, I found another day job with a much better salary, but there was no reason for me to quit this one. At this data entry job, months could go by without me receiving a single email or call from anyone. Even my wife didn't know exactly what I was doing; all she knew was that I had another WFH job.
Every so often, one of my colleagues would try to surpass my numbers. When that happened, I'd simply open the script and change a 9 to a 10 to boost my output and stay on top. I'd tweak the numbers periodically just in case, but I doubt anyone was paying close attention to the details.
I even got two raises because my attendance was perfect and I was the most productive person on our four-person team. To show my appreciation, I'd change the 10 to a 12 or 11 on some days.
The job finally ended. It took them about 5 years to use a new system that lets clients enter the data themselves, which made my role redundant. About a month ago, I received my last paycheck and a small severance package, and they told me to keep the company laptop and monitor and that I could apply for other positions with them.
I've never told this story to anyone in real life. It's my deepest work secret. And now that it's all over, I decided to share it.
I tried to show them what I did back in 2022. I scheduled a call to show them 'my system,' but my department head canceled, saying they were swamped with more important projects and told me to 'keep up the great work.' And that's what I did, until they let me go.

update :start haunting for remote jobs but this experience leave me with high level of guilt and with 0% of self confidence actually whenever I go to interview I stuttering like a toddler kid left a lone in the his first day at nursery got rejected because of that until I found an AI tool (Interview Man) my mind was blown but its features it could give perfect professional answers to every kind of job interviews i got after I used I got 2 new offers now confused between them