‘Good pay, zero guidance’: Employee shares frustration with ‘figure things out on your own’ culture at first job

First jobs are often exciting and full of learning opportunities, but for one employee, a high-paying role at a multinational company quickly became overwhelming and stressful. High-paying role at a multinational company turned overwhelming and stressful for a new employee.(Pexels/Representational Image) In a post on Reddit (@IntelligentFigure854), the employee shared being assigned multiple work stories within weeks and expected to “figure things out independently”. “First job outta college: 12 LPA, good pay, but I’m drowning with zero guidance, unrealic expectations, and constant anxiety,” the caption of the post reads. First job brings stress: According to the post, the company’s codebase is massive and undocumented, requiring an understanding of several files for even small changes. Guidance from seniors is slow, and when support is given, the employee is told to rely less on others and explore more independently. While some peers had proper onboarding and lighter work, the employee had six tasks to complete in a single 12-day sprint. Also, it is a complete work-from-home setup, so seniors often take an hour to reply. The Scrum Master reacted angrily to any delays, and the team lead did not step in, saying the tasks were “straightforward”. “I can’t even quit as the market is bad + around 20 lakh loan on family + have to see younger brother’s education (around 20 lakh),” the employee adds. Check out the post here: Screengrab of the Reddit post.(@IntelligentFigure854/Reddit) Reddit reacts: The post drew a mix of reactions online. Some users sympathised with the employee, sharing similar experiences of heavy workload and poor guidance in their first jobs. Others offered advice on coping with stress, time management, and navigating demanding roles. One of the users commented, “I can understand what you are going through. I have been through the same when I joined as a fresher.” A second user commented, “Welcome to my world.” “Welcome to the corporate world, learn to handle such situations, you’ll face such problems in every company,” another user commented. (Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)