should I leave my family business? by Alison Green on June 28, 2021 A reader writes: I need help deciding if I want to stay in my family’s 70-year-old business. At the moment, I work for my father, and my younger brother is also in the business. We’re a construction firm. I’ve worked at the company since I was 14, doing office work over the summers all the […] Read the full article →
contractor deleted shared files I paid for, it is OK to discuss a firing with others, and more by Alison Green on June 28, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Contractor deleted shared files that I still need In January last year, I commissioned a writer to write three scripts for a project I am working on, which was awarded funding. I did not specify the format that the work had to be delivered in, […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – June 26-27, 2021 by Alison Green on June 26, 2021 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: People We Meet on Vacation, by Emily Henry. Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college and take a trip together every year. On the […] Read the full article →
updates: no job descriptions, struggling with working from home, and more by Alison Green on June 25, 2021 It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager, where all month I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are five updates from past letter-writers. 1. HR won’t let me see job descriptions for the people I manage The situation got worse not better […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on June 25, 2021 It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time. 1. A few years ago, I decided to make a career shift to a very technical field that is reputedly quite difficult to get into even outside of pandemic-times. I took a calculated risk, started my master’s program in 2018 (definitely […] Read the full article →
open thread – June 25-26, 2021 by Alison Green on June 25, 2021 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 (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * […] Read the full article →
how to handle a creep at someone else’s workplace, should I return to the office if I’m immunocompromised, and more by Alison Green on June 25, 2021 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. How to handle a creep at someone else’s workplace My chiropractor’s office has an admin assistant who sits at the front desk. She checks people in, sets up appointments, etc. The staff is all still wearing masks. The other day as I was checking in, […] Read the full article →
updates: the unsafe holiday party, the dominatrix, and more by Alison Green on June 24, 2021 It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager, where all month I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are five updates from past letter-writers. 1. My company is having an unsafe holiday party (#2 at the link) I had written to you last […] Read the full article →
update: I resist pressure to work long hours — but my coworkers don’t by Alison Green on June 24, 2021 It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager, where all month I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer who resisted pressure to work long hours — but their coworkers didn’t? Here’s the update. When I submitted my question to Ask a Manager, […] Read the full article →
would you quit over your employer’s work-from-home policy? by Alison Green on June 24, 2021 Would you leave your job over its work-from-home policies? If you’ve been remote, would you consider leaving if your office required you to return? Or the opposite — if you’ve disliked working from home, would you consider leaving if that became permanent? There’s a narrative building in the media that we’re in a moment of […] Read the full article →