Not every job is a dream job, and not every job is a great job, but some jobs are just so bad that people can barely make it through their first day before they are ready to hang it up and just walk away. No one ever wants it to get to that point, but sometimes that's the way life happens.
People from all job sectors and walks of life have put up with terrible coworkers, bosses, and working conditions over the years, and a few of those people recently shared their worst stories in a Reddit thread asking people to reveal the time they picked the wrong job. All posts have been edited for clarity.
At Least Someone Had Standards
This man literally said, ‘We all share one tape measure here. That way nobody can disagree on dimensions.’ He then pointed to this haggard, beat up tape measure on the main workbench. With my mouth undoubtedly agape, I fished my tape measure out of the garbage bin to put it back in my car, walked to the parking lot, put my tools back in my truck, and drove away.
I found a new job in a shop with a sane foreman the next week, and I’ve since moved companies again, and I’m a supervisor earning more than ever doing interesting work at a company which treats its employees very well.
I’m glad I held myself to some kind of standard back then.”
How Long Could You Be A Telemarketer?
“When I was 16, I took a job as a telemarketer. Not because I wanted or needed a job, but because a girl I liked told me there was an opening and I figured it was a good way to get to know her better.
When I walked into the office for the first time, I saw two rows of desks against the wall in a room about the size of a short bus. They handed me a script and said I would be selling Glamor Shots today, and gave me a little lesson about how to use the phone and plopped me down. The girl, who was on the other end of room already on a call, saw me and waved, so I felt a little more at ease.
That was before I started calling. And calling. And calling.
I think I called more people that first day than I had in my whole life. All of those calls resulted in no sales, meaning no commissions (a good portion of the compensation for a gig like that). And the hate dished out on the other end for the temerity of being interrupted for a small portion of their day would give George Carlin pause.
Later in the evening, I took at break at the same time as my friend. She took one look at me and said, ‘You’re not coming back up, are you?’
I saw something else in her look, a sadness about the expectations of future shared experiences dissipating into the black of her pupils.
I shook my head slowly, already done vocalizing rejection for the day. As I started to walk away, calling back, ‘I’ll see you in third period.’
Last time I saw her was 18 years ago.
As for the job, I lasted three hours.”
The Old Bait And Switch Tactic
“I was hired to work at a local insect farm in the office doing data entry. That was fine, I could do that and I didn’t have any actual contact with the bugs they dealt with (mainly crickets and mealworms). I went in for my first day, filled out about three hours of paperwork with HR, and immediately I was taken to a hot room with countless trays of mealworms.
My job from then on was to empty trays of worms onto a screen over a large bucket under a hot lamp, wait a bit, pick out the dead ones and push the live ones into the bucket under the screen. Excuse me? I was hired for data entry. The HR director said, ‘We think you would do well with this instead.’
I was desperate for money, so I braced myself and got to work. It was utterly disgusting and there weren’t any gloves so I was wrist-deep in mealworms until lunch time. I was gagging the whole time and couldn’t even eat my lunch. I decided when lunch was over that I couldn’t do this, went to my car, and drove home without looking back. I sent an email to HR that the job wasn’t for me but thanked them for the opportunity.
Immediately when I got home, I went to take a shower and found some worms in my shirt pocket. I started crying.”
They Just Couldn’t Settle… Or Deal With The Terrible Benefits
“I was once hired as an associate for a law firm that specialized in debt collection and contract drafting on behalf of homeowners associations and condominium associations.
I wanted a lawyer job that got me into courtrooms and have high stakes in the criminal field. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out at the time. I still wanted a healthy median where I’d be in a courtroom, which I wouldn’t have in this job for many years.
The staff looked horribly depressed, no souls in anyone’s eyes and the health insurance was pretty terrible (high deductible accounts before insurance kicks in). Now, I’m a pretty healthy person, but that scares me to have terrible health insurance.
I immediately started applying to other firms, and left the job after three weeks and one day.”
And People Wonder Why Domino’s Has Such A Bad Reputation
“I got hired at a Domino’s Pizza when I was 18. I had worked at the Pizza Hut down the road for the last two years and it was a good job, but Domino’s was offering better money.
I arrived on the first day only to have my uniform thrown at me as I walked in the front door, in front of customers. I’m not talking about a light toss from one person to another. This manager literally threw my outfit from behind the counter and got me good as I was coming through the door about 15 feet away. The next thing out of his mouth had me fuming!