'The manager [said], "You really want to burn this bridge?" I said, "Yes"': 20+ Employees who quit their jobs as fast as possible

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 9, 2024 11:00 AM EST

There's no need to double down on a bad bet, especially when your career is on the line. Although it can be a letdown to try and start a new job only to leave immediately, it's better than staying somewhere you hate for years only to regret it each day. 

 Some workplaces have working conditions that are completely unacceptable, and a lot of folks cited that as their reasons for leaving. For example, one person found themself working in a propane tank factory, but they realized they were working in the second-hottest room possible. They were stationed right next to a kiln room, and the room they were in was often at 130 degrees! They rightfully refused to return to that job. 

Other people were dealing with some really incompetent management situations. As one worker shared, their management at a small retail shop barely bothered to train them, and they spent their entire second day on the job alone. This was the deciding factor for that person, and they called it quits. At least some of the people who shared their stories moved onto way better jobs after learning from these bad ones. 

After that, read about this job candidate who chose the wrong interviewer to lie to, because at the job he claimed to work at, "Nobody knew him." 

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    Cheezburger Image 10426086400
    via Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    What's the fastest you've ever quit a job and why?
    via u/jakeakabigdub
  • 03
    casino_night 1.5 days I was beyond desperate for money and I took a job in telemarketing. I could barely scrape together the gas money to drive there and the bills were piling up. The first day was listening to calls so I just sat there. The second day I had Mr. Selling King behind me listening to calls as I made them. He kept
    via u/casino_night
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    yelling at me to be pushy and obnoxious when people would be polite and kind when asking me to please never call again. I excused myself to go take a leak and just drove away. I'm happy that I turned things around. I have a job I love and make a decent living with a good company. I needed that low point to motivate me.
    via u/casino_night
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    OFool_Ishallg... I showed up for the first day ready to start a sales job. I'd been hired with some stubble, but not yet a full beard the month prior. I thought nothing of it. The beard was neatly kept and short. The hiring manager pulled me aside after the first hour of onboarding right as I started filling out the new hire paperwork. The boss started, "We have a
    via u/OFool_Ishallgomad
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    challenge today." Oh, boy. Already with the corporate speak. He told me that this was a clean-shaven outfit, and that I was to please return home and shave. I went home, opened a beer and sat on my porch thinking of my next move. After an hour or so, I got a text asking if I'd be back. I
    via u/OFool_Ishallgomad
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    replied by sending a pic of the company's ad in the local paper looking for new representatives. The person in the ad had a beard. I never went back.
    via u/OFool_Ishallgomad
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    snarkdetector... I quit a temp job after less than half a day because they told me I would have to hold paychecks for employees who didn't return company property. When I told them that was illegal and showed them the law they said I had to do it anyway so I quit and went back on unemployment for a few more weeks until I found a real job.
    via u/snarkdetector4000
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    dont_fin_... In high school, I quit my job. at Wendy's for a Heidi's (deli sandwich chain.) Their policy was that employees were entitled to a sandwich any time they worked over 3 hours, so the manager made sure every shift was 2.5-3 hours. Forget the sandwich, it wasn't worth it to drive in. I found another job in under 2 weeks.
    via u/dont_f***in_die
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    bevymartbc I once went to a day one orientation for an office job, where they told us we had to supply a laptop, monitor and headset for THEIR office environment.
    via u/bevymartbc
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    I told them it's normal for the employer to supply these devices and it should have been made clear in the interview process this was on employees I walked out never looked back.
    via u/bevymartbc
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    JayDonk1394 Got a job at Walmart as a cart pusher, the first day out of training we experienced flash flooding. Not only did they not offer any ppe the shift supervisor just said tough luck. I quietly walked to the back clocked out and never came back.
    via u/JayDonk1394
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    boxlessthought Best buy, before shift even began. got back from a summer away. got hired at a local best buy they asked when i could start told them any day except the coming Tuesday as i had a pre existing ticketed event which they already said was no issue in the interview. next day get emailed
    via u/boxlessthought
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    schedule; a single shift, on the one Tuesday evening i was assured id be off. Planned to call after class but as i walked out my phone rang, my old boss. from a few years ago at a game stop offered me my old job so he wouldn't have to train someone because he was lazy. Told him i could start Wednesday he agreed, i called best buy and told them to a
    via u/boxlessthought
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    I remember the manager saying "don't be so rash, do you really want to burn this bridge?" I said "yes," and hung up.
    via u/boxlessthought
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    AgingLemon 2 hours. Got a job in a start up bio research lab after college because I had a lot of training and experience in certain equipment and procedures. Within an hour, saw the boss publicly humiliate someone else for reporting that they messed up a particular run. Really not a big deal, maybe an hour gone and $10 worth
    via u/AgingLemon
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    of reagents at the time. You really don't want people hiding oopsies from you in research studies with many and complex procedures/protocols. Then I saw that we were fast running out of a desiccating (drying) agent and that we'd have to slow down or stop until more came. Boss said nah, just reuse it. Tried to
    via u/AgingLemon
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    object but he jammed his finger into my chest and told me that as the FNG he owned my I. I said ok and quit. That was nearly 20 years ago. I ended ip tutoring. college kids to save up for grad school.
    via u/AgingLemon
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    kilroyx3 I got one of those knife salesmen jobs. During the interview we were told to take notes. After the interview the interviewer told me to stay after the group left. He told me he liked me and he was going to hire me but that I shouldn't be on my phone
    via u/kilroyx3
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    during the interview that he saw me in the zoom camera looking down. I was taking notes the whole time I showed him my notes and told him I quit. I could see the micromanaging in his teeth. Plus I would have never made sales in that job.
    via u/kilroyx3
  • 21
    HaElfParagon Technically 60-ish minutes. But it was because I never wanted the job. I interviewed for position A, at $20 an hour. I get to the place, and they say "oh hey just so you know, this position isn't for position A, it's for position B. We called it position A because nobody was applying to our
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    opening in position B. Also, it's not $20/hr, it's $12.50/hr (my states minimum wage at the time). Also, since we're so short staffed, we are currently in a period where you must agree to any and all overtime assigned to you. Overtime can be assigned anywhere starting from 4am to ending at 11pm, and you have 30 minutes to get on site to start work from the time you get the text telling you to come in."
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    Now, regardless of all the crimson flags here, I told him I couldn't do that, as I lived an hour away. Even if I was already awake at 4am, which likely was never going to happen, it would still take me an hour to get there, so I couldn't make it within 30 minutes.
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    His response? "Oh, it's okay, I know the area where you live. If you speed down the highway, you should make it in time". I declined, and left mid- interview. WELL. He called the staffing agency I was working through and told them that I had accepted the job and that I was on my way over to sign the paperwork.
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    An hour later, I get home, and soon after get a call from the staffing agency, asking where tf was I, because they were right down the street from this business. I tell them I'm home, why? "Well, so and so manager told us you accepted the job and were on your way over here to sign the on-boarding paperwork. Everything is
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    printed and filled out, we just need you to sign." Told them that was incorrect, I had declined and left the interview early. They go "Well, we already filled everything out so you have the job whether you like it or not."
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    So I said "Okay, I quit.", and hung up on them. I did not get any response from them in the future about other opportunities.
    via u/HaElfParagon
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    Gtrinker 4 hours. I got a job at a propane bottling facility. I had painting experience, so they told me I was going to be working in the paint shop. The room has a hole in one wall where the empty, used tanks are coming through suspended by hooks on this automatic rail system. They go past where I'm standing, through a paint. booth and then out through
    via u/Gtrinker
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    a hole on the other wall that leads straight to a kiln to bake the paint on. I'm supposed to put plastic baggies on the tank nozzles so they don't get painted and also remove the tanks from the line if they have too much corrosion. The tanks are going by at like hundreds per minute and the room is broiling since there is a hole that leads
    via u/Gtrinker
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    directly to the kiln. Break time comes and the line stops. I go to leave and the guy instructing me is like, "no, break time is the only time the line stops and it's the only time we get to clean the paint nozzles." After talking to the guy some more, he's telling me about
    via u/Gtrinker
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    all the bladder infections he's had because he never get a chance to use the bathroom. At lunch time I went to my car and took off, never even went back for my paycheck.
    via u/Gtrinker
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    RikF 1 day. An it support position became 'we need you to work on this software package we make in a language you don't know because our developer left' followed by 'You are good working on electrical systems, right? We need you to do the lighting and other wiring for our trade show
    via u/RikF
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    booth. My old employer (Royal Mail) had forgotten to send out my redundancy paperwork for me to sign, so the next morning I was sitting in my old desk, chatting with a very confused (but happy) non- ex boss!
    via u/RikF
  • 34
    PSh42Wallab... Full time job as a crew member at a new fast food franchise. The owner must've had some emotional issues because I had just started my shift at the drive thru and was grabbing a few pastries for a customer when the owner came around the corner yelling at the top of her lungs at me in front of an entire store of customers and employees to
    via u/PSh42WallabyWaySyd
  • 35
    tell me I should've restocked the front display. Bro I started 3 minutes ago and it's packed in there, chill. In that moment I handed her my name tag and that and said I quit. She yelled "so what, you're just going to quit on me??? I wasn't
    via u/PSh42WallabyWaySyd
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    yelling at you!" And that was before I said anything about her yelling at anyone. I said "yeah, you kinda were" and THREE PEOPLE QUIT THE NEXT DAY. It was toxic to say the least.
    via u/PSh42WallabyWaySyd
  • 37
    fivepossumsi... i worked at a comic book store as a part time sales associate for approximately two days. my first shift i received no training and just organized pop figures - which is fair. the second day, i was working open to close.
    via u/fivepossumsinacoat
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    someone came and unlocked the store for me, logged in to the computer and told me someone would be back around 1 to cover my break and then back at close to lock up the store. spent the entire shift alone and incredibly confused. quit the next day.
    via u/fivepossumsinacoat
  • 39
    The_Don_Me... One of those environmental Street canvasser jobs where it's about donations in the name of lining investor pockets, I mean, saving Planet Earth. Put on the shirt, went out and begged people for money on the
    via u/The_Don_Mecha
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    street. It felt like panhandling and I'm actually terrible for asking directly for money. I quit and didn't return after the first day. No regrets. Brooklyn 99 got it right. It's great for undercover work.
    via u/The_Don_Mecha
  • 41
    RadRhubarb00 Worked in a film/photo studio in NYC. Just did a 16hr day. The next day I showed up 10 minutes late because a delay with the subway. As I walked in the boss said they really need their staff to be on time and as punishment sent me
    via u/RadRhubarb00
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    home for the day. I said "im sorry i'll never do it again". I wrote my "f you bye bye" email on the subway back home. So I wasnt lying when I said "ill never do it again" lol
    via u/RadRhubarb00
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    Greglebowski... Half a shift as a temp. A warehouse packing Christmas food hampers. I was feeding the packing line, and had been given no instruction on how to call for more products. I guess I was just expected to know what to do. So when my pallet of ran out, the packing line stopped. Some jumped. up team leader came striding over, calling me all
    via u/Greglebowski74
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    the names under the sun because I'd caused the line to stop. I tried to explain I hadn't been told how to call for more products. He called me an a hole, and said something along the lines of "you don't get your sh together, you'll never work here again". I said "well, if that means I don't have to
    via u/Greglebowski74
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    work with an a h le like you, then that suits me fine". I gave him my coveralls, and walked out.
    via u/Greglebowski74
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    Greedy-Time-... I quit what was a pretty simple warehouse job because there was no training. I had to keep racks stocked for people packing. boxes. Cool. Easy. Where do I get the stuff from? No one would show me. So these packers are on the other side banging the racks with there sticks to let me know they need
    via u/Greedy-Time-3736
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    protein powder but there's no one to tell me where I can find protein powder. It was frustrating and it wasn't the job I was hired to do. My friend and I both were hired for a different job there but it turns out there was only one opening. I left at lunch on the first day.
    via u/Greedy-Time-3736
  • 48
    ThatScottGuy Not me, but a girl friend. She got a job in finance at a car dealership. She did the on boarding, went to her desk, then headed for the supply closet to get some basic supplies. As She walked past her bosses desk he screamed "ARE YOU
    via u/ThatScottGuy
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    TAKING A F**KING BREAK ALREADY!?". She just turned around, grabbed her stuff and wen't home. Was there about 4 hours.
    via u/ThatScottGuy
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    ibmNERD I quit after half a day working at a textile plant switching out spools. I was told to remove the spool when I see the color change. I was unable to do it. My trainer kept yelling that the color changed but I honestly
    via u/ibmNERD
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    thought they were joking and it was some kind of picking on the new guy ritual. Nope. Come to find out after 20 years of existence I learned I'm actually colorblind.
    via u/ibmNERD
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    drforrester-tv... I got a temp job in college at a beer warehouse helping to pick orders before the 4th of July. Quit after one day. The warehouse had no AC and it was June in north Texas, so it was about 130F in the warehouse and they wanted. us to move so fast picking orders they excepted us to jog with our pallet jacks. On top of that, whenever someone dropped beer and
    via u/drforrester-tvsfrank
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    the bottles broke we were told to just keep going and not clean up, so as you were jogging with a pallet Jack in the insufferable heat every ten or fifteen feet there would be super slippery puddles filled with broken glass to cut you up if you fell. Absolutely not worth the $6.25 an hour in any way.
    via u/drforrester-tvsfrank
  • 54
    Few Leaders... When I was 17, I was hired by a big clothing brand store at the time as a floor/cashier employee. A week before my first day, they called and said I get 50% off their clothing up to 10 items and those items will be used as my uniform. I told them I wasn't interested anymore as I wasn't in a position to spend a few hundred dollars on clothes.
    via u/Few_Leadership8761
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    OMBERX I quit working at a Sunoco after my first shift. I thought I would just be working behind the counter and stocking the inside, but the place was attached to a propane company so they also wanted me to fill people's propane tanks. I have Raynaud's Syndrome and live in Michigan, so constantly moving from
    via u/OMBERX
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    inside to outside in the winter is a no go for me because I get really bad blisters with rapid temperature changes, and the job would have required me to do just that. At the end of the shift I told the manager about Raynaud's and how I'm not the right fit for this, and to update the job description.
    via u/OMBERX
  • 57
    eboshi Hot dog and custard store. Boss asked me during the interview if I liked to party, told me he would pay me a certain wage and after 1 week I got my paycheck and it was over a dollar less per hour (this was 2009 and a dollar made a huge
    via u/eboshi
  • 58
    difference). It became clear that he paid his employees more or less based on if they were attractive and willing to party with him.
    via u/eboshi
  • 59
    iintrospector I had a maintenance position and this company made me take a picture of every single task, even something as simple as sweeping the floors, and upload it to an app so they can track daily progress. Clearly they had trust issues and I left after about 2 days of putting up with it.
    via u/iintrospector
  • 60
    Captlard About 20 minutes. I was at a briefing session for a project which my company (I owned) had won. I was taking notes on my tablet and the customer representative shouted at me (in front 8 other people) for surfing the internet. I said I was not, and I was taking notes and walked out in the next break. Didn't engage in the project.
    via u/Captlard
  • 61
    Frikinik I lasted a month in a place called The Pancake Parlour. It was the worst job I've had to date. in my over 20 years of working history. They never explained anything to me and yelled when I didn't write orders down correctly, I had to go. to the city (an hours both ways by train) to give them my pay information, two
    via u/Frikinik
  • 62
    weeks in they had me training other new people while I still had no clue what I was doing plus a whole lot more! It was the only job where I would cry before, during and after my shift. I dropped about 8kgs in weight from the stress of it and I never even called them to say I was quitting. I just never went back. It was atrocious!
    via u/Frikinik
  • 63
    2 days. Job felt like a bait a switch. Everyone kept giving me different answers for the same question. Everyone I met there looked unhappy and didn't care to greet me. Coworker was consistently work really long hours and doing things beyond his job description. That was a foreshadow to being me one day. A day's work was supposed to be 6/8 hours.
    via u/blitzer1069
  • 64
    ended up being 14 hours and nothing was behind schedule, so that told me this is "normal." Edit: A few more details. The employee handbook seemed really strict about work times and using the computers for anything besides work and how it's
    via u/blitzer1069
  • 65
    considered stealing from the company was another red flag. Also oddly enough rule about talking bad about about the company too. The more I talked to the boss, the more things he kept piling onto me to do and this was before I even started working. Then after I quit I
    via u/blitzer1069
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    actually found some former employee reviews on the site I originally applied and a lot of fears/red flags I had of the company were almost all completely true when I read the negative reviews.
    via u/blitzer1069
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    Horror-Savin... Wendy's: 2 hours first day. Was promoted because I was able to pick up on how to make French fries correctly and everyone around was surprised as they all took months to learn. Took the trash out after and walked to my car and never looked back.
    via u/Horror-Savings1870

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