June 2013

my coworker hit me in the head while I was on a work call

A reader writes: I work a company that has different rules for different departments, mostly in terms of appearance and attitude. It’s a large company, 500+ nationwide, and is public. During a work-related meeting, I was on the phone with a vendor and was intentionally hit in the head by an SVP…hard. I think he […]

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can I ask employers to let me know if they’re rejecting me?

A reader writes: I relocated a couple of months ago after taking an out-of-state internship and falling in the love with the area. The internship has since ended, and though I still work there occasionally (it’s a retail store/event space), the owner can’t really afford a full-time employee so I’m left looking for full-time employment […]

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how to tell if a company culture will be a bad fit

If you’ve ever worked somewhere that made you miserable, you know how important it is to check out the company before accepting a job there. But that’s easier said than done – companies don’t usually make it easy to peek behind the curtain and see what working there will really be like. But there are […]

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tattling at work, lost interview invites, and more

It’s mini answer Monday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go… 1. Tattling in the office In the past two weeks, I’ve had a strange meeting with my former supervisor where she vaguely indicated everyone in the office was accusing me of tattling, then she did something tattle-worthy the next day. […]

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fired without reason, overly cutesy video interviews, and more

It’s short answer Saturday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go… 1. Company offered me a job, then pulled the offer, then offered it again In the past 3 weeks I have been involved in the interview process with a large restaurant corporation, I have recieved a verbal offer which was […]

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a job candidate sent an invoice after her interview

Two crazy hiring stories in one day, in honor of Friday! A reader writes: We are in the process of hiring a director for one of our newer satellite offices. One candidate was referred to us by a client and looked very promising on paper. We brought her in for an interview and asked several […]

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a job applicant stopped by with a plant and candy

A reader writes: We’re hiring for a social media person at work, and had an applicant show up out of the blue today with a bamboo plant in a vase and candy and a card and try to give it to the hiring manager. The hiring manager flat-out told her it wasn’t really appropriate and […]

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can a manager ask for “alone time” at work?

A reader writes: I work for a busy law office that manages hundreds of files for large corporations daily. The work is very detail oriented, and even the slightest issues can set us back tremendously. I supervise a group of 5 other people, all of whom have been with the firm for less than 9 […]

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