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50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them

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Most of us spend a lot of time thinking and planning before quitting a job. It’s wise to start applying at other companies first, and ideally, you'll have a new position lined up before deciding to jump ship. Plus, we’re all expected to provide our employers with at least two weeks' notice to be courteous. But if you’ve never felt respected by your boss, there’s no need to worry about the bridges you'll burn on your way out.
Employees on Reddit have recently been sharing stories of experiences that caused them to quit on the spot, so we’ve gathered some of their wildest tales below. Enjoy hearing about the straws that finally broke these frustrated employees' backs, and keep reading to find a conversation with Pamela Skillings, President and Chief Coach at Big Interview!

#1

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Not me but a middle aged tradesman where I work.
I work underground and it isn't for everybody, terrible environment and what not. This particular individual starting working and after a few weeks decided that it wasn't for him. Bad conditions and hostile supervisor. He approached the boss at the morning meeting and told him that he wasn't going underground and that he was quitting. The boss told him that he had to give him 2 weeks notice and without missing a beat the guy replied: "for the next 2 weeks you're gonna notice that I'm not here", turned around, packed his s**t and left. Was never heard from again.
143points

#2

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Once as a teenager at a new job I got my hand smacked by the owner the first day because I was writing with my left hand. Walked out.
135points

#3

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
As a journalist I was once told to pretend to be a doctor to get access to people who had been hospitalised in a terrorist attack to get quotes from them.
Resigned on the spot and never worked as a journalist again from that day to this.
132points

To learn more about this topic, we reached out to Pamela Skillings, Co-Founder, President and Chief Coach at Big Interview, the #1 job interview training platform. Pamela was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and detail some of the reasons why employees might spontaneously quit.

"In my experience with coaching clients, people only quit on the spot when they have been pushed to their limit," she shared. "This could be due to months or years of a toxic boss or work environment or even due to a single wildly inappropriate incident."

#4

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Worked for a privately owned bakery for exactly 1 week. The owners son comes in, walks passed the counter and into the bathroom. He comes out a few minutes later without acknowledging me or my coworker, gets into his car and drives away. We both looked at each other then opened the door only to find this guy literally s**t all over the toilet seat and the toilet paper holder. I called the owner, told her what happened and she said to “Deal with it.” So I asked my coworker if she wanted to clean it up because I wasn’t going to. She declined and I told her I was walking out. She did as well. We locked up the store and told the owner we quit but would reconsider staying if her son came back to clean up his own mess. She yelled and berated us for 20 seconds before I said goodbye and hung up.
122points

#5

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
I was already there 3 hours past the time my shift was supposed to end- along with everyone else who was on my shift. We were all very PO'ed. I get that you often have to stay after when you work in food service, but everyone from the next shift was already there and there was zero reason for us to be there for 3 extra hours.
Finally someone asked to go home and the manager started SCREAMING in the middle of the restaurant floor that, "JUST BECAUSE YOUR SHIFT IS SUPPOSED TO END AT 10 DOESNT MEAN YOU GET TO LEAVE THEN. I TELL YOU WHEN YOU GET TO LEAVE. YOU ARE ALL JUST NUMBERS ON A SPREADSHEET TO US, WE CAN REPLACE YOU IN A HEART BEAT IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE HERE."
So, I dropped all the money on the table in front of her and said "replace me then, f**k you."
Found out later that they lost damn near half their staff that night because most others followed my lead after.
There was a huge football game the next day right across the street from the place and they got to deal with that with no servers. I went to the game and had the time of my life lol.
It was a f****n IHOP.
115points

#6

Walked in to the interview, everything went well, accepted the job offer.
Went to the front desk to do the paperwork and noticed that the contract had a different pay amount, and that I would be "interning" for the first month for $100/week. I asked first about the amount difference, was told "oh, this the standard contract, it just hasn't been updated for your specific offer." I told them they'd need to edit and initial the changes before I would sign. "Oh...that's not how things work here."
I thanked them for their time and left without signing anything. They called me back on the day I was supposed to have started asking where I was. I told them because didn't sign the contract, I was never an employee....hooo boy that was a fun call.
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103points

Pamela noted that most people prefer to give two weeks' notice and leave on good terms, even if they hate their job. "But sometimes, patience and perspective run out," she says.

"I would always advise stepping away and taking at least a moment before giving in to the impulse to quit on the spot. In some cases, you may decide it's still the right move, but usually some space will allow for a calmer, more reasoned decision that benefits you more in the long term," the expert added.

And although Pamela has never quit on the spot herself, she admits that she's been tempted to! "Sometimes it helped to just take a walk around the block and imagine quitting with a dramatic exit line."

#7

Going to the toilet pre-meeting to negotiate a raise I heard both directors of the company (small firm, everything ran through them) talking outside the window that they were going to flat out refuse any offers and "make the a*****e work overtime to prove his loyalty" and "he has no prospects anyway, where will he go?".
Entered the meeting with my signed and printed resignation in hand, slapped it on the table after sitting down and stood straight back up saying " meeting over".
I now work for a successful company, part of a brilliant team of 10 people, amazing pension, terrific bonuses and obtainable progression with a great work-life balance. Half day every single Friday til I die also.
If you're being mistreated at a job, overworked, underpaid, whatever it may be - Get your affairs in order and walk.
101points

#8

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
I got mugged on a delivery for dominos, and came back to the shop crying and panicked, had my phone, wallet, and pizza taken, told my manager what happened.
“Anon, are you hurt?”
“No, but I lost my phone and wallet, I need to call the police”
“No time for that, here’s your next delivery.”
(It was like 2 blocks from where I was just mugged)
I just went home, the police never really did much to get my phone and wallet back, not like they could.
98points

#9

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
My grand-father, who I considered like a father, passed away after a long stay in hospital. We were closer than he was with his own kids, and our bond was quite special.
I spoke to my manager about getting the day of his funeral off, since I was organizing part of the arrangements, and having a day or two of bereavement leave, and he agreed.
The day of the funeral finally comes and the staff start calling me, leaving me messages asking why I'm not at my shift, and telling me, while I'm in a suit hosting family members at the funeral home, that I have to find someone to replace me or face repercussions.
Needless to say, I told them to figure it out, and never looked back.
96points

As painful as it may be to stick around for two more weeks, Pamela recommends giving your employer a heads up that you're leaving if it's possible without sacrificing your own best interests. "It's always better to leave on decent terms and maintain a professional reputation," the expert says. "A lot depends on your relationship with your manager and your experience at the company."

"If you've been treated well and know a sudden departure would put your team in a bad situation, give as much notice as possible," Pamela told Bored Panda. "If you haven't been treated with respect and need to leave sooner (perhaps a new job with an immediate start date), then I think you have to prioritize your future well-being over workplace etiquette."

#10

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
I had a very stressful job and was expected to answer Slack messages from my boss at any time, or I would be fired. He was in a different time zone so often I would be woken up at 3 am being yelled at to do something. One day in the office, he was talking s**t about me on Slack and accidentally posted it to a channel I was in. I was killing myself for this guy and he didn’t even appreciate it. I packed up and left, best thing I’ve ever done.
91points

#11

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Selling vacuum cleaners . They expected me to hard sell to an old man with dementia who didnt have carpets . F**k that.
86points

#12

This is probably going to get lost beneath all of the other comments but I will share anyway.I started working at a lingerie / sex toy store when I was 17. After I made it through training, two weeks in, all of the other employees quit. For about 6 months I was the only employee. I ran that store by myself. I took care of everything. I was working split shifts every day and never once was my till short by even a penny.
Meanwhile the owners kept interviewing new employees. They finally found a woman to come in and start training. I trained her and after her two-week training, they informed me that she would be my manager.
Their only explanation was that she had previous management experience.
I brought up the fact that I kept the store alive on my own for the last 6 months, working split shifts every day, no days off... I brought up the fact that I trained her. But they were adamant... They wanted her to be the manager.
So I quit.
85points

As far as how employers can try to prevent workers from quitting on the spot, Pamela says, "Companies should be sure to train all of their managers and model respect and fairness from the top down. They can't let bad managers get away with bad behavior. Even at good companies, people quit because they can't stand their horrible manager. Managing people well is a learned skill and a lot of managers don't get the guidance they need."

#13

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
I was asked to lie to parents and cover up a kid failing (in elementary school) by support staff. When I confronted the principal about it, he said that she was just doing her job and I was not a team player for not doing so. So I explained the situation... same response, I should have helped in covering it up. As soon as kids went home, I started emptying my desk...
84points

#14

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Asked for a raise and was told okay. Next morning (Friday) I was told by the same person who agreed with the raise that I should put a few more years in and then we’ll talk again. Locked my tool box at the end of the day and called a tow truck to pick it up. Shop manager was shocked that next Monday to find a empty spot where my tools were and couldn’t understand why I left.
79points

#15

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Began working at a persian restaurant in the kitchen. I overcooked a steak slightly, the owner came back threw a plate at us then a hot meat skewer before storming off to his office. I dropped my apron grabbed my bag and told him I was leaving. His response was "okay at the end of the night you can go"
My response was "clearly you don't understand. I'm leaving right now, here's my parking pass, I'll expect my cheque in the mail".
79points

"If you find yourself regularly tempted to quit your job on the spot, you need to get serious about planning your next move before the stress burns you out completely," Pamela added. "Take a mental health day if you feel you're at your limit. Use some of the time to update your resume."

And if you need to brush up your interview skills before applying to new jobs, be sure to check out Big Interview!

#16

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
Being hired to sell cars, then in the middle of training I get pulled aside and told I’m being moved to lot attendant. That position paid minimum wage and I didn’t even get a chance to be on the sales floor. Left and never went back. I was in my mid twenties at the time and was trying to find a possible career. Didn’t have time for that b******t bait and switch.
77points

#17

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
"When my job kept wanting to treat me like a full-time employee, having me order supplies, staying late on truck days until it was done. Yet, when I asked about moving to full-time ($5 extra an hour and I’d get 15 more hours a week), they told me they couldn’t. So, I quit."
74points

#18

50 People Who Quit Their Job On The Spot Share What Did It For Them
I’m gay but at the time wasn’t very open about it. Was placed with a crew of guys that made homophobic comments all day long. It wasn’t anything personal towards me, but it would not have been healthy to stay in that situation long term.
73points

#19

A few years back my wife’s health started to deteriorate. She was in constant pain and really struggling. It was a big change for both of us and I had to leave work often to take her to the doctor. One day my boss says she needs to give me less hours as I’m missing shifts. I accepted that and was willing to work with her on it. Then she said “I mean, you don’t have to leave every time your wife hurts her little finger.”
I quit on the spot.
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69points

#20

I was 16 working part time in an island in Greece and a guy walked in with a knife and demanded to give him the money from the register. I obviously did it and immediately called my boss. He told me that I was a pu**y and should have stood up for myself so I just left without even replying.
69points
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