I re-hired an employee … who promptly quit again by Alison Green on August 16, 2021 A reader writes: An employee’s resignation has changed my opinion of her dramatically and I’m not sure if I’m being unfair. Can you help me recalibrate my instincts? An employee on my team, “Ariel,” was originally hired for a different team, working under “Ursula.” Due to Ursula’s micromanagement — complaints everyone else working under her […] Read the full article →
what to say to job applicants when you know you can’t offer fair compensation by Alison Green on June 7, 2021 A reader writes: I’m hiring for an open position and have received applications from a number of really fantastic, experienced candidates who do the work we do wonderfully. I’d love to bring one of them on to our team. However, the budget I have been given for hiring is nowhere near what is fair for […] Read the full article →
is a salary request 40% over the max enough to rescind an offer? by Alison Green on April 7, 2021 A reader writes: We recently made an offer to a candidate and I wanted to get your thoughts on what you would have done in this situation. Throughout the process, the recruiter shared the salary band and that the maximum was not flexible, and the candidate confirmed the amount that worked for them multiple times. […] Read the full article →
is it weird to text a job applicant for your first contact with them? by Alison Green on March 24, 2021 A reader writes: I’ve been working for my current company for about five years. I’ve been in charge of recruiting/hiring for my current property the past two years now and I typically hire hourly workers. When I started the recruiting/hiring aspect of my job, I was super excited. But I quickly learned that our cloud-based […] Read the full article →
thoughts on rejection from a hiring manager in a competitive field by Alison Green on February 15, 2021 After last week’s letter from someone who was frustrated because she kept getting rejected for writing jobs, a hiring manager in a competitive field sent me this: We recently hired for a junior role in a competitive field at an organization with a globally recognized name and a reputation as a generous employer locally. I […] Read the full article →
should I re-hire an employee with a bad attitude? by Alison Green on February 10, 2021 A reader writes: I briefly worked at a terrible company where I was brought in to help fix problems with a team that had been underperforming. Soon after I was hired, it became obvious to me that the company was a mess and I chose to move on after six months. One person on my […] Read the full article →
what to do when a top job candidate has another offer by Alison Green on January 27, 2021 A reader writes: I’m hiring for a an open position and conducted a phone interview with a great candidate (we’d already interviewed him once before in a prior round but didn’t hire him) and told him that in-person interviews would take place within a few weeks, with someone in place by early March. I got […] Read the full article →
is it unprofessional to have an email address with 69 in it? by Alison Green on December 21, 2020 A reader writes: HR recently shared an applicant’s email address with me (think “firstname.nickname_69@yahoo.com”) and when I saw it, I chuckled a bit and thought it must be someone quite young and immature. HR saw my reaction and told me that he included a note mentioning that he was born in 1969, and that is […] Read the full article →
job applicants’ parents keep calling me by Alison Green on November 25, 2020 A reader writes: I work at a camp, with loads of seasonal employees. We just opened applications for staffing opportunities for teens age 14-17 and were flooded with hundreds of applicants who want to come do our dishes, haul trash, and chop firewood. This is a wonderful thing! The problem is their parents, who regularly […] Read the full article →
how can I find new hires who will be comfortable with our “boys club” culture? by Alison Green on November 23, 2020 A reader writes: I’m looking to add a new employee to my team, most likely a recent college graduate, and I’m not quite sure how to come up with questions to ensure a good cultural fit. Our team is a bit of a “boys club” with cursing and the occasional inappropriate joke made in smaller […] Read the full article →