'For a 12-hour day, I made $36. I never went back': 15+ Employees who quit their jobs on day 1

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 24, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Just imagine the type of situation that would cause a day-1 employee to quit on the spot. A workplace would have to be terribly run for that to happen! And yet, according to the great stories from these employees who quit ASAP, it's all too common. 

With age comes wisdom, and along with that is a better meter for nonsense. The older you get, the more skeptical you become, but for good reasons. Perhaps you've worked in a few dysfunctional workplaces before, so you can spot red flags like a pro. For example, you'll know that if the HR person who interviewed you is eager to offer you a job on the spot, you'd better not say yes. With some life experience under your belt, you'd know that anyone offering a job that way is just looking for any fool to fill a seat in an office. And there's a good reason why that seat is empty — from poor management to a bad salary to awful coworkers, there are plenty of reasons why a company might have high enough turnover to be doling out job offers on the spot. 

These workers found out the hard way — that's the bad news. The good news is that they quit on their first or second day, and kudos to them! Instead of staying on a sinking ship, they fled. No need to stick around and see what might happen at a bad job. When you're confident that your skillset can land you the gig of your dreams, you can quit with flare and not sweat it at all. 

Up next, check out some stories from managers who revealed why they fired their worst employees, like one who shared that a worker "left with over $4,000 from the cash register." 

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  • 01
    Woman in tan suit and red shirt smiles while walking and swinging purse behind her, in background is office
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    kylegilliscomedy I was hired as a cook at a Huddle House. On my first day I learned that they lied. about which shifts I'd have in the interview, I'd be expected to basically run the restaurant alone on graveyard shift after only a week of training, and this place was violating health. codes left and right.
    via u/kylegilliscomedy
  • 03
    bigfatgeekboy 2nd day: sweating my a off in the kitchen on a hot summer day. Asked for a glass of water and the owner made me pay for it. Finished my shift and never went back.
    via u/bigfatgeekboy
  • 04
    [deleted] I worked at Home Bargains and did my first shift on a Saturday, I was off on the Sunday originally, and they waited until 11pm on the Saturday to call me and not ask me but tell me to cover a Sunday but the conversation went as followed. "Hey we've changed the rota and you're working tomorrow 8am-5pm."
    via u/[deleted]
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    I was busy on the Sunday as had family commitments since I assumed I was free being my day off. "Oh I can't work tomorrow I have plans."
    via u/[deleted]
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    "Well that will go down as an unauthorised absence if you don't turn up." "Alright then I quit." "WHAT?!" I then hung up and never went back.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 07
    dma1965 I took a phone sales job once. It was cold calling people to sell tickets to a country western show to supposedly benefit the local police department. The foreman had me sit next to somone named Joe and said || now you watch Joe for a bit, and see how he turns the no's into yes's "
    via u/dma1965
  • 08
    First call Joe starts his speech and then slams down the phone and shouts "F !" Second call is pretty much the same and he instead shouts " B |!" while slamming down the phone. This goes on for about 3 more calls and then the manager comes over and says "Ok, so you see how
    via u/dma1965
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    it's done? Let's get you started." I made about 4 calls and then asked if I could take a smoke break (even though I didn't smoke), and left and never returned.
    via u/dma1965
  • 10
    Lo... Turned out the 'company' was not registered business and has no license to operate. They also threatened us we'd have to pay them an amount if we quit during the 60-day training period. Few months later, they were shut down.
    via u/Low-Whereas8182
  • 11
    Robbie-R When I was around 14 | worked for Dickie Dee Icecream (think Canadian Good Humor) for ONE DAY riding a bicycle/cooler. You were paid a commission based on what you sold, but you had to pay for your dry
    via u/Robbie-R
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    ice. Long story short, you had to ride that thing all day in blazing heat to make virtually no money. This was the in the mid 80s, I hope this is illegal now.
    via u/Robbie-R
  • 13
    Bas... I was working at Zara. They didn't do advertising at the time and instead are very particular about how they set up the store. My last hour was being screamed at by the woman in charge of the store's appearance for not folding clothes fast enough (she was screaming at all of us. Imagine an hour of a woman
    via u/BaseTensMachine
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    standing on the top floor alternating between "Let's go, people!" And shouted insults). We finished 15 minutes early. Which means we got paid less for doing what the screaming lady wanted. Then we were asked to clock out for a "team meeting". We did and the woman screamed at us so much she drove herself to tears.
    via u/BaseTensMachine
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    The woman who hired me apologized on my way out and I told her I wouldn't be back. I didn't even pick up my check. Nor have I ever, ever, ever bought anything from Zara ever again. Even secondhand, I won't do it. I have like a PTSD reaction to that store.
    via u/BaseTensMachine
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    No_Significance67... I got hired for the local Taco Bell. On my first day it was a busy Thursday night and everyone was stressed and yelling at each other. I was asked to come in at 3 but never told when I was supposed to leave so I asked, because if I was going to be there for a long time I also wanted a break.
    via u/No_Significance6785
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    The person in charge wasn't even a manager and they told me they didn't know what to tell me because they don't have a manager right now to make schedules. She mentioned they were open until 3 am and asked me how long I would stay. I got really sketched out so my next question was about how they were counting for my labor since I was new and wasn't in the computer yet, and there was no
    via u/No_Significance6785
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    manager on site to input my labor manually. She had no idea what I was talking about. I never walked out of somewhere so fast in my life
    via u/No_Significance6785
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    ExiledEverywhere You may think that I am exaggerating but Venezuela is the land where everything is possible and not exactly for good things. A few years ago, I was hired to help run the account of a store that sold online through Mercado Libre (basically the same as Ebay) I was excited because it was in a mall so it would be a
    via u/ExiledEverywhere
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    nice store I figured, silly me, I had to go through the basement to get to a sort of warehouse that had been converted into something like a store. If you are claustrophobic you couldn't work there.
    via u/ExiledEverywhere
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    The owner wanted us to work non-stop, just a few minutes for lunch and we had to do it in the same store and there was no water to drink, we had to respond to the customer in less than 2 minutes after the message arrived.
    via u/ExiledEverywhere
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    I wanted to leave that same day but I needed the money because things are really difficult here. When I was about to leave, the owner told me not to forget to bring my own toilet paper because everyone uses their own and he was not going to buy it.
    via u/ExiledEverywhere
  • 23
    [deleted] The attorney I was supposed to be working for didn't want to give me the employment paperwork and kept delaying. Finally he asked me how I felt about being a 1099 employee instead (I was supposed to have a w4, salary, full benefits) and he tried to "sell" me on why it would be better for me.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    He was a solo atty and I was going to be his para/everything. This guy had no idea how the computer or printer worked, was using an old system, didn't know what to tell me as far as passwords went and said I was smart and could figure it out. He had an intern who was in college working for him and she was there the day I started, and she was trying
    via u/[deleted]
  • 25
    to be polite but during the day she opened up a bit and told me she'd been working for him for 3 weeks and he still hadn't paid her anything, and wouldn't have the convo when she tried. I asked her candidly if I should run and she said yes, leave and don't come back.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    I had another offer on the table that I had declined to take this job. So I did. something super uncharacteristic of me and called the other job from the bathroom, asked if they'd filled it, and begged for the job and told them I made a mistake. They re-extended the offer and I finished the day and never went back.
    via u/[deleted]
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    She texted me the next day and said she also didn't go back and wasn't planning to.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    Woman in black suit with hair in bun holds pen and paper and looks at man in blue suit and glasses who gestures toward paper
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • 29
    TeacherPatti Back in the early 90s, I needed a summer job. Applied and got hired at Target. My first shift was something like 5-10 which got me the usual 15 minute break. No problem. Then I find out that we can't leave until everyone has cleaned their area of the store. When you finished your area, you had to help others. There were two people who were
    via u/TeacherPatti
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    slow as shit (likely to get the extra few hours of pay) and we all ended up "helping" them. I didn't get out until almost 2am. Of course, had I been scheduled 5-2, I would have gotten another break and a lunch. I didn't go back the next day.
    via u/TeacherPatti
  • 31
    drc84 I worked for this small lawn care outfit in Baton Rouge. So you know it was hot as hell. The first thing the guy did was drove to the store left me in the truck with the truck running to go inside and get snacks. I thought to myself this place can't be all
    via u/drc84
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    that well organized. so then we went to go cut yards and we cut this gigantic apartment complex. They said they would pay me per yard and they counted the apartment complex as one yard. So for a 12 hour day I made $36. I never went back.
    via u/drc84
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    Man in green shirt wearing headphones uses weed whacker to trip grass in front of home with brick walkway
    via Jared Muller on Unsplash+

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

     

  • 34
    MackAttk123 Not a job, but a first time interview. They disguised the job as just a normal sales position but when I got to the interview it was a group interview no one told me about and there was basically about 15 of us young kids in there that basically had to fight for this job. Mind you it turned out to be one of those door to door salesman jobs selling
    via u/MackAttk123
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    who knows what, but I left in the middle of the interview because I immediately knew it wasn't for me and the receptionist at the front got out of her chair to stop me from leaving and said "you're going to be throwing away your life if you leave. kid" to which I didn't reply and I continued walking out. That company no longer exists to this day.
    via u/MackAttk123
  • 36
    Rokhnal I took a part-time 3rd-shift (night audit) position at a hotel. I had worked in hotels for over a decade by then but at the time I was in another industry and just wanted a side gig. I showed up, started my computer training (which I had been through several times before with the same brand) and ended up looking
    via u/Rokhnal
  • 37
    over the schedule while taking a break. They had ONE full time 3rd- shifter and three other employees for the front desk for the other two shifts. 4 people total, plus the manager. That's a huge red flag for as large of a hotel as it was, I could already see 7am rolling around and my relief not showing up, making me late for my full- time job.
    via u/Rokhnal
  • 38
    I texted the manager right then, 3am, and said this wasn't going to work out.
    via u/Rokhnal
  • 39
    SketchAinsworth Started bartending at a country club during a break from college, not my first bartending gig. I'm minding my business, getting the regulars drink preferences down when the waitress in the dinning room starts yelling at me. She proceeded to yell at me on and off my entire shift. Not about her tables drinks, just
    via u/SketchAinsworth
  • 40
    about everything I was doing, like a mean boss. A customer ended up telling her off, complaining to management and leaving as he said he just wanted a quiet beer after a long day, not listen to me get berated.
    via u/SketchAinsworth
  • 41
    After my shift management told me they planned to make her a manager soon, so we needed to work it out. I quit on the spot and walked out.
    via u/SketchAinsworth
  • 42
    _phish_ It was the second day on the job not the first but close enough. I had left another job to go to this new company with the promise that I wouldn't have to stay late. I was told I would be working basically a 9-5
    via u/_phish_
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    which I was perfectly happy with. That day I didn't get off until 10 PM. I texted my boss as I got off and said I they wouldn't be seeing me again.
    via u/_phish_
  • 44
    Far_Dot_5937 Worked in a menswear shop for a single shift. In my interview they told me I would work a probation period which is totally normal. The day of my first shift arrives and I find my supervisor very lazily going through procedures and training which is a red flag. He was skipping over stuff, kind of rushing it and very
    via u/Far_Dot_5937
  • 45
    clearly didn't want to be there. go to sign my contract and I notice it says "temporary" on the top. I told them the job was advertised as "permanent" which is illegal. He said "no we offer you a permanent contract after you complete this probationary period. We use a temporary contract as a form of probation". Second major red flag but I stuck
    via u/Far_Dot_5937
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    with it because I needed a job. Finally, I get out on to the floor and am talking to staff. I find out that this company hires young students, sets them really high targets for their "probation" and tells them if they hit them they get to stay. Inevitably 99% don't hit these targets and are let go after 2-3 months. I was being trained by someone whose job I was
    via u/Far_Dot_5937
  • 47
    taking and it was her last day. It basically means they get the max amount of work out of you and fire you before you slow down/start asking questions. The lady training me said that they also do it to make workers compete with one another. There's no
    via u/Far_Dot_5937
  • 48
    talking on the floor and loads of employees have petty rivalries because they're all desperate the keep their jobs. I rang up the next day and told them I'm not coming in and they can fck off.
    via u/Far_Dot_5937
  • 49
    [de... Technically didn't quit the first day, but I was forgotten. Worked at a famous Dutch theme park and was scheduled for 1 day. Showed up that day, worked the whole day no problem and had quite a bit of fun. Waited to be called in again and 4 years later I still haven't been called in once. I still have the uniform and guide book.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 50
    Edit: just realized this happened twice to me actually. Also worked voluntarily at a ranch once. Was excited about it and asked if I could keep working there. Never heard from them again (I wasn't rejected, they wanted me to send them a mail so they could have my contact details).
    via u/[deleted]
  • 51
    1 man and two women workers sitting in large office space filled with cubicles and large center table
    via LYCS Architecture on Unsplash+

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

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