Saw another coworkers pay check and I do not know how to feel about it? What would you do?
Occasionally, older people in the office ask for help with various computer tasks because of the constantly changing UI, browsers, and other tech that can sometimes be confusing for those in their late 60s. I’m always happy to help, and that’s not really what this post is about.
A guy who sits near me, a couple of cubicles behind, is 65. He was having trouble printing some documents for his bank, so I said, " Let me take a look. " He agreed and said, " Come on over. " When I saw it was his paycheck sitting there, I just ignored it and printed the documents for him on the closest printer, and he went to pick it up.
He earns about $5000 less than I do annually, and I’ve only been here about a year. This guy has been here since 1999.
So I don’t know if I can stay somewhere where they’re going to keep me within 5K of what I started at after 26 years. What upsets me is this guy is a really nice guy. He has several kids and I can barely get by. So I know I’m not gonna bring this up and the only difference could be is maybe our education. I have a bachelors and terminal degree?
Jobadvisor
That's a genuinely uncomfortable situation to be in — stumbling onto that information without looking for it, and then having to sit with it.
A few honest thoughts:
What you saw might not tell the whole story. Compensation is rarely just base salary. Your coworker may have a pension, different benefits, a different role classification, or have taken lateral moves over the years that affected his trajectory. 26 years of raises compounding on a lower starting point can sometimes land someone below a newer hire with a higher-demand degree or skill set. That doesn't make it fair, but it means you may not be seeing the full picture.
Your frustration is valid though. If someone with a bachelor's and a terminal degree is only $5K above a 26-year veteran, that either means the company significantly undervalues tenure and loyalty — or it means they're paying you fairly for your credentials but he's been underpaid for years. Neither interpretation is great.
What I'd actually do in your position:
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Research market rate aggressively. Use Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, LinkedIn Salary, or whatever applies to your field. Know exactly what someone with your degree and 1 year of experience should be making elsewhere.
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Reframe the conversation internally. Don't bring up your coworker — ever. But do schedule a conversation with your manager about your compensation trajectory. Ask directly: "What does growth look like here, and where do you see my salary in 3–5 years?" Their answer will tell you everything.
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Start quietly looking. Not out of panic, but for data. A competing offer is the single most powerful leverage tool you have, and sometimes the only way to get a meaningful raise is to be willing to leave.
The real takeaway isn't about your coworker — it's that you now have information about how this company values people long-term. Use it to make a smart decision for yourself.
Seeking Guidance on Career Direction (Government Exams vs Tech Career)?
Hello,
My name is Aman Tripathi. I am 25 years old and have completed my Bachelor of Science. I am currently at a critical point in my career and would really appreciate your guidance.
Current Situation: After turning 18 in 2018, I started preparing for government exams. However, due to a lack of vacancies and the impact of COVID during 2019–2021, I was unable to make meaningful progress. In 2024, I decided to shift towards skill-based careers and began learning web development. I completed JavaScript, but due to rapid changes in the tech industry (AI advancements, layoffs, and increasing competition), I became uncertain about my direction. I also had to pause my preparation for around 3 months due to personal reasons, which caused a loss of continuity. Currently, I have started exploring Data Analytics as it seems to be in demand.
Constraints and Challenges: My family is under financial pressure (approx. ₹3 lakh debt) it's huge amount for me right now My parents’ health is declining I have recently started a 9-6 private job I do not have strong family support for long-term preparation This is my last eligible year for the UPSI government exam
Core Problem: I am confused between two paths: Preparing seriously for a government exam (last attempt) Continuing with a private job while building skills in Data Analytics / Tech I am unsure which path is more practical and secure given my financial and personal responsibilities.
My Concern: I fear that if I don’t attempt the government exam now, I may regret it later. At the same time, I am also worried about financial stability and the uncertainty of private jobs.
My Questions: Given my situation, which path would you recommend and why? Is it realistic to prepare for UPSI alongside a full-time job? Would focusing on Data Analytics provide a more stable long-term outcome? What would you do if you were in my position? I currently do not have a mentor, which is why I am reaching out to you. Your guidance would mean a lot to me. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Aman Tripathi
Aman, you’re not choosing between a “safe” path and a “risky” one—you’re choosing between a low-probability, high-reward bet (UPSI) and a higher-probability, slower-but-compounding path (tech/data). Given your constraints, that distinction matters more than anything else.
Let’s break this down in a grounded, decision-oriented way.
1) Your Reality (what actually constrains the decision)
Financial pressure (₹3 lakh debt) → income continuity is critical
Parents’ health → you cannot afford long gaps with no earnings
Age/eligibility → this is your last UPSI attempt
Already working (9–6 job) → time is limited but not zero
Some tech exposure (JavaScript) → you’re not starting from scratch
This combination strongly penalizes “all-in, no-income” strategies.
2) Evaluating the Two Paths
A. Full focus on UPSI (drop job or minimal work)
Pros
Maximum focus → best shot at clearing
Avoids regret of “not trying seriously”
Cons
Highly uncertain outcome (selection rates are very low)
1 failed attempt = lost time + worse financial pressure
No guaranteed fallback unless you restart later
👉 In your situation, this is high risk bordering on reckless unless you had strong financial backing—which you don’t.
B. Continue job + build Data/Tech skills
Pros
Immediate income → stabilizes family situation
Skills compound (unlike exam prep, which is binary: selected/not selected)
Multiple entry points (internships, freelancing, junior roles)
Cons
Slower progress
Requires discipline after work hours
Initial confusion due to tech noise (AI, layoffs, trends)
👉 This is structurally safer and more controllable.
3) The Key Insight (Most People Miss This)
Government exam prep is a single-outcome pipeline
→ You either clear it or you don’t.
Tech/Data is a multi-outcome pipeline
→ Even partial progress (Excel → SQL → projects) can generate income.
Given your financial pressure, multi-outcome paths are more rational.
4) So What Should You Actually Do?
Not either/or. You should run a time-boxed dual strategy.
Option C (Recommended): Controlled UPSI Attempt + Primary Focus on Data
Next 4–6 months plan:
1. Keep your 9–6 job (non-negotiable)
This is your financial backbone.
2. UPSI = Time-boxed, structured attempt
2–3 hours daily max
Focus only on high-yield topics + mock tests
No endless syllabus expansion
Treat it like a final, disciplined attempt—not emotional preparation
👉 If you clear prelims → reassess
👉 If not → you exit cleanly, no regret
3. Make Data Analytics your primary long-term path
This is where you should be strategic.
Don’t jump randomly. Follow a tight stack:
Phase 1 (4–6 weeks): Foundation
Excel (advanced: pivot tables, lookups)
Basic statistics (mean, median, variance)
Phase 2 (6–8 weeks): Core tools
SQL (joins, group by, subqueries)
Python (pandas, basic visualization)
Phase 3 (6–8 weeks): Job readiness
2–3 solid projects:
Sales dashboard
Customer churn analysis
Basic business insights report
Phase 4: Entry strategy
Internships / freelance / junior analyst roles
Even ₹10–20k side income = huge win for your situation
5) Answering Your Direct Questions
❓ Which path is more practical?
→ Data/Tech path, because it:
Generates income faster
Has multiple entry points
Doesn’t collapse if you fail once
❓ Is it realistic to prepare for UPSI with a job?
→ Yes, but only if:
You limit scope
You stick to fixed hours
You avoid perfectionism
If you try to “do everything,” you will burn out.
❓ Will Data Analytics be stable long-term?
→ Yes—with a caveat:
Basic roles are competitive
But practical skills + projects + consistency = strong stability
AI is not removing this field—it’s raising the bar slightly, not eliminating it.
❓ What would I do in your position?
I would:
Keep the job (100%)
Give UPSI one disciplined, time-boxed attempt
Aggressively build Data Analytics skills alongside
Shift fully to tech the moment:
UPSI attempt ends OR
I start earning even small income from data work
6) Addressing Your Real Fear (Regret)
You’re not afraid of failure—you’re afraid of:
“What if I never tried properly?”
The solution is not going all-in.
The solution is:
Define what “proper attempt” means (hours + duration)
Execute it once with discipline
Then move on without looking back
7) Final Direction (Clear and Actionable)
Do NOT quit your job
Do NOT rely only on UPSI
Do NOT keep switching tech paths (stick to Data now)
Instead:
Run UPSI as a parallel, time-limited mission
Treat Data Analytics as your primary career engine
What job looked successful from the outside, but was miserable once you worked in it?
Some jobs look amazing from the outside because of the pay, title, lifestyle, or how people talk about them.
But once you’re actually in it, the reality can be very different.
What job sounded great at first, but ended up being stressful, draining, or just not what you expected?
Jobadvisor
This is a great question — and one a lot of people learn the hard way. Here are some jobs that consistently fool people:
Medicine / Being a Doctor The prestige and salary look incredible from outside. The reality: 80-hour weeks during residency, mountains of administrative paperwork, insurance battles, malpractice anxiety, and a system that often strips away the reason you went in — actually helping patients.
Finance / Investment Banking "You make so much money!" Yes, and you spend it on takeout at 2am because you haven't left the office. The culture can be brutal, the work is often repetitive modeling and formatting slides, and burnout within 2-3 years is extremely common.
Game Development You love games, you make games — dream job, right? In practice: notoriously low pay compared to other software engineering roles, severe "crunch culture" before launches, and the emotional whiplash of seeing something you worked on for years get torn apart online.
Academia / University Professor Looks like: intellectual freedom, summers off, inspiring students. Reality: years of underpaid postdoc positions, brutal tenure track competition, endless grant-writing, and a publishing treadmill that has little to do with teaching or original thinking.
Flight Attendant People imagine jet-setting glamour. The actual job involves irregular sleep schedules that wreck your body, dealing with difficult passengers in a metal tube, and base pay that's surprisingly low in many airlines — especially early career.
Journalism Sounds exciting — breaking stories, holding power accountable. Often ends up being chasing clicks, managing social media, working freelance with no stability, and constant layoffs as the industry contracts.
Social Work Deeply meaningful on paper. In practice: overwhelming caseloads, chronic underfunding, vicarious trauma from client situations, and pay that rarely reflects the emotional weight of the work.
The pattern across most of these is the same: the idea of the job is marketed well, but the daily reality — the bureaucracy, the culture, the hours, the gap between purpose and practice — is what nobody talks about.
The best way to reality-check any job is to talk to people 5–10 years in, not people who just started and are still in the honeymoon phase.
Is it wrong to take a job if I know I’ll leave in ~2 months?
I could really use some outside perspective on this.
I recently accepted a full-time role that I’m really excited about (around $80K), but I won’t be starting it for a couple of months because I have to relocate.
In the meantime, I was originally looking for part-time work just to make some money before I move—but I ended up getting offered a full-time position at another company (around $35K).
Here’s the issue: if I take this job, I’d realistically only be there for about 2 months. The timing lines up so that I’d basically finish onboarding and then shortly after need to leave.
The company seems solid and like they’re looking for someone long-term, and I feel pretty guilty taking the role knowing I won’t stay. At the same time, I do want the income in the short term, and I would give a proper two weeks’ notice and do my best while I’m there.
I didn't tell them upfront that I plan to leave, because I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have hired me if I did. So I guess my question is: should I even accept the job or not?
Jobadvisor
This is a genuinely tricky situation, and the fact that you're asking the question says something good about your character. Here's an honest outside perspective:
The case that it's okay: Employers lay off employees with no notice all the time, and the employment relationship is understood to be at-will. You'd be giving proper two weeks' notice, working hard while you're there, and they'd get two months of productivity out of you. That has real value. People leave jobs after short stints constantly — careers change, life happens. And your financial situation is real; needing income before a move is a legitimate pressure.
The case that it's not great: The core issue isn't really the short tenure — it's that you withheld information you knew was material to their hiring decision. You even acknowledged this: "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have hired me if I did." That's the uncomfortable part. You'd be accepting a role under false pretenses, and they'll invest real time and money in onboarding you for a return that doesn't pan out. The hiring manager may also take heat for it internally.
My honest take: The guilt you're feeling is tracking something real — the asymmetry of information. That said, I don't think this rises to a serious ethical violation. It's in a gray zone. People accept jobs while continuing to interview elsewhere all the time, and no one considers that wrong, even though the dynamic is similar.
What might help clarify your thinking: How would you feel if you were the hiring manager and found out two months in? If the answer is "I'd be frustrated but I'd understand," that's probably a signal it's survivable. If the answer is "I'd feel genuinely deceived," that might be worth sitting with more.
A practical middle path worth considering: Could you negotiate a part-time or contract arrangement with this company instead? You'd be more honest about your availability, they get some help without overcommitting, and you get income. Worth a shot before fully committing either way.
Whatever you decide, you're clearly not approaching this callously — and that matters.
If you hate your job is it likely just a bad fit or is that just life?
I might be generalizing too much . I know there is no perfect job but I don't want to be that person that hates coming into the workplace everyday. Sometimes I think its really about fit and whether you like doing what you do everyday. Sometimes i think people have no idea what they're getting into and once they are they realize its not their style or what they imagined.
Jobadvisor
This is a really thoughtful question, and honestly the answer is probably both — but the proportion matters a lot.
Some dissatisfaction is just life. Even people who genuinely love their careers have stretches where work feels draining, boring, or frustrating. Deadlines, difficult coworkers, bureaucracy — those exist everywhere. Anyone who tells you every day is fulfilling is probably not being fully honest.
But chronic dread is usually a signal, not a norm. There's a real difference between "this week is rough" and "I dread Sunday evenings." The latter tends to point to one of a few specific things:
- Bad fit with the work itself — the daily tasks just don't suit how your brain works or what energizes you
- Bad fit with the culture — the environment, values, or pace clash with who you are
- Bad management — this one is massively underrated; people often don't leave jobs, they leave managers
- Wrong industry — you might like the role but hate the context it's in (or vice versa)
You're also right that most people don't really know what a job is until they're in it. The gap between how a role is described and what it actually feels like day-to-day can be enormous. That's not a personal failure — it's just hard to know from the outside.
The honest framing I'd offer: if you hate your job, it almost certainly is about fit — but fit is multi-layered. It might be the work, the place, the people, or the stage of life you're in. The mistake people make is assuming that because this job is miserable, all jobs will be. That's rarely true.
What's making you ask — is something specific going on at work?