October 2013

update: my friend is a bad employee

Remember the reader looking for ways to help her friend, who she suspected was a bad employee with a bad attitude? Here’s her update. So I took your advice and the advice of a lot of your commentators and just tried to nudge toward him thinking about his office values. It wasn’t well received and […]

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update from the reader working for her parents’ dysfunctional business

Remember the reader trying to leave her parents’ dysfunctional business and getting told she was a terrible person because of it? Here’s her update. I quit September 15th as planned, but there’s been nothing particularly thrilling for your readers… no fireworks. I’m getting the silent treatment, I think, which, despite the intent behind it, has […]

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are job candidates entitled to feedback?

This post was originally published on March 8, 2009. When a candidate asks for feedback after not getting the job, if there’s an easily articulable reason, I’ll generally share it. For instance, I’ll let a candidate who asks know that we were looking for someone with more experience in a certain area, or stronger writing […]

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update about the manager assigning hotel rooms based on race

Remember the manager who wanted to assign employees’ hotel rooms by race? Of course you do. Here’s the update: Sadly, unlike so many other follow-ups, I can’t really say that things have changed at all. As many commenters pointed out, beyond race-based decision-making, some of the other factors brought up (intimidating employees, skimping on budgets, […]

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how the hell does networking work anyway?

A reader writes: Can you explain networking? I still don’t really get it. I have many years (decades) of experience and so fortunately, I know a lot of people, and the people I know tend to know a lot of people too. I have gotten jobs in the past through people I know, but it […]

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my company throws A List and B List parties for employees

This post was originally published on March 29, 2010. A reader writes: I am a “peak period employee” of a large company. Although I have worked 1000+ hours per year for them every year for the last decade, employees of my status are not invited to the annual holiday party. This is reserved for full-time […]

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