June 2016

my boss is constantly texting and emailing during meetings

A reader writes: My boss, the president of our company, constantly looks at his phone during meetings. He’s grinning and typing, so I don’t know if he’s emailing or texting, but I can speculate. One example is the weekly meetings he sets up for my coworkers and me so we can give him weekly updates. […]

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I’m the new work advice columnist for New York Magazine!

I am bursting with excitement about this and now I get to announce it: I’m the new work advice columnist for New York Magazine! I’ll be writing a weekly column there tackling bosses, coworkers, and other aspects of work life. In my first column, I answer a letter from someone who keeps accidentally becoming friends with her managers and […]

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I’m on the Dear Prudence podcast!

I love Slate’s Dear Prudence advice column, and I am a huge fan of their new Prudence, Mallory Ortberg, so my head basically exploded when Mallory asked me if I wanted to come on their new podcast and answer questions with her. We answered a bunch of (non-work-related!) questions from Mallory’s readers, including one about friend […]

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someone left a bullet casing on my desk

A reader writes: Yesterday I went to a meeting at work. After our meeting, I came back to my desk, and there was a bullet shell casing on my desk (see photo). I went straight to our unarmed security. They called our head of security, who advised me to download a security app. HR was […]

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how to respond to a volatile rejected job applicant

A reader writes: I have a question regarding applicants who, after being interviewed and rejected more than once, apply over and over again. I have one applicant who has been interviewed twice, rejected twice, and keeps sending new applications. The first time she was interviewed was two years ago by our previous recruitment coordinator, and […]

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how to know if you’re getting good career advice

If you’re looking for advice on your job search and your career, you’ll find that there’s no shortage of advice out there. The problem is that some of it is pretty terrible. In fact, some career advice is so bad that it can actually harm your career! Complicating matters even more, some of this bad […]

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I have an awful summer intern, and I can’t fire him

A reader writes: I’m reaching out to request advice on an intern problem. As background, I’m a young-looking woman with a professional degree who works in the charitable arm of a prestigious, for-profit teapot firm. I have three interns this summer, one of whom is in a professional degree program, and the others are still […]

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