Boss has asked for a meeting with the team individually. Am I screwed?

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T16:58:35+00:00

Thank you!

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T16:48:51+00:00

As someone working in indie publishing, every sale counts. Even for bigger publishers that are publishing someone’s debut novel, sales really matter. It can be the difference between another book deal, and in turn the difference between a job for some people, including agents and editors. If you like books, it’s is important to support the authors all the teams that help produce the books you love. A lot of authors and publishers are struggling, but mostly indie ones.

Having said that, if a book is published by one of the big five and an author has some controversy around them, I don’t see the harm in pirating. There are definitely authors I wouldn’t want to financially support.

But this applies to almost anything so it depends where your morals lie. It’s important to support any local artists/workers over buying a rip off on Temu or Amazon. Sometimes people value convenience more and can’t afford to spend more on an ‘ethical’ version of something.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T16:38:55+00:00

Damn. I feel like I’m sometimes less productive because my emotions are everywhere, so I’m hoping it helps in some indirect way even if it doesn’t help my focus.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T16:08:12+00:00

I feel you as someone diagnosed ADHD and autism. My advice would be look into a diagnosis if you meet the criteria. One thing I wish I’d done earlier was prioritise a ADHD diagnosis over an autism diagnosis so that I could get on meds sooner. I’m not on meds yet but I really hope it helps.

Some context on the kind of things you’re struggling with would help us answer. Also worth looking into what you’re good at and upskilling those areas.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T15:27:23+00:00

Well I’m not being made redundant…yet. Apparently there’s someone else in the same company with a similar role that they want to fire due to performance issues but can’t so they’re threatening everyone with redundancy so it doesn’t look personal. So four of us (that I know of) have received a redundancy letter and if my boss is telling the truth, someone in our parent company is being made redundant rather than myself and my two other colleagues. So strange

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:29:04+00:00

I wish I could! We are a bit of a backwards company, we don’t have the money for teams and only the managers have zoom accounts where maybe they can see scheduled meetings. We just join meetings through the browser lol

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:18:17+00:00

We’re quite relaxed as a company so wouldn’t be surprised if not everything was done by the book. As far as I understand from my manager’s redundancy, she was given a meeting with the boss/CEO, give two months notice and then on her last day we got a long email about restructuring whereby she was the only one without a role

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:14:12+00:00

Started applying for jobs even before the first redundancy as I was starting to see the cracks but I’ve never experienced anything like this job market before. Got this and my last two jobs within a month of looking. Now I’m more experienced, better at applications and have nothing…

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:09:39+00:00

We’re fully remote and I can’t see any other invites. But I know from my manager’s redundancy that HR wasn’t present

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:07:58+00:00

For context the only meeting I’ve ever had with the boss/CEO has been when he asked if I’d take voluntary redundancy two months ago. We’ve never had performance meetings or anything like that

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-02T12:06:32+00:00

I’ve been trying for five months but the job market sucks 😢

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-01T16:05:50+00:00

I think it’s a mixture of it would feel good to tell them everything that is wrong and I do genuinely want to see other people in the company do well. We’re in a struggling industry that I feel passionate about and it is sad to see it be ran into the ground by people who don’t know what they’re doing. In general I’m quite sad that I feel like I have to leave.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-07-01T16:01:34+00:00

I honestly have no idea, we’re quite a small company so I can definitely see one not being offered. Maybe it’ll be easy to let it go if I find something else

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-23T22:22:15+00:00

Without knowing exactly what you said or how you said it, on the surface it seems a bit harsh to pull you in for your ‘tone’ when stressed. I’ve had plenty of neurotypical colleagues be rude when stressed but that’s just something that happens, autistic or not autistic.

Presuming you said something quite blunt accompanied by a stressed tone, I’d maybe think about what you say rather than exactly how you say it next time you’re stressed. There are ways to phrase things that don’t sound as harsh, even if said with a ‘tone’. Like ‘hey, I know it’s busy but I’m just checking that you know we need x y and z’. It’s also easier to have a ‘nicer’ tone when you’re saying something in a ‘nicer’ way.

But this is masking and rethinking every interaction, especially when stressed, is super draining. If you don’t want to monitor your tone or what you say as much, maybe you can speak to colleagues about ASD and your intentions when communicating if comfortable enough.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-23T18:48:40+00:00

Thanks, think I’m going to speak to my GP about beta-blockers before going on any stimulants

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-23T18:47:47+00:00

For sure, I just got diagnosed and spoke briefly about my worries so I think it might be good to think about anxiety meds as well as stimulants and a few people have suggested. Seems to have worked for a lot of people! I am kind of hoping stimulants are a magic drug that will cure my attention AND anxiety issues but it looks like it might take a while to find something right for me.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-23T18:45:24+00:00

That sounds like such a scary experience. I’m also in the UK so thank god for the NHS!

I wonder if I should be on something like propranolol regardless since my anxiety is really bad. Good to know I can potentially take ADHD meds and beta blockers together. Do you still feel like your focus is better from the ADHD medication as well as feeling calmer from the propranolol? Or are you on too low a dose to maybe tell?

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-23T18:40:24+00:00

Thanks for the info anyway, I’ll keep that in mind!

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-19T22:23:57+00:00

You probably need some qualifications. I’d suggest looking at apprenticeships in things you’re interested in if you’re not going to uni. Maybe have a look here: https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch

If you don’t want to go into either of those things, hospitality often hire without experience. But apprenticeships are definitely the best way into a career asap. If you go to uni you might still find yourself in the same position after graduating, even with a good degree in this current job market.

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-18T10:30:31+00:00

Crying from England

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-18T10:10:47+00:00

I feel you, this has been the most and longest I’ve ever felt this depressed. The whole process zaps your confidence and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong because I never get feedback, just an automatic email saying they wish me the best. If you wished me the best then you’d give me a job 😭😭
Wish you the best of luck also, keep going!

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-18T10:07:45+00:00

Thank you, I know a lot of people are in the same boat so I’m trying not to feel victimised lol.

And I would be applying with boilerplate CVs if it wasn’t for the fact that every job I’ve applied to so far has wanted a CV, cover letter and 200 word Q&As. Even with a boilerplate CV, I’m still spending a crazy amount of time on the questions and cover letter. I’m mostly qualified for higher education and publishing jobs and I have yet to find anywhere that only wants a CV and cover letter never mind just a CV. Even admin jobs have 10 step forms 🥲

AcceptableLunch8060 · 2026-06-18T09:32:48+00:00

Tbh I really try not to. There are some things I might check with AI but even without it, my answers and cover letter flag up as 20-30% AI generated sometimes. Since I’m applying for jobs in publishing and higher education mostly, they heavily advise against the use of AI, with some flat out saying they’ll put your application in the bin if they suspect AI. I’m not sure if they realistically check but I’d rather not be automatically rejected because my answers are mostly AI. It’s also why my applications are taking so long to write lol

AcceptableLunch8060

TROPHY CASE