Virginia Couple Move to Alaska for Wife's New Job, She Gets Fired After One Month of Working: 'We are out over $10,000 from this move and have absolutely nothing now to show for it.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 22, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

You absolutely hate to see it.

If you're going to move across the country for a job offer, you'd better be 100% confident that the company is legit and not falling apart at the seams. The couple in this story did not do that, and now they're suffering for it. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10657986560
    via Joris Beugels

    Alaskan mountains.

    Still frame for contextual reference only.

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    Moved across the country for fiancée’s job and she gets fired after one month, how to move forward?

    Boy oh boy. What a crazy couple months we have had. We lived in Virginia, surrounded by friends and family, me a carpenter and her a designer. I had an okay job, she had a pretty mediocre job but was still usually happy going to
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    work. Dual income no kids had us getting by comfortably but the cost of living right outside of DC was high and we weren't saving very much. Still very fortunate compared to some but felt a sort of stagnation with us moving forward in life so slowly.
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    It's easy to see the red flags in hindsight, but when you're searching for your dream job, you want to see the best in a company that seems to be offering you everything that you want.

    She applies for a job in Juneau Alaska, pretty perfect job for her, way better pay, exactly the type of work she had been doing and wanted to do. Soo many red flags with this company she's getting hired by, they spend hours on FaceTime calls, they do design exercises to see
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    It's not unheard of to get rejected by a company, only for them to reach out later to see if you'd still be interested! But getting ghosted is a whole other thing.

    what kind of work she can do, and then they ghost her for like 6 months. Finally they reach back out and say they want to offer her the job.
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    I would not want to move from the continental US to Alaska during any time of the year. Imagine the cost of movers?

    Really bad timing as it's peak tourist season in Juneau so it's hard to make the move, hard to find housing, we tried to negotiate ways to make the transition better, if we could try working remote for a month and see how that goes, delaying the start
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    date until tourism season is over, but they really want her here in person. Okay we pack up all our stuff, sell both of our cars and buy a truck, pack up as much as we can in just the truck and the smallest trailer U-Haul has and throw thousands of dollars worth of things
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    away (we tried to give as much to friends and donate some, but still we lost a lot), we had to early cancellation. on our lease which cost us a lot of money too.
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    They sound really shady. Also, why does she need to move to do this design job? Couldn't she easily do it remotely?

    They swear up and down in all of the FaceTime calls that they're willing to do whatever it takes to get her up to speed, even if she's not quite at the level they want (hypothetically) that they would spend months working with her if that's what it took. She gets here
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    and it's just immediately more red flags, they had a manager quit at one of their businesses so the head designer (whom she is taking workload off of and would be training her) is taking over and can't work directly with her very much. I won't detail but she obviously was working very
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    hard given her circumstances, worked OT every week even though she was salaried, got very little feedback and had to reach out multiple times for any communication at all. After only one month of work she just got fired, they said she's not where she
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    This is so ridiculous. This poor woman didn't deserve any of this! If they didn't think she was up to snuff in the interview, they shouldn't have hired her!

    should be for her position but it's clear as day they are just sing the bed trying to run multiple businesses and expand and they're just bl ding money. As they were firing her they said oh you "should" be doing x y z this is what I would want but literally 0 feedback the entire month of work, never
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    telling her any expectations or what they would want. She has exchanged more words with neighbors we pass on the street than her boss (despite reaching out constantly).
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    They need to cut their losses and figure out a way to adapt, even though it's going to be incredibly hard, especially for the first couple of years. It's a blessing that he found a good job amongst all this chaos.

    Sorry for the wall of text but I am just lost. I found a good job so I have steady income but she is completely screwed, it's a relatively small town there are only so many design jobs. We are out over $10,000 from this move and have absolutely nothing
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    now to show for it. She is crushed, humiliated, and is beating herself up despite the fact that she did absolutely nothing wrong to justify being canned so quickly. She has to tell all her friends and family after this crazy move that she got fired it's a crime that
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    makes my blood boil and skin crawl. Who even cares about the money we're losing we'll find some way to get by but the injustice of these a h les playing with someone else's life like it doesn't even matter has just been so demoralizing to us.
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    Do you think they should spend even more money moving back to Virginia, or try to ride it out for a couple of years and find community where they are?

    I need advice for us and for her. We do like it here in Juneau but again, we only came for her job. I am fortunate that as a carpenter I can likely find work anywhere but if we stay here she is likely going to have to find work in a different career field or try and start her own business
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    which I just don't think we're in a position to do. I don't know what advice or actions I can do to help her in this difficulty and also we can't even mourn and be sad, we incurred such a large cost to come here with the expectation of her having this income and
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    even though my job pays better, we still need her income so she's already looking for work but still. S...ks sks s...ks. Sorry again for wall of text and my lack of eloquence, if anyone gave this a read and has guidance for us it will be much appreciated.
    via u/Tricky_Map4877
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    If he can get a job anywhere, should they move for the next job she gets? Would that mean they'd have to move again in a couple of months? What if that job doesn't work out?

    parpels Learning experience. Find a new place where you can both get a job. At this new place, make sure there is a big enough market that if either one of you lose a job, you have confidence you could find a new one.
    via u/parpels
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    They are lucky to have each other. They will help each other through this difficult time.

    CarboGeach No advice, but I'm sorry this happened and it's great you're being a supportive partner. Sh happens in life and it sounds like you will make the best of it with your attitude. Keep your heads up!
    via u/CarboGeach
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    At least they have a support system outside of just each other in Virginia.

    ThePlatinum Paul Honestly, move. Learn from your mistakes, sk up the debt, and go back to someplace you are happy. At least you aren't out hundreds of thousands like my wife and I thanks to a bad timed move and a horrible 3 years fighting the builder of our home.
    via u/ThePlatinumPaul

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Tags

alaska virginia fired united states bad jobs work design carpenter designer moving losing job bad job
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