updates: giving up on a promotion, the swollen neck, and more by Alison Green on October 24, 2019 Here are updates from four people who had their letters answered here in the past. 1. How do I know when it’s time to give up on a promotion? Thank you so much for answering my question. Your response and the feedback in the comments was really helpful, and is actually pretty close to what […] Read the full article →
is contract-to-hire worth it? by Alison Green on October 24, 2019 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’ve been at my current job for about three and a half years, and have been in my current position for almost two of those. In theory, I know that I should really like my job; it involves some of the tasks that I am […] Read the full article →
should I wear a Halloween costume my first week on the job, losing a best friend over a job, and more by Alison Green on October 24, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I wear a Halloween costume my first week at a new job? I start a new job the week of Halloween and would love to wear a costume to work on Halloween, which I could not do at my old job. Of course I […] Read the full article →
should I not tell interviewers I left my last job because of bad management? by Alison Green on October 23, 2019 A reader writes: Can you help me with an appropriate response to future employers as to why I resigned from my previous position? It took a lot of guts and months of build-up to do it, but I resigned from my position earlier this summer. The work culture was beyond toxic and I truly felt […] Read the full article →
my employee quit, but now wants to stay by Alison Green on October 23, 2019 A reader writes: I have an employee who resigned by email two weeks ago. He sent his resignation by email to the head of HR, one of the VP’s, and the president of the company. Fast forward to last week, when the employee told us that he wants to stay. (Evidently he had a job […] Read the full article →
my partner’s career means we move all the time and it’s destroying my resume by Alison Green on October 23, 2019 A reader writes: While my partner has a prestigious career, it often requires we move to places I have no control over. Every time we move, I struggle to find work. My resume is choppy, I don’t speak the local language, my degrees are not equivalent, etc. I want so desperately to have a strong […] Read the full article →
new hire was in jail on his first day, I’m drowning in work, and more by Alison Green on October 23, 2019 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. New hire was in jail on his first day My company hired a new person on my team. He was scheduled to start on a Monday but pushed back a week at the last minute. The rumor around the office was that his flight home […] Read the full article →
I asked an interviewer for his own reference — and he thought it was weird by Alison Green on October 22, 2019 A reader writes: The other day I had an interview with an entrepreneur who looking for a part-time assistant and who essentially runs a one-man operation. He has several contractors, but there isn’t an office where many people meet regularly, that sort of thing. The interview went more or less okay, though he was a […] Read the full article →
I’m so nervous at work that it’s holding me back by Alison Green on October 22, 2019 A reader writes: About six months ago, I started a new job that takes some different pieces of my background and combines them into a new role. I was pretty up-front in the interview process that my skills are self-taught and I hadn’t formally worked in this capacity yet. I want to do well in […] Read the full article →
will smoking hurt my promotion chances? by Alison Green on October 22, 2019 A reader writes: The further I advance in my career, the more I have noticed something: people at the higher levels are much less likely to smoke. I’m a smoker, and I have lots of desire to quit but am not quite there yet. When at lower levels of my career, I had lots of […] Read the full article →