my boss wants to know how I’m spending my vacation before he’ll approve it by Alison Green on June 29, 2010 A reader writes: Does it seem strange that my manager wants to know what I’m doing for any vacation request I submit? And not in the friendly conversational way of “where are you going” or “big plans?” but in the way that he’s asking if it’s worthy to give the vacation days. Is this right? […] Read the full article →
power will lead you to eat more cookies and chew with your mouth open by Alison Green on June 29, 2010 This is pretty fascinating: “A particularly amusing study — undertaken by Keltner, Gruenfeld, and another colleague — shows that giving people just a little more power than their colleagues causes them to eat more cookies, chew with their mouths open, and leave more crumbs.” — Bob Sutton, writing for Business Week More info from the […] Read the full article →
can I run my business with a 4-day work week? by Alison Green on June 28, 2010 A reader writes: As a future employer (I hope!), I have an idea that I’ve been kicking around in my mind for awhile. I feel that a five-day work week is stifling and that people in general would be happier with a four-day work week at approximately 32 hours a week. However, in my scenario, this […] Read the full article →
does “we’ll keep your resume on file” really mean anything? by Alison Green on June 27, 2010 A reader writes: In most of the jobs where I’ve been interviewed and rejected the rejection letter says something like “We will hold on to your resume and contact you if we ever have any jobs that meets your needs” or something like this. Is this just being polite or is it possible that some time down the road they […] Read the full article →
turning down an employer’s offer a second time by Alison Green on June 25, 2010 A reader writes: Here’s a situation I never would have seen coming in this market. I received an offer for a job about 1.5 years ago. Ultimately I rejected it to stay at my current employer because the compensation package as a whole was just not quite enough to allow me to pull the trigger. […] Read the full article →
my coworker relies too much on my help by Alison Green on June 24, 2010 A reader writes: I have a friend at work, Anne, who joined our office a couple of years ago. She is frequently asking for my help – most of the time, it’s to explain procedures or policies (not to actually do her work for her). She seems to be understanding most of it, but she […] Read the full article →
it’s not illegal to give a bad job reference by Alison Green on June 23, 2010 A reader writes: My wife and I go back and forth about this one all the time. A former secretary of hers was moving and searching for a new job in her new city. The problem was that this person wasn’t the most reliable employee. She was always late, took days off without calling and […] Read the full article →
don’t stalk my voicemail by Alison Green on June 21, 2010 In a comment on a recent post about employers who don’t return phone calls, one commenter suggested not leaving voicemail when you call and an employer doesn’t answer, so that you can then call repeatedly, until you get a live person. Shawn took issue with this, responding: it isn’t uncommon for me to be at […] Read the full article →
employer left me a message — but wouldn’t respond when I tried to get back to them by Alison Green on June 20, 2010 A reader writes: Recently I faxed my resume and cover letter to a company that had a job posting on Career Builders. About a week later I received a call from a lady in HR asking that I return her call. I got home about an hour and half later and returned the call and […] Read the full article →
how can I get a job with a leadership role? by Alison Green on June 18, 2010 A reader writes: I’ve been working since I was in high school – retail gigs, etc were the norm for me until I went to jr. college and started temping in offices. It grew a bit from there, as I learned all the new programs, and because I was a fast keyer, was cast in roles […] Read the full article →