February 2014

what’s wrong with “do what you love,” how employers can get your salary history, and more

A few miscellaneous things — 1. Advice for employers who want job candidates’ salary history I love this article from Suzanne Lucas (of evilhrlady.org). Her editor sent her my article on how job seekers can avoid giving out their salary history, and suggested that Suzanne write an article telling hiring managers how to get candidates to […]

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how to manage a difficult employee who does good work

A reader writes: I manage a four-person team. One of my staff members is incredibly hard to work with. She’s negative, combative, and resistant to feedback and direction and doesn’t get along with the rest of the team. But her work is good, and so I don’t have grounds for letting her go. What’s the […]

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when a married client brings his mistress to dinner

A reader writes: My company recently hosted an event for our top clients. It was billed as a social event, but there was a lot of business talk going on as well. One of our clients showed up with his mistress…yep, his mistress. He did not ask us ahead of time if he could bring […]

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interviewing for a job with pieces that I won’t be good at

A reader writes: How can I stop myself from focusing on the aspects of a job I know I won’t be good at? The organization has contacted me for an interview, which means they think I’m qualified. But I’m scared they’re going to smell my fear – fear that they’re interviewing someone for an administrative […]

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how to know it’s time to leave your job

The job market has been tough for so long that it’s easy to think that if you have a job, you should stay in it for as long as possible – but that mindset isn’t always right! Too many people stay in their jobs well beyond when they should, and that ends up holding them […]

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my coworker was arrested for domestic violence in front of us, and our employer won’t do anything about it

A reader writes: Several months ago, our organization and several other partner organizations attended a conference. On the final night, my coworker “Joe” physically assaulted his girlfriend (who he’d brought along for some reason) and was arrested. The incident took place in his hotel room, and several of my coworkers, a few managers (but not […]

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I’m cranky about having to volunteer in my field, my former employer’s website still lists me as an active employee, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I do volunteer work in my field even if I’m cranky about it? I have a master’s degree in library and information science, which has been ranked by Forbes magazine as being the #1 worst master’s degree for jobs. Predictably, I have not found […]

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if you aren’t screening job candidates by phone, you must start now

I’ve been asked a few times recently if it’s really worth spending the time on phone interviews before bringing job candidates in for in-person interviews, and the answer is a loud, ear-splitting YES. Phone interviews are a massive time saver for you and for job candidates, because you can quickly eliminate people who aren’t right […]

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