don’t pretend to have a question just so you can talk about yourself — in interviews and in life by Alison Green on September 23, 2021 I’m on vacation. This post was originally published in 2016. When your interviewer asks what questions you have for them, this is your cue to ask legitimate, genuine questions that you have about the work (or the company, or the team, or so forth). It is not appropriate for you to use the time as a […] Read the full article →
how do I manage a great employee who finishes everything ahead of schedule? by Alison Green on September 23, 2021 A reader writes: I have an employee who is extremely efficient. He finishes tasks in about half the time of his predecessors. I give him additional work, but he still ends up with significant downtime. I’m inclined to ask him to search for efficiency ideas but success in that will lead to more downtime. Any […] Read the full article →
how do I not feel jealous of my wealthier coworkers? by Alison Green on September 23, 2021 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I grew up in deep poverty with an extremely dysfunctional and abusive set of parents. It was not the “money and food were tight sometimes, but we always had love” kind of poverty. I ultimately aged out of the system when I was 18 and […] Read the full article →
employee got pregnant to avoid working on Christmas, I told my boss to F off, and more by Alison Green on September 23, 2021 I’m on vacation. Here are some past letters from the archives. 1. Employee said she purposely got pregnant to avoid working on Christmas My good friend and I are at a stalemate and I was hoping you could help. She’s a pharmacist in a very busy medical clinic, which is open on holidays. During this time of […] Read the full article →
CEO’s wife ruined my job prospects by Alison Green on September 22, 2021 I’m on vacation. This was originally published in 2017. A reader writes: I have been going through a very rigorous interviewing process for a permanent job in a firm where I have been undergoing a two-month post-college training program/paid internship which is very prestigious and only very few trainees are offered the permanent job. It […] Read the full article →
when should you go to HR — and when should you not? by Alison Green on September 22, 2021 If you’re like a lot of people at work, you’re not entirely sure what HR does—and when you should or shouldn’t seek their help, and whether you can trust them when you do. Some people think HR is a sort of referee between employees and management (they’re not!) or between employees and other employees (they’re […] Read the full article →
I manage my daughter and someone complained about her by Alison Green on September 22, 2021 I’m on vacation today. This was originally published in 2016. A reader writes: I am the director of operations for our practice. I have a daughter who is one of our employees, and I am her manager. She has a seven-month old baby and works part-time from home for our publicly traded company, doing administrative […] Read the full article →
giving tattoos at work, boss lied about getting engaged, and more by Alison Green on September 22, 2021 I’m on vacation today. Here are some past letters that I’m making new again, rather than leaving them to wilt in the archives. 1. My coworker gave someone a tattoo at work I have a question about the ethics of telling on someone who exhibited unethical behavior at work. During an internship I was at […] Read the full article →
I’m in trouble for what I wore when when my boss made me pick him up for the airport in the middle of the night by Alison Green on September 21, 2021 I’m on vacation today. This was originally published in 2016. A reader writes: I am working at my first job since I graduated university and I have learned a lot from reading your blog. I had a job while I was in high school and in university but it was part-time and in retail and […] Read the full article →
how will the vaccine mandate work exactly? by Alison Green on September 21, 2021 Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced a series of measures to combat COVID-19 more aggressively, including a mandate that many employers require their workers to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. Here’s what we know so far about how the mandate will work. What exactly does the vaccination mandate require of businesses? Private-sector businesses […] Read the full article →