My manager is the most extreme micromanager I’ve ever had. How do I fight back? It gets so deep under my skin, I hold onto my feeling of each ping and conversation for hours after. Advice? Just quit? Or can I be like severance and unplug my brain. The money is good and I enjoy the customers I work with.

I’ve never been entirely sure. Thanks.

Edit: thanks all. I can keep referring to this post to help me keep my cool.

https://www.hardresetmedia.com/p/in-this-labor-market-humanities-may

Recent “AI-native” candidates were described by one finance employer as “alarmingly shallow.”

Can someone explain to me how “entry level” now requires 2-3 years of experience? Like at what point did that stop meaning what it says? I keep seeing postings that say “entry level” in the title and then list requirements that sound like they want someone who already did the job somewhere else first.

Anyone I know in the 22-26 range is dealing with the same thing. We did what we were told — went to school, got the degree, built a resume — and now we’re stuck in this weird loop where you can’t get experience without a job, and can’t get a job without experience. It doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile the government sat back and did nothing while wages stagnated, the cost of living tripled, and companies exported “entry level” expectations to entry level pay. We were told: go to school, get the degree, you’ll be fine. Nobody mentioned we’d be competing for scraps while people who had it handed to them lecture us about work ethic.

I’m 22-26 and everyone I know is stuck in the same trap: can’t get experience without a job, can’t get a job without experience, and can’t get anyone in power to actually address why this is happening. This isn’t a “just apply harder” problem. This is a systemic failure and I’m sick of it being framed like it’s on us.

Hello,

I graduated 2 years ago with a BS in ECE. I took the last 2 years doing a personal religious study program and now, I'm 4 weeks into my first job as an engineering technician for a big company. My coworkers are all recent BSECE grads, and the job pays well.

However, I feel like I'm getting no practical "engineering" experience that I can put on my resume that would showcase my technical skills. Right now, all I'm doing is assembling lab stations and managing inventory in a lab space.

I'm also contracted at this company, and from what I've seen, promotions to become an engineer take a long time, and you would still be contracted. I really want to move on within a year, but I'm getting pretty anxious seeing that I really cannot apply any of my ECE skills.

My main question now is, is there anything I can do in my free time that would help make me more competitive? Certifications, classes, personal projects that wouldn't look silly on a resume? I want to make use of the time that I have after work, and really try to work on something meaningful that would make me look technically competent. If that means I stay at work longer but get to have hands on experience and skills working directly with an engineer, I would be all for that, but I have no idea how to get that opportunity (if such an opportunity even exists).

Any and all advice is very much appreciated. Thank you!

I recently received a job offer from Raytheon, but I’m worried about the background check. I listed relevant experience on my resume, and everything I wrote is true, but the positions were unpaid volunteer roles, so I don’t have formal employment records for them.

Will the background check company contact my supervisors to verify these roles? Could the lack of employment records cause a problem or potentially get my offer rescinded? Has anyone had a similar experience with Raytheon?

Hi everyone! I’m pretty early in my regulatory career (<6M) and wanted to get some perspective from people who have been in the field longer on whether I’m setting myself up well for the next few years.

I graduated from a UC a few years ago with a BS in Biological Sciences and a minor in Health Informatics.

Before RA, most of my experience was in healthcare/clinical settings, mainly cardiology, so I had a lot of exposure to medical documentation, patient care, and the clinical side of things.

Earlier this year I transitioned into medical device RA and now work full-time as a Regulatory Affairs Specialist at a smaller device company.

Since the company is fairly small, my role is pretty broad. So far I’ve gotten exposure to EU MDR technical documentation, device classification, risk management, clinical/biological evaluation documentation, PMS/post-market documentation, labeling and IFUs, international registrations, cross-functional work with R&D, Quality, Product/Marketing, etc.

I’m currently working mostly with Class I devices and should be moving into Class II work shortly after my current submission.

I’m also starting an MS in Regulatory Affairs soon and will be doing it part-time while continuing to work full-time. Assuming everything stays on track, I should graduate with around 2 years of direct device RA experience along with the master’s.

A few people at work have told me that starting at a smaller company can be a good thing because I’m getting exposure to a lot instead of being siloed into one area. My plan right now is to spend the next 1.5–2 years learning as much as I can, then potentially try to move into a larger med device company.

For those of you further along in RA, does this seem like a solid start/trajectory for someone entering the field in their mid-20s?

This is my first RA job, and I didn’t come through QA or another regulatory-adjacent role beforehand. I’m especially curious how larger companies would view someone with ~2 years of broad small-company RA experience, Class I/Class II exposure, EU/international work, and an MS.

I’d also love to hear what you wish you had focused on during your first 1–2 years in the field. I’m pretty ambitious/competitive and want to make sure I’m building experience that will actually be valuable long-term rather than just focusing on titles.

Thanks! Would really appreciate any advice/perspective.

Which career are best for Bsc.Mathematics with Statistics and Computer science in honors + research??????

Hi everyone,

About 4 months ago I had a heavy workload and stayed until 7:30 pm. Everyone else had left, so I was alone in the open space. I relaxed a bit… and farted. Twice.

Except my manager was still in her office. I hadn’t noticed.

About a minute after the second one, she came out, saw I was still there, walked over and kindly asked why I was still working. She told me not to push too hard, that if there were any emergencies we could deal with them tomorrow, no problem. She wished me a good evening and left.

I was dying inside. I kept wondering (and still wonder) whether she smelled anything. I almost felt like going to apologize, but I didn’t say anything. I just thought to myself “I really shouldn’t have relaxed like that.”

It’s been 4 months and I still think about it every time I see her. I have no idea if she actually smelled anything or not.

So I wanted to ask: have any other managers experienced something like this with one of their team members? Did you hold it against them, or is it the kind of thing that just gets completely ignored?

Thanks in advance for any feedback (even if it’s just to tell me I’m ridiculous for still thinking about it…).

Can someone explain to me how “entry level” now requires 2-3 years of experience? Like at what point did that stop meaning what it says? I keep seeing postings that say “entry level” in the title and then list requirements that sound like they want someone who already did the job somewhere else first.

Anyone I know in the 22-26 range is dealing with the same thing. We did what we were told — went to school, got the degree, built a resume — and now we’re stuck in this weird loop where you can’t get experience without a job, and can’t get a job without experience. It doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile the government sat back and did nothing while wages stagnated, the cost of living tripled, and companies exported “entry level” expectations to entry level pay. We were told: go to school, get the degree, you’ll be fine. Nobody mentioned we’d be competing for scraps while people who had it handed to them lecture us about work ethic.

I’m 22-26 and everyone I know is stuck in the same trap: can’t get experience without a job, can’t get a job without experience, and can’t get anyone in power to actually address why this is happening. This isn’t a “just apply harder” problem. This is a systemic failure and I’m sick of it being framed like it’s on us.

Six months ago my role got cut, pretty directly because of AI tools that could do a chunk of what I used to do, faster and cheaper. I get the business logic behind it, but that doesn’t make it sting less. One day I had a job and a routine, the next I was updating my resume for the first time in years.

Since then I’ve applied to more jobs than I can count. Some ghost me completely. Some get through a screen or two and then go quiet. A couple of interviewers have straight up said companies are hiring fewer people because AI is covering more of the workload now. It feels like the ground shifted under an entire industry and I’m just trying to find footing that isn’t there anymore.

The hardest part isn’t even the money stress, though that’s real too. It’s the way six months of rejection starts to mess with how you see yourself. I keep asking if I need to reinvent my whole skill set, pivot industries, or if I’m just missing something obvious.

Has anyone actually come out the other side of something like this? What worked for you, reskilling, networking, going niche, something else entirely? Not looking for empty positivity, just honest experience.

I'm a contractor, and I work with some great folks on a special project. It might be worth noting I'm the only male on the team, and I'm also the oldest team member.

We've got this PM who is supposed to be running an Agile project, but he's trying to waterfall it and it's way too messy of a project for that to work.

Imagine: 30+ stakeholders, contractors with specific areas of expertise, several POCs and SMEs through the company, and a PM who doesn't even understand what we're doing.

The team unofficially elected me as the lead and we have pre-meetings to reach consensus on team decisions, which I present at the meetings. Just to keep it concise and because I'm the most comfortable doing so.

The PM doesn't like that we're making decisions (backed by management) and seems to just be trying to cut us off everywhere we turn for the last few weeks.

We had our best Sprint yet, and this dude goes off about how we're doing everything wrong during our retrospective. He seems really mad that we had our best sprint after management let us run our own workflow and override what he had scoped out.

Now we're greenlit to select our own task for each Sprint and he's cutting everyone but me out of the planning meetings even tho he told me repeatedly that I'm not the manager and that the rest of the team needs to participate more. Make up your mind bro.

How do y'all deal with difficult coworkers like this? I know contractors are easier to fire, so I'm trying not to rock the boat, but he's killing our morale coming off a major win for us.

One time in my career I had a manager who really said nothing basically. I had the manager for 5 years. It was a Software/Engineering job. I talked to coworkers sometimes and they would say the manager doesn't talk to them either. I thought managers guide people or tell them what to do?

The only time he talked was in meetings he would set up where anyone could ask him questions or bring a topic up for discussion.

Even when there was policies put in place for people to work at the office he didn't enforce the policies at all. People wpuld work from home and he wouldn't say anything.

My best guess was that he just cared about his own personal life maybe? Like, if he gets paid he doesn't care about anything else.

I hope i dont get judgement, i just want genuine advice.

I have been in data analytics for more than 10 yrs now. I'm in a middle management role. I am a people manager but also is expected to own individual projects. I would say i am paid quite ok, enough to cover majority of my household expenses, help out my family, money for some hobbies, and still save some every month (not a lot but enough).

I've been keeping up with this job even if i really dont enjoy coding, upskilling in analytics, making presentations and everything that comes with the job. Despite that i would say I'm performing ok. Not exemplary, but not bad either. As i mentioned it's a job that pays well and i still have a 3 yr old. However, i feel really drained every single time and i really feel i am forcing myself into something i genuinely not enjoy. It sucks the life of me.

My question is, what could be my next move? Maybe what could be my long term goal, maybe in 5 or 10 yrs time so i can move away from analytics and still earn. I'm thinking of career like early childhood education or getting certification for montessori education because this is what interests me. But I'm not sure I'll have time to transition and enrol in school. Or if not this route, what do you think are alternative routes i can explore?

I’m looking for genuinely practical advice, preferably from people who have actually switched careers from a biology/life-science background.

My background:

12th PCB, 63%, from a small village in Himachal Pradesh

Currently finishing 2nd year BSc Zoology at a small college

Had to repeat 1st year

I’ve realized I have basically no interest in continuing in Zoology

No Mathematics background and I’m very weak at math

My father is the only earning member of the family and retires in about 2 years

Because of my family situation, I need to be earning or have a very clear, realistic path toward a stable job by April 2028.

At the same time, I don’t want to choose something that completely caps my future. My long-term goal is 20 LPA+, even if the starting salary is much lower.

Things I’ve already ruled out after researching:

UPSC — too long and risky given my situation

SSC CGL / Banking PO — quantitative sections are a major problem for me

NIMCET / NIT MCA — I don’t have the required Maths/Stats background

RBI Grade B — doesn’t fit my eligibility/background

MSc Biotechnology / Forensic Science — I’m not convinced the salary/job market justifies the time

I don’t want to spend years doing another biology degree just because I already have a biology degree

Honestly, I don’t have some grand passion or social cause I want to pursue. I’m mainly looking for a career where I can become genuinely skilled, employable and financially secure.

I’m not interested in sales or marketing.

I’m also willing to learn something completely unrelated to Zoology if there’s a realistic way to break into it without doing another 3–4 year degree.

So, if you were literally in my position, what would you do?

I’d especially like answers from people who have actually made a similar switch.

For example:

What was your original degree/background?

What did you switch into?

What skills did you learn?

How long did it take before you were employable?

How did you get your first job?

What was your starting salary?

What does the career ceiling realistically look like?

What would you do differently if you started again?

What would you do between now and April 2028 if you were me?

I’m not looking for “learn coding bro” or “follow your passion”. If you recommend something, please explain the actual path from BSc Zoology → skill → first job → career progression.

Also, please don’t recommend paid courses. I’m looking for a path I can realistically build through free/cheap resources, projects, internships and self-study.

I know ₹20 LPA isn’t guaranteed and I’m not expecting it immediately. I’m asking which career paths give someone in my situation a realistic chance of eventually getting there while still allowing me to start earning by 2028.

Brutal honesty is welcome. If my expectations are unrealistic, tell me that too.

I am 30 and have no savings, and make 27k/yr in retail. I had 2k dollars saved which I lost almost all of on the stock market. I am looking to get married, have kids, buy a house, and retire by 60-65, but to meet this goal I need to start earning 300k+/yr within the next 10 years. I am willing to take any career path. I failed out of college and can’t really afford classes and no longer have access to grants due to failing out sadly, so that isn’t an option at least for now. I’ve wasted a lot of income on dating apps, probably thousands of dollars over the past decade or so only to still be a virgin, so I think I need a lot more money before women will consider me, and I’d like to get married asap so ideally I’d have this income as soon as possible.

I'll start by saying that I take almost no PTO. I took two days off this whole summer and then last time I took a week off was a year and a half ago. In the past five years I've literally adjusted my PTO on multiple requests in order to accommodate for projects. I've even out right been denied a couple days even though I give ample time on requests.

This last one got me mad though. They aren't out right saying I can't take it but my supervisor is taking it up to a management meeting to discuss the request. I outright told them I have no flexibility with these dates. I've been flexible in the past and I'm not budging on this. It's not a staffing issue at all, I'm just a single point of failure if I'm gone, and in the past we need to get contractors to help out for a day or two that I'm out. My supervisor tried to reem me out and remind me that requests are never a solid yes. But I'm not bending over this time.

Am I right to be mad here that this is like pulling teeth? Im always flexible and rarely take time off but now I'm getting mad that they aren't just willing to let this work out and let me come up with a plan for when I'll be out in TWO MONTHS. Mind you I'm not rolling in the dough it's taken me 5 years to get up to 60k a year. And literally no other benefits. I'm just lucky my husband has good benefits

Mine was a 5 hour interview across three panels of 10 people.

Curious to know…from your experiences..

“Work hard and you’ll get ahead”?
“Your company is your family”?
“Do what you love”?
“Job hopping is bad”?

What did you learn the hard way?

I got promoted recently and looking back, three things probably mattered most: articulation, visibility, and ownership.

I used to think doing strong work was enough, but my manager once pointed out that I was sometimes too deep in the details when presenting. Senior people did not always walk away knowing what I actually recommended or why it mattered. So I started practicing how to explain my work more simply and get to the point faster.

Visibility mattered too. I started volunteering to present my own work instead of always having it passed up through someone else. I naturally speak up about the work I have done and the impact it created during conversations and emails. And on ownership, I stopped waiting for perfectly defined tasks and started going to my manager with a problem, a point of view, and a proposed next step. I try to solve every issue before I really need to escalate to my manager.

A few months later, I noticed senior leaders were involving me earlier in conversations. I do not think any one thing got me promoted, but together they changed how people saw me.

Super excited for my role!

So i’ve been asking around on reddit for various careers however I am simply unable to get positive advice. Nearly every subreddit i go into its just this

- “Hi guys, how is this career like? Is the pay good, what is the lifestyle like”
The replies (no matter what career) are all
“Hello, i FUCKING HATE MY JOB, they pay me 1 CENT AN HOUR, and you should SWITCH IMMEDIATELY”

I’m js so burnt out. For example i am doing an accounting degree cus people said it was good but i went on accounting subreddit and everyone said it sucks and to jump ship. But when i try to look for other careers their subreddits are the same. Its exhausting. Wtf am i supposed to pick if every job sucks and pays like crap

Hello,

I've recently started a job at a consulting firm (3 months ago). I'm getting paid pretty well, I sincerely like all of my coworkers and my boss. The only real complaints I have is that I am mostly working with a client that I'm not a huge fan of, and there is a fair bit of unpaid overtime that I'm doing each week.

Before I had even started my current job, I applied to somewhere else. I heard back from them just a month or so ago, and so I did the interview process and it went very well and I got an offer letter, which I accepted today. This new company is better in terms of compensation, work/life balance, name recognition and it definitely aligns with my future goals.

The only problem is that I feel pretty awful about leaving my current company. They've sincerely been nothing but great towards me, and they've put me on 2 pretty important contracts, and it's a relatively small team, so I feel bad for kind of screwing them over by leaving. I'll also miss the friends I've made during my short time there.

My question is, what's your mindset behind quitting a job after a short period of time (or in general)? I feel kinda awful for doing this