November 2020

candidate was dressed too casually, upset about hiring process, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Candidate was dressed too casually on a Zoom interview I recently conducted Zoom interviews for a professional position. One of the applicants answered questions well, had an advanced degree, had relevant experience, and seemed to have a positive attitude. I really liked them and could […]

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how to interview with people you already know

A reader writes: I have an interview for a new job (in a new company) next week. The difficult part is that I know several of the people interviewing me, I work with them on a regular basis in my current role. How do you suggest approaching the interview? Do I pretend that they don’t […]

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not every work call needs to be on video

When our entire lives went online earlier this year, most of us quickly learned about “Zoom fatigue”: how video calls are generally more draining than ordinary conversations because of the constant gaze of the camera, the lack of many of the nonverbal cues we typically rely on, and the slight delay in virtual responses. Yet […]

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two of my employees are harassing their disabled coworker

A reader writes: I manage a small digital marketing firm. The owner is usually in the background doing the “big stuff” like networking and bringing in sponsors or big clients, I do almost all the hiring, and we use a virtual assistant HR company that tends to just forward me complaint emails (a separate issue). […]

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weekend open thread – November 7-8, 2020

This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork, by Reeves Wiedeman. OMG, y’all. If you like real-life stories of terrible management […]

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it’s your Friday good news

It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time. 1. Earlier this year, the startup I worked for was acquired by another company. This was near the start of the pandemic, and while I considered myself fortunate to still be employed while so many were not, I found that the […]

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open thread – November 6-7, 2020

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 (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * […]

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