can I opt out of our office instant-messaging program? by Alison Green on December 29, 2014 A reader writes: My current gripe at my job is the fact that we use an inter-office instant message/chat program and I find it increasingly distracting, which in turn makes me agitated at work. I have it set to NOT pop up in front of me every time there’s a message, which helps, but it […] Read the full article →
bad management forced me to work over Christmas, my son was fired, and more by Alison Green on December 29, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Bad project management forced me to work over Christmas (Received on December 24, but I figured it could still be useful to print an answer to it now.) Thanks to a really terrible project manager about seven of us have to work over Christmas to do […] Read the full article →
Sunday open thread – December 28, 2014 by Alison Green on December 28, 2014 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly non-work only; if you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.) Have at it. Read the full article →
update: my coworker told a candidate’s current employer that he’s job-searching by Alison Green on December 27, 2014 Remember the letter-writer who strongly suspected that a coworker had outed a job applicant to his current employer? Here’s the update. After reading AAM’s response and the comments, I spoke with my manager (who is also my group’s director) about what had happened. She was disappointed in “Lucinda’s” behavior, but, like me, had concerns about […] Read the full article →
the best “ask the readers” posts in 2014 by Alison Green on December 27, 2014 We have an awesome community of commenters at Ask a Manager — and that’s especially evident in the response to “ask the readers” posts. Here are some of the most interesting “ask the readers” posts in 2014: 1. how can I prepare my teenager for the workforce? 2. what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen […] Read the full article →
4 more reader updates by Alison Green on December 26, 2014 Here are four more updates from people who had their letters answered here this year. 1. I made a huge, fireable mistake at work I didn’t mention this in my original e-mail but we brought the mistake to our manager’s attention immediately. There’s no way we could have hidden this from her, so trying to do […] Read the full article →
open thread – December 26, 2014 by Alison Green on December 26, 2014 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
asking about difficult coworkers in an interview, apologizing for a terrible cover letter, and more by Alison Green on December 26, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can I ask about difficult coworkers in an interview? I’ve been interviewing for a new job recently, and I’ve noticed that I’m frequently getting asked how I deal with difficult coworkers. I have what I think is a satisfactory response to that question, but what […] Read the full article →
update: I don’t want my coworkers to know I’m living off cupcakes from the employee kitchen by Alison Green on December 25, 2014 Three years ago, back in 2011, I published a letter from a reader who didn’t want her coworkers to know that she was “living off of cupcakes from the employee kitchen.” She was struggling financially and couldn’t afford meals, let alone new clothes, when her employer changed its casual dress code to one that prohibited jeans […] Read the full article →
update: my new coworker wants to forbid music in the office by Alison Green on December 24, 2014 Remember the letter-writer whose new coworker wanted people to stop playing music in the office? Here’s the update. As I expected, we did end up having that new worker stay on as a permanent hire. After reading everyone’s thoughtful responses on Ask a Manager, I decided to err on the considerate side and refrain from […] Read the full article →