July 2009

which employee should be let go?

A reader writes: I supervise a staff of 5 people as part of a team that was just created within the organization since the beginning of the year. Two of them are constantly bickering between themselves and each runs to me with complaints about the other. I have tried coaching and mediating with the two […]

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when an employee gives you info in confidence

A reader writes: An employee tells you they observed another employee talking on a cell phone while supervising children (which is against company policy). How can you effectively address the situation when an employee asks you to to keep it confidential that it came from them, yet no one else saw it happen? It’s not […]

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cautionary tale: leaving Track Changes on your resume

Today I got a resume where the candidate had left Word’s Track Changes feature on. As a result, I could see all the edits someone had made on his resume, and I know that they weren’t his own, because they also included suggestions like “you have to beef up the first paragraph.” I don’t have […]

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am I a back-up candidate?

A reader writes: I am curious to know what the message is to back-up candidates while a the company is waiting for someone to respond to a job offer. I was told that a decision would be made late last week, and I recently received an update that it will be another week and a […]

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7 mistakes managers make when giving criticism

Giving critical feedback to employees can be difficult, and it’s one area that managers most often handle badly. Here are the most common mistakes managers make when delivering less-than-positive feedback: Not doing it. Some managers don’t give critical feedback at all. They either let low performers remain on their staff forever, or they fire them out […]

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bad interviewer behavior: a forcible, sweaty hike

I always enjoy nightmare interview stories, so here’s one for you. A friend of mine recently went for a job interview that consisted of two parts — first an interview with an HR rep, followed immediately by an interview with the hiring manager. At the end of the HR portion, the HR rep told her […]

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creative resumes, and how long employers take to respond

A reader writes: I would like to inquire on how long an employer will usually take to reply to an expression of interest in a job. I am a 16 year old student that has emailed several different employers with my resume and cover letter and have only received an instant reply from one. A […]

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advice recommendation: Tomato Nation’s The Vine

I hope I have you covered on the career/management advice front and you will never, ever need to look elsewhere, but if you enjoy reading advice on life in general, I have always thought The Washington Post‘s Carolyn Hax was indisputably where it’s at. And she still is, but I’ve finally discovered someone else who […]

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interview questions to ask when hiring a manager

I recently put this together for someone, and I’m recycling it here: interview questions to ask if you’re hiring a manager of a department, organization, whatever. As you’ll see, the idea of most of these to give you a good feel for whether this is someone who gets things done, is a strong manager who’s […]

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don’t list basic computer skills on a resume

A reader writes: Is it really necessary to list computer skills on a resume? Shouldn’t basic skills be assumed at this point in history? I’m great with Microsoft Office and I know Macs and a couple of other miscellaneous programs, but I don’t know Photoshop or Dreamweaver or HTML or anything specialized. And my most […]

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