‘My coworker honestly doesn't know why she was let go’: Temp worker tanks every chance at a permanent position and is genuinely shocked she’s not getting hired

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Jun 10, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

Some people treat a temp job like an audition. Others treat it like a situation they are simply enduring until something better comes along. This story is very much the second one

A temp job can, and (if you want employment) should be viewed as a months-long interview, and this particular candidate showed up in a nightgown, spent most of it on her phone, badmouthed half the building, interviewed for every permanent position available, got rejected by all five departments, and is now planning to call out every day she is still needed, which somehow still does not feel like enough information for her to connect the dots.

That's the thing about a probationary period: it is essentially a paid opportunity to demonstrate that you are worth keeping around. Show up, do the work, wear clothes that could generously be described as clothing, and the job is probably yours. That is a pretty low bar. And yet somehow the bar still proved challenging.

The phone, the wandering, the scheduled tasks being casually ignored, the outfit choices that ranged from inappropriately casual to genuinely baffling. None of these things are fireable offenses on their own at a place with a relaxed culture, but together they paint a very clear picture of someone who decided early on that the rules were more of a general vibe than an actual expectation. A nightgown to work is a commitment to a specific philosophy about professional dress that most employers are not prepared to accommodate.

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  • Woman smiling at a desk with a laptop, looking amused during a workplace conversation.
    via Douglas Fehr

    Illustrative photo of a model portraying a worker amused and bewildered by a coworker's failure to understand why she was let go

  • I work somewhere, that has yearly contracts but believe me you have to majorly mess up not to get it the following year we're always. hurting for staff.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • My coworker got hired as a temp but it was basically 11 out 12 months because unfortunately my former coworker had a major medical issue and was close to retirement so she went ahead and
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • retired. My coworker was told that this was just temp but there would certainly be openings next fiscal year to be permanent. The only
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • difference with temp was you were basically in a probation period the whole time.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • Woman in glasses sitting at a laptop with a mug and phone nearby, looking mildly amused.
    via Douglas Fehr

    Representative photo of a model portraying a worker recounting an awkward firing, looking amused and slightly baffled at her laptop.

     

  • Well things quickly went down hill with her, she was always on her phone, paid no attention to most of her job duties and was often found wandering, not where she was supposed to be.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • She regularly wore inappropriate work attire. We have very loose dress policy. Jeans and t shirt are fine but she would come in with
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • torn sweats I mean torn where you could see her underwear, shirts that were wildly too small, short shorts and even one time what I could only describe as a night gown.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • She would not follow her scheduled tasks the only reason. why management kept her at the temp position is because she had
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  • some specialty training only 1-2 other people had and she did do that part of her job.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • She also talked horribly about practically everyone, her coworkers, her family her friends all in front of everyone coworkers, customers, children...
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • My job sent some more people to get the training she had and they told her they would not be renewing the contract she was a temp for but other full time
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • positions were available. She interviewed for every single one I think there were 5 in 3 different departments. Every one of the department leads told our boss they didn't want to work with her.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • Her temp contract is up at the end of the month now and she has admitted to me and several other
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  • coworkers that she is going to call off everyday when she is supposed to her specialist work.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • New-Specific-3836 She is just vain, ignorant and flat out incompetent and probably wouldn't fit in another organization.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • Vegetable-Cod-2340 I think she's one of those people that was told if they're just really good or an
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • expert in this one thing, she'll never be unemployed, and it's never even occurred to her that she still needs to be a good employee.
    via cantyoukeepasecret

  • The only reason the contract lasted as long as it did was one specific skill that nobody else had yet. That is a very precarious position to be in and a terrible time to also be the person who talks badly about everyone within earshot including customers and children. At some point the specialty training stops being a shield and starts being a timer counting down to the moment the company trains someone else.

    Five interviews across three departments and every single department lead said no. That is not bad luck. That is a reputation doing its job with remarkable efficiency. Word travels fast in a workplace, especially when someone has spent months loudly providing material.

    And with the contract ending, the plan is apparently to call out every day she is actually needed. Which is a fascinating final move from someone who seems genuinely confused about why things did not work out. The self awareness gap here is so wide you could drive something through it, possibly while wearing torn sweatpants with a clear view of the underwear underneath.

  • FlyOver A contract hire at my job had frequent meltdowns whenever they were given feedback, called their bosses names during these
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • meltdowns, started rumors about people that caused interpersonal turmoil across the entire department, threatened and demanded
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • things if they were provided a ft contract, and then was shocked to hear they weren't being kept on.
    via cantyoukeepasecret
  • Mr Bbobb Tell her the truth. She was unprofessional at work. She doesn't have to keep a broomstick up her bt, but she at least has to take the situation seriously.
    via cantyoukeepasecret

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