‘Made me feel awful—he completely invalidated me’: Boss publicly mocks new hire on first week, prompting employee to leave meeting feeling defeated and questioning their abilities

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Mar 19, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Getting your first real job is basically the adulthood equivalent of being a newborn. You show up helpless, confused, crying internally, and unable to do much besides breathe, blink, and stare blankly at anyone who approaches too quickly. So when a boss humiliates you after your very first week, it's the career-world parallel of mocking a three-day-old baby for not knowing calculus or criticizing a newborn's crawling technique. "What's that, Timmy? You can't even hold your head up yet? Embarrassing."

In this scenario, our freshly hatched employee was blindsided into giving an unprepared presentation—like shoving a baby on stage at a TED Talk and shaking your head in disappointment when it drools on the microphone. And instead of offering gentle guidance, the boss suggested our rookie would benefit from a training course on using a mouse—basically the equivalent of recommending "Infant Breathing for Dummies" to a newborn who sneezed wrong.

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  • Even more baffling is the boss in this scenario, who seems to think the best way to assert dominance is by picking on someone who doesn’t even know where the breakroom is yet. Seriously, how insecure can one person be? Pick on someone your own size—or at least someone with a similar paycheck. Taking cheap shots at the office “newborn” isn’t leadership; it’s the professional equivalent of tripping a kid learning to walk just to feel taller.

    If bosses like this are out there measuring their worth by how effectively they can humiliate a newbie, we’re in trouble.

  • "My boss humiliated me after my first week at work"

    "I couldn't wait to get home so l could just cry and let it all out❞
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Today, after a week at my new job, my boss put me on the spot out of nowhere—right as I walked into the meeting room-asking me to give the presentation for our team's weekly meeting. I was
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  • clumsy because I didn't know the file well, I wasn't sure where to find the exact information he wanted to see, and I also struggled to understand him because he's Turkish and his accent makes it difficult for me to follow what he's saying.
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  • Cheezburger Image 10481925888
    via Ivan Moreno Sl

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • At the end, he told me that I don't seem like someone who studies computer science and that if I wanted, he could pay for a course to teach me how to use a mouse. My team lead, who I
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  • work closely with, told him that I was doing well and even managed to develop a macro that automates the daily update of an Excel file. My boss then said that this means I had tricked him, but that I wouldn't be able to trick him.
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  • GOOD HII
    via Ivan Moreno sl

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • He told me that if I don't do better at next week's weekly meeting, I will see a different side of him. This made me feel awful— he completely invalidated me,
    via project_vayne
  • invalidated all the work I had done so far, and honestly, I couldn't wait to get home so I could just cry and let it all out.
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  • Am I overreacting? This all happened in front of the entire team. Also this is my first job ever.
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  • Later edit: Thank you so much, everyone, for your advice, time, and kind words! I've read all your messages, and I really appreciate them.
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  • This evening, my boss liked my LinkedIn post about my new job in his department. That makes it even weirder, but I'm too tired to overthink it. He seems like a
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  • tough guy, but the team is great, and I really felt their support during that unfortunate situation. I think I should mention that and thank them as well.
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  • Once again, thank you, guys! Sharing my thoughts with you made this evening much easier.
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  • MarzipanStands Alone Find another job. As quickly as you can. This is not a safe place for anyone. You are not overreacting.
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  • Honestly, if you're still living at home and have minimal expensive, I'd just quit outright. The harm this kind of employer can do to you only get worse the longer you stick around.
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  • BearThis Get out before it's too late. They are setting you up for failure. First job or not, management is expected to have short term lag as new employees learn the ropes. It's your first week in and
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  • he's already showing his intolerance. Sounds like he just wants to throw you into the fire and see if you sink or swim. These are huge red
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  • flags concerning the protection of employee psychological safety in the office.
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  • Poor managers may resort to a tyrant's playbook, they generally became leaders because they are enamoured by the trappings of power, using intimidation tactics because they fear
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  • appearing uncertain or uninformed. They equate admitting they don't know something with weakness, which can lead to toxic behaviors. This approach is
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  • managing or training inexperienced individuals, as growth, trust, and open communication are replaced by fear and instability.
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  • Coercion tactics are often last-resort measures used by leaders who feel desperate to regain control in challenging or "storming" situations. These tactics can cause significant, often
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  • irreparable damage to relationships. Typically, coercion is employed when the person using it does not expect to maintain a long-
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  • term relationship and is instead focused on achieving quick, temporary compliance.
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  • It's not just the words they use-pay attention to their body language and tone. For example, do they lower their voice and speak more slowly when responding to questions, forcing you to listen more carefully? Do
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  • they delay their responses, creating a sense of tension or control? These subtle behaviors are often intentional, designed to make them seem unapproachable and maintain control over the
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  • conversation. A leader resorting to coercion may have already made up their mind and could even be trying to push you to quit.
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  • Silent_Ad 9437 I had a boss yell at me on a zoom meeting of over a dozen other people. Feet stomping, hand pounding yelling. About an issue that had never been discussed outside of that meeting. I stayed for 3 years, it doesn't get better. Look for something else.
    via Silent_Ad_9437
  • No_Huckleberry_6807 Bad boss and a bad company. Most employees have 90 days to get up to speed. This is just ab...e. Thank him for only wasting a week of your time and GTFO immediately.
    via No_Huckleberry_6807

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management boss workplace-stories hr toxic-workplace manager bosses work PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
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