Bitey Bite Bite

Every job search relies a lot on timing, prospective employee aura, and sheer luck. For those of us who aren't naturally charismatic or overly confident in our abilities, looking for a job can be a tedious process that seems to rely a lot on faking it. However, the impostor in all of us struggles to confidently proclaim abilities that are unproven in the workplace, but if you ever want to score an interview, you have to embrace a certain level of uncertainty as well as self-confidence. 

This prospective employee went so far as to fake his employment after getting fired, hoping that his continued employment—regardless of its validity—would help him secure his next career move. And since the entire job market is based on false LinkedIn posts, silly flexes online, and a dang-good cover letter, this tactic actually ended up securing this man's best job yet: With benefits, WFH hours, and a work/life balance nobody could pass up. 

All he had to do was fake it until he made it.

Hey, new manager—haven't you heard? The workforce always knows best.

Managers always come in thinking they have to prove themselves to the suits upstairs. Hungry for power and wanting to wield their new workplace capabilities, managers tend to step on the toes of the workforce, stomping down old traditions that were steadfast for a reason. Perhaps if the nitpicky manager in this next story had heeded the warnings of the senior paramedics he was attempting to control, he might have saved the company $1000s in overtime wages. 

These paramedics were no strangers to working hard. Regularly clocking 12-hour shifts, they'd come back from the field exhausted and ready to tap in their relieving EMTs. However, this manager seemed to think that the 30-minute "gentleman's agreement" that the teams had forged over the years was an entirely superfluous practice. But after abolishing it, the manager ate his words and found himself hemorrhaging cash every pay period in the form of absurd overtime hours. 

Most employees don't bring up problems just for fun. They typically foresee a conundrum and hope to start finding solutions before it's too late. Unfortunately, far too many bosses out there feel threatened when the people underneath them within the company hierarchy discover flaws before they do. Their wounded ego then makes it nearly impossible for employees to raise valid concerns and to try to avoid impending disaster. It's a classic case of an insecure manager whose own incompetence and attitude become the primary reasons for colossal company errors.

In this instance, we have an employee who tried to explain a delay in weekly reporting that meant accurate data for a given week would not be able to be calculated and properly distributed until the following Monday. Of course, the author's boss was unable to hear the criticism and instead implied that the employee was too lazy to get the reporting done by end of day each Friday. Well, it turns out that the only way the author was able to fully communicate the reporting issue was by doing exactly as their boss instructed.

Obtaining your driver's license and first car is a significant milestone in the life of any teenager. But, just when you think you've finally carved out a bit of freedom and individuality, and that you might actually be considered cool now that you don't have to take the bus to school, along come your little siblings to burst your bubble, demanding that you give them a ride, taking your chances of ever sitting with the popular kids once they see that snotty little brat climbing out of your car. (As if the mere presence of the car was going to change anything in the first place.)

Your parents aren't much help either; to them, the solution seems practical, and what's more, with you as your little sibling's chauffeur, they no longer have to worry about being pestered themselves. Of course, it's important to be respectful of other people and their things, even your siblings. So this is a good lesson for the younger sibling also to learn to respect people's things, even their siblings. 

Upon first viewing the subject at hand here it's easy to jump to the conclusion that the older teen who posted the thread is just been a stuck-up teenager who wants nothing to do with their sibling, but after reading through their account their request that their sister not wear their chronically dirty footware is quite reasonable.

There are bad job interviews, and then there are candidates who lie to their interviewer's faces, or cry 3 separate times in one meeting. All of us have flubbed a question or 3, or we've misread the room and turned the conversation into an awkward silence. But some people really go above and beyond when it comes to flunking their job interviews. They almost make it look impressive! 

These folks were kind enough to share what happened during their worst job interview sessions. As mentioned, one woman did cry 3 times during the interview. Why? Because she was very unhappy at her current job, and was hoping to leave ASAP. I understand her emotions… when you desperately want to leave a bad job, you'll cling to any job that comes your way. Still, no matter how upset you are, you've got to at least try and contain your tears until you've completed the interview. Even when you put your best foot forward, it still may not be enough. Crying at your interview just highlights that you won't do well under pressure or that you're not able to separate your work life from your personal life. Even the best candidate in the world won't get a callback after behavior like that. And this woman isn't even the worst interviewee here! Check out the other candidates who messed up badly by scrolling below. 

Next, read about some employees who made huge mistakes, but still kept their jobs: "He stole over $10,000... but was never fired."

If you've ever been victimized by an entitled superior in the workplace, you probably also have been that same superior's scapegoat when they mess things up. Everyone always assumes a boss can do no wrong simply because they've got years of seniority over many of their subordinates. But the truth is, we're all human. Mistakes and miscalculations are inevitable, and owning them instead of pushing them onto other unassuming people makes you a better person and actually allows you to learn from them. Isn't that the whole point of living?

The employee in this next story becomes their team lead's scapegoat for her missed deadlines, work slip-ups, and everything else under the sun. The employee decided to start keeping a paper trail of what's been going on so their word wouldn't be dismissed, which turned out to prove itself very useful. The weird thing about this story is that, though the team lead is exposed for her malpractice, everyone in the office is choosing to vilify the employee who brought the issue to light. It's easy for their fellow coworkers to dismiss the issue—they weren't the target of workplace harassment. Scroll below to read the entire story. 

Sometimes you get fired and nothing feels right in the world and you've reached rock bottom and have nowhere else to go. Other times you reach rock bottom and it's actually just karma clearing the way to read her gorgeous face. Sometimes if you just sit tight after getting fired, you might be able to witness the most magnificent karma ever to play out in your life. 

Take, for example, this lowercase karma that happened after this loyal employee was fired. He had worked there for over 10 years and loved his job. However, during those unprecedented times, the company decided he was "redundant" and all of the owner's family, with less experience, deserve to get the favorite parts of his job. So when he was fired, it was effective immediately and callous.