I love stumbling on fun questions! Recently, I encountered, “Anyone here who decided to leave their job on the first day? What made you choose to run right away?” I’ll go first. Telemarketing!
Like so many others, I was suckered into this when I was fresh out of high school for like 3.5 hours. It was the worst, most demeaning experience in my professional work life. I got up for lunch and never returned.
So here are some other fun confessions that also walked out on day one.
1. MLMs
Image Credit: 89Stocker via Canva.com.MLM, is that you? For example, one user shared that the job required them to solicit their friends and family members to make sales. “If your first option is for me to make money off the people I care about most. After that, there’s nowhere to go but down (morally).”
2. A Fish Hobbyist
A fish hobbyist got a job in the fish department at PetCo. On his first day, they wanted him to remove all the rocks (substrate) from each tank, scrub them, and put them back in the tanks, one tank at a time.
“Moving substrate releases bad bacteria and can get the fish sick or kill them.” He explained this to them and said doing a water change for 20% of each tank was best. They said, sorry, this is what corporate says, and you have to do it. I said, “OK, I’ll do it after lunch.” I never came back from lunch.
3. Expensive Parking
OK. This is absurd enough. I’m cringing. One man explained that they took a minimum wage job ($11.50/hr), and parking was not included. The parking fee was $20 a day. So two hours of work to park your vehicle!
4. No Food Safety
Image Credit: Mix and Match Studio via Canva.com.EW! One informed the thread that a restaurant they worked at “defrosted chicken by leaving it outside the fridge overnight.” It was on the floor during the summer, and rats scurried away when they turned on the light the following day. “I called the safety department on that one.” Thank God, but also EW!
5. Sales Floor Without Training
Imagine being hired and thrown on the floor without training. I have been there. It’s not uncommon in the restaurant or sales business. And surprise, this woman was hired in sales at Lowes. (Although several home Depot employees confirmed this happens all the time). She was doing his first-day onboarding paperwork and training videos when the manager came in and told her to take over the sales floor.
“No training, computer logins, no idea where anything in the building was, who any of the dozens of other people wandering around were, or even what was expected of me. Just go solo in a department that usually had between five and eight staff at any time.” She said she walked out immediately.
6. A Door-to-Door Salesman
Someone explained taking a job that was allegedly an office salary position. However, when they got there, it was door-to-door sales, commission only. They clarified they didn’t even allow them to explain their ridiculous attempts to suggest the job was better than the one they advertised and interviewed them for initially.
7. False Wage Advertising
Image Credit: alphaspirit.it via Canva.com.One user confessed they hired a job ad in a paper for $8.50 an hour when the minimum wage was $5 in their state (2005). After going through the hiring process, their paperwork stated $5.50. So they mentioned it and were dismissed as “mishearing them.”
So they brought up that the ad said $8.50. She replied, “I am 17 and have no experience. I should be grateful for the opportunity to gain some valuable work experience. I’ll take the $5.50 and be happy with it.” They chose to walk out. A couple of weeks later, they called back for a $ 6-an-hour opportunity, despite still having an ad stating they paid $8.50!
8. You Can Wash Dishes, Can’t You?
A former Wendy’s employee said the assistant manager, whose only job seemed to be pacing behind them during lunch rushes, repeating in a dull monotone, “C’mon, let’s make those burgers. C’mon, let’s go faster. Make those burgers.”
When they didn’t make burgers fast enough because the only training consisted of watching a 30-minute video, the manager sneered, “Why don’t you just go wash dishes, then? You CAN wash dishes, can’t you?” They walked off the job immediately.
9. Towed Your Car
Image Credit: Mix and Match Studio via Canva.com.“I was specifically told to park in a certain lot to pick up my parking sticker on the first day.” One noted that their almost manager met them at the front of the building to walk them to security, get my sticker, and show them around.
They said the boss was a jerk for three hours, condescending, and didn’t answer their questions about employment. Eventually, they walked out to vape and put the sticker on, and they towed the car because it didn’t have a sticker yet. “I called my sister to pick me up but never returned to that place. $250 to get my car and a waste of a day.”
10. Mandatory Daily Prayer and Patriotism
Finally, (how is this legal), one user explained, “They forced us to pray together every morning and recite the pledge of allegiance.” Needless to say, they walked out.
Have you ever quit a job on the first day?
Don’t Let Failure Hold You Back
Image Credit: Africa images via Canva.com.The most successful people in the world have experienced failure at some point in their lives. What sets them apart is their ability to learn from their mistakes and turn those setbacks into success.
Continue Reading: Why Successful People Embrace Failure and You Should Too
Should I Quit My Job?
Image Credit: dimaberlinphotos via Canva.com.Yes, you should quit your job. Actually, that’s only true if you felt a huge sigh of relief when you read that sentence. If, on the other hand, you reacted with skepticism or apprehension, quitting may not be the right move. Read on to see what’s the right move!
Continue Reading: Should I Quit My Job?
I Hate My Job But Can’t Quit
Image Credit: Elnur via Canva.com.
Do you jump out of bed each morning with a smile on your face, excitedly anticipating the work-day ahead of you? Or do you lay there as your alarm goes off, seriously contemplating just rolling over and going back to sleep, thinking, “I hate my job, anyway. So what if I get fired?“ Hopefully, your answer is closer to the first option. But if you’re reading this, my guess is that this isn’t the case.
Continue Reading: I Hate My Job But Can’t Quit: What to Do When You’re Stuck