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Asking for training during new-hire probation period I am working in a company for about a month. But I changed my field a bit and I want to learn the unknown stuff. There is a training coming in the next month which I think will be useful for my job. But it is coming on working days. If I miss the class I would have t...	If you can make a good case for your taking the training being beneficial to the employer, go ahead and ask.
How long after a recruiter's introduction is it considered ethical to re-approach a company? Here's a situation: a recruiter introduces a candidate to a company, and the company is very interested in hiring the candidate. However, if the process at some point breaks down, how long after this process would it be consid...	It entirely depends on the relationship between the recruiter and company, the contracts they have and whatever contract/agreement you have in place with the recruiter (if any).
What's the best way to convince a manager to let someone take initiative? One of our customer service reps has been with the company for years and is starting to feel like he's outgrown his position and is looking for new challenges. His manager is reluctant to give him days off from his current responsibilities (ev...	Explain how it will benefit the company/department if the rep picks up new qualifications (better quality work, more motivated employee, and better employee retention). The basic idea is to take the manager's objections seriously, and find solutions for them.
How should an applicant react to an early invitation to an interview? How should an applicant react if a company invites him/her to an interview before any meaningful conversation occurred? Here's the background: Company : places an anonymous advertisement on a job board. There's only brief reference to technologies ...	If it's a recruiter's office and they are being mysterious, I'd tell them no. Honestly, if whoever or whatever is sending the replies isn't bothering to take the time to actually read them and craft a meaningful response, I would decline and move on.
I have an opportunity to interview but I don't feel I have the skills to do the job successfully I've been given the opportunity to interview for a technical position. However, I don't feel that I have the skills to even make it through the technical screenings. This interview would be for a lateral move. Is it worth g...	So apply for the position and do the interview.
How should I respond to the classic "Introduce yourself" question in an interview? Almost any interview begins with the classic question of "Introduce yourself". Somehow I found mixed levels of detail as answers to this question. How should you ideally respond to this question professionally? Should I talk about coll...	Talk about who you are and what you can do for the company. Make yourself stand out but not in an overly arrogant way - give the interviewer something to remember you by and some way to easily describe you. If you are a recent grad, you may spend a little more time on college. I've found after a couple of years off col...
When negotiatiating a job offer, can I ask to be reimbursed for two-body-problem travel? When negotiating a job offer, is it reasonable to ask the company to help pay for airfare for me to visit my wife? The details: I just graduated with a Ph.D. in computer science, and have interviewed with a large multinational co...	If the airfare is considered business expense(You need a tax expert to confirm this), they will be willing to pay for it. It is absolutely reasonable to ask - you can negotiate any sort of terms in the contract that both of you agree to.
Is it wise to apologize or let this one go? I recently found myself undecided in the following situation. I have exchanged emails with a potential partner company. This company is bigger, more established, and a leader in their industry. We have specific technology, and during the email exchange I hinted that if they ...	Apologizing is an enormous display of weakness in negotiations, much more so than possibly being percieved as cocky and arrogant which You want them to think about what you can do for them and at the same time make it clear how much you want them because it gives you legitimacy and invites trust, also it boosts their e...
When to send a "thank you" email? Should I send a "thank you" email to every professional connection -- in office and out -- if he or she sends me something I request? Even if it's someone I know is inundated with emails? Even if I am fairly certain this person does not want single word emails hitting his or her inb...	I generally only thank people if I'm already emailing them as an acknowledgement.
How can I turn down a request for personal references? I'm in the process of interviewing for a new job. I was given an offer based on my interview and the recommendation of a former co-worker who now works for this company. As part of the process, they've provided me with an application for employment that I need to...	As long as you provided a sufficient number of professional references along with all your other identification, I don't see the point.
How to approach an interview after being rejected once I want to work with a company very much. I have tried getting through once and have been declined. I asked if I could reapply and they agreed. In my second attempt with the very same company, should I be open about my first attempt to get through? What should I sa...	Explain what you have done since the last interview that makes you a more suitable candidate this time around. If asked about it, don't lie - try to structure whatever you say in positive, constructive ways (it was a learning experience and such). If they felt that the result of the first interview was that your were a...
Should you include details unrelated to your occupation in your resume? Let's suppose I'm working on my resume to apply for some jobs. I think I should only include details that are relevant to the job I am applying for, but others think that it would be helpful to also include non-related accomplishments, such as, say...	Everything on the resume has to be useful to selling you.
Should I attend a company function? There's a big departmental picnic coming up; I've been told that, as a contractor, I won't be paid for the time if I do go to the picnic. However, as an integral member of the team (I definitely do as much and participate as fully as the employees on the team, and we're looking to ge...	If the event is held after work or on a weekend I am actually more willing to attend because then everybody is on equal footing.
Does an eagerness to engage in games with coworkers give me a bad image? I have a ping pong facility in my office and I play during lunch and after work with my senior colleagues. I started playing after my first week in the office. It has been only a month since I joined and I am quite visibly eager to play it. I don...	If you play on your own time (as you say, during lunch time and after work), there shouldn't be a problem. The presence of the table indicates that the company cares much more about whether work gets done than they care about how and when it gets done.
Should we maintain the difference between personal and professional contacts? I am a newbie in a professional world and hence I have some new friends in my working area including some seniors. So, we are also connected from a social networking site but the issues is I am connected to all the professional friends via m...	You can use e.g. Facebook for your personal friends and LinkedIn for your professional contacts. I try very hard to separate my online networks. Second, instead of separate identities, use filters -- security groups, circles, whatever your social network calls them, decide which of your friends/followers/contacts can s...
How should you list a sensitive or questionable project that provided great experience on your resume? There are several types of projects you could work on that could be sensitive for various reasons (involvment might disclose your personal political affiliations, the legality might be questionable, etc). However, pro...	List this the same way you would list any confidential project (such as an upcoming, unreleased product that your current/former employer is keeping quiet). Describe why you did what you did, what you learned and why you would not do it again.
Being Interviewed by fellow candidates I am applying for a promotion within my department. The process involves interviewing with several managers. Upon receiving my interview schedule I discovered that some of the interviewers are actually eligible candidates that are also considering applying for the promotion. They ...	If the parties who scheduled the interview were absolutely aware that these interviewers were active candidates for the job, or if they were aware that these interviewers were even considering throwing their hats into the ring, then I would expect they would/should not be involved in the process.
Should I tell my employer I'm in school? Should I tell my employer I'm currently in school to complete my bachelors degree? With my current role at the company having a degree will not give me a raise or a promotion. It will also not open up new opportunities since it's a small software company and I'm already just 2 h...	Basically, until you have a job offer in hand, there's no point in bringing it up since it there's no definite benefit to either you or the company. Other than that, telling them you have a degree shouldn't matter in their decision to keep you on or not.
How can you deal with receiving no job training without becoming a pest? I have been in a situation before where I was essentially thrown into a job position with no training whatsoever. It was very much a "sink or swim" environment where I was expected to become productive and figure out my place basically on my own....	Be as polite as you can about it, and be SURE to take notes so you won't have to ask the same question twice. Everyone understands the new guy will require some ramp up time, and see that there's no formal training (which is IMO less effective than just asking teammates anyways). Helping a new guy is not a nuisance, it...
Is suggesting a monthly or yearly increase in salary better? Depending on how an offer is written, it may state a monthly or yearly salary. For example, "Your monthly salary will be $5,000" vs "Your yearly salary will be $60,000, paid monthly" represents the same amount of money per year. When either attempting to neg...	The best thing to do is to say the total anual salary that you want.
How do I categorize my skillset in resume? I am preparing a resume for my job search. I have the following set of skills to list: PHP, HTML, CSS, jQuery, CakePHP, CMS(Drupal), MySQL, Google API, Flickr API, OAuth I do not find stacking them all under one skillset title to be attractive. Some of them are scripting...	You can include frameworks, app servers, testing tools, those API's, and a host of things in the Tools section. The benefit of breaking things up into categories is that it demonstrates that you understand a particular technology and its use, and that you didn't just google for a list of technical terms to include on y...
How can I negotiate a reduced notice period? I have a written contract. It states that I have a 3 month notice period. It looks like I may be offered another job but they would like me to start sooner rather than later. How can I negotiate down my notice period? <Q> The notice period is there to protect both parties (...	If you wanted to negotiate then you should have done that before signing the contract. All you can do is try to work something out. So talk to your manager, and see what he thinks about it.
Dealing with high visibility into productivity I am using a mechanism that tracks throughput (so that we can estimate tasks acurately for each individual on projects). Having this data could cause issues (i.e. with people motivated to make the numbers as best they can by rushing, or just plain lying about time spent). ...	People will only game the system if there's a benefit to doing so. Even if the employees do not have access to the metrics you are collecting, once they are aware that they are being recorded, the likelihood of behavior changing for the worst is high.
Interview question: Why did you leave your previous role? I am currently in the job market for a leadership role, and could use some advice on how to answer this question objectively. My previous position was in many ways a dream job. The company was having explosive growth, I had been promoted three times in four yea...	As for answering the question I would simply state that I was no longer happy there and did not see a future with the company. Tell the truth - but not necessarily the whole truth. What you can do: Focus on the positives of the position.
Should I resign from my current job before getting acceptance letter from the new job? I have done Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering. During the last days of my degree, I got placed in a good multinational corporation. I got offer letter from the company. My joining was delayed by the company for about 7 or ...	If you are happy in your current job and are learning, there is no reason to quit until you are given a clear start date by the first company. It's very important not to burn bridges when leaving any employer, and your current employer might not give you a favorable reference to anyone if you left them hanging.
What can I do to overcome the distraction of my coworkers talking I want to block the distraction of my colleagues' conversations. I tried different ear plugs, but none of them filtered out speech enough for me. Reading into earmuffs online, I read that ear protection is generally optimized to filter high and low frequ...	Headphones with loud music, preferably in-ear, to block the sound and to distract yourself from the conversations.
Is it unethical to network into a job with a vendor contact? My current employer has brought in a couple of firms to pitch us their product offerings in an informal fashion: "We're thinking about doing x with y, can you show us how you might help us with this?" We're not actively negotiating a sale or a service agreem...	I don't think it is unethical for you at all. Whether you met them at work or through a job ad seems somewhat irrelevant from your standpoint (as an individual employee).
How to cope at a company where technical improvement is actively discouraged. A little background: I have been out of undergraduate college for a little under a year now. I work at a decent sized corporation as a software engineer. I am well paid and have good benefits. My concern is I have not been working this job l...	Learning is the most important element of any job for you at this point in your career, and the money will come if you learn your craft well. When interviewing, make sure to ask questions about their coding processes - ask enough Use non-threatening questions to get the answer you need without offending.
What to answer when somebody asks "Hope XYZ is treating you well" I know this may sound little bit odd, but really, when somebody writes you in an e-mail "Hope XYZ company is treating you well" and let's say you work for XYZ. What does that really mean? Or is it just a conversation filler like "Hi, How are you?" I usua...	I'd only really answer it if it was a close friend or family member and even then I'd be pretty vague about it.
Does an acquired company also receive the same benefits and pay rates as the parent? I'm thinking of applying to a company that was recently acquired by a much larger company with much better benefits. Will the benefits also be adapted to the acquired company? <Q> Over time, it makes sense for companies to combine into...	Most likely this is an "it depends". In the UK you keep the benefits you had with your original employer in the short to medium term. The biggest issue will be if there are any union agreements, these can take a longtime to merge into the new company.
Do part-time programming jobs exist? For reasons of illness and disability, I have not worked for years, after my first job that lasted only a year. Right now, my situation is stable enough that I am able to start working again, slowly. I feel like I can manage no more than 12 hours a week, 3 days a week, perhaps work...	Some companies may also be explicitly looking for a part-time person, particularly small companies who cannot afford someone full-time, or who need an expert in a specific area. Finally, you might consider freelancing. As someone who has taken these sort of jobs, yes they do.
Incorporating off-job technical qualifications on resume I would like to revamp my resume to reflect several off-job, personal projects I have worked on in my spare time, and their associated technologies. While I think this can't be a bad idea, I am unsure what the best format to incorporate it would be since my resu...	I have a section in my resume called "other relevant experience.
Should I negotiate a higher salary when transitioning from intern to full-time employee? I'm currently finishing my internship (graduation) as software engineer and the company has asked me to come work for them after I've graduated. During the internship I developed an iPhone app which is graphically top notch. I'll...	People who are worth more ask for more.
How can I constructively request well scoped project requirements? Are there good ways to ask the management to improve the clarity and detail level of work requests and be more specific rather than just throwing you into a war zone and expecting you to figure out on your own how to be useful to the team, being kind of...	When your manager gives you a vague directive, if you're talking you can immediately ask for clarification.
Should I email the recruiter with my resume instead of applying online? Lots of companies have online application forms, but I find that often times my resume just gets lost in the large pool that it gets put in. My school has a career site linked to experience.com that has a lot of contact information to recruiters fo...	Instead, work with a recruiter, who has your current resume customized for the position you want to apply .
Is it better to write a good cover letter in English or a mediocre one in the local language? I'm applying for positions in Sweden, but come from another Nordic country. Most recruiters require that I speak both Swedish and English. Currently, I can easily keep up a conversation in Swedish and write with OK grammar, bu...	Many job offers in Europe mention English as a requirement but apart from some very specific positions, you won't be hired because of this (and if English proficiency is an important prerequisite for a position then chances are that the recruiter will be biased toward hiring a “native speaker” and not merely people who...
Bargaining for colleague's salary hike - Is this unethical? I'm an almost 2 years experienced programmer, currently working as a team lead in my company. I'm the above average, geek programmer who friends and colleagues generally thinks highly of. And my company doesn't like to let me go. One of my friends, a junior p...	What you asked for is tantamount to demanding a salary hike equal to what your friend was making (the company has already decided that they do not require his services, so they would only be paying him to retain you). No, not unethical, just stupid.
Improving social interaction at work I'm working in a small team of developers and often it's very quiet. While that's a plus, it is sometimes a bit awkward if nobody talks for almost the whole day. It feels like you go to work, program the whole day and go home without exchanging more than two sentences with your coll...	You can suggest having regular "stand-up" meetings . One of the team members can voluntarily pick an interesting topic (that has something to do with programming or maths) and tells about it to the others. Our small developer team recently started meeting for about 15 minutes every other morning in the hallway, and we ...
Should I ask about the bonus that is due during leaving? I am due for bonus from my current employer "X" in the month of January 2013. This amount comprises of about 15% of my Annual Gross Pay (AGP) and is variable . I have a new offer in hand and the new company "Y" wants me to join in November 2012. I've already neg...	Nope, because the bonus due is due after you leave.
How do I avoid discussing government politics at work? The U.S.A. just witnessed its first debate of the 2012 presidential election. Invariably, workers all over the country will be eager to discuss what they saw on television. But this begs a larger question that can be universally applied worldwide: How do worker...	I did this by avoiding such conversations in their entirety.
Should I report on an unqualified employee to my superior? Possible Duplicate: In an exit interview, (how) do I tell my manager about my replacement's lack of skills? Today was my last day at the firm I worked for, and as part of the change in the company (my resignation) - management decided to hire an additional...	Avoid blaming your superior or being aggressive when describing the employee.
Purpose of cc to self I noticed that some people inculde themselves in "cc" when they send out an email. What is the reason for this? A quick search on google showed that several people want to learn how to be able to do this automatically. <Q> Most people I know that exhibit this behavior is <S> so they have an email ...	If you don't CC yourself, most email clients do not show your response, as it goes to the "Sent" folder, and does not appear in your Inbox or the same folder the email chain is in.
Changing jobs at the end of a year? hiring availability It has become apparent that it is time to change jobs for better personal and career growth opportunities. Are companies hiring people at the end of the year during November and December with all the holidays or would I have better selection after the start of th...	It has been my experience that fewer companies are hiring due to end of the year budget issues and the lack of availablity of decision makers due to using up vacation time.
Is it unprofessional to leave a note while you are gone for a break? I need to interface with a lot of people on a day-to-day basis. The problem with this sometimes is that when I go out for lunch or for a quick snack, I am not available. I hate to make people wait for me to return and if I'm going long enough I usu...	Most places have something you can set a status to "away" or "be right back" which is considerably more professional in my opinion. People in office environments are frequently gone for meetings or other obligations other than breaks. Again, this completely depends on the environment.
"Safe" topics to get acquainted with co-workers, regardless of geographic location, without causing a social faux pas? In some countries like India, the first instance of bonding at the workplace comes from asking questions like "What do your parents do?" , "How many children do you have?" , and other questions that ...	Other than fairly innocuous topics, like the weather, I think the one topic that can almost always be considered safe is the work/job itself. Also you can talk about which route you take to work, if there's construction work going on or renovations you could talk about how long it's been going on for.
Is it appropriate to put planned coursework on a resume when applying for an internship? I have some very relevant coursework that I am scheduled to take over the course of this year, all of which would be completed before my hypothetical summer internship will start. Would it be unwise to list this on my resume? I...	It certainly makes sense to include all coursework that is relevant to the specifics of the internship, as long as it is expected to be completed before the internship begins.
How to ask for Linked-In recommendations The other day I noticed my Linked-In profile did not have a whole ton of recommendations. I have worked with quite a few people over the past few years. How should I request a recommendation from Linked-In (both people I currently work with as well as previous coworkers who I m...	Write recommendations for others, or at least offer to do so when you ask someone if they'll write one for you. If you didn't have a strong relationship to begin with, then asking for the recommendation is premature, and you'll have to start with getting back in touch, see where the conversation leads, and decide later...
What if I don't have enough work sample for an interview? I'm going to an interview for a programming job. I have knowledge of many things in the field but I don't have a lot of work samples and the ones that I have are only covering part of my knowledge, so do I need to offer my projects in such a way to cover all my ...	It depends on what they're looking for when they're asking for a code sample. In either case, I wouldn't worry about showing off a wide range of specific skills.
Add custom effects/formatting to my resume (to showcase my skills) I'm asked to submit resume in HTML format. As I'm applying for web-designer position, I believe adding embedded CSS would be more effective. What factors do I need to take into account considering adding custom effects/formatting to a resume to showcas...	If you are not willing to use the technology, don't list it . Also consider whether or not you feel this would actually add value to your resume
Specifying a last day in resignation letter greater than notice period I have a 3 month notice period in my contract. This means if I resign on the 18th October my last day at my current company should be the 18th January. I however would like my last day to be the 19th January (In this case it's a Friday so it is all...	In this case the way to protect yourself is to give notice on the day that works best for your plans. Generally, no one will object if you specify that your last day will be later than the minimum required date Never ever add stuff about why you are leaving.
How can I negotiate for additional vacation time instead of extra salary? I've just gotten an attractive job offer. I've been doing a lot of reading about negotiations, here on Stack Exchange and elsewhere . The general gist seems to be that it's silly to leave money on the table when you're in a strong bargaining pos...	Some companies will negotiate a higher rate of accruing vacation days for a new employee that is not in a low level position.
How to deal with decreasing enthusiasm during work I am a fresh pass-out engineer. I have just started my career as Android Developer. Its been 6 months of working with a company as a developer. I haven't faced many problems in establishing myself as a good programmer. During this period of time, I am regularly assig...	When my typing slows to a crawl from boredom, I'll take a 15-minute walk to clear my head, and that can get me going quickly for the rest of the day. Instead of doing all of the major functionality first and then work on the details, make sure every function is implemented with all of its details before moving to the n...
When is it appropriate to stop an interview early? Today I've interviewed a person, who refused to try to solve a simple (and quite common) practical problem. I mean, literally refused to try to solve it. He said something like: "Well, I just don't want to think about something complex now". I've tried to encourage him...	Assuming you are the hiring Manager, it's appropriate to end an interview as soon as you determine that the candidate is not a good fit.
Does shifting jobs after small periods have negative effect on career I would first like to mention my stats - I am working with a company for the last 6 months and I am also placed in a more reputed company, where I am supposed to join within 3 or 4 months. Now the query that I had is, whether changing jobs after sm...	If this is your first job and you left it for more reputed company after less then a year, it's actually a good career move.
What's the most professional way to abandon a contract project? Over the summer, in addition to working as an employee of a software company part-time and studying part-time I took on a contract project to make extra money. I gave them an estimate and we agreed to an hourly rate, but I never got anything in writing. T...	However it is valid to demand payment for the work you have completed, and to refuse to do more work or deliver a project without payment.
Is it ok to ask how old a fellow employee is? I live in Mexico, but my manager is in the USA. He is having a birthday soon. I will wish him a happy birthday but I was wondering if it is considered rude or unpolite to ask how old he will be? Also could this be applied with other co-workers? Is it ok to talk with other p...	When in doubt, err on the side of not asking. In general it is better to avoid talking about someone's age unless they bring it up. As others on the thread have pointed out, it depends a lot on your relationship with the person in question.
How can I politely decline collecting donations for birthday presents? There's a weird practice in some companies to collect funds for birthday presents. It is usually reasoned with "team building", "good fellowship" and stuff like that. It became almost obligatory, and you have to explain yourself every time why you ...	But the truth is, there is no graceful way to decline these things and not look like a jerk. For instance, perhaps HR could insist that the people soliciting money must leave an anonymous donation box in the break room. One way to avoid being put on the spot could be to see if HR can enforce this policy by sending out ...
Benefits during two weeks notice Say I give my two weeks notice on a Monday, let's say the first of the month. I have a doctor appointment on that Friday. Will my medical benefits still be active to help pay for the appointment? Also, what if I'm called in for jury duty during my last weeks, will that impact anything? ...	You should still have benefits for the duration of your employment unless your employer informs you otherwise.
Returning a favor for the boss I am in a situation where my boss has, on more than one occasion, "gone to bat" for me and personally duked it out with superiors, HR, and the customer to argue in favor of keeping me employed with the company. He was successful. I am completely convinced that my job was in real jeopardy ...	If your manager thinks you add considerable value to his group, as seems to be the case, it is in his interest - both personally and professionally - to keep you employed.
How to start an email to a company? When applying for a job or even just asking clarifications on something, I have often found problems when starting the email, which might seem like a secondary problem but it does present some important issues. If writing to a person, I'd probably start "Dear Professor Smith" or som...	I have also just used "Hello" or "Greetings". Depends on the company.
How to tell co-workers that their action is disturbing you from thinking while working If a co-worker unknowingly disturbs you doing something where concentration is important, what is the best way to tell them? When I'm programming, disturbances are particularly disruptive. Should I tell them directly or send an email...	Only if several such requests are ignored, go to management - you need to be able and explain exactly why the behaviour is impacting your work and then both offer and ask for suggestions on how to fix things.
How do I address a cover letter if I can't find out who is responsible for hiring? I am trying to write a cover letter for an IT internship at an energy company, but cannot find any information on who is responsible for hiring interns. How do I address the cover letter? <Q> "To whom it may concern" is always fine. ...	In an on-line world, it's ok not to who to address it to. In cases where you are applying for a position with no personal contact, it can be useful in the text to reference how you found out about the position so they know where you are coming from.
How to distribute mentees among mentors We have a force of 14 mentors ready to coach 140 students through the first year of their university studies. Unfortunately we have decided to let the mentees choose their mentors, because we thought it would be best, if each student found the mentor that fit him or her best. But...	If that doesn't sort it out, for each mentor with more than ten mentees, hold a lottery to see which ten get to stay.
How to introduce yourself in a telephone interview (Phone rings and interviewee picks up) Interviewee: Hello! Interviewer: Hello? May I speak with Miss/Mr/Mrs X? Now in a scenario like this, what should the interviewee say? Have been pondering over it all day. Some answers that I came up with: "This is X." (Sounds ...	This is $(MY_NAME). Alternatively, when you said, "Hello," you could introduce yourself at that point to say, "Hello, this is so-and-so speaking," and potentially nip the question in the bud.
Turning down a job offer professionally I recently decided to go on a job hunt and I have approached several companies and got accepted for several places and was offered a working contract. Eventually, I decided on which job offer to take, but how do I turn down the other places down in a way which might lead to 'bus...	You see a rejection as personal, and while some hiring managers may, they do this all the time - you are not going to personally offend someone and blacklist yourself (unless you do obviously dumb stuff in your rejection letter). Say: "Thank you for the offer.
How to tell coworkers not to use local dialects at work I lately feel annoyed by coworkers talking in some Chinese local dialect, not the common one. I am the only one who only knows both English and the common dialect, Mandarin. I think I mentioned it to them before, but there is a guy who insisted in using that diale...	If there's a common norm for leaving the office space for taking personal calls, then it's fair to ask him to comply, just like you'd ask anyone. Unless it is a work-related conversation, disliking the sound of their dialect sounds prejudicial.
Helping my friend through the recruitment process We have an open position on the company I work in, in one of our meetings our manager asked us to refer people we think they would be a good fit for the team, so I called one of my friends, he is a very capable person and a very good asset on his company, when he start...	If you have team meetingss when recruitment is a topic, I'd suggest making a general comment asking how things are progressing, but your manager and HR would probably take a dim view of direct involvement.
How do I switch between technologies in IT industry I am working with a web development company and have 2+ years of experience of programming with PHP and overall 3 years of working in the IT industry. For long term goals and stability I want to try with mobile application development, Ruby, Python etc as these techno...	There is a way to get direct experience and high value on-the-job training in new technologies; join a start-up.
How to approach a manager about his or her workload being too large? Short Explanation: My Manager is overworked and is managing too many systems. In my managers mind I believe he thinks himself the only person capable enough to manage everything and he is unwilling to risk a more junior employee making a mistake tha...	If you have a chance, start to ask him about career options; specifically where he wants to go longer term, and how he moved into his current role.
Can I be fired if my employer thinks I am looking for another job? Here is the scenario. I work in the UK, and my probationary period was extended 3 more months a while back and I was given a agreement to sign which stated the points that I should improve. Today I asked my manager if I could do a Microsoft certificat...	The harsh truth is that you can be fired for any reason 1 with only your contracted notice period (often a week, during probation).
How should I ask for time off to attend an interview? I'm a computer science student and I work part-time at a local software company. Before even applying for this job, I was already in the process of applying for a summer internship at a major software company. I'm now down to the last interview and they're paying to...	Ask for time off to take care of personal business.
Are transcript photocopies appropriate? I plan to start looking for a new job soon and got my single free transcript from my university after graduation. Would future employers accept a photocopy of the transcript that I have? New copies cost $6 and I'd rather spend much less copying it if I can but I also don't want...	Many companies don't require transcripts, but for those who do, a common situation is that the unofficial transcript is used in the application process, but as part of the hiring finalization the official transcript is required for your file. Companies requiring transcripts tend to want sealed versions of them coming f...
Exactly when does a two week notice begin and end? This question is kind of a multiple part question. Lets assume I were to give my two week noticed today on November 7th, 2012. Is the two week notice strictly 10 works days, or the end of two work weeks (and if two work weeks, does this partial week count as one of ...	If I gave notice on a Tuesday morning, I'd probably tell my employer that the following Friday would be my last day. There are no laws I am aware of in the US that oblige you to provide a full two weeks notice.
Do I need to ask my company before I can use corporate hotel rates for personal use? I'm looking to stay at a fairly expensive 4 or 5 star hotel and I'm sure my company's corporate rate can be used because I work for a very big publicly traded company. However, I'm not sure if that's allowed and I don't want to ask m...	If the corporate discount on hotel stays is listed as one of your benefits, then you can most certainly use it for personal vacations. Two, the company might not like that you do it without asking - even if they would have said "yes", someone might hold it against you that you didn't ask.
A coworker gave our boss a very big gift. What do I do? A coworker of mine was just sent by the company to a Microsoft conference. At the conference, attendees were given Microsoft's new tablet and the Lumia 920. During our weekly meeting, my coworker was told by our boss that the giveaways were hers to keep for her ...	Don't worry about it and let it go. Giving gifts to supervisors and managers is always a grey area; however, in this case, the equipment was obtained free of cost to the employee, as part of the fees paid by the employer to send said employee to the conference.
Does it matter what I use to carry bulky samples of my work to an interview? I'm going for an interview and want to bring some books, magazines, and other marketing materials that I've produced to demonstrate my past work. I just don't know what to bring them all in. I don't have a messenger bag or anything like that...	You are interviewing, which means you want to present yourself in the best way possible - having a grocery bag is not even close to this. All mats should be the same size, with a minimum "frame" around the artwork of 4 inches (unless all your art is very small, in which case make it proportional).
When should I negotiate a salary for a contract-to-hire offer? I am a graduating engineering student in the US. One of the positions I'm perusing is a contract-to-hire position, meaning that I'm will be an hourly employee with no benefits for a set period of time (in this case only a few months), after which the compan...	In general, you (or sometimes they) bring up salary after you have at least got an in principle or verbal agreement that the company is going to hire you if you can agree on a number.
What can I do if I have a colleague who is picking on me? I have a colleague who is making unrelated non-professional remarks (for example she criticized the socks I was wearing last time). It looks like that she is frustrated and this is her strategy to relieve stress. We are not on the same project, we don't even ta...	However, you do need to update your manager about it, unless he/she is already aware of it, you need to say that you are going to perform your work but this behavior is making you extremely uncomfortable. Do not answer any questions. If you need to work with her, do your tasks as usual
Cover letter - "Include information on how you plan to follow up" I was looking at this guide for writing a cover letter. It suggests that the final paragraph should: Included information on how you plan to follow up to schedule an interview after they receive your resume I'm not sure if I agree with this recomm...	In general - anything that gives you a better chance to secure an interview is a good thing.
Should I ask to work (bill hours) on Black Friday if all my FT coworkers are off? I work at a large company as a consultant, paid hourly. The company is open on Black Friday but it is optional to come in to work. All my team mates, who are FT salaried employees, are taking that day off. While I certainly have things...	If you work, then you get paid, that's a perfectly reasonable deal and no reason to think of it as greedy.
Employee pay during jury duty A new employee just got summoned for jury duty. My company is based in Canada and by law, I am not required to pay their salary while they are away serving on the jury. I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this and what they decided to do. Pay the full salary?Pay a portion of the ...	So while you may be willing to pay a week this time what if the next time it is a new employee that is summoned to a 3+ month trial If the employee is valued and you can afford the expense then paying the employee for the time on jury duty may be worth it to you. The etiquette for the situation is that you should have ...
Should I request HR to let me choose my own holidays? My company has always chosen the 10 holiday days we get for the year without even asking employees if those are the days they want to use holidays. For example, we have two days off for Christmas eve and Christmas day, as well as the Friday before Easter (called Go...	There are valid reasons for asking, besides religious ones. For our company, which does alarm verification, most employees get the standard holidays (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, plus one "flex" holiday you could use for ...
is it worth it to get a recruiter in a different country? I want to switch locations to a different country, but I don't have any job offer and I don't know where to start, I know that some companies will sponsor visas for skilled workers, but I'm not sure whether I should contact a recruiter agency in other country gi...	If you are serious about moving to another country then working with an immigration agent based in that country is a much better idea than a recruitment agent; depending on skills, experience and the country you may be able to get a visa type that allows you to travel to the country to seek work, which of course is a l...
Might be fired from a part-time job before starting a full-time job I hope this is a relevant question. I'm a senior in college and have recently accepted a full-time offer to be an IT Business Analyst at a company that's opening up a new office in the area. However, there's a possibility I may be fired from my curren...	My recommendation is to wait through the process with your current employer.
Is "snafu" acceptable in business communications? In an email to my new employer's HR department about a payroll problem, I started to type "there seems to be a snafu in my pay". However, I then reflected on what (I understand) "snafu" originally stood for (situation normal, all f****d up). However, the term seems to...	I tend to steer clear of any kind of slang, jargon or colloquialism when I'm reporting a possible problem by e-mail, unless you know the person very well. "SNAFU" is a common and informal word-choice. In your case, the usage doesn't necessarily imply that it is routine for HR to make mistakes, but rather that circumsta...
How to explain business people that their feature request is infeasible In my role some time I sit with business & operations people (people those directly connect with customers) to discuss new feature or some modifications, these people are mostly non technical and don’t know anything about the system and its inter...	Go as basic as you need to go, because the better you understand the problem, the easier it will be for you to suggest an alternative path that could give them most, if not all, of what they are looking for without overly taxing your development schedule. Instead, talk business with them. In this kind of situation I fi...
Moving - when should I start looking for a new job? I live in one of the EU countries and in about 6 months me and my girlfriend are planning on moving to London. I am a software developer. I was planning on getting a job before we actually move there, but I don't know when to start looking for one. I think now is bit ...	I personally think that it is never too early to look for a job in a different job market that you intend to move to. If they really want you, a little wait isn't a big deal!
Technical explanation to HR As part of some phone interviews I recently had, I was asked by someone from HR to run through my CV and the technical skills I use day-to-day. I began by simply describing the tools/software I use, and was asked to "go into more technical detail" When I did, I found that what I was saying ...	Another method would be to pause and ask regularly after each "part" of your speech (like the description of a project you worked on, or a tool you used) whether they have any questions or comments.
Sending disagreement to boss over a mail is correct thing to do? I am working on outsourcing organization. I have worked with various other teams and people while executing an assignment. How ever while evaluating, based on the feedback gathered from all the sources my boss made me some comments and some conclusions on...	From what you have written here, I don't see any big mistake.
How do prospective employers screen private social networking profiles? How do prospective employers go about screening candidates' social networking profiles if they have high privacy settings and are not friends with the person? Do they have some "back door" access if they pay FB enough money to let them see everyon...	I haven't, yet, seen an employer go out of their way to "crack" a profile. A common guidance I've seen that makes sense to me is to focus on enhancing your online identity through positive, professional behavior - write good articles, ask thoughful questions, be professional in your communications and be honest.
How do I deal with a boastful colleague who has inside information from the boss? My colleague and I have the same boss. My colleague gets inside information from my boss before the information gets to me (which is relevant to my projects and some additional information which is not relevant to my projects directly but...	You could start by building a stronger working relationship with your boss and have conversation with him on a regular basis. A leader should inform parties directly involved first. Find something you have in common where you are not competing but backing each other up, then maybe he will begin to share instead of hide...
Should I use present tense on an English CV/resume? I'm looking at an example CV/Resume, and I see the following: Develop business relationship Apply for patent paperwork This sounds incorrect to me. Either it already happened, in which case I think they should use past tense, e.g. "engineered a TPS reports framew...	I think you obviously should use past tense for positions you no longer hold, and probably either a past or a perfect tense for current positions.
Why do (some) large companies require that individual contractors come through a vendor? I work at a large company as a contractor. Every contractor at the company goes through one of several vendor companies whom the client company pays and then they pay us W-2. The vendor company does nothing in terms of team or pr...	From the hiring company's standpoint, it is also a lot more likely that a large contracting company would be able to resolve issues than a single contractor could.
How should I show relevant volunteer work on a resume? How should relevant volunteer work be shown on a resume? Should I list these activities in the "Professional Experience" of my resume? Should I have a separate section? A couple examples may provide some aid for answers: I'm a software and web developer and ha...	I have similar experiences on my resume, Right under my professional experience I have added a section where I have mentioned all such thing in "one line" and add a link to it: 1) I am president of a non profit organisation working on....
When is the right time to give my notice to leave my current company? Finally we are called upon by the most awaited company, where I got placed a year ago. In the mean while, I started working with a local company. Now, I am going to join the company after two months. Also at the same time, my contract in the current...	I would not disclose to anybody that you are leaving until the time when you have firm start date in hand . Waiting to get a pay raise before you give your notice to leave may be considered a faux pas . When you leave provide the minimum notice.
How to deal with insensitive humor in the office? Maybe I should just let this go, but I'm finding that difficult. A co-worker made what he considered to be a joking statement about people with a certain disease. I contradicted the statement, but he re-iterated what he'd said more forcefully. It wasn't really offens...	The first and often overlooked step in dealing with any inappropriate behavior or comments in the workplace is letting the person know that you are offended or uncomfortable with what they have said or done. Let it slide (assuming this was an isolated instance). you may have to report it to HR if prior training has mad...
Saying no to an interview after saying yes over the phone I have been working for a company for less than 6 months. My team in office had a warning from management that there may be a layoff. So I was applying for all kinds of jobs mostly relevant to my current profile. I got a call from a big MNC in my field for an...	I would keep the interview, but, with as much professionalism as you can muster, make them sell you on why you should leave a seemingly sure thing for an unknown.
Can I use my own application form? I've applied for a number of jobs and application forms have ranged from brilliant PDF forms to ones crudely made in Word with very little thought for spacing. I've considered making my own application form that contains all the information asked for in typical application forms, but...	There is a good chance that a hiring manager would suspect that someone that felt they had to design their own application form would also find a need to do things on the job in their own way which would likely end up creating more work for the manager. If you make your own application it's not following instructions, ...
security clearance and self employment I am up for a job that will get me a Secret Clearance. Between 2006-2009, I was a contractor. I had 5 contracts. 4 of them I was self employed. 1 I was a w-2. For the w-2 there should be a record of my dates of employment at the contract company. The others were through an LLC ...	If you have the name of a contact at the company that you were contracting and they can say that yes you were working on that contract around those dates it will usually be enough for basic security clearances.
Should I require my employees to ask permission to use corporate discount? My company was approached a while ago by a hotel chain and we were offered a discount of 10% when any employee stays at one of their hotels. It doesn't cost us anything; it's mutually beneficial for both us and the hotel. They are simply trying ...	If it doesn't cost the company anything and imposes no liability, I can't envision any reason for people to have to ask permission to use the discount.

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