2011

do kids belong in your LinkedIn photo?

Here’s my first post written on Percocet. Let’s see how I do. A reader writes: I came across my former coworker’s LinkedIn profile, which shows a picture of her hugging her two kids, with one kid making a funny face. The first thought I had was: hmm, not very professional. But now I wonder, would you […]

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ow!

So that impending flood of posts I announced? Today I fell off a three-inch curb and broke the bones in the top of my foot. Yes, a three-inch curb. Shameful, no? Apparently this kind of thing is a much bigger deal than I ever realized; there was a stretcher, an ambulance, an IV, and now […]

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boss doesn’t want any food at our desks

A reader writes: My boss has a problem with people eating at their desks. A lot of our staff has to travel a far way and sit in horrible traffic to get to the office; is it reasonable for him to ban staff from say eating a pastry or cereal at their desk in the […]

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should employers pay for interview travel expenses?

When you’re interviewing for a job out of state, who should pay your travel expenses, you or the employer? Before the economy went south, employers would almost always pick up the tab for candidates traveling for job interviews—flights, hotels, and sometimes even meals and entertainment. But in this market, with tight budgets and plenty of […]

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dealing with an overly persistent job applicant

A reader writes: I’m an HR Manager at a small hotel of about 200 employees. I also have a director of HR. Our department is small. We handle everything between the two of us (worker’s comp, training, recruiting, hiring, firing, reorg, benefits, etc.). We wear many hats between the two of us.  I have an […]

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a coming flood

I have a TON of questions sitting in my in-box that I really want to answer, and my backlog just keeps growing and growing. So prepare yourself for a possible coming flood of posts; I’m going to try to get through more of these than usual this week. And maybe instead of sending me such […]

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terse answer Tuesday: 7 terse answers to 7 short questions

It’s terse answer Tuesday!  Here we go… 1. Canceling an interview After inviting a candidate to interview and scheduling a time, it became pretty clear that I wouldn’t want to hire the person (they ended up being a bit pushy and displayed a sense of entitlement). Is there a polite way to cancel the interview […]

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how to deal with a bad interviewer

In an ideal world, all job interviews would be conducted by interviewers who are skilled at asking relevant questions and ensuring that candidates gain a solid understanding of the position, the company, and the culture. Unfortunately, in reality, many interviewers are inexperienced, unskilled, otherwise unable to conduct effective interviews. But if handled correctly, encountering a […]

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short answer Sunday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s short answer Sunday. Today I get territorial about hair color and also call someone a dick. Here we go… Friend asked me to write my own letter of recommendation I have been looking steadily for work for a long time with discouraging results. Recently I applied for a job where a friend works (but […]

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