A string of messages to a TikToker from her former manager at an internship she worked years ago has her offering up a stark reminder to viewers that you don’t owe anybody from your past your attention.
In February, Jess (@jessalbotra) recounted the story of an internship she worked when she was fresh out of college and pursuing journalism. It was a small company, and her manager was only a year older than her, but she hoped she would get some sort of mentorship out of the three-month gig. Unfortunately, the experience wound up being underwhelming, and she says she didn’t really talk to anyone from the company for the next six years.
But a month prior to her video, she received a LinkedIn message out of the blue from the aforementioned manager, which she shared on TikTok. It was harmless, just an acknowledgment that Jess has been working for Google and that the former manager has moved on to being a Marketing Manager, and would “love to catch up over a phone call soon.”
Jess says she opted not to respond, as she didn’t feel it was “coming from a genuine place,” based on her prior experiences with this person. Another month went by, and then another message came through that prompted her to make the video in the first place.
“Wow, it’s a shame to think that you’ve turned into the kind of person that you have,” the manager wrote. “I always detected a selfish opportunist side when you interned for me at [redacted] back in 2017, but for you to actually ignore a message from a former superior is beyond low.”
The woman went on to claim she “wasn’t messaging to beg for anything,” and that she hopes Jess is “part of the Google layoffs and may karma treat you deservingly both personally and professionally.”
@jessalbotra you 👏🏼 don’t 👏🏼 owe 👏🏼 anyone 👏🏼anything 👏🏼 #career #careeradvice #careertok #linkedin #greenscreensticker ♬ original sound – jess
Viewers were as flabbergasted by the escalation as Jess herself, and agreed that she was in the right for ignoring the initial contact attempt.
“Wow the response is unhinged—actually insane,” wrote one commenter.
“She only reached out to you after she saw you working at Google, clearly she’s the one with selfish agenda,” another pointed out. “I’m glad you ignored her.”
“She’s really using LinkedIn to burn bridges!!!” joked a further viewer.
And the story didn’t end there. Despite Jess making a point to black out the woman’s name and the name of the company they worked at together in the message, her video went viral and people eventually uncovered the woman’s identity, leading her to claim publicly she had been hacked.
“I was horrified to see that this fraud artist was sending a series of harassing and unprofessional messages to former colleagues,” the manager wrote on Instagram, per another video Jess shared. “The first message sent to the recipient in question was the real me, the next was after the hack. If you hear anything negatively about my reputation, please ignore.”
The claim sounded unbelievable enough to both Jess and her viewers as is, but the screenshot of a message the woman allegedly sent to someone else had them even more convinced this was a poorly thought-out attempt to cover up increasingly poor choices.
@jessalbotra Replying to @Alyssa #greenscreensticker ♬ original sound – jess
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jess via Instagram message for more information. But the escalating drama has driven home the point of her initial post—that sometimes it’s best to trust your gut and not respond to every message from people you are no longer in touch with.
“There’s a lot of people that you’ve worked with that literally do not have any of your best interests at heart, and they will switch up so quick,” she notes in one video. “You don’t owe anyone anything, even if you work for them.”
