Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I try to take my old coworker’s job? I quit my job last February. A coworker was promoted to my position. She was totally unprepared and unqualified, and I have been secretly helping her ever since. She contacts me almost daily with questions and […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My fellow interns want to break social distancing guidelines I am working remotely on a summer internship with a group of about 25 other students. They want to meet up in person, as a group, by the end of the summer. Meeting in such a […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it worth spending hours on post-interview thank-you notes? Both you and your commenters often say about thank-you notes, “Why not spend five minutes on something that could impact your chances?” or “There’s just no reason not to do this very small, very quick thing […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I’m grieving a break-up and just started a new job I ended a long-term relationship last week, and I’m feeling all the things you would expect: grief, stress, distraction, and more. I work remotely, so I thought I would be able to keep my regular […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How to explain my late professional start I’m what I think of as a professional late bloomer. I was “home-schooled” in a chaotic, dysfunctional home from first through twelfth grades by my mother, a woman who had never gone to college and who frequently struggled […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Believable excuses for mental health days during Covid This is an iteration on the ever-popular topic of what is/isn’t acceptable for “mental health days” (the colloquial usage, meaning “to prevent burn-out,” not for actual mental illness). I know from previous questions that you support the […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Are laws encouraging people to come to work with COVID symptoms? My sister works in a nursing home that had been COVID free for months. They got their first outbreak a few weeks ago and traced it back to a new hire, who came to […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I need time off work because of my husband’s alcoholism My husband is a severe alcoholic, something he has been “dealing with” for 4+ years. He used to be the best spouse and then something happened when he lost a job he had been in […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Playing “never have I ever” at work Like many offices, my team has been hosting regular happy hours and social events in the afternoon on Zoom. Our boss supports this and usually we have a great time! Normally I’m not one to object to having […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it OK to ask a coworker to swap pants with me? During college I enrolled in a program that we call Junior Enterprise, where the students have to, on their own, maintain a company. It is an awesome experience because we have the daily […]