I just got fired from what I thought was my dream job, and I don’t know how to handle this.

I work as a Solutions Consultant in Hyderabad. It’s been a demanding role, but I’ve loved the challenge and felt like I was building something meaningful for my career. After months of working overtime to meet deadlines, I decided to take a much-needed vacation to the Northeast. It was my first real break in years.

A week into my trip, I received an email with the subject line: "Employment Status". My stomach dropped. I opened it, and it was a termination letter. No warning, no discussion - just an impersonal email saying I was no longer part of the company.

I immediately called my manager, trying to make sense of what had happened. They picked up, and after a long pause, told me it was about “integrity concerns.” Apparently, they thought I had mishandled something during a recent client presentation.

Here’s what actually happened: Two weeks before my vacation, I was preparing for a high-stakes demo for a major client. The software had some last-minute issues, so I had to improvise and skip certain steps to keep the presentation on track. I flagged the situation to the internal team afterward, but apparently, someone reported that I’d intentionally misrepresented the product.

When I explained this to my manager, they seemed to understand. They even said, “I believe you, but this decision came from above.” Senior leadership apparently felt they couldn’t take the risk of keeping me on. They told me it was a “final decision” and even offered to write me a recommendation letter, as if that made it any less humiliating.

What stings the most is how much I gave to this job. Over the past year, I’ve consistently gone above and beyond - staying late to finish deliverables, jumping in to help with last-minute client issues, and even training junior team members. I thought my efforts were appreciated. I’d even been told that I was being considered for a promotion and a raise after this quarter.

Now, it feels like all of that was just empty promises. They didn’t even bother having a conversation with me before making this decision.

It’s hard not to feel betrayed. In Indian workplaces, loyalty is often emphasized - you're told to treat your job like a family. I really thought I’d built that trust, but this experience has left me questioning everything.

I’m feeling lost and overwhelmed. If anyone’s been through something like this, how did you handle it? How do you bounce back from being blindsided like this?

Right now, I’m just trying to figure out what to do next.