interviewer asked how much I wanted the job on a scale of 1-10, ASMR videos at work, and more by Alison Green on April 26, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Interviewer asked me how much I wanted the job on a scale of 1-10 I recently had an interview with an organization I had been excited about. At the end of the interview — after I asked my questions and before I left — the […] Read the full article →
my office wants us to celebrate by wearing pink and blue by gender by Alison Green on April 25, 2019 A reader writes: I am a nurse and I enjoy the festivities of Nurses Week, celebrated the second week in May. Until I received this official workplace email, suggesting that “ladies” should wear pink and “men” should wear blue to kick off the week. (See attached graphic.) This email seems creepy and old fashioned, and […] Read the full article →
updates: managing a micromanager, using volunteers in a store, and more by Alison Green on April 25, 2019 Here are three updates from people who had their letters answered here recently. 1. I manage a horrible micromanager Thanks, Alison, for prompting me to speak directly to Fergusia about her micromanagement. I did as you advised: took her aside to discuss how her tactics were leading to poor morale, bottlenecks, extra work, and wasted […] Read the full article →
what cultural things do you need to know to succeed when you’re new to white collar work? by Alison Green on April 25, 2019 Way back in 2012, someone wrote this to me: Thank you for writing this amazing blog. Its a great resource for learning all the things that are and aren’t acceptable at work that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else. Thank you especially for the post about how having or not having professional parents influences your […] Read the full article →
coworker calls me “mama,” why are employers and job candidates held to different standards, and more by Alison Green on April 25, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker calls me “mama” because I’m pregnant I am currently 18 weeks pregnant with my first child. I work remotely on a team made up entirely of remote workers. It’s a small team of all women, all of whom have kids or even grandkids, and we are […] Read the full article →
I’m required to speak in meetings and I don’t know what to say by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 A reader writes: My new manager expects for me to ask a question at every group meeting and to contribute something. I don’t always have a question about the material covered, nor do I always have something meaningful to add. If I don’t, I will be looked at poorly. I don’t know why this scares […] Read the full article →
my boss sends me work to do when I’m out sick by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 A reader asks: I work for the finance department of a nonprofit. Whenever I call/email in sick, I receive multiple emails from my boss (on my work email) asking me to complete tasks as though I am in the office — things like making lunch reservations, printing off documents for him, fixing something on his […] Read the full article →
if you’re having trouble sorting the salary spreadsheet… by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 If you’re having trouble sorting the spreadsheet of people’s salary data: Your link may have defaulted to a /htmlview view. Try removing “htmlview” from the URL in your browser, and that seems to be fixing it for people. If that doesn’t work, try removing “htmlview” and adding “edit#” there instead. Still stuck? Copy the link, remove the […] Read the full article →
how much money do you make? by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 It’s hard to get real-world information about what jobs pay, especially tailored to a particular industry or geographic region. Online salary websites are often inaccurate, and people can get weird when you ask them directly. In 2014 and 2017, in an effort to take some of the mystery out of salaries, I ran posts asking […] Read the full article →
my coworker/girlfriend might get fired soon, employee wants a second paid month off for her dissertation, and more by Alison Green on April 24, 2019 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My employee wants a paid month off to finish her dissertation — a second time I have been in my managerial position for less than one year. One of my direct reports received four weeks of paid time off a couple years ago in order […] Read the full article →