interview with a lab worker at the Arctic Circle by Alison Green on November 5, 2014 Recently, a commenter mentioned that her dad is a lab supervisor in a mine at the Arctic Circle, and there was a clamor to learn more. Her dad graciously agreed to do an interview for us. Here’s the Q&A — with much thanks to Kevin Lackey, who works at Teck Alaska, Red Dog Mine. (By […] Read the full article →
my boss wants me to buy a client flowers with my own money, my interviewer contacted our mutual Facebook connections, and more by Alison Green on November 5, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Interviewer contacted mutual Facebook connections before interviewing me I applied for a part-time administrative job at a small business (3-4 employees). Social media is a component for the position, so I assumed that I would be googled before applying. What I didn’t expect was during […] Read the full article →
my coworker will only talk to me over g-chat by Alison Green on November 4, 2014 A reader writes: I have been working at a small repossession company for six months. Since I started, my coworker has been giving me the cold shoulder. She is an account manager for a client of ours, and I am essentially her partner on helping maintain the account. When I first started, she was friendly […] Read the full article →
what to do when you don’t have the right person to delegate work to by Alison Green on November 4, 2014 You need to delegate a project but no one on your team is precisely equipped to handle it. But the work needs to get done, and you don’t have time (or skills) to do it yourself. How do you proceed? When you don’t have the right person to delegate work to, here are six questions […] Read the full article →
is it ever okay to leave a job after less than a year? by Alison Green on November 4, 2014 I’ve been wanting to address this topic for a while, and this letter gave me the perfect opening. A reader writes: I took a new job just less than a year ago that I was incredibly excited about. It wasn’t exciting for the pay or benefits, but I really wanted to work at this organization […] Read the full article →
suggesting a coworker has a learning disability, putting personal appointments on a team calendar, and more by Alison Green on November 4, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. We have to put details of all personal appointments on our team calendar I am a technical specialist with a large international organization. I have recently joined the organization and love the work. However, our team members (about 12 people) are required to put appointments […] Read the full article →
my coworker keeps taking the office’s magazines into the bathroom by Alison Green on November 3, 2014 A reader writes: At our office, we have subscriptions to various newspapers and journals that we keep in the entry hallway for staff and guests to read. I just noticed today that a certain coworker will pick up one of these subscriptions and bring it to the bathroom to read while using the toilet. When […] Read the full article →
are you haunted by your last bad job? by Alison Green on November 3, 2014 Ever thought you might have workplace PTSD — that your last job or boss was so bad that you’re still haunted by it now, even though you’ve moved on? For many people, if you spend long enough in a dysfunctional workplace or modifying your behavior to accommodate a bad manager, it can end up instilling […] Read the full article →
everyone in my office keeps their doors shut, who controls the mail room, and more by Alison Green on November 3, 2014 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it odd that everyone in my office keeps their doors and blinds closed? This is a perception question, but I’d like your opinion on it. I work for a great company, top 10 of the Fortune 500. I’m new to the company also, coming […] Read the full article →
Sunday free-for-all – November 2, 2014 by Alison Green on November 2, 2014 It’s the weekend free-for-all. This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly non-work only; if you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.) Have at it. Read the full article →