Ask a Manager

It’s your Friday good news — the updates version! Here are updates from people who shared good news here in the past.

1. The person who got multiple offers after a string of bad jobs (#1 at the link)

I had emailed a year ago with a good news Friday update and some wild job history as a background to my job hopping resume.

I loved the job I landed, but they kept hiring at a frantic pace, and when the economy started to wobble late 2022 and into early 2023, leadership seemed to panic. December 2022, we had an all-hands meeting where they told us the company had 4+ years of runway. In February 2023, a chunk of us had all of our accounts shut off in the middle of our work day, and that was how we discovered we were being laid off. We were the lucky ones — we received severance and coaching, while the second, larger round a couple months later received relatively little.

Remember the boss I’d liked working with that left, and I left soon after? We stayed loosely in touch, and I followed the progress he was making with his new company (a global one in an adjacent industry). A couple months after my layoff, I saw him post that he was hiring for a role a level above what I was applying for elsewhere. I immediately messaged him and asked if he thought I could fill it, or if he was looking for someone who already had experience holding the role. He told me to send him my resume and he’d fast track me into interviews.

I made it! I’m at a higher title, competitive pay, doing work I enjoy and find satisfying. I’m managing a small team with room to grow, and opportunities to travel internationally (I’m heading to Europe in 2 weeks!). I hadn’t realized how bad at managing my last boss was until I was back under someone who actually seems to like managing people. I realized quickly how little I could actually say; she meant well, but even something as mild as saying “Cersei does get heated about her projects, but it’s just because she cares. I don’t mind!” in response to my boss pointing out Cersei’s temper would mean I would discover myself quietly taken off of any projects or meetings with Cersei in them.

My current boss, by comparison, welcomes it when I ask him for input on a situation to be sure I navigate it well: “Sansa keeps coming to me or Tyrion with things that sound like her realm; should we be drafting peace treaties for her or were you expecting her to do that?” He’ll answer me directly, and even seek my input — “That’s definitely something Sansa can and should handle. Do you get the sense she doesn’t feel confident in it, or is it something else?” I better appreciate the trust he has in my work and abilities, and the model he sets in leading the larger team. Hopefully, it’s helping me be a good manager for my small team!

There’s ups and downs, and it’s not a perfect dream job, but no job is. As far as I’m concerned, it’s perfect for me right now, and I’m happy with that.

2. The person who came out as non-binary at work (#3 at the link)

I’ve stayed with the same employer since coming out as nonbinary on TDOV 2021 and I’ve been a big part of the LGBTQIA+ employee resource group (ERG), keeping a communication role, and my employer has gone above and beyond with DEI, including winning a prestigious HR award, the presentation of which I attended on behalf of the ERG!

I had an incident with a HR rep last year where I was misgendered, I pushed back, using my social capital, and the HR rep apologized, continued to gender me correctly, and joined the ERG to get better educated on trans and nonbinary issues in which she was not well versed. We have spoken together and separately to recruitment fairs and onboarding to let new staff know that the company is a safe place to be queer. We get on very well now that we’re working on this together.

I changed teams in December 2022 and the managers of my new department reached out to me and the ERG before onboarding to get some guidance on correctly gendering me and I have not once been misgendered since leaving the public side of the business. I also asked to go by my nickname, and the team got me set up on all systems I need using my nickname, making me feel so welcomed and supported.

I have been involved in my company’s DEI strategy and am able to speak about lesser known and poorly understood orientations and gender identity issues to the company at large, and I will be working on the intersection of disability and queerness within the company and the wider industry in Ireland (where I am).

Also in a less work-centric bit of good news, my girlfriend will be immigrating and moving in with me this summer!

It’s a work in progress but I wanted to let you know that the positive part of the pandemic in my life has maintained its momentum. Thank you for publishing my bit of good news.

3. The person who found a new job after being nervous to look (#4 at the link)

This summer, my manager left for a new position. I’d had a suspicion for a few weeks that it was going to happen, so I wasn’t caught completely off guard, but I was nervous. She’d done so much at our firm for so long and I was worried I’d have to step up to take care of all the things she had. I would also be reporting to her boss in the interim, who was already spread thin and hard to get ahold of.

It’s been a bit tough — I feel like I’m on an island and my morale has dipped slightly, but I’ve been told I’m doing a good job (and to not be so hard on myself, which is a struggle for me!). This week they announced they’ve hired someone for my manager’s position. I haven’t met her yet, but I’m hoping for the best. The difference between how I feel now and when I last wrote to you is night and day. I’m not sure if hanging in there was the “right” choice, but I don’t regret it.

Thanks again for your website. I’ve pointed several friends and family to it and I’m an avid reader. Happy Friday!