Ask a Manager

Recently a commenter here, Seejay, mentioned that she used to be a private investigator, and I wanted to know more. She kindly agreed to be interviewed, and here’s our conversation. So tell us a bit about the work you did. My training and background is in Internet investigations and computer forensics. I initially got into […]

Lynne Somerman is a regular reader here, and she’s also a budget and money coach. I asked her if she’d do an interview here about her work, and she gracious agreed. Here’s our Q&A (and here’s her website). So you’re a budget and money coach! Tell us more about what that means — what kind of […]

My 16-year-old niece, M., has appeared here before — when she was 12, she and her sister helped me answer this letter about a boss who was always making out with his girlfriend in his office, and when she was 14, they helped me answer this letter about a boss stopping up a toilet and asking someone […]

Recently a commenter here mentioned that she used to be a professional belly dancer, and I wanted to know more. She kindly agreed to be interviewed, and here’s our conversation. So you were a professional belly dancer! How did you get into that line of work?  I started belly dancing classes on a whim at […]

Recently, a reader mentioned that she works as a magician for kids, and I wanted to know more. The reader, Karen Climer, runs this entertainment business for kids, and she graciously agreed to do an interview for us. Here’s the Q&A, and here are some photos of some amazing balloon sculptures she’s done. So you’re a […]

Recently, a commenter, Oryx, mentioned that she used to work as a prison librarian, and I wanted to learn more. She graciously agreed to do an interview for us, and here’s the Q&A. How did you end up in the job? And how long were you there? I answered an ad I found through Indeed.com, but […]

We have a regular commenter, hildi, who has always impressed me with her ability to navigate potentially heated topics kindly, in a very relatable way, and without seeming adversarial to either side.  Here’s an example from a few weeks ago, when she was talking to a letter-writer who was allowing a former friend to really mess […]

Recently, a commenter mentioned that her dad is a lab supervisor in a mine at the Arctic Circle, and there was a clamor to learn more. Her dad graciously agreed to do an interview for us. Here’s the Q&A — with much thanks to Kevin Lackey, who works at Teck Alaska, Red Dog Mine. (By […]

Last week, I answered a question from a reader wondering how to list her job as a receptionist at a brothel (which is legal in her state) on her resume. Since that’s an industry not typically discussed in the context of workplace advice, I thought it would be interesting to talk to her about how she […]