I stole money from a till at work, got caught, fired and lost an amazing job

I have worked as a retail assistant in an amazing store for almost a year. It’s a great brand and we get a 15% commission on everything we sell, so the bosses don’t just live off the sales figures. I’ve been very good at my job, never taken a sick day and I was due to be promoted in a few months. I’m 22 years old, with no criminal record, a degree and lots of work experience. I stole £100 from the till. I have no idea why or how, I just did. <br><br>When I got caught, I confessed immediately. I didn’t try to lie and blame someone else, I accepted my punishment of having my commission taken and losing a shift on cleaning. The day after I got caught I went to see my line managers, told them I was struggling and they did everything they could to support me. They put off my cleaning shift, gave me extra tasks to make up the commission and were very supportive. I returned to work and was ready to accept my punishment and move on. <br><br>The day I was due back to see my managers again, another one of my peers had done something similar and got caught. Instead of accepting the punishment, they denied everything and accused me of framing them. This led to me being called into the office again and the punishment of a week on cleaning duties and having my pay docked was taken away from the other girl, and instead I was given it. I was furious, my managers said I could either accept this punishment or resign, I resigned. <br><br>The store manager had no idea any of this had happened, so when he found out he was extremely angry and shaken to hear an employee had done this, let alone someone with my background. I am struggling to find another job, every time I put this store down as experience, I get withdrawn for the job. I’m having to start looking at much lower paid jobs in a completely different field, not something I’m happy with but can’t afford to turn down anything. <br><br>I’m still feeling extremely guilty about this and I don’t know what to do.