October 2015

my boyfriend has my old job and there’s tons of drama

A reader writes: My boyfriend has the same exact position I used to hold in a job I had five years ago at a small museum. This museum is so small that it only has one full-time seasonal employee, overseen by a board of 10+ people — all of whom also volunteer at our museum, […]

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weekend free-for-all – October 24-25, 2015

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 no work and no school. If you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.) Book Recommendation of the Week: Nickel […]

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3 updates from letter-writers

Here are three updates from recent letter-writers: 1. My employee keeps giving me instructions After having read all the comments (which were very useful, by the way), I came to realize more about why my employee has been acting this way. In short, she had been on her own for a few months while I was […]

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open thread – October 23, 2015

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 […]

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my coworkers overheard me on an emotional personal call

A reader writes: I work in a direct care field and am attaining a graduate degree in the same field. My employer is helping me with internship hours, and classes are held at the work site. Getting started with this grad program plus work has been stressful enough, and some of my colleagues are really […]

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when an employee pushes for a promotion but isn’t ready

When you have a staff member who’s pushing harder for promotion – or even just for bigger projects or responsibilities – and you’re convinced they’re not ready, how can you manage the situation without demotivating them? The risk here, of course, is that people in this situation can end up disengaging from their work, or […]

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