is it fair to give no notice when your boss has threatened to push resigning employees out early? by Alison Green on August 22, 2023 A reader writes: I’m writing about a situation a friend/former coworker (Barbara) is in, and I’m wondering if there is any nuance we’re missing. As background, I used to work at this location but the boss was pretty unbearable for a lot of reasons that I won’t bother to get into. Since I left, two […] Read the full article →
cursing in an interview “to be memorable,” slow job offer when I need to move, and more by Alison Green on August 22, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Cursing in an interview “to be memorable” I was recently watching a Twitch streamer who somewhat jokingly suggested that someone could stand out in an interview by “accidentally” dropping an F-bomb in an interview, then being immediately apologetic about it. His reasoning was that if […] Read the full article →
the sweet potato incident, the green lunch, and other tales of terrible work food by Alison Green on August 21, 2023 Last week we talked about terrible food at conferences and other work events. Unsurprisingly, the most egregious examples turned out to be what’s served to people with dietary restrictions … but sometimes everyone gets the same monstrous treatment. Here are 18 of the most ridiculous stories you shared. 1. The lemonade At a business meeting […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps making meaningless edits to my work by Alison Green on August 21, 2023 A reader writes: I am a new manager who is quite a bit younger than my employees. One employee has developed an annoying trait of “doctoring” all my documents that I send out. For example, if I write a policy and procedure for one of our tasks, he’ll go through and make minor changes — […] Read the full article →
my boss keeps leaving her kid with me by Alison Green on August 21, 2023 A reader writes: I work at a tristate chain. My location manager is the owner’s wife, Jane, but rumor has it that he recently cheated on her and ran out on her and their kid. It’s a terrible situation that should be none of my business. The issue is that when summer break started, Jane […] Read the full article →
coworker keeps calling me in the middle of the night, fending off easily searchable questions, and more by Alison Green on August 21, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker is in a different time zone and keeps calling me in the middle of the night I work in a multinational company where many of my coworkers are in drastically different time zones and different countries. I’ve managed to make this work quite […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – August 19-20, 2023 by Alison Green on August 19, 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: Heartburn, by Nora Ephron. The D.C. novel of its time when it was published in 1983, this is a thinly disguised but highly entertaining […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on August 18, 2023 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “I am an ex-academic who has just transitioned into private industry. I had reached a point where my old job was so toxic I felt perpetually poisoned. I was consistently miserable, at work and not, paying thousands for therapy to try to cope, and completely OWNED by the sunk […] Read the full article →
open thread – August 18-19, 2023 by Alison Green on August 18, 2023 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions 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 take your questions to […] Read the full article →
my employer confiscated my favorite shirt, whose job is it to address burn-out, and more by Alison Green on August 18, 2023 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My employer confiscated my favorite shirt I work with disabled clients, and the other day one of them took a spill down the ramp and was bleeding. When I turned her onto her side, I took my button-down off to put under her head to […] Read the full article →