Everyone has had a pretty terrible day at work. Whether the perfect storm of things going wrong or just a job that is grueling in general, certain days tend to be worse than others. But some workplaces are so insanely bad that the only option is to simply run.A netizen asked“People who quit a job on the first day, what happened?” and ex-employees shared their worst workplace horror stories. From outright lies during the hiring process to literal health risks, these tales underscore how bad some jobs can get. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the most shocking, and share your experiences below. We also got in touch with employment expert Jonathan Javier fromWonsultingto learn more about red flags.This post may includeaffiliate links.
Everyone has had a pretty terrible day at work. Whether the perfect storm of things going wrong or just a job that is grueling in general, certain days tend to be worse than others. But some workplaces are so insanely bad that the only option is to simply run.
A netizen asked“People who quit a job on the first day, what happened?” and ex-employees shared their worst workplace horror stories. From outright lies during the hiring process to literal health risks, these tales underscore how bad some jobs can get. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the most shocking, and share your experiences below. We also got in touch with employment expert Jonathan Javier fromWonsultingto learn more about red flags.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
2nd day: sweating my a*s off in the kitchen on a hot summer day. Asked for a glass of water and the owner made me pay for it. Finished my shift and never went back.
Bored Pandagot in touch with Jonathan Javier, CEO and founder ofWonsulting, an organization that focuses on helping people find the right job for them. We wanted to hear his insights into red flags to look for when starting a new job or just evaluating a job in general. He shared a few good examples.“When they’re unable to “unblock” you: The goal of a manager or team leader is to help their subordinates but also, if one of their team members is stuck, to get them “unstuck”. This can range from guiding or helping them problem-solve. When they say “no feedback from me” mentality. Managers who want their team members to grow will give feedback proactively to their subordinates when they see something that needs to be improved; many bad managers will say constantly “no feedback from me” or “you’re doing awesome!” but when performance reviews come into play, you’re then given the “you haven’t done well in XYZ.”
Bored Pandagot in touch with Jonathan Javier, CEO and founder ofWonsulting, an organization that focuses on helping people find the right job for them. We wanted to hear his insights into red flags to look for when starting a new job or just evaluating a job in general. He shared a few good examples.
“When they’re unable to “unblock” you: The goal of a manager or team leader is to help their subordinates but also, if one of their team members is stuck, to get them “unstuck”. This can range from guiding or helping them problem-solve. When they say “no feedback from me” mentality. Managers who want their team members to grow will give feedback proactively to their subordinates when they see something that needs to be improved; many bad managers will say constantly “no feedback from me” or “you’re doing awesome!” but when performance reviews come into play, you’re then given the “you haven’t done well in XYZ.”
Was 19 in the late 90s. Got a job at Miami Subs and showed up to work the first and heard the Manager Screaming at a couple of 16 year old cashier’s. Said nope not for me. Told the girls they should quit too.Actually ended up giving them a lift home. They lived close to my friend’s house. Fast forward and one of the girls and my friend are married with a couple kids and live in the same town. Small world. 😆
I worked at Home Bargains and did my first shift on a Saturday, I was off on the Sunday originally, and they waited until 11pm on the Saturday to call me and not ask me but tell me to cover a Sunday but the conversation went as followed.“Hey we’ve changed the rota and you’re working tomorrow 8am-5pm.”I was busy on the Sunday as I had family commitments since I assumed I was free being my day off.“Oh I can’t work tomorrow I have plans.”“Well that will go down as an unauthorised absence if you don’t turn up.”“Alright then I quit.”“WHAT?!”I then hung up and never went back.
“When the manager delegates a project to you without any guidance. Managers who continuously delegate without giving guidance on the project they delegate are the ones who set up their subordinates for failure - if you see this from your manager, this is a huge red flag,” he shared with Bored Panda.
Joannes fabrics - first day an old lady slapped me for cutting her fabric too slow. I was like “peace. This isn’t the job for me”.Edit: to everyone asking - no - I did not stab or cut her in retaliation. I put the scissors down, walked to the managers office, and told her I quit (and why). The manager understood and said something that equated to “sometimes it be like that.” I didn’t think to file charges, I honestly just wanted to get out of that situation as fast as possible.
Got a job with a major hotel brand. Was supposed to handle their small lounge area, serve the occasional wine/beer. I was 18/19? During my training, the manager dude (mid 30’s) was walking me through showing me how stuff works. He was super friendly and joking a lot. But also a bit touchy feely: hand on shoulder, back pats, etc. Then, when we were alone in the kitchen, he reached out his hand and rubbed across my abdomen. I was wearing a light summer dress, super thin material. He basically touched right above where my panties were straight up to my belly button and a bit above. I can’t remember why - it was part of his joking around. But it made me so uncomfortable. I didn’t say anything. Just awkward laughed. He smiled and stared at me. And then kept up his jokey schtick. I did not return. I heard later he was in rehab.
This of course begs the question, how do toxic, incompetent, and downright horrible people actually end up in positions of power? “When I was working in corporate, it was not only a mix of politics and exceeding your OKRs; it was also about having a great relationship with both your manager and skip manager. If you have these relationships and are able to play the “Politics” game, you have a better chance of being promoted. If this happens to you, be sure to upskill and continuously learn in the field you’re in as well as your leadership skills.”
I was on my last day of training as a caretaker for individuals with special needs. I am a 110lb woman, after training when I was due to start the next day they informed me my patient would be a 200lb man who sometimes “acts out and gets physical”…. Blocked their number and never came back lol.
I got hired for the local Taco Bell.On my first day it was a busy Thursday night and everyone was stressed and yelling at each other. I was asked to come in at 3 but never told when I was supposed to leave so I asked, because if I was going to be there for a long time I also wanted a break. The person in charge wasn’t even a manager and they told me they didn’t know what to tell me because they don’t have a manager right now to make schedules. She mentioned they were open until 3 am and asked me how long I would stay. I got really sketched out so my next question was about how they were counting for my labor since I was new and wasn’t in the computer yet, and there was no manager on site to input my labor manually. She had no idea what I was talking about. I never walked out of somewhere so fast in my life
Back in the early 90s, I needed a summer job. Applied and got hired at Target. My first shift was something like 5-10 which got me the usual 15 minute break. No problem. Then I find out that we can’t leave until everyone has cleaned their area of the store. When you finished your area, you had to help others. There were two people who were slow as s**t (likely to get the extra few hours of pay) and we all ended up “helping” them. I didn’t get out until almost 2am. Of course, had I been scheduled 5-2, I would have gotten another break and a lunch. I didn’t go back the next day.
Lastly, Jonathan shared some parting thoughts about what to look out for and keep in mind. “Some of the most important parts of your day-to-day job? It’s not only what the role consists of, but the relationship with your manager. Your manager can either make or break you; I see many employees leaving companies solely because of the disconnection between themselves and their managers.”
The attorney I was supposed to be working for didn’t want to give me the employment paperwork and kept delaying. Finally he asked me how I felt about being a 1099 employee instead (I was supposed to have a w4, salary, full benefits) and he tried to “sell” me on why it would be better for me.He was a solo atty and I was going to be his para/everything. This guy had no idea how the computer or printer worked, was using an old system, didn’t know what to tell me as far as passwords went and said I was smart and could figure it out.He had an intern who was in college working for him and she was there the day I started, and she was trying to be polite but during the day she opened up a bit and told me she’d been working for him for 3 weeks and he still hadn’t paid her anything, and wouldn’t have the convo when she tried. I asked her candidly if I should run and she said yes, leave and don’t come back.I had another offer on the table that I had declined to take this job. So I did something super uncharacteristic of me and called the other job from the bathroom, asked if they’d filled it, and begged for the job and told them I made a mistake. They re-extended the offer and I finished the day and never went back. She texted me the next day and said she also didn’t go back and wasn’t planning to.
Not a job, but a first time interview. They disguised the job as just a normal sales position but when I got to the interview it was a group interview no one told me about and there was basically about 15 of us young kids in there that basically had to fight for this job. Mind you it turned out to be one of those door to door salesman jobs selling who knows what, but I left in the middle of the interview because I immediately knew it wasn’t for me and the receptionist at the front got out of her chair to stop me from leaving and said “you’re going to be throwing away your life if you leave kid” to which I didn’t reply and I continued walking out. That company no longer exists to this day.
It was the second day on the job not the first but close enough. I had left another job to go to this new company with the promise that I wouldn’t have to stay late. I was told I would be working basically a 9-5 which I was perfectly happy with. That day I didn’t get off until 10 PM. I texted my boss as I got off and said they wouldn’t be seeing me again.
“Be sure to vet the manager during your interview process to see if you’d enjoy working with them, and ask questions to see what their leadership styles are, for example, are they hands-on/hands-off? What leader do they look up to / have similar principles to?” You can read more about finding a career that works for you on the officialWonsultingwebsite, and if you want to read more job horror stories, check out Bored Panda’sprevious articleon the topic.
No one told the staff I would be there. The shift manager seemed annoyed that she would have to train me. It was a dog boarding/daycare facility, and they were SLAMMED. The manager left me alone in the play yard with about 15 dogs that I didnt know for morning potty break (she admitted they werent supposed to take that many out at once, and not all of them were daycare dogs). I had one dog trying to scale the fence the whole time, a group of three dogs kept growling at each other, and one kept howling and sturring everyone up at 5:30 am. When she wasnt back in 10-15 minutes, I coralled everyone back into the building and another staff member helped me get everyone back in their kennels.I went to find the manager and overheard her in the kitchen complaining to someone about “getting stuck” with me today. I ignored it, asked what to do next.After morning walks she showed me where the daycare only room was. Before and after daycare hours, dogs waiting for their owners would be put in kennels. The room had like 40 nice size kennels, but the floor was also lined with wire crates and dogs were just shoved in them. There were some kennels and crates with multiple dogs in them and when I asked she admitted that bot all of them were fur siblings, they just didnt have enough kennels for everyone to get their own.I left on my lunch break, didnt tell anyone or call to let the superviser know. Id previously managed a daycare/boarding facility for about 2 years, and it infuriated me to see the way this place handled peoples pets.
I was hired as a cook at a Huddle House. On my first day I learned that they lied about which shifts I’d have in the interview, I’d be expected to basically run the restaurant alone on graveyard shift after only a week of training, and this place was violating health codes left and right.
Data entry- I was temping and I had specifically said “NO data entry”. The second assignment I got was all & only data entry. (I’m dyslexic, me doing data entry is bad for everyone)
Worked at a nursing home where they charged the elderly residents extra on their bill to have a bath as opposed to a shower. Quit on the spot
Started bartending at a country club during a break from college, not my first bartending gig.I’m minding my business, getting the regulars drink preferences down when the waitress in the dinning room starts yelling at me. She proceeded to yell at me on and off my entire shift. Not about her tables drinks, just about everything I was doing, like a mean boss.A customer ended up telling her off, complaining to management and leaving as he said he just wanted a quiet beer after a long day, not listen to me get berated.After my shift management told me they planned to make her a manager soon, so we needed to work it out. I quit on the spot and walked out.
Turned out the ‘company’ was not registered business and has no license to operate. They also threatened us we’d have to pay them an amount if we quit during the 60-day training period.Few months later, they were shut down.
Technically didn’t quit the first day, but I was forgotten. Worked at a famous Dutch theme park and was scheduled for 1 day. Showed up that day, worked the whole day no problem and had quite a bit of fun. Waited to be called in again and 4 years later I still haven’t been called in once. I still have the uniform and guide book.Edit: just realized this happened twice to me actually. Also worked voluntarily at a ranch once. Was excited about it and asked if I could keep working there. Never heard from them again (I wasn’t rejected, they wanted me to send them a mail so they could have my contact details).
Omg like 20 years ago I applied for a position at petcetera. First day the manager runs me quickly through morning duties.. then hands me the keys to the safe, the front doors etc and just leaves ( he was meeting a girl for a lunch date) I was not trained on cash or anything. The ONLY other person in the building also grabbed a jacket and left. I locked up and slipped the keys in the overnight box.. never looked back. Company went out of business.Edit: I did call the SPCA about the cats/etc left in store and how it was my first and last day.
It was a split shift. 2 hour lunch, 2 hour break, then 4 hour dinner service. The entire lunch shift the owner sat in a corner table and would yell demands (go fill water.. etc) I was already planning to do. Then he told me (after shift started) that the tips are pooled with all staff including him. So I never showed up for the dinner service.
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I took a phone sales job once. It was cold calling people to sell tickets to a country western show to supposedly benefit the local police department. The foreman had me sit next to somone named Joe and said “ now you watch Joe for a bit, and see how he turns the no’s into yes’s “First call Joe starts his speech and then slams down the phone and shouts “FK!”Second call is pretty much the same and he instead shouts “FG BH!” while slamming down the phone.This goes on for about 3 more calls and then the manager comes over and says “Ok, so you see how it’s done? Let’s get you started.”I made about 4 calls and then asked if I could take a smoke break (even though I didn’t smoke), and left and never returned.
Wife was working at a local chain coffee shop (the type with drive up windows on each side). This one was a popular chain that had kind of gone corporate. My wife had 5 years of experience at less popular stands, but still knew what she was doing. On her first day they made her the “cup” girl. When a order was made, she grabbed the correct size cup and handed it to the “syrup” girl who put the flavorings in it, then handed it to the barista, who pulled the shots or poured the energy drink, who then handed to the cashier who put a lid on it and then to the customer. She asked if it was normal for people to be put on a specific duty for the shift and they said yes. She told the manager that it wasn’t going to work at the end of her shift. She said she wants to make coffee, not work in an assembly line. Even though we were hurting for money as this was early in my career, I was proud of her for knowing what she wanted and what she wanted out of a job. 6 years and a few stands (due to moving around and COVID) later and she is still the best damn barista I know. It’s honestly a nice perk to have someone who just knows how to make drinks. She is quite creative and I thank her experience not in that assembly line for that creativity.
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Was sorting at a recycling center. They had no dust masks and I could not breathe. I left to go to the hospital when they would not call for medical help.Never came back.
I worked at a coffee shop and nobody knew about me, so on my first day nobody was assigned to train me and nobody really wanted to. When I would ask a question, they would just say to read the ticket on the cup, and when I would mess up they would berate me in front of the customers. It happened a few times but one time i really remember was when I made a lady’s coffee and one of the girls working said very loudly “wow you really fd that one up” and just handed it to the poor woman who definitely heard but didn’t want to say anything so she ended up paying for this coffee i fd up. I felt bad and overwhelmed and as soon as it was time to leave I booked it and never looked back. Also one girl was very racist and i think she thought i was a safe person to be openly racist around bc im white but it just made me extremely uncomfortable
I joined a small firm as a software programmer and quit on Day 4.My mother came down with a bad case of food poisoning and was admitted to a hospital. I kept her company all night in the hospital, and the next morning called the company HR guy to ask if I could take a day off, since my mother was still in the hospital. He screamed at me over the phone, and threatened to fire me, so i told him to f**k off and hung up.
You may think that I am exaggerating but Venezuela is the land where everything is possible and not exactly for good things.A few years ago, I was hired to help run the account of a store that sold online through Mercado Libre (basically the same as Ebay) I was excited because it was in a mall so it would be a nice store I figured, silly me, I had to go through the basement to get to a sort of warehouse that had been converted into something like a store. If you are claustrophobic you couldn’t work there.The owner wanted us to work non-stop, just a few minutes for lunch and we had to do it in the same store and there was no water to drink, we had to respond to the customer in less than 2 minutes after the message arrived.I wanted to leave that same day but I needed the money because things are really difficult here. When I was about to leave, the owner told me not to forget to bring my own toilet paper because everyone uses their own and he was not going to buy it.
K-Mart back in the late 90s. I showed up to my first day and they had no idea who I was or why I was asking for my assignment, or someone to shadow, or you know, anything that a normal first day person would have done, having never done it before.Turns out they forgot to schedule me, then when I didn’t show up to the store after the computer training (because my schedule was blank), they did my separation because I guess I was a no call no show to a no shift?They told me to go back to the office so I could get “rehired” but I declined. I didn’t want to work somewhere so disorganized.
When I was around 14 I worked for Dickie Dee Icecream (think Canadian Good Humor) for ONE DAY riding a bicycle/cooler. You were paid a commission based on what you sold, but you had to pay for your dry ice. Long story short, you had to ride that thing all day in blazing heat to make virtually no money. This was the in the mid 80s, I hope this is illegal now.
Worked for a pain management clinic. They didn’t let me take a lunch or any type of break, told me I couldn’t wear protection in the x-ray room because that was “only for patients and the doctor,” and then told me that a lot of the time the doctor is out so I could just write out the scripts and forge his signature. Obviously I didn’t go back.Edit to address questions: yes, the X-rays were real. There was a tech and I saw them take images. Yes I reported them. Yes unfortunately they’re still in business. Same doctor, same location. I won’t name them of course. Their google reviews are mixed, pretty much a solid split between only 5 star ratings and 1 star ratings
When I was a teenager and needed some spending money I saw an ad for a warehouse that needed boxes moved. It was minimum wage, but I could work for a few days and get some real cash in my Jeans pocket.Well, they wanted me to haul fiberglass insulation around. I waited until the guy finished giving instructions on how to do the job and as soon as he was out the door I wasn’t far behind.I had done construction work a couple summers before and had to staple that s**t up between 2x4s. You couldn’t pay me enough to work with that stuff again, and they were going to trick me for minimum?
Landscaping guy wanted me to do cold calling of customers who all had bad experiences and try to convince them to pay for services they didn’t need or have, like aerating a zeroscaped lawn. He also wanted me to do all of his accounting in Quicken.
I got a job at a call centre which i thought was 411. When they had us answer the phone, we had to say hello this is “411 directory assistance“Turned out the Direct Assistance part was included in their company name and had nothing to do with the 411 we all know.Got gaslighted into working for a literal scam.
Completely Indoor doggie daycare in Texas.This was my first day/orientation/full facility tour.Agreed on salary prior to hire, and they tried to backtrack and pay me less when I came in for orientation and paperwork. Manager got annoyed, but hesitantly agreed to it in writing.Ventilation in the daycare play area (with a wading pool the dogs were free to play in) was subpar, the cleaning techniques were minimal. For example, they let a dog with an eye infection into general population to play with the others, one was in a boarding suite, completely covered in poop, along with everything in his suite. When I asked if they wanted my help to clean said dog/suite, I was nonchalantly told they would just wait until afternoon shift started (aka it’s someone else’s problem).I lasted maybe an hour. I was sent on my first 15 min break before the morning rush started.Got in my car, and drove home. Sent them an email stating why I wouldn’t be back.HR and I had a very lengthy conversation a few days later. As far as I know, that place is still in business somehow.
I needed a second job to supplement my income after a roommate moved out, leaving me high and dry on how I was going to make rent. One of my customers from my first job was the hiring manager of a call center. Said it wasn’t sales, just helping people with their gas bill questions. Went, got hired, and had a four hour training before being put on calls. When I got to the actual call floor, it was a zoo. Half the employees looked like they were in another dimension. We couldn’t go to the bathroom without requesting it from the line manager and we were queued. People would go in the bathroom and be in there for more time than needed. Like is everyone pooping? Go to the bathroom to do #1 and it stank of burnt plastic. Quickly figured out that people were doing drugs on the job. When the shift was over, I went to my car and some new coworkers kept asking me for a ride. I obliged for two mid 40s ladies. They had me stop here, there, and everywhere. I decided that I was not going to be working in that environment and called to say I quit the next day. I was kind of insulted that my customer thought that was some place adequate for me. Made me do a lot of internal reflection.
I worked for this small lawn care outfit in Baton Rouge. So you know it was hot as hell. The first thing the guy did was drove to the store left me in the truck with the truck running to go inside and get snacks. I thought to myself this place can’t be all that well organized. so then we went to go cut yards and we cut this gigantic apartment complex. They said they would pay me per yard and they counted the apartment complex as one yard. So for a 12 hour day I made $36. I never went back.
My wife got a job selling art. She was supposed to show up Monday morning at 9. She did, and noticed that everyone in the office was drinking beer. At 9 on a Monday. She then found out that she was going to be cold walking into offices to see if they wanted to buy their s****y paintings. Which were actually prints. She walked out after an hour.
I got a job waiting tables at a small pizzeria. I got every single order wrong, everyone was mad at me and I was only 16.I quit and never worked in a restaurant again. To be honest, it was probably a good thing because I could never cut it as a server. I was a cocktail waitress once and even that was a disaster. I have short term memory issues. Even if I’m writing it down I can screw it up between me hearing it and writing it.
Tech job at Blackrock. The job expectations for being on call were completely misrepresented during the interview process. I was told one weekend a month for on call, arrived on the first day and it was one weekend a month of actually working (not just on call) plus on call two other weekends. Told my supervisor this wasn’t what I signed up for and I wouldn’t be back for day 2.
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