Some twenty years ago, I was a second-year university student looking for a summer job. I had a couple of years of previous experience working at a home for the elderly before going to university, and decided to try to find summer employment in such a place. I got an interview, it went well, and I got an offer the very next day. 

I agreed to work for a total of five weeks, thirty hours per week, and be paid seventy-five Swedish kronor per hour plus additional holiday pay. I specifically mentioned the holiday pay in that conversation to make sure that, since I would get paid by the hour, and not monthly, that I would get an extra 12 % on top of my hourly wage (as is the law in Sweden). They said it was all fine and that they really wanted to hire me.

Some weeks later, I went there for an hour of (unpaid) introduction together with a group of a dozen or so other new summer workers. At the end of the introduction, they took us, one by one, to separate rooms to sign our contracts. And there I saw that my contract said, ”seventy-five kronor hourly, INCLUDING holiday pay.”

No. Just no. 

I politely told the lady that there must have been some mistake, that the other lady I had interviewed with and who had offered me the job had been very clear it was to be seventy-five kronor PLUS holiday pay. And then fun stuff happened.

Lady: *In a condescending tone of voice.* “Well, now, dear, you must have misunderstood my colleague; this is a normal contract and a normal wage for someone like you with no experience.”

Me: *Slightly angry but still polite.* “Well, actually, I do have experience, but that’s beside the point. I am very sure that we agreed on seventy-five kronor PLUS holiday pay of 12%.”

Lady: *Even more condescending.* “Oh, you’re young, maybe you’ve been misinformed. What are those 12% you’re talking about? Such a thing doesn’t exist. Just sign the contract now, and I’ll bring you your work schedule.”

Me: *Barely polite now.* “Excuse me, but I’m not misinformed. If you want me to sign that contract, it has to be changed first.”

Lady: *Now getting annoyed.* “I don’t understand why you argue! Just sign!”

Me: *Not even wanting the d*** job anymore.* “Right. If you had read my application, you’d realise that I’m currently studying HR management and labour laws. What you’re doing right now is illegal. So… yeah. I’m leaving now.”

As I stood up, the lady suddenly seemed very nervous. She mumbled something about not knowing my field of study (as if that mattered) and that she would talk to her boss about getting my contract changed. I declined and again said I was leaving now, and then I did just that.

Later that day, I got a call from the lady I had interviewed with, also saying that there had been a mistake, that they wouldn’t dream of breaking the law, and could I please come and work for them since they had already put me on the schedule and had already turned down the other applicants. I declined, and happily found another job where they didn’t try to lie to me.

A woman comes up to the counter where my coworkers and I are.

Me: “Hi there! How can we help you today?”

Woman: “Are you hiring?”

Though I’m not a manager, I’ve been there the longest, so everyone else looks at me. I always spout the same thing, so:

Me: “Not at this time, but we’re always accepting resumes.”

She rummages in her purse and pulls out a piece of paper that has clearly been through the wash once or twice. There are creases and wrinkles, and while it’s been typed, there are more than one handwritten note on it.

She unfolds it and smooths it out onto the counter for us.

Woman: “Oh! Do you have a pen? That’s the wrong phone number; I just got a new number.”

We wordlessly hand her a pen, and she crosses out another of the phone numbers on the sheet; several others have been crossed out previously, and she scribbles numbers right by what we assume is her name on the top of the page.

Woman: “There! Thank you. You see, I used to work at [Department Store], but I had to leave, because I did not get along with management, I didn’t like the way they worked, I like doing my own version…”

She then spent a good ten minutes explaining her previous employments (which are all listed on the “resume”) and why she left each one. She finally nods and leaves us, with our frozen smiles and glassy eyes, with her “resume.”

The moment she’s out of the store, we all gather around to find that not only did she not lie with all her previous employments, but the longest she was at a job was also three months. Not that it was easy to read in the first place, as the descriptions of jobs and positions were poorly written.

The piece of paper was left on the manager’s desk and was never seen again. Nor was the woman hired.

I’m being hired for a position at a supermarket. Interviews went well, conversations have been pleasant, and I’m all set to sign the employment contract, so I grab the document and sit back in the chair to read it. 

The manager who is hiring me gives me a look.

Manager: “What are you doing?”

Me: *Confused.* “I’m reading the contract.”

Manager: “Why would you do that?”

Me: *Concerned.* “…Because signing a contract is a legally-binding statement that I agree to the terms and conditions outlined in that contract.”

Manager: “So?”

Me: *Now thinking I don’t want to work here.* “…SO, I’m making myself aware of the terms and conditions before I agree to them.”

Manager: “That’s stupid. Why the f*** do you need to do that?”

Me: *Absolutely sure I don’t want to work here anymore.* “Because I’m not an idiot. If I don’t like the conditions, I’m not going to sign the contract.”

Manager: “Well, if you don’t sign the contract, then you’re not hired.”

Me: “Yes, that’s kind of what I was getting at. If I don’t like the conditions, I don’t want to be hired here.”

Manager: “You’re a f****** moron. Are you telling me you read the terms and conditions for every piece of computer hardware and software you own?”

Me: *Setting the contract aside.* “The fact that you seriously think the answer is “no” tells me everything I need to hear. Good day.”

I could not get out of that building fast enough.

I used to have a traveling job, but my position was eliminated in favor of fully office-based work. I asked to work remotely from my home, but I was told that if I wanted to keep my job, I had to be in the office. So, my husband and I packed up our house, found a place near the main office several states away, and moved.

A few months in, another position in my department opened. A woman I worked with (another traveler who quit when the remote work stopped) applied for the job. I sat in on her virtual interview with (Manager) since we would be working together.

Manager: “So, you live in [another state], correct?”

Woman: “Yes, with my husband and our three children. I have a home office already set up, so I can work from here.”

Manager: “Oh, good! That’s great. Okay, so—”

Me: “I’m sorry, I’m going to jump in here. This position is still office-based, is it not?”

Manager: “Oh. Well, you and I can discuss this after the interview.”

I stayed quiet for the rest of the interview, but I heard a few things like “[My Name] will train you via video calls” and “you two will need to coordinate schedules across time zones.” I was p***ed. When it was done, [Manager] asked me to come to his office.

Manager: “So, I think we need to talk about your outburst in that interview.”

Me: “Okay.”

Manager: “It was not your job to comment on whether this position is office-based or remote.”

Me: “But—”

Manager: “It is supposed to be in the office, but [Woman] has a family to consider. I know you and your husband moved here, and that is great, but—”

Me: “Is being in the office required for this position or not?”

Manager: “Well, yes, but—”

Me: “So, she will need to work in the office to accept the position?”

Manager: “You’re not listening. It is not the norm, but—”

Me: “My husband quit his job and found a new one here. I sold my house. I moved almost 1,000 miles to keep my job because that was a requirement of the position.”

Manager: “Let’s table this conversation until you’ve calmed down.”

Me: “Here’s the bottom line: if you allow her to work remotely, I will quit, effective immediately.”

I walked out and began searching for jobs immediately. [Manager] later called [Woman] and told her the position would not be remote, and she withdrew her application. [Manager] decided that the most professional response to my “outburst” was to close the position and refuse to hire someone who was willing to work from the office. Whenever someone brought it up, [Manager] would comment that I was making it difficult to hire anyone because of my “outbursts” during interviews (which was one comment in one interview). 

I quit anyway.

I was interviewing for a position as a welder in a factory.

The first red flag was that the fellow who was interviewing me introduced himself as someone from Human Resources, and not as the manager who would theoretically be managing me.

The final red flag was when the fire alarm went off mid-interview. I stood up calmly and quietly to evacuate when the interviewer said:

Interviewer: “If you leave this room mid-interview, you’ll be fired.”

I stared at him agog for a few moments, and said:

Me: “You never hired me in the first place.”

I left at a brisk walk. It probably messed up their fire evacuation plan to not report to someone that I had left the building, but I was p***ed enough to not care. I went directly home.

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Would Rather Be Fired Than On Fire