Ask a Manager

It’s your Friday good news! Coming into Covid, I had been searching for a new job, as I was no longer satisfied being in the same role for a decade, and I was in a place where it was only possible to move up if someone retired or died. I had several great interviews at […]

It’s your Friday good news! I was recently promoted to a director-level position at my small nonprofit. For years I had occasionally brought up our absolutely atrocious vacation policy — no PTO for part-timers at all, full-time employees have work here A YEAR before getting FIVE days off. At the two-year anniversary you get two […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “I’m writing to share a good news story on behalf of my cousin. My cousin was working part-time starting in 2018 for financial reasons (her husband earned more money, so it made sense that she have fewer hours and be able to pick up the kids from school, take them […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “Wanted to share some positive news from my most recent hiring experience. I was notified that I was being laid off in the spring, but was asked to stay on through the end of summer to finish up some projects. I was subsequently un-laid off, but just didn’t feel the […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “Last year, I was in a very toxic job — my boss was not very good at his job and had constant turnover, and I ended up doing work that was very much not what I wanted to be doing (think taking over the very routine stuff after yet […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “For nine years I worked for a large nonprofit with a good team but a not so good upper management. I moved into a new home slightly further away and started job hunting to make my commute better. Nothing panned out. My manager left, new manager asked me to […]

It’s your Friday good news! Thanks to your posts about how women tend to pass on opportunities that men would pursue, last year I decided to apply for a position that would have been a bit of a stretch. I knew I didn’t have 100% of the experience they were looking for, but I used your cover letter […]

It’s your Friday good news! Capitalism is broken. I am working out my notice period for an exceptionally good employer. My team has a great balance of support and autonomy, the work we do helps people, the schedule is flexible and includes WFH days, our team only hires kind people, and the pay and benefits […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “I wrote you a letter in early 2021 that you didn’t print because it didn’t really contain a question, so much as it was my attempt to figure out how to survive what I feared was a terrible and permanent vibe-shift at my job. (Unfortunately, I was right.) I […]

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “I don’t remember how I started reading AAM: Probably a link from Captain Awkward. I’ve received so much bizarre and ridiculous advice over the years, and it has been invaluable to have your column to guide me. Reading all of your posts has helped me greatly in advocating for […]