pushy coworker won’t stop bringing me food I didn’t ask for by Alison Green on August 29, 2022 A reader writes: I started a new job just over a month ago. On my first day, a coworker — Kevin — asked if I would like a doughnut from a popular bakery near our office, as he was headed there anyway. I said yes, and he brought it. (He got my order wrong, but […] Read the full article →
my employee blames others for her mistakes, lying about when you left your last job, and more by Alison Green on August 29, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee blames others for her mistakes I’m wondering how I deal with an employee who is “never in the wrong.” I try to provide constructive feedback, but she just denies that she’s done anything wrong or made any mistakes. Even when I provide concrete […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – August 27-28, 2022 by Alison Green on August 26, 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: The Foundling, by Ann Leary. A young woman in the 1920s gets a job at an asylum for women and begins to unravel the dark truth […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on August 26, 2022 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “I just wanted to share that Friday is going to be my last day at the toxic company I’ve spent the last 7 years at and I couldn’t be happier! I was one of the go-to employees for just about everything and the workload, requests, and more just became […] Read the full article →
open thread – August 26-27, 2022 by Alison Green on August 26, 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 →
asking coworkers to hang out socially, interviewing with Covid symptoms, and more by Alison Green on August 26, 2022 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Asking coworkers to hang out socially I’ve been finding it incredibly difficult to make friends with my coworkers at my new job. I’m male and our company has 15 employees, 13 of whom are women, which can create awkwardness if you reach out after work. […] Read the full article →
can non-work activities count toward years of work experience? by Alison Green on August 25, 2022 A reader writes: I know that you’ve said before that years of experience in a position is referring specifically to work experience, and that you can’t simply count schoolwork in a related field as such experience. But what about when a job is asking about experience using certain skills that can be relevant outside of […] Read the full article →
updates: the problem manager, the ghosting job candidate, and more by Alison Green on August 25, 2022 Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. Is my manager the problem … or am I? After being fired, my job search was hard, but about six weeks and four interviews with different companies later, I was hired in a new role! The new role has a 20% raise, fewer hours a week, more […] Read the full article →
how do I weigh the risks of staying where I am vs. changing fields? by Alison Green on August 25, 2022 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I am an elder millennial who graduated college on the verge of the 2008 Great Recession. I entered grad school on the promise that everyone in my industry (libraries) was going to retire soon and there were going to be so many jobs … unfortunately […] Read the full article →
I kept my ex-boss’s affair a secret and now I work with her husband, my manager is upset about my new salary, and more by Alison Green on August 25, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I kept my ex-boss’s affair a secret … and now I work with her husband So long story short, at my previous job my boss (the owner of the company) had an affair (both she and the man she had an affair with were married, […] Read the full article →