informational interviews by Alison Green on June 13, 2008 Public service announcement: “Informational interview” is not code for “sneaky way to get a job interview.” If you ask me for an informational interview and I tell you that my schedule is crammed right now but I’d be happy to answer any questions by email (since I can do that when I find 10 spare […] Read the full article →
company dragging its feet on hiring by Alison Green on June 12, 2008 A reader writes: I had an interview May 6th, which went well, and I was told by the hiring manager that she would like someone to start the first week in June and that I would hear the outcome by the next week. Two days later, HR called and asked me to come in for […] Read the full article →
10 ways to make your employees love you by Alison Green on June 9, 2008 Last week, I wrote about ways to make your boss love you. This week is a similar list for managers, offering ways to gain the respect and affection of your employees. Confining myself to 10 turned out to be hard—there are so many ways to manage badly and so many things that it’s important to do […] Read the full article →
granting and denying vacation requests by Alison Green on June 6, 2008 A reader writes: I’m a new supervisor of a small software team. I’m responsible for granting and denying vacation time. I often find myself in a situation where an employee would like to take a random day off… say Friday. They will often bring this to my attention the day before. Our workplace has generally […] Read the full article →
naming salary requirements by Alison Green on June 4, 2008 A reader writes: I’m interested in applying for a job that asks for my salary requirements to be stated in my cover letter. This feels like a loaded question: if I shoot too high, am I pricing myself out of a job? If I shoot too low, am I condemning myself to be underpaid? I […] Read the full article →
good management wins by Alison Green on June 4, 2008 Okay, so there’s plenty more to it than good management. I just wanted an excuse to link to this old post from February. Read the full article →
10 ways to make your boss love you by Alison Green on June 2, 2008 Want to make become your boss’ favorite? Here are ten habits which, if cultivated, will have your boss showering you with lavish praise. 1. Keep track of everything your boss puts on your plate, so she learns that she doesn’t have to follow up to make sure thing are getting done. Give her the peace […] Read the full article →
time off in between jobs by Alison Green on May 31, 2008 A reader writes: I have been laid off for almost 10 months now. I have been working hard for this time to secure another position. I am currently concerned that the length of time I have been out of work is against me when I interview. I have had several interviewing managers ask me what […] Read the full article →
protecting your time from long-winded interlopers by Alison Green on May 29, 2008 When you’re racing to get something done on a deadline and you get interrupted by a long-winded caller, do you:(a) Let them talk, trying to politely hint that you don’t have much time(b) Say, “I’m actually short on time right now. Could I call you back?” Far more people do (a) than (b) — because […] Read the full article →
10 questions to ask your interviewer by Alison Green on May 27, 2008 When your interviewer wraps up your job interview by asking if you have any questions, you might be thinking that he or she is finished assessing you, but that’s not quite the case. Interviewers will draw conclusions about you based on the questions you ask — or don’t ask. If you don’t ask questions, you’re […] Read the full article →