September 2021

my boss is angry that I lied about the reason for my vacation

A reader writes: At the beginning of the pandemic, I started a relationship with my now-boyfriend, who lives in another country. We met online and had been planning on taking a vacation together as soon as the borders of our countries, which were closed due to COVID restrictions, opened . During the summer, I had […]

Read the full article →

can I turn a request for free help into paid consulting?

A reader writes: I work in a pretty specific niche area. I was recently at a conference describing my work, and a leader from another organization came up to me to ask me how he could find someone like me to work for him. I emailed him some information about the graduate school I attended, […]

Read the full article →

weekend open thread – September 11-12, 2021

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. Recommendation of the week: Instead of a book, this week I’m recommending a Netlix series: The Chair, about drama in a college English department. It’s like a David Lodge novel […]

Read the full article →

it’s your Friday good news

It’s your Friday good news! 1. The company I (30s, she/her) work for was hit hard by the “great resignation” earlier this year and hiring went through a dry spell, and we had a pretty bad gender skew in both, taking us from fairly balanced to predominantly men. As part of a panel of employee resource […]

Read the full article →

open thread – September 10-11, 2021

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. * […]

Read the full article →

does sloppy writing indicate lack of attention to detail, resigning when I won’t go back to the office, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Does sloppy writing indicate a lack of attention to detail? I’m working in recruiting currently, and I’m getting a lot of applicants for jobs like welders, electricians, etc. These resumes tend to have more mistakes (think grammar and spelling errors). I’m having a hard time […]

Read the full article →