“I Started At Noon. Quit At 8:30 PM”: 19 People Who Didn’t Give Their New Job A Second Chance

Article created by: Ieva Pečiulytė

If your first day at a new job is a disaster, the place might not be worth a second chance and you better find the nearest exit. Whether it’s the new boss that ruined your day, work conditions that couldn’t have been further from what’s been agreed, or something else completely.

The AskReddit community discussed both of the above and other reasons for leaving a new job nearly instantaneously, which you might find interesting. Here at Bored Panda, we have gathered examples ranging from bizarre to even infuriating, but all ending in the same outcome.

To better understand the importance of proper onboarding procedures, we discussed it with the award-winning human resources specialist and growth coach for start-ups, Daneal Charney. Scroll down for our interview with her.

• Read More: “I Started At Noon. Quit At 8:30 PM”: 30 People Who Didn’t Give Their New Job A Second Chance

#1

I had been at a job for more than 4 years, and was desperate to get out. I was doing interviews multiple places, but the one I REALLY wanted hadn't given me an offer. So I picked from the other 3 offers I had. Of course, on my first day, I got the offer from the company I wanted, and it was 25k more than the job I had started that day.

I sat down with my manager and let her know. She was shocked at first, but understood. There were no hard feelings, and she said that if it didn't work out, she would love to have me back. I actually gave her a name of someone to replace me, and that person was hired and is being groomed to be her successor when she retires.

I took the job at the company I wanted, and not 2 hours after signing the offer letter, got a 5th offer offering even more money. Had an Internal crisis, and stayed with the one that I had initially wanted. 17 months later I just got promoted, and I am wildly happy about it.

Image credits: schroedingersnewcat

#2

When I was 17 or 18 I started a new job at a popular pet groomer in the area. The girl training me hit a dog twice because she was very roughly brushing him and he was just trying to move away from her. He was tied to the table, so all he could do was try to rotate himself. I said something to her and she said that it was his fault, he wasn’t behaving. When I left, I called the owner and explained what I saw because I was horrified. His response was “Well, if the dog needed to be corrected, then it needed to be corrected”. I thought he must not have understood what I meant and explained again that the dog didn’t become aggressive in any way, he just moved away from the brush. He told me he understood me the first time and meant what he said. I never showed up for my second day. I wish I’d known who the dog belonged to. That would’ve been my next call. This was almost 20 years ago and I’ll never forget it.

#3

The moment it looked like I was about to score a sale on my very first day, my supervisor swept in and took it, then claimed the commission.

Walked out on the spot.

#4

They lowered the rate from what was agreed upon and became upset when I spoke up about it.

Image credits: Wonderful-Job3514

#5

They forced us to pray together every morning and recite the pledge of allegiance. The only thing I have allegiance to is my 14 year old arthritic dog Bisco. Haha let me know if you guys want to see photos.

Image credits: pjlo1234

#6

Cost of parking was more than the wage. They told me to move my car from the back of the store to an expensive parking deck. I drove home.

Image credits: Snarleey

#7

I'm a fish hobbyist and I got a job in the fish department at PetCo. On my first day they wanted me to take out 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 [take them out]. I explained this to them and said that it was best to just do a water change for 20% of each tank. They said, basically, sorry this is what corporate says and you have to do it. I was like, "Okay, I'll do it after lunch." I never came back from lunch.

Image credits: adura_grounded

#8

This was in the 80s and I was on my first day working at this mall food court place called Au Bon Pain. As soon as I walked in, like an hour before opening, the manager handed me a cardboard box of sliced deli meats and told me to run tap water over all of them until they didn't feel sticky, rebag them, and put a new expiration sticker on them for another 3 days. Then he pointed at like 4 crates of basically rotten oranges, some had a greenish/blue coat of mold on them, and he told me to use them to make the orange juice. I said ok and I was going to go grab some gloves from the stock room and just walked out the back delivery door and never returned.

#9

It wasn't quite the first day. During the interview I informed them that I would not work on Sunday. The interviewer told me that would be acceptable. During my two week training, I did not have to work on Sundays. My first week after the training, I was scheduled to work that Sunday. I protested and reminded my manager about the agreement during the interview. He informed me that they couldn't always honor it and that I would sometimes be expected to work my fair share of Sundays. I quit on the spot and walked out.

Image credits: happyapy

#10

I started working in a retail shop and hadn't been trained on anything such as tills etc. The only thing I had been told is to great every customer that entered the store within 10 seconds of them entering and ask if they needed any help.

A customer came to me, asked for help and wanted to pay for the item I helped with. As I hadn't been shown how to use the tills yet, I asked the store manager to show me what to do. The manager, in front of said customer, started calling me out for not "knowing how to do my job". It was my first day, I had been there 1.5 hours and hadn't been shown how to do anything in the store.

I met my dad at my lunch, burst into tears and asked him to go to the store and quit for me. I was young, I'd never worked in retail before and I absolutely hated how that manager made me feel.

I started with 4 people on the same day. We had kept in touch and every single one of them left within a couple of weeks of starting. If there's a toxic environment, a bad manager (which can often take longer to figure out) or your gut is screaming at you to leave, do. Don't waste your time being miserable.

#11

I was promised $17 an hour. I showed up for my first training day and started on paperwork. The onboarding documents said “$7.00 an hour plus average weekly tips equaling an average of $17 an hour”. Got up and walked out.

Image credits: fullmetaldoctor09

#12

When I was in high school I got a job at an oil change place. I took the drug test and passed and got my start date. As I was getting ready to leave my house for my first day of work, I got a call from the local park maintenance director asking if I would be interested in joining their maintenance team for the summer. I already had a friend who worked there and already knew the maintenance director since she had helped me do my Eagle Scout project. I accepted that position and called up the oil change place and quit. The park job was guaranteed to be 40 hours a week during the summer and I worked there for 4 summers, making enough to sustain myself during the school year without a job. The work wasn’t bad either, clearing trails, mowing, spreading mulch, picking up trash. The oil change place was not happy but ended up hiring a friend of mine who eventually got into hard drugs after trying them with people who work there. I think I made the right choice.

Image credits: thedude386

#13

Slowly started changing the terms of employment during the day.
Started off "10 hour days 5 days a week £8/hour"
Shifted to "sometimes you have to work weekends too"
Then "actually it's crunch season right now so we're going to expect you to work Saturday and Sunday this week"
Then "actually we'll need you to stay Saturday and Sunday most weeks"
Then "You'll be working Saturday and Sunday for the foreseeable future"
Then "We'll need you to stay a few hours after work today"
Then "Actually you'll be working 12-14 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 6 months"
Yeah nope.

Image credits: NewRoundEre

#14

I didn't even last a full shift.

It was Pizza delivery. It was the early 90s; I was 20M. My first shift was in torrential rain, driving a 1967 VW Beetle (with a flat windscreen). Two orders required me to go back because the pizzas weren't the ones ordered.

Then I arrived back to see that one of the other drivers had been shot in the leg with an air-rifle by Ricky the Shift-Manager.

I started at noon. Quit at 8.30pm. Can't remember if I was ever paid; didn't care.

Image credits: EvilBosch

#15

Wendy’s. There was an assistant manager whose only job seemed to be pacing around behind us 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 I didn’t make burgers fast enough because my 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?” That’s when I walked off the job.

Image credits: LanceGannon

#16

When I went to discuss salary they offered me a lower price than what they had promised in the phone interview. I told them that's not we we agreed on. They said well that's what it is. I told them, well if you're gonna screw me before I even begin then we have nothing to discuss, thanks anyway.

#17

They used L. Ron Hubbard training material.

Image credits: DreamQueen710

#18

They hired me for the wrong position, one which I was woefully unqualified for and not interested in faking it. The first day the "grunts" were training the "expert" on the most basic stuff and it became clear to everyone I had no business being there. After the shift I handed in my hard hat and told management to do their homework next time.

Image credits: yParticle

#19

my son lasted up to the afternoon break on a new job, when the supervisor asked him to work overtime to midnight. uh. no.

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Image credits: forsennata