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How much should I be paid extra for being on call? I work in 3rd line technical support for a large multi national (non IT) company in the UK. I am one of four engineers/developers with a varying mix of knowledge, expertise and experience. I am the youngest with only 10 years work experience as technical support, but ... | Our staff that are on call are paid between £2 to £3 per hour of being on standby, and then time and a half for any work they actually have to undertake.
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In the long term, how can someone translate very high productivity into a bigger paycheck? I would like to start out by saying, I love my current job. The work is interesting, the hours are good, my coworkers are great, my manager is intelligent and competent, and my pay is good. This question is about long term career... | To leverage high productivity into high compensation, use your high productivity to become a respected expert in your field.
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What to do- Job offer reduced So basically I got offered a job verbally and was told that at the interview that they would like to offer me the position. They even introduced me to everyone in the team saying I will join the team in a couple of weeks. They asked me to wait for a couple of weeks to get the paper work d... | If I were you, I wouldn't take this job unless you're not working now and just need the money.
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How can I get unbiased and objective feedback when my manager is a friend of mine? I work in a ~200 person company; my team is composed of about 15 people and my manager is an old friend of mine who has extensive confidence in me. According to my colleagues' feedback, I'm doing a great job. Still, there are a few who ... | You can ask your manager whether there's any area you can improve on (without referencing what people are saying behind your back). Try to look at their feedback objectively and try to see whether or not they're making a good point.
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I have a very weak connection at the company I'm interviewing at. Should I get in touch? Hoping someone here can share some advice regarding my situation. I applied to company X a couple weeks ago. I found out after I sent my application that I had been introduced to the team's supervisor a year ago over email when ... | If HR has not sent an email to you with your 'weak connection' in copy, then do not contact her at this point. Still, you can try to reach her out again, if you wish - and you have something new supporting your application. If it was me, I would just wait for an official answer. You did everything right so far in maint... |
How to insist that my skill be respected without seeming arrogant? I have only one year of experience of work after graduating from college. I recognize that given my lack of experience, I am less skilled at what I do than everyone else at my company. On more than one occasion however, my boss has stated out right that... | When you have an opportunity to show your skill (and professionalism!) take full advantage of it.
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How many candidates should I pass on to my boss after screening? I am a tech lead with my own reports and I'm tasked with interviewing candidates for a position that will be a peer to my position. After my screening, I pass on qualified candidates to my boss, who's currently managing about 15 people. My boss and I hav... | You need to ask your boss how many candidates he wants to see. We can't give you a definitive number; it largely depends on how easy/hard it is to get qualified people for that position.
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How to Effectively Deal with a Difficult Scrum Master I am a new developer and have landed a job where most of the developers are also recent college graduates. While the position is not ideal, I view it more as an opportunity to become a stronger developer and build my resume so that I may get the job I want. However,... | Just practice for your interviews, and you will be fine. 3) Run away now Start immediately to seek for your job; however as a junior this option is too risky in my opinion, and however bad is the situation, you would significantly gain from 6-12 months experience in the job before leaving. If you go over his head he is... |
How to deal with a subordinate constantly being in semi-professional chats I constantly see one of my subordinates chatting in a semi-professional chat during her working hours. With "semi-professional" I mean that the chat is targeted towards frontend developers (which is her position), but besides sharing and discuss... | Or simply talk to her about problems she might have in the job and mention her productivity, maybe there is something to change what you don't know.
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Handing resignation for current job via email I am soon to be handing in my notice at my part-time office job. From what I've gathered, it seems handing in resignations via email is a little unprofessional... but in my circumstances, would it be more acceptable? I would like to hand in my notice in person, however I'... | The best way (etiquette-wise) usually is to have an honest conversation with your current line manager before sending your resignation by e-mail. Hence, it's always best to resign in person.
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Does it matter where you get a Bachelor's degree from? I'm coming up on graduation for my A.A. degree, and have two options for where to go to finish my Bachelor's degree in Business Management (with a specialty in project management). I can either continue going to the state college I've been going through for a much ... | An approach that I have seen be useful in the past is to ask the colleges for alumni employment data for the courses you are interested in. In many cases, assuming it's an accredited school, it won't matter much at all. It depends on the domain in which you want to work.
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Different projects at the same company - break them apart on the resume or keep them in the same block? I have had two very different projects over my years at the company. I'd like to break it into two different blocks on my resume, but there are two reasons I'm considering not to. 1) I had the same job title for bo... | I've handled this by making the project name part of the heading: July 2005 - June 2007 - Senior Developer - Web Security Project
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Listening to music at work hours inside office, is it unprofessional? I work as a software developer in my enterprise. I don't have my own office so I have to share the same office (pretty big office) with other engineers (not software developers). These workmates spend a lot of time with headphones or putting music t... | It's worth considering that a lot of the time developers (and other types of professionals) may do this to block out distractions, and in some instances it can lead to increases in productivity. Any work that requires constant communication with coworkers or clients, such as a secretary or a manager, wouldn't allow som... |
Salary Counter Offer without an offer of employment I had a phone interview where the hiring manager told me what the salary is for the position. In order to move forward in the interview process, I will have to accept the salary. Can I counter-offer in this situation? <Q> I would say you can always provide a counter... | If you'd be happy with a salary roughly in that region, you can simply say as much and negotiate when you get an exact amount further into the interview process (when you get an offer, presumably).
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What should a newly "exempt" employee expect? What should someone expect when being an exempt employee for the first time in the US? At first it sounded great (better pay, flexibility), but after doing a bit of research it sounds like exempt employees have almost no rights compared to non-exempt employees. Some of the ... | Your pay is not dependent on negotiated rates.
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Replying to an email with others CCed When replying to an email with others CCed in it,do I address the sender only, e.g. Dear Sam, or address everyone, e.g. Dear all? <Q> It's really context dependent. <S> Typically, the To/CC lines will give you a good indication. <S> If there is a group of people in the To, genera... | Put people on the "to" list that need to know and are directly involved Put people on the "CC" list who need to be aware of what is going on but are not directly involved: People you are keeping "in the loop" Only address people on the "CC" list if you are bringing up a topic that involves then. If my boss/someone abov... |
Is it okay to start email with "I apologize for the additional email, but..."? I would like to send an email to the Assistant General Manager of a company for the fourth time after a few weeks about its recruitment process. But I get a feeling that I keep nagging him and he is being disturbed. My question is: can I ad... | If it's an email you're required to send then you won't have to apologize for sending it, and if you have to apologize for sending it, chances are you shouldn't be sending it.
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How do I say my reasons for leaving without being/sounding rude and without burning any bridges? I work as a software dev and I'm about to change my job, signing new contract shortly. After I sign it I'll give a notice at my current workplace to my CEO. The management board is rather distanced from low-rank employees, ... | Do not use any kind of adjectives that indicate judgment (like "lousy" that you shared with us). Be sure to mention how much you learned there and why both you and the company benefited from your time as an employee.
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Can I use Canadian spellings in an American workplace? I'm a Canadian about to start work in the US. Is it appropriate to continue to use Canadian spelling in my new workplace? Obviously, if I were to author anything client-facing, I would use whatever spelling is most familiar to the client (or whatever my company's p... | I highly doubt many people would care at all but there will likely be one or two people who are just... difficult.
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How to comment on physical changes and alterations of colleague's appearance I have a colleague who has recently dyed his hair to be darker and not quite as light and gray. I think it looks really good and I would like to comment on it, but I am not quite sure how to approach it. If I say "Hey, your hair color looks gr... | The very safest thing to say, other than nothing, is "You look nice today".
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Should I send email just to break the silence between offer acceptance and first day? Early last month I was offered an internship and verbally accepted over the phone. I was then emailed an offer letter, and a bunch of information and forms to fill out. The email said to let them know if I had any questions and told m... | Contacting them now to ask questions is not mandatory or the only professional behavior expected, it's just a bonus, it shows that you are curious and looking forward to start at their company.
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internal transfer : when do i ask for a raise? I currently work as a lab technician, junior level, in Belgium (French company) I asked for a new job in the same company (same building, different team). The new job is to lead a small team (starting with 3, expected to grow to 5-6 people) In charge of building prototype... | I would suggest treating the start date as entirely flexible and gently but firmly insist on pushing out the start date until you agree on the new salary if you're having trouble making that conversation happen.
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What should I do when not being paid the agreed amount? I am working on a temporary job that was suppose to be a stipend of X amount. I am now being paid Y which is 10% less than X as well as a retirement plan being taken out of my pay that I did not agree to. I have the amount I should be paid in writing in an email. ... | Talk to HR, explain what you wanted to do, and learn what you can do now. Document everything now, get any evidence you can of the original agreement you made with the company. If no one is helping you, and there's no HR department or office manager who could be assumed to be in charge of payroll discrepancies, then wa... |
What can I do to stop a non-supervisor manager busybody from constantly checking on me? I have a bit of a weird situation. I work for a tech subsidiary of a large multinational corporation that employs across all subsidiaries and companies owned a total of around 180-200k employees. My small company branch of <10 peo... | Ask him if you should continue to answer questions about your work, or that he (your boss) will have a chat with the CFO that his supervision is not required. When your boss comes to you about this work-productivity crisis, you show him it's simply your screen-saver, and say it never occurred to you that it would be an... |
Can/do (seemingly) stupid interview-questions serve a purpose? At the last interview I was at, a HR-rep kept asking followup questions to technical questions that struck me as blatantly stupid. Questions like "who do you ask if you get stuck?". My answer was "I hope I will have the opportunity to find that out." Durin... | If you want to assume the worst, then assume the HR person was deliberately trying to annoy you to see how you would react. It's intended to get a feel for the way in which you work.
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When makes sense to provide honest feedback in an exit interview? The general consensus is that Exit Interviews are, at best, a waste of time for the employee leaving, and barely useful for the company (this has been extensively discussed here many times). However, let's think for a moment that the employee ... | Also include some positive things (if any) you liked about the company and you would look forward to in your next role as well. Not use rude or offensive language or complain about an individual by name or title. Any feedback you could provide on the way out could be gotten through existing employees, if the company ev... |
How to handle an over-talkative interviewer? I am interviewing for a position and my first interview didn't go as expected. It was supposed to be an hour interview but it turned into 50 minutes of the interviewer's life, her past, etc... when she realized there was 10 minutes left, she quickly started asking random que... | Your goal in an interview should be for the interviewer to leave the interview with a positive feeling about you as a prospective employee.
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Restricted control over company's laptop I have been recently hired as a security engineer on a company. They provided me a MacBook Pro as a company laptop. As I always do in any computer in my possession - including in previous jobs - I rebooted in order to reinstall the operating system. I consider it to be good hyg... | I can understand wanting full control over your own personal machine, or a machine that is in your domain of responsibility, but for a machine provided to you by someone else it seems unrealistic to expect full control. For them, this has nothing to do with you personally: they are providing a laptop to an employee of ... |
Reading on the job So a little bit about my situation: My company is in the process of relocation. I will be relocating as well. Due to this, workload has cut down significantly to the point where i am reading books my boss provided to me. The books are subject material related to my career and I am reading while a... | It’s always good to check with your line manager or supervisor that there definitely isn’t something else that needs to be done before investing time into self-led training or reading though.
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Is it unethical to reject the same job offer twice? TL;DR: I declined a job offer under somewhat unique circumstances, HR person called me unprofessional and unethical for rejecting their offer. Was I? I had changed jobs about 7 months ago. At that time I had interviewed with startup A and startup B. Startup B made me... | If one party doesn't find the other's terms acceptable, they're free to walk away.
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How do I put two concurrent internships on my resume? So this summer, I had two independent and different internships. One was a full-time 9-5 paid "developer" internship. The other one was a remote internship at an academic institution. I somehow managed to pull it off and finished my projects at both the places (by w... | In the cover letter, explain how you logistically did two internships at the same time and why you chose to do so. If the two jobs are located in different cities, specify that one was remote work only. Pick the one that is most useful to the job you are applying and list it first. Here all you have to tell is the trut... |
How to say 'you mind your own business' without sounding rude, but not being entirely polite either? I work in the software industry in India. My coworker keeps suggesting to change the work I did. This happens 3-4 times per week. For example, my tech lead instructed me to build a contact form, and he has allocated t... | Another option for you to consider is to take the same action toward the offenders work as they are towards yours. Just be honest about what's going on. Just because someone offers you advice , it doesn't mean you have to accept nor act on it.
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Asking for a (level) demotion? I work at a tech company that has numerical levels (as opposed to just "junior" → nothing → "senior") for employees. For the first few levels, you are required to advance to the next level within a set number of months, or you're fired (well, PIPed, so... fired). I wasn't hired at the ba... | Asking for a demotion only increases the perception that you don't have what it takes to move to the next level.
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Is it common practice to ask Work from Home (call center) contractors to pay training and admin fees? My wife just received (through zip recruiter) notice of an opportunity for an inbound call center position as an independent contractor. The company claims to service "several multi-million dollar clients", each wit... | There are plenty of terrible companies out there who do charge business expenses through to their employees.
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Should i pay the internet bill for my company? I have been working for a small startup in bangalore(1.7 years), The team size in India is about 6 personal and Until recently we had a senior guy who used to take care of all the logistics , such as getting a internet connection, deciding which workspace we work in(We wor... | I would tell your CEO that you would be happy to make the arrangements, but require a company account for billing, since you cannot afford to make payments yourself.
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Should I let my employer know I am looking? I am currently working at an agency as a developer. I have been applying to positions for the last few months (including turning down an offer that I didn't feel was a good fit). Until recently, I was one of two developers working in my particular department. However, two w... | You never need to let your employer know you are considering leaving.
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How to reply to recruiter that did not read my resume on LinkedIn A recruiter working for a big company contacted me on LinkedIn and asked whether I am interested in a certain position that requires expert level knowledge in A. The thing is that A is mentioned on my LinkedIn profile with a) very little experience b) ve... | Personally, I would say to this recruiter "Thank you for your proposition.
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Struggling to finish project, how to tell coworker? About 8 months ago I began working on a project for a colleague (part of my job is to do side projects like this). Essentially developing an excel application for a very large database we have. At the beginning I was excited about the project with the programming and... | In the future, as soon as you are struggling with a project , let whoever is in charge of the project know so they can plan accordingly and have whoever is in charge prioritize what they want to see finished first. Sometimes having a piece of paper helps greatly to note things down to debug faster. Be clear and honest ... |
Asking for support from employer for speaking at a conference I am a software engineer and speaking at an opensource software conference. Although the conference is paying the flight and hotel expenses, I still need to pay for the visa fee. Also, I wish to attend one of the workshops at the conference (for which I nee... | If you can demonstrate that your presence at the conference will help them make money, they'll probably be more willing to pay for it.
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Finding a programming internship as a high school student I'm a rising junior (going into 11th grade) and have a great desire to find and participate in a programming internship while I am still at high school. I have a lot of free time during the school year, and summer I am generally free, grades are not an issue. I... | I used to hire a lot(!) of college interns, and that might be a viable route. You should try and ask relatives; not just your parents.
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Internship and can't make deadline. Should I work unpaid extra time? I am currently working as an intern (with a good pay). I have had trouble on my project, and took more time than what was expected of me to find what was wrong with a part of it. Now the deadline is coming, and I know I can't make it. Since the inter... | Also, tell them you're willing to volunteer extra time to get the job done. In some countries it is illegal for an employer to not pay you for the work that you are doing, and you can sue them for years afterwards.
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Product delivered quite rough, and coworker complaining on social network site when in QA I'm currently working as a team with a couple others. We have a PM which does the job quite well, gets the job done really well and produces great documentations, defines the features and requirements very clearly. Also doubles as... | Your PM in a public forum has made an inappropriate comment that no matter their intention reflects negatively on both you, and by extension the company you both work for. What you did wrong was panicking and try to work frantically to fix it. I think the important lesson to learn is this: If you rush it, it takes long... |
Sitting next to boss in open office Internee here- I'm all up for a more open plan in an office, but I feel a bit under pressure with my boss sitting beside or behind me. And sometimes peering at my screen to look at what I'm doing. It makes me uncomfortable while I'm working; and makes me feel guilty or like they wou... | Some folks find that customizing your space with personal items makes it feel more comfortable. If he isn't appropriate for discussion, then bring a coworker to talk work stuff. Most folks find that uneasiness in an open office setup goes away after a while. If you can demonstrate that you're hitting or exceeding the t... |
How to ask for more work, now that my original tasks have been assigned to someone else? I am working at consulting company which provides project help to customers in different domains. I was assigned to a supply chain project as a management liaison. Originally the manager of my company was assigned as the project l... | Because you are a consultant, I would first reach out to my contact at your consulting company and let them know about your situation and that you have time to take on more work than you are being assigned.
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Can I hide my Ph.D. on resumes and applications to have better chances to be hired? I have a Ph.D. in English. I've worked as an adjunct for 30 years, and after having not been hired at my last interview, I think it's time to look for something different. My Ph.D. is now an albatross. Am I legally required to inc... | You don't need to include your PhD on your resume. I would chose on a case by case basis, based on the type of job you are applying to.
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Archiving work email on personal devices I realized that there are multiple reasons for why I would want to retain access to my work email correspondence: In case I'd get laid off, or leaving on less than good terms. Having access to email conversations would be quite important to prove what I have/haven't done/said.... | But I would consult your employer's policies regarding the personal use of devices and local laws regarding proprietary communication between companies and employees since you may be walking on a line if you have backups on a personal device, especially after you leave a company.
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Bad collegiate career - explain details to employer? Background I am from Austria and currently pursuing my master's degree in mechanical engineering. I will finish in about a year, then two years overdue (for people who pay fortunes for education this sounds reckless, in countries where education is less expensive it... | If the question of why it took you longer comes up, I think the best thing to do would be to be honest, but positive. You needed the 2 years to develop the skills needed to become a successful employee, which is what education is for!
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Should I punch in when I arrive at work? Or should I wait until I start working? At my job we have an electronic sign-in clock to record when we arrive at work. I always make sure that I'm arrived at work on-time for punch in. Sometimes if I arrive a few minutes early, I'll stop and use the restroom after punching in.... | It makes little sense, but if you punch in when you're early, then use the bathroom, some busybody will say that you're trying to pad your hours
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Meal Premiums in California I've worked at several companies that have not been paying the 1-hour of regular pay to employees if they miss their lunch period. During the transition from not taking break to taking breaks and changing the policies, we're trying to figure out how to position this to employees. It's been a... | Let them know there will be no salary increases next year (or whatever budget items you have to cut to make this work for your company) as you have to absorb this major change to your budget. Or you can tell them specifically and in writing that the policy is that breaks will be taken unless approved in writing in adva... |
How to handle a coworker who feels rejected The situation goes as follows: The company you work for has a "Leadership Program" that is by invitation only. You were selected for it by the president of the company, but meanwhile your coworker, who happens to have been at this company longer, is one of the people who int... | The best approach in my opinion would be to make it clear to your coworker that you participating in the program doesn't interfere with your relationship with them at all, and that you're sympathetic to their situation.
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How can I persuade my boss to license the software I need to use? There is a software product I use that has a professional version, which costs money, and a community version, which is free and less capable. Also, the end user agreement for the community version restricts use to individuals and non-profits. This progr... | Assuming you feel strongly about it, defend your point by creating a short feature/benefit analysis/report, and present it to your boss. Factually pointing out how much more efficient you are with the old tool may be a good argument.
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Company wants specific reason why I am not accepting their offer... not sure how to say why politely I recently moved with my husband and am in the process of trying to find a new job. I have been unemployed for about 3 weeks now, applying like crazy to jobs. I have been interviewing with this company via webcam (even... | Based on what I've learned during the interview process, I do not feel the position would be a good fit for me. If you do want to give a reason, I think it's perfectly acceptable to keep it vague.
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How to answer why someone would want to work in Malaysia as a foreigner? This question is for X , a very close relative of mine with around 20 years of experience as a software developer. He lives in an Asian country Y , which he thinks is a "dustbin". And Y indeed is a dustbin. Roads are littered, fruits and veget... | Malaysia is a wonderful country that I have always admired. It is very important to consider where you will be living, and from the employer's perspective, they want to make sure that you are serious about moving and are likely to stay. Not mentioning 'country Y' where they come from isn't being dishonest, it's simply ... |
Prospective employer wants me to spend the first month as an independent contractor I interviewed for a job at a young startup, got an offer, and negotiated compensation. After the negotiation, they called and said that they've been having employees work as ICs for the first month before becoming real, full-time employ... | It is, however, atypical to not mention that it's contract-to-hire until after salary negotiation.
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Why is it such a terrible idea to resign even if your current job is making you feel suicidal? I'm a female Software Developer, working as a provider, sitting in the client's offices, in Germany. Due to constant misogynistic attitudes(1), sexual harassment(2), and being treated as if I was a hihgly sexualised stupid c... | It is never a bad idea to quit your job if the job is the cause of your suicidal thoughts. So don't quit, just stay on sick leave and try finding another job while you are on sick leave. If a man at your workplace threatens you with physical violence repeatedly , then both you and the police have to take this seriously... |
Should I entertain prospective employer who does not even want to interview me directly? TL;DR: I feel this company not only does not appreciate prospective employee's time, also their interview process is less than ideal. How would you objectively put/present this into the recruiter and the company's hiring manager's ... | I would suggest simply telling the recruiter that, after further consideration, you're no longer interested in the position.
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How do I politely remind the COO of a company to respond to my previous email? I am expected to join their company in the next few days. It's a small company of about 50 people and there is no formal HR department. I've been communicating directly with the COO so far. There has been a change in my schedule and I'll b... | Even if the email is somewhat urgent you need to allow at least 1–2 working days for a response. Start your new job when you said you would and work as a consultant for your old job, should that be allowed.
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How to deal with recruiters filtering out candidates based on salary expectation? I had a short chat with an independent recruitment consultant recently. From the get go, it was all wrong. He started by asking how much I expect for my next position. I then reminded that he did not tell me anything about the position, t... | If you have to say a figure, then go for a range (dependent on the above mentioned factors), but spend some time and do your research. The candidate with an expectation that matches the employer's salary range is more likely to be the right one.
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Pointing out flaws in their website? I recently was contacted by a recruiter to interview for a position at a company. This position is to help build and expand a new team/offering at the company. When I went to do research on their website, I noticed that the webpage pertaining to this new service was "Under constru... | They're probably already aware of the issues and are trying to fix it before anyone (appropriately important) notices.
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Is it acceptable to use contractions in professional writing? Growing up, one piece of workplace advice my parents taught me is to never use contractions in any form of professional writing (resumes, cover letters, email correspondence, etc.). I've been told that instead of using contractions like it's , can't , ... | Personally I use contractions all the time in my writing at work (emails, internal reports and documentation), but I might avoid it if I were writing reports that were to be shown to clients or investors, or if I had a more formal or uptight boss. Contractions shouldn't always be avoided.
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Should I put a job offer from a former employer on my resume? I had a job at a multinational company which I quit 2 years ago, it was meant to be a summer job before college. The two subsequent years, they have contacted me and offered me my position back at the company, with a considerable raise, even though they knew... | Your resume is supposed to reflect your work history, not declined offers or opportunities.
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How to build trust without authority I have found many articles about "building trust" and articles about "communicating a decision you disagree with", but nothing that combines the two. How do front line and middle management build trust with staff in the face of unpopular decisions , or decisions with unavailable ... | Be curious and not judgmental. If you are consistent, they will trust who you are. Everyone does deserve an answer to why they are asked to do something especially if it's contrary to what they deem as the correct thing to do. A good tool to see how individual actions fit in the grand scheme is layered goal setting.
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How to react to employer offering way less than what my manager recommended for as raise? I'm firstly going to give you some background. I work for a west coast USA startup that performed extremely well this year (it doubled the last year income record).I work remotely from Europe and I've been working there for a lit... | Companies generally try to pay market rates for the geographic location of the employee. Almost certainly, you will not get more than the current offer. Consider if there is a promotion or title change that you can make.
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Coming into the office early and leaving early It was brought to my attention (from part of my boss) that my coworkers have told him that they've noticed I've been leaving 10 minutes early. I leave early because I have an hour commute to work - if I leave later than five it tacks on 30 minutes to my commute. He talked... | I suggest talking to everyone and let them know if they think you're doing something wrong, you would like them to give you the feedback before telling the boss.
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Manager didn't open the office until an hour after my shift started, should I still leave on time? a bit of background to the question, I'm a junior developer and we have recently been given flexitime which so far is working well as I get to start at 8am and leave at 4:30pm. Today I arrived at 7:30 (I like to be early... | You shouldn't "just do the work" without asking because depending on your company guidelines that could push you into overtime hours or the like, which may or may not be "ok". Check with your boss that he knowns that you were there at 8:00 am. With all implementations of flextime that I know, there is a set of rules, i... |
How can I convince my (public) company to provide me a second monitor (as an apprentice)? I am a programmer in apprenticeship for 1 year in civil/public service (in Germany), already programming productive code for the company. I would like to have a second monitor for various reasons like having the code on one monito... | That studies have shown that efficiency of staff to handle issues quicker with multiple monitors has been demonstrated and that the cost of the second monitor was way less than the cost of hiring more staff and would enable us to handle more calls per person which would benefit the company as a whole.
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How to encourage team members to share responsibility of presentations? For context, I've been on a team of 8 for a year now and recently my team has taken on a very big project for the company. Because of this, naturally, a lot of managers want presentations of what is going on. While we do have presentations within t... | What I have found effective is a few days or even a week before the presentation, approach your team members and say something like "OK, we need to decide who is talking which slides." The best way to involve your team members is to assign out slides they will own.
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Should I be honest about Whistleblowing at company X in my interviews for Company Y or Z? I was working at company x three months ago where I found some serious financial & data irregularities. I raised them in front of my bosses but as they were involved they did not take any action.I escalated. I have used whistleblo... | No, for the same exact reasons that you should keep private things... Your whistleblowing may or may not be seen as negative during the interview You should either stick with the story that you were laid off during downsizing (has the implication that you were not among the better workers) or add that personal differen... |
I accessed my boss's private Facebook messages, and found out she is trying to fire me. How do I proceed? I had been asked to do a bit of social media work. I gained access to my boss's personal Facebook messages, since the business page is linked to it. I have been having a rough time at work, and went through her p... | You found out your manager is trying to get you fired, so the only thing you should do is start looking for another job. First of all, you should not look into someone's private messages , even if they gave you some access to their accounts.
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Taking time off after giving two-week notice? I recently submitted my two-week notice and was interviewing with another company. I was made an offer and a start date. They want me to come in and do paperwork, meet colleagues, managers, etc..(lasting two hours). I've given my notice and I'm not sure whether to take a si... | You should contact your new employer in the same manner you have been (e-mail, phone, whatever) and simply explain that the start date you agreed to was the absolute earliest you could start, and you haven't taken a vacation week (something people sometimes do) between jobs. It will look bad, but it won't be the end of... |
Should I reply to an email if I can't give an answer? My manager, a colleague and I received an email in which we're asked about participating at a workshop (it seems to be pretty important that at least I or my colleague take part). While we'd both be interested in going it's not a decision that's up to us. It's up ... | Make it as smooth and easy as possible for your manager to give the go-ahead. I don't think it's necessary to respond. Therefore, you should reply, to find out whether time is of the essence or not.
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Dealing with "tolerable" jokes on critical moments The last 6 months I have been working in a small company that has a nice and relaxed work environment; the teamwork is good and we sometimes joke on each other as in "water-cooler" moments. One of my coworkers (call him John, 3 years working there) is the one that make... | In a perfect world he'd be able to read a room and pick up on when it's okay to make jokes and what kind of jokes are appropriate for the situation. On a normal day, it's fine, but in a situation where there is high stress, then it can escalate to other arguments and cause even more stress.
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How should I portray experience in two unrelated fields on LinkedIn or my resume? I worked as a Front end web developer for 2.5 years and later I worked as an Office manager for 2.5 years. Both jobs gave me very good experience and knowledge. Now I want to look for new opportunities and I am unable to update LinkedIn... | This is again very dependent on how much experience you have - if you don't have much to say, including a decent achievement that's unrelated to your target job is likely to only count in your favour, while doing so when you have a lot of other information on your resume might distract from more important things.
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Speech problems due to braces - how to approach this during interview? I am wearing braces. Recently, a metal part was added near my palate and it's causing some lisping. I'm going to be interviewed in a while and I'm wondering how I should approach this issue. I'm thinking about telling the interviewers at the beginn... | I'm thinking about telling the interviewers at the beginning that this is only a temporary issue and that they shouldn't hesitate to ask me to repeat if they don't understand some words.
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Will applying for vacation directly after my probation period carry negative consequences? I am a fresh graduate and currently stuck in a dilemma. My family has planned 2 holiday trips. One will be in December and another one in February. The trip in December has a duration of 7 days, while the one in February has a du... | Applying for vacation outside your probationary period should not result in negative consequences for you.
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How to gracefully quit after joining a new job within a week? Basically I had two great opportunities one in a big research organisation and other from a fast paced startup. After some thought and a bit of intuition I though to join the first one but within couple of days I came to know that they don't take software de... | Your job contract probably contains some kind of probation period during which quitting/firing is much easier/faster. I think it would be best to explain to them what has happened and ask for flexibility in the situation.
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My Company has a problem letting my department finish and implement projects. (Manufacturing environment) I work in a small IT department (4 people), and two of the 4 of us are software developers. The company is behind the times in terms of IT solutions and technology in general. So my coworker and I are developing s... | Arrange launch meetings, proof of concept meetings, prototyping meetings and any kind of meeting you can think of to show them that you don't just wave a magic wand to get things done.
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My onsite client keeps calling me after office hours and on weekends So the scenario is like we and another company are working on a common project. I often visit their office for discussion and meetings. For the first few months, it goes very well. After that they started to call me after office hours and even on we... | No, its is not un-ethical to ignore the calls and you are doing the right thing by ignoring them. You need to create some healthy distance between yourself and your clients.
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Going from full time to part time to spend more time with spouse I have worked full time with current position for almost 10 years. Due to a change in my husband's work schedule, he will be unable to return home on the weekends (he works in another city and is only home on weekends). I would like to cut back to a 3 da... | I don't know what your company's policy is regarding switching shifts, but you might be able to trade around with other employees and cobble together a de facto part-time schedule. Getting entire weekends off is hard, so you may want to see if you can work opening Saturdays, have Sunday and Monday off, and then close T... |
How to handle a fresh graduate who my manager trusts more than me? I am from a third world country that has a bad image in media nowadays. I work in Belgium, in a good company, as a software engineer. I am working on a very specific programming language that there is no one at the company knows how to program with it... | But if nothing is going wrong, how about relaxing and letting your manager manage the project.
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Should I tell a friend that I'm disappointed in the way he's running his business which hired me? This is a long, complex situation, and I'm not sure how to proceed. A bit of backstory, I made friends with a guy that I work with. He bails more often than not on hanging out, which is irritating after I've turned down o... | As soon as he can pay other people, you should stop working for beer
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How do I handle the CEO's child (working as an intern) not wanting to do what I ask of her? The daughter of the CEO works as an intern in our company. When I once asked her to do a call for me, she replied "do you know who I am?" I don't know how to handle this. Should I politely tell her, that it is important, that s... | Personally I would go to the CEO, not with a complaint but with a request for clarification of expectations. Bringing spoiled and childish behavior into the workplace does her no good in her future professional life, and if you were to handle this incident any differently than if the incident concerned a another employ... |
How do I professionally decline to disclose my current salary I know one should not disclose their salary in an interview: how you are valued anywhere else should not affect how the new company should value you, and it can be used against you. I am aware some people just give a higher figure to prevent it being used a... | For the odd case where your salary isn't confidential and you don't want to lie, you can say "My current salary is not relevant for the current negotiation", or just "I rather not tell" if you want to be bold.
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What does M/F/D/V mean on a job application? While filling out a job application, I noticed a small label designating M/F/D/V. Is this important? What does this label mean? <Q> It refers to the employer being an equal opportunities employer. <S> m refers to <S> male <S> (in some places also minority ). <S> ... | It could be simple boilerplate upon a standard job listing. It could even be trying to subtly get more people with a non-majority status in one of those groups to apply (aka, more women, minorities, veterans, or disabled people.)
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Is it okay to tell my team lead I am not interested in doing an administrative task? Today I received a mail from the senior lead of my team asking whether I can take up an administrative task which was previously done by another colleague. (UPDATE: Initially this mail was routed as: requesting for volunteers. No one... | So the answer is: you don´t - but you can make it clear that you´d rather not do that kind of work. The exception is when the request is unreasonable or the contract specifically states that only a certain type of work is required.
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Are clients normally billed for time you spend on fixing bugs? I have a client that doesn't want to pay for the time that is spent fixing bugs, is this normal not bill clients for time that you had to deal with bugs? SITUATION: I billed a long time client for a project and he noted that the bill was higher than usual... | If you charge per hour , to say so, then it is the client that should pay it as it was part of the total time the project took. I personally would not stick my client for my error which I should have caught.
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Will it affect my career development if I have open-source projects that create a conflict of interest? Recently, while looking for jobs, I found an online advertising company which had a vacancy at a position I was interested in, and I applied for it. I also run a semi-popular open source project that focuses on bloc... | You should probably quit your open-source project if you take this job, otherwise you risk causing harm to your future company (and they could fire you).
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Manager got offended with my correction. How to deal with him? My reporting manager does the coding work too. Both of us coordinate and complete the task. While unit testing, I found that there is a typo in his code. It had to be table A instead of A1. I informed him the same, he corrected it. But, with his body langua... | You should talk to him "under 4 eyes" and tell him that you feel a difference in your relationship since that event. Your boss is immature, so your expectations of change should be low enough that it's not worth the trouble.
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How to explain forced resignation to new employer? I had worked at my previous employer for 13 years as a Staff Analyst/Developer. A new manager and I did not see eye to eye on many recent projects as she was a professional manager and non-technical. I was called into an office on Monday and told in a meeting with he... | Tell the next employer that your reason for leaving is that you and the new management did not see eye to eye on a technical level and it was mutually decided that you would resign.
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Mentioning unrelated degree to job positions Last year I graduated with BA in one of the humanities. However, I started programming in my second year as a hobby and supplement to my area of study. I am probably not a senior or mid level coder, but I am confident that I have a good entry level skill set. I want to know... | You really must include your degree on your CV. Just list it in your education section as normal - many people are in careers that aren't directly related to their degree subject so it shouldn't look odd.
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Request to meet with the CEO in a hotel before work Toward the end of the work day today, I received a meeting invitation via Outlook from my direct manager. I was in a meeting when I received the invitation, and he had already gone home by the time I got out. The meeting invitation is for a meeting with the CEO, tomo... | Better be safe than sorry, politely decline the meeting and perhaps ask for reschedule.
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How can I ask my manager if he is upset at me I work as an software engineering intern in my free time and summers at a small startup. Management has consistently asked me to continue, giving me several raises. However, for some time my direct manager has been acting coldly towards me. For example, when I left last s... | Have a private meeting with him and ask directly but politely. I suspect that if your manager didn't like you, the company would not keep offering you a position (and especially would not be giving you raises).
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How to ask manager to reduce team size? I started working for a big, multinational company a few months ago, in an intermediate (i.e. not junior) position. A few months after I joined, another member was added to the team. The new member was hired in a similar capacity as me & does not bring any skills or expertise tha... | You would likely offend your manager with your suggestion - especially if you bring up the fact that you don't believe the new person should have been hired in the first place.
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Should I queue up for the bus when not everyone else does? At my job there is one bus back to where I live, which is around 50 minutes drive away. I don't have a car, and getting this bus is the only way I can get back to where I am living without spending around £40 on a taxi. So every day I leave my job at 17:20 and ... | Just get in the queue.
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Is it rude not to stand up when a coworker enters your cubicle? I don't usually stand when someone enters my cubicle, but I've been wondering lately if I'm supposed to. I'm an intern so almost everyone who comes to see me is a supervisor in some way. Is it rude not to stand? Also, is it rude to offer someone a chair wi... | As someone who's worked in a rather small cubicle for the last 5 years, and a couple of years in a previous role, I have to say no The only exception may be if the co-worker needs to sit to type something on your computer, such as to install software or make some sort of configuration change or the like. In the US, in ... |
How important is it to get software developing experience after graduating as an engineer? just finished my master in Software Engineering and got a very nice job offer from the company I’d worked at part-time during my studies. I took the job as it was a sure thing. The thing is, this company sells more software then ... | The developing experience is very important for every developer either you are young or old. The job you have sounds nice, but it won't help you grow and improve as a developer and get a better development job in the future.
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How do I make an intern understand the importance of reporting issues? So, I have an intern/junior at work (the positions are rather fluid) who hardly reports back when issues come up. For example, they had a bunch of task where a script essentially halves the workload per task. One day I randomly chat with them to se... | I stress that their task, while small, is important and that it is their responsibility to do it right, even if they have to ask me for help every step of the way. You can give them a skeleton that has headings for things like problems encountered, and when you were notified of the problem.
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How do I express meeting time to international recipients? I occasionally coordinate virtual meetings across multiple timezones. Due to differences in recipients' email clients and resources (e.g. time to calculate or double-check timezone differences), I include the time in all relevant timezones in the body of the em... | Or if everyone is using Outlook, just create a meeting - all recipients will see the time/date in their own time-zone.
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How to "let go" issues, blocking my mind? This is a problem I'm facing already during the entire course of my career (I'm 45 years old now): regularly I get stuck with something. I look at the problem and I can't find a solution. As I don't find a solution I ask for a collegue to help me out, and at the moment that my ... | The important thing is to step away from the problem for a few seconds so that you get out of the mode of trying to fix it. Talk to the Bear A previous project manager of mine told me that in one of his previous jobs, there was a teddy bear in the office. I've heard it described as the 'rubber duck' way of problem solv... |
In a job interview, should I mention the fact that I didn't start a job after I accepted the offer and set a date? I have an upcoming interview for a job that is very interesting to me. The job is in another country. The problem is that the last year I found another job in this country, accepted the offer, got a visa, ... | If it comes up in conversation by all means be prepared to back it up with a reasonable explanation (which you have already provided). The fact that you were able to secure a visa without issue before may put them at ease as well.
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