October 2013

update: I talked to my colleague’s husband and now she’s making false complaints about me

Remember the letter-writer who had talked with her coworker’s husband at an office party, which seemed to lead to the coworker making constant false noise complaints against her? Here’s the update. All was quiet after I spoke to my boss……until Friday! She sent another email, copying my boss and his boss. This time she memorized […]

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how long should it take a new hire to get up to speed?

This post was originally published on July 13, 2010. A reader writes: I’m a former academic mathematician who left academia, because…well…suffice it to say that I didn’t go to college for nine years to become a glorified babysitter. After a job offer from a Very Large Government Agency fell through, I found myself severely underemployed. […]

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update: how do I warn new hires about a toxic colleague?

Remember the reader who asked how to warn new hires about an especially toxic coworker? Here’s the update. I used essentially the wording you suggested with both of my new colleagues, separately. Person 1 (my replacement in my old job) very obviously knew immediately what I was getting at; I know from continued correspondence with […]

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open thread

It’s our biweekly open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet, but this is a chance to talk to other readers.

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5 more reader updates

Five more reader updates: 1. The reader whose paychecks were bouncing I went to the labor board about the whole thing (you should’ve seen the look on the labor commissioner’s face when he figured out the company tried to pay their bounced check with a bounced checks – it was quite pained) – the gears ground […]

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