One of the benefits of working in a particular industry is that you get key insights into how things work, learning all kinds of insider information from working behind the scenes. Often, though, all this insider information does is lead back to the fact that the entire thing is just an elaborate charade. This knowledge is, of course, a double-edged sword because often you joined that industry in the first place due to a personal interest, and now you have to live with the knowledge that the en…

Getting passed up for a promotion when you know you are deserving of the role is rough. Probably the only thing worse is being asked for help by the person who got the job and has no idea what they're doing—proving definitely that you should have gotten the role in the first place. But, it's not uncommon for these types of things to happen in the workplace, where politics, corporate narratives, and other misguided decision-making processes often override actual logical reasoning. Unfortunately,…

Requiring your workers to complete work-related tasks while off the clock presents a range of moral, ethical, and legal issues. Still, it's incredibly common with different policies, making this intention incredibly overt to more subtle. At the end of the day, the design of these policies is to keep costs down, reducing labor costs by shaving off “unnecessary” time at the end of shifts, which means that workers are completing those “unnecessary” necessary tasks on their own time. A great exampl…

They say quitters never win, but when it comes to jobs, sometimes you just need to know when to walk away… After all, we're not going to work the same jobs for our entire working lives. I think it's safe to say that the days of that being a likelihood are long behind us. Sure, our grandparents might have started working straight out of high school and spent their entire careers with one company, retiring at 55 with an excellent pension… But that's just not in the cards for anyone who isn't bord…

Taking leave from your job is important. For one thing, a bit of time away can give you more headspace, meaning that when you return, you're feeling fresh and invigorated, ready to bring new ideas and approaches to your role—or it can just mean you return with your hatred for your job freshly invigorated… If that's the case, it's a good sign that your current role and duties aren't a good use of your time, and it's time to do something else.

Attaining proper compensation for your contributions is a tricky and delicate subject . On the one hand, you want to be paid properly for your contributions, and it's important to be sure that you are, as this will help you to progress in your field and remain properly motivated. On the other hand, you must be careful to maintain good internal politics and not give your employer any reason to put a target on your back. This worker initially secured a substantial salary increase when starting th…

There are a lot of reasons to get fired from a job: being late, failing consistently to do basic tasks or meet KPIs, and being difficult to work with are some of the most common. However, you probably wouldn't expect to lose your job for expecting a client to follow basic common courtesy and for expecting your employer to respect your basic safety requirements. The thing about our pets is that while we love them to death and they can do no wrong to others, they're just another unpredictable ani…

If you're free to work, you'll work for free… At least, that's what a lot of hiring managers these days seem to reason. If it's not asking you to develop a new sales vertical and make actual cold calls, it might be asking you to use your marketing expertise to develop an actual campaign—all with the assurance that you might get the job.

The interview process is unique because of the high stakes involved for both parties; the implications of ending up with a dud candidate can be disastrous for an organization or workgroup of any size, and a candidate ending up in a job that's not the right fit can be a huge misstep for them as well in their career. Likewise, the interview process is hugely resource-consuming for both parties, so wasting the other party's time with missed or rescheduled interviews and misleading promises or expe…

Getting written up for a bogus reason in the workplace can be unfair, and being written up for a family emergency that caused you to miss a shift (that wasn't even yours in the first place) really fits the bill. Unfortunately, in most circumstances, you'd probably be stuck in the role for quite some time, especially if your life was already at a precarious point due to the aforementioned emergency. In fact, your power-tripping boss is probably counting on it.

It's nice to know that you're needed and appreciated both in your work and in other areas of your life. But when appreciation is out of the question… a frantic phone call from your (very) recently ex-employer's HR department, proving your necessity, will do. It's not uncommon for those prone to giving into their anger to make unwise decisions in the midst of that anger, and that can put you in some unfortunate situations when that person is your boss—or holds some other form of authority over y…

Divulging personal aspects about yourself in the workplace can be a pathway to forming stronger bonds and close-knit relationships—or it can be used against you the next time your performance review comes around. The reality is that your work time is for work, and your own time is—well, your own. But, in a modern “always online” world that's fueled by instant communication and where some employers want to squeeze their workers for every last drop of productivity, this line becomes increasingly…

Toxic managers have one thing in common: Their belief that their authority is absolute . It's almost as if they think it's impossible for anyone ever to leave them, acting like workers will continue to put up with the most dreadful working conditions and their abhorrent behavior for the rest of their careers. So, of course, they're completely blindsided when their most pivotal workers hand in their notice, with the news sending them scrambling to figure out how they're going to maintain the con…

You know it's going to be a juicy discussion when the user has deleted their account within hours of posting a viral thread… This worker landed themself a new job, working remotely , that offered them higher pay and greater responsibility. They found themself with little to do initially, which they found to be a little strange, but seeing as this isn't uncommon in a lot of jobs, which often allow workers to ease into their role, leaving additional tasks to be picked up as the worker gets into t…

It's often the case that an employer won't react well to an employee's departure, taking their act of leaving as an insult and personal affront. Even if the relationship was supposedly left on good terms, it won't be long before the departing worker's name brings nothing but derision. Should they return to the workplace, they'll find, that despite being a top performer at the company during their time there, they have been turned into a scapegoat with their name being used to lay blame on anyth…

There will be times in the workplace when you'll really enjoy what you're doing, tasks seem effortless, time flows seamlessly, and results are rewarding. There will also be times when the exact opposite holds true, and every moment spent at work is excruciating. Sometimes, you'll relish the tasks your boss hands to you, whereas other tasks will make you want to gouge out your own eyes. But occasionally—rarely—throughout the course of your career, there will be tasks you'll be asked to complete…