A man who was let go from his job role after being served papers with his damning search history has issued a nine-word warning to other young professionals.
26-year-old Josh Williams admitted he would waste hours at work Googling celebrities and cosmetic procedures on his old company computer.
His search history included ‘stupid stuff’, including looking at images of Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell and researching whether getting dental surgery in Turkey would ‘hurt’.
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As well as browsing the internet on his tech device, he would call in sick to his customer service administrator job with excuses he admits are ‘bloody stupid’.
Eventually, his habits caught up with him and he was met with a termination notice after bosses decided to comb through 50 hours worth of his search history.
Williams was allegedly asked to leave his 9-5, prompting him to take to social media to explain his side of the story—a decision he now ‘massively regrets’.
Speaking on the moment he was confronted with a print out of his browsing history, the content creator said: “It was quite embarrassing but I felt like because I had been sacked, I'm going to put it online.
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"I felt really rubbish. Obviously I'd spent all my savings going on holiday getting my teeth done to come back to no job.
"Obviously my rent wasn't being paid because I lost my job, I had no income coming in. I got behind on my bills I got behind on my rent.
"I knew I had no income coming in so I thought the only other source I've got is TikTok so that's why I decided to put it up on there."
Williams claimed the social media video discussing how he was sacked from his office job has impacted his future—and now he’s warning others off repeating his actions.
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He alleged he’d been turned down for a trio of similar roles after employees recognised him from his controversial video.
“When it came to me actually applying for other roles in the same sector, there were two or three jobs where I went in for the interview and they obviously recognised the video and said that my values didn't align with their company,” he explained.
"Basically saying we've seen your TikTok and we think you're sh*t and we're not having you here in other words.
"Obviously I didn't feel good about it. It made me feel quite embarrassed to be honest and quite ashamed of myself.”
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After being rejected from the roles, Williams has managed to find a job in the food industry as a supply chain coordinator.
“I didn't want to go into office-based roles knowing that potentially my face would have been seen,” he confessed.
“It really did backlash on me. I'm in a job now that I don't like at all, it's not me.
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"I feel like an idiot. I think I should have known better than to do that. But I think with my sort of ADHD and stuff I don't think things through I just tend to just do it in the moment.
"So yeah it was a silly thing to do, going forwards I hopefully maybe would have learned my lesson.”
After going through the ordeal, Williams now wants other budding social media stars to avoid the pitfalls he has fallen into.
“It might seem quite funny but I think looking at my situation and how it's impacted me I'd say is probably one of the worst things you can do for you know future jobs and your career path and stuff.
"Just be really cautious before you put anything online even if it is just in the heat of the moment."
Remember: deleting your digital footprint is next to impossible, so always think twice about what you put online.