By: Trends DeskNew Delhi | September 27, 2025 11:18 AM IST 3 min readFaced with the role mismatch and the junior colleague’s alleged rudeness, the Redditor says he now feels trapped and tornAn Indian man who recently joined a startup as operations manager has shared an uneasy experience on Reddit, opening up about his rocky first week on the job. In a post titled “Joined a startup, now a junior is ‘guiding’ me (rudely), what should I do?” he described feeling blindsided after being assigned a “mentor” who is technically much junior to him.The manager, who says he has over six years of experience, wrote that after the usual “act like a founder / think this is your company” pep talk, a newly promoted team lead “came up to me and started telling me where to sit, what to do, etc.”Confused, he asked why someone with less experience thought they could boss him around. According to the post, the fresher replied that he had been in the company for seven months, had a close relationship with the director, and was specifically asked to “guide” the newcomer.What made things worse, the manager claimed, was the attitude: “The issue is, he’s super rude and condescending, not actually being helpful. It’s making me really uncomfortable.”He also alleged that the actual job responsibilities didn’t match what he was promised. “I was hired for management/ops, but they now want me to handle customer calls ‘to understand the process’ and even learn SQL,” he wrote, adding that the HR and his point of contact simply told him, “This is a growing startup; things will be different.” He stressed that he comes from a management background, “not an entry-level trainee” one.Faced with the role mismatch and the junior colleague’s alleged rudeness, he says he now feels “trapped and torn between pushing back, trying to adjust, or simply moving on.”Take a look at the post: Screenshot of the Reddit PostThe post quickly attracted a flood of comments. Some urged him to take it up with the director. A user wrote, “Have a conversation with the director obviously, you are there to help the “director” or whatever fancy title he’s given himself scale up the company by doing what needs to be done, not get micro managed by some kid.”Story continues below this adAlso Read | ‘I feel suffocated’: government bank employee quits job after 15 years, reveals crushing workplace pressureAnother user added, “Talk to the director and push the kid by saying, I can manage on my own, you don’t need to point anything. I will ask if something is needed. Drop an email whenever you need something from him.”A third person commented, “It feels like a lala company. I suggest you leave now. I don’t think there is any point in staying there if you don’t know how to use your tongue effectively….”A fourth individual added, “Talk to your reporting manager and try to set expectations. If things do not work out, Leave. This is an indication of the culture being set up and it will only get worse!”© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd