get a mug from Chocolate Teapots Ltd. by Alison Green on February 16, 2015 You asked for Chocolate Teapots merchandise, and it’s here. You can buy Chocolate Teapots mugs, totes, shirts, and more at the new Chocolate Teapots Ltd. online store. (For anyone confused about what this is: Chocolate Teapots Ltd. is the fictional Ask a Manager company that we’ve often used as a stand-in when discussing real-life work situations here.) Read the full article →
what verb tense should I use on my resume? by Alison Green on February 16, 2015 A reader writes: I was updating my resume today and was wondering about what tense to use. For my current job, do I use present tense and the rest of the resume past tense? Or should it all match, like all past tense or all present tense? The simple rule is that you should use […] Read the full article →
my boss was arrested, being offered a job as the second choice, and more by Alison Green on February 16, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I resigned after my boss was arrested I recently resigned my position without another job lined up, because…wait for it…the majority owner of my company was arrested on a charge related to our business. He was also my boss, as we were a small company. […] Read the full article →
weekend free-for-all – February 14-15, 2015 by Alison Green on February 14, 2015 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.) Book Recommendation of the Week: You should read About Alice, […] Read the full article →
a love triangle of lies and other romance dilemmas for Valentine’s Day by Alison Green on February 14, 2015 It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’ve got four letters covering all aspects of romance at work. 1. A love triangle of lies We have coworkers Ash, Taylor, and Jamie (and then me, who Ash has come to for advice, but I don’t work with any of these people, all of whom have been given unisex names here […] Read the full article →
don’t ask how many other people are interviewing for the same job as you by Alison Green on February 13, 2015 I co-sign this recent comment from commenter Spiky Plant, strongly enough that I felt it should be its own post: I’m always surprised by people who think they have new information when they know how many other people they’re up against. Or when people ask during a phone screen how many other candidates are screening […] Read the full article →
open thread – February 13, 2015 by Alison Green on February 13, 2015 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that 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. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
is there any saving this almost-offer, supporting an assistant with a medical scare, and more by Alison Green on February 13, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is there any saving this almost-offer? I interviewed for a client service position with an agency. I loved the whole team, and felt like it was a dream job. They felt the same way, and offered me a position (verbally). After meeting with the team, […] Read the full article →
interview with a former professional matchmaker by Alison Green on February 12, 2015 Recently I discovered that a commenter here, Lauren, used to work as a professional matchmaker, and you can’t reveal that kind of info to me without me insisting on knowing more. Luckily, she graciously agreed to be interviewed, and here’s our Q&A. How did you end up in this job? And how long were you […] Read the full article →
make better decisions by conducting pre-mortems by Alison Green on February 12, 2015 Last week, I briefly mentioned “pre-mortems” — an exercise for foreseeing obstacles and making better decisions from the start. The idea is to imagine that it’s months down the road and the project has failed, and then work backwards to figure out why that happened. That way, you can adjust your planning ahead of time to […] Read the full article →