Career coach advises against ‘blindly trusting’ managers, jobs or co-workers and he has a point

Professional relationships are inherently tricky to navigate and one should always exercise caution. It's always important to be aware of just how transactional such relationships can be and not lose sight of one's professional priorities. A certified career coach and influencer Terry Jones–who goes on TikTok by @trainerterryjones–is here to reaffirm this corporate truth for employees in his recent video, emphasizing the importance of being wary about coworkers in today's job environment. The helpful video has hit 1.9 million views on the platform, with over 242K likes.

The video is a stitch with Rachel Pedersen, where she can be seen asking, "What's a mistake you learned the hard way that you can now help people to avoid?" Jones responds, stating his mistake was "blindly trusting" the people he worked with. He elaborates on how individuals should not fully expect their manager, company, or designation to do exactly what they promise. Unless employees were able to get some assurance in writing, most employers would end up scamming them some way or the other.

He provides more insight in the caption, which reads, "Trust, but verify. Collaborate, but protect your interests. Your colleagues and managers might mean well, but actions speak louder than words." It also specifies how modern-day employees should insist on proper documentation for any kind of agreement that is important. Furthermore, it mentions how it went beyond trust and was a measure to keep oneself safe.

Many people agreed with Jones' insights in the comments section. @aracelip1111 said, "Never share personal information with your coworkers and managers. Everything you say, they will use it against you. Lesson learned." @itsameroxanne highlighted, "Don't take on extra work because 'it looks good when it's time for promotions' and there's no pay increase involved!! Make them pay you your worth!" @sassy.lina shared, "This. Most corporations are faking it to maintain their salary and position. They don't even like each other."

Many real-life instances highlight how fickle companies are when it comes to being loyal to their employees. u/PO-1135809 shared a story about how they were not given a promotion because they were too "generic." Couple this with the fact that the individual had been working with the company for six years and had been in the same industry for twenty years. It serves as a good example of how quickly an employer's mindset can change. The employer tried to coax them by saying how they were grateful for all the work the individual had done.

The individual smartly got a good idea of how things were going to be if they continued at the same company and accepted a different remote job. The new position also offered a 50% increase in salary and had better working hours. They share, "My recruiter even encouraged me to travel and enjoy life while working. He said, 'As long as you have internet, we couldn't care less where you are. Does the moon have WiFi?'" They added that they would try to give in their resignation in the most "generic" way possible.