Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss thinks I should be friends with her son Over the summer, my manager suggested that I might get along with her son (which sounds possible, I’ve never met him) and gave me his phone number. I think she is proposing we be friends, […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My ex works at my new job I recently got a new job (medical field) that I was very excited for. The thing is that even after turning down other offers, I have terrible luck — out of all the jobs, I accepted the offer […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I have to take screenshots of everything I do at work I recently started a position at an awesome local nonprofit. My position is through a national service organization so I am accountable to my boss at the nonprofit, but also limited by the policies […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Manager photographed employee’s accidental exposure I have a coworker (insurance agent) who was with a client. During their appointment, she did not realize that her blouse had slipped down and was revealing part of her breast. Instead of immediately and discreetly bringing it to her […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I accidentally sent my boss a message complaining about her I accidentally sent a message to my boss which was meant for somebody else and am very embarrassed. I’d had a long day. I had back to back meetings from 12 to 4. I started […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Job applicants are hounding me on personal email and social media I’m a recently appointed executive director who is hiring a number of people for newly created roles. In the past, I’ve hired but never had the overwhelming response I’m getting now. Much of it […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A birthday in an office that’s weird about food restrictions My office has a tradition for celebrating birthdays where you bring a dessert (usually a cake) for the person whose birthday is after yours on the calendar. If someone wants to opt out, they just […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should you point out grammatical errors in job ads? I’m applying for a lot of marketing jobs where “attention to detail” and “strong verbal and written communication” are musts. Just out of curiosity, when I interview with these places is would it be considered too […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker is a Covid denier I work for a large company (500,000+ employees) in an office job that can be done entirely remotely, and often has full-time remote positions. Our company went exclusively to remote work when Covid-19 hit, and they expect to let […]

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker wants us to call her “Doctor” I have a coworker who is very weird, and she recently completed an online doctorate in business administration from a for-profit University of Phoenix sort of situation. Since obtaining her degree, she insists that we refer to her as […]