October 2012

invasive pre-employment medical questionnaire

A reader writes: With the help of your blog, I accepted an entry-level job as a scientist for a consulting firm within a few months of graduating college. Thank you for your sound advice, and keep it coming! I have a question about pre-employment physicals. After I accepted my offer, I worked with HR to […]

Read the full article →

wee answer Wednesday — 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s wee answer Wednesday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go… 1. When you don’t want senior positions anymore After 30+ years of steady employment (25 of them being part owner of my own small publishing company) I’ve now reentered the job market. The last few years of my company’s existence […]

Read the full article →

how do I tell employers I was fired for a video I put on YouTube?

A reader writes: I have been recently fired  from my job for misconduct (horseplay and disregard for company policy regarding video recording devices). A video was made on my smartphone during an overnight shift (I was working by myself and a coworker kept me company). I very stupidly uploaded the video to YouTube and distributed […]

Read the full article →

work habits that will kill your career

If you’re wondering why you’re not advancing in your career more quickly, or why you always seem to be overlooked when it comes time for raises, promotions, or important projects, the answer might be that you’re holding yourself back, through one or more of these eight career-killing behaviors. 1. Not promoting your own work. Your work […]

Read the full article →

tiny answer Tuesday: 7 short answers to 7 short questions

It’s tiny answer Tuesday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go… 1. Listing Amazon reviews on your resume I had a question about putting something on a resume. I am in between jobs now and searching. I have been doing Amazon Vine reviews for over a year now. You have to […]

Read the full article →

recruiters gone wild: 3 stories of recruiters behaving badly

Three letters on similar topics… 1. Recruiter is asking me to “fight for her” with a company that’s interviewing me I applied to Company A in Location A early this year and received a rejection email. Not wanting to give up, I asked my recruitment agent to approach them again, but in Location B, 6 […]

Read the full article →

my boss has a bunch of swimsuit photos on the company laptop

A reader writes: While transferring documents from the company laptop, I found a folder containing photos taken on a cruise my boss went on with friends. While there wasn’t anything particularly lewd, there were a lot of shirtless men, half-naked men in bed, and my half-naked boss with half-naked men in bed (my boss and […]

Read the full article →

should you list hobbies on your resume?

A reader writes: Lately, I have been wondering about conventions regarding including hobbies and activities (other than volunteer work) on resumes. For example, in my spare time I take archery lessons and sing in an a cappella group, in addition to various musical commitments that may pop up over the course of the year (i.e., […]

Read the full article →