weekend open thread – July 23-24, 2022 by Alison Green on July 23, 2022 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: Any Other Family, by Eleanor Brown. Three different families adopt siblings, vowing to function as one big family to keep the kids connected. It turns out, […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on July 22, 2022 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “Sometimes bad news turns out to be good news. A few years ago I applied for my ‘dream job’: more pay, exactly in the specialism I want to work in, and in a city I’d like to live in. But I went into the interview overconfident and underprepared, didn’t […] Read the full article →
open thread – July 22-23, 2022 by Alison Green on July 22, 2022 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions 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 take your questions to […] Read the full article →
my coworker left her baby in the car while she worked, ads that want a “bubbly personality,” and more by Alison Green on July 22, 2022 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker left her baby in the car while she worked I work in a reception/secretarial position in a busy office setting. Typically there are 2-4 of us sitting in a row working together to check clients in. My shift was a midday one, and […] Read the full article →
Mortification Week: the winter party, the wet socks, and other stories to cringe over by Alison Green on July 21, 2022 It’s Mortification Week at Ask a Manager and all week long we’ve been revisiting ways we’ve mortified ourselves at work. Here’s the final installment — 17 more mortifying stories people have shared here over the years. 1. The boss man I work in a small department library at a university, and came in to catch […] Read the full article →
updates: the pay cuts, the terrible ex-friend, and more by Alison Green on July 21, 2022 Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. Do I have to tell my boss where I’m going when I quit? I wrote in back in March asking if it was okay to lie about who your new employer is to your problematic boss who is known to reach out to future employers to try […] Read the full article →
what can I do in my current job to help the environment? by Alison Green on July 21, 2022 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’m wondering if anyone out there has experience with successfully uniting their mundane job with fighting for the environment? I work full-time in tech, want to stay here, and really love my job —but at the same time, I feel a constant, deep pull toward […] Read the full article →
awful HR person is married to the owner, can I push my start date back to the fall, and more by Alison Green on July 21, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. HR person yells and calls people names — and is married to the owner The owner’s wife holds the HR position at our company. There’s been an opening for an HR generalist, but every time someone is hired, they stay for 3-4 months and then […] Read the full article →
Mortification Week: the declined offer, the obscene amigurumi, and more by Alison Green on July 20, 2022 It’s Mortification Week at Ask a Manager and all week long we’ll be revisiting ways we’ve mortified ourselves at work. Here are 17 more mortifying stories people have shared here over the years. 1. The declined offer I interviewed for an internship in college. I really didn’t want the internship, but I needed it to […] Read the full article →
is rejecting people by phone more respectful? by Alison Green on July 20, 2022 A reader writes: I am just finishing up a highly competitive hiring process. We flew in the top two finalists for in-person interviews this week and have decided who we’ll extend an offer to. My question is around best practices for notifying the other finalist that she didn’t get the job. In the past, I’ve […] Read the full article →