Candidate Accepts Two Full-Time Jobs Simultaneously, Gets Caught On First Day At Both

Remote work opened up new possibilities for everyone. For most people, that means working from home in sweatpants. For one ambitious software engineer, that meant "Why work one remote job when I can work TWO and make double the money?"

Spoiler alert: it did not go well.

The Setup: Double The Offers, Double The Money

Meet "David" (name changed because this man has suffered enough). David is a mid-level software engineer who interviewed at multiple companies during the summer of 2024. He received offers from two different tech companies—let's call them Company A and Company B—both fully remote positions.

Company A: $145K base salary, Series B startup, backend development role. Company B: $135K base salary, mid-size SaaS company, full-stack development role.

David had heard about the "overemployed" movement—people secretly working multiple remote jobs simultaneously to maximize income. The idea: both jobs are remote, meetings are limited, and if you're efficient, you can manage both workloads without anyone knowing.

David thought: "I'm a solid engineer. I can make this work. That's $280K per year. Life-changing money."

What could possibly go wrong?

The Plan: Carefully Orchestrated Chaos

David planned meticulously. He set up two separate home office spaces—one desk for Company A, one for Company B. Separate laptops, separate monitors, separate webcams, separate backgrounds.

He reviewed both companies' meeting schedules during the interview process to ensure there weren't obvious conflicts. Company A had daily standups at 9:30 AM. Company B had standups at 10 AM. Perfect—30 minutes apart, totally doable.

He created elaborate calendar management systems, used different email addresses, kept separate Slack workspaces, and even bought two separate phone lines so he could list different numbers on each company's HR forms.

David negotiated start dates so both jobs would begin the same week. He figured if he started them at the same time, it'd be easier to manage expectations about his initial learning curve and ramp-up period.

He felt brilliant. Confident. Prepared.

The universe had other plans.

First Day: When Everything Goes Sideways Immediately

Monday, 8:45 AM: David logs into Company A's onboarding session. Welcome presentations, HR paperwork, IT setup. Standard first-day stuff.

Monday, 9:30 AM: Company A's engineering standup. David introduces himself, shares a bit about his background, expresses excitement to be on the team. So far, so good.

Monday, 9:55 AM: Company B's onboarding starts. David transitions to his second desk, different laptop, different webcam. He's sweating a bit but managing.

Monday, 10:30 AM: Company B's engineering standup. David introduces himself again—different company, different team, different script he'd prepared.

Monday, 11:00 AM: Both companies announce surprise all-hands meetings. For the same time. 2:00 PM.

David panics. All-hands meetings are typically mandatory, especially on your first day. Skipping would be a terrible first impression. But attending both simultaneously seems impossible.

David decides to try anyway. He's come this far.

2:00 PM: The Disaster Unfolds

David positions himself between both desks. Company A's all-hands on the left laptop. Company B's all-hands on the right laptop. Both on mute. Both cameras off initially (he claimed "technical difficulties" in both chats).

He's listening to both meetings simultaneously with earbuds in one ear for each company. It's chaotic but technically working. He's nodding along to both CEOs' welcome speeches, hoping nobody notices his camera is still off.

Then Company A's engineering manager says: "Let's go around and have all the new hires introduce themselves on camera. David, you're first!"

Panic. Pure panic.

David unmutes and turns on his camera for Company A. He gives a 30-second introduction—who he is, his background, why he's excited to be here.

He forgets to mute himself on Company B.

Company B's all-hands is at the exact moment transitioning to Q&A. Someone asks a question. The COO starts answering. David's mic is picking up the audio from Company A's meeting.

Someone on Company B's call types in chat: "Is someone else in another meeting? I'm hearing cross-talk."

David realizes his mistake. Frantically mutes Company B. But the damage is done.

Worse: Company A's manager asks him a follow-up question. David is flustered, distracted by what just happened on Company B's call, and gives a rambling, incoherent answer.

Both meetings end. David is sweating through his shirt. He thinks maybe he got away with it. Nobody said anything directly to him.

He did not get away with it.

3:30 PM: The Reckoning

Company A's HR calls. "Hey David, do you have a minute? We need to talk."

The engineering manager noticed David seemed distracted during the all-hands. Then someone from IT flagged that David's IP address showed activity on another company's VPN during work hours. Company A has monitoring software that detected David logging into another corporate network while on their company laptop.

They ask him directly: "Are you working another job right now?"

David tries to lie. Says it's a side project. Consulting work. Nothing that would interfere with his full-time role.

HR isn't buying it. They've already done some basic LinkedIn/Google searches. They found evidence suggesting he might be employed elsewhere.

They give him an ultimatum: resign today or be terminated for violating the employment agreement (which explicitly prohibits concurrent full-time employment without approval).

David resigns from Company A. Effective immediately.

4:15 PM: It Gets Worse

Company B's manager Slacks him: "Hey, can we jump on a quick call?"

Turns out someone on Company B's all-hands call recognized Company A's CEO's voice bleeding through David's microphone. They Googled it, found Company A's recent all-hands recordings, and realized what was happening.

Company B terminates him for "misrepresentation and violation of employment terms". Their employment contract also prohibits concurrent full-time employment.

David went from two jobs and $280K in annual income to zero jobs in less than 6 hours.

The Aftermath: Now What?

David now has to explain on future job applications and interviews why he left two jobs after one day. Background checks will show he was employed at two companies simultaneously for exactly one day.

Both companies flagged him internally as "do not rehire". If he applies to any company that does backchannel reference checks with Company A or Company B's employees, word will spread.

The tech industry is small. People talk. David's stunt became a cautionary tale shared on Reddit, Hacker News, and Blind.

The Lesson: Don't Do This

Look, we're not here to moralize about the "overemployed" trend. Some people successfully work multiple remote jobs—though it's ethically questionable and often violates employment contracts.

But if you're going to try something this bold, maybe—MAYBE—make sure you're not attending all-hands meetings for both companies at the same time on Day 1.

The reality: most employment contracts explicitly prohibit working another full-time job without approval. Companies have increasingly sophisticated monitoring tools that can detect this behavior. And even if you don't get caught technically, the stress and logistics of juggling two jobs often leads to poor performance at both.

David learned this the hard way. He went from feeling like a genius with a $280K master plan to unemployed and unhireable in less than a day.

Remote work offers flexibility and autonomy. But it's not a free pass to deceive employers and double-dip on full-time salaries—especially when you're attending their all-hands meetings simultaneously with your mic on.

The moral of the story: If you're going to do something shady, at least mute yourself properly.

Better yet: just don't.

Sources:

The Daily Hire