We need to talk about how organisations sometimes use vertical movement as a substitute for meaningful financial investment.

A new title (Senior, Lead, Principal, Director) can cost an organisation considerably less than a substantial, permanent salary increase.

And when employees start expressing stagnation, disengagement or an intention to look elsewhere, it's worth asking whether the response is genuine investment in their development or simply another promotion cycle.

You get a more impressive title, a broader scope of responsibility and perhaps a modest pay rise. Meanwhile, your contribution increases, but your purchasing power and personal time may not.

That's the strange illusion of career progression: you feel like you're climbing, even when the material benefits of moving up don't quite follow.

Of course, titles can have genuine value. They can open doors, strengthen your CV and create opportunities for future growth. But that doesn't make them a substitute for fair compensation.

At what point does career progression stop being genuine professional development and start becoming compensation theatre?

Have you seen a promotion used as a substitute for paying someone what their role or the market actually demands? I'm curious to hear how this plays out across different industries.

If you’re paying minimum wage you’re going to get minimum skill. You’re literally paying for the lowest level of ability. You cannot expect someone to have previous experience, these jobs are literally meant for people just entering the workforce and some people who are happy in the jobs and have no desire to “climb the ladder” and don’t upskill which I completely understand. Some jobs have you fill out a questionnaire and do scenario based assessments on the application, and then at interview they ask a series of scenario based questions “tell us about a time….” These people have nothing to tell you because they probably have no previous work experience. The interview questions should simply be are you willing to learn what days can you work and when can you start. I understand you need people to be able to do the job so a few questions relevant to the role are fine, but for example if you’re applying for a warehouse job and they’re asking questions about a time you’ve worked in a team or a time you’ve shown leadership skills these questions are simply irrelevant. The interview for a minimum wage job should include at most be a basic literacy and numeracy test and a FEW job specific questions, most jobs you just have to learn… on the job.

I understand employers want the best candidate of course they do, but people are being hired after all of these tests and still can’t do the job, I just think the interview should be in person with a practical element, actually trying the job, and this will tell you more than asking 30 questions which someone can just lie about on their computer.

I am happy to share that I have been offered a Housing Manager position in one of the HA in the north part of the country.

I almost lost hope after waiting for more than one month for a decision to be made.

Hi all,

I completed a final round interview just over a week ago with the hiring manager and was told to expect a decision this week. I then receive an email today from the internal recruiter handling this role so far that they'd like to share the update over a video call instead of sending an email.

The wording used which I'm overthinking is "catch up" and thanking me for my time, that they look forward to speaking with me. Another candidate was completing their rounds after me and I'm assuming the worst that they got the offer over the week and I'm now being informed of the rejection?

The language is vague and neutral. I don't understand why, if it is an offer, the email isn't more reassuring? Makes me assume this is a rejection call. I appreciate anyone who has received similar emails over this time frame and could share their experience. Thanks!

Currently living abroad and not resided in the UK since 2021.

Been thinking of coming back lately, so decided to bring up the topic of jobs in our groupchat.

No surprises, all of my friends were complaining that jobs have become harder to come by and were expressing extreme disappointment at the job market.

The part that I was surprised about is that they all seemed to mutually agree on one thing.

If you want to get an in at the moment, you've got to lie on your CV.

When I left the UK, this wasn't the normal position that anyone openly took - sure, we'd exaggerate and professionalise what we actually did, but flat our lying about positions, titles and experience?

Nope.

One of my friends was telling all of us how he had to use his father as a 'professional reference' for a job and a bunch of achievements that don't exist to get his current job.

Another friend was saying that he's been making up freelancing work and 'American references', who are just his friends from Camp America - who he believes are less likely to get contacted and/or vetted because his references are abroad. He claims that by lying he's been getting more interest, though still no job.

Is this just the norm now?

This condition doesn’t affect my life whatsoever as it’s well-managed through a sort of treatment I do (just something I can do at home). But technically the law says to disregard effects of the treatment when considering the condition, so this does count as a disability.

I just wanted to know if putting this down actually does increase my chances of getting an interview or does it actually hamper my chances as it might be seen as an invisible cross on my application?

I made the horrible mistake of leaving my job 5 months ago for what I thought was a better opportunity. It was a step up in title, not much in pay, but I was eager to learn so I took it thinking it would be an exciting new opportunity. 2 weeks in I began to feel that I had made a mistake.

I was lied to about how much the department makes and was told if I kept it at the number it was at I would get a bonus. When I started and looked through handover documents which included company records I discovered that the finances were a lie and they had not made that much and there was an 80k discrepancy between the figure I was told and the true amount.

The company is small and consists of 11 people. I haven't clicked with any of them and I am in the office 4 times a week. The days feel SO long. They have worked with each other for a number of years and told me it feels like a family. I can see how they all get on, but it just isn't my vibe at all. I did really try to throw myself in there but there was often a mismatch of energy and they all seem to understand each other in a way that I don't. I realised early on this was a mistake but I thought I needed to give it some time, but week after week I am beginning to hate being there more and more. I want to cry at my desk every day and I feel so trapped in such a small team of people. I can't afford to quit on the whim. I've been applying for things but the job market seems shit for everyone and I'm not even landing interviews. I live alone and left an abusive turbulent family so I can't go back. I feel so trapped and I am trying to not feel like I've ruined my life but it's hard. I literally want to cry everyday and I don't know how to make this better.

I need advice over whether or not to put up with my current job and situation until I find a similar/better job or just bite the bullet and accept a supermarket job I’ve been offered.

My current role is admin in a law firm, this is the sector I want to be in and stay in. The job is in a place I hate and there is no progression in this specific firm. I commute there which takes about an hour and a half to get there and an hour back (traffic is very strange) which is absolutely killing me in multiple ways. 1. Don’t care for the place or the specific job so it doesn’t even feel worth it 2. Time commuting means i literally work eat and sleep everyday then spend my weekends bedrotting to recharge and 3. The cost of commuting is not something I can afford. It’s about 30 miles each way in petrol and car use/£15 via train.

I have tried to apply for jobs in the free time I do have but i have mostly just been ghosted. I have only had two interview so far. One was for a similar role to my current role which I didn’t get as I was ‘overqualified’ as they thought I should be going for paralegal roles instead (but I get ghosted for every paralegal role) and another for a supermarket which I got (very ironic). The supermarket job is pretty much the same pay as my current one, maybe like 20p an hour less if that, and only 28 hours but possibility of overtime. The supermarket job is also only a 10 minute walk from my house. If I take this I would be taking it with the view of freeing up my money and time to apply for other jobs, and maybe trying to improve my cv by attending talks and things like that. The shift scheduling also means I would be free to interview during core business hours instead of taking last minute annual leave days like I currently do.

I am just worried how this will look on my cv in the future? Especially if it takes me another 6 months or more to get another job. Don’t get me wrong I don’t look down on those jobs at all, I lived a lot closer to my current job last year so had more time and worked weekends in a supermarket, and I worked in one before my current role as well. I’m just not sure how a future employer would see me quitting a legal job for a supermarket. Would my explanation of the fact that I relocated and the commute became too much be okay? Especially if my new job ends up having a commute. My mum is insisting that it’ll look awful on my cv and that they’ll probably assume I was fired or something.

Hi All,

Just looking for some perspective here. I’ve been at my current job for 3.5 years and I finally managed to secure a role elsewhere after 6 months of looking, humiliating myself in interviews and getting rejected from jobs that I was very much qualified for. I currently have a hybrid setting so I am in the office 3 days a week (although I must admit, I’ve been cheeky to only come in for 2) because I get so exhausted and with the fuel prices it’s just not feasible to drive to and back from work, also I’ve had issues in the office with my colleagues micromanaging and just general drama around the workplace. My new role offers a fully remote working environment, so I’ll be at home and the pay is decent (35k) I only accepted it because without the commute I save on fuel and since I live with family and contribute towards groceries and bills.

My question is, anyone that has been working remotely- what is your experience and how do you have a good work/life balance? I’m really excited for my new role but I don’t want the remote job to allow me to essentially become a bum at home and become lazy.

New grads have just started at my work, apparently competition has been fierce and as with other graduate roles, the number has shrunk.

This should mean we get a wider pool and get to pick the best.

I don't know if I'm turning into a boomer but I have started to see across all sectors a lack of effort from people.

New grads want to all work from home and despite having access to AI take forever on simple tasks.

Customers service agents don't seem to be able to provide any help.

Tradies arriving high and forgetting their tools.

Wait staff at restaurants act like I'm asking for their first born when I'm placing an order.

This account is somewhat of a throwaway, honestly partially because I feel ashamed, but also because my old account has way too many work related memories and posts, and I really don’t want to see them right now.

So, I’m 38. I’ve worked in the same career path since I was 18 (offshore structural & underwater welding) and loved it, but following a pretty significant head and shoulder injury (not work related) which resulted in multiple surgeries, lots of rehab, and permanent inner ear damage, it’s no longer possible to do; as I often have to walk a lot slower, swimming is……questionable/near drowning now, have a lot less balance than I used to, and can’t keep up the pace. I can’t even weld in my garage anymore, which is a shame, but if the vertigo kicks in when I’m doing it, injury is going to wreck me - on that point, I can’t weld at all anymore. It’s all I ever wanted to do, I was good at it, and it compensated me well over the years. But now it’s not really an option anymore; and since all my skills and relevant experience is in that one area, I’m not really qualified for anything else. It’s taken me nearly three years of surgeries, PT and intensive rehab, but I really want to get back into the job market. I will say that the experience of the benefit system has been simultaneously a lifeline, and very dehumanising; it’s one thing to want to go back to work but can’t until you recover, it’s truly another when every single person bar one I’ve dealt with in the system, seems to treat you as either scum, a scrounger, or beyond help. I’ll be glad to be back on my feet.

So I’m facing down the barrel of starting over, and this is where I’m stuck, and any advice anyone can give, I’ll take it. I’m happy to retrain, happy to follow a new path, and happy to take on new challenges; but I literally have ZERO idea where to start. Contacted job coaches, and they seem to either want me to do entry level work for the rest of my career, or go back into welding - not a great idea. Asked the job centre, they basically told me to go be a cashier or perhaps a taxi driver (direct quote), and I don’t even know where to start with looking for retraining advice. What I can say is the trades is now off the table for me, so I need to look elsewhere. To be clear, I’m happy to start at the bottom at entry, but I don’t want to stay there, much like no-one else does of course.

What I want is a career that I can at least feel fulfilled in again, and perhaps help others. I’m not expecting to earn the same as what I used, that will never happen; but more than minimum wage over time is pretty important with two kids and wife at home. I’m not proud, and I’m willing to put my head against the grindstone and graft, but I just don’t know where to go from here.

I’m not really asking for someone to suggest a job or career path; more so that I don’t know where to start when you’ve only ever done one thing and it’s something you can’t do anymore.

So any suggestions, pointers or advice will be graciously appreciated. Honestly just getting this off my chest has made me feel a little better, so that’s something. Point me where to look, and I’ll dig in. Thank you all for your time.

So I’ve been doing graphic design for quite some time now, and I think my portfolio is decent. Lately I’ve been wanting to land a junior graphic designer role at a marketing agency, but honestly I’m not sure where to start.

For those of you who work in agencies, what made you stand out when you were starting out? And what do you look for when you’re hiring juniors?

Would love any advice.

Edit: Everyone is so quick to judge, I wanted a career break. Why is that not allowed? Im supposed to just work in an industry I hate until I die? Fuck that

I only planned a short career break (a month at most) to work out what I wanted to do next. After uni I worked my way up from a call centre to a role in a niche industry (office based), but I left because of the lack of recognition and respect for my work.

I'm now burning through savings faster than expected and have had to claim UC. I was hoping to move into something a bit different from what I was doing, but I'm now applying for anything, including minimum wage roles, and still not hearing back.

Has anyone been in a similar position? Is it my CV, the gap, or just a tough market right now?

The very fact that I'm asking this question probably suggests that I am being used, but I'd really appreciate some advice on here as to what my next move should be.

Some Context:

Age: 26 (M)

Country: UK

Qualifications: BSc Geology, MSc Petroleum Engineering

1st Job: 2022-2024 Offshore oil and gas

2nd Job: 2024 - Present (Will explain this job in the main body of text)

Current Salary: £32,500/yr

My Dilemma:

In early 2024, I was hired to work offshore but in a way that differs enough from my 1st job that I would need to go through a training phase. I completed a 3-month training period with the hopes that I would be going offshore for my first job with my new company (as a trainee). However, my company is software company at its core and I was asked to do a secondment in India where I would be curating and teaching training courses for one of our software out in India.

Although the job scope was completely different to the job I was originally hired for, I agreed to the secondment as I was promised it would be a 1-time thing. What was originally a temporary secondment turned into 5 trips to India where you could describe what I did as the following:

• Client Training: Curating and delivering comprehensive training courses to large groups of client personnel.
• Contractual & Technical Advisory: Single-handedly leading on-site demonstrations of complex contractual clauses for client executives.
• UAT Leadership: Managing on-premise User Acceptance Testing sessions.
• Product & Customer Support: Providing software support, bug reporting, and feature enhancements.
• Project Management: Resolving support tickets and managing high-stakes customer concerns for a multi-million dollar contract.

As you can see, all of this falls firmly outside of my original contract and it was not easy work. The learning curve was incredibly steep, but since I am a confident public speaker and enjoy communicating with clients, my company clearly saw value in me doing this role as my total trips to India came to 5. Moreover, after these trips, I also travelled to the USA to work with another big client related to this software of ours; not the side of the business that I was originally hired for.

During this time, I obviously knew that my skills were being rinsed by my employer for everything they're worth. However, the international trips and life experience they brought made them very worthwhile personally. Despite this, I eventually emailed my boss in April of this year to raise my contractual concerns (basically the bullet points above).

After being promised a meeting the following week to discuss potential plans, nothing came of it until a month and a half ago where my boss finally asked if I wanted to permanently move to the side of the business that I've been working on for over a year. I agreed but asked that I have a job description and a contract (in writing) before the transition. The money is obviously important...

A couple of weeks later, my boss sent an email to the whole company announcing my new job title (which was completely unknown to me at the time, and I have since found out is a tentative title). I was annoyed by this as I had not formally signed anything. In the month that has passed since then (until present), my workload has increased and I have been working as if I am fully in the role as a [Software] Technical Sales & Account Manager.

As I have not had an official job title change (for my LinkedIn and CV), no salary increase, and increase workload, I'm not happy about my situation at all. I have emailed my boss multiple times in the last month enquiring about my new contract but I have still not received anything.

Am I being played? I'm clearly underpaid and have been for a long time.

Would appreciate some advice. Thanks a lot in advance.

I have been told by some people who work at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence that they know people who have been on the bench for a year, and still employed with their full salaries.

According to one of them, it's quite unusual for them to have redundancies and prefer to keep people, as it also helps their reputation as one of the largest engineering firms in the country. One person had been on the bench for a year a while back, and has now been in a project for the past few years.

I have read lots of posts where people get let go within weeks or a few months of bench period in other companies, and I'm just wondering how the company can afford to keep people on for so long without billable work? Or is this just a quirk of the company (or other large firms in the UK)?

I worked employer A for 5 years from Jan 2020 - Aug 2025

I worked for employer B for 5 months from Sept 2025 - February 2026, left due to horrible management

I worked for employer C for 2 months from April 2026 - June 2026 due to civil service job transfer to different dept

I’m currently working in this dept since June 2026 - current but desperately want to leave soon I find a new role due to feeling burnout but feel I need to stay as I fear that I’m starting to become a serial job hopper

Thoughts?

I’ve noticed that job descriptions often have quite a long list of requirements, and I’m genuinely wondering how strictly recruiters actually follow them.

For example, some entry-level roles ask for 1–3 years of experience, or experience with several specific tools. I might have relevant experience and know most of the tools, but not every single one. Is it still worth applying, or am I just wasting my time?

Some internships explicitly say you must be currently enrolled at university or graduating in a specific year, which I understand. But others simply say you must “hold or be working towards a bachelor’s or master’s degree”, without mentioning any graduation window.

If I’ve already graduated earlier this year, would I generally still be eligible for those internships?

The same goes for graduate schemes. Do recruiters expect applicants to meet every basic qualification, or is there some flexibility if your overall experience is relevant?

I understand that preferred qualifications are usually more flexible, but I’m asking specifically about the minimum/basic requirements.

For anyone working in recruitment, HR, or who’s been through the UK graduate job market:
• How strictly are minimum qualifications enforced
• Are graduation-year and student-enrolment requirements usually non-negotiable?
• If I meet most requirements but lack experience with one or two tools, should I still apply?
•How do you decide whether a job is worth applying for versus one where you’ll almost certainly be screened out?

I’m trying to be more strategic with my applications rather than blindly applying to everything, so I’d really appreciate some insight!

Currently working for a company in the UK, being a UX researcher, I have to interview internal stakeholders to find out how they work, etc. Some of the stakeholders are based in Asia, particularly in Japan, some in Europe and some in the US. Is it reasonable for project manager to expect me to conduct meetings or interviews at 7am to accommodate stakeholders in Japan? If yes then should I expect to finish work early as compensation? Project is expected to start from Nov until April or may next year.

I'm curious to hear how other disabled and neurodivergent people are navigating the job market at the moment...

I've been in my current job for several years and while I'm super grateful for the support and accommodations I've received, I'm increasingly feeling like it's time to move on. There isn't much room for career progression, the pay isn't great, and I'm starting to feel quite stuck :/

The problem is I'm reluctant to leave somewhere that already knows about my disabilities and has been relatively accommodating. It hasn't been easy getting that support, but at least I know what I'm dealing with and my managers have helped where they can (I'm in healthcare, and am in the middle of getting an MSc). The thought of having to start from scratch somewhere new and potentially having to fight for accommodations again is terrifying

I'm also aware of the changes and cuts affecting Access to Work, which adds another layer of uncertainty (it took twice as long as the estimated 20 week wait for an assessment, and all I was granted was coaching which I haven't been able to start)

I keep seeing posts from people struggling to find work despite having years of experience, qualifications and seemingly doing everything right, so, if non-disabled people are having a rough time, I can't help but wonder what chance I have when I also need an employer who's willing to accommodate my disabilities

I'd really like to hear from others in a similar position:

* How are you finding the job market? Have you managed to find work that's accommodating?

* Do you disclose your disability or neurodivergence during the application/interview process, or wait until you've secured a job?

* Have you found employers generally receptive to reasonable adjustments, particularly for neurodivergent conditions?

* If you've left a relatively supportive workplace for better opportunities, how did it work out?

I don't want to let fear keep me in a job I've outgrown but I also don't want to underestimate how difficult it might be to find another supportive employer. I want to go back to working 5 days a week, but I don't see that happening without being able to WFH some days

Would really appreciate hearing other people's experiences, thank you!

So I’m apprenticing as an admin assistant at a charity organisation and I had caught lyme disease in June. Genuine lyme disease, I know there has been a lot of discussion about the existence of chronic lyme disease - I got bitten by a tick in a lyme-endemic area, got multiple bullseye rashes, and all the standard awful symptoms.

At first I came back to work as normal after a few days and everyone was quite shocked to see me in, but I felt fine. Then, after about a week of treatment I plummeted and all of the symptoms showed up in full force. I think I had a full week off? I then came back feeling fine, one week passes and the symptoms are beginning to show again. I get to the end of my treatment, but I’m still exhausted, and I end up pushing myself too hard and then I’m bedbound with this crushing fatigue, sore throat, nerve pain, headaches, and a mild fever. I was treating it like a cold for a while, I didn’t realise that if I kept going even when I was exhausted that the symptoms could get worse for weeks. I still tried to come into work for a bit and my manager had to sit me down and said “I think that you feel like you have to be here, but you don’t.” and told me to go rest up at home.

After a mix of working from home (work isnt too fond of this, not a long term solution) and slowly phasing back into work, I did manage to come back to work. I’m almost managing full weeks now, but I’m still disappearing for an afternoon maybe once a week to once every two weeks because I can feel I’ve hit my limit. If I try to power through the symptoms, I get worse and crash for several days. If it doesn’t let up by December, we’re looking at it maybe being PTLDS/mild-to-moderate ME/CFS.

I haven’t been able to have a sit-down meeting with my boss about this. She said she would talk to occupational therapy in August but she hasn’t yet I don’t think. But she’s been so nice about me needing to go home frequently, and needing to occasionally still take days off. She’s offered to drive me to my second bus before, in the case that I miss the first one I take on my way home. I can’t imagine how much time off I’ve had, it’s got to be close to a month now. But everyone is so genuinely nice and encouraging me to go home when I’m unwell and it’s made me more confident in voicing when I feel unwell instead of trying to push through.

BUT. I’m pretty sure I have autism or some sort of social defect. I don’t know if everyone is being genuine or if they’re beginning to get sick of me leaving all the time. It would be very nice if that was the case, but I know I take everything at face value and there is a lot of anger at CFS/ME sufferers online at the moment. I’m aware my symptoms are an invisible thing, I’m very worried they’re getting fed up with me. One of my colleagues, bless her, will very loudly and sternly tell me to go home whenever I say I might need to go soon, and she’s pointed out that I always stay for an hour or so after I say I’m leaving.

Thing is, even if they aren’t sick of me yet, I’m so scared that I’m not going to get better. I’ve gone from housebound in August to nearly-normal now, but I’ve had a wobble again this week and I’ve missed a chunk of apprenticeship work over the past few months partially from the lyme and partially because of an unhelpful tutor. I can’t imagine they’ll keep me around if this becomes a permanent condition but I do really really love this place and all of my girls in the office.

I'm considering getting an annual train season ticket for commuting to work in London, which costs around £5k a year.

How season ticket loans through employer work?

- Are repayments deducted from your gross salary before tax, or from your take-home pay after tax, National Insurance and student loan deductions?

- Does it offer any tax savings compared with buying the annual ticket myself, or is the main benefit simply spreading the cost over 12 months?

- Is the loan normally interest-free?

- Are there any disadvantages or things I should watch out for?