September 2011

fast answer Friday: 14 fast answers to 14 fast questions

Yes, 14. Here we go… 1. Declining a job during the interview I just had an interview today. Halfway through the interview, when I was being told the schedule and pay I would receive, I realized it would not work. I tried to tell him, but he continued on talking about the benefits, what my […]

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the F word at work and other concerns

A reader writes: I have two questions. I work in a pet hospital as a vet tech. I have been there for a little over 10 years. Recently we have had a lot of staff changes, including office managers. The previous office manager wants to come back to work as a tech; because she had […]

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should managers give job candidates unsolicited feedback?

In response to an earlier post, commenter L P asked: How do people feel about the idea of providing unsolicited feedback? I run HR at a small company and receive between 50 and 100 resumes a year. Some of these have been truly awful – including portrait photos, flower borders, no order to previous experience […]

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how to choose between equally qualified candidates

A reader writes: I’m hiring for a 3-month position. This is not a long employment commitment, but at the same time it is for a crunch period so the job needs to be done efficiently and effectively. I’ve narrowed it down to 3 top candidates. Under my current assessment, any of the three would do […]

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something I’m helping with on the side…

I don’t often go off-topic here, and I promise to continue that trend, but I’m helping with something on the side that means a lot to me and that I want to tell you about. When she was 19, my friend Natasha Alexenko was raped at gunpoint in the hallway of her apartment building. Her […]

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reasons why your awful coworker still has a job

It’s the great workplace mystery:  How does your slacker coworker who does almost nothing at the office still have a job when you know tons of great people who are out of work? There’s a simple answer: Your manager is too lazy or too scared to do her job. And she’s not alone – many […]

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boss doesn’t speak to me unless there’s a problem

A reader writes: I work in a large hospital and I am an administrative assistant. I support 3 physicians. My boss, the operations manager, has almost no interaction with the support staff until there is a problem and at our monthly meetings. I sit outside of his door and the only thing he says is […]

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