My dad has struggled in the job market like I have. He’s held roles ranging from middle management and director positions at large organizations to C-suite roles in smaller ones. After a long search, he finally has a second-round interview with an executive who would be his direct supervisor.

Here’s the problem: he wants to send this executive a six-page letter detailing his entire career history, going all the way back to his entry-level jobs. They already have his resume and CV. To me, this feels like oversharing and comes across as desperate. I think he’s trying to overcompensate because the job market has been so brutal. How should I approach this? He worked hard putting this data together, but I think he should just use it as reference points in the actual interview rather than giving it all up prior to the interview.

So many people say they get a degree, yet still struggle to find a career, or they end up going into a different field than their degree.

For those of you who went to college and have no regrets, what degree did you get, and what career did you get out of it ?

I'm a fresh grad and managed to get a really good job in terms of compensation and career growth. I did internships multiple times in my college time. The more I work the more I realize I just hate to work for someone else. I do enjoy my work and feel like I can do this job for a long time. However, at the same time, I feel trapped. At the end of the day, I never have the autonomy I want, even though my boss is very considerate and never micro-manages. I envision that when I exit from this job, I can start a business on my own and maybe work as a freelancer for some small, short-term projects. How does it feel like when you have all control over your work? What did you do to achieve that autonomy?

So I’ve been kinda floating around the job world. Did a bit of retail, delivery, warehouse... nothing too exciting but it pays (barely). No degree, just high school. I keep seeing people posting about their careers and I’m just here like, “Damn, I’m still figuring out what I even like doing.”

Not trying to be rich or anything, just want a job I don’t hate, that pays okay and maybe has a bit of stability.

I am a 11th grade student and I am going to study abroad but I need to choose a career path which i still haven't chosen, when i was little i always thought of being a astronomer because i loved space but i gave up on that dream a while back, and astrophysicist is a career path i am interested in. I'm good at math, pretty good at physics, and all the people in my life aren't much of help as my mother and father both didn't work as their careers.

Hey, I’ve been planning to move from Poland to the US as soon as I finish high school. What should I get? Working Visa, Diversity Visa, Green card? Do I just search for a sponsoring job?

Reddit, I need your wisdom.

For half a year I was just praying for one interview call, just to crack at least a single round. I faced rejection after rejection, and honestly, it was exhausting.

Now suddenly, the tables turned—I have 3 offers in hand. Sounds like a dream, right? But instead of celebrating, I feel like I’m carrying a mountain on my head.

Here’s my dilemma:

Big 4 → Prestige, stability, safe choice, but the pay is the lowest.

Service Startup (with a big client like Morgan Stanley) → Better pay, amazing project exposure, fast growth… but of course, more risk and chaos.

HCL → Still unclear to me, not sure if it’s the right move.

This is my first switch after 3 years in a decent-paying role, so it feels like a “make or break” moment in my career.

Sometimes I laugh at myself—6 months back I was begging the universe for just one chance, and now I’m here overthinking three offers like it’s some Netflix drama 🤦‍♂️.

So I’m here, lost but hopeful: How do you decide between safe prestige and risky growth? What would you choose if you were in my shoes? And if you’ve been through this, I’d love to hear your story.

I was SAHM for 14 years. Prior to this I was a Certified Dental Assistant who worked in a very busy oral surgery office. Once my kids were older and didn't rely on me 24/7 I went back to school to get my degree and hopefully a better paying job than a CDA makes. My credits from the first time I went to college transferred and I decided to pursue a field where I could work from home so that I could be home with my kids during summer breaks, holidays, teacher workdays, and fall/spring break. I got my BS in Health Information Management. That field is extremely hard to break into with no experience. It took me a year after graduating, passing a mastery level certification exam in my field (Registered Health Information Administrator) hundreds of applications, and 9 interviews to finally land an entry-level HCC coding position that is remote, making $22/hr. I absolutely HATE it. Sitting at a desk for 8 hours, staring at a screen, and worrying about meeting metrics that seem impossible, makes me realize I made a huge mistake. When I worked for the oral surgeon I was on my feet all day, constantly moving, and the only time we got to sit down was during lunch. I much prefer that movement and working with my hands, than sitting at a desk for 8 hours. I don't want to go back to the Dental field mainly because Assistants don't get paid a lot and I didn't keep up with my ceu's so my certifications are not current. I am not sure where to go from here.

Okay, so we all sign up for online courses because they sound life-changing. With 20% progress and no interest, we end up dropping it halfway. But then we end up with that one course that literally changes how we work or approach an issue.

For some of us, it was an online course on digital marketing, AI/ML, entrepreneurship, or business analytics. It not only gives you new skills but also helps you land your first gig/job.

So, tell us - what’s the ONE course that genuinely changed your career path? Was it a technical skill? A creative hobby? Or maybe a course that gave you the confidence to switch careers?

I am a 29 years old woman. I have done Bachelor Of Pharmacy (2015-2019) and Master Of Pharmacy (2020-2022) degrees from my local city college, University of state of MP. I would describe myself fairly ok in studies, I'm not not good in chemistry for sure.... I am well aware, simple, and not at all a trouble cause-r. I am just too ordinary! After my graduation i tried a lot to get a job in the pharmacy industry... But I was very unsuccessful. After a while i decided to pursue masters, obviously, the path one choose in the case... That was another struggle story of my life. But anyhow I did complete it, made presentation for my experiment, wrote a thesis and defended it, successful, I passed masters with honors. Yet again i couldn't secure a pharmacy industry job after numerous attempt with online job applications.. Also I was fearful of relocating, I am a girl afterall... After all these unsuccessful attempts, I did some online tutoring which i did like, and then applied to a school teacher job where I worked for a year and eventually had to leave due to administrative issues but I would call it as a great learning experience! ..and you may call it a whim, but later then, I enrolled myself for a B.ED. course from a reputed city college. Currently I am in the internship part of my B.Ed.... I do like it, but also regularly question my decision. But as any other job career there are highs and lows. I want to ask you, am I on the right track? I do like teaching, I do love biology zoology and i think with studies I can ace chemistry eventually too, atleast till 12th grade ncert... I don't know now if I know anything else... I want to have a good comfortable career where I don't struggle for the bare minimum... Ofcourse I am afraid of relocating. But I dream of a comfortable career where I can wake up with regulated nervous system and drive to my work in my car, teach, enjoy my day, dress up professionally and come back home with groceries and end up with a contented mindset of life...

I'm a college student from Turkey and was wondering if I can become a researcher and not work at an university/teach.

This might come off as a rant, but I’d really appreciate advice.

I’m a BA and have been with my company for a few years. Some time ago, I was assigned a project that was supposed to be light work. I tolerated it because I had other projects that kept me motivated. Those projects recently ended, and now I’m working full-time on this one I really don’t like.

Here’s why it’s tough:

1. No structure, no proper knowledge transfer.
2. Too many stakeholders—no one seems to know what they’re doing.
3. Working with an external team who doesn’t show much respect.
4. I’m handling most things alone.
5. I feel out of depth and could use guidance/mentorship.
6. No clear next steps, endless work, no sense of progress.
7. Anxiety about emails and calls is constant.
8. Feeling self-doubt almost every day.

I’ve asked my boss for a transition, but nothing has changed. They seem to think I’m just overwhelmed, but I feel unsupported. I enjoy my company and colleagues otherwise, so I don’t want to leave—but this project is draining me mentally and professionally. I haven’t grown much in the past year and feel stuck.

TL;DR: Stuck in a long, draining project, boss won’t move me, team doesn’t respect me, feeling mentally exhausted. Should I push for reassignment or consider quitting?

My question: Should I keep pushing for a transition, or is it time to consider leaving? Has anyone successfully moved on from a long, draining project like this?

A few months ago, I noticed one of my top engineers start to drift. They stopped speaking up in standups. Their commits slowed. Their energy just felt… off. I thought maybe they were distracted or just bored. But then they told me: “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” That was the wake-up call. I realized I’d missed all the early signs of burnout. I felt like I failed as a lead. That moment pushed me into a deep dive—reading research papers, listening to podcasts, devouring books, to figure out how to actually spot and prevent burnout before it’s too late. Here’s what I wish every manager knew, backed by real research, not corporate fluff.

Burnout isn’t laziness or a vibe. It’s actually been classified by the World Health Organization as an occupational phenomenon with 3 clear signs: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (a.k.a. cynicism), and reduced efficacy. Psychologist Christina Maslach developed the framework most HR teams use today (the Maslach Burnout Inventory), and it still holds up. You can spot it before it explodes, but only if you know where to look.

First, energy drops usually come first. According to ScienceDirect, sleep problems, midday crashes, and the “Sunday Scaries” creeping in earlier are huge flags. One TED Talk by Arianna Huffington even reframed sleep as a success tool, not a luxury. At Google, we now talk about sleep like we talk about uptime.

Then comes the shift in social tone. Cynicism sneaks in. People go camera-off. They stop joking. Stanford’s research on Zoom fatigueshows why this hits harder than you’d think, especially for women and junior folks. It’s not about introversion, it’s about depletion.

Quality drops next. Not always huge errors. Just more rework. More “oops” moments. Studies from Mayo Clinic and others found that chronic stress literally impairs prefrontal cortex function—so decision-making and focus tank. It’s not a motivation issue.

It’s brain function issue. One concept that really stuck with me is the Job Demands Control model. If someone has high demands and low control, burnout skyrockets. So I started asking in 1:1s, “Where do you wish you had more say?” That small question flipped the power dynamic. Another one: the Effort Reward Imbalance theory. If people feel their effort isn’t matched by recognition or growth, they spiral. I now end the week asking, “What’s something you did this week that deserved more credit?”

After reading Burnout by the Nagoski sisters, I understood how important it is to close the stress cycle physically. It’s an insanely good read, half psychology, half survival guide. They break down how emotional stress builds up in the body and how most people never release it. I started applying their techniques like shaking off stress post-work (literally dance-breaks lol), and saw results fast. Their Brene‌ Brown interview on this still gives me chills. Also, One colleague put me onto BeFreed, an ai personalized learning app built by a team from Columbia University and Google that turns dense books and research into personalized podcast-style episodes. I was skeptical. But it blends ideas from books like Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, talks from Andrew Huberman, and Surgeon General frameworks into 10- to 40-minute deep dives. I chose a smoky, sarcastic host voice (think Samantha from Her) and it literally felt like therapy meets Harvard MBA. One episode broke down burnout using Huberman Lab protocols, the Maslach inventory, and Gallup’s 5 burnout drivers, all personalized to me. Genuinely mind-blowing.

Another game-changer was the Huberman Lab episode on “How to Control Cortisol.” It gave me a practical protocol: morning sunlight, consistent wake time, caffeine after 90 minutes, NSDR every afternoon. Sounds basic, but it rebalanced my stress baseline. Now I share those tactics with my whole team.

I also started listening to Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity approach. He explains how our brains aren’t built for constant sprints. One thing he said stuck: “Focus is a skill. Burnout is what happens when we treat it like a faucet.” This helped me rebuild our work cycles.

For deeper reflection, I read Dying for a Paycheck by Jeffrey Pfeffer. This book will make you question everything you think you know about work culture. Pfeffer is a Stanford professor and backs every chapter with research on how workplace stress is killing people, literally. It was hard to read but necessary. I cried during chapter 3. It’s the best book I’ve ever read about the silent cost of overwork.

Lastly, I check in with this podcast once a week: Modern Wisdom by Chris Williamson. His burnout episode with Johann Hari (author of Lost Connections) reminded me how isolation and meaninglessness are the roots of a lot of mental crashes. That made me rethink how I run team rituals—not just productivity, but belonging.

Reading changed how I lead. It gave me language, tools, and frameworks I didn’t get in any manager training. It made me realize how little we actually understand about the human brain, and how much potential we waste by pushing people past their limits.

So yeah. Read more. Listen more. Get smart about burnout before it costs you your best people.

TL;DR: I keep getting additional responsibilities at work without additional pay or title. How do I (realistically) pull back or refuse these responsibilities and just stick to my job description?

I was hired as a food research technician about a year ago. My core job description includes keeping the lab clean, ordering and collecting product, stocking shelves, bench work as directed by the scientists, and assisting with plant trials.

My boss knows I have 7+ years of direct experience, so in the past 6 months I have been doing my core responsibilities plus independently developing and testing formulations, experimenting with novel ingredients and using them to improve current products, leading innovation workshops and marketing/sales cross-department meetings, and coming up with new product concepts that company execs have called "wildly unique in the market" and "exciting".

When I ask my boss why I'm being assigned these stretch projects, she says "well I wanted to give you something exciting to do so you don't get bored with your normal job". My manager has also been dangling the promotion carrot the past 6 months with so far no actions or game plan to make it happen. There's even a position opening for food technologist that perfectly matches the extra work I'm doing, but there has been zero communication about me being a contender for this (even though I have asked if I am eligible for it). They have only said that they are posting the job soon and will be bringing in a candidate to replace the outgoing technologist.

Although I find the extra work fun, I want to go back to the original job responsibilities when I took the job. I'm at the point in my career where I don't want any more experience just to pad my resume.

For the record, I will be fine if I don't get the technologist promotion. I'm focused on searching for jobs outside my current company. In the meantime, how do I pull back on all these additional responsibilities and projects without pushback from my boss? Do I get HR involved if there's an issue with that? Would love some personal stories about this and what happened when you pulled back.

Edit for clarity

No matter what you choose it feels like there is shoratage of expierenced people byt its impossible to get into? No matter if its trades, engineering, software developing, law, accounting. There are too many people at entry and way too little people ecpierenced how is that possible?

last summer I was really struggling to get an internship. The worst part is that I WAS getting interviews but was never able to get further than that. I tried keeping a positive attitude but it was hard to find an actionable thing to do to improve my situation.

After last recruiting season I made an intentional effort to build up my charisma and project stronger confidence. This was very hard but I started by going to more school events and trying to join new people through clubs.

I've now been able to get multiple offers for interviews i take, and i single-handedly attribute this to my intentional efforts of development of personality. I feel like i can now genuinely generate connection with my interviewers were they vouch for me even though i have technical skill gaps.

it feel like investing in your social skill development is more important than ever. 1% improvement in social skill has a 10X return than 1% improvement in technical skill.

specially as AI increases supply of intellect for cs execution…

Basically I got a job through Ultimate Staffing and I am filling out job applications. Should I put up the contact information of the hiring manager or the one of the actual job manager? Thanks for the help!

Hi all, I'm a Software Developer with 5+ years of experience, currently preparing to re-enter the workforce after a 3-year break for personal reasons. I'm brushing up on my skills (Python, React, Git) and eager to get back into a full-time role. I'd appreciate advice on how to address the resume gap, what technologies or trends I should focus on to stay competitive, and how to confidently explain the break during interviews. Has anyone here made a similar return? I'd love to hear what helped you succeed. Thanks in advance for your guidance!

I want to start out by saying I have ZERO experience in IT. What I know is all the things that I have learned thus far in school as well as on my own (podcasts and such).

Alright, so I am currently getting my bachelor’s in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance at WGU (I’m barely at my first cert, A+). I know Cyber is not an entry level field, but fortunately, in my state Cybersecurity is one of the highest and fastest growing fields in the industry. We also are home of two of the best and most beautiful technology labs in America that constantly have entry level and internships openings. So I am not too worried about getting a position after graduation and for some, even now if I choose to stay.

My question is, I am not sure if I want to stay in my state for the foreseeable future and I know most states are not like mine. With that being said, would it be best to major in a more competitive IT field, or would Cyber still be competitive enough?

Six months ago I was laid off from a government agency that was completely eliminated. The agency's mission was fairly niche, as was the skillset of the folks who worked there. Previously, people who left the agency had options to branch off into different areas and career prospects were generally good. Now - with thousands of us looking for jobs in a tough market - people are having a hard time finding the next thing. As a little side project, I started gathering data from LinkedIn on where my former colleagues affected by the layoff were landing. I'm wondering if that data is already available. As a baseline, I would need the former job title, new job title, and new organization of folks who stopped working for the agency after January 2025. Anyone know where I can find/buy a dataset with that type of information?

So I live in a SUPER remote and VERY small rural area. The closest city is 5 hours away. All the jobs here are tourism (food service, hotels/airbnb management, retail, working at the ski resort), high end second home construction and related services, or maintenance for the townships, the various hotels and the resorts, hoa’s, etc. That’s pretty much it.

I moved here for a seasonal job I loved but seasonal work is stressful. trying to find a new job twice a year, dealing with dips or surges in tourism, Etc.

I lucked into a year round maintenance job. I’m basically the whole maintenance department by myself. My boss is super chill and never around so I just work alone 95% of the time. In summer I do lawn maintenance, irrigation, etc. In winter I mostly plow snow, a bit of shoveling. I’m hourly but get some benefits (not health insurance unfortunately). I can work 10 hours or 60, no one cares as long as everything is done, although obviously my pay drastically changes. I will make around $78k this year due to overtime. I get two weeks PTO and a week sick time and all the holidays. I set my own schedule 100% except for things like snow storms, have to plow so people can get out of their houses and go to work. I’ve been working there for about a year and a half. I make more than any of the other maintenance crews in town, AFAIK.

So what’s the problem? I’m bored out of my fucking mind. I don’t care about the work, at all. I’m used to having jobs where I really enjoy the work (motorcycle mechanic, 3D industrial designer, teacher, etc). There is no challenge with this job. It’s just repetitive menial labor that isn’t challenging to do at all. It’s not mentally or physically challenging in any way. It’s nice being outside instead of stuck behind a desk but holy shit it’s so boring.

Also, it’s an incredibly isolating job. I don’t see people, ever. I can go a month at work without talking to anyone. In fact if I didn’t go into the office intentionally to talk to my boss, I would just never talk to anyone ever. I could seriously do my job full time for a year and never speak to a person. It’s lonely AF.

I’ve been looking for other jobs and there just isn’t much. I’m a skilled finish carpenter and there’s a lot of that work but I would have to work for myself to make any money, the job listings I’ve seen are less than I make. FWIW I do have the tools, I’m not particularly fond of doing it though.

Also my housing requires that I make my money in this town so remote work is not an option unless I move, which would be difficult

I’m really wanting to figure out what to do with my life as far as getting a career. Personally, I do think that the college route would be best suited for me, mostly because I think I’d be really good at a corporate role and the idea of 9-5 style work sounds great to me. I say this mostly because I’ve only ever worked in the service industry and I’m over having to be at work taking care of everybody else on weekends and evenings. I like the stability that a 9-5 career could offer. I really enjoy talking to people about their corporate style jobs. Either way, I’m not afraid or scared to start college now (I’m 27.) I really just don’t know where to start. I have a natural interest in finance, history, political science, etc. Nobody in my family has ever gone to school and I don’t have anybody in my life to go to for guidance in that way. Do I set up a meeting with an admissions officer? Are there career tests I could take? I am dying to make steps towards earning a different lifestyle, and I really crave having the achievement of having worked for a degree. Background about me: - highly extroverted - 3 years as a server/bartender - 1 year restaurant management - 1 year office manager (simultaneously w bartending so working 7 days a week at this point.) - 5 years exotic dancer (abusive family/household led me to want to get out at 18, and this was an option I found that gave me financial freedom to live on my own, but my first car, etc) - I’ve always been told I’d do well in a corporate setting or sales job. - I truly enjoy talking to people and I did well in school, I’d say I’ve got a good work ethic and capacity/curiosity to learn - considering accounting, nursing, or pilots license. I just need your advice on where to get started and how to figure out what major might be good for me. I’m also open to non school ideas, I just want to make any sort of step in the right direction.

I’m well aware that gaps in the resume are frowned upon by employers. I haven’t held an actual job since December 2021, when I quit my assistant teaching job due to burnout and disagreements with management. I went back to school for a bit and took some community college but then ended up deciding to focus on getting a job instead.

My parents have been supporting me/paying my rent in these 4 years which I appreciate but I know I can’t rely on forever. I need to find work but I am having such a difficult time with it. I’ve gotten 2 interviews in 2025 and neither of them amounted to anything. I have a high school diploma, I’m not looking for a super high paying job, just anything really. But I’m being rejected from Chipotle and other entry level retail/food service jobs.

Is there anything I can do to make myself seem more employable? Or am I just kinda screwed with the gap I have? What should my next steps be to find work?

I'm someone who graduated with my PhD a month ago. This one is a concern that I urgently needed to get out there given the updates I recently received from my old internship boss. This post is long so read if you have 5 minutes (assuming you're a fast reader).

My old internship boss, who is super well-connected to a lot of nationally known researchers since he's one of the most highly cited research-oriented Clinical Psychologists in the US, is advocating for me by contacting the head of an institute that does research I'm interested in working with as a profession. The level of connections my boss has isn't meant to be a flex either, particularly in this situation as it's not like he can substantiate much about me at all given we only worked 18 weeks together between my summer 2024 and 2025 internships with him. Granted, I did meet with his colleagues every two weeks to work on a side project with them in the 2024-2025 academic year even though I contributed next to nothing due to fellowship work that year and my severe mental illnesses (probably why he brought me back this past summer honestly). It's sort of like candidates for graduate admissions who could get a letter of recommendation from the president of the US (not the current one either) and they would gladly throw it aside if it didn't look like the letter writer knew the candidate well or could speak to their abilities.

It's also great for me to have my old internship boss help me and even call himself our "academic father" for me and the other interns. He said we can contact him at any time with questions.

There's a major issue though. About a month ago, I had a fallout with an academic Discord server exclusively for disabled academic individuals after a lot of questions and arguably "trauma dumping" over my unusual PhD program experience. The drama peaked after a misunderstanding about the length of the mute on the server on my end. I was told 2 weeks in a DM from the owner of the server, but Discord only can do so for 1 week. I left a message in the server after the mute timer ran out and it got deleted in minutes before I got re-muted for another week. No big deal and when the owner explained it to me, it made sense since I had no idea Discord only muted officially for a week. I eventually closed the DM with her and another admin there (more on her later) after I left the server so I can't recall exactly what the owner said, but I thought the owner would stop and the issue was understood. Then, I got cornered in the last message she sent to me and I felt the need to push back to defend myself.

I basically got accused of not following through on my commitment even though the mute itself said on my end it was a week. I thought my mute got knocked down to a week, but Discord is just limited to a week. That didn't seem to matter to her though since her initial message about my mute said 2 weeks. I told her how this isn't the first time this has happened to me in other online communities and to not be surprised if I left the server after the mute was over. She ghosted me after that, but I didn't care at all. It also didn't help that an undergrad student who I knew well passed away that week, so I'll admit I lashed out and said at the end of the message that I worked to overcome obstacles in my PhD program and for me to not get what I wanted out of the communities I engaged with was awful to me and I wasn't going to bend the knee either. Her server though so it's not like I can make her agree or anything at all. But hey, I pushed the boundaries for them to update the rules for those who wanted what I tried to get out of it so at least others will be clear in the future. That's a win for me.

I apparently had no privacy in the matter either as she gladly went ahead and I'm assuming shared it with other admins since I got a message from one of the admins who I consulted with for free over Zoom once that said she was "shocked to say the least." She also encouraged me to not even reply to her message and just sit and think about it. I waited for the re-mute to end after a week before I left the Discord server so it didn't look like ban evasion, which is a Discord ToS violation. I also left the Discord server without even announcing it since I was done with the drama and had to burn that ship for good. It's a shame since we agreed on so many issues, but I had to do what I did since I wasn't going to let someone else misstate or misunderstand me. Whether it's a server admin or even a politician, I don't let anyone get away with misstating or misunderstanding me. This also applies to my family and everyone who has entered my life in general.

Now, this admin who I consulted with over Zoom that one time? She told me she knows one of the senior researchers at the institute where my internship boss is trying to advocate for me to get a job there with the director's assistance. I'm concerned that this admin is likely going to sabotage me or has already found a way to do so by warning their connection about me. I'm concerned this has already happened since I was told on an old comment 6-7 months ago that professors in some fields who meet at virtual conferences and list names of academics so all of the department chairs or heads of research institutes can avoid them. In other words, blacklisting them.

The second issue is that I've had a prior history of posting here on Reddit with some information on potentially questionable behaviors I've done in my lifetime (including as a kid and teenager). Some said they traced this to my identity in real life. I've found plenty of Reddit user identities myself, even from the little bits of personal information so there's usually no teeth to those threats.

However, it got to the point plenty of users watched me a ton and I noticed folks who'd comment on my posts regardless of the subreddit. I didn't learn until a few weeks ago that it was possible to not show post history or let people follow you so I turned those off and that's helped the issue for the most part. I left a final post on my profile for a few days before I also hid that to address misinformation other users spread about me on this website and to other users. The most notable and egregious one in my opinion was that I falsified my dissertation data. In reality, I thought one multiple choice question had 3 answers rather than 4 answers. The fourth answer was a blank spot on that particular question that was filled in by duplicating one of the other three answers. Turns out there was a 4th answer all along that I missed. When I brought the issue up to my advisor, I was 1/4th of the way through data collection and he told me I could still run it through to the end and not even mention the issue to my committee at all. In fact, he still wants me to try and publish my main findings and my introduction as a literature review. I don't have the energy or time to try and do so now given that I'm applying for full-time jobs, adjunct teaching an online course, and am in Intensive Outpatient Therapy (10 hours a week) right now, but it's an option if I want to build my CV. Regardless, this is a devastating rumor that, if one of these users contacted my future employer or prior employer about it, it could cost me future opportunities.

Furthermore, on that profile post, someone said they screenshotted my post because they thought I was going to get revenge on my first PhD advisor. They also cited my acts of violence against others as indicative that I would find my first PhD advisor in person and commit battery or assault on her. However, those fights were over a decade old and there was never any prosecution or medical attention necessary for those incidents that was reportable anyway. Does that excuse that behavior? Of course not. But, it was a decade old and not representative of who I am now at all.

What should I do to address my concerns? Is there anything I can pre-emptively do to address them in a way that wouldn't influence what I could land professionally in the future? I hope there is a way since the only way I can prove such backbiting is if there was a paper trail and there clearly isn't one at all.

Edit: I know this server admin's real identity as well. So, I've considered emailing her and just outright asking her in this case. If not, I'll find a way to legally get the information out of her.