A career expert has gone viral after stressing the importance of privacy in a workplace.
In a video with over 143,000 views, TikTok user Thu (@lazygirlglam22) tells a story about an overly-curious coworker who would ask for considerable information about her personal life.
@lazygirlglam22 ugh that one annoying ex co worker #careeradvice #corporatelife #fyp ♬ original sound – Thu | Career Advice
In the video, Thu says that the coworker turned push notifications on for all her social media posts, meaning that she would often be the first to see them after they are posted.
Thu claims the person in question was the “type of person to look up your address, see how much you pay for rent, and figure out how much money you made in the workplace.”
“The best way to combat a nosy co-worker is to shut them down in their tracks,” she advises.
In a follow-up TikTok, she explains how she combated this particular coworker.
@lazygirlglam22 Replying to @lilyumnums ♬ original sound – Thu | Career Advice
In this example, Thu claims that the coworker continually asked where she lived. In response, she always simply answered that her new location was “down the street from where I used to live,” regardless of the specificity of the question asked.
“…I let her literally play herself,” she concludes.
In comments, users seconded the notion of setting strong work-life and personal life boundaries.
“I never add coworkers on social media!!! Work life should be separate from private life IMO,” one user wrote.
“I only add coworkers on social media if they are ex coworkers and I’ve hung out with them outside of work, otherwise it’s a hell no!” another echoed.
“i’ve had one like this at my last 3 jobs (varying degrees of crazy) and I will flat out lie about my personal life,” a third shared. “Gotta throw them off the track!”
Others shared their own stories of nosy coworkers.
“Mine was my boss too, a nosey woman. She set up a 2020 zoom meeting and demanded to see all the rooms inside my house,” a TikToker recalled. “I quit.”
“Omg my old Sephora manager did this and even micromanaged what I did on social in my private life,” a second added. “like people have no boundaries!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Thu via email.
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