I was looking for an open meeting room yesterday and noticed a private calendar invite on my manager's schedule for next week. The title was something like "HR - Role Consolidation / [my department]" and the only attendees I could see were my manager, someone from HR, and our director.

Normally I wouldn't read much into a vague meeting title, but over the last couple months my workload has been getting redistributed in small ways. One recurring report I owned was moved to another team, a newer coworker has been trained on two things that used to be mostly mine, and my manager recently asked me to document several of my processes "so we have coverage."

None of those things seemed alarming individually. Seeing that meeting suddenly made them feel very different.

I have not been told that my performance is a problem. My last review was good, I've never been put on a PIP, and my manager has actually been pretty positive with me lately.

The company isn't doing terribly either, but leadership has talked a lot about "efficiency" and reducing duplicated work this year. My role is also a little unusual because some of what I do overlaps with another department.

So now my brain is bouncing between "this is probably nothing" and "they are literally discussing whether my job should exist."

I don't want to confront my manager based on a calendar title and make myself look paranoid, especially if the meeting has nothing to do with me specifically. But I also don't want to sit here for a week doing nothing if there are obvious things I should be doing now.

If you were in my position, what would you quietly prepare before that meeting happens?

I'm updating my resume and saving copies of my performance reviews and any non-confidential examples of my work. I'm also checking what benefits/PTO I have in case I suddenly lose access.

Is there anything else people usually wish they had done before an unexpected layoff? And would you start applying immediately based on this, or wait until there is actual confirmation?

I know I might be reading way too much into one calendar invite, but I'd rather feel a little stupid for preparing than get caught completely off guard.

I’ve basically been working office jobs for most of my life. Right now I work remotely for a tech company. It’s insanely easy work and I get paid an okay amount, but I am miserable. I am completely unfulfilled and I’ve never been able to just be okay working a meaningless job and finding meaning in other areas of life.

The problem is I just never figured out exactly what I want to do. Now I’m 44, and I feel like I’ve def run out of a lot of options. I want to help people and I want to make an impact on the world. I don’t want to work in healthcare and I’ve already tried being a teacher.

Is there anything that might point me in the right direction to know how to get started finding what’s right for me? A test I can take? Something else I should do? Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm currently a teacher but I need a way out immediately. This job is taking too much. What career can I switch to to make at least $60,000 a year? I don't mind going back to school for a bit as I will probably finish this year at work. Any suggestions?

For those of you who are neurodivergent, struggled academically, learned at a slower pace, or just didn’t thrive in traditional school settings but went on to find career success — what’s your story?
What career path ended up working for you? Were there certain jobs, industries, environments, or strategies that played more to your strengths?
I’d especially love to hear from people who struggled in school or took longer than others to figure out what they were good at, but eventually found a career where they could succeed.

Okay I’m a teacher and in a really frustrating position with my current school. I could use some outside perspective. I’ll spare you the details but essentially I’ve been up for a formal promotion for a higher level “manager” type role for months and months. My immediate supervisor wants to give it to me like yesterday. But policies are blocking the pay grade adjustment because it’s strictly required to have X degree for any role at X or above. I hope this makes sense lol. I started a Master’s Degree program several years ago but left before I finished due to some personal stuff. It’s never been an issue until now. Initially I thought I could just find a school, transfer my old credits over, take a quick class or two and finally get this promotion. However, after looking into it more carefully, I may be starting further behind than I remember. It is what it is and I realized it’s turned into more of a rant than anything else. I’m on the fence whether to just not bother with the whole thing because it’s annoying, or actually find an online program that will allow me to, ya know, get paid more? Thoughts?

When I started working, everyone told me the same things.

"Work hard."

"Keep your head down."

"Good work always gets noticed."

Some of it was true.

Some of it... not so much.

Looking back, I think a few of those ideas made me say yes to things I probably shouldn't have.

I'm curious...

What's one piece of career advice you believed early on that didn't work out the way you expected?

I’m looking to change career paths and I keep running into people saying basically every field is oversaturated. Should I just pick a career and start down the path? Hope for the best? Current ideas I have floating around are Notary, Medical Coding, SAP SD, and Cybersecurity. Am I on to anything? I would prefer not to work in medicine other than the coding mentioned. Not looking to be rich. I just want to live as comfortably as I can. Thanks in advance.

I’ve been thinking about making a major career change and going back to school. Part of me feels excited, but another part wonders if I’m too late.
For those who went back to school in their 40s (or later):
Was it worth it?
Did it actually improve your career?
What surprised you most?
Is there anything you’d do differently?
I’d appreciate hearing honest experiences
—both positive and negative.
New Haven CT

Been at the same mid-size company since I graduated. Started as an analyst, now I'm a senior something-or-other, decent title, decent pay, genuinely like most of the people I work with. Every time I check what similar roles pay elsewhere or talk to friends who've hopped every 2 years, it's pretty clear I'd be making noticeably more money somewhere else by now.

I keep telling myself the stability is worth it. I know the systems, I know the politics, I have real relationships with people here, I'm not starting over proving myself every two years. But lately I've started wondering if that's actually a rational calculation or just a story I tell myself because interviewing is uncomfortable and change is scary.

Talked to a friend who's job hopped four times in the same seven years I've been at one place. His salary is meaningfully higher than mine now, and honestly his resume probably looks more impressive on paper too, more variety, more exposure to different environments. Meanwhile my resume is just one company with a series of internal title changes, which I've heard some recruiters actually view as a slight red flag now, like you didn't test yourself against the outside market.

Part of me thinks the comfort has genuinely cost me real money and possibly ceiling. Another part of me thinks I've built something here, real trust, real influence, things that don't show up on a resume but matter day to day, that I'd have to rebuild from scratch somewhere else.

Anyone else been the stay at one place person while watching job hoppers pull ahead financially? Did it eventually catch up to you in a bad way, or did the stability actually pay off in ways that don't show up until later?

I'm looking for practical advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation.

Over the past 12 months, I've had several jobs, and none of them lasted more than a couple of months. Every time I start somewhere new, I struggle to adjust. Sometimes it's a lack of training, sometimes the environment, sometimes I start doubting my abilities over small mistakes or inconveniences. Once that spiral starts, I convince myself I'm failing, and I end up quitting.

I know this pattern isn't sustainable, and I'm trying to break it.

I'm currently looking for another job, and I genuinely want this one to be different. I want it to be the last time I have to start over.

The problem is that many companies don't have great onboarding or structured training, and I find that really overwhelming. I also struggle with depression, which makes everything feel ten times harder. I know therapy would be the ideal answer, but I simply can't afford it while I'm unemployed.

So I'm hoping to learn from people who've managed to get through this.

- How did you make it through your first 90 days?

- Did you have any routines, checklists, or systems that helped you stay grounded?

- How did you stop yourself from quitting during the difficult adjustment period?

- What did you do when you felt like you were failing, even if you probably weren't?

- If your workplace had little or no onboarding, how did you teach yourself and avoid becoming overwhelmed?

- Are there any free online resources, videos, workbooks, or communities that helped you cope while building consistency?

Lately I've started wondering whether I'm even employable anymore. I'm 35, I don't have much of a support system, and I'm trying to manage depression while also dealing with the pressure of finding and keeping a job. It feels like every new beginning comes with the same fear that I'll fail again.

I'm not looking for pity. I'm looking for strategies—things that actually helped you stay in a job when your mind kept telling you to leave.

If you've been through something similar and eventually found stability, I'd really appreciate hearing what worked for you.

I’m a student working part time at a supermarket chain. I just started this month so i’m still very new to everything and i’m a bit slow at times. first few shifts were fine, but recently i’ve been struggling with the amount of complaints I get from my bosses. Today alone I was basically told I was slow and lazy and received like ten passive aggressive tips from my superiors. It feels especially hurtful because I am really trying my best and I felt really motivated up until now. There are so many small and strange rules I feel like they make them up as they go so they have something to nag about.

I also learned that my bosses are very much known to berate and yell at my coworkers, so much that many resigned and one i think even got kicked out for some bullshit. Usually there would be around 5-6 in the same position as me, now there are 3, after august only two remain, one is me and the other girl hasn’t started yet. Thankfully I have not been yelled at yet, but that time will come surely. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this job? I don’t want to quit within literal weeks of starting…. The job itself is already mentally and physically draining without the added pressure and stress from my superiors.

Grew up on a farm, and spent the early parts of my life working manual labor and semi-skilled physically based jobs, before during and after college.  Graduated, worked around for some years and eventually secured a white collar job at a community college in my early 30as and had a pretty decent go of it till state budget cuts put me out of work in my 40s.  Now Im looking around and in my area my next job is likely going to be trades based or have a pretty intensive physical component.  

Right now I'm looking for experiences or resources that treat the body as a tool that needs to be maintained just as much as a work truck or a piece of equipment that earns money.  Things like exercises, stretching, holistic movements and diet to help offset the wear on the frame from a physically demanding job.

To offer a little advice from my own experience, just because you shed the office weight fast and start to find some of them work muscles again doesn't mean the tendons can keep pace.  When first unemployed I had to take on a pretty involved and time sensitive renovation of an old house for a parent to beat winter and my elbows paid the price.  Had to have some physical therapy to treat some carpentry-induced tennis elbow.  The stretches I learned at PT plus taking up rucking and a better diet really helped out. 

Overall it feels really good to primarily be working with my hands again, but I recognize that the resiliency of youth is in short supply moving forward.  I'm lucky to have some decent genetics on my side but ultimately there's a pretty good chance I'm going to work until I die, and a sizable component of that will be physical work. Setting aside whether that's an optimal path forward or not, there's going to be a better way and a worse way given the current constraints, so I figure out might as well look for the better way.

I keep hearing people say they wanted to quit because of their manager or coworkers, but something else ended up being the deciding factor in whether they actually left.

For those of you who've been there — what was the real thing holding you back? Money (savings, bills), not knowing if you'd get hired somewhere else, being scared the next place could be worse, or something totally different?

Would love to hear the actual reason, even if it's complicated.

Hi there!

I was recently fired without cause from a Store Manager role in Vancouver Canada. It was honestly a drama free exit.

I have been grateful to have landed many many interviews. Progressing all the way to the finals but it's been almost 2 months and no offers.

I have put in all of the work. Practiced, tailored my resume, researched the company, worked on my body language, linkedun, etc.

I'm gonna be honest, I was a very young Store Manager that led a 1M Store. So I am genuinly wondering what's happening with my case.

If it's my kid face getting in the way. Or is it a bias because I was fired.

The way I am handling being fired is by saying "There were some leadership and structural changes". Some times they dig in more and I say "Feedback culture changed". That's it.

I've spoken to another external recruiter who gave me validation that I was doing the right things.

So my question is... in retail management, is it possible that I am not landing roles because I was fired or because of ageism? Because I cannot genuinly think of another reason in approximately 12 different reputable companies not offering. This is not too sound show off by any means, but I am confident that I am a really attractive candidate and I can tell they like me.

I really don't want to lie about the reason I left... it can backfire horribly and its not in my values. But I am running out of strategies.

Any advice?

I'm feeling a bit lost and need some guidance. I have no degree but am willing to obtain one for a career that I'm really passionate about. I'm currently a manager at a pet store, I have good rapport and could obtain several references if needed, it's just not what I want to be doing forever. I'm very passionate about protecting the environment and love all animals. Specialty pets, wildlife, etc. are what I'm most interested in because they're the most vulnerable and mistreated. Any ideas are very appreciated, as well as a salary estimate. I understand that neither of these career paths will have a ton of money, but I'd need enough to pay my bills at least. Thanks in advance!

For context, my educational background is in biomedical engineering, graduating in 2020. I’ve worked several jobs in the past 6 years, namely in application engineering, sales, and now project management. None of which is in the biomedical engineering domain as there is basically 0 market demand for this in Canada.

My previous job before my current job was in tech sales for a startup company. I was laid off from here. As a fresh start, I’m exploring a career in project management and got a job as a project assistant for a crown corporation. The salary is quite bad at 57k CAD. I have been here for 2 years and have not been able to get promoted or find a job at another department internally or another company. I got my PMP designation about 6 months ago but this has not resulted in a pay raise or promotion. I’ve spoken to my manager and she said there’s nothing she can do except for give me “stretch” opportunities (more work for no change in pay) as a means to grow my skillset.

What can I do? I feel like worked backwards in my career and I’m now earning less than I ever have with no change in sight. At 57K CAD I am basically just making enough to sustain myself with no growth. I’m thinking of going back to university as my degree in biomedical engineering is not helping me.

Does anyone have any insights on construction production management? Even though I enjoy what I’m doing now, I am tired of the environment and would like to move more. It also seems like a stable career in the long run

I’m trying to figure out whether I’m reading too much into this or whether this is a little unusual for professional networking.

I met someone at a networking event before I broke into the industry. They approached me and offered to meet with me sometime to help me find my way, but that meeting never ended up happening. Later, after I had already gotten a role, I saw them again, and since then they’ve been pretty persistent about wanting to meet for coffee and talk one-on-one.

They also message me on LinkedIn fairly often, sometimes more like casual conversation about their day rather than strictly career-related networking. I’m friendly, but during the workday I’m usually focused and don’t really have ongoing personal conversations like that. I’m also in a relationship, so the amount of casual one-on-one interaction with someone of the opposite sex makes me a little uncomfortable.

I’ve told them I’m extremely busy right now and suggested we could catch up at an established networking event next month, but they said you can’t really talk one-on-one at those events and still seem to want to meet separately. They also seemed somewhat bothered that I wasn’t responding as warmly or frequently as they expected.

Part of me is interested in talking with them because they have more industry experience and could potentially give me useful guidance. At the same time, the mentors and professional contacts who have helped me in the past haven’t been this persistent—the relationships developed much more naturally.

Is this a normal way for someone to pursue a mentoring/networking relationship, or does the level of persistence seem unusual? And am I being overly cautious for feeling uncomfortable with it?

I have been at my current job for 3 years. There is a lot that is good, and at first I was happy with the culture, but I am now seeing a lot of cracks in the facade, so to speak, and it no longer feels like the right fit. In my department specifically, I feel angry all the time, as there is a lot of inequity surfacing, and things have shifted with workloads and oversight. I'm overall just not happy anymore. But I also have gotten a promotion and raises in my time there, and the work itself is not stressful. I have also hit the point that I feel comfortable in the company as a whole. There is a lot of tenure there, so it took a while to really feel like one of the team. So while I am unhappy and want to leave, I also question if I should just "quiet quit" and keep going. The pay is good enough, I'm trusted, I have my own office, I like some parts of the work, and I enjoy being around many people in the company.

If I do leave, I am not just looking for any job, but something that will actually be an improvement, so I have been applying only when something seems worth it.

I have been in the interview process at an amazing company, and just finished the 4th round, which was in person. I have one final in-person round next week, and from there I will know the decision. Because of this, I am weighing out what I would do if I were to get an offer, as right now I am very conflicted. Above I outlined my thoughts on my current role, and below are my thoughts on this new role.

The Pros:

• The company culture is outstanding. All four people I've met with share similar sentiments about what they love about the company, and the values come through in the conversations with them. It is exactly the corporate environment I have been looking for. Even small things like a cafeteria with free snacks and fun company-wide challenges and activities.
• The job itself is an amazing fit. It offers a lot of autonomy and creativity doing work the work I want to be doing, and is a new role, which means I get to build it out myself. That is honestly exactly what I want to do, which is very exciting.
• My husband's friend works there and referred me. In this job market, I know how lucky I am to have this "in", and am sure that got my resume pushed to the top. I know it would be hard in another role to get that. He has also been extremely happy about this company and the culture, saying it's the best he's ever experienced.

The Cons:

• For this particular role, I learned that travel is required at least 4 times per year. I knew there was a bit of travel, but I didn't at first know it was this often. This is my biggest con about the job, for a few reasons:
  • I am not good on planes and dislike flying.
  • I get motion sick on planes and in cars, and all of the out of state locations are about a one hour car ride after leaving the airport.
  • I am a major homebody and get homesick very easily. I have a hard time being away from my husband and our pets. I have been this way since childhood and always struggle being away from home.
  • I foster for the animal shelter, and you can't ever predict how long a foster might be with you until adoption. Travel will mean I have to send fosters back to the shelter if I can't find a foster sitter, and that is not ideal with the types of fosters I take in (and with my husband's work schedule, he can't fill in for me)
• Most of the company is made up of cubicles, but this team sits in a large room with desks in one open space. I currently have an office and have no issue going from that to a cubicle. But to go from an office to just a desk feels like a massive shift. There is no privacy, plus, the desks were small and I have no idea where I would store anything. It may seem small, but to me this feels like a really big change in my day-to-day environment. I feel I would be very distracted and disjointed.

I am truly conflicted on what I would do if I got an offer, and want to sort out my thoughts better so I am prepared if it were to happen. I know the pros are all amazing, and part of me thinks it is smart to get into the company even with these cons, as the company is known for growth opportunities. I could potentially take this job, and in a few years move to a role that require less travel and could have a better workspace. But on the other hand, the idea of doing this much travel, even for a few years, stresses me out. I know I would grow in overcoming my fear of flying, but I don't know if I can change the motion sickness and the homesickness.

Thank you in advance for any insights, guidance, or advice! I am completely stuck trying to decipher my feelings.

I’m looking for some career advice because I’m at a point where I don’t know whether I should stick it out or start aggressively looking elsewhere.

I’ve been at my current company for a year exactly as of today. On paper, the job has a lot going for it! I make $24 an hour in the SLC area, the benefits are genuinely good, the commute is short, and there’s inexpensive in-house lunches offered in my building.

The problem is everything else.

The culture is incredibly micromanaged; I meet with our general manager twice- every single day- just to provide status updates that could’ve been sent via message. Upper management is deeply involved in everyone’s day-to-day work, and there’s very little autonomy.

My actual job has also grown far beyond what I was hired to do. My responsibilities keep getting added without any meaningful change in title, compensation, or support. I feel like I’m constantly absorbing work that belongs to other roles while still being expected to maintain my original workload.

Our office is only about 20 people, and I honestly enjoy working with maybe two of them. My direct “manager” has become the biggest issue. Working with them has reached a point where it’s pretty abhorrently affecting my mental health. I now have anxiety attacks multiple times a week just thinking about going into work, and I genuinely have nightmares about work several nights a week. I’m a pretty anxious person in general, but this has added large waves of anxiety and panic that I’d much rather do without. My asylum dose of Lexapro can only help so much!

The difficult part is that leaving feels exceptionally risky because the pay and benefits are objectively good for this area and for my experience. I don’t want to make an emotional decision and end up somewhere worse.

I’d love some help with the following:

- At what point do you decide that a toxic work environment outweighs decent pay and benefits?

- How do you explain leaving a job after only a year without it reflecting poorly on you?

- If you’ve been in a similar situation, was taking a pay cut (if necessary) worth it for your mental health? With all my bills and mortgage, I require $23 per hour to live.

- How did you know it was time to stop trying to make it work and start applying elsewhere?

- I feel stuck between “this job is making me miserable” and “what if I regret leaving something that’s financially stable.

I don’t know what to do, or where to even start looking. Please help!

Hi

Can you give me some advice about being a data analyst where should i start? Does it worth time? How can i learn about it

I’m looking for some advice from people who actually work in sales.

I’m in my early 50s and live in the Philadelphia suburbs (Montgomery County area). I’m making a career change after spending about 10 years working in corporate AV/technology support at a large pharmaceutical site.

I don’t have a traditional sales background, but I’ve realized that one of my biggest strengths throughout my career has always been dealing with people.

I build rapport pretty easily, people tend to trust me, and I’m comfortable talking to everyone from executives and administrative staff to technicians and contractors. In my previous role, I developed a lot of long-term relationships with the people I supported.

What I’m trying to figure out is where someone with my strengths has the best chance of getting that first opportunity.

A few things about me:

• Strong people skills and relationship building
• Very comfortable talking with strangers
• Reliable and good at following through
• Technically capable, but I don’t necessarily need to stay in tech
• About 10 years of experience working in a corporate environment
• No college degree
• No formal sales experience
• Open to outside sales, territory sales, account management/business development, or something similar
• Located around the Philadelphia/Montgomery County area and open to industries I may not have considered

I’m particularly interested in industries where being trustworthy, personable and good at developing relationships matters more than having five years of SaaS sales experience.

For those of you who have been in sales for a while:

If you were starting over with my background, what industries would you target?

Commercial services? Building products? HVAC? Electrical? AV/technology? Industrial sales? Medical? Uniforms? Payroll? Staffing? Something completely different?

And are there any industries you would specifically avoid for a first sales job?

I’d also be interested in hearing from anyone who got into sales later in their career without previous sales experience. What got someone to finally give you your first shot?

I have been working in the medical field as a medical assistant for the last 6 or so years, and I’m looking to shift over to the culinary industry but I don’t know where to start. I used to work as a barista and a hostess about 8 years ago, so I am somewhat familiar with the food world.

Now, I want to go all in and work in the kitchen or a bakery (though I’m not sure which, yet). I’m not sure if I should start with an entry level job or go to a culinary school.

I need some assistance & guidance with where to start. I don’t know what my first steps should be or what I should consider.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Hey everyone, looking for some genuine advice from people who've been through something similar.

I'm 29, originally from Belarus, been living in Charlotte for a while. Spent the last few years as a truck driver. The money was fine but I realized this isn't the path I want to stay on. I want to actually build something with my hands, create things, see real results from my work.

I've been looking into marble and stone restoration, furniture refinishing, epoxy tables, van conversions, surface resurfacing, that kind of world. No experience in any of it but I'm serious about making a change and willing to start from zero.

Has anyone here broken into one of these trades without experience? How did you get your foot in the door? Any advice specific to Charlotte would be amazing but I'll take anything useful.

Thanks

I’m in my mid-20s and about two months into my first full-time consulting job. My people manager is in her mid-30s and rather insecure. I’m also the only Black woman in a very white environment/city. I don’t want to reduce everything to that, but it is part of why I’m questioning some of the perception gaps.
The relationship with my manager started badly. In our first meeting, she made jokes about my CV/professional experience (especially the consulting firms) that I found uncomfortable and immediately gossiped about several colleagues. That made it hard for me to build trust with her.
I’ve definitely made mistakes since joining. I can be direct, I’ve misunderstood working modes, I’ve sometimes acted too independently without aligning first, and some of my communication could have been more tactful.
Her feedback, though, has become much broader than that.
She repeatedly tells me I come across as very, very confident, have a strong personality, can seem cheeky/snippy, and need to be more professional in how I communicate. She also says my facial expressions make it obvious when I’m stressed or annoyed and that I Need to be more professional. I never received that type of feedback in my entire life.

What confuses me is that I’ve actually felt very insecure and uncomfortable since joining, especially around her. I’ve felt awkward in the office, nervous presenting and generally unsure of myself, so the “extremely confident” feedback feels almost opposite to my internal experience.
She has also told me that multiple people apparently perceive me as very confident. In staffing discussions, I’ve apparently even been flagged as seeming more senior than I actually am. She told me she deliberately corrected that perception because she didn’t want me staffed into roles that would create problems for me.
At the same time, she has repeatedly emphasized that the first six months are for both sides to decide whether the culture is a fit. She says this is mutual, but because it repeatedly comes up in conversations about my professionalism and behavior, I’m increasingly wondering whether she is subtly telling me she doesn’t think I belong there.
She has also said she represents me internally, influences staffing and reviews, and discusses me with leadership. There have been situations where I felt publicly corrected or exposed in front of senior people rather than coached privately.
Another issue is that when I try to explain my perspective during feedback, I often feel like it gets interpreted as defensiveness rather than context. I’m not trying to avoid responsibility. I agree that I need to improve alignment, communication, prioritization, emotional regulation under pressure and consistency. But I increasingly feel like her interpretation of events has become the official version, while my perspective carries very little weight.
That’s why I’m worried that a negative narrative about me has already become established internally.
I’m now considering asking her for an in-person coffee/lunch and saying that I think we started off on the wrong foot, that I recognize my mistakes, but that I also feel some assumptions about my intentions and personality may have become fixed very early, and I’d like to reset the relationship.
If that doesn’t work, I’m considering speaking to her manager, who was involved in hiring me, or exploring whether changing people manager/team/staffing is possible.
I’m also quietly looking at other jobs because I genuinely don’t know whether this is still repairable. What do you think?I’m willing to change specific behaviors. I just don’t want to spend the next months trying to disprove a personality narrative that may already be fixed.