March 2012

ask the readers: job searching with Asperger’s

I’m throwing this question out to readers to answer, since I don’t have much expertise with this but I suspect there are people reading who do. A reader writes: My son (who’s still a number of years away from even thinking about working) has Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. Like many other people with […]

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my boss and my coworker are living together

A reader writes: I work for a small company (18 full-time employees), and am somewhat of a middle manager. For the past six or so months, my boss has had another one of our coworkers, who is one level below me, living at his house as a roommate. This was supposed to be temporary situation, […]

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terse answer Tuesday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s terse answer Tuesday — seven short answers to seven short questions. We’ve got a boss who wants to be “like husband and wife” with his employee, reference requests when you can’t give a good one, and more. Here we go… 1. My interview will be in a bar After submitting my cover letter and […]

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will a pink mohawk be a problem in my job search?

A reader writes: I’m 19 and have just returned home from a 3-month exchange trip. Before I left, I had a job at a guitar store, but I’m home a bit earlier than expected so I need to start looking for another job until the summer, when they can re-hire me. While I was away, […]

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things you should not say to your boss

Saying the wrong thing to your boss can do real damage to your career. From refusing to work with a colleague to bragging about your irreplaceability, here are 10 things you never want to say to your manager. 1. “Can you write that down for me?” When you’re talking about the details of a project, […]

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short answer Sunday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s short answer Sunday — seven short answers to seven short questions. We’ve got a question about what to think when an employer doesn’t check references, whether you can ask not to work with someone, and more. Here we go… 1. Asking not to work with someone Recently our team got a new senior level […]

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your children are not your professional accomplishments

You do not want something like this on your resume: Mother of three children: William (born 1992), Kara (born 1994), and Lee (born 1997) Why is it there?!?!  Why?! Why?!  Get it off, immediately. I do not need to know the names and ages of your children, your pets, or your parents. I need to […]

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all your questions about resigning, answered

Is the very public resignation letter from a Goldman Sachs executive director in the New York Times this week making you wonder about how to pull off your own (hopefully less scathing) resignation when the time comes? Assuming you’re not planning to enlist a national media outlet in your departure, what do you say when you quit […]

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how to explain why you want a minimum-wage job

A reader writes: How do you answer “why do you want this job” when it’s, say, a warehouse or custodian job? With so many people out of work, they want the job because they need a job. There is really no other reason. These are not professional jobs like HR, social workers, teachers and so […]

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what do employers owe job candidates?

Ask any job seeker and they’ll tell you that most employers don’t treat job candidates very well. Most have endless stories about employers who communicate poorly or not at all, advertise jobs that don’t match up with the reality of the work, and forget that candidates are evaluating the employer as much as the employer […]

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