my company is cutting my overworked team’s pay as punishment for mistakes by Alison Green on February 28, 2023 A reader writes: My team has been struggling with workload the last few months, and mistakes have been made by nearly everyone. We were notified by leadership that everyone would receive a temporary (two-month) pay cut because of our performance. I was pulled aside and told this wouldn’t include me, as I’ve continued to do […] Read the full article →
update: is my future manager a bigoted jerk? by Alison Green on February 28, 2023 Remember the letter-writer last week who saw her future manager’s bigoted Twitter account and wanted to ask not to report to him? Here’s the update. Thanks for publishing and answering my letter. I actually already have an update! I ended up talking to Willow (my interim manager) about it the day after I emailed you. I […] Read the full article →
I resent our new hires for setting better work-life boundaries than our company normally has by Alison Green on February 28, 2023 A reader writes: I am part of a team in a high-pressure industry at a company known for demanding a lot but paying very well in exchange for availability, etc. We purport to provide near-constant availability to our clients, but it’s unclear whether this near-constant availability expectation extends to individual employees for their teams (depends […] Read the full article →
hairy legs at work, my office sent me a random TV, and more by Alison Green on February 28, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Hairy legs at work Recently my work started allowing employees to wear shorts. And within the last few years, I, a 30-something woman, have stopped feeling the need to shave my legs. Which I’m fine with in my everyday life, but still feel reticent about […] Read the full article →
here’s an example of a great cover letter … with before and after versions by Alison Green on February 27, 2023 A reader recently sent me an example of a great cover letter that I want to share — and it even comes with a before version too, so you can see exactly how she improved it. First, though, here are the caveats I’ve learned to give when sharing these: The writer has allowed me to […] Read the full article →
my employee can’t handle even mildly negative feedback by Alison Green on February 27, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a manager who recently hired a junior-level employee. I could tell she was sensitive during the interview, which was fine, but didn’t find out until she started working that she has awful, awful anxiety. I feel for her, but she’s struggling to get through her training without things like very mildly […] Read the full article →
my new coworker is putting fake mistakes in my work so she can tell our boss I’m bad at my job by Alison Green on February 27, 2023 A reader writes: I’ve been with my company for over 10 years at this point. It was my first job out of college and I have successfully worked myself up the ranks to the corporate offices. I’ve been immensely proud of my progress, up until recently. I transferred to a new team, which was presented […] Read the full article →
insensitive “Diversity Day,” how to fire someone who refuses to talk to us, and more by Alison Green on February 27, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is our “Diversity Day” as insensitive as I think it is? I’m looking for a gut-check on something that’s been bothering me since it started. My company has something called a Diversity Day where our HR team supplies us with a list of holidays that […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – February 25-26, 2023 by Alison Green on February 24, 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: None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive, by Carolyn Prusa. A woman in the midst of evacuating her family for […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on February 24, 2023 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “In 2019, I found out some of my firm’s clients were… very not aligned with my values (namely, private prison companies). Anxious to get a new job, I jumped into an agency role in a new industry—in January 2020. Looking back, I absolutely ignored some red flags, but I […] Read the full article →