Young worker says being ‘too honest’ at work was her biggest career mistake
A Singapore TikTok user has gone viral after sharing how being “too honest” in the workplace became one of her biggest career regrets.
TikTok user RachL, a freelance brand consultant, posted the video on 5 Dec 2025, recounting an incident from early in her working life that ended abruptly after she criticised her boss.
“One of my biggest career mistakes was criticising my boss,” she said in the video, adding that it had happened “at the start of my adult working career”.
The netizen, who prefers to be addressed by her online alias ‘RachL’, told MS News that the incident happened after she had worked in the company for three and a half months.
Boss asked for feedback, she answered honestly
RachL said she had joined a marketing company aligned with her training, having studied communications. About one to two months into the role, her boss scheduled a check-in.
“She asked me: ‘Oh, how do you find our company?’” RachL recalled. “And me being me, I just answered honestly.”
She proceeded to inform her boss that while she loves the team and working, the organisation of the company leaves more to be desired.
RachL explained that the firm was a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) that was still relatively young and lacked organisational structure.
Source: RachL on TikTok
Referencing to her experience interning at a bigger corporation, RachL said she was used to clearer systems and processes.
She then gave recommendations for how she thought the company “could be run a lot more efficiently”.
Asked to leave within half an hour
The response, however, came swiftly.
Half an hour after the meeting, RachL received an email from her boss that said: “I believe we have different visions and if you want to leave, you should leave”.
She ended her video with a blunt takeaway that one should “never answer too honestly in the workplace”.
Source: RachL on TikTok
Speaking to MS News, RachL revealed the incident happened about two years ago.
“The conversation took place when my probation was ending,” she said, adding that it was for a content producer role in the marketing industry.
Since then, RachL has settled into another role at a different company.
“I’m really happy with where I am at now,” she said. “So it felt like a safe moment of reflection that made me appreciate where I am at now and the people I currently work with.”
She thought she was being constructive
At the time, RachL said she genuinely believed she was contributing positively.
“My previous internship and work experiences had very open cultures, so I assumed feedback would naturally lead to a collaborative discussion,” she told MS News.
When the email arrived so quickly, her initial reaction was disbelief.
“I was pretty shocked,” she said, adding that she later came to understand her ex-boss’s perspective after speaking with colleagues.
Looking back, RachL said she would approach the situation with more sensitivity.
“Reading the room is very important,” she said. “I would probably try to understand my ex-boss a bit better before giving recommendations.”
Viewer reactions highlighted hierarchy in work culture
She was also surprised by how viewers reacted to her story.
“Many viewers seemed to take giving recommendations as a lack of humility,” she said.
Source: TikTok
While she still believes that people at all levels can offer valuable perspectives, the comments made her reflect on workplace dynamics.
“They made me realise how strongly humility and hierarchy shape how feedback is perceived, especially in certain work cultures.”
Rachl said she hopes her experience serves as a lesson for younger employees navigating their first jobs.
“I would advise young workers to be thoughtful about how they share feedback,” she told MS News.
“Building trust and understanding dynamics is an important part of workplace culture, but nobody teaches you this in school.”
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Featured image adapted from GHP News for illustration purposes only.
