Hello.

I left my previous organisation because of various reasons ( unhappy with career level, favouritism, one management bully who was being protected by my manager despite my complaint) and said that I have an offer(which I didn't, I was only interviewing) and the market was so terrible that i ended up being unemployed for 6 months. I have not been in touch with any of my co-workers because everybody knows things ended on a bad note between me and the management, so everybody wanted to be safe.

Now, the management(my manager) has reached out to me as there is an opening in the team for Manager level(I left 2 levels below manager) but because I am technically very strong he wants me back at the manager. Pay is great.

But it would be awkward with the coworkers, mainly for two reasons ,one will they accept me as a manager? And two, they will ask me what I have been doing in the past 6 months. Because when I left I said I have multiple offers lol.. i left in a rage without any offers or anything.

Should I go back? Pls help me decide.

I currently work as a remote ESL teacher. The job pays OK, definitely not what I'm happy with but I've been doing this for nearly 2 years now. The issue is that I haven't been happy with this job and picked it up as something temporary since I've left my previous role, so when I get burnt out, the urge to just drop everything is so strong.

Another reason I can't stay is that it's unreliable, students cancel, take weeks off, summer vacation, holidays. It's very unexpected, much like freelancing, where there are weeks I'm genuinely financially struggling, and other weeks I work around 8-9 hours a day.

Everyone in my life tells me I should move on from this job, and I agree but I've been so reluctant to take that step, until several days ago.

I understand beggars can't be choosers, but if I'm investing effort into a new career, I have certain requirements, like:
1. No daily camera-on meetings, or phone calls. I've been doing this daily for the past 2 years and it's so mentally draining. I can do it once every now and then, within reason.
2. I want something flexible. I'm on the move a lot, which is something my current job allows me to do. I get to go wherever I want, provided I have a quiet environment and a good connection.
3. I do not want to clock in for an x amount of hours, for an x amount of days. I can't handle 9-5s, I don't want anyone micromanaging me. I want to be given a task and deadline, and be left alone until that task is done by the deadline provided.
4. I need something entry-level that doesn't require a diploma or a course. I'm willing to build a portfolio, but I don't have the luxury to pause and to start learning something new right now.

These requirements all boiled down to freelancing. The same unstable conditions I currently have at work, but at least I know I'd make more money and invest a LOT less time and energy than I currently do. Bonus, I'd actually add something worthwhile to my resumé and potentially build a career out of what I choose to do.

The problem starts here, I do NOT know what to do. The market for freelancing seems oversaturated. I've done illustrations on Fiverr before, so I'm good at art and graphics, but I'm not willing to go back to illustrations. Graphic design is oversaturated, UI/UX requires at least 6 months of learning. I do not know what to do. I can video edit, but my laptop is not strong enough to handle real projects.

I'm at a point where I just want to throw in the towel and stay in my miserable position, just because it's comfortable and "it works", but I know it's wrong. I know I have a lot of potential, but I'm not sure if I'm being lazy or if I'm just burnt out.

My question is, what are my options? What advice would you give to someone like me or what would you do in my position? Tell me anything you can.

TL;DR:
Trying to switch from remote English teaching to a task-based job, like freelancing. Too many options make me feel stuck and want to give up.

I used to believe the lie we’re all sold “Just do excellent work and people will notice.”

For years I was that guy. Best numbers on the team. Fixed problems no one else could. Delivered consistently. I genuinely thought my work would speak for itself.

It didn’t.

The promotions and opportunities kept going to people who were good enough but extremely good at making sure the right people knew what they were doing. Meanwhile, my work was getting absorbed into “team effort” or credited to my manager.

Then I came across this line that hit like a truck:

“Competence gives you value, but it does not guarantee that the right people will notice or reward it. Skill creates the opportunity. Positioning converts it into power.”

It reframed everything for me.

Competence is the entry ticket. It gets you in the game. But without deliberate positioning, you’re just a highly skilled invisible person. The organization doesn’t run on merit alone - it runs on perception of value by the people who control opportunities.

Here’s what actually changed things for me:

I stopped letting my work speak for itself. I started sending short, crisp updates to my skip-level and key stakeholders (not spam - just “Here’s what I delivered and the business impact”).

I connected every project to outcomes leadership actually cared about (revenue, risk reduction, speed, cost). Not just “I did X” but “I did X which helped the team hit Y goal.”

I built relationships before I needed them. Coffee chats, quick feedback loops, and making other people look good publicly. Reciprocity is real.

I made my contributions visible in group settings without sounding like I was bragging. Simple framing: “One thing that helped us was…” instead of “I did this amazing thing.”

The uncomfortable truth? In most organizations, the people who get ahead aren’t necessarily the most competent. They’re the ones who make their competence impossible to ignore while building the relationships that turn visibility into actual power.

I’m not saying become a political animal or a shameless self-promoter. I’m saying stop being strategically invisible.

If you’re currently the most skilled but least recognized person in the room… this is probably why.

Has anyone else lived this? What finally made the difference for you - visibility tactics, relationship building, or something else?

Good morning,not sure if this is the place to ask. I moved from the East coast to the Midwest for a industrial maintenance job that isn’t panning out.Management is poor and very uncoordinated, I would go as far as to say this is the most poorly ran maintenance team I have ever worked with and I am very unhappy here.I live in an area that is not short of jobs,I spent the last 3 years working maintenance and had another job for about a year prior after getting out of the Army where I was an aircraft mechanic.I have been here 3 months and want to leave but my question is how bad would this look on my resume if I left after 3 months? I don’t see myself here long term,frankly even 6 months is looking unobtainable at this point.

I got put on a pip. There were 0 warnings prior to the pip. They claim my performance is not where they want it and they listed several examples. My manager will meet with me weekly to help through this. Coincidentally, we had a terrible revenue month In June.

I guess my question here is: does this sound like a legit pip or cost cutting? it seems like a layoff without using the word layoff but I keep getting back to the weekly coaching - why do weekly coaching if they’re going to fire me?

I’m feeling really disappointed and confused about a situation at work and would appreciate some outside perspective.
my manager told me I was being considered for a promotion and encouraged me to work towards it. I took this seriously and spent the next several months putting in extra effort, taking on more responsibilities, meeting expectations, and doing what I was told was needed to be ready for the next level.
When the time came to discuss the promotion, the reasons started changing. I was given conflicting explanations about why it couldn’t happen, and eventually the promotion was pulled away completely.
What has been difficult is that I feel like I spent 7 months working towards a goal that I was led to believe was achievable, there were monthly meetings about my progress, my promotion plan announced to the team. If there were concerns about my readiness, I wish they had been communicated earlier so I could have addressed them instead of finding out at the end.
The part that has bothered me most is that 7 months later, my manager has told me that she believes pulling the promotion was the “right decision.” I understand that managers have to make decisions based on business needs, but it feels frustrating because I was encouraged to work towards something and then the expectations seemed to change after I had already invested so much time and effort.
I’m trying to figure out whether I’m being reasonable in feeling disappointed, or whether this is just a normal part of career progression that I need to accept.
Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you handle it?

Hi everyone, I need some advice.

I'm currently a trainee at a BPO company and I've only been here for a week. I recently received a job offer that's much better and is more aligned with my career goals, so I want to resign as soon as possible.

I informed my coach and requested an immediate resignation, but I was told I need to render a 30-day notice. They also said that if I stop reporting, I'll be tagged as AWOL.

The problem is that I really don't want to continue training, and my new company starts in a few weeks. I'm worried that rendering 30 days could conflict with my start date.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? If you didn't render the full 30 days and were tagged as AWOL, did it affect your next employer or background check? My biggest concern is making sure my new job won't be affected and I already emailed the HR no response yet.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Last year I transitioned from a machine shop to my first engineering firm job. I was used to clocking in and clocking out. I didn't track projects or unbillable time. But at my new job I submitted a form at the end of the end that's tracks what projects and tasks within the projects I worked on. A problem has arisen for me with this system. I'm a machinist who learned CAD and 3-D modeling software. The company I now work for hired me as a Pipe designer(in-training). They are semi-rural and don't often get qualified people with years of experience. And to top it off most of my department is retiring in the next 5 year. In my company you either charge to projects or a specific code for overhead. I cannot charge to training even if I'm practicing and using the company training modules in my downtime. It seems like since I've started there has always been a looming threat of layoffs or reduced hours and work that I could be trained on is sparce. Sister branches of the company have laid a few people off. In recent weeks my department manager has gotten super antsy about unbillable, but hasn't given me any billable work. He's called me on Friday and told me to charge basically a full week of work I did not do. Constantly throughout this job I've been told by my manager to fudge my timecard. I don't feel like I'm doing my career any favors by not having real work to cut my teeth on. It feels like a ticking time bomb I have zero agency over finding work for myself other than asking managers. There is another company hiring I could potentially move too. But I feel like I don't have enough run way to make that jump. This place is looking for a senior designer. I have an associates in applied science, 4 years as a cnc programmer and operator, 1 year as a mechanical drafter, and now 1 year as a pipe designer "in training". My current job was looking for a senior designer when I applied so I would hope I could at least get my foot in the door for an interview. My bills are paid, I'm insured, and I get to work from home 2 days out of the week. Other than the timecard business this company has been great. I'm just wondering is normal behavior for firms, and if I should just ride this out or try to find a job that will keep me working and further increase my worth?

About a month ago, I applied to a job with title XY at a company. I had a screening interview with the recruiter. I felt the conversation went well, but ultimately my candidacy didn't proceed. The recruiter encouraged me to apply for future positions.

I applied to a job with title XY (same title as before) at a company with a remarkably similar name. At the time, I didn't realize these were "branches" or "access partners" of one another. The same recruiter has now reached out to schedule a screening interview with me for this position. Should I mention that we have interviewed together before or proceed without mentioning it?

Is it a good idea to apply for the same job through both indeed and the company website, or would it be too redundant? I don’t wanna have my application tossed out because there’s two of it or something like that.

So got promoted a year ago and found myself working under a nice manager however i found out he was the exact same level as me, he has now left and ended up under someone on interim basis who is also same level before i will likely move under someone for the long tern who again will be the exact same level as me. The issue with the long term person is they are not in the same field, i am in very technical role and the individual has no technical understanding what so ever also i have been at this level longer than them. I therefore don't see any value in reporting into them as less experience, they dont grasp what i do, won't be able to help me or even be able to appraise me.

What would other people do? I was going to speak to HR regarding my concerns of the long term management plan but the general structure of the department been poor. Really just want someone who is a level above and who has similar background and can help me long term career wise.

On a side note i am performing employee, always get my pay rise, bonuses along with great yearly scores.

I’m pushing 31 this year, and I quit my job a year ago to get a new aspect of myself. I don’t think I’ve been able to live like this since I was three. I just need a little advice on how to get back again after pausing for almost a year. Would it be worth it to just get back to my previous job? Start a new business? Or just lay low and do some consulting work?

I have made posts like this before, and I feel like I have exhausted almost every suggestion people have given me. A lot of people have said, "It's just the job market," but I need more than that. I am looking for genuine advice even if it's harsh or mean. I don't care.

I am 23 and graduated about two years ago with a degree in Computer Engineering. Since then, I have sent out around 3000 job applications have only gotten about five interviews. One interview led to an unpaid internship which I took (post grad). Two were for fast food jobs, and I wasn't hired. The other two were related to my degree and technical, but I wasn't selected.

When I was in school, I applied to around 100 internships and didn't get any. At the time, I made the stupid mistake of telling myself it was because of COVID and that it didn't really matter because my parents told me the degree was what was most important. So, instead I got a research position instead of a internship in the industry.

Since graduating, my life has been miserable. Most of my friends from school are all successful now with jobs in my industry or others. I have pretty much cut them off so I could focus entirely on my job search. Their jokes about me not being able to find a job and constantly hearing of how much they were making took a toll of me mentally as well.

My life now pretty much consists of getting berated by my parents for still living at home, studying computer engineering topics like concurrency, computer architecture, and embedded programming, building projects, grinding LeetCode, searching for jobs and applying to them, watching tutorials, and trying to make a little money through online surveys and studies so I can hopefully afford parts for more embedded projects. Then I wake up the next day and do it all over again.

I have had my resume reviewed by people on Reddit, my friends (before I stopped hanging out with them), and professionals. I tailor my resume using A.I. for every job posting, then review and edit it myself to make sure it's good.

I have applied to government jobs including those in the recent graduate program. Some of those applications have been in review for over a year. I looked into joining the military as an officer. I spoke with recruiters from the Navy, Marines, Air Force more than once, but they told me there weren't any openings that matched my degree and suggested that I just enlist normally instead. At this point, I'm honestly wondering if I should just give up on my career field and enlist.

I don't know what to do at this point. If you were in my position, what would you do? Go back to school and study something else? Enlist in the military? I don't know.

Im a neet dropper, pcb student Which program is preferable among Please consider factors such as demand, salary prospects, employment opportunities, and potential for professional growth. Clarify whether the inquiry perta

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out because I’m currently at a very dark and confusing point in my life, and I really need some guidance or a reality check.

I am 23 years old and graduated this year with a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from a private college. Unfortunately, I didn't get campus placement. Right now, I am back in my hometown, and the isolation is making me feel incredibly sad, useless, and worthless.

To make things harder, I come from a very poor, lower-middle-class family. Because I am now a graduate, my family and relatives have incredibly high expectations for me to start earning and support them. The weight of these expectations, combined with my current unemployment, is creating a level of pressure that feels almost unbearable.

During college, I learned a bit of web development (HTML/CSS) and Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA), but because of the stress and a gap in consistency, I feel like I’ve forgotten almost everything. I have applied to countless tech jobs online, but I'm getting zero responses.

Because of my family's financial situation and the brutal tech market, I have been thinking about completely shifting gears and dedicating the next 1 to 2 years to preparing for government exams (like SSC CGL or state exams) to get a stable job. However, because my mind is in such a bad place and the daily pressure at home is so high, I am struggling to find the motivation to start. Some days, the hopelessness is so heavy that I just want to give up on everything.

I feel stuck between two paths and completely lost about my future:

Should I try to relearn my coding skills from scratch and keep fighting for a software role?

Or, given my family's financial needs, should I put tech aside and give 100% of my focus to preparing for government exams?

If anyone has been in this exact situation—sitting unemployed at home under heavy family pressure—how did you cope with it? What practical steps did you take to start earning?

Thank you so much for reading. Any advice, harsh truth, or guidance would mean the world to me right now.

So I've recently got a 3 month contract with the UN volunteers to complete a job assignment in my home country. My parents seem more eager about this job than myself but I have a lot of debt that I owe in Canada that I want to pay off. I've already got a work permit of 3 years and I've wasted 3 months off it in my home country instead

There is an employer in canada who was eager to talk to me in person. I've done an interview with them already and I told them I have confirmed a ticket already but in reality it was a ticket in the next two weeks. I've declined this company after I successfully passed my first interview before since I wasn't sure whether I'd make it back to Canada. I'm worried that I'm losing my only chance with an employer in Canada from staying in my homecountry to do another job here at the UN

Any advice?

I am fairly new to a job and already have former employees asking if I could give them a referral for a job at the new company. I generally wouldn’t mind doing this, but I’ve barely learned the names of the people I’m working with at this point. (One person asked within the first week of me working there). What is the general standard for giving referrals? Should I wait until I pass a probation period? …Wait until I’m 1 year into the role? (The positions these people are interested in are not within my department).

Last year I wasn’t having the best time at my job so I started looking around for new opportunities. Currently I work in marketing but a friend recommended I get into insurance because I enjoy the people aspect and wanted to become more on the operating side of the business. She also is in it and she says its a good industry to for career growth. With her help, I got a new grad role which starts this september (even though I am not a new grad, Im 3 years post grad now).

Recently, at my current job, I got promoted and things have looked up. I really believe it was growing pains when I didn’t like my job last year.

Now the date is approaching and I like my current job more, and im not sure what to do.

Do I…
Stay at current job which is 1/day a week in office, flexible, great benefits, and has an overall good working culture in an industry I’m comfortable.

Or… do I…
Go into the unknown, this job would be 3 days in office, would have to start at a lower salary (but not by that much) since Im pivoting careers and into a career Im not sure I like. I also believe this career has greater opportunity for growth and promotion.

What role should I choose?