how honest can I be with recruiters that money is the only reason I want to leave my current job? by Alison Green on January 24, 2023 A reader writes: Recently I’ve been approached by quite a few recruiters. Generally I brush them off as I truly enjoy my job and my coworkers, and even my manager isn’t half bad. Last year the company offered its traditional low raise despite high inflation, constant emails about new C-suite executives and positions created, and […] Read the full article →
I’m sick of having to do my incompetent colleague’s work by Alison Green on January 24, 2023 A reader writes: A few months ago I left a senior-level job in a prestigious but dysfunctional industry for a job at a nonprofit. It was a lateral move salary-wise, but a huge upgrade in benefits and work-life balance; my workload is a fraction of what it was at my last job, and I have […] Read the full article →
I resent my employee for being richer and more qualified than me by Alison Green on January 24, 2023 A reader writes: I am a first-time manager of a bakery in a small city that has gone through a lot of changes through the pandemic. Our housing and cost-of-living was so cheap that remote workers moved here and now people originally from here can’t buy a house — including me. Six months ago my […] Read the full article →
trainer wants us to “get emotional” with each other, tamale theft, and more by Alison Green on January 24, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Our trainer wants us to “get emotional” with each other I work in education. Specifically, in an urban high school with a high proportion of disadvantaged students with trauma and/or learning disabilities. Work and professional development events can get kind of touchy-feely (emotionally) because so […] Read the full article →
my boss thinks I need a better reason to take vacation days by Alison Green on January 23, 2023 A reader writes: I’ve been working as an executive assistant to a CEO for just over a year now. For the most part, he’s great and we have a lovely relationship, but he can be a bit brutal about taking time off. He never takes any PTO himself and has often declined my requests for […] Read the full article →
why are there so many abusive bosses? by Alison Green on January 23, 2023 In the 15 years I’ve been writing Ask a Manager, I’ve heard about some really bad bosses. There was the boss who crashed an employee’s wedding (and then wrote her up for having him escorted out!), the boss who told bizarre lies about all her employees, and even the boss whose negligence killed someone’s horse. […] Read the full article →
interview with a veterinary social worker by Alison Green on January 23, 2023 Recently we had a question from a veterinary social worker, and many readers asked to hear more about the job. Bonnie Downing has generously agreed to tell us more about how that works, and here’s our conversation. Tell us about the work you do. I work in a veterinary emergency room in a dual role […] Read the full article →
can my employer make me wear a bra, my husband’s band doesn’t want to play my coworker’s wedding, and more by Alison Green on January 23, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can my employer require me to wear a bra? I am a woman with large breasts. When I go to work, I wear a shirt/blouse and pants that are not transparent and don’t show excessive skin so private body parts are covered up. About a […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – Jan. 21-22, 2023 by Alison Green on January 20, 2023 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: Mouth to Mouth, by Antoine Wilson. After a man saves a famous art dealer from drowning, their paths twist together in surprising ways. […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on January 20, 2023 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “Several months ago I inherited a part-time employee we thought we would have to fire. She’d been with the company a few months and wasn’t picking up the basics, and working with me was the last chance. She is in a new field, and I realized quickly she was […] Read the full article →