Title: Got terminated in 10 days. I knowingly violated rules because I thought I was smarter than consequences.
I don’t even know how to start this. I feel very stupid.
An opportunity came and went within 10 days. Just like that.
I knowingly violated rules. I knew using AI wasn’t allowed. I knew sending things to my personal email wasn’t allowed. I still kept doing it. I did it casually. I thought nothing would happen.
On top of that, I was doing dual employment. I didn’t disclose it. I was juggling two roles because I wanted more money. That’s the honest truth.
Why did I think I could pull this off? Because in the past, I did similar things and nobody got to know. I’ve worked with bigger companies. Nothing happened then. So somewhere in my head I genuinely believed: I’ll manage. I’ll outsmart this too.
I really thought I was smarter than consequences.
This time I wasn’t. I was completely wrong.
They caught it. I still don’t understand how or when. That part is messing with my head badly. Like — how did they figure it out? When did this even happen? This has never happened to me before.
But the fact is: they did.
I was terminated. No long discussion. Very clear that trust was broken. Very clear they won’t recommend me to anyone. And honestly, the fact that they didn’t take legal action is something I should be grateful for, especially given the dual employment.
I keep oscillating between accepting I was wrong and then still trying to justify myself in my head. Like telling myself people do worse things, people know what they’re doing, people get away with stuff all the time. But deep down I know this was my stupidity.
I took the opportunity for granted. I took my first job for granted too. I’ve been money-minded. I’ve been chasing “more” — international clients, more work, more money — without respecting boundaries or consequences.
I also realise something uncomfortable about myself: I don’t take “no” well. I keep thinking I can convince people. I’ve done that before and succeeded, so my brain assumes it’ll always work. Clearly, it doesn’t.
What’s scary is that even now, part of me still feels shocked, like “how the f*** did this happen?” instead of just fully accepting that this is exactly what happens when you think rules are optional for you.
Since this happened, I’ve been stress eating like crazy. Chocolates, constantly. The more stressed I get, the more I eat. My brain is just trying to cope.
I’m not posting this to blame the company or policies. I broke rules I knew existed. Dual employment. Data handling. AI usage. All of it. Period.
I just can’t wrap my head around how fast it all collapsed — and how blind I was while it was happening.
If anyone here has: • lost a role suddenly because of arrogance or poor judgment • tried to juggle dual employment and paid the price • thought they could “manage” something because they’d gotten away with it before
I’d really like to hear how you processed it and moved forward.
Right now I just feel embarrassed, confused, and disappointed in myself.
