An intern at Alpha Test who was thrilled to land a job, especially in today’s tough market, was fired on their very first day for a baffling reason. The intern shared their frustrating experience on a Reddit post on r/recruitinghell, titled “Fired on day 1 for leaving at 6:30 PM. The audacity is unreal.”
“I just had the most surreal ‘first day’ experience at a company called Alpha Test (an SAT prep/coaching firm),” the user wrote, adding, “the official hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. I stayed until 6:30 PM to make sure everything was wrapped up. I thought I was being a ‘good intern.”
“At 7:30 PM, while I was finally home, the Partner called and ordered me to return to the office immediately. No emergency, just a random demand. When I told her I couldn’t make it back, she fired me on the spot,” the post continued.
According to the claim, the partner said, “Our company focuses on efficiency and profit, not on the employees’ personal time. Our philosophies do not align.”
The Reddit user pointed out that the employer’s demands were high for a job paying 200 RMB (around $28 / Rs 2,390) per day, or less than $2.50 / Rs 213 an hour.
The Reddit post quickly went viral, with users sympathising and criticising the company’s high expectations.
One user wrote, “Make sure the school knows how they abuse their interns. They shouldn’t be allowed to have interns.”
Another added, “They have sites like Glassdoor where you can post your experience so others avoid this fate. I would post it there. They won’t last long if this is how they treat employees.”
A third user said, “I hate jobs where the communicated expectations and the ‘actual’ expectations are different. It erodes trust and puts people on edge. Don’t tell me the hours are 9-6 and then freak out when I try to leave after 6.”