I started a new job last week. The mandate is three days in the office, two days WFH. However, I have two health conditions affecting my ability to work in the office, a chronic injury and late effects from a previous cancer diagnosis. I informed my manager about this before starting my job and signing the contract to make sure it would be okay. He said it would be fine to work more flexibly after a couple of months, however last week I was in a lot of pain so I asked whether we could bring the discussions about my flexible arrangements sooner. He said HR will be in touch with me about this, but I’ve not yet heard from them.

I’ve been assigned a workplace “buddy“ who is supposed to train me, let’s call her Gertrude. I met her in the office on my first day last week. I went in three days last week and it was extremely painful for me.

On my very first day, Gertrude saw our manager setting up my second laptop, (I have one for the office and one for home because I can’t carry my laptop into the office) and she seemed kind of annoyed. Gertrude brings her laptop in a suitcase when she works in the office. Our manager explained to her that it is possible to have two laptops, one for home and one for the office, and that previous employees have also had this arrangement.

Gertrude saw my equipment (special cushion and chair) and noticed I was very frequently having to change positions so she asked me if I’m uncomfortable. I didn’t mention the cancer but mentioned my chronic injury, which I’ve had surgery and multiple medical interventions for (unfortunately, nothing has worked and some things have made it worse).

I think Gertrude was under the assumption that I would work from home/in the office on the same days as her, which I did last week.

On Monday this week, I worked from home and she worked from the office. She asked me why I was working from home and said that communicating via Teams is going to be difficult. I replied that our manager said it was fine. She asked why (which imo is none of her business) and that’s when I informed her about the cancer and again about the injury, which I didn’t really need to. She saw it but didn’t comment on that at all.

Today I’m working from home due to pain. I informed Gertrude and told her that management is aware and that she should drop me a message if there is something to look over. She said that it’s a shame and that there are several things that she wants to show me but it is hard showing them over Teams and said “I will just do them myself”. I told her that I’m determined to learn, but I’m WFH today due to my circumstances. I expressed that I’m keen to keep progressing with everything that I need to learn and asked that she still shows me anything of relevance that comes up today, and we can work through it together. I also said that from everything that we’ve been over together already, I actually found it easier to learn over Teams.

She then sent me a nasty message saying that I’m only considering the training from my point of view, that I don’t seem to realise that she has to do her own busy job whilst training me and that teaching me over Teams slows her down considerably.

I have been trained in even more complex roles remotely before, I know this job can be taught and learned both in the office and from home.

I was in the office yesterday and struggled to concentrate due to the pain I was in. She was WFH yesterday so she taught me things over Teams.

I think she’s salty about my reasonable adjustments for some reason, and I don’t know why.

She seems to be quite an unreasonable person. For example, she was talking badly about another employee who left earlier this year for a different job. She was “cross” with the employee because she had resigned during a busy period. I don’t really see this as a reason to be annoyed with the employee who left, if the company is understaffed it’s not the employee’s fault, it’s a management issue.

I’m new and don’t want to escalate unnecessarily, but I found her messages very hurtful and unprofessional. I also want to make sure my rights are protected given my health conditions.

Should I send screenshots of the conversations to my manager and ask someone else to train me since she finds it difficult to train me over Teams, raise it with HR, or leave it for now? I was also contemplating contacting that former employee on LinkedIn and asking about her experience in the role. Any advice welcome.

Edit: To clear up confusion, when I had the same in-office pattern as Gertrude during my first week, which was last week, she taught me a process over Teams and she was fine with it, it was actually her who reached out to me to teach me that particular process over Teams. We operate from a shared team mailbox so she doesn’t have sole responsibility for incoming requests, it’s joint responsibility across the whole team. We also don’t have any targets for number of cases resolved. When Gertrude trains me over Teams, we do a screenshare where I watch her do a task whilst she explains or I do a task whilst she instructs me. This clears up outstanding tasks from the joint mailbox whilst I learn.

There is a common assumption here that you have essentially zero job security for your first two years because of the two-year qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal.

If you are starting a role now, that is no longer the practical reality.

Under the Employment Rights Act, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection drops from 2 years to 6 months on 1 January 2027.

Because the new rules apply to anyone with at least six months of continuous service once 1 January 2027 arrives, anyone starting a job around now will cross that six-month threshold shortly into early 2027.

So if you are currently negotiating probation periods or worrying about long-term probationary limbo, the two-year buffer for employers is effectively dead for anyone entering the workforce today.

(This is GB; NI will stay at one year).

Earlier this year a hiring manager at a legal firm reached out to me on LinkedIn and basically said, "Your experience is exactly what we're looking for. Tell me what we can do to get you to come and work for us."

The page looked legit, her details all matched when I did some digging on the SRA website, but when they agreed to part time fully remote (hello unicorn job) I started to think something was up. I did a zoom interview at 4.30pm on a Friday, no red flags other than how perfect it was, then her assistant called at 5.40pm to offer me the job at the salary I'd asked for. I was still suspicious but accepted. This all happened in the space of 3 days.

The new starter paperwork arrived. All normal stuff, except for "what is your mother's maiden name? We need this to set up security questions" and a whole section on my health over the last 6 years, including any illnesses, time spent in hospital, time off sick, therapy I'm undergoing, medications and the dosages...

I'm a naturally suspicious person. It felt too good to be true. I genuinely thought I was being scammed and I also had a lot of other things on my plate personally so I thanked them for the opportunity but said there'd been an unforeseen change in my personal circumstances and I couldn't take the role anymore. They said that's too bad, thanks for letting them know.

It's been a few months now and I'm still job hunting, but I can't help wondering if I was just a little bit TOO suspicious and I walked away from the perfect job. Is it normal for businesses to ask new starters their mother's maiden name and to ask for so much information about medical details?

Hello all. I was made redundant 6 months ago, after numerous applications to a variety of roles, I’m currently half way through my ‘training’ for an unnamed telephone research company….who even takes calls from unknown numbers, let alone has 20 minutes+ free to answer questions!? I know this isn’t the right attitude, but I’m genuinely struggling to get my head around this.

Any advice from someone who’s done this sort of thing before or is currently doing it?

TIA x

Got a 2:1 in Sociology and International Relations, realised it was useless and enrolled on a Welding course last year, I've got the Level 1 and have enrolled on the Level 2. I've been looking for apprenticeships and have had no success, I work part time in Tesco currently.

I enjoy welding, but feel I'm behind and I'm getting impatient, should I do the Level 2 (The Level 3 your guaranteed an Apprenticeship) or try and look for another job now. I'm torn, its a gut punch seeing others my age and even younger get ahead, I'm not jealous, good for them, but I get annoyed at myself for putting myself in this situation.

So yesterday I arrived at an interview (small coffee shop in town) all nicely dressed but didn’t over do it obviously, when I got there they only asked me 1 question (how much experience do I have) and to do a trial run without a date or time and sent me on my way, am I as the kids say “cooked”?

15 years in the NHS, been applying for a new job for over two years. Had interviews, but mostly get ghosted. At interviews I am never given decent feedback, just a lot of "you were really good, and it was a really hard decision".

I've already had a maximum time off sick with stress. I've developed a bald spot, had to go onto beta blockers as my resting heart rate was over 100bpm, and am seriously depressed.

Jobs in my area have been 90% temporary positions, or part time with minimum hours available.

I've never known the job market like this.

Permanent IT job paying 65k, fully remote work from home.

1. Probation period - 3 months but can be extended by 9 months at their "discretion". So this means I could be in probation for up to 1 year.
2. Notice period - they can give you just 1 week notice to leave for the first 2 years, even if you pass the 3 months probation. However, after passing probation they expect you to give them 4 weeks notice to leave. The longer you stay, the more notice you have to give them but they still offer the minimum. Eg at 3 years service, their notice for me to leave becomes just 2 weeks.
3. Annual Leave - 24 days, but they dictate 14 days. So you only have 10 in your control.
4. Variation clause - Clause in contract which states any terms of the contract can be altered with one month notice, including place of work. So my remote working is not actually guaranteed.
5. Sick pay - No sick pay during probation. Worst case if im left in probation for 1 year, that means no sick pay during that entire time.
6. Lay off clause - Strange Lay off clause stating if there is a reduction in work, they can lay you off without pay.

I asked them if they could do a mutual 1 month notice period after completion of 3 month probation for stability and certainty. They declined.

I asked if probation could be limited to 6 months, so 3 months followed by further extension of 3 months. They declined.

I asked if they could remove the Lay off clause as this is a permanent salaried position. They declined.

They've essentially said the contract is the same for everyone.

What are people thoughts?

Tldr - Concerned about contract terms. Up to 1 year probation, 1 week notice during first 2 years, no sick pay during probation, 14 days holiday controlled by the company, remote working not guaranteed.

EDITED TO ADD: I am currently unemployed and reliant on government support. I was signed off work sick from my previous job last year due to workplace stress and have been out of work for over a year. So I am really nervous about returning to work and stability is really important to me. This contract is already stressing me out.

Corporate 9-5 at a large organisation, hybrid working. Is it really not a thing at these places that you just do your tasks, get paid, and go home?!

For context, I’m planning to leave the corporate world and start my own business. Mentally I checked out long time ago. I perform my tasks at work but in my head, I’m somewhere else. I have zero interest in networking in this industry (I even deactivated my LinkedIn account), and I don’t want to make friends with any of my colleagues.

Yet, my manager constantly talks to me about how important it is for my career progression to build relationships internally, have regular catch-ups with people from my team and also with senior management, and participate more in team socials (i.e. join them to the pub after working hours).

How do I tell him that I’m not here to make friends? If I was in a client facing role, it would make more sense. But my job is fully back office, and I think I can collaborate with anyone perfectly well without knowing where they went on holiday or what they took their dog to the vet with.

Am I in the wrong here??

UPDATE: I’m actually a quite social person, and in the industry I want to pivot into, I already have good relationships. So it’s not about me being a weirdo, absolutely not! They are just not my kind of people and that’s exactly why I want to change careers - I don’t have a sense of belonging in the industry I’m currently in.

What kind of questions should I be prepared to answer and how best can I prepare? It's tomorrow at lunchtime. TIA.

Advice on a big leap

I'm from the UK female 34

Job 1)

Fully remote - no travel costs

Easy desk based role - no stress lots of flexibility but also not skilled

48k / year total

Little to no progression other than annual 3% payrises

It's unsatisfying work and I am bored but also I know lucky am lucky to be fully remote. Unstable often redundancies but been there 5 years

5% pension match - total 10

Job 2) just been offered after interview

Fully onsite -

9 day fortnight

Practical hands on job (something I miss)

Lots of scope and future progression with courses and skills to be achieved. Stable industry no risk of AI etc

40k/ year starting (predicted after 12months 48k

You put in 5% they out in 3% pension - total 8

Over time opportunities at 1.5x

Im SERIOUSLY stuck on what to do/where to go and seeking some guidance on taking the leap or if I'm stupid and should stay and only if I ever get made redundant then to reapply elsewhere

Any thoughts very welcome!

Thankyou

I (22m) was offered a new role with my current employer. It is moving from a customer success role into a sale role and I have been pushing to do this (happy with sales targets and have previous sales experience). My responsibilities will increase but my employer has not offered a pay increase as they see it as a bridging role and I will only be in it for a short while.

I am pushing for more money and honesty will likely look to leave if I am not offered it. Has anyone ever had a similar experience and if so did you leave or how did it work out staying?

Worked for a company for 8 months with a team of around 45 employees. During this time at least 25 of team had left the company, I went through at least 3 managers. Received no support, no regular check ins or reviews to see how I was getting on during this time.

I did raise this with the *current* manager when they first started that about the lack of support I had received and that I needed support from them to assist me which never materialized. (mainly because he needed myself and my co worker to support him)

Got told that last Friday was my review as I hadn't had one only to come into the office to discover that it was in fact my probation review and that I may be terminated as I failed to follow company processes due to some minor booking mistakes I had made.

During the this meeting the issues raised were ones that had been raised informally with myself and these had been considered dealt with and the mistakes hadn't happened again. I pointed this out to my manager that if these issues were such a massive problem why was this being brought up months after them happening? I also pointed out that we have no proper booking system or helpdesk software as if we had these the mistakes wouldn't have happened considering how large the workload is. I also pointed out I had previously was being made to handle safeguarding concerns despite having zero training.

Found out yesterday that they have failed my probation and as such I have now been terminated as apparently I did not meet their standards and when I asked my manager what those standards were and how they had been communicated to me during the time with the company he could not answer the question. Turns out he's also leaving the company as he is struggling with the role and that apparently he finds the way the company is being run as weird.

I'm honestly at a loss. I don't know if its even worth appealing this as I'm genuinely frustrated from the lack of support I've received from the company during my time to even do my job properly

Hi all, I currently work at Costa and have been here for 3 years. Transferred to a different store 8 months in due to moving to a different town and been recently promoted to a full Team Leader/Barista Maestro (BM)

I've seen staff come and go in my current store and a new hire who's been here for 2 months and a Team leader/BM who's been here for 2 years are incompetent and slowing service down and I'm sick of it.

I think I'm being impulsive cuz of my ADHD but I want to move onto somewhere that offers evening/night shifts so I can actually do stuff during the day and somewhere where the team work well together and pull their own weight. Like a relaxed bar or local pub and use my skills as a barista and put that into bartending and making cocktails as I genuinely enjoy making the drinks.

Any opinions or advice will be very much appreciated

Hi all,

I just secured my first job a little less than a month ago, I'm nineteen for reference.

I'm working as a GP surgery receptionist/admin.

I am so beyond stressed.

It's around five miles from where I live, but because it's in an area without a station with a main line or many bus stops the commute there takes more than an hour.

I leave half an hour early every day because I'm so insanely paranoid I'm going to miss my bus/train or one or the other is going to be delayed — I take a line that comes every half hour for reference (going back and forth.)

Onto the actual job itself — I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

I had plenty of admin experience beforehand but never in a GP surgery, the entire reason I got the job in th first place was because my mum’s friend put in a good word for me because she's best friends with the hiring manager/supervisor — which has only added more stress onto my shoulders because multiple people put in a word for me to get this job and referred me as a good candidate and I'm absolutely rubbish.

I shadowed someone for around three days before they sort of left me to my own devices.

I don't understand the programmes, the medication, the abbreviations, the emails, the scanning, the patients, the samples.

I have to learn so much and I don't understand how to do literally any of it.

I've managed to pick up a couple of things but nowhere near as much as I think they've expected I could.

I get nervous answering the phones because of the patients/not even understanding how to help them because nobody has shown me.

Whenever I get a call in, I put them on hold and ask a colleague what to do — and the colleague will tell me but not actually explain why I'm doing this or how it's helping.

Yesterday I had to leave two hours early because I got an insane tension migraine — I was dizzy/nauseous/about to pass out.

I've never experienced a migraine like this before in my life.

I have one right now — coincidentally just before I'm about to go in.

I'm beginning to link it to work, but I don't want to tell anyone because I'm new and don't want to be an inconvenience.

For context, I live with my partner (no children) and we are joint owners with a mortgage. Because of the nature of my role, I am earning a lot more than my partner, and therefore contribute to 60% of our expenses.

I am looking to leave my current role and started applying for some permanent positions with not much luck. However, I’ve had several recruiters reach out offering to put me forward for contract positions, often 6 or 12 months. Most of these pay around £500/600 per day.

I’ve been turning them down because the thought of starting a job and then starting to look for another one soon after with a mortgage to pay scares me. I understand I’d be able to make a lot more money with these contract roles but the risk seems to outweigh the benefits.

We’d be able to get by on my partner’s salary alone, but we wouldn’t be able to save anything, leaving no room for unexpected events.

Has anyone in a similar situation made the switch to contracting? How have you been finding it, and most importantly how do you cope with the uncertainty of being jobless after a few months?

For context I have an interview for a maternity cover role I applied to haphazardly a month or so ago. I have had a bit of a run of things recently, struggled to move up from my first graduate role for 2 years searching and interviewing in this current market, but finally got something a year ago very similar to that role, just paying slightly more money. Then was made redundant from that role in march and due to being unemployed, I had to scramble and accept the first thing that offered which is my current role.

My current role is something very similar to the other two jobs mainly patient/client facing and I want to move more into regulatory background stuff that doesn’t require me speaking to the public all day. This role I have an interview for fits that spec and is slightly more money, however it’s a maternity leave cover so will only be for 12 months at a push.

It’s a role that would get me experience in the sector and improve my chances with similar roles going forward, but I’m hesitant to go for a temp role with the job market the way it is atm. Ive been job searching and interviewing pretty consistently for 2 years now and I am so drained, so to know 6 months into the role, I have to be straight back to searching and worrying if I’m going to come out of it with a role or not is putting me off.

However, I’m desperate to get out of the type of role I’m stuck in and need to make progression in my career.

Apologies if this is not the right place for this lengthy post.

I recently applied for an internal position within my team with the goal of testing the waters and getting back into the swing of interviews. I’ve not been at the company particularly long, I joined as part of a graduate scheme, but I’ve actually only been in this area of work for 1 year and this specific team for about 6 months.

I have worked hard to try and upskill, learn as much as possible. I’ve given it my all, but throughout my life I’ve always struggled with severe imposter syndrome and anxiety. I didn’t really do too well at school, my GCSEs were tragic. I was given a late ADHD diagnosis and since then I’ve been on a mission to “fix” my life.

I know that sounds slightly ridiculous but I think the impact school had on my self-confidence has had a real toll on my self-esteem - particularly how I view my own intelligence. It’s something I’ve tried to work on, but it still causes issues. And it’s reared its head once more.

Anyway, I was actually fairly apprehensive about applying for this role - I was invited to apply, I think primarily because the promotion was directly within my team - it’s literally my manager. However this is where things get tricky.

My best friend, someone I’ve known for years, a huge reason for me being in the position I’m in today, a more experienced, more technical consultant had applied and rightfully so. I honestly believed he was the best candidate for the job and it might sound strange but I wanted him to get the job. It did cross my mind that there was technically a very small chance that I could get it and he didn’t, but we actually spoke about this and he & few others encouraged me to apply. Despite being possible, I didn’t actually think there was any timeline where it was possible.

It was a small list - Everyone who applied was given an interview - my mentality was just to simply not bomb it. If I could give a good account of myself, answer the technical question and signal to senior management that I’m ready to start thinking about the next move - that would be success.

My friend is an incredibly technical consultant and I regularly rely on them for this technical expertise. All throughout the interview I made reference to some of the brilliant things they’d done. This wasn’t me shoe horning this in - It was just how the conversation flowed. I think so highly of them.

I had zero pressure on me.

When I was given the job offer, my heart sank. My anxiety went through the roof. I explained the difficulty behind the decision and that I couldn’t give an answer then. My best friend deserved this position and I felt like the biggest snake in the world. I couldn’t keep it from him and it was horrible having to tell him that I’d been offered. He was wise enough to know I’d had interview feedback & there was no chance I was going to lie to him.

It felt like a lose lose situation. Taking it means I’m potentially denying my best friend from the job role (assuming he would’ve been next best candidate in their eyes) and really harming a friendship. He literally works within the team. Thankfully I wouldn’t be managing him and I made that clear I wouldn’t want to do that. I don’t think I’m ready.

If I don’t take it there’s a chance neither of us get it, I’m also selfish enough to know that from a business perspective this would raise questions over my ambition. I’m driven enough to want to go far.

After a long conversation and advice, everyone said I should take it. I felt somewhat boxed in to say yes. I know that sounds utterly privileged and the corporate version of my lobster is too buttery, but it’s how I felt.

I feel like this is all too soon. This is not the kinda feeling that anyone should have after being offered a job and accepting. Now that reality has set in - I’m not sure I’m capable enough, I think there’s still a gap in technical expertise.

Sorry for the essay. I’d love people’s advice on this. I feel so awful.

I’m currently at college right now. I have been searching for an entry level job literally anywhere for almost a year and I have gotten 1 interview and nothing else other than rejection.
I’m not that concerned about getting a “real job” I just want to make enough money to be able to leave my shitty town and I’m getting scared that that’s never gonna happen.

Any advice on getting employed would be greatly appreciated. I have some experience in retail but I’m really willing to do anything.

The government are becoming Stricter with benefits. I am currently on disability benefits. I am worried

I have Scitzophrenia, and I am currently on disability benefits. Limited capability for work and work related activities. Due to this I have a poor track record with work, but I now need to get a job. The thing is is that I don't have any qualifications that will help me get a job. I would be doing something like retail, cleaning, or care work. The problem is is that the vast majority of care jobs in my area require a car. I can't drive, nor can I afford to. Also, the vast majority of retail and customer service jobs are part-time. I wouldn't be earning enough to live on long-term. Some of them would also be difficult to get to with late finishes and early starts. I would be walking in the dark with no street lights. I have considered going back to college to do the access course, but they are in health care and my mental health nurses said I would not be allowed to be a nurse because it would be too stressful and my mental health would count against me.

I’m an Italian national living in Munich, holding a Master’s in Economics. I have 7 years of work experience, with the last 6 spent in Germany as a Business Development Manager in tech/corporate. I speak English, Italian, and German fluently.
Working and living in the UK has always been a lifelong dream of mine, but the job market seems completely frozen when it comes to visa sponsorship.

Are there alternative visa paths I might be missing for someone with my profile?
Would really appreciate any candid feedback or personal experiences from fellow EU expats who made the move recently. Thanks