'I didn't even think it was possible to get fired at orientation': 20+ Employees who were stunned to be fired for their big mistakes

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 11, 2024 11:00 AM EST

In case you've never considered it before, yes, you can get fired at your job orientation. It probably makes things easier for the hiring team. Why bother hiring a person who can't even make it through the first few days of the gig?

Some people get hired at a job, but they make it clear from day one that they're just utterly uninterested in doing work for even a minute. One guy chose to only work from 10 AM-12 PM each day, which is iconic of him, and I wish him all the best. Another woman became notorious for her habit of refusing to work, and only riding the office tricycle all day! It's pretty startling that some people make it so blatantly obvious how little they want to work. Have some subtlety! Just do what a lot of higher-ups do and work half a day, grab a long lunch with your coworkers, then claim you're taking a phone meeting and leave at 3 PM. How hard could it be to get away with that? Keep scrolling to read some of the funniest stories about coworkers getting fired early on. 

After that, read the tale of the babysitter who ate about $25 of a $90 cake, and the woman she babysat for (her own aunt!) wants to be repaid ASAP. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10426438400
    via The Jopwell Collection 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 quickest you've ever seen a new coworker get fired?
    via u/eminems_shadow
  • 03
    A guy refusing to wear safety gear/PPE on his first day. He flat out said no to the supervisor, who then fired him. He didn't even make it to the first coffee break. If he was that adamant about not wearing safety gear, it wasn't a good sign.
    via u/Ill-Organization-719
  • 04
    Chavestvaldt when I worked in data entry there was a tricycle on our office floor, just added as a relaxed bit of fun by the managers, who were all very chill people one of the girls that got hired around the same time as me would, instead of working, just ride the tricycle around the office all day, every day
    via u/Chavestvaldt
  • 05
    when we all showed up in the morning she wouldn't even log into her computer, she would just get right on the tricycle and ride around talking to people until she left to take her lunch break the day she got fired she had to be escorted out of the building because she was screaming about "you're targeting me unfairly" lol
    via u/Chavestvaldt
  • 06
    Cananbaum Worked at a place where you couldn't be colorblind. because you were reading schematics and identifying connectors of varying different colors. There was hundreds of tiny connectors in one array. Somehow, by the grace of God, this guy got hired. Either they forgot to implement the CB test or he
    via u/Cananbaum
  • 07
    successfully guessed his way through it. He trains for a week and is put onto the line to build $20k cables for missiles. His very first connector he spent all day on, soldering and connecting and signing. the paperwork and the steps, gave it to QC for inspection.
    via u/Cananbaum
  • 08
    It was one of, "The most up examples," of a connector anyone had seen. Next day, guy admits he's color blind, and whether he can keep the job. He's let go because he cost the company $20k. The connector was put on display in Hr to drive home the importance of sticking to hiring procedures.
    via u/Cananbaum
  • 09
    JimTheJersey... Back in the mid-1990s I had hired a guy for senior Unix systems administration role. It was made quite clear in the posted job description, the interview process, and on his first day that this role would be required to be on call a few nights per month on a rotating basis with the other Unix admins. The salary reflected that as well; this was a 6-figure position.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 10
    He was issued a company laptop and a cell phone for his on call work that could be done from home. As part of the on-boarding process our Unix lead admin wanted this guy to shadow him on his on call evening so that he could see how processes differed in the off-hours. It was his 2nd day on the job.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 11
    That evening, I happened to be working a bit late and the helpdesk calls me saying they've got an issue that needs to be escalated to the Unix team and asking if they've got the right number for the new guy because it's just ringing and going to a default voicemail mailbox. I tell them to call the lead admin to get him working on the issue and that I'll contact the new guy myself.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 12
    I call. Same thing, voicemail. Multiple times. I fish out his employment docs that are all still sitting on my desk and find his home phone number. I call and get about three words out of my mouth when he responds, "Why the f are you calling me at home?" and hangs up.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 13
    A bit in disbelief, I look back at the paperwork and verify, yes, this *is* his phone number and try it again, thinking maybe he'd mistaken me for someone else. I receive a similar bit of vitriol and a hang up. I contact the lead admin and inform him he won't be having the new guy join him that night or any other.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 14
    We immediately killed all of his system access and his door card and HR was waiting for him at the reception area first thing in the morning.
    via u/JimTheJerseyGuy
  • 15
    Severe_Perfo... Hired my friends sister as a hostess at our restaurant, she called off for her first shift 3 hours later telling me that she was having a tough period. 30 minutes into her dinner shift she started posting pics on instagram of her being at a party in Canada. We live in NY. Fired
    via u/Severe_Performer_726
  • 16
    her via insta. Never even worked then tried to claim unemployment THEN had her father call me and try to threaten me into rehiring here. She was 34.
    via u/Severe_Performer_726
  • 17
    Catacombs Ra... As a teenager, I worked at a bowling alley. Within an hour, a coworker was fired for dropping a ball on the foot of a complaining patron.
    via u/CatacombsRave
  • 18
    casino_night Day 4 of Orientation I got hired on to a trucking company after CDL school. They had 5 days of orientation and it took place at their headquarters that was several states away. You could either have them fly you there or you could drive yourself and they would cover your expenses. Also, the company would put you
    via u/casino_night
  • 19
    up at a hotel, pay your food costs, and provide transportation to the headquarters. I didn't even think it was possible to get fired at orientation. All you have to do is show up and pretend to pay attention. This one guy drove himself there, I think he lived about 800 miles away. On the first day of orientation, he tells anyone who'll listen that he
    via u/casino_night
  • 20
    forgot to keep his receipts and he "better get reimbursed". I think I'd rather eat the costs than announce to everyone how stupid I am. On the second day, he slept in and missed the shuttle and ended up driving himself. On the third day, he missed the shuttle, yet again, and was over an hour late. Worse than that, he fell asleep during orientation. I knew he was
    via u/casino_night
  • 21
    done for when the instructor angrily woke him up and asked for his full name. On day four, he showed up on time but his fate was sealed. When I was at the hotel later that night having a cigarette, I saw him loading his stuff into his car. I asked him what happened and, yup, got canned. I can't say I blame them. I'll be the first to admit that trucking isn't the hardest job, but
    via u/casino_night
  • 22
    being on time, paying attention, and getting adequate rest are very big. keys to success. They probably made the right move. I felt bad for the guy, though. He essentially drove 800 miles to get fired and then drove 800 miles back. That had to feel like a long. trip.
    via u/casino_night
  • 23
    _Goose_ Orientation 2nd day. He's to sit in a conference room and read through binders of important info. Our boss walks out and closes the door. It has a window with blinds open to see through.
    via u/_Goose_
  • 24
    Going about our day and the boss asks us why the conference doors locked and blinds closed. Nobody is sure so they get security to open the door to see this guy kicked back with the lights off asleep. He had closed the blinds and locked the door. Of course he was out there that day.
    via u/_Goose_
  • 25
    A few days... the guy turned his camera on during a company wide zoom meeting at 10am and was laying in bed. Not even sitting up, he was laying down on a pillow- no shirt on holding his phone above him. The crazy part was - you didn't actually have to have your video on, they are optional in these meetings.
    via u/nooneneededtoknow
  • 26
    90% of the company keeps them off. His response to all this was that he was never told what our working hours are. They were 8-4 bud and if there is a company wide meeting scheduled probably safe to - assume it's considered "working hours."
    via u/nooneneededtoknow
  • 27
    wilkc I worked a mall job in the 1990s at Electronics Boutique. Pokemon had just come out and we got this new guy for Christmas help who was just the strangest person ever. His first shift he just sat behind the counter opening up packs of Pokemon cards and when
    via u/wilkc
  • 28
    confronted he yelled "I am going to pay for them! Duh!" He was walked out by the manager about 15 seconds later. That was a really dumb kid.
    via u/wilkc
  • 29
    albumjungle Two days after he was hired, this dude took a nap under his desk at like 10 AM. He was like 6'5 and his legs. stuck out into the aisle. CEO walked by, shook his head in disbelief, and the dude was gone by noon.
    via u/albumjungle
  • 30
    Glittering-Win... first shift he immediately started following the highschool girls around and inviting them over to his house or to give them rides... fired that day. thank god management took it seriously for once
    via u/Glittering-Wind7896
  • 31
    Sado_Hedonist I used to work as a deckhand for a tugboat company on the Mississippi river. The amount of people that would take jobs like that who were deathly afraid of water was staggering.
    via u/Sado_Hedonist
  • 32
    There was a mandatory 2 week training period for all new employees, but about 1/3 of them never made it past their first week. One second you're on a boat heading to your first job, and then the new guy is freaking out telling the captain to turn the boat around and head back to the dock.
    via u/Sado_Hedonist
  • 33
    000-000-00oy... This guy shows up, the VP is gloating how great and brilliant he is, bla bla bla. First day, doesn't come in until 10 am. Next day same deal, like working from 10 - 12 then leaving. Meanwhile they flew him on a business trip leaving Wednesday, and supposed to come back Friday. At the last second he rebooked himself on a
    via u/ooo-ooo-oooyea
  • 34
    midnight flight. Meanwhile on the Friday flight back at the last second he was like "oh I have to take a different flight" and he just disappeared. What Mr.Mysterious didn't realize is most of us used to work at his previous employer. Someone sent us a text "hey I thought you hired bla bla bla, he's making copies right now!".
    via u/ooo-ooo-oooyea
  • 35
    Turns out he was working two jobs. These are both Science/Tech companies. with not that strict NDA's, but you can't work at a potential competitor simultaneously! He was fired from both jobs.
    via u/ooo-ooo-oooyea
  • 36
    p38-lightning I work in a government archives facility. The new guy brought food into the work area on his first day, even though there are signs everywhere saying you can only eat in the breakroom. And it's just common sense.
    via u/p38-lightning
  • 37
    But the boss gave him the benefit of the doubt and just gave him a warning. Couple of days later he was eating at his desk again. Bye-bye. Don't know if he was arrogant or just an airhead, but he definitely didn't need to be around 18th century documents.
    via u/p38-lightning
  • 38
    tbama11 Dude was doing a tour of the plant, when security escorted him to the main lobby, where the police were picking him up on a warrant. He never even made it to the new hire orientation
    via u/tbama11
  • 39
    Active-Straw... An hour into day 2. We worked with some pretty confidential clients and found that he'd shared basically everything on Facebook after day 1
    via u/Active-Strawberry-37
  • 40
    falleng213 I work in a kitchen and literally just yesterday: new guy start at 5am, claims to have 20+ years experience, gets frustrated that he is struggling with some basic recipes, slams the oven door and breaks it, then walked out at 6:30am. I would be lying if I said I haven't witnessed this more than once at all the different places I've cooked at.
    via u/
  • 41
    Traditional Ta... I worked on an IT help desk, it was me and another guy. He quit because there was no room for growth. They hired this guy who supposedly had 25 years of experience in IT. I was tasked with training this guy. He was and older guy and was so deaf he couldn't hear the phone ringing. I had to show him how to do the same things over and over
    via u/TraditionalTackle1
  • 42
    again like how to install a printer. I even made training documentation but instead of reading that he would just ask me to show him. He was a high school football coach on the side and that's all he talked about. After a week I went to the boss and said this guy is useless to me.
    via u/TraditionalTackle1
  • 43
    The boss sat with him for 2 hours at his desk and he was fired the next day. I felt bad the guy lost his job but he was not absorbing any info and I was doing 2 jobs.
    via u/TraditionalTackle1
  • 44
    englishgirlam... We hired an IT guy who was just well..weird. Didn't seem to do much but was always out and about taking to people. Whatever not my department. Then I heard he got fired. He was asked to help the CEO with his computer. The guy walked into the executive offices acted weird and like he knew everyone, ride and inappropriate to the
    via u/englishgirlam
  • 45
    secretaries, then walked in to the CEOs office and took one look at his computer and said "no wonder it's not working Macs are sh." Spent 10 Minutes ripping in to the CEO about his poor choice of computer and complaining about his job then got asked to leave. Never saw him again after that.
    via u/englishgirlam
  • 46
    chefrachhh His first day of training (he was hired to be an assistant manager), he told the manager training him that he wasn't going to do what she was showing him because that was "woman's work" and he wouldn't be a hands on manager because that's
    via u/chefrachhh
  • 47
    what the employees were for. He was "only there to supervise". He only made it 2, maybe 3 hours into the shift before she lost it on him & told him to go home.
    via u/chefrachhh

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