Antiwork

I work in a union environment with pay levels. Like level A, level B, etc. I have been at my level for a long time. I was offered a position to take a position at a higher level, but only on a temporary basis. This would come with a pay bump to that level, however there's a kind of “training wage” which actually brings my pay down below what I am making right now for at least two years. I talked to a couple of colleagues about wanting to turn it down if I get a cut in pay, and they told me that despite the pay cut, I can use the experience on my resume and I should do it just for the experience. What? More responsibility for less pay and “experience”? Yeah, no.

I've come across statistics (without confirming their accuracy) that suggest between 17-30% of employees use fake references at some point in their careers. This is not surprising, given the challenging job market and the high expectations of employers. What did surprise me, however, is that I only recently learned about companies that professionally provide such services. Has anyone here successfully used a fake reference and feels comfortable sharing their experience? There is a plethora of information online discouraging this behavior, stating that companies could take legal action against those who use fake references (but why would they spend money to do so?), and that it could damage one's professional reputation (how would future employers know if you were fired for using a fake reference without me disclosing that information? Isn't it illegal to pull credit for jobs in many states?). In an unfair job market, there is much to gain…

So today I realized after looking at my schedule that I wrote down the wrong date for when I’d be out of town. I was put on call and my coworker who was supposed to work called out. Now my boss is really mad at me because I can’t come in. I’m not upset over him saying that he’s in a bad position over this. Yes, it’s my fault that I put the wrong date. However, he had the audacity to think I was lying so I didn’t have to come in… even going as far to say “well are you going to work the rest of the week? or call out and have this be your last day here, hmm?” Then he asked if I could change/cancel the tickets I paid $400 for and have had for longer than I’ve been working here just so I could come in…

We are 10 technicians and we received only tickets today. But he assigned me 8 of 10 tickets and the other technicians work from home… I'm the only one who has to travel two hours to the office and I get this…I only wanna know why?…(I work in IT) I've been so stressed today and it was supposed to be a relaxed day…I got a called scheduled for today at 4 30 PM and he assigned me other call at 4 35 PM, come on I couldn't even finish with the first client and I had to tell I'm sorry to the 2nd one..

I've heard about areas of reddit- or maybe just online in general, where you can find people willing to serve as a reference for you, despite not actually knowing you. I have an interview coming up, for a job that could really change my life. I need some people for references, as I don't know many people, and honesty wouldn't give my real number out, to some of the Hurricane coworkers I've had (work gets a Google number). I am absolutely willing to return the favor, and give a sterling reference in return. Anyone know where I can find these?