September 2016

company told me their job offer is “take it or leave it”

A reader writes: I’m in an unusual negotiating situation that I’d appreciate your advice on. I received an offer from a company that I had been interviewing with over the course of almost four months. They are a multinational firm with many international employees, and the role is a mid-senior level position in one of […]

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listen to me on the Mo’ Money podcast

I talked to Jessica Moorhouse for her very fun Mo’ Money podcast. We talked about what Ask a Manager is all about, why it’s better to just be a normal person in interviews, bringing up money with your interviewer, how to deal with difficult coworkers, and that letter about the employee who was casting magic curses […]

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open thread – September 30-October 1, 2016

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted […]

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5 questions about names and work

I’ve gotten a bunch of questions about names recently. Here are five short name-related questions and answers. 1. People keep shortening my name I have a name that’s easy to shorten, and many people with this name often DO shorten it intentionally (think “Jonathan” to “Jon” or “Elizabeth” to “Liz”) However, I do not like […]

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employee is citing a family death two years ago as a reason not to work around any holidays

A reader writes: I am a new supervisor and have an issue with a current employee. This employee is an hourly graduate student who mostly works nights/weekends when our full-time employees do not. It is stressed that the position is pre-professional, meaning we treat the employee like any other professional, while giving them coaching and […]

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how can I tell my team that their raises will be tiny?

A reader writes: I manage a team of 12 IT staff. Over the last year, we were responsible for an extremely large project working long and hard hours. The cost savings to the company was supposed to be in the millions. We sang the typical tune, as instructed by HR, to demand everyone to work […]

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