One of the most frustrating things about being lower on the corporate ladder than someone else is that sometimes it can feel like the people above you are taking credit for the work that you’re doing for them. Sometimes, that can be a metaphorical feeling, but as TikTokker Cristina Sevcenco shared in a viral video, sometimes it can be literal too.
Of course, Cristina found a perfect way to make sure she got the credit that she deserved.
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Cristina said that shortly after starting an office job, she prepared information for her manager.
“I walked by an office and saw my work being presented in a room full of very powerful people,” she told Buzzfeed . “However, my name was not once mentioned,” she added. “It broke my heart.”
While Cristina knew her work would be presented by her manager, she had assumed that her name would be attached to it.
Cristina then decided to include a hidden signature on her work.
Cristina added a watermark to her Powerpoint presentations that only showed up once the work had been downloaded — so only when her boss was saving it and putting it into their own slides.
Cristina didn’t get away scot-free with this genius plan, however.
“Days later, she asked her manager to talk to me about ‘how things work around here,'” she said.
“My career definitely slowed down. She didn’t give me as many projects anymore, [and] she was talking to everyone about how to perform better, [except] me. Later on, I found out they replaced me and I had 21 days to find another job.”
While that definitely sucks, it seems like Cristina might have dodged a bullet on this one.
“Sometimes people forget that they work with people, for people,” Cristina said.
“It doesn’t always have to be a competition. We can work together to grow. We don’t need to steal from each other.”
You can watch her viral TikTok here!
h/t: Buzzfeed
