An AI automation engineer has recounted a disturbing early‑career experience in which her IITian employer had fired her in front of a client within the first three days of her job. A year later, she says she is earning eight times more than what she was originally offered. Ritu Maurya credited self‑learning and mentorship for her turnaround.
In a video on Instagram, Maurya explained that although the experience was a nightmare, she was eventually glad of the way things worked out because she did not want to be part of a toxic workplace.
‘I was promised help and guidance’
Maurya said the founder had promised hands‑on guidance but was largely absent — responding to messages hours later and refusing calls for clarification.
“Just two days into the job … there were a lot of things I did not know, and he had mentioned that he would be the one guiding me, but he was nowhere to be found,” she said. “He would reply to my messages hours later; he would not get on a call with me to help me understand things better.”
Maurya wrote that just three days into the assignment, the founder criticised her performance in front of the client, telling her: “You’re not doing the work right. I could have done this in an hour. We cannot move forward anymore.”
The firing came barely a day after the same client had asked whether she could join full‑time, she said.
‘I cried for days’
Maurya described the ordeal as shattering, saying she “went blank,” cried for days, and felt she “couldn’t do anything.” The episode, she said, continued to affect her long after she left.
The Instagram post notes that she eventually chose to rebuild from scratch — watching tutorials, seeking help from peers, and asking “stupid questions” until she felt she finally understood the work.
Her decision to begin sharing her learning journey on LinkedIn eventually connected her to a founder willing to “invest in her,” she wrote.
‘Now, it feels good’
A year after her termination, Maurya said she now earns eight times more than what the IITian founder had initially offered. “It feels good,” she added, noting she is relieved to have exited what others later described to her as a “toxic” workplace.
Netizens share similar experiences
Maurya’s post prompted numerous responses from other tech professionals who said they had endured comparable early‑career experiences — from unclear expectations to lack of mentorship and abrupt job loss.
One commenter wrote that inexperienced founders often make impulsive hiring and firing decisions, saying the behaviour was “similar” to what they had also faced. Another respondent shared that their employer criticised them for seeking clarity, telling them they were “wasting his time” and “complicating things.” The engineer eventually quit after admitting they no longer understood their role.
A third tech worker recalled being dismissed from a contracting role after struggling with a Python‑based task despite having been hired primarily for Ansible scripting. “This happened about five years ago, and it still gives me nightmares sometimes. But I picked myself up, and I’m doing well in life now,” the user added.