my office is in the lunchroom, I can’t get people to answer pages, and more by Alison Green on April 6, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My office is in the lunchroom I’ve been at my current job for almost 3 years. In the first year, my office space was relocated into our small lunchroom. The staff lost their lunchroom and I’m stuck with constant interruptions of people coming in there […] Read the full article →
weekend free-for-all – April 4-5, 2015 by Alison Green on April 4, 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: 84, Charing Cross […] Read the full article →
should my resume say that I don’t want kids, who owns my artwork, and more by Alison Green on April 4, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Mentioning on my resume that I don’t want kids I’m applying for jobs in a competitive market and a notoriously sexist field, and I’m wondering if it would be strange to mention on my resumé that I absolutely categorically don’t ever want kids? Obviously I […] Read the full article →
the most surprising thing about Ask a Manager letters by Alison Green on April 3, 2015 A reader writes: I was curious, after years of writing this column, do you still get letters that surprise you? Do the reactions from the commenters ever surprise you? Have you ever thought that the conversation about a letter would go one way and it went completely the opposite way? What surprises you the most […] Read the full article →
open thread – April 3, 2015 by Alison Green on April 3, 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 →
networking no-show, company didn’t respond after I turned down an offer, and more by Alison Green on April 3, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. The person who asked me for an informational interview didn’t show up for it A former colleague of my husband contacted me about a mentee who had moved to my city and was interested in my line of work. It is not unusual for me […] Read the full article →
great moments in unprofessionalism by Alison Green on April 2, 2015 There was a great (and sometimes hilarious) discussion on last week’s open thread about unprofessional things people had done in their pasts that at the time they didn’t realize were unprofessional. I enjoyed some of the comments so much that I’m sharing them here. • Oh lord. During my first few months at my first job […] Read the full article →
4 costly mistakes teams make when collaborating by Alison Green on April 2, 2015 Is your workplace big on collaboration? Probably. (Open offices, team building, collaboration, WE WILL ALL WORK TOGETHER AND LIKE IT.) Whether you’re part of a group that’s collaborating on a project or a manager who wants to make sure that your team is collaborating effectively across the board, here are four big collaboration pitfalls to […] Read the full article →
I don’t want to move up into a leadership role by Alison Green on April 2, 2015 A reader writes: I’m in my mid-thirties, and have a fairly successful technical career — I have a good reputation for dependable work, common sense, and seeing connections that people miss. Every year, in my performance evaluations, I’m asked how I want to move ahead: my manager sees potential in me, and keeps encouraging me […] Read the full article →
last-minute interviews, getting feedback meant for someone else, and more by Alison Green on April 2, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Recommending someone I laid off without revealing our financial troubles We have recently let an employee go. I’d like to help her find a new position by reaching out in my network. How do I word the email that says “yep, we fired her” but […] Read the full article →