illegal interview questions? by Alison Green on July 30, 2008 A reader writes: I am a legal assistant/secretary with 18 years of experience. I am in the process of interviewing for a position with several law firms in the small southern city where I currently live. Repeatedly during interviews, I am being asked the following questions: Do you have children? Where do you live? Is […] Read the full article →
recent grad frustrated by job search by Alison Green on July 29, 2008 A reader writes: I’m a new reader of your blog and I’m already fascinated. I had no idea there was such a wealth of excellent career advice out there. I got my B.A. at a prestigious university over six weeks ago, and since then I’ve been actively pursuing a job in government, law or policy. […] Read the full article →
how to resign gracefully by Alison Green on July 28, 2008 I get a lot of questions from people who are nervous about the best way to tell their boss they’re resigning. Fortunately, there’s a basic formula for doing it well: * First, be sure resigning is the right decision. Don’t do it in a huff, to make a point, or in the hopes that it […] Read the full article →
what is a good excuse for missing a phone interview? by Alison Green on July 25, 2008 What’s a good excuse for missing a phone interview? I’m not talking about needing to reschedule it; I’m talking about not bothering to reschedule it and simply not picking up the phone when I call you at the prearranged time. In general, I feel like nothing is a good excuse for this, short of a […] Read the full article →
obnoxiously aggressive recruiters by Alison Green on July 24, 2008 My blood is boiling after reading about the high-pressure recruiting tactics being recommended in a post over at ERE.net. The article recommends really aggressive sales tactics and game-playing. Here’s a sample: “What’s the compensation?” When someone asks, don’t tell! Say, “Before I tell you that, I’d like you to think about the best jobs you’ve […] Read the full article →
Carnival of HR by Alison Green on July 24, 2008 The Carnival of HR is up over at The HR Capitalist. Check it out! Read the full article →
how to mentor someone by Alison Green on July 23, 2008 Is there anything better than spotting someone relatively inexperienced but smart, driven, and generally awesome, and helping them along in their career? I think it’s one of the most rewarding things about managing (second only to having the power to make things run well rather than your department or organization being at the mercy of […] Read the full article →
10 mistakes employers make when hiring by Alison Green on July 21, 2008 I’ve written a lot about the mistakes job applicants make in the hiring process, but it’s often no better on the employer’s side. Here are the 10 biggest mistakes I see companies make when hiring. 1. Flakiness. They say they’ll get back to you this week and you hear nothing. The job description seems to […] Read the full article →
job rejections and vitriol, part 2 by Alison Green on July 20, 2008 About a year ago, I wrote a post about how a small fraction of job applicants respond to rejection notices with outrage, rudeness, or general vitriol, and gave a few real-life samples. Some background: My organization emails rejection notes to all applicants we don’t offer a job to. It’s a friendly and polite letter, and […] Read the full article →
unfair performance evaluation? by Alison Green on July 20, 2008 A reader writes: I have worked in HR for seven and a half years, working my way up from an HR Assistant to a Senior HR Assistant and 3 years ago to a Recruiter. I hire employees for about 30 departmental managers. I have always had excellent yearly performance reviews, most years being ranked 4 […] Read the full article →