Is it normal to have no training or supervision on a new job?
Accepting a role where the departing employee leaves immediately means being thrown into unfamiliar tasks alone on your second day with zero ongoing guidance. This lack of proper onboarding makes it nearly impossible to learn the job correctly and forces you to handle complex responsibilities without support.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 52.6× more often in r/nonprofit than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1emailing the former employee questions when they are availableDid this help you?
- 2researching and figuring things out independentlyDid this help you?
- 3Practicing a standard spiel by yourself in a model or vacant unitDid this help you?
- 4Telling clients upfront that you are newDid this help you?
- 5running work packages and proposals entirely through AI tools like Claude as instructed by the supervisorDid this help you?
- 6Searching through the system to see what the previous employee had doneDid this help you?
- 7Redoing simpler tasks independently to understand the processDid this help you?
- 8Trying to constantly call and chase the manager for guidanceDid this help you?
- 9Volunteers or implementers attempt to find external training resources or processes to help mitigate the lack of internal training.Did this help you?
- 10attempting to copy how predecessors did thingsDid this help you?
- 11trying to work independently without involving the managerDid this help you?
- 12learning to ride the bike at the same time as building itDid this help you?
- 13Trying to use AI to save yourselfDid this help you?
- 14Learning from mistakes and asking for help where unsureDid this help you?
- 15Paying for a SHRM membershipDid this help you?
- 16Finding an HR mentorDid this help you?
- 17Figuring out the benefits situation and payroll dutiesDid this help you?
- 18Learning what the staff doesDid this help you?
- 19Working alone and trying to figure things out independentlyDid this help you?
- 20Considering looking for a different jobDid this help you?
- 21looking at other jobs when put on a PIPDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So, I didn’t realize when I took this new IT job that I was the company’s new sysadmin, and not just regular IT.”source ↗
“I was hired as an accountant, but there was basically zero handover or training.”source ↗
“My direct manager, who was supposed to guide me, was often unavailable and was even absent most of the day.”source ↗
“After one month, I had received basically zero training.”source ↗
“Today, they told me I was fired after only one month.”source ↗
“Been there my guy. They don’t often want to train.”source ↗
“The accounting role was very messy to say there was no SOP, no real training, and a trial by fire attitude.”source ↗
“Yes zero handover i was searching in the system about the excel sheets and JV done by the predecessor”source ↗
“The part that is making me reconsider it is the training situation. The woman I would be replacing finishes next Friday. From what I understand, after she leaves I would essentially be responsible for the bookkeeping function myself.”source ↗
“What I don’t understand is how I’m supposed to properly learn those areas if the experienced person is leaving almost immediately.”source ↗
“I’m feeling very overwhelmed and desperately need a sense check.”source ↗
“the biggest challenge is the fact that my ED is unable to provide me with any guidance, institutional knowledge or context that I need in order to do my job.”source ↗
“unpaid intern finding it more and more difficult to stay motivated and discipline to want to continue working at this due to lack of substitute organization guidance and over reliance on AI.”source ↗
“I’m not getting actual guidance from the supervisor, nothing on the fundamentals for me to hand write it myself first before asking ai to revise”source ↗
“Ask me what the org is actually capable of, what kinds of tasks we undertake in these projects, what staff/resources/networks we have to carry out a work package, or even what we wouldn’t commit to, and I genuinely could not tell you 😭 that’s how lost I am.”source ↗
“One constant has been the organization expecting the finance or accounting staff to pick up a new and complex software without any training.”source ↗
“I feel like i wrote this. I dont have any insight but I hope others do.”source ↗
“This is a genuinely unworkable situation.”source ↗
“I felt like I wasn’t properly trained.”source ↗
“I will have to work by myself the upcoming weekend and don’t know what to expect or really navigate things.”source ↗
“So I just started part time as a leasing agent for an apartment company yesterday. yesterday was my only training day for 5 hours. I then we left alone for most of the day and had to do a tour all on my own based off what i learned yesterday.”source ↗
“is it normal for people to run the office alone on their 2nd day?”source ↗
“What advice would you have for someone who has no HR-related background, has never been in HR before, and got drafted as HR manager for their company (on top of their previous duties) when the previous HR manager quit?”source ↗
“Where does one even start?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Can I wear sneakers for a construction tryout if I have no work boots?
- 8How to learn advanced HVAC tech without formal training
- 9New hire interviewed well but can't do the job
- 6Why can't I get a job as a generalist?
- 7Why do I feel so anxious and unprepared before starting a first internship?
- 14Should I take a very low-paying entry-level job out of desperation?