how to spot a bad boss — before you take the job by Alison Green on April 23, 2014 If you’ve ever worked for a bad boss, you know how miserable they can make your daily life at work – and how hard they can make it to progress in your career. And if you’re like most people, you’ve probably vowed to avoid awful managers in the future. But do you really know how […] Read the full article →
naming your dog after your manager, tying pay to off-duty conduct, and more by Alison Green on April 23, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. When an employee names his dog after his manager One of your employees gets a dog and he names it after his supervisor and makes sure he tells all of his coworkers. I think this is disrespectful. What do you think? (And no, it’s not […] Read the full article →
“I am confident I am the best candidate for the job” is a ridiculous thing to say by Alison Green on April 22, 2014 Interesting fact: People who start their cover letters with “I am confident I am the best candidate for the job” never are. Literally, never. I’ve now seen it stated enough to state this with confidence. Read the full article →
my coworker’s stress is stressing me out by Alison Green on April 22, 2014 A reader writes: I’m “team leader” for a group of two (I’m one of the two). We hired the coworker who I lead about seven months ago. We generally each have our own projects to work on. The projects vary from very short-term to fairly long-term. My coworker is extremely skilled at the job’s primary […] Read the full article →
how to survive work travel and keep your sanity by Alison Green on April 22, 2014 The first time I had to travel for work, I was about 24 and felt insanely adult and glamorous. But then I started traveling quite a lot and discovered that horrible airport food, living out of luggage, and returning to a soulless hotel room every night quickly loses its charm. Here’s how you can keep your sanity […] Read the full article →
my office is fighting about overhead lighting, how to address an employee’s bad attitude, and more by Alison Green on April 22, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. We’re having lighting wars … and half my coworkers want to work in darkness Our cubicle farm office of about 90 people is undergoing “lighting wars.” One person asked to have the lights above his cube removed because the glare gave him headaches. That prompted […] Read the full article →
update: my assistant keeps commenting on my appearance by Alison Green on April 21, 2014 Remember the letter-writer whose office admin kept commenting on her appearance? Here’s the update. I am the OP who wrote in asking about how to address my unit’s administrative assistant commenting on my appearance. All the comments were very helpful and I am thankful for all the great advice from them! Right after writing in, I was […] Read the full article →
how to make your new boss regret hiring you by Alison Green on April 21, 2014 How you handle your first few weeks on the job can set the tone for your relationship with your boss throughout your entire stay at your new company. Handle yourself well, and you can quickly start to be seen as a valued new member of the team. But misstep, and your new boss might start […] Read the full article →
my boss has romantic phone conversations that bother me because I’m single by Alison Green on April 21, 2014 A reader writes: Longtime reader, first time question asker! I work in a small, two-person office for a nonprofit, was was hired on only a little over 2 months ago. Before me, it was just my boss, the executive director, by herself for a year. I have really loved my job and boss up to this […] Read the full article →
my wife had an affair with her manager, being underweight in job interviews, and more by Alison Green on April 21, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My manager refused to back me up when a coworker complained about me I had a minor disagreement with a colleague about a couple bucks worth of candy. There was some being handed out in the office over Easter, and I wanted to take some […] Read the full article →