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Should I mention that I failed A Level computing during Interview? I have an interview next week for a software development placement. I am studying Computer Science at university, despite dropping it at A Level when I got an E. The reason for this was that I didn't enjoy the structure of the subject then and was quite lazy. I am a completely different person now and have been contemplating telling that story in the interview if they were to ask me about my biggest failure or something. Would that be a bad thing to mention? <Q> Would that be a bad thing to mention? <S> If you mention it just like that then surely it won't do any good. <S> If you feel that it is highly likely that you will be asked about that, then I suggest you give it some thought and have an answer ready in case they do ask. <S> How you phrase it is up to your taste, but you would do better by not denying what happened, and instead focus on the steps and solutions you took in response to such situation, and how that changed you to a better professional. <S> have been contemplating telling that story in the interview <S> if they were to ask me about my biggest failure or something . <S> (...or something?) <S> Probably you are over-thinking this one, there are millions of questions they may ask you during an interview, and this one is not one of the most likely. <S> If this question were asked then it is a tricky one. <S> One way of graciously answering it that I can think of is to say something like: <S> "Well, I am not certain what my 'biggest' mistake may be. <S> However, whenever I make one I try to learn the best I can from it <S> so I don't make it again. <S> " <S> This way you are not openly admitting some flaws (that we all have) and are instead proposing a constructive solution to the situation. <S> Again, maybe you are over-thinking this a bit, but if you really feel this may happen try thinking your answer thoroughly as suggested before. <A> First thing - an E grade at A-level isn't actually a failing grade. <S> As for mentioning it in an interview - will you be handing over your grade certificate along with your application? <S> Because the subject and grade should be listed on there as a passing grade (IIRC only an "unclassified" result is not listed on those certificates). <S> I wouldn't mention that you "didn't enjoy the structure of the subject then and was quite lazy" - that would immediately be a red flag to me as an interviewer that you can only perform at things you enjoy (unfortunately, we all sometimes have to do something we don't enjoy, and still do it well). <S> Look for something that you can spin into a positive - saying it gave you a kick up the backside and made you appreciate that reward comes from effort would be a much better spin - especially if you can back it up with good performance at university. <A> As someone who also "failed" computing at A Level <S> (I got a D, generally in England despite it being a pass mark, most people assume A-C grades are true passes), <S> I see it as a good talking point and one you can pick up. <S> I'm now a developer for a company and have a degree in computer science. <S> It shows how you've tackled a part of yourself that was possibly weak <S> and you've grown from it and can really help build a character during an interview. <S> As HorusKol has said , you need to use the question to show how you've improved yourself. <S> I went on after computing to also be a drop-out at a Biochemistry degree, got a job and eventually started work in IT. <S> After several years of that got a degree. <S> Talking about what I've learnt during those informative years really help interviewers learn more about me and how I operate. <S> It's all experience in the end and the answer to the question is how you've improved yourself. <S> As long as you can build on the "failing" grade at computing to how you are a better person now, then feel free to talk about it
| If you do want to mention it as your "biggest failure", you have to remember that this question from an interviewer really means they are looking for how you fixed or learnt from the situation. I suggest you mention about that subject only if prompted about it , otherwise there is no reason for you to disclose such detail.
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Is it professional to leave a meeting early if attendees are late and it runs over work hours? I don't mind staying late to get something done in a fire drill, or to meet deadlines, but if there's a meeting that runs over the working hours that you've communicated to your co-workers (in a different timezone), is it acceptable to exit the meeting? I have a life after work, I don't think it's fair or acceptable to expect someone to stay after their communicated work hours. I worry that my co-workers are purposely setting meetings like these (which is a separate issue), but I want to establish ground rules for respecting each other's times. If this behavior continues, is it acceptable to leave with the stated idea to conduct meetings in each other's respective work hours? Edit: additionally, we had an 1 hour today, and they were both 30 minutes late, which I thought was unprofessional and disrespectful of time. I dislike that the burden of maintaining professionalism is on me, and that I should be expected to work beyond my working hours to make up for their behavior. <Q> An ordinary meeting with people you know <S> reasonably well who all work for your company <S> , well then just give your excuse and leave. <S> However, if the meeting is on a clearly high priority subject, if it was difficult to find a time when all could attend or if anyone outside your company or a senior manager in your company is in attendance, then stay. <A> If this behaviour continues, is it acceptable to leave with the stated idea to conduct meetings in eachother's respective work hours? <S> I see that there is a different problem here than you leaving early, and to solve it you and your team will have to come up with coordinated meeting hours that everyone is ok with . <S> That is the only way no one will have to leave in the middle of team meetings. <S> You say that those teammates are aware of this situation , and that your workhours end before the conclusion of the meeting. <S> In that case I think it would not be unprofessional to leave the meeting, just make sure you do so politely and restating the reason why (something like, "as mentioned I have to go now guys <S> , I'll get up to date in the morning" ). <S> Additionally, as your edit indicates, they were also late for this meeting (something unprofessional from their part indeed), and given the time-zone situations there is few things you can do to compensate for their lateness. <A> Is it professional to leave a meeting early <S> Yes. <S> if it runs over work hours <S> No. <S> It is professional to weigh commitments, and sometimes you'll have something of greater weight than remaining in the meeting. <S> But leaving a meeting early just because it runs over "work hours" is unprofessional. <S> Especially if you're salaried. <S> How would you feel if you were at the dentist, and at 5:01 the dentist goes "Oh, it's after work hours now." and walks out? <S> You have a job, you do the job until either the job is done, or it's imposing an unreasonable burden. <S> If you're staying several hours over, that's unreasonable, but an occasional 15 minutes or half an hour isn't. <S> You should make a reasonable effort to not schedule things immediately after work. <S> If you have something you can't reasonably avoid (and there is significant wiggle room in "can't reasonably avoid", but it shouldn't just be "I shouldn't have to be inconvenienced at all outside of work hours"), then it is professional to inform the other participants prior to the meeting, and stick to the deadline. <S> And when you're scheduling meetings, it's perfectly reasonable to express a preference for times that leave a margin between the end of the meeting and the end of work hours, but it's not reasonable <S> to outright refuse meetings that go up to, or even slightly past, work hours. <S> With people in other time zones, it may even be necessary to have meetings entirely outside of work hours. <A> It depends on a lot of factors. <S> Is this meeting a regular occurence? <S> Are we talking, like, once a week or once every couple months? <S> If it's a relatively rare thing, I would personally just grin and bear it. <S> If we're talking once <S> every couple weeks or more often, however, I might try to get the point across. <S> It also depends on who initiated this meeting. <S> Is this an obligatory meeting, or is just kind of something that is you attend because you want to know what the company is supposed to be doing? <S> Is this something initiated by your coworkers, and if so, is it something that <S> they feel is necessary, but that you personally don't really feel is important? <S> If it is they who initiate these meetings and you don't feel they are all that important, something along the lines of, Say, I understand that this meeting is important to you, but I have personal responsibilities after work hours, so I really have to leave at xx:xx. <S> Would it be possible to schedule this meeting earlier in the day so that if we run over time I don't have to run out on you? <S> ... <S> might do the trick. <S> If, on the other hand, it's something that you deem important, or they feel they are rendering you a service by meeting with you, a similar, but slightly different tack might help: <S> Listen, I'm realising that this time for our meeting doesn't work very well for me, since I have domestic responsibilities [or whatever] after work. <S> I really don't want to miss part of the meeting, so would it be possible to schedule it earlier so that I don't have to run out on you? <A> And it is unprofessional to plan a meeting that is supposed to end within working hours, and than taking longer than planned. <S> Professionals finish meetings on time. <S> If the meeting is scheduled late, you can tell at the beginning of the meeting when you will leave, so if someone has the desire to make it last longer, they will have to do that without you. <S> If the meeting starts twenty minutes late because of late comers, it's professional to say that the meeting will be say 70 minutes instead of 90, and needs to be focused to achieve this. <S> And it is entirely reasonable to insist that you don't work without being paid.
| It is unprofessional to plan a meeting so that it will run past the end of your working hours. It depends a lot on the context of the meeting.
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How much can I reveal about the financial impact of previous projects in an interview? I am preparing for an interview. In my previous role as a consultant for a services company, I was responsible for a number of projects where I could say something along the lines of: I worked on site for client company X, and while there identified problem Y which they were previously unaware of. By addressing it they were able to save Z. In some cases the amount Z was pretty substantial. On the one hand, these are concrete examples of where I have added value. On the other hand, they arguably might show company X in a negative light in that they had allowed problem Y to occur. Z is really the measure of the financial impact that I had on the client. In an interview, can I fill in the blanks X,Y and Z and stay ethical? There are other similar questions on this board, but they relate to levels of technical detail. This is not about technical detail but fiscal impact. <Q> It's an area where you would need to read carefully in my opinion as it could be considered revealing financial information about your current employer's clients. <S> The first step would be to read your current employment contract (and any associated security/confidentiality policies and NDAs) very, very carefully. <S> I strongly suspect that there will something in there that would prevent you being as specific as you describe in your question. <S> A safer route would be to generalize your statement. <S> So rather than saying: "I worked on site for client company X, and while there identified problem Y which <S> they were previously unaware of. <S> By addressing it they were able to save Z <S> " you could instead say: "I worked on site for a client, and while there I identified problem Y which <S> they were previously unaware of. <S> By addressing it they were able to save more than <S> Z-1" It's sufficiently general that it doesn't identify client but still get's your point across that your work saved someone a boat load of money. <S> By not revealing the exact amount of Z you are remaining accurate, implying that the amount could be even higher than what you actually saved, further obfuscating the identity of the client and not revealing exact details of your current employers business. <S> Potential employers should understand the reasons behind your discretion and since they probably wouldn't like the idea of their employees giving out commercial details to all and sundry will probably approve of your discretion as something they would want from their own employees. <A> Instead of values, could you present them using percentages? <S> As for companies, you could simply say eg. <S> a company providing financial services . <S> Unless it is a small community, it's unlikely <S> Y could be attached to a specific company, which would be a grey area in an NDA, <S> In the sense that while you didn't explicitly say the name, it could be easily guessed. <S> So you would then say something along the lines of: <S> "I worked on site for a client company that provides financial services, and while there identified problem Y which <S> they were previously unaware of. <S> By addressing it they were able to save 60 % from their yearly expenses." <A> There's a lot of advice going around about how candidates need to "quantify" the impact of their performance and usually examples are given with dubious punchline phrases like "... and that increased sales by 13.2%..." <S> I think you're being properly cautious about citing such numbers. <S> Not only may details like that be inappropriate to share, but there's also a question of credibility. <S> How does the interviewer know that you're not pulling that number out of thin air? <S> Can they actually verify it? <S> Moreover, many people aren't even privy to such financial details or even if they are their contribution is deeply convolved with the contributions of many others who did planning, implementation, rollout, marketing, operations and support. <S> Can any one of them claim credit for all of it, or even a specific numerical fraction? <S> I get very very skeptical if I am given a number which I have no way of verifying or which is uninteresting to even care about. <S> Instead of aiming for a hard number as your "money shot" it is much better to tell a narrative with details that prompt interesting questions for which you have answers. <S> Describe the problem, point out why it was a problem, then explain your solution, your approach, the timeline, the obstacles, and the contributions of others (along with gratitude for them). <S> If you tell a compelling narrative, "the number" either doesn't matter or at least it becomes more believable. <S> The scope of your impact is what counts for the purpose of the interview, not whether it was 12% or 16% (assuming that is even knowable). <A> In an interview, can I fill in the blanks X,Y and Z and stay ethical? <S> Yes, you can. <S> Doing so, even by accident, can make you look like a liar. <S> Also be careful of any data that would be covered by an NDA. <S> Don't lie or say anything that could be perceived as a lie.
| Be very careful when throwing numbers around that you really cannot substantiate or may sound to grand/lofty. Yes, you absolutely can as long as you can back them up with data .
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Dealing with a co-worker who is extremely entitled but won't be fired A friend of mine is supervising a team of three people. One of those three is a foreigner who is a source of her daily frustration. My supervisor friend describes that employee as follows: Generally: lazy, entitled, unprofessional, dishonest and very demanding for benefits; Example 1: she asked to come back to her home country to renew her passport during the Christmas holidays, which is not true because I know for sure you can renew your passport at the embassy. She then delayed her return by two weeks, giving a one day notice, and asked to work from home (which is generally not practised at that company). She claimed that this is because the passport renewal takes longer than expected Example 2: She consistently fails on the technical side of simple administrative tasks, e.g. overwriting other people's work. Example 3: She doesn't have much work to do, but asked to work on weekends just simply to earn more paid vacation days. Example 4: She is rude and unprofessional on emails. If there are multiple questions on the email, she would answer just one, or won't give a straight answer. So that supervisor friend of mine approached that employee multiple times, asking to be more careful, pointing out her mistakes at the performance review, referring her to the rules etc. The employee gets extremely defensive, angry, and won't take the criticism. She first tried a strict approach ("you have to..."), then she tried a softer approach ("it would be better for you if..."). Neither helped. From my work, I know that the supervisor is a highly trustworthy person with the best work ethic I've seen. So I believe her story. Now, usually consistent negative feedback (recorded in performance reviews) and not appearing at work for weeks would be a good reason for termination. However, the higher-level manager, while she agrees with negative feedback, says it is extremely difficult to find a replacement (the employee is Russian, and that position requires someone Russian-speaking). This is true and took months last time. So the manager also begs my supervisor friend not to be too hard on that employee. Question : What can my supervisor friend do to impove that situation and her daily frustration about it? Context: The company is a Fortune 500 MNC. The location is Hong Kong, meaning that some people would try to avoid direct and open confrontation. All people involved are aged 25-35. The department is doing backoffice paperwork processing. <Q> this is going to sound harsh <S> but I think your "friend" needs to start acting like a boss. <S> "Can I work from home while I am stuck in home country renewing my passport?" <S> Answer = <S> NO. <S> Then deduct the missed days from future vacation or reduce pay accordingly. <S> "I want to work weekends" <S> Answer = <S> NO. <S> If this manager is simply capitulating to every request, no matter how kooky, how can you honestly expect this person to not make kooky requests in the future? <S> They've discovered this works so... <S> I also want to point out that it is easy to blame all of this behavior on the fact that this person is foreign, but your assumption is not working in both directions. <S> when in fact it is simply a cultural difference. <S> It is also very possible that this person feels very uncomfortable for not understanding what is expected in this new environment, and that can lead to defensiveness. <S> Answer = be a boss and explain the problem to them, and clearly outline what is expected . <S> There are few things less effective than telling an employee that they are a problem, but not giving them clear and explicit feedback for how you expect them to behave/perform in the future. <S> In addition, framing it as "this is what is required" is very different than using the "you have to" or even the "you should" approach. <S> It may appear subtle but note the missing word here is "you". <S> Reframing it in this impersonal manner can really help reduce defensiveness as it's just a statement of fact, and less likely to feel like an attack. <S> And if there is no improvement, replace them. <A> Once you have hired a replacement, then you can fire the other person. <S> Discuss with HR the best way to go about this. <A> There's not much you can do except for continue doing your own job as effectively as you can do. <S> This woman obviously knows that she's safe in her job because replacing her is difficult. <S> It might be worth exploring whether her key tasks can be performed in some other way (out-sourcing, for example) thereby making her redundant. <S> You can then allow the performance reviews to outline an outcome. <S> Unfortunately, your company has allowed this behaviour to continue for some time, so suddenly letting her go for things she's been allowed to do for some time might be difficult to defend. <S> In short, out-source the specific work that she does, and allow the performance/disciplinary process to do <S> it's work. <S> It's possible that side-lining her work might cause her to leave anyway. <A> It seems your manager and the company have allowed a double-standard in accountability and other things between most employees and this particular employee. <S> You reap what you sow... <S> and you are not the manager; your manager is. <S> Your manager has this problem because s/ <S> he has chosen to apply a double standard --something a good manager wouldn't have done because it shows partiality/favoritism. <S> As Snow said, there's not much <S> you can do, and it's not your job to do it. <S> There's not much to this. <S> Your manager friend should hold everyone to the same standards, including general behavior, professionalism, level of accountability, and so on.
| Set realistic and measurable goals for improvement and stick to it. IF the manager has what he or she needs to fire the person, the he or she should simply start looking for the replacement now. Consider that it is possible that this person, simply because they are not familiar with your culture, is behaving in a way that you take to be "rude"
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What is considered normal ramp up for a senior developer? About a month ago I started a new job at a smallish company. I've been a web developer for about 6 years and only worked in big companies, big enough to be listed on the stock exchange, for example. At this new job I have immediately been given large, complex features to work on with little to no guidance and virtually no KT about the code base or business model. All the developers seem super busy and somewhat elitist about the code. When I've asked questions in slack I usually get an answer in the form of "that's really not too difficult" or "I'm too busy right now." The team seems fairly defensive and negative as well. I and the rest of the devs have been given a deadline for a major to-market release and aside from other people's feelings that it's not realistic, it's doesn't seem realistic for me because I am still very new and learning the code base as well as process. Since I've never worked for such a small company, is this normal? If so, what can I do to better level set expectations with my boss and the team as to what I can do given X amount of time without seeming like I'm incompetent or unwilling (both not the case). <Q> I've been in a great number of shops, and the variance between expectations can be extreme. <S> Some will expect a developer with a fresh diploma to follow easily the rhythm of the veterans. <S> Others will recruit only veterans and expect them to need one year to be fully operational. <S> There is no normal; there are different levels of expectations, linked to the local culture, to past experiences (some have been spoiled by ultra-efficient newbies, some have been traumatized by a long streak of inefficient veterans), to current constraints (a team used to giving time might be under heavy pressure for reasons, and ask more to the newcomer just because it needs more out of him/her). <S> In the specific case of other developers being busy, try to narrow the questions you'll ask them, and to identify when they are more available, to disturb them less. <S> If you reach them with accurate questions like "I see the totals are split in categories 0, 1, 2, 3, but could not find the meaning of those categories", you'll be welcomed more warmly than if you ask "how do the totals work?" <A> Consider setting up documentation for new developers (and developers switching to areas of the project with which they are unfamiliar) such as a Confluence instance. <S> This way, you can make requests for people to help you fill in the blanks in documentation that needs to be written. <S> I'm doubt everyone will gleefully start contributing, but if you explain the benefits to management, and get their buy-in, it might help not only yourself, but the rest of the team. <A> I think you are asking the wrong question. <S> There is no normal. <S> At your current company it is what it is. <S> If you think you cannot meet your deadline you need to tell your boss now. <S> If you think guidance will fix that then tell them. <S> If you need to offload and get guidance then tell them.
| There is no normal.
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Is it appropriate to use email to ask a worker to stop backbiting? I have a (female) coworker who always has a terrible mood and curses everything. While I can deal with that, now, after working a few months at this place, I see more and more that she terribly backbites people. Not just some usual shit-talk but just plain bullying with the goal to let the other person look as bad as possible. At first, I didn't care because she seems to always have a bad mood she hates everyone she isn't even working in my team she (physically) changed the office As this didn't stop and she didn't care to openly yell even at team leaders telling them all disgrace I'm cautious about confronting her directly. I told another coworker who just bad-mouthed me once (and not as severe as the female one) that I'm always open to feedback and I would desire him to give feedback directly to me. He was very confused and left the place. Why I consider telling her over mail: I don't want a discussion. If I do something wrong you tell me, if I don't listen or behave badly you tell my boss I don't see her in a 1:1, since she's in another team I can point out that it's important for me that she has a good image of me If she continues I can at least prove that I tried to encourage her to an open talk I'm bad with words when I'm nervous. She is someone who uses her anger to silence people, unfortunately this works on me Several co-workers told me that they asked her (since she does this on all persons) and she didn't care Why I consider it bad doing it over mail: It could come off as passive-aggressive I could appear weak not talking directly to her Making things harder for me is that I'm relatively new in that company (less than 1/2 year) and if I do it wrong it could look rude (someone <30 telling someone above 50 how to behave). That being said its incredibly hard for me to work in an environment where you get trashed as soon there's a possibility without you even knowing.No problem with it if it happens from time to time, but she does it constantly. (Or, to put it into an example: Some fires are too big to fight(leave the company), some are so small that you just have to wait till they extinguish by themself, but in this case someone with matches is starting fires over and over) Is a mail (just with her as recipient) appropriate since a normal talk won't work out or should I approach the situation differently? <Q> Unless your boss is completely incompetent this is a conversation you need to have with your boss, first. <S> Period. <S> " <S> Hey boss, coworker seems to badmouth everything. <S> This is really distracting and demoralizing, do you have any suggestions for what I should do?" <A> You do not want to address this person in mail, the last thing you want to do with a back-biting, double-crossing coworker is to give them a paper trail. <S> DOCUMENT EVERYTHING <S> Before you say so much as "boo" to this person, have a log of all the times she has acted out including what was said, to whom it was said, and when. <S> THEN <S> State plainly and clearly to her that her actions are unacceptable. <S> When it happens again, simply say. <S> I'm sorry, it is inappropriate for you to speak to me with that tone and that language. <S> Then, walk away without another word. <S> If she follows you and persists, stick to the script. <S> I'm sorry, I will not be addressed in this fashion. <S> Please leave. <S> Do not engage her beyond that. <S> If she escalates to management, show your documentation at that time. <S> Make sure that your own behavior is above reproach. <A> I would talk to your manager about it. <S> It does not sound like a face to face conversation will work with her, in which case email most definitely will not. <S> If she is being this way across different groups, perhaps you are not the first to notice or report her unproductive, negative behavior. <A> Is a mail (just with her as recipient) appropriate since a normal talk won't work out <S> or should I approach the situation differently? <S> First I have to say that I wouldn't recommend too much on this whole idea of confronting her . <S> Some people just happen to be rude and a PITA all day long; I doubt that one can easily change that kind of people. <S> Secondly, if you decide you still want to do it then perhaps a more polite approach would be to do it in person, rather than by email. <S> If you get nervous or may forget things I suggest you write down your "speech" before doing so. <S> Furthermore you even say that your coworkers have tried before and she "doesn't care", <S> so I doubt this is going to work out. <S> They will then be able to do (or not) something about it. <S> That being said its incredibly hard for me to work in an environment where you get trashed <S> as soon there's a possibility without you even knowing.... <S> This is a relevant thing you said, and backs up my second suggestion: if you are not comfortable with your work environment there , and that person does not change or seem to ever going to, <S> then perhaps it is time to start looking for jobs elsewhere .
| No, you never want to criticize or deliver negative feedback via email. If you feel this person has a problem I suggest you talk to your superiors and expose your concerns about it . You want to have an established pattern of her behavior before you confront her. Passively aggressively confronting someone like this will end poorly.
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My friend referred me to his employer for a position, but I already have a fulltime job I was talking with an old buddy of mine who works at a company. In conversation, we were talking about our jobs. Just today I got an email from his employer about an opening. Apparently my friend referred me to the employer even though he knows I have a fulltime job already that I'm happy at. How should I reply back to say that I already have a job without burning this new bridge with my friend's employer? (I want to keep connections with potential employers I come across). <Q> Just email back thanking them for their consideration but saying that you are not looking for a job. <S> i.e. <S> Dear X, Thank you for your consideration for the role as X. I am currently in full time employment and not currently seeking an alternative position. <S> Many thanks, Y <A> The fact that your friend referred you to his employer without asking your permission first is something you should talk about with your friend. <S> Most likely he misinterpreted something you said about your current job or wanted to help you in some way. <S> Apparently he didn't bother asking first. <S> Maybe you should make him aware of that. <S> Combining these two opinions, I would suggest you at least have a prolonged informal chat with your would-be employer. <S> See what his offer is, check if it matches or exceeds your current position (only you could quantify the aspects that are important for this decision) and take a decision after that. <S> TL;DR <S> : Talk to the guy that called you, don't make promises <S> , don't sign papers, just listen to their offer and make a decision after. <S> And tell your friend to ask permission before making a recommendation. <A> If you think you might want to work for this company in the future then I'd probably reply with something like this: <S> Thanks for your approach, it looks interesting <S> but I'm not looking for a new position at this time . <S> (don't include the emphasis on your reply!). <S> It shows them that you think they're someone you'd like to work for, but indicates that you're happy where you are at the moment. <S> However, there's nothing to stop you asking for an informal chat - after all they might have something to offer that would make you want to move.
| The fact that you already have a job should not deter you from taking interviews with other companies, especially the ones that come from a friend's recommendation. I'd be reluctant to go for a more formal interview if you were thinking you'd probably turn them down, as that could burn more bridges than turning down an interview in the first place.
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How to ask a superior to keep something discreet / confidential I am about to send an email to my boss (cc'ing the chief accountant & HR) so that the email has only 3 recipients. How would I say to my boss formally to keep this topic between the three of us, and that I would prefer if it wasn't disclosed to others? The topic is that I'll have to take leave due sudden illness of a close family member as my last duty. I don't see that anyone else other than the individuals in the email need to know. <Q> three can keep Counsel if two be away ; and, if I knew my Cap was privy to my Counsel, I would cast it into the Fire, and burn it - Attributed to King Henry VIII in The Harleian Miscellany <S> You shouldn't need to disclose the exact circumstances around your leave to anyone (with one exception, see below). <S> Simply say "due to an unforeseen family event, I need to take leave for SOME_PERIOD. <S> " Your employer does not need to know the full details of this, and you should not disclose anything you aren't comfortable disclosing. <S> The exception: If you're in the US and taking leave under the provisions of FMLA (or a similar law elsewhere), you may need to disclose the relationship between you and the person who has fallen ill (to verify that it's valid use of FMLA). <S> Tell only people who absolutely require this information. <S> Provide the bare minimum via email; never assume that email is 100% confidential, and always assume that there's a chance your email may be forwarded to someone you don't want to see it. <S> If you need to provide additional details do it in person, behind closed doors, and ask that it be kept confidential. <A> Just say something along the lines of "I consider this information confidential" or "I am presenting this information in confidence". <S> Otherwise, you should look into whether there's a single person who can approve the leave, and ask them to keep the reason confidential. <S> In many companies, if you tell your boss "I need to take leave for personal reasons; it's been approved by HR. <S> " they won't inquire any further. <A> As @alroc noted, you do not need to provide any specifics besides the bare minimum fact that you have to take X many days leave "to attend to a family matter. <S> " If your boss asks for more information, use your judgment on whether to provide it or not. <S> You can provide a little more but still no need to provide full details (e.g. "a health issue of a family member that I need to assist with" should do it). <S> Same for HR, unless there is some specific policy which applies to your leave which requires to disclose more information. <S> You can send that as an email or ask for a meeting with an HR representative who handles leave/attendance matters. <S> As a rule, provide the minimum necessary information to HR. <S> You might also want to meet with HR before you talk to your boss, if you have questions about what/ <S> how much/how you can/should disclose to your boss. <S> HR can sometimes provide good guidance on that. <S> I don't see where the chief accountant fits into the picture, but if they need to know, then you can request that your boss inform them. <S> Good luck!
| If you can get away with just saying "I need to take leave for personal reasons" and not giving the information in the first place, do so. If you can have a face-to-face meeting with your boss, then skip the email altogether and inform him/her in the meeting.
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Should I point to an error in my bonus calculation? I work in management consulting and lately had my yearly review with my boss with the intent to renegotiate my salary and yearly bonus.As usual I don't negotiate a lot because my boss is very generous. Our company's bonus calculations are complex, involving several performance indicators, sales incentives, and so on. Since I am interested in how the figures evolved, my boss always gives me a copy of the calculation sheet for transparency reasons. The day after the review, when I went over the details, I found a minor mistake in it. The salary used in the calculation is lower than my actual salary and the result is that the yearly bonus is actually 5% (€50) lower than what it should be. Despite the overall impact being small, I care now that I know about it (I like things to be correct). At the same time this bonus is still more than I expected and I'm happy with it. Our relationship is very open and transparent. Should I politely point my boss to that possible mistake or would that be ungrateful/rude? <Q> Don't overthink this. <S> Boss, I had a look at the bonus calculation sheet, and there seems to be a mistake. <S> Can we go over the calculations together? <S> This leaves room for your boss to correct the mistake without losing face. <S> Moreover, it also leaves room for you to save face if your calculations are wrong. <A> I would bring it up, but I wouldn't pose it as a mistake on his part, instead I'd simply raise it as a question of understanding. <S> I went through the bonus calculation and haven't been able to make it match your results. <S> Would you mind going over it with me <S> so I can understand what's going on? <S> It should be a very quick visit, and allows you to bring up the issue without casting blame. <S> It's entirely possible you've input a wrong number somewhere, or the calculation he gave you isn't perfect (maybe misplaced parenthesis, etc - errors of transcription). <S> Regardless of the source of the error, simply bringing it up as a question about why you're getting a different number shouldn't be offensive or problematic, and will give him an opportunity to fix the problem - or correct you - depending on what actually happened. <A> Yes. <S> Your company uses the same formula for every employee, so everybody is going to receive an amount based on a set of parameters. <S> So I think if they are coherent they'll be happy to fix this and let you receive how much they wanted you to receive. <A> No, it's only 50 quid and pointing it out would put your boss on the spot. <S> Here's what I'd do. <S> Next year, a week before the bonuses are due, bring the error to the attention of the boss and point out where you think it went wrong. <S> If he thanks you and offers to make up the missing amount, tell him only if you can use it to buy him lunch. <S> He's your boss, a good bloke you say, so do what you can to make his life easier. <S> Good bosses are few and far between and definitely not worth upsetting over 50 quid.
| Politely point out the possible mistake to your boss in a neutral tone: If there is an error in your calculation, you should point it out because, if they made the formula like this, it's because they actually want you to receive this amount.
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Tests in an interview I was asked to attend an interview next week for the role of a Data scientist with a lottery company and was told there would be an hour of testing prior to the interview. Is this usually a technical test, personality test or some drug test?Would it be appropriate to ask the recruiter? <Q> Interviews for technical companies can comprise of many different sections such as a Behavioral interview, Cultural fit, Technical interview, Group exercise, and many more pretty much at the discretion of the company. <S> It is perfectly acceptable (and reasonable) to return to the recruiter that you are in communication with to ask for clarification. <S> It's odd that they didn't give more information on it to begin with as ' hour of test' <S> is very ambiguous <S> , it was perhaps an oversight on their part. <S> It won't put you in a bad light or at a disadvantage to ask for more information on the matter though. <S> Good luck! <A> If you're unsure what this test involves, then ask. <A> Always ask the recruiter! <S> Recruiters are people with valuable information that you might find helpful. <S> As others have already pointed out - this is probably going to be a technical interview that would check whether you have technical skills and abilities necessary for the role. <S> The recruitment team is here for you to navigate the entire process. <S> You might want to ask them about the format of the interview: is it going to be a case interview <S> (you will be presented with a business scenario you will have to propose a solution to), or rather some sort of set of algorithmic challenges in R/Python? <S> When in doubt, you always should ask the recruiter. <S> It doesn't show that you don't understand what other would find obvious. <S> It shows that you are proactive and want to prepare yourself to the best of your abilities.
| If you're interviewing for a technical role, then you can expect the test to be a technical test, unless told otherwise.
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Should a candidate attend interviews for which he suspect recruiters have not clearly understood his CV? I received an email today requesting my availability for an interview next week. This is with regards to an open position of Data Scientist. I was informed that there would be an hour test; likely a technical test prior to the interview The job description is as follows: Degree in Computer Science, Economics, Mathematics or Statistics Postgraduate degree majoring in data analytics or machine learning preferred Minimum 3 to 4 years of relevant work experience Experience with statistical and analytical modeling, knowledge of analytic tools and big data technologies. Should be able to work with tools to clean, transform, manipulate, model and visualize large amounts of data. Minimum skillsets required: Deep experience with languages like R, Python, SQL, Excel Experience in Data Cleaning, Sampling, Balancing, Imputation using R, Python Experience in Statistical modelling techniques like Anova, Hypothesis Testing(t-test, chi-sq), Linear regression, Logistic regression, Decision trees, Neural Networks, Random Forests, Bootstraping, Clustering, Classification , Factor Analysis, K-cross validation Knowledge of Big Data frameworks/ technologies: HIVE, Spark or similar frameworks Data visualization tools: Qlik or Tableau Ability to communicate complex ideas to technical and non-technical audiences Ability to analyze numbers, trends and data to derive conclusions. Effective oral and written communication Here's a bit of background: I am a fresh grad with a double major in physics and math who was in the quantum mechanics stream for my physics major and specialising in the pure and applied mathematics for my math major. My exposure to statistic in my academic career spans the basic probability concepts of variances, standard derivative, probability density function and the likes. My proficiency in programming language is Wolfram Mathematica to replace most functions of MS Excel and build "reasonable" computational models. I am unsure why I was called for an interview despite not having the 3-4 years of relevant experiences. While I have applied and made it clear in my cover that I am currently self-learning intermediate-advanced statistic and picking up Python and relational database, the inclusion of a test indicates to me that more advanced concepts may be test. I am under no illusion that the company uses Wolfram Mathematica. 1) Am I justified in making such an assumption with regards to the level of technical test which may lie outside the domain of my current knowledge? 2) In the experience of recruiters here, should I maintain my agreement to attend the interview? <Q> The simple answer is as always to pick up the phone and talk to someone. <S> It may be that someone at their end screwed up and didn't read your application and cover letter properly, in which case it's better for everyone that you find this out now rather than turning up for an interview that is pointless for everyone involved. <S> On the other hand, it may be that they've seen your application and thought "Hey, this person doesn't have the skills we put in the job description, but they look like a bright kid. <S> Let's get them in for an interview, see how smart they are <S> and maybe we can train them up." <S> But you'll never know which is which unless you talk to someone. <A> Employers/job adverts usually ask for too many things, for what would be their "ideal" candidate. <S> It is not usual hiring people that do not fill in all the points, <S> for several different reasons (cheaper, they like the candidate, they think the candidate has the potential to be a good fit, the requirements are exaggerated, many more). <S> If you have got the (free) time to attend the interview, you have not got anything to lose, quite by the contrary, an interview is always another learning experience. <S> Unless you feel the headhunter really screwed up, I would attend it. <A> Years of experience may be one of the most ambiguous "requirements" in job descriptions. <S> You may not be the best candidate. <S> Point out the discrepancies and see what they say. <S> They may have selected you just to have enough candidates and already have someone else in mind. <S> Although I don't really think this practice is very transparent, at least you'll get some good interviewing experience. <S> You may also learn something from the type of test they give you, so you'll be better prepared the next time. <A> Good answers from others, but I'd like to point out somethhing else that seems important to me : passing interviews is a skill . <S> Which means that even if you have no chance to get the job(and <S> that's not even sure right now), go anyways, and practice your interview passing skills. <S> Try to convince, watch for the reactions, and check your level of stress. <S> The more interviews you'll do, the better you'll manage your stress, and other tricky questions. <S> Remember that opportunities to train this skill are scarce. <S> Therefore, enjoy the opportunity you have. <S> And you might maybe even get the job as a superbonus. <S> Not likely, from what you say, but not impossible either. <A> I find that job ads are based on the existing qualifications and competencies within the team. <S> These have often been documented (and overstated) to justify a job grade during a regrading exercise or just to record the capabilities of the current staff for the HR Department. <S> They often contain things that are no longer relevant and pitched at the level they hope you reach after a few years, not the level they expect when you start. <S> As others have said, the real skill is to interview well. <A> Oftentimes, a company will post a job with a utopian view of everything they could possibly want in a candidate. <S> IF that candidate comes along that can fulfill it all, great! <S> But realistically, they won't find that guy, and they'll settle for the guy that is closest to ideal. <S> Recently I agreed to an interview for a developer position. <S> I had many of the skills requested, but clearly had no experience in many of the others. <S> The skills I did have <S> , I haven't used for years. <S> But they gave me an interview, and I went. <S> I was completely open and up front, telling the team of interviewers that I did not have all the skills requested, but I had some and was willing to work to get up to speed. <S> The interview went very well, although they ended up choosing a different candidate. <S> But if nothing else, it gave me experience interviewing, and I was likely a comparison candidate for them to use to judge the guy they DID hire. <A> For my current job I had a call from a recruiter who was covering for my recruiter at the agency for that week. <S> She had a job position as a Business Project Manager (I was working in application support). <S> During that call she asked me what VBA was and other things as she wasn't really sure what the job entailed. <S> After some brief explanations I felt I was wasting my time as she simply had no clue what she was calling me for, but apparently thought I was a good fit.... <S> fastforward a couple of weeks <S> and I have an interview booked at this company, I attend the interview just to improve my interview passing skills as I was seriously looking to change jobs. <S> During that interview I learned that the "requirements" they had used in the job were a match for the previous person working on that role, but very different to what they wanted/needed. <S> I was offered the job with a substantial bonus and given the opportunity to be working as a Business Analyst/Developer/Project Manager/Tester... <S> I love my job and was given the opportunity to learn more coding languages than I knew before as I self manage my own time... <S> I had none of the written requirements for the job... <S> but I showed I was what they needed... <S> Go for it <S> , worst case scenario you got some experience out of it!
| Let them know you want to interview, but not at the expense of wasting their time.
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Former employer did not send me the W-2 and is ignoring my emails. What to do? I live in the US and I left previous employer on bad terms. It was a small startup company (~4 employees, a manager and a CEO). For those not familiar with the W-2 form, it is the total income statement and tax data that US employees receive from their employers at the end of each year. It is for employees then to use it and submit their Tax Returns at the beginning of every year. I have contacted my manager via email last week asking if they sent it yet and stated clearly that I did not receive it. I did not get any replies from him. So I emailed the CEO on Monday asking the same, and I also did not get any replies. I believe I will be wasting time if I go and walk in to the company. I want to avoid any embarrassments too. So what should I do at this point? <Q> Wait until you really know that it's late (it isn't yet) <S> It's possible your previous employer is busy with its own end of year accounting and knows that you can wait until the end of January (but aren't bothering to reassure you of this (possibly assuming you know this already)). <S> Wait for the end of the month to pass (and maybe a week or so into February), then if you still don't have it, call the IRS and ask them to help you. <S> IRS leaning on a company to comply would probably be more effective than you are. <S> source <S> (Reference.com, plus many Google hits) <S> The deadline for employers to mail <S> W-2 forms is January 31st, according to the IRS. <S> If you do not have your W-2 by early February, call your previous employer to verify your address and ask what date the employer sent your W-2. <S> If necessary, ask for a new copy. <S> If your former employer is bankrupt, you can contact the bankruptcy attorney to obtain your W-2, or contact the state for limited wage information, suggests the State of California Franchise Tax Board. <S> The IRS can contact your employer on your behalf if you do not receive a W-2, explains the IRS. <S> Be prepared to give the employer's name, address, phone number and employer identification number, when possible. <S> You also need to have an estimate of the wages you earned, the amount of taxes withheld, your official dates of employment, and basic personal information. <S> So, call the IRS and ask for advice , let them help you. <A> Save your last pay stub of the year. <S> If an employer refuses to file W-2's, the IRS will accept that as "interim documentation." <S> Employers have until the end of January to file them. <S> Most file them immediately, as everything is done by a payroll management system, and it's just a question of making sure all the payroll entries for the year were correct, and clicking "Go." <S> It's basically a printout (PDF) of all the data in all the forms they have on you for the year. <S> If the employer fails to file a W-2, go ahead and use the last paystub. <S> A competent tax service can get the right forms for that easily and inexpensively. <S> Then, go get some popcorn, and watch what happens when the IRS pays a visit to your former employer. <A> They have until Jan 31st. <S> I'd wait until after that to really bother them. <S> They are required by law to do this so they can't skip it just because you're on bad terms. <S> Also, most smaller shops I know tend to use a commercial HR service to do payroll, taxes, and wages. <S> Do you have a login info for that? <S> Typically you can get your W2 that way sooner if you want to file your taxes now. <A> You may just get your W-2 online , if you use TurboTax or H&R Block: <S> The best services are the TurboTax W2 finder or the H&R Block W2 finder where individual W-2 information can be automatically retrieved and imported into your tax return. <S> This is useful if your employer has indicated the form is available online. <S> Both of these companies can look-up the company you work for, or they can use your Employer Identification Number to find your W2. <S> Form W-2 can then be imported into your tax return or downloaded to your computer. <S> Fortunately, many people do not have to wait to get their W2 in the mail <S> , they can simply import it into their tax return. <S> Various companies provide it online, even the military, Walmart, and McDonalds. <S> The W2 online distribution process has been simplified and automated by third-party companies. <S> These payroll or W-2 distribution firms often make the form available for free on the Internet. <S> Employees therefore do not have to wait on the mail and can file their taxes sooner.
| If the employer files a W-2, but doesn't send you a copy, you can get it by requesting a "transcript" for the 2017 tax year from the IRS.
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What is a fair way to delegate who gets to go home early due to poor weather I work in a laboratory in a team of 5 people. Being in Wisconsin, the winter months can bring storms that can make travel dangerous. I live close to work, >10 minute drive, as do two of my coworkers. My other two coworkers and my supervisor all have about a 30-40 minute commute. Of the three of us that live in town, the other two have early shifts, starting around 6-6:30 and leaving 2:30-3. I work 8-4:30. Yesterday, we had a snow storm come through that dropped freezing rain and then about 8" of snow. My supervisor told everyone to finish up what they had to and go home. One of my co-workers that commutes has work that needs to get done in the afternoon, typically arriving at the lab around 1:30 (but was late due to the snow). I asked my coworker if she wanted me to stay to help and she said no, so I went home around 2pm. This morning, that coworker spoke to our supervisor about how it was unfair that she had to stay and work despite having a longer commute than some of the rest of us. She told me this as well, though did not accuse me if anything. I told her she could have asked me to stay and she told me she doesn't feel she should have to ask a coworker to stay over her, that that should be the supervisor's responsibility. I agree with this. Our supervisor has called a meeting this afternoon and she told my coworker that this issue would be brought up. I'm not sure the best way for this issue to be resolved and, knowing my supervisor, I'm concerned at what her solution will be. Primarily, I'm concerned that, as a local employee that works later, I will be selected to cover work and stay anytime the weather gets bad, at the expense of getting my own work done. I am also concerned that I will get scolded for not offering to stay and am not sure how to respond to such a thing. However, I also understand that letting people leave early due to the weather is not an equality thing... That it's really only being done for the safety of the people who have to commute. My question is this: When there is poor weather, is it fair for people with longer commutes to be let off early, expecting those with shorter commutes to stay and finish their work? And on a personal level, if I am the only person with a short commute and the hours necessary to cover that work, should I be okay with being expected to always be the one covering that work? I did try to search for this topic and did not see anything similar, but I also have not used this site much. If there's any issue with my question, please let me know and I will fix it in any way necessary. <Q> You've described one instance of the "non-work decisions affect work preferences/availability" problem. <S> This more often manifests as deciding who has to work overtime to get the project done on time, with a push for people with fewer outside obligations (like kids) to take the bullet. <S> Any inequitable distribution of the burden is guaranteed to breed resentment over time. <S> So what your team needs is a way to either (a) balance the load, meaning that where people live isn't relevant and they have to take their turns, or <S> (b) compensate <S> the person who gets stuck doing the undesirable thing (in your case, staying later and driving home in ice and snow). <S> These two approaches can be combined; it's common in hospital work, for example, to distribute the shifts so everybody gets stuck with the undesirable shifts sometimes and <S> certain shifts (like on holidays) pay extra. <S> I know people who try to take more of the undesirable shifts because they want the extra money, and people who are happy to give them up to help them. <S> Your snow days aren't as regular as third shifts, of course, but the approach can still work: rotate the snow-coverage assignment evenly through the group, compensate the person who does it in some way, and allow people to trade. <S> If it is neither evenly distributed nor compensated, your supervisor should not be surprised when the people who live closer develop urgent needs to leave early sometimes too. <A> I asked my coworker if she wanted me to stay to help <S> and she said no, so I went home around 2pm. <S> You offered to help, she refused your help so it's not really your problem. <S> You might need to make your supervisor aware of this (in private) <S> so they have all the facts. <S> It's up to everyone to make sure that any urgent work is completed and things are left in a safe state, but ultimately it's your supervisor's responsibility. <S> In this situation they should have either asked your co-worker themselves if they were OK staying a bit later to finish up or your co-worker should have brought it up with your supervisor at the time. <S> I don't see that there's anything else you could have done, or need to do now. <A> If people are being let off early to avoid dangerous driving conditions <S> the primary focus should be on everyone being off of the road before the bad weather hits; anything else is secondary. <S> With that in mind <S> I think it's completely reasonable to let off people with the longest commute earliest. <S> From a supervisory perspective if the differences are large enough that it leads to inequity (10 min commute vs 90 minute commute) <S> these inequities should be resolved in the days or weeks following either with early leave being caught up on (if that fits within local labor laws and agreements). <S> For a 30 minute difference in leave I wouldn't really bother with trying to even things out. <S> I'd just advise the lab that I appreciate people stepping up to make sure everything that needed doing got done. <S> Any supervisor worth their salt would not reprimand you for putting lab priorities ahead of your own. <A> I just don't understand why this is even a question. <S> Any place I've ever worked had a simple and clear policy along the lines of, "in case of inclement weather the office will close". <S> Period. <S> Either it's "safe" for everyone to travel to and from the office, or it's not. <S> Just from a liability perspective, if any of the people who were expected to work while others were sent home (or told not to come in) because it was "too dangerous" were to be injured due to the storm, wow. <S> It's not at all hard to imagine the lawsuit that could ensue as a result of that. <S> I myself would not accept this premise that because my commute is shorter, it's safer for me to travel. <S> If the office was open and people really didn't feel comfortable making the trip they would take a vacation/personal day, or work from home. <S> Very simple. <S> Very fair. <S> It's not your fault <S> other people live far away, why should you cover for that? <A> One argument point I would make is that length of commute does not necessarily equate to more or less danger/hazards in poor weather conditions. <S> In my area, I know a few routes that take shorter times, but during snow storms become hazardous only because the roads don't get salt/plowed. <S> Another route is longer distances, but easy to drive since it gets salted/plowed by DOT services. <S> So I don't think one should necessarily say a longer commute/distances should be let go first. <S> Since you'd know the area, you can make arguments like, "Oh boss, you're forgetting highway <S> X always get clogged because of Y <S> but it's smooth driving compared to route Z."
| In an ideal world if there is an adverse weather warning everyone should get to leave at the same time, but I wouldn't complain if people with a longer commute were let out early. If your supervisor doesn't have budget to pay bonuses, perhaps comp time or some perk could be found.
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How can I appropriately ask for a lower salary once I have an offer? After receiving an offer from a company concerning salary & benefits, how can I ask for a smaller salary and/or benefits without causing the company to retract the offer? Any attempt I have made in the past to do so has lead to the retraction of said offer, so I'm looking for a diplomatic approach. I apologize for not initially including my reasoning. I am asking for a smaller salary so that I don't set the bar too high for future opportunities. In my experience, people who start with a higher-than-average salary tend to have a much harder time moving out of that position in the future. In each of my interviews I was asked about my past salary and they wanted proof. In addition, anytime my past salary was higher than what the interviewer wanted to hear, that brought the interview to a quick end. I hope that explains things better. <Q> How can I appropriately ask for a lower salary once I have an offer? <S> Unless you are independently wealthy or have taken a vow of poverty, don't do this . <S> Think about it this way -- <S> your employer interviews and hires many different employees, and in order to stay in business, the employer needs to pay market rate. <S> They know what different employees ask for, and they know what they want to pay. <S> Some companies may give low-ball offers, but good employers want to be fair so that you stay loyal to the company. <S> Most likely, they are offering you what you're worth to them, assuming you're not overqualified for the job. <S> I want a lower salary because I am new to the industry and if the number is too high, then it may jeopardize future job offers as it has for many of my friends. <S> The reason your friends can't get offers may have nothing to do with their current salary. <S> Take the salary you're offered, and start to learn about how to market yourself for future opportunities, including salary negotiation skills. <S> If your ultimate goal is long-term salary appreciation, asking for a lower salary will only make that more difficult to achieve -- it's like trying to save for retirement with a credit card. <S> Enjoy and celebrate what you've earned! <A> Without an explanation of your reasons for wanting a lower salary (in exchange for lower hours, in exchange for remote work, etc) such a request would make people think something weird was going on, and not want to hire you. <S> (Related: Is it a good idea to ask for a significantly lower salary than the median to increase the chances of an offer? ) <S> With an explanation, it's possible they don't want to make that trade. <S> In any event, once an offer has been given, negotiation is usually over. <S> Trying to open negotiations again (to raise or lower salary or pretty much anything) is also the sort of thing that tends to stop the whole process in its tracks. <S> Ideally you would have discussed all this in the process that led to the offer. <S> That said, if you want all that they have offered you but just a lower number on your paycheque, don't do that. <S> Take the money from them and do something with it that works for your life. <S> (Generally, save it so that you can spend some time not working in the future, but your question doesn't contain enough detail to address that.) <A> You cannot do so without setting off alarm bells that could be heard from the other side of the world, and red flags big enough to view from space. <A> I'll just tell you what I would think, what my colleagues would think, and what my boss would think (and we are interviewing right now). <S> If everything went well, and the company made an offer for X, and you came back and asked for less, I would think you are bonkers. <S> I would go mentally over everything that was said during the interview and would look for other signs of madness. <S> And if I found anything else that looks like a red flag in hindsight, you'd be out. <S> Some of my colleagues are less tolerant. <S> You'd be out without any checking. <S> And our boss would add our suspicions to his own suspicions and you'd be out. <S> What you are suggesting is just not done. <S> It's a bright red flag. <S> You were offered X because the people interviewing you agreed that you were worth X. <S> If you come back and want less than X, that's a clear sign you don't think you are worth it, so we must have made a mistake during the interview. <S> PS. <S> And think about your new colleagues. <S> If you were offered X, then those who are already employed in the company also make X. <S> If you offer to work for less, they will be afraid that the boss might think X is too much pay. <S> So they will hate you from the start, and try to convince the boss to not hire you, out of their own self interest.
| Your choices are: Seek another job for lower pay Rearrange your finances so that whatever is preventing you from accepting more money is no longer a factor.
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Was offered promotion to stay at company, but received another better offer, is it unprofessional to accept better offer? I was going to leave my company about 2 months ago, but was offered a promotion to stay. After receiving this promotion I was offered another position at a third company which is even better. Is it unprofessional for me to accept this third position so soon after accepting the promotion at my original company? How best to accept the new position without burning bridges or seeming to be unprofessional? <Q> There Is really no way for your present employer to see this as anything other than a slap in the face. <S> Accept that. <S> That said, if money were no object, would you move on? <S> If not, then stay. <S> Your present employer has already shown that they care enough to negotiate a promotion to retain you <S> so you KNOW that you are valued. <S> The new company is an unknown. <S> So, in summation. <S> No, there is no way to move on without burning bridges, so be careful <S> before you make your decision as this time, there will be no going back. <A> How best to accept the new position without burning bridges or seeming to be unprofessional? <S> The only thing to do if your intent on taking the offer, is to turn in your notice and leave . <S> Do it in writing of course, and when there are questions asked, be open and honest about it. <S> Also, be prepared for the possibility that you may never be able to go back. <S> You cannot control how your employer will respond to this, but you can control your own actions and level of professionalism . <S> During your notice period, be as helpful as you can . <S> Document whatever you can to make it easier for your employer once you are gone. <S> This will increase your chances of going back <S> should you have the need. <A> It's best to do what you feel is right. <S> Everyone here is speaking about how you'll burn bridges, but unless your company is brand spanking new, or the HR is brand new, or your manager is brand new <S> , it's highly likely that they know you'll be leaving soon once you put in your original notice <S> and they asked you to come back. <S> Unfortunately, even though they know that, they sort of put the pressure on you because you end up looking bad because they can say, "we tried to reason with him, but couldn't." <A> We see over and over people that want to leave, and accept a counter offer, end up leaving anyway. <S> Even in cases where the company doesn't renege on their promises, the employee still feels that there are better positions/offers/companies available. <S> It is impossible to predict how they will feel. <S> It is likely that your current company knows that their promotion was a stop gap. <S> And you announcing that you are leaving is not unexpected. <S> It is also likely that your announcement will blindside them. <S> Then be professional during your remaining time with the company.
| The best you can hope for is to tell them, apologize, and don't accept a counter offer. Either way I think it's best to go with your guts and if you want to switch jobs, do it now.
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Probably going to get a small annual pay rise even though I'm underpaid. How to counter my bosses offer? We have our workplace annual reviews coming up soon, this is when people in our organization receive pay-rises etc. The pay-rise is usually around several percent. However I feel as I am being underpaid. I have worked at the company for around 4 years, 1.5 of them were spent as an apprentice but I have been a junior for 2.5 years, my pay is several thousand pounds less than what I've heard is offered to new hires at a similar level to me. I feel like I am paid less due to the fact I started at such a low level and due to my age (I'm 22). At some point in the interview my boss will say something along the lines of "We're to increase your pay by 'x' amount.". I find it hard to say that I'm wanting a larger pay rise due to how final he makes it seem and not wanting to come off as ungrateful and also not wanting to offend my boss. What would be the best way to approach this, I don't want to spend another year feeling exploited :( <Q> This is sadly typical of the tech jobs and not unheard of. <S> Believe it or not, someone was upset about how much you got paid when you got hired. <S> Even if you got a raise, you're behind the curve because a new hire only has to get the small cost of living raise to match up yours. <S> You can definitely ask for a raise to match others. <S> I'd go by position and what they're hiring for now. <S> If you have a job listing or know the pay grade for your title, then ask for it. <S> Don't expect them to agree though. <S> However, you'll likely not get it. <S> The best way to get a raise is by getting a new job. <A> From my experience it's a good practice to approach your manager a few months prior to reviews. <S> This is what I do when requesting a raise. <S> You set up a 1 on 1 meeting, you go to the meeting prepared with why you deserve greater compensation. <S> I wouldn't start it off by " <S> Mike in the other department gets X more", I would approach it by detailing your contributions to the team, your commitment to excellence, etc. <S> You see where I'm going with this. <S> In your case where reviews are coming up, prepare yourself now by detailing your work, and preparing your case on why you deserve a raise of X. <S> I would suggest potentially setting up a meeting prior to the review, since the review is normally a set agenda. <S> Approach your manager that you would like to talk about your compensation, and would like a little time to have a dialogue. <S> Like Dan said, this set amount without negotiation seems to be the norm, so being proactive to get what you want is a must. <A> It past time to be paid as a junior dev. <S> Ask for a developer position or a senior developer position and commensurate pay raise. <S> It is generally more effective to let people know your expectations outside the performance review process. <S> Companies typically have a set budget for annual review raises and they spend a lot of time negotiating how to split that money up. <S> It is better to let your desires for a certain amount be known well before this negotiation process starts so that you manager can push it. <S> Once they have been set, giving you more typically takes away form someone else and at the point where they are telling people the amount, senior management is not as willing to do that. <S> After all they may have already given out most of the pay raises before they get to you.
| Consider asking for a promotion.
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How to handle really bad source code? I'm currently working on a project where I inherited a product somebody else made halfway-through. My job is to finish that specific project. I was told I had a free hand over what to do, so I looked at the source code and decided it's rubbish and I started all-over again. Within two weeks, I had a working prototype when my boss saw what I did and was very disappointed because I changed the overall-design of the page without asking (as I said, I had free hands there). But well, from this embarrasement, I stepped back to the original source code. The thing is that it's really bad and unstable. It's copied together from many different websites without sources etc. and whenever I try to fix one bug, twenty others emerge that were dependent on that one bug I fixed. There's practically no documentation (a txt-file with a list of packages to be installed) and now it already took about half a year (it should have been finished after maximally three months). I believe in this case it's not my fault not to be able to work with that source code since every time I questioned the person working on it previously, she didn't have any exact answers and just told me to keep googling and playing around until I get what I want. But I'm feeling very ashamed in front of my boss (who's a really nice person, but also wants that project to be finished). What can I do now? Restart all over? (If not, is it the concorde-fallacy?) Explain why such a badly written product is not usable or able to be developed further? I don't want to look incompetent and I don't want the previous employee to stand in a bad light as he was a really nice and fun person to be around with. But her code was just terrible. How to handle this, preferably in a way that doesn't get me fired? <Q> I looked at the source code and decided it's rubbish <S> and I started all-over again. <S> This was where you went wrong, as shown by what happened next: <S> Within two weeks, I had a working prototype when my boss saw what I did and was very disappointed because I changed the overall-design of the page without asking. <S> is a necessary skill to develop. <S> I'm pretty sure that most people working in this industry for any length of time will have inherited "bad" code - <S> it's just a fact of life! <S> It's natural to just want to start on your own terms, but throwing it out and starting all over, especially without authorisation, is not the way to go. <S> Different people will have different ways of dealing with bad code - but mine is to take the time to thoroughly examine the existing codebase, making sure I at least understand how it works on a fundamental level (or how it doesn't!) <S> From that point, I'll document everything that I've found that I think needs to be changed or fixed, and work out approximate estimates of how long it'll take. <S> (And this is all before changing anything.) <S> If you document things as above, you can then take a much more concrete document to management, and have a much more constructive conversation over what needs changing and why. <A> Don't restart, refactor. <S> Pick a bit that looks wrong and fix it, without actually altering what it's supposed to do . <S> Then pick another bit, and fix that. <S> Eventually you will end up with something that's not perfect, but is good enough. <S> It will do what the original was supposed to do. <S> And after all the refactoring, you should have a good understanding of how it all works. <A> Within two weeks You worked for two weeks without letting your boss know that you were rewriting the whole project. <S> I'm sure if you let your boss know what your plans were, and why you were doing it from the start, it would have gone more smoothly. <S> You used the word design, but was it the output of the program that changed and the boss got upset? <S> If so, would this be solved by matching the output with the new program? <S> Was it the design of the code itself? <S> If so, either you need to speak with your boss and convince them why the new design is better, or you need to go back to the old code and fix it to where it is usable.
| Fix the documentation a bit at a time as well. You can't just throw bad code away and start over whenever you find it - working with bad code
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Should I apply for a job even if I don't have all of the necessary experience? I'm in last year of a Bachelor's Computer Science course, and I have strong knowledge in a variety of languages, albeit mainly Java, Python and JavaScript. I also have an industral placement under my belt, having worked for an international IT consultancy for a year as a junior dev. Main languages were again Java and JavaScript. A job I've been looking at requires 2 years of C# experience, amongst other things. My C# is not the greatest, having only done a single uni module on it, albeit from what I know it's fairly similar to Java, and I know I could teach myself up on it fairly easily, but it will be no professional experience. My question boils down to: should I apply to this company knowing that my experience may not be adequate, or should I go work elsewhere, doing personal projects in the mean time, and then job hop? Is there any big disadvantage to applying without initial experience, as in, could it hinder a future application? <Q> For instance, I was just looking at listings for positions <S> I'm familiar with at my company. <S> Many of the main requirements were pulled from different tasks that people all across my team do (managing contractors, working on videos, editing content). <S> Only a few people in the department have experience with all of these things. <S> But if you lacked in some areas, they might be lenient if you can demonstrate that you'll be able to adapt to the role. <S> I also feel that if you're confident that you CAN adapt to the role, you shouldn't worry too much about applying. <S> Just be clear, up front, about what you know <S> and why you feel capable of picking up the slack quickly (the cover letter is a good place to start; then, follow up with more details in the interview). <S> If they have a problem with your lack of experience, they'll make that decision and you'll find a different job. <S> When I applied for my current job, I had maybe 70% of the requirements, and none of the experience they wanted. <S> They still gave me a shot though, and I went in to the interview prepared to show them why I was still a fit. <A> Yes. <S> Apply. <S> The most they can do is say no. <S> If your soft skills are good this can make up a lack of experience in a certain technology. <S> Many time I've found the job requirements are written by human resources and do not correspond to reality. <S> There was a company in my town who was hiring .NET <S> developers back in 2002-2003. <S> They were looking for 5+ years of experience with .NET <S> when the framework had only been available for less than a year at the time. <S> I was able to ask the hiring manager about this and the response was "HR insists on 5 years because of the salary for the position". <S> I got the job because of other skills and were able to gain the C# skills. <A> Is there any big disadvantage to applying without initial experience <S> Yes, most companies want someone to hit the ground at least walking if not running, which is why they ask for experience. <S> So if you start falling to pieces over the work it will be bad for your professional reputation. <S> However if you have the self confidence to pull it off and put in the hard work then apply. <S> The worst that can happen is you get turned down. <S> If you get the job, make sure they don't regret it and build your career. <A> You absolutely keep applying to jobs, even if you don't have exactly what they are looking for. <S> You want to get your foot in the door with a company willing to take a little risk. <S> Impress them with your soft-skills, and your will to learn, not necessarily your skill. <S> I feel your pain, when I started out my development career 17 years ago, I was in a major city, and nobody wanted to talk to me without experience. <S> It was really a Catch-22 situation, I need experience to land a job, but nobody wanted to hire me to get such experience. <S> I had a CS degree from a major university and two internships on my resume where I had done development work. <S> These weren't landing much unfortunately. <S> I think working out of a major metropolitan area makes this more difficult <S> , there is just SO much competition. <S> I eventually had to take a job outside the city about 50 miles in a small town. <S> They were desperate for someone because no one wanted to move out there, and I was desperate, because I really needed a job! <S> Fast-forward 17 years, I'm back in town, and have plenty of development experience across a number of technologies. <S> I recently took a new job, and can command top dollar for my experience. <S> It does get better, so hang in there!
| As an applicant, if you had all of that experience, you'd very likely be a top contender. In most job postings, hiring managers will put lots of requirements but you don't have to check off every box.
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Software companies who train from scratch: what's the catch? Context I've started looking into programming/software development jobs. I don't have a computer science or software engineering degree. I did do two years of a Computational Linguistics degree, which involved computer science modules, before switching program; that was a decade ago. Recently I did a Masters in Sound Design which involved a fair amount of programming using patching paradigms (eg. Max/MSP), and I threw myself into any other kind of programming task I could find. Basically my programming brain has been reactivated, and now I'm learning C++, algorithms, etc. Question Since I don't have much provable coding experience, I've been looking at companies that offer graduate jobs where they look for transferable skills, and train you to code. I just came across one such employer which offers £35,000 starting salary with bonuses, is employing year-round, and 'promises' you'll be working on interesting problems at the cutting edge. It seems kind of too good to be true. So my question is basically, what's the catch? More specifically: What's in it for the company? How can they offer a very competitive salary to relatively unskilled employees? I get that top graduates with the right skills will flock to the big companies, but there are also so many smaller companies offering closer to £20,000 starting salary asking for a lot of specific knowledge. Is it just such a dull, unchallenging job that they need so badly to attract people? Is it worth my while getting experience at such a place? I've read suggestions that places like this "need many people who have a basic knowledge to code from existing libraries using defined templates". Would a year or two of experience at such a place be valuable to other employers down the line? With my current skills, would I be better off looking for ways to prove myself to another kind of company? <Q> What's in it for the company? <S> By training you to code they are in a way "investing" in you, in which case you could eventually turn into a valuable asset if you stay for a decent amount of time. <S> Other possibility is that they are somehow desperate to hire or fill a job position. <S> They could also have some ulterior motives on doing so, but we would be guessing what they may be. <S> However, I do recommend you thoroughly check and read the contract you get before committing . <S> If you say it is too good to be true <S> it is wise to be really sure what you are getting into, so there are no surprises down the road. <S> Is it worth my while getting experience at such a place? <S> That is really up to you to decide if the skill you will acquire there will be useful for your professional career. <A> Some thoughts: <S> It's probably "up to" £35,000 <S> but that's probably well hidden <S> so depending on how well you do in your training you might be earning less than that. <S> You'll be expected to pay back your training costs if you leave the company before X years. <S> Again, this will be well hidden on the website <S> so it's not immediately obvious. <S> You might be classed as self employed and given contracts through the company and the salary is what you could earn if you were working all the time. <S> However, it's unlikely that you'll be working all the time so your actual salary will be lower. <S> If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. <S> However, if you investigate the firm and you think the conditions are not too onerous then it might be OK. <A> By opening themselves to recruiting non-programmers who are willing to learn, they can capture a lot more diverse set of skills than places that only hire experienced programmers, and that can pay off in other ways. <S> Suppose that I, as the company owner, got contracted to create some software having to do with music. <S> You, with your master's in sound design, are going to have all kinds of domain knowledge that will be amazingly valuable. <S> Even if you are a novice programmer, I'd rather have you on my team than an expert programmer who knows nothing about sound. <S> It is going to be easier for me to train you how to program a computer than it would be for me train an experienced programmer what he needs to know about sound to finish the project. <S> And for a salary of £35,000, which is probably a lot less than what that experienced developer makes, cheaper too. <S> By offering to train you to program with no previous experience, the company can get employees who have skills that traditional Computer Science graduates and experienced software developers don't have. <S> Those skills are invaluable. <S> Developing software is a lot more than just sitting in front of a computer typing in code. <S> By bringing in people with more diverse skills and investing in them, the company is betting that it will come out stronger in the long run. <S> As an experienced software developer myself, I can tell you we're all just learning on the job anyway. <S> (Of course, it could also be a scam, so thoroughly check out the company and read the contract carefully before signing anything)
| After checking your contract and making sure you like what you see, I don't see why not try this job; you will be increasing your technical skills and experience, something that may prove valuable on years to come and future jobs you may seek.
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How do I ask to transition from full time to permanent part time instead of retirement? I'm a software developer and I really like my job. I mean I really really really like my job. I have a great work environment, I work on creative projects, I work the standard full-time gig: 40-50 hours per week, 3 weeks vacation, sick time, the usual benefits. I'm based in the USA. The thing is, I'm in my early 60s and I'm starting to think about retirement. I enjoy the work but I want to spend more time working on other interests and aspects of my remaining life. But I still want to work for the same employer. I figure if I could work 3 days per week with 3 months of paid or unpaid leave a year I could do that until I die. Salary and bennies would be commensurately reduced, of course. How do I convince my employer to agree to this? <Q> Sell it as a good thing for the company. <S> They will retain your knowledge and input for longer. <S> If you kept working full time you would have to completely retire in the not too distant future and this won't be as good for them. <A> Take exactly what you said and talk it over with your boss. <S> Seriously, you worded it perfectly, especially about how much you like your job. <S> They may or may not agree <S> but I think the way you put it here is just about perfect. <A> Based on the content of the question, I am assuming the OP is in the US. <S> It's very hard to guess how you could convince your employer <S> this was good for them too, as we have no idea what you do, the nature of the projects you work on, etc. <S> However I do want to suggest you strongly reconsider requesting 3 months vacation. <S> As a manager I could cope with reduced regular work hours from a good, current employee, but having to work around an employee who will be fully gone 3 months out of the year would be a complete dealbreaker, due to added complexity of project planning and resource allocation. <S> If you are in the US <S> I think that's very hard to sell. <A> Get the employee handbook and read all the relevant policies. <S> Make sure you know what all the existing rules are. <S> These include qualification for benefits, pro-rating of bonus, vacation, etc. <S> Carefully try to find out whether someone else has done something similar already. <S> If yes, talk to them privately and find out how it went and what the issues are Understand the financial implications for the company. <S> Your cost to the company is significantly larger than your salary: they pay benefits, in particular health care, your work materials, office rents, general overhead (payroll, HR, IT,etc). <S> Be aware that these overhead costs are mostly constant and regardless of how many hours you work. <S> That means part time employees of often significantly more expensive (per hour worked) than full time employees. <S> Come up with a specific proposal (or better: a few different proposals) and approach your manager. <S> You may need to demonstrate some financial concessions, e.g. willing to pick up a higher percentage of you health insurance. <S> Adjust as needed Look at alternatives: if part time doesn't work, consider becoming a free lancer or consultant for the company. <S> This is good for the company since it's more flexible and it shifts the overhead management to you. <S> You can certainly ask for a rate that makes it "net neutral" to the company. <S> Example: let's say you currently make 100k <S> and the company pays another 60k in overheads. <S> At 1600 work hours a year, that's about $100/hour. <S> Something like that. <A> Maybe easier to just offer 120 days/year on a freelancing basis than getting 3 month vacation approved. <S> Think about these kinds of work arrangements also. <S> Then, when you talk to your employer and you see he is not too pleased with your original idea, you have an alternative plan to offer.
| Maybe it would fit your employer better if you offered some kind of flexible/freelancing approach where you would work a set number of days per year which are then scheduled depending on the current needs of the company. If there is someone in HR you trust, approach them and talk through potential options how to structure this.
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How to decline the job opportunity due to a long commute? I received an email that asks me to go to an interview but the location is far from my place since I need to travel by public transport. But I know that the company has difference offices in different location. What should I write on the email to decline the position they offer me but if another chance rises, that has a position nearer to my place, to still be in the running of getting an offer? <Q> This way you present yourself and don't make a bad impression <S> plus you have the opportunity to talk with the interviewer first hand of your need to be located in a different office. <S> If this is not possible you can still decline if they make you an offer. <S> But i firmly believe that declining and asking for another chance for a different location gives a bad first impression. <S> Edit: On suggestion from "gazzz0x2z" there are other beneficial aspects to attending the interview like getting a better feel of the company, train yourself to pass interviews, and explaining your position far better. <A> It's possible the location of the job is not actually the same as the location of the interview. <S> Usually they will put this on the job description. <S> Perhaps they have a similar job opening in an office near you, either now or in <S> the (near) future <S> and you might get relocated. <S> Traveling time is something you should bring up in the interview and see if you can get a 'deal': working remotely, working some days a week at location A and other days at location B, being allowed to work on the train. <S> If no agreement can be made, you can always say no and ask to stay in touch in case something nearby opens up. <A> As others have mentioned, go to the interview . <S> You will achieve a number of things by doing this: Give a good first impression. <S> (vs. declining all together) Learn more about the company - (remote opportunities, the actualoffice location, etc.) <S> Give you the opportunity to inquire about the option of working outof another office. <S> Show your interest in their intrest in you. <S> This could be a great job but you won't have the opportunity if you don't at least interview. <S> In addition : If after the interview it doesn't work out, you now have your foot in the door which seems to be the root of your question.
| If this is a company you are interested in and the distance is the only objection, I would definitely go to the interview. Don't decline just because of your concerns as this is one of the core points of the interview process.
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Is it unprofessional to say my non-technical manager that I'm documenting instead of writing tests, refactoring, etc? I work in a small company with 4 other developers. Essentially all projects are solo projects. Our manager has a strong sales background, but can write "hello worlds". He knows words like server, front end, back end, database. He tells us what client has requested and it is our job to make it happen. We report back to him about what tasks we did and how long we spent on them. To my understanding my manager understands documentation as following: Most likely it is a wiki or a pdf, but it can be a issue description etc. It is something that can be read. Intent of documentation is to make developer's work easier. To enable them to produce business value faster. He doesn't grasp how one can spend time on class/method names, version control, automation etc. I see that he significantly underestimates value that clean code, automated tests and CI/CD pipelines can be for other developer. (Although as I mentioned that we have solo-projects, but we are in pain when we need to take over other projects). So instead of reporting that I have spent a 2 days for refactoring and getting "customer didn't pay for that" look,I just tell him that I wrote documentation for a 2 days. Is it unprofessional to keep details for myself that would otherwise put me into same battle all over again? I wouldn't mind to share details if he asks and I will take responsibility for all the work that I have done. <Q> I'm not sure I'd call it unprofessional because you're trying to do work you feel is necessary but in the long term it would be best for all of the developers to work on getting your manager to understand the business benefits of maintainable code. <S> In the short term, if you feel you have to hide it <S> then I don't think the documentation is a good place. <S> The documentation is more understandable by your manager than your code and if you take a long time on "documentation" it's just going to reflect poorly on you <S> and there's also the problem if he finds out. <S> It would be better to account for the refactoring and testing effort as part of the development of the features. <S> Your client and manager expect quality software and this is all part of delivering that <S> , it's not a separate task. <A> You and your team have to schedule a meeting with your manager and explain him very clearly the benefits of having clean code and using tools like version control or continuous integration. <S> You must talk about money because this is his language. <S> Don't try to begin a technical speech with him, he speaks only in terms of time saved (less work) and efficiency (more work in less time). <S> If you can convince him, it will be rewarding for both your team and management. <A> It is unprofessional to lie to your manager. <S> If you don't consider this lying, then I'd add that withholding information on what you have been doing for other 2 days is more important than a detail and is almost as bad as lying. <S> Your manager should always understand what it is you are working on at all times. <S> If you feel that refactoring is necessary, then it is your job to explain what it is and what it entails. <S> His job is then to decide if you should be working on it or not. <A> Yes, it is unprofessional because there are several assumptions in your statement, that can only be verified by openly talking about the subject. <S> You assume that your managers is underestimating the value of clean code. <S> You assume that you have so much insight into your company that you can determine what is a good use of your time. <S> You assume that the work you do will actually provide a benefit to the company. <S> Should you be wrong about any of these assumptions, any resulting backlash will be solely your fault. <S> Should you be right in your assumptions, doing work in secret still will backfire. <S> Either you reveal what you have done and loose the trust of your manager, or you don't reveal what you have done, and you reinforce your managers assumption that his way of doing things is the right way. <S> If you really feel strongly about the issue, officially raise your concerns with your manager. <S> Make a powerpoint, get some references, show steps that can be taken (and what effect these will have moneywise), and most of all, be prepared to repeat all of the above for as long as it takes to convince people.
| Yes it is unprofessional to lie to your managers.
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How to request project reassignment when handpicked for current position? I am a software developer at my company. I have worked for 3 projects and have had success. As a consequence, my skills and leadership acumen have been inflated and passed up the chain of command. I now find myself removed from a stable project and placed into a rapid prototype project with high expectations of success. This placement was a direct request from some individual in higher management. I do not know who this person is. For multiple reasons I do not wish to be on the rapid prototype project. I have project opportunities in another division away from the current management chain. I want to pursue these other opportunities but am unsure about the political impact this decision will have on my career going forward. It is possible for me to reassign to another project without management consent but that approach is quite heavy-handed. How can I tactfully ask for a project reassignment without burning the hand that placed me into my current project? Update Aligned myself according to @IDrinkandIKnowThings answer and placed transfer request to management. Request was denied due to "importance" to the project/division growth. Communications of my discomfort are falling on deaf ears. <Q> How can I tactfully ask for a project reassignment without burning the hand that placed me into my current project? <S> If you want to minimize the fallout, and improve the chances that it will be accepted, you will need to prepare your position for transition. <S> First find out what the need of the project is that requires your participation. <S> i.e. what do you bring to the team that can not be replaced by someone else. <S> Then groom the other members of the team to be able to competently complete those tasks. <S> Once you are confident in their ability, start delegating those tasks to them. <S> Hand hold them as needed to make sure that you can demonstrate that you have brought the team up to speed. <S> Once the team is groomed and taking over those tasks that were once only assigned to you, look for a position that provides you with a chance to step up in an area you would rather work. <S> It is less likely that they will let you go for a lateral move if your expertise was specifically requested for the project, but managers are less likely to object to rising star trying to grow in the company. <S> When you make the request, do not ever mention the idea that you want to escape your current team. <S> It makes you look bad. <A> How can I tactfully ask for a project reassignment without burning the hand that placed me into my current project? <S> The most tactful way would be to go to your immediate supervisor and talk to him about your concerns. <S> He/she is the liaison between you and higher management and <S> therefore once he understands your point he <S> /she will be the voice that delivers those concerns. <S> Your immediate supervisor will also be able to shed more light on the circumstances / long term goals surrounding the decision which potentially alter your opinion. <S> Management at every company is different and handles things in a different manor which is why it's imperative to including your supervisor in on this. <A> Your 'other reasons' are valid for you. <S> However, they are not to the senior management that asked for you to be on this project. <S> Some companies call these types of things 'stretch' goals. <S> The entire point of this is you are moved to something a little beyond your current skills. <S> Management believes you can do this based on your past performance. <S> For this you should take this as a validation you are doing a good job. <S> Embrace the project. <S> This can greatly enhance your career and your position in your company. <S> D-Raz will have a reputation of someone who can "get things done".
| Any reason you provide for wanting to move on should be about your growth, and not about any problems with the project, team, or management of it.
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How to drop a rude/unprofessional client? I have been working with a client for a few weeks, and recently I have needed to liaise with another of their contractors to sort out some technical issues relating to the work. During the course of the email exchanges, the client essentially accused the other contractor of lying and demanded proof of their work (which they immediately provided). There was no reason to think the contractor was lying or in any way being less than completely professional. The client did not apologise, but more-or-less brushed it off, then proceeded to ask me privately to check over the other contractor's work (the work was fine). They also privately implied to me that they thought the other contractor was trying to overcharge them for the work, which I do not believe to be the case. I consider this to be rude, unprofessional behaviour and if they treated me like this I would refuse to continue to work with them. I've been getting little red flags over the past few weeks about the client but this is "the big one". One consideration is that there is a third contractor on the project who I have an excellent working relationship with who I would not want to offend. I've been paid for work-to-date, so I'm not losing anything by dropping the client now. Am I over-reacting to this? I appreciate that this is a very hard question to answer. What is the most professional way to drop a client given this situation? <Q> You're taking things personally. <S> This is unprofessional. <S> All that should matter to you <S> is that you're being well paid and keeping your own backyard clean. <S> I investigate many peoples work, it makes no difference to me if they are friends or competitors, the client gets an unbiased professional report and pays me for it. <S> But if investigating others is not part of your job then just tell the client that. <S> I refuse to do plenty of things because they go against my morals or because it's not my area of expertise. <S> How you do it professionally depends on circumstances, anything from 'I no longer want your business.' <S> to something like 'I do not have the resources or time to take on any more projects sorry.' <A> Am I over-reacting to this? <S> Yep <S> you are. <S> The client obviously likes and trusts you. <S> I assume they are also paying you , and the work is still at least ok . <S> Why not keep it up unless you have more work than you can handle? <S> Why stop working with them due to the fact <S> they don't like or trust the other contractor ? <S> Not a good enough reason to blow up the relationship. <S> What is the most professional way to drop a client given this situation? <S> If you want to drop them, simply send them an email stating " Due to unforeseen circumstances I will no longer be able to work with you after XX/XX/XXXX date ". <S> Give them enough time to prioritize critical items, and then move on your merry way. <A> Overreacting seems to best describe your reaction to the situation. <S> You appear to be caught in the middle of a conflict between two other parties. <S> If any further 'implications' arise, either be honest with them and explain that you have seen no reason to distrust the other contractor, or respectfully decline to join in this conflict as it is between client and other contractor. <S> Dropping the client may incur serious ramifications, be it reputation, finances, premature termination clauses etc. <S> If they should approach you again, simply respectfully reply that you are not seeking further ventures at this time. <S> This way, you're less likely to be the target of any misplaced anger or suspicion. <A> You need to weight the risks of dropping this client. <S> What is going to be your response when they ask why? <S> They seem like they will talk to other people in your industry behind your back. <S> That could be bad for business. <S> If you're really uncomfortable with them discussing other contractors, you should tell them you don't want to unless over-seeing them is part of your responsibility. <S> Who knows, maybe they'll stop and you won't lose a client nor will you be stuck with one you don't like. <A> In my experience, your concerns are valid. <S> If the client has done this once, they could do it more than once. <S> They could be doing it to you. <S> If you have an okay relationship with the client, I would continue but at the first warning signs that the client is doing this to you behind your back, do what other contractors in my experience do. <S> Raise your rates. <S> Just for that client. <S> It's called, in more polite language, a "Jerk Tax". <S> The worst that will happen is that the client will drop you.
| If you are keen to cease working with the client, see through your current tasks with them to completion and part ways amicably.
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Am I obligated to give executives my personal cell phone number? I work as a software developer for a company in the US. We recently got a new CTO, and today he went around asking for cell phone contacts for everyone. That information is already in my file with HR, and my direct boss has it as well. Having been on the job for about 10 years, I can honestly say I've never had a CTO ask for this, nor can I think of any real reason he would be contacting me directly. Am I obligated to give him my personal cell phone number? <Q> This is pretty standard in IT and has been for decades. <S> The only difference now is that cell phones are ubiquitous. <S> In the past you were assigned a pager and had to carry it. <S> When cell phones started to enter the workplace, you'd be assigned a cell phone and required to carry that. <S> Now, since cell phones have penetrated to near 100% of the market, it is customary to have your cell phone listed. <S> Just give it to him <S> , it's not like he's going to sell your information to telemarketers <A> Am I obligated to give him my personal cell phone number? <S> You are not obliged to give him anything (unless it is a company phone), but of course denying to give such information might not be taken too positively. <S> He is your CTO <S> so it does not matter if you think there is no reason <S> he may have to ask for such ; if he is asking surely there is a good reason and it will be wise to do what he asks . <S> In fact, he was being polite by asking you to give such information, when as a CTO he could order you to give him that information (or take it from your file). <S> I doubt they will use it for obscure purposes, and in such unlikely case you can well report the incident. <A> HR has my phone number. <S> If there is an emergency, HR can be contacted and reach me. <S> Having the phone number only at HR saves the CTO of being lazy and calling me at home, in my free time, when there is no emergency. <S> At work, there are various ways how I can be reached. <S> So no, the CTO doesn't get my number.
| There is nothing strange or unusual about the CTO requesting it, but refusing to give it will be a career limiting move and bad form.
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Is it appropriate to add things you studied on your own to your CV? My question is about software engineering/programming related fields, but don't know maybe it can be applied to other fields as well. If I read a couple introductory books on a technology, for example about NoSQL databases, wrote some code on my own to learn, will it be appropriate to add it to my CV, or mention it during an interview, to denote I know a little bit about it, even though I have never used that technology at my previous jobs/projects professionally? <Q> When applying for a job the main thrust of a CV is to highlight your role within a project to demonstrate what you actually did during your time at the previous company. <S> The technologies used, while important, are not always necessary. <S> You should include relevant technologies on your CV, but these would usually be ones you have used professionally for a year (or at least several months) or more. <S> Having said that, if the role is something like a technical lead then it is important that you have experience in using those technologies in a professional setting. <S> There is no harm in adding a section that is clearly marked as technologies that you have studied outside work to show that: You are interested in things outside your day-to-day work. <S> You are keeping up with changes and the latest developments in your field. <S> You are able to teach yourself these new technologies. <S> If there is no space on your CV or the form you fill in, then mentioning it at the interview would be the better approach. <S> However, you need to make sure that you mention it at an appropriate time - when discussing ongoing education for example. <A> I put such information on my first one; your profile suggests you are learning to code. <S> The interviewers at one of the largest computer retailers (at the time) asked about it and was impressed, it was definitely a factor in their consideration of my otherwise fairly blank resume. <S> They called upon the skills I outlined often, as the other employees were lacking in such skills; save for one other person whom was quite busy. <S> He gave me a letter of reference and hooked me up with my second interviewer when I left. <S> Other than adding the prior employer my resume remained the same. <S> I aced that interview too, my second interview was only to offer the position. <S> I stayed there for years and took a couple of shorter term jobs after that. <S> I accumulated enough money to go to one of the leading schools in this half of the country. <S> With a few jobs and some impressive schooling I removed this now dated and mostly irrelevant information and that only lead to fewer questions. <S> So if your young, and don't have a lot to show, relevant additional information can be useful. <S> As your experience matures these 'signs of inexperience' have no place on your resume unless you like more questions or the information is <S> particularly relevant (EG: <S> In your case, "Owned and programmed a computer for the past 10 years" - assuming that's true). <A> You can write anything you want on your resume, I've seen some outrageous claims. <S> But studying on your own means little without certification. <S> So if you want to be taken seriously, study towards a cert and get it.
| If you have just studied the technology in your own time, I'd be wary about adding it to your CV.
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Will working on an old technology stack affect my career? I recently took a position at a new company. I have experience as a full stack developer for 5+ years. From my understanding of my new position, my main focus will be mobile development but I will also be tasked with work on the server, and web client as well. After getting through all the interviews and the high level talk, I was able to get a look at the code and architecture. I am not impressed and quite scared as the technology stack is old for every platform. My major concerns are: Languages versions are no longer supported for almost half a decade if not more with new versions available with constant talk about how new versions will break the code base. Server’s OS is also no longer supported for several years and new version are available but also is calmed that updating will break the applications. I believe I can count the number of open source libraries on my hands for each platform, they are also no longer supported and have been deprecated for years. The MVC framework is outdated by a second version which is a rewrite but no one seemed to know that when I mentioned it. I was also told I would not need to read up on this framework which surprised me. Copying and pasting of entire application platforms for expanding into new potential markets which I believe will create a maintenance nightmare. In my previous jobs, we were using the latest technology and constantly updating. I enjoy using new technology as I play around with them outside of work and love sharing the information with my coworkers who are interested in talking about it. Unfortunately there are just a couple of people who share that interest at this new job. I have a gut feeling that staying this course would not expand my career in the direction I want and would do more harm as I would like to be a software architect one day. Would managers or senior developers think that staying at a company like this be harmful to one's career or development skills? <Q> Your decision is really based on one factor. <S> How are changes viewed. <S> Having obsolete technology is not bad in itself. <S> Having obsolete technology but refusing to update is. <A> If you can write good code in any language, you can write good code in any language. <S> It is true that your experience with certain technologies will help you get on board with companies who are still using those technologies. <S> Be advised that old technologies are still more common than you may at first have thought; my company's flagship product is coded in COBOL, and we are just now replacing the NT4-based customer-located application servers with Windows 10-based servers. <S> A thing is not broken merely because it uses old technology, and if a thing is not broken, don't fix it. <A> What you've described doesn't sound like a "old technologies" problem. <S> Old technologies are great - they're almost all I use <S> and I've made a lot of money with them. <S> The concern from me comes from point 5 - the Copying and pasting. <S> But that's not an old-technology problem; that's a short-sighted leadership problem. <S> Once I fixed such problems at an old position of mine, and I received great praise for fixing them, and learned deep things and arcane bugs about the technologies we were using as a result. <S> You could learn a lot here - or even be responsible for driving best practices. <S> If you work with them to fix these issues, then you might find yourself a very good home. <S> If you don't like it, then I wouldn't worry. <S> As long as you were productive, your resume will look good. <S> You added value and gained experience. <S> And if they waffle on that, then I wouldn't stay. <S> Not because of a supposedly out of date codebase, but because this type of product and development experience doesn't seem to be what you want. <S> You seem to want to experiment and be free-form, but this company seems more of the "don't fix what ain't broke" mentality.
| Out of date stuff isn't the end of the world as long as you control the deployment environment, which this company seems like it does.
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Taking time off to switch technologies/job I'm currently planning a career move, and would love some feedback on my particular situation. I've currently got about 10 years experience working on C#/.NET in various companies, with experience in things ranging from code design and unit testing to .NET low-level concepts and security. I have found these pretty challenging and interesting. But lately I've developed quite an interest in lower level languages, particularly C, C++ and Rust. I'm really amazed at the diversity of solutions that these sorts of technologies can be used in, while I find that C#/.NET is mostly used to build web or desktop apps/systems that automate business processes. Currently, I'm trying development in these lower-level languages during my free time, but I find that I'm just not able to progress as fast as I want, nor am I as fresh and energetic to putting in another 2-3 hours daily for it after my regular work day. So, I'm planning on taking 6 months to 1 year off work, to fully invest in self-study, working on some personal projects in this new tech and maybe even contributing to some open-source projects. I've got a plan in order to avoid the risk of taking time off and just wasting time. Another reason I'm doing this is to avoid the "need" to start as a junior in the new tech. I guess the main concern future employers will have is what I've been doing in that time gap, for which I believe I'll have a proper response: working on personal and open source projects in C and C++. I wonder if I am committing some sort of career suicide. I'm fairly confident in my plan, but would love to see some other opinions of the community. How will such a decision potentially affect my return to a regular job in the new technology? <Q> I'm really amazed at the diversity of solutions that these sorts of technologies can be used in, while I find that C#/.NET is mostly used to build web or desktop apps/systems that automate business processes. <S> Perhaps it's just based on area, but the higher level languages (C#, Java, etc.) certainly do have more "interesting" applications as well. <S> I realise this isn't the main point of the question, but I'd certainly keep an eye out for more interesting opportunities in what you're already familiar with - something may come along that surprises you. <S> So, I'm planning on taking 6 months to 1 year off work, to fully invest in self-study, working on some personal projects in this new tech and maybe even contributing to some open-source projects. <S> Unfortunately, I'd tend to caution against this for the following reasons: <S> You'll have a year <S> or so's gap in employment which may raise questions on its own (you may say that you're just "self-studying", but employers may think you did a bad job in that time that you don't want to come to light in a reference, or something like that); <S> Personal projects that aren't open source are good personally, but hard for a company to verify - they will be seen of little, or no value; <S> Contributing to open source projects is a nice addition, but certainly not a replacement for industrial experience; <S> At least in my experience, you're entering into a field where there's fewer jobs available than the one you're currently in. <S> The "normal" route I'd suggest if you want to switch fields, and not jump back to a junior level role, is to obtain certifications, where they exist (I can't find any widely accepted certification for Rust, for example.) <S> This will at least demonstrate a level of competence in languages that you have no direct experience of. <S> However, I'd still caution against taking any large amount of time off work to obtain these certifications for the reasons outlined above. <A> I would avoid taking a break for a couple of reasons: <S> Long gaps look bad on resumes Learning on your own is not nearly as valuable as learning on the job <S> With that said, there are a couple of good options available to you. <S> Find a company willing to hire C# developers to do C++ work <S> Many smart companies will hire experienced talented developers, regardless of what technology they have experience in. <S> A talented developer who wants to learn a new tech stack will come up to speed and be productive quickly. <S> They will easily surpass a bad developer who has a lot of experience in the same tech stack. <S> Find a company that uses multiple languages/development environments <S> They need people who are interested in/capable of having a diverse skill set. <S> For example, my current company has a user interface application written in C#/WPF that talks to hardware that is running a C++ application on Linux. <S> My previous company had a large legacy C++ codebase that was wrapped in a modern C#/WPF application. <A> I'm passing through a similar situation, where I was back-end developer and now I'm learning and practicing front-end development, with the idea to be a full-stack developer. <S> There is nothing wrong to dedicate time to yourself and grow your own skills. <S> In my humble opinion, all people should do that. <S> It is important to say that I've started my development career with Java SE . <S> After four long years of learning, working and practicing, I've changed to Node.js. <S> I'm now employed in a company that uses, in most of the cases, Node.js as back-end structure. <S> Don't be afraid to evolve. <S> You should never be afraid to evolve. <S> I believe that if you have financial conditions to keep your life safe until you get a new job, it will be a good idea to dedicate yourself (full time, on the break). <S> Although, if you have full dependence on the current job salary, you will need to analyze your options to don't take dangerous risks. <S> But, in general, I believe it will be good (to learn full time on the break). <S> Also, before starting to learn in full time, I recommend you to analyze if the city you live in have opportunities and is hiring developers on the programming language you currently want to learn. <S> Or, depending on your personal situation, if you are available to travel to another place to work with the language you did chose. <S> I guess you know but is always good to reinforce that when you start programming a different language, you will not start as a Master, or Senior. <S> You will need to acquire experience through time while you will getting better. <S> You also should be prepared for a different salary. <S> Important to don't forget : <S> - Analyze <S> your financial risks- Check the hire opportunities for the language <S> you want- <S> Stay prepared for an initial different salary <A> I don't think we can answer the question, but I think there is a way to go about finding the answer. <S> Start interviewing, inquiring other companies and asking people work in this area. <S> Good developers are hard to find regardless of their stack experience. <S> If you don't want to be a junior a year from now, are you willing to be a junior until then?
| It seems to be a good idea to switch to new technologies and it will probably open new opportunities to your career, independent of the specific area. There are a lot of companies who need skills in multiple languages/environments.
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Team member is blindly following directions I am an IT Auditor, and the lead for my team. I have a team member who is blindly following directions and referencing previous work done. Last week, I was sitting with him doing peer QA of audit work papers before presentation to management.I asked him why de chose to test in the specific way he did, and deliberately did not allude to whether the his work was appropriate or not. The test method he chose was appropriate, but the reasoning he gave left much to be desired. Where I would have expected him to defend his work on its own merits, considering the risks in the process and understanding of the internal control environment , he said he did the work in the way he did because it was the way I did in the past. Such answer shows that professional judgement vital to succeed as an auditor is not developed fully. If another auditor or a member of management were to challenge his work, stating that the testing was done a particular way, because it had been that way in the past will not fly . This person has asked me in the past what he can do to be able to move up in the organization. I fully support him being promoted, but without being able to independently defend his work, analyze evidence, and report appropriately, I cannot recommend him for promotion. Since I asked this question about 1 year ago, his technical skill has dramatically improved such so that delegated the piece of work asked about in that question to him to try for this year. However, his judgement is still lacking. How can I, as the team lead, speed up his learning in this area, and allow him to defend his work on its own merits without excessively leaning on me and my work? <Q> You've already asked him to explain why he did it that way. <S> He gave you an answer that isn't acceptable to you, so rephrase the question -- "Why is it a good practice to write this type of test in this situation?", Tell him that relying on past tests is not an acceptable answer, and you would like to hear his reasoning on the matter. <S> It is likely that his judgment is there, but explaining things is troublesome and annoying, so he just cited a past item as an excuse. <S> You just need to force those answers out of him. <S> If his judgment is indeed not strong enough, forcing him to explain himself each time will help develop that judgment. <S> Let him know that this is to help him move up in the company (as he has come to you for advice, and you said you would support his promotion). <S> If he is serious in his desire for advancement, he will go along with you. <S> If he does not take these questions seriously, then he may not be the best option for advancement. <A> "Gotcha" questions are not the way to guide someone to better things. <S> The approach you should take is the Socratic method. <S> Ask questions, then ask follow up questions. <S> Also, what is the environment there like? <S> Does it encourage deviating from the norm? <S> What is his background, did he come from a company that follows regulations and rules to the letter? <S> You develop members of your team by encouraging expression, not by conducting inquisitions. <S> From the tone of your post, it sounds more like you were looking to find fault than to build him up, and he probably senses that. <S> Strict adherence to the established guidelines is more an indication of fear than a lack of ability, and again, from the tone of your post, he doesn't seem to be completely unjustified in his feelings. <S> Since he's already approached you on advancing, he clearly lacks no drive or ambition. <S> This is why I keep going back to fear. <S> If you want to develop him, you're going to have to get him to a point where he trusts you enough to open up a bit. <S> Don't be so confrontational next time. <S> Sit with him a few times INFORMALLY to see what is going on, then build from there. <A> How can I, as the team lead, speed up his learning in this area, and allow him to defend his work on its own merits without excessively leaning on me and my work? <S> Few things you can do to "make" him learn faster, besides motivation <S> (positive feedback, encouraging) and good coaching <S> (shoulder-coding, daily meetings, code reviews, induction on the company's best practices). <S> Also, as a team lead, one of the most relevant qualities is to know when to "let go" and delegate to your team; only by doing this is that they will really learn how to handle difficult/real-life situations without guidance. <S> Perhaps you have been "spoiling" them in some degree, by telling them the answers/solutions right away, instead of having them meditate on it for a while to develop their own criteria and experience. <S> Try instead to do it that other way; kindly guide them through the solution-finding process, asking follow-up questions and pointing them to the right way, so they can reach the solution on their own (with your help of course). <S> Only this way they will truly learn how to get to that solution ( this answer also presents such method with a more official name). <S> In other words: Don't give them the fish, teach them how to fish instead. <A> IN a case like this it is essential to keep asking those questions and not let him get away with an unacceptable answer. <S> So he answers he did it because you did it before. <S> You say, that is not going to be acceptable to management, I need you to be able to describe why this is an appropriate technique. <S> And then wait. <S> Ask at the time he chooses the technique not just in the rush to finalize a report. <S> So with a junior person. <S> bring them along as much as possible. <S> Then after have a critique session where you talk about what was said and why and how effective or not effective it was.
| I don't know if you have ever taken him along as an observer when you present similar things to management, but seeing what kinds of questions and answers are part of the process is useful before he has to defend his own work. The earlier in the process you ask these questions the better.
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Software engineer position trial day - "Do"s and "Don't"s After a series of interviews by Skype and even a test task, one IT-company from the EU invited me to a trial day (and I live far from this EU country and I'm even not in the EU) I've got no idea what a "trial day" there means, I assume it would be like just simulation of typical day at the work. But the thing is, even though I've googled some stuff I haven't found some answers. Should I bring a notepad & pen with me? Do I need to take a laptop? (I don't actually have one; mine is broken). Is it okay if I bring some sweets/candys (which are produced in my home country) to the coffee room or would it look weird? Should I dress casually or formally? Any other things? <Q> What is a trial day? <S> They are bring you in to work with them for a day to make sure you know what your doing skills wise, and are a good fit culturally. <S> Should I bring notepad & pen with me? <S> Yes, you should. <S> This will give you the appearance of being more prepared. <S> Use it as well to keep all the new information straight in your mind and avoid having your host repeat themselves. <S> Do I need to take a laptop? <S> No, you don't need to. <S> I would assume if you're going to work for them you will be provided a computer. <S> If yours was working I would not see the issue in bringing it though. <S> Is it okay if I bring some sweets/candys (which are produced in my home country) to the coffee room or would it look weird? <S> I think this is a great idea as an ice-breaker / conversation starter. <S> Don't bring a ton, but bring enough to share. <S> Should I dress casually or formally? <S> If you were not given instructions, <S> dress formally . <S> If you are way over dressed <A> I think the answer of "Mr. Positive" covers much of the other angles. <S> As for dressing, have you noticed how your interviewers dressed? <S> That should be a pretty good clue of the company culture for starters. <S> However, better be safe than sorry, ask them. <S> I have been interviewed by technicians often, over skype and in person, and the way they dress is a pretty good clue; I have people interviewing me usually with casual wear, a couple with jeans and sandals, some with t-shirts. <S> As a general rule, and considering than the UK is still part of the EC: In the UK, there are exceptions in more relaxed companies, however using white shirt, and a black, or at most a dark grey suit is still a thing. <S> Better ask. <S> In pretty much of Europe, if the industry is banking/financing, or consulting, or a primarily customer facing role, usually you will have to suit up. <S> As for the rest of the software industry in Europe, usually the stance is pretty casual when it comes for how you dress for it. <S> As again, ask your interviewers, and if they say casual, a safe bet would be high-street, expensive clothes for that trial interview and your first days at the job. <S> As for suits in continental Europe, we tend more for darker colours especially in the winter time (black, grey, brown, blue - I personally do not favour much blue). <S> In Southern European countries, lighter colours in the summer time are usually acceptable. <S> Beware of (very) cheap suits, they may not look like good on you. <S> I also prefer an European/Italian cut to an American cut. <S> It might come handy for a formal party or a meeting with an important customer. <S> P.S. <S> When in the UK, due to the cultural connotations with a work uniform, going to a party with a black suit and white tie is not particularly seen as smart dressing. <A> What is involved in a trial day will differ from company to company. <S> It may be an intense day at work where they include meetings, projects, and as many activities as they can in one day that would normaly be spread out over the course of many days. <S> Many of the questions you have are fairly general, but I you need to consider why you're reluctant to ask the hiring company these questions. <S> Interviewing involves finding about the company as well. <S> If you're given a project or working with a client, asking questions is important. <S> It helps you communicate with your boss to manage his or her expectations. <S> If they don't want to answer your questions or negatively judge you for asking, that would be a red flag. <S> Good hosts make guests feel at ease. <S> They let you know what to expect and anticipate problems. <S> My guess is they've done this before, <S> so they should know what they're doing.
| It would be a positive sign for you to ask questions so you can be prepared. As a last piece of advice, even if is a casual wear environment at the job, I would invest on at least a good suit. A " trial day " probably means exactly what it says. you can always remove the tie and jacket .
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Managers giving me front end work when I am a back end developer I'll start off by giving a bit of context, we are a small company in the UK and we consist of 2 directors, one whom project manages and one who deals with finance and networking. We also have a BDM and then there is me and the lead developer. I am an apprentice in my first year at the company doing an Apprenticeship in Software Development . My background is entirely in software development and I am not a huge fan of front end work. I do know basic front end and javascript as that is a staple for a lot of work. Now with the problem, due to the size of the company, I have found that at the start I had quite a bit of back end work with a little front end working on existing projects. Now that they trust me more they have been giving me my own projects just to get more money in the bank, the problem with this is they so far have been either 100% front end or the majority front end and a small amount of back end work. I didnt really do this course for front end work as that is not where I would like my career to go. The lead developer does very little front end work. My impression is that due to the director who deals with new projects being fairly non - techy, she may not realise the issue. I am unsure on how to accurately convey my feelings without stepping out of my place as just an apprentice. They also may not like the fact that this could cost them money from projects and from my impression, things are fairly tight. <Q> The trend now, <S> and I don't see this changing anytime soon, is for Full Stack Developers . <S> This is a neat little buzz word that simply means if something needs to be done related to development, a full stack developer can do it. <S> I would suggest you take the opportunity to learn as much as possible about the Front End technology. <S> Being just a small part of the stack from a career perspective is not a good move IMO. <S> You could say something like " [INSERT MANAGERS NAME HERE], I am finding most of the work I am doing these days to be mainly front end. <S> While I don't mind doing it, I also want to stay up to speed on the other aspects as well. <S> Can we split up the front end work? " <S> By using this type of approach, you expressing you desire, without stating your unwilling to do front end work. <S> Note : <S> I am not, intentionally, mentioning a particular stack in this answer. <S> There are many of those and its beyond the scope of this question to recommend any. <A> Embracing "full stack" development is an expectation of your job as a software developer. <S> Express your concerns, reach out to get the training you need, but don't complain about it. <S> Look at it as an opportunity to become a skilled developer in the modern context. <S> Developers who say they are "back end" or "front end" are quickly becoming dinosaurs. <A> As with most things, talk with your manager, and state your preference for back-end work. <S> This may be a simple oversight on her part, or really not understanding what is "front-end" vs. "back-end" is. <S> I would not flat-out reject learning it/doing it though <S> , that's not how employment works and will not make a good impression on them. <S> In your life, regardless of any job, there will be plenty of things you are going to be asked to do in that you do not like to do, or don't prefer to do. <S> Get used to it <S> , it's some of these different things that you are forced to do that you find out you really enjoy and may even eventually lead to career growth.
| Learn as much as you can about all areas ( the full stack ) of development and you will find opportunities are more plentiful for you. Based on what I see in the market regarding developers, the roles that are strictly back or front end are going away . As to your question, you need to get comfortable asking for what you want.
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Are performance reviews public information? Can other companies request performance reviews of an employee from other companies? Can they request it from the employee or the previous employer? <Q> Can other companies request performance reviews of an employee from other companies? <S> However, they are highly unlikely to get such information for fear of being sued. <S> Most of the time a company will confirm employment dates and maybe salary information -- but that is about it. <S> No one wants to be involved in a legal battle. <S> YMMV <A> Others answered the question but I wanted to add a touch to this. <S> If the companies are owned by the same parent company, then they'd likely share HR and could look at your performance reviews. <S> Across different companies though, highly unlikely they'd share performance reviews. <S> They'd call to ask about you, and your references maybe. <S> Just be sure to talk to your references prior to make sure what they'd say. <A> As others replied, yes they can. <S> But I'd steer clear of any potential employer who would even bring this up. <S> It's a very bad sign.
| Yes they can ask.
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What are the situations that make sense to hire a labor lawyer to keep your job? I have a situation at work and am trying to figure out when it's appropriate to hire a labor lawyer to fight for my job. Some background: I was performing to expectations and have exceeded expectations in many categories in my reviews. Then...I voiced my concern that upper management was not taking my views on industry trends seriously and have actually belittled my suggestions. I even mentioned in subsequent years that we're missed out on trends that I called out. After that I have been called out on lots of little things that are not very SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound). I.e. they are not data based. Eventually they issued a PIP but I worked through that, according to my immediate manager, in the best way possible. I feel like upper management basically wants to fire me because they are covering the fact that they ignored me on business opportunities. Is this a situation to consult a labor lawyer? (I may not even want to stay at the job because of the negativity with upper management) <Q> Is this a situation to consult a labor lawyer? <S> (I may not even want to stay at the job bc of the negativity with upper management) <S> If you don't want to stat in that job <S> then I don't see the point of hiring a lawyer to "fight for your job". <S> Seems that perhaps what you want and should be doing is updating your resume, and start looking for jobs ASAP, in some other place more fit to your expectations. <S> However, I must also say that don't expect upper management to implement every (or any) suggestion you make . <S> It is their job to make managerial decisions, and if you made your suggestion and opinion as per your job and role in the company then there is few other things you can do. <S> Hopefully you have documented or evidenced such suggestions (email, or similar), so if this eventually falls down it won't come down at you. <S> But still, if you feel in such way perhaps the best thing you can do is to look for other job. <A> What are the situations that make sense to hire a labor lawyer to keep your job? <S> It always makes sense ... for the labor lawyer. <S> It never makes sense for you to hire a labor lawyer to keep your job . <S> In all other cases, you always lose by hiring a labor lawyer . <S> Even if you win and get to keep your job, you will still get treated as a social outcast, which means you will probably end up leaving the job soon anyway. <S> (And no, you cannot sue them again to force them to treat you normally.) <S> Regardless of the outcome of the case, you lose a lot of your effort and "life energy" fighting the case, not to mention lawyer fees and court fees. <S> (Some courts may order the company to reimburse you those fees if you win, but that also means you may have to pay their fees if you lose.) <S> Moreover, you are up against an entity which likely keeps multiple lawyers on their payroll, so the odds are usually stacked against you. <S> That doesn't mean you can never win, of course. <S> However, unless you feel that strongly about the issue, my advice would be to let it go and spend your efforts, "life energy" and money looking for a better job. <S> Remember life is short, don't waste it fighting unnecessary battles. <S> One who runs away from a fight lives to run another day. :-) <A> Very rare. <S> It may make sense if there is one person who wants you out, and your lawyer can convince your company that the other person is a liability and not you. <S> Very rare. <S> If the company itself wants you out, not a chance. <S> What makes a lot more sense is at times to hire a lawyer to get the best financial compensation for having to leave your job. <S> A good lawyer will listen to what you have to say and give you good advice whether to proceed with the case or not.
| If you have been accused of fraud or some other major offense, it makes sense to hire a labor lawyer to clear your name (and not to keep your job .)
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How can I prevent my boss' boss from undermining my direct manager? I'm having a problem, in which my CFO "undermines" my direct boss by changing things without her knowledge, on some of the financial reports that I run. He doesn't have knowledge of my current list of to-do items, and frequently makes requests that reprioritize what was currently being worked on. When I ask him (the CFO) if he wants to reprioritize things, he says no, then follows up asking if I've completed his request yet. When I tell him that I haven't, he remarks "We've really needed to get this done" and walks away angrily. If he asks me to make a change, I usually try to send a confirmation e-mail to my direct manager, to keep all changes above board, to which I am usually told "I wish you hadn't done that" or "Don't CC her!" by the CFO. Inevitably, on my boss' return to work, she asks me "Why did you change X" and says "Don't make any changes without telling me" on her way to talk to the CFO. That, or I get chewed out by the CFO after my boss comes to talk to him. I don't like being constantly chewed out for a dynamic that really has nothing to do with me. Generally tasks should come through my manager, so she can do just that: manage me and the tasks that I have on my plate. My CFO doesn't see it this way, however, and (understandably) doesn't like having to go through my boss to get to me. Neither of them have the ability to do my job, and were using consultants before this, so I provide great value to both of them. Still, I am considering leaving because of their lack of communication with each other, and the seemingly clandestine role they want me to play in their office politics. At this point, I honestly feel like a bishop on a chess board of a grey color, and the leaders of each side are pulling at each side. I am an hourly employee in the United States, working for a private company for 7 months. How can I prevent my CFO from getting angry at me for requesting that he work with my boss rather than me directly, or conversely have my boss accept that the CFO's tasks given to me directly are of highest priority? I don't necessarily care what the outcome of their fight is, but I would prefer that they don't include me in it. I want to have a clear directive on how they want me to handle communication issues between the two, regardless of their requests. This is mainly a "in what scenario can I win?" question, but if a relocation to more stable pastures is required, I'm not above taking that option. I'm fine staying, but honestly dislike having to be seemingly underhanded or constantly in trouble. <Q> Since you are already thinking about leaving because of this, it is important you escalate now. <S> I see three options for you and I´ll order them in order of severity. <S> Talk to your Manager. <S> Tell her whats wrong an that it is frustrating you to a point you are not willing to bear any more. <S> She can then take it up with her superior. <S> Talk to the CFO. <S> Tell him how his interference is hurtful to your work and ask how you could find better ways of organizing these things. <S> Take a overall just-want-to-solve things approach and leave out all emotion. <S> Talk to your CEO. <S> Tell him why you aren´t happy working for his company any more and how that could be changed. <S> This is the ultimate escalation. <S> Someone will get hurt. <S> You have to judge by yourself whom best to approach. <S> In any event, request a formal meeting for this kind of talk. <S> Have your resume polished and some opportunities open in case <S> you need a new job fast. <A> My CFO doesn't see it this way, however, and (understandably) doesn't like having to go through my boss to get to me. <S> I don't think this is particularly understandable at all. <S> If the CFO wants to manage you, then fine, but he should do either: Do so directly and cut out your manager from the equation entirely; <S> Make sure your manager is looped in, so she's aware that the changes have been pushed from above and aren't your fault. <S> My usual answer in this situation would be to make sure you CC / email both parties to keep them in the loop, but it seems that you've already tried that and received a hostile reaction. <S> This is unusual - <S> I see no good reason why your CFO wouldn't want your manager looped in on any changes to your workload. <S> I'd say the next step would be to talk to your direct manager, and explain your concerns - that she's constantly being overridden, and it's hard for you to know what the right thing is to do when you've got differing orders from two people. <S> What should happen then is she liaises with her boss, and they sort something out <S> (after all, this isn't really your fight, you're caught up in the middle.) <S> If that fails, then I'm not sure there's really many clear cut options left (other than leaving.) <S> You could ask your boss and the CFO to a meeting and try to talk to both of them about your concerns. <S> Likewise, you could ask the CFO if you can just work directly for him. <S> Both of those approaches may work, but I'd say they have a greater chance of not working, and just creating more tension. <S> If the situation really doesn't seem fixable, and you are thinking of leaving, I'd just try to placate both of them as long as best you can in the meantime. <S> That way you should get a good reference on your way out, then you'll be able to leave the whole mess behind you. <A> There is definitely a conflict of interest between the CFO and your direct manager.
| Arrange a meeting between you, the CFO and your direct manager and try to set some acceptable unambiguous rules regarding task assignment from both of them. One option is to try to resolve it.
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For managers, would you think less of an employee with a large and busy family? I live in the USA, My wife and I have 4 natural-born children (13, 13, 9, 7 years old). We also are foster parents, and recently took in 2 more young children (2yrs and 6mo old baby) while their mom works out her issues. We also have a relationship with a former foster child, and take in a 7th child (2 years old) like a nephew every month or so for a weekend to give his single dad a break. I've been reluctant to discuss this arrangement with my work colleagues, as I feel management may look down on me for future career advancement/promotion/bonus/etc. When we meet new people (outside of work), and they find out the size of the family, we'll usually always get comments like "You sure have your hands full", or "You must not have much free time". I don't want these types of thoughts spilling over into my manager's mind when he makes people recommendations to upper management. Would you, as a manager, think slightly less of an employee having a large family, even if they got their work done and did a great job? <Q> If I was a manager, I would not. <S> I would, instead, consider you as a keeper and a hard worker. <S> Young and single fellows can quit and look for other companies, might be several times a year, with no problem (live off their savings - one person only). <S> In the other hand, you can not since you have responsibilities. <S> This does not mean I will take advantage of you. <S> This only motivates me to try and help you out since we could all be in your situation -> life/work balance. <A> From my experience, I would say it would tend to harm your wife's career more than yours because of the perception that she has to take off more time to tend their needs. <S> Of course most women <S> I know who have that many children do not work outside the home. <S> Companies tend to see family man as more stable and reliable. <S> However, in a company like a start-up with lots of young singles, it might very well be considered to be a problem as those companies often want people who will work til midnight every day. <A> If you think that this knowledge will somehow impede your career, don't reveal said information. <S> However, be aware that it may well come to light when you ask for time off to take one of the kids to the doctor's, or to a game, etc. <S> If you build a friendly relationship with your coworkers, you'll garner understanding (rather than scorn) when they find out about your particular situation. <S> However, management does have the company's well-being first and foremost in mind. <S> If they think that you are too likely to take many sick/vacation days, etc. <S> then they won't promote you. <S> The best way to prevent this happening is to prove yourself prior to revealing your family situation.
| But if you do your job, covering what is requested from you and performing well, I will think more of you; with respect . Now if you take 2 days off every week, because of issues with your family, that would not be good for you nor your employer. I have not yet seen a man who had a large family discriminated against, I have seen that they often get better raises than their coworkers who do not have children.
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Is there anything better I can say to coworkers after taking a day off for mental health, when they ask? I have a condition that pretty much never surfaces on medicine, but sometimes does (no pattern I can tell). This happened the other night so I called out sick, just announcing I wasn't feeling well. It often passes within half the day. I have awesome coworkers, friendly and supportive, and tomorrow they're sure to ask how I'm feeling, sometimes things like, e.g. "Did you catch the cold that's going around the office? Are you better now?" I feel sketchy taking random single days off and never saying why. To them I feel like I seem to recover 100% by the next day, apparently after being too sick to log on even remotely. (Working from home is common and acceptable.) I'm also not a natural conversationalist so my responses don't help. ("Yup, better.") In the past I've used excuses like "food poisoning." Or, I've pretended to actually be a little sick the next day. Obviously it's not my first choice to lie, but it's to keep my privacy while not raising suspicion, and to not make well-meaning coworkers feel weird for asking. Are there any more tactful approaches I can take that's worked for anyone else? Or maybe just, a more acceptable lie I'd feel less guilty about? <Q> Usually for me, the following simple phrase suffices: <S> I wasn't feeling too great yesterday, but am feeling a bit better today. <S> Thank you for asking As your coworkers are supportive, the odds are they want to know that you're OK - you don't need to disclose any more than that to them. <A> Is there a more tactful route I can take that doesn't involve (as much) lying? <S> It is none of their business, do not lie about it. <S> Lying is never a good idea, and almost always comes back to bite you. <S> I would urge you to simply say " I was not feeling well, but I feel fine today. " and then change the conversation with another line like " Did I miss anything yesterday? " <S> There are plenty of 24 hour illnesses that can be used to fill up the rumor mill, but I would not worry about this. <S> Stick to the line above and do not elaborate. <A> You do not have to disclose anything. <S> But, if you just don't tell anything, everybody will suspect their own thing and it can start rumors. <S> So this is one of the edge cases where I would suggest a harmless lie, as it is the best for all involved: One day => terrible headache! <S> There is nothing more to tell about that, there are no after-effects like with a cold etc. <S> and you can even prime the next event by telling you sometimes get those when really stressed. <A> I am in a similar position where I've had to take several days off to attend counselling sessions and to see my GP. <S> The only person at my company who knows - as far as I know - is the HR department. <S> The people I work with don't know. <S> I have had time off, and I've just said I've gone to the hospital for check ups. <S> One person asked more questions about it, and I simply said that I appreciate the interest <S> but it's not something I want to discuss as it's private. <A> "I had a medical condition flare up yesterday. <S> Usually it's fine, and it seems fine again now. <S> Yesterday was just an odd day, rather unusually bad. <S> It's good to be back." <S> This actually gives a lot of details about your personal experience, without a trace of the "mental" aspect of the situation. <S> Since you are regularly taking medicine, that doesn't sound dishonest at all. <S> If they press: "Truthfully I prefer not to get into those details with co-workers. <S> I'm fine now, though, and expect to be good for some time." <A> Here's a way of telling a coworker that you needed a time off for mental health-related reasons, without revealing the "mental" aspect of it. <S> It's a strategy I used myself, and it worked out great. <S> I have a neurological condition that is usually not a problem, but at times it may become prominent and requires my attention. <S> But it's nothing too concerning. <S> I'm alright. <S> Thank you for asking! <S> Perhaps replace "neurological" by "health", at your discretion. <S> The key here is not mentioning "mental". <S> Presumably, your condition is a neuropsychiatric one, so you are not lying. <S> If your coworker still asks about what it is, exactly - which is a bit unlikely, since you implicitly avoiding being too specific should be taken as a hint - you may just say something among the lines of: <S> Ah, I don't feel like talking about it right now <S> , I'm sure you understand. <S> But no need to worry about it, really. <S> In fact, when I said this after returning to work at my previous workplace, one of my most intimate colleagues asked me, in private, if I'd mind telling him specifically what problem it was, and I saw no reason not to. <S> In my case, it was major depressive disorder , which he happened to know about, more than I anticipated. <A> It should be enough to just say "I was feeling unwell, but I'm doing better today!" <S> If a coworker presses the question and you don't mind sharing a little, responding with a partial truth like "I didn't sleep at all, but I managed to catch up somewhat" might be enough to assuage your coworkers' curiosity. <S> (But I'd avoid saying anything false!) <S> If one of your coworker normally sends detailed emails like <S> I'm down with TB, expect me back in 30 days o.O or <S> Both kids are sick with stomach flu. <S> Better up than down at least! <S> Back tomorrow! <S> then sending a mail like Sick. <S> Not sure if I'll be better tomorrow..." will probably invite curiosity. <S> (This strategy applies to other personal leaves -- <S> if don't want to reveal that you're taking a personal day to marathon both LOTR trilogies, <S> don't broadcast details for other vacations you're taking.)
| If you show gratitude for their concern and indicate that you're feeling better, most people won't pry any further - and if they do, you're perfectly within your rights to say that you're feeling better but don't really fancy going into the details of what was wrong. As a general strategy, if you want personal details to stay personal, try to avoid sharing personal details in other situations.
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How should I dress in a japanese company? This summer I'll be doing an internship doing R&D (in computer science) in a japanese company.Right now I'm a CS student in college in a western country, so there is no dress code among the researchers. I already did an internship last year in another university in my country and everybody dressed casual (except maybe the lab director who was more formal, but still less than wearing a suit). Am I expected to show up wearing a suit, or do you think that wearing a shirt and blue jeans will be ok? <Q> Will the internship with the Japanese company be in Japan or in their office in a Western country? <S> Regardless, I would say ask the recruitment contact / hiring manager at the company. <S> If the directions from them are unclear, and if the job is in Japan, then ask anyone you know who might have Japanese friends if they could weigh in. <S> If you end up with no clear answers from people with first-hand experience, then the standard salaryman attire seems like a safe bet. <S> Good luck! <A> To add to that though, my wife and I both work in the software industry in Japan and both our companies have very informal dress codes ( <S> a number of employees at both offices frequently wear gym shorts and flip flops). <S> In my experience start-ups and companies with western parent offices seem to be to follow this rule more often than not. <S> Certainly asking is the best option, but I'd also recommend to dress up your first day regardless (which generally tends to make a good impression anyway) and get a feel for how everyone else is dressed and plan accordingly after that. <A> It really depends on the company culture. <S> If it is an older/large company, there is a large chance that it may require suits for work, but newer smaller companies are starting to dress more casually, especially if it is a non-customer facing position. <S> Have you not seen anyone from the company, or pictures of the work environment? <S> Emulating that manner of dress would be acceptable. <S> However, your best bet is to just ask your contact what the expectations are. <S> You'll leave a better image being overdressed than you would being underdressed. <S> There are still many old-fashioned people who take this sort of thing seriously in Japan.
| If you can't get a good answer from your contact, then I would recommend wearing a suit on your first day, and figure out what to wear on your second day on from there. As others have said at the end of the day it does come down to that specific companies' culture.
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Is it too much information to tell a hiring manager that part of the reason I'm job searching is to try and make more money to support a sick parent? A friend is helping me submit a resume to her group at a bank and while catching up, she asked me why I was leaving my teaching and research job at school; I told her that I wasn't making enough money to live -- and also that one of my parents is sick, so I plan to help them out with healthcare costs. Shortly after saying that, I regretted it and felt that it was perhaps too much information to share. So, my question is: if on an interview, I am asked something like, "so why are you job searching at this point in time?", should I leave out the part about needing to help pay for my sick parent's healthcare costs? (If it matters, the setting is in New York City.) <Q> I would hesitate to bring personal hardships into a job interview. <S> Managers want to know that you're hardworking, a team player, good communicator, etc. <S> When you start bringing things like requiring money for X into the mix, you open yourself to them thinking: <S> If a better paying job comes along he might jump ship! <S> Or worse, they may think you're lying, and trying to manipulate their emotions. <S> Just avoid it altogether, and contend for the job based on merit alone. <S> Don't try to tug on their heart strings. <A> Yes, that is too much! <S> Of course the only reasons anybody ever wants a certain job are: <S> You are a fan of that company and what they do! <S> Personal development. <S> Love for the field. <S> Maybe: Relocation. <A> People reveal a lot about themselves in the answers to simple questions. <S> In your case, perhaps some things that people might see as a negative. <S> For example, if your sick parent worsens, will you need accommodations such as time off? <S> If they get better, will you no longer need the money and go back to research? <S> Are you willing to take pretty much anything as long as it pays well? <S> (Nobody wants to be your "pretty much anything".) <S> Wanting to make more money is a perfectly fine reason for wanting to change jobs. <S> And research is well known to be a lower paying career. <S> So work on a few sentences like this: <S> I have enjoyed teaching and research, but there are some things it doesn't offer me. <S> I would like to do more X, and to have a career path that can be rewarding both financially and in job satisfaction. <S> I have no idea what X is, something you can do at the bank that you can't where you are now, but it might be meeting customers or helping businesses thrive or knowing you're contributing to a larger project or whatever. <S> You need to know that before the interview, because you'll look foolish if you say you want something they don't offer, or won't offer for a decade or more until you rise up in the company. <S> It's always a good idea to answer about what you want more than what you want to leave behind. <S> Not making enough to actually live on is nobody's business. <S> Wanting to be well rewarded for your skills? <A> Probably better not to bring it up. <S> This could put it in their mind that you'll have many absences from work due to that responsibility. <A> Actually it's more useful to say this. <S> In the event of a direct toss up, most people will favour you, as they will attach a human aspect to your application. <S> Even with a better qualified candidate, such information can improve your aspects. <S> It also makes you an more reliable - you have more on the line, so to speak, so are unlikely to, say, turn up late or leave early or whatever. <S> You're more likely to work hard to keep the job,as you are invested in the result. <S> A lot of answers here think managers are robots, they are not. <S> It is unlikely that such information will drop your chances, and there are plenty of managers out there with whom this would improve your chances. <S> Bringing this information up as the result of a question means it is organic, and cannot be seen as manipulative. <A> I think this is fine to share with a friend, but you might want to ask her to keep it confidential. <S> Saying "I'm excited to use my skill set in a new environment <S> and I can really see myself thriving if I work with this team" is vague but true enough. <S> Think about why you would be good at this job, and be prepared to jump right back to that topic if this comes up. <S> If the interviewer tries to come back to the subject, just say "I very much like my current organization, but unfortunately there's just no room for growth."
| In general, irrelevant personal details shouldn't be brought up in an interview. For the interview, when I'm asked why I'm leaving a job, I like to say it's really about the opportunity that I'm interviewing for. That's something you can learn to say with a big smile.
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I wanted a coworker to offload things to. Now I have more work to do Some months ago I asked the manager to add another developer to our software project, in order to be able to offload some things and parallelise a little more. The new guy is (and was already) a friend of mine. For the initial period I planned to review his work in order to find mistakes, and I did. However, I found out that I cannot stop. Every time I take a look at his code I find small but evident bugs, just at a glance, and this does not give me the confidence to just trust his code. I learned to let go about stylistic issues. But now I need him to be autonomous and I cannot ignore those major problems. At the same time, it seems he's starting to rely more and more on my supervision... he's also asking my opinions about the smallest details, which is actually the opposite that I wanted. I have no idea for the reason of his mistakes, if they're just inexperience or distraction or whatever. What can I do or say to improve the situation? <Q> Write up the standards together so that he understands what's being asked and feel like he has a voice in it. <S> Once that's in place, tell him to go ahead and code with the standards in mind, and you'll review it together during your designated review time. <S> Don't forget to do the compliment sandwich so that reviews don't become torture sessions for him. <S> If small bugs are keeping you up at night, think about putting in unit tests or acceptance tests, or hiring a QA engineer. <S> One of the things I remind myself is that, barring security issues, I try not to let perfect be the enemy of good. <A> It sounds like you and your co-worker (as well as your manager) need to agree on the level of quality the both of you want to produce as a team, and figure out a process to get there, one that doesn't have your co-worker constantly leaning on you for support. <S> For instance, you and your co-worker need to come to an agreement about what should be expected out of a task before calling it "done" and moving on to the next task, and you shouldn't move on to the next task until your assigned task is done. <S> This definition of done should include having tested the code to ensure that it meets all requirements and doesn't break any existing functionality. <S> It should also include some level of code review and a code quality check just to make sure that you and your co-worker can agree as a team that the code is worth publishing. <S> You might think of a few more things to add to that definition, but the important thing is that if something isn't considered done by your agreement, it needs to be sent back and completed before taking on another development task. <S> Over time, this will send the signal to your co-worker about what he/she is expected to produce in terms of code quality, and hopefully he or she will match those expectations over time. <S> (If your coworker's code quality still doesn't improve, it might then be time to talk the situation over with your manager.) <S> Lastly, if you do find that your co-worker is too dependent on you for things that need to get done, you should probably point him to a few sites (i.e. stack overflow) to find answers to his questions, and tell him that you don't have time to constantly help him out. <S> Furthermore, from a project management perspective, experience breeds speed; you should expect that it will take your co-worker longer to complete tasks than it will take you. <S> As a result, you should not set your deadlines with the expectation that your co-worker will be able to match your development speed. <A> Good that you let go on the stylistic stuff. <S> You can use a code beautifier, if necessary. <S> IDEs like Eclipse let you define code styles & will then format the code for you. <S> However, don't give ground on variable names, which ought to be meaningful enough for maintainability. <S> I would recommend you to automate your interactions with him as much as possible eventually, push him out of the nest and let him sink or swim non his own (to mix analogies). <S> How long do you intend to carry him for otherwise ? <S> As to "1. <S> automate your interactions with him as much as possible" ... <S> make sure that he is provided with sufficient documentation, which he can consult, rather than distracting you make sure that he understands that compiler warnings are not acceptable. <S> This ought to reduce the number of bugs make him use a static analysis tool (Linter). <S> Ditto point him at Stack Overflow <S> Make him write unit tests (and add anew unit test to cover every bug report). <S> And, finally, if you recommended (which you do not state you did, <S> but it's a fair enough guess) <S> him because he is your friend and you wanted to him a favo(u)r, consider his a lesson learned. <S> Sounds like you did neither the company who puts food on your table, nor yourself, a favo(u)r.
| In any case, I've found that a code review process with documented standards can do wonders. It might be inexperience, or it might be that his previous work environment prioritized quality differently.
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Colleague who always contradicts people How do you deal with a colleague who is always arguing on most topics just to be right and put everyone else wrong. She always says "No!, because.. {insert argument}". She always wants to be right at the expense of offending other people. I mean you can say that gently and not too forcefully. Edit:Sometimes this person is correct but sometimes she is not so it's more like 50/50. I think one of the causes for this is that this person is so nitpicky. She will insist what she thinks as correct even small details. And she is too bossy in her approach at that. One important thing to add is that this person is so competitive that she always wants to win an argument and have the last to say.. thanks for your insight guys! <Q> Have you tried talking less to this person? <S> When I notice that communicating with someone is a negative experience more often than it is a positive one, I gradually reorganize my communication patterns to reduce the amount of interaction/communication with that person. <S> It is a natural and sensible response, whereby behavior which yields a negative outcome (think of it as 'punishment') is changed to avoid such outcome . <S> Another good working assumption is that people are unlikely to change , and it is safe to assume you are not going to produce such change -- especially in a colleague, as opposed to a subordinate. <S> Your best strategy is to reduce your interaction with this individual, in other words, talk less to her. <S> Minimize the source of irritation, and the irritation will be minimized. <S> You can't always win, but you can always at least cut your losses. <S> Good luck! <S> Disclaimer: <S> I am not going to delve into the potential benefits of being told what you (and everyone) are doing wrong, on a regular basis. <S> I am going to assume that whatever you are doing is not as wrong as this person paints it to be, so the source of the problem is not with your and others' behaviors, but with the way this person communications. <S> Other commentators are welcome to explore other perspectives. <A> I think in this instance there are two topics that could be addressed. <S> 1) <S> She often offers a contradictory and correct position on various topics. <S> This says she is potentially a great asset to the team, that she is: A) <S> ConfidentB) <S> IntelligentC) <S> Competent <S> I would take no actions to stifle this. <S> If other team mates are offended only by the above, I'd work with them to understand the value she is offering and hopefully help them grow slightly thicker skin. <S> 2) <S> Her soft skills / delivery might need a little work. <S> Really, this is for everyone's benefit. <S> Her coworkers will be more comfortable, she might receive better feedback during conversations, but most importantly she will be able to give the exact same information without other members of the group instantly cringing, recoiling, and becoming defensive. <S> How I would handle something like this with a peer (it helps to have good rapport, but can also work to build rapport) <S> is wait for a good example of this happening. <S> Afterwards, ask her if she is aware of how the team members perceive her actions and that they are offended by her delivery of information and counterpoints. <S> And then follow up with advice on how she can say effectively the same thing <S> but with it seeming less confrontational. <S> "Like in that last meeting, where John was talking about how he wanted to sail to the end of Earth just to see it once. <S> Instead of saying 'You can't do that, the earth is round' you could have said something more like 'That sounds like a fantastic time, but have you considered the modern scientific consensus on the shape of the planet?'" <S> Finally, I'll admit I personally wish being direct worked as well as it should. <S> Often times though we have to help foster a conversation rather than just give opposing information, regardless of our own degree of competency vs someone else's. <S> It isn't that she is doing anything wrong, just that she could be more effective. <A> It's well established that 50/50 is a failing grade and "No!, <S> because ..." is an approach that is not well received; especially with that score. <S> Interpersonal skills is handled over at interpersonal. <S> SE <S> , here it's more about the workplace. <S> She needs to sit in her hierarchy, if she cuts the cheques she might get away with it but as a demoralizer, time waster, and irritant she needs to think before she speaks; spend more time considering if she is correct, whom to approach with her pearl of wisdom, and work on the delivery. <S> An effective approach I have found (when being spammed) is dismiss the notion of bringing up the matter with me, "something of this importance should be brought to the attention of management, be certain that they get back to me by the end of the day". <S> They know the worth of their ideas and the subject is either brought to the attention of the correct person or their failing is brought to light. <S> If they simply enjoy interrupting, being corrected or correcting, or simply like to test boundaries (manspacing) and roll roughshod over their colleagues then you need to establish that you'll not be the avenue for this behavior. <S> She needs to be correct more often, and work on her approach. <A> "Excuse me, but that came across as a bit rude." <S> (for example) <S> As you pointed out, it is not enough for this person to be right, you have to be wrong. <S> Someone tends to use this tactic to stifle all disagreement by making you pay a social penalty if you dispute her. <S> (Disagree, and I'll embarrass you). <S> This is usually indicative of someone low in skill and competence. <S> Leadership is convincing not cajoling. <S> The only way to reign someone like this in is to address the behavior. <S> It doesn't matter if the person is right or wrong if they're being abusive towards the team. <S> What is important is how the ideas are presented. <S> If you start with an <S> "I'm sorry, but that came across as a bit rude". <S> Expect something like <S> " <S> Well, I'm right!". <S> To which you say: "Right or wrong, that is not the way to address people" You want to curtail the behavior, but not the input, because as you've said, she puts in some good input (about 50%) <S> but she's wrong often enough that you don't want her ideas accepted because they are just the ones put forth the most forcefully.
| The way to deal with a difficult person is to address the behavior when it happens.
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Chances are that I'm going to work at a company literally a floor below the one that fired me. Should I be afraid of potential conflicts? I used to work as a junior developer for more than half a year at a company which ended up firing me. The reasons are irrelevant but no conflict occurred - at least as far as I can judge, it was handled professionally. In my town, there are only few possibilities, and fewer are the ones I can find online. One of these involves a company also looking for junior developers, and my town being somewhat small, the location is the same office building, just one floor below my previous employer. Maybe it's my fault, but I can't help myself: I feel uneasy because of it. I know have very strong reasons to accept the first incoming possible job offer, but in the same time, it's just awkward to imagine meeting my ex-colleagues. From an outside view, are my concerns valid, or it's just paranoia? <Q> From an outside view, are my concerns valid, or it's just paranoia? <S> I think there is no reason for you to worry. <S> Just remember to remain professional if/when you even happen to meet some of them . <S> No need to start a big talk or similar, just be polite, smile and reply back when greeted. <S> Or greet first in case they don't; sometimes it is better to be the "better man" and not let these situations make you less courteous. <S> By being polite back at them, regardless of their treatment towards you, you are not only showing good manners but also a high degree of professionalism. <A> Were you barred from entering the building again? <S> If not, I don't see any potential conflict. <S> Previous co-workers might see you and potentially raise it with managers. <S> That in turn may make them confront you to ensure you're not a disgruntled former worker stalking the building (this happened to a couple of places I worked at). <S> Just simply say, "I work for X now" and show your badge in such a situation. <A> If you didn't break any laws, badmouth the company, or leave in a conflict, then there should be no problems. <S> Most companies don't think of you once you're out the door. <S> If you bump into someone from your old company just be friendly as you can, and go on your business. <S> Be kind and keep all talk on a professional level, don't give out any personal information and be vague. <S> Who knows you could even end up working for them again one day (it's happened). <S> Just don't give it any thought. <S> "Hi Bob! <S> How are you? <S> " is all you need. <S> Acknowledge them, be friendly, repeat. <A> As you said, you're not aware of any animosity between anyone there, and yourself, so keep it that way.
| As long as you don't bad mouth your past employer, you should be fine. Chances are that most people care a lot less than you'd imagine.
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How to answer "why did you leave without a job to go to", when your manager was aggressive? I have dug myself a hole here. I left my work because basically my manager wouldn't show any developer without significant experience any respect what so ever. Our director was basically his chew toy because he works on one our most critical systems and he has to answer to the company board. So if I get asked why I left without job to go to how do I say he's basically "an aggressive manager that doesn't show anyone any respect what so ever" His favorite quotes are among: "I HAVE OVER TWENTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE STOP TELLING ME HOW TO DO MY JOB" and "I DONT KNOW HOW IT WORKS SO YOU CAN'T USE IT" And has also openly disrespecting my parents and culture. I put up with this for 3 years but now am jobless because I had enough and resigned. <Q> How to answer “why did you leave without a job to go to”, when your manager was agressive? <S> If (and this is a big if) <S> and when you are asked that during an interview, a professional reason to give is "Because company culture" , or also "Because I found out it wasn't a good fit. <S> " <S> Usually it is not recommended to bad-mouth current of former employers or coworkers, and this case is no exception. <S> Just stick to the facts and say that you were not happy working there anymore. <S> No need to give a much detailed explanation; if you feel that the interview is derailing into questions from you past, you can try saying what suggested before and adding, "... <S> but I feel that this company could be a better fit. <S> If you don't mind, I would like to know more about the job you are offering." <S> Or return to topic by asking some other related question about this position. <A> TL;DR: <S> Tell the truth, sound objective, don't badmouth your ex-boss <S> Just tell the truth. <S> I've been in a similar situation, except the workplace bully <S> I was involved fired me. <S> So I tell them that my boss was a bully, screamed and swore at me and a different manager told me to go to HR about it. <S> The day I went to HR, he fired me and he wasn't even supposed to be in the building, so it was no coincidence. <S> It made it tough for a couple of months <S> but I went with honesty. <S> Also, don't say "quit". <S> Never say quit. <S> Just use as many neutral terms to describe the situation. <S> I wouldn't differentiate between people he respected and those he didn't. <S> Tell them you loved the work, you loved your colleagues but after 3 years, it was time to move on. <S> Make sure you get contacts at the company who would give you a reference (not your boss obviously) because they may want someone to vouch for you. <S> Coworkers will work. <S> If you have a good report with your director, talk to him about giving you a reference and you can bypass the boss altogether. <A> The situation is pretty common, and someone who managed to work 3 years in a place is exactly not a bad candidate. <S> Besides the good advices in other answers, the best you can do is turn the tables in the interviewers. <S> When describing your last job, you talk first about why you left. <S> It avoids you being caught somewhat "off-guard", and also to shorten the time talking about it. <S> It comes more naturally if you are the one broaching the subject, partly also because you know it will be the next move of the interviewer. <S> Do not let the theme of you walking away from your former job dominate, or taking a lot of time of an interview. <S> Show them you are an interesting candidate, and there are so much more good stories of work/life experience to talk about instead.
| If you really feel like telling about the true nature of your ex-manager try to keep it as respectful and objective as possible. Just tell the truth and don't show any animosity or anger. Try to be dispassionate about it in the telling. If others quit before you did, stress your loyalty to the company and that even though x people left because of him, I stuck around until I couldn't stand it anymore.
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How can a small company optimize pre-employment screening? We are a very small (10) firm and have a few positions opening up in the next couple of weeks. They are simple admin "Data entry" type positions. Normally, we would dedicate quite a bit of time to sorting through the available candidates, screening, then having them in for personal interviews, etc. We already have 50 applicants, and I imagine we can find one or two good applicants in this pool. In this case, my client desires a quick and easy approach - in her opinion, these people are just there to enter data, so she wants to do things like assess basic competency and words per minute first. Pre-employment testing has come to mind, but it seems quite expensive and I'm not confident in the results. Also, many of the applicants are entry-level with little experience on their resumes. Hence: Are there any guides, industry standards, or reputable lists that can assist here in optimizing this process? I think I must be missing search terms as I can't find anything of quality (all low quality "best testing employees!" types sites with grammar errors on the typing speed intro page). Tl;DR How do we hire a few competent data entry people quickly? <Q> You don't need much more than that. <S> Then a few simple screening tests for ethics like "Which is worse, stealing or yelling at a coworker". <S> VERY basic stuff is all you need. <S> Edited to add: <S> Most of these things can be found with a quick google search. <S> Invite as many in as you like <S> , have them take the basic tests, then give personal interviews to those who pass <A> It came to my attention that you are a small (10) company, but already have a candidate pool of about 50 people (5 times the size of your company), for a few (what, two?) positions. <S> Normally, if you had fewer candidates you could even screen them one-by-one in a more thorough manner. <S> However, given the company/candidate/openings ratio, what I suggest is a two-step approach: <S> Desk reject screening: This is a term more commonly heard on Academic environments, and it refers to the moment your application (like publishing a paper) is instantly rejected upon being received for not having the minimum requirements . <S> Translating this to the workplace universe, what you can do is to set a minimum threshold of certain qualities <S> you want your candidates to have (like, years of experience, etc.) <S> and instantly reject those that fall below that threshold . <S> This will spare you from having many unnecessary interviews with sub-optimal candidates, making the process swifter and more effective. <S> Basic testing : <S> As The Snark Knight suggested , after obtaining your reduced candidate pool you can then proceed to pass them standard or basic tests on the subjects of interest (typing speed, data entry, phone test, etc.). <A> One very simple option is: You don't need to screen everyone. <S> Then just reject people by their application alone (the "desk rejection" mentioned by DarkCygnus). <S> Then, if enough people remain, call them one by one for a brief phone interview , where you go through the things you deem important (work ethic, basic math skills, whatever). <S> Then, as soon as you have enough candidates you feel are qualified, you stop calling others , and send an offer to the qualified candidates. <S> If some reject, continue the process. <S> The thing is: If the risk of hiring the wrong person is low, and if there is no need to find the best candidate, but just someone good enough, it may not be worth your time to screen everyone. <S> It may seem unfair (and on a certain level it is), but if you have so many people to screen, you must make a cut somewhere. <S> Note that this approach critically depends on a good phone interview <S> - so think about what you want to ask, ideally discuss this with colleagues and have a checklist or similar handy during the interview.
| You can then apply additional thresholds or filters to further reduce your candidate pool, so you can finally proceed to physical interviews or whatever the final steps of recruiting are on your company. Have a basic typing test, a basic phone test, and a basic data entry test and one thing with some problem solving and following the commands test. Set some minimum qualifications, such as a certain degree (or number of years in school), minimum grades, spelling errors in resume, etc..
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Can I use a sample project for a past interview in my portfolio if the interviewer provided skeleton code? I had an interview a few months back where the interviewer created a small sample project and asked me to finish it. It wasn't much more than a skeleton for a REST API with an unstyled UI and one unit test, and my job was to flesh it out into something functional. I didn't end up getting that job, but I'm still proud of the finished project. It's probably the best code sample I have, as it shows my skills in many areas in the stack and in languages/frameworks I enjoy using and would like to find work in. (The rest of my work is proprietary and therefore cannot be used as portfolio pieces.) I'd like to put it in my portfolio and use it in future interviews, but I'm worried because the first few git commits are from that interviewer (using his company email address), and it's generally obvious that it was created for an interview. (However, the project itself is very generic and doesn't reveal anything about the company.) I don't want to pretend that I created this completely from scratch, but I also don't think it's a good idea to leave identifying information about the company in the git log. What do you think? Can I use the project as-is as long as I remove company-identifying information (or does that matter)? Can I mention that I was given skeleton code or do I not have to? Is this a good idea at all? <Q> No Sharing the "answer" to a company's programming test isn't very considerate. <S> They're probably still using it. <S> It you wanted to come work with me <S> you'd have to write a program to solve a certain problem. <S> I would then be irritated if you shared the problem and your solutions in a Googleable place, because it dilutes the value of that test from 'can code' to 'can Google'. <S> You can ask and you probably would get away with posting it without asking. <S> But is it that hard to write something of your own you can be proud of? <A> I would avoid saying that it was for an interview for <S> **** company in the repository or on a portfolio site linking to the repository, but rather just give a brief description on what the project does. <S> However, if you are contacted by the company asking you to take it down, I would recommend just going along with their request, even if there were no legal implications along with the request, just as a professional courtesy. <A> As an alternative to the core question, could you take all the code which you wrote and put it on top of an original / public domain framework? <S> You mentioned that: It wasn't much more than a skeleton for a REST API with an unstyled UI and one unit test, and my job was to flesh it out into something functional. <S> So I'm inferring that it shouldn't be too difficult to start a new repo, with a new "skeleton" that you either write yourself or take from somewhere <S> that's freely available for personal use, and then apply the code you wrote on top of that, potentially changing a few lines or variable names. <S> That way, you get the best of both worlds - you get to show off the code you're proud of (the stuff you wrote yourself), and you don't have to worry about any accusations of "stealing" or complications arising from efforts to get permission to use the sample code the interviewer provided. <A> Go ahead. <S> To keep it simple, just create a new repo and dump your code into it, so that you're not forking off some random company's codebase. <S> You can <S> , if you like "Solution to Company X Interview 2018", or you can call it "Bob", but if you call it the former then you probably shouldn't use it in your protfolio. <S> If you give it some reasonable project name "Random Rest Example" <S> then you can.
| If there were no instructions to not share the code, and no licence on the code itself, then so long as you remove any company-specific items/information, then I would say that it is fine.
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How to properly ask for help from a coworker? I am new and learning the system. When I ask this coworker whether he has time to talk about some questions I have, he always answers yes. Sometimes he clearly means it and we talk in-depth about my questions, almost always giving me the information I was looking for. But at other times he clearly doesn't actually have time. He says he's free to talk but then his answers are very short and very general, and he looks politely impatient to return to what he was doing. The really hard part about this pattern is that when he doesn't really answer my questions because he's busy, it makes me feel like it would be awkward to approach him at a later time to ask pretty much exactly the same set of questions that weren't answered before. So now I've got unanswered questions that I feel I can't ask. How can I ask "Do you have time to talk?" such that he feels like he can reply in the negative if he's busy? It seems he's not comfortable saying no, as if it's socially unacceptable. I don't feel that way and have no problem telling someone "I'm in the middle of something can you come back in ten minutes?" and I wish I could make him feel comfortable saying that too. <Q> I usually balance my questions across the whole team. <S> If I asked Mr. X yesterday, I ask Mr. Y today, and Mr. Z tomorrow. <S> If you are in a position where this coworker is the only one in the team, or the only source of info, then try to format your question in a way that you are helping him to help you. <S> Evaluate your needs and ask for a specific period of time according to the issue you are asking about: <S> Can I use 5 mins of your time whenever you are free? <S> It might take less than that <S> and I really appreciate it . <S> Also, try to keep your request in text if possible, ex email or slack. <S> This way, you do not get on top of his head while he was on his desk focusing on something else. <S> This way, you are giving him space and time to answer your question and that is very useful in a busy team. <S> Other benefits of keeping the requests in a written format would be: For your records. <S> So if you forgot something you can get back to it anytime and/or if it turned out you were informed with any wrong info. <S> Cleaner and Clearer communication <A> Offer an alternative. <S> Since he's uncomfortable saying no, make it a choice rather than <S> yes/no. <S> Are you free for 5 minutes right now, or should I come back later, say, tomorrow morning around 10? <S> You'll have to try a few versions. <S> Maybe it's better to include a specific time in the alternative, or maybe a simple "or should I come back later" is sufficient. <S> Giving a specific time makes it obvious that you're serious about that option and not just saying it to be polite, while leaving it gives him the option to pick a time that suits them. <A> Something like, "Are you in the middle of doing something? <S> I need your help, but I can wait if you're doing something else". <S> There is nothing wrong with giving them free way to saying no. <A> If these are team/project management related questions, have a regular standup meeting scheduled for that very purpose. <S> If you need technical mentorship from him, set up a regular time for that as well to sit down at your computer with him. <S> If you have to ask if he has time, don't ask for "five minutes" and don't ask for "two minutes". <S> In other words, don't use generic phrases to ask for time if you don't want generic unthinking answers. <S> Try to become as accurate as possible in your time estimates of how much time you need from him. <S> Keep a log for your own benefit. <S> This way, if you ask for 16 minutes, or if you ask or 30 seconds, and if you try to keep to that time even if he hasn't finished answering your question, your colleague will slowly become better at answering your "if you've got time"-related questions.
| Write the amount of time you thought your question was going to take vs. the amount of time your question actually took to answer. Try a form that openly allows your colleague to tell you that he's busy.
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What agenda items to bring to a one on one as the employee This is sort of the opposite of this question , where I'm instead the "shy" employee. My manager has recently started scheduling weekly, hour-long, one-on-one meetings with me. To facilitate the meetings, he has asked me to make an agenda each week, with the explicit expectation that my agenda items take up most of the meeting time. So far, we've had two meetings, and the issue I've had with both is that I can't come up with enough discussion points to fill an hour. The last meeting, I had about 4 items, and we got through those in 20 minutes. This week, I've got one, which I suspect will take less than 5. Examples of what I've included: Talked about a meeting my team had with another team to teach each other about technical side of each project, and proposed that as something other teams could do. Talked about my work load in an attempt to get some feedback about how I was doing. Along with a few other, smaller items. He seemed happy with what I was bringing, but it just didn't fill the time. I will probably at some point ask to have the meetings shortened, or have them less often, but I suspect that will be a harder sell when it's only been a couple weeks. So in the meantime, what else can or should I bring to my weekly one-on-ones? <Q> Managers are normally very busy, and usually glad to cut some meeting short if possible. <S> Therefore, once you have given an update on your activities exposed issues where manager can help/facilitate requested feedback on your activities <S> you don't really have to fill in the time with "inane" topics just for the sake of using the entire hour. <S> As additional benefit, you won't risk being perceived as a person who needs to be micromanaged. <S> Based on my experience in most of the cases half an hour is more than enough for a weekly face to face. <A> Now is a good time to start thinking long term. <S> Is there a particular skill you wish you had? <S> Do you have any idea how you might gain it (training, going to conferences, shadowing someone, starting to do it occasionally)? <S> After you've dealt with issues of immediate concern, you can start to talk about the future. <S> If your boss agrees that learning this skill is a good goal, then in all your future meetings you can easily spend some time doing a status update on the goal. <S> What have you learned or done? <S> What is coming up that you need your boss to approve or pay for? <S> As you start to gain the skill, is it all that you thought it would be? <S> Do you want to start doing it at work? <S> Or change gears a little to some other skill? <S> Are you happy that your boss is supporting you in gaining this skill? <S> Don't feel you have to fill the hour. <S> But don't focus entirely on the week that's just happened and the week that is about to happen. <S> Start to develop a wider view. <S> Work with your boss to get the future you want. <A> When you run out of items and still have time tell your boss you're gifting him X minutes of his day back. <S> Managers shouldn't be doing 1:1's to fill time they should be doing them to give and receive feedback to/from an employee. <S> You should be using this time as a means to getting a promotion. <S> This is the time you use for your manager to mentor you and help you gain that role you want. <S> If you're a developer, and want to be a developer lead, you should ask your manager for mentorship on leadership topics. <S> I'd also propose a bi-weekly meeting of 1 hour or weekly meeting of 1/2 an hour. <S> This is also a great time to bring up any issues you're having with tasks. <S> If you have a task due in 2 weeks for instance, and you are running into a block of some type this is the time to bring it up with your boss. <S> This is also a good time to go over any HR type stuff with your manager if you have anything. <S> As an employee or manager I've always loved when 1:1's are shorter than their allotted time. <S> I definitely could always use an extra 15 minutes even if it's just to pee.
| I don't think you have to fill the entire hour. Other future-looking topics of conversation include new duties you can take on at work, some new version of something you're expecting to be released in the next few months to a year, and what that would mean for your projects and workload, that sort of thing.
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After leaving position, how to respond to previous colleagues and clients reaching out for answers to questions regarding previous responsibilities? I recently left a support contracting position after several years of working very closely on site with my government clients and other support contractors for a new position with a new company in a completely different location. I have no intention of returning to this company or location (Relocated from Florida to New York). After leaving, I am now receiving multiple phone calls and text messages a week to my personal cell phone number during work hours at my new position. The questions are for generally minor requests related to my previous responsibilities for which I was a lead for several years and are from both the clients which my company used to support onsite and my previous coworkers with my previous company. I gave a full two weeks notice and attempted to document as much "tribal knowledge" as possible before leaving while making myself available to those below me in my role for technical questions/training. Some questions/messages mostly from my previous clients who did not want me to leave, have been more personal such as mentioning how my previous counterparts are overwhelmed and I am greatly missed. I generally hesitate to respond and when I do so it is a brief objective message, where I may give a small amount of knowledge but encourage them to reach out to a specific individual who may know the answer still working for the project. I find this behavior slightly unprofessional and disruptive when coming up to speed on a new position. what is the appropriate professional way to handle these requests? <Q> Well, if they keep asking and they keep getting the info they want (with the added value of not having to pay a dime), why should they stop bothering you? <S> Politely answer that <S> you are glad they contacted you, however you don't work at Previous Employer Inc. any more. <S> Your former colleagues at Previous Employer Inc. are surely capable of handling the issue and may also have up to date information on how to deal with the product. <A> You have two options: Defer: <S> This is for when you find that you feel somehow still a little responsible, and want to give the opportunity to at least put some questions. <S> Best set up an E-Mail-account only for this. <S> When ever somebody contacts you, answer you <S> can´t help right now <S> but they can send that question to the e-mail and you´ll answer when you find the time. <S> As formulating a question in writing and waiting some hours/days for the answer is a much higher burden, most of the questions will go away automatically. <S> Deny: <S> Just politely answer that between your new job and your private live you do not have the time to give that kind of support - every time they contact you. <S> Do not answer your private phone during your office-hours! <S> they will learn. <A> I have no intention of returning to this company or location , <S> I gave a full two weeks notice and attempted to document as much "tribal knowledge" as possible before leaving while making myself available to those below me in my role for technical questions/training. <S> , <S> I generally hesitate to respond <S> and I find this behavior slightly unprofessional and disruptive <S> leave no other choice <S> : Cut down any communication with former colleagues or clients <S> I don't know if you hold a friendship with ex-colleagues, but this is not healthy for you. <S> Everything's against them: <S> You don't work there anymore. <S> This means you shouldn't handle anything else from there. <S> You won't profit. <S> Neither the former one nor the current company will pay you for these hours. <S> They are basically abusing of your good will. <S> You won't get a better name. <S> It's like the startup that tells you they can't pay you <S> but they'll talk about your awesome work. <S> It doesn't help you get more clients. <S> I helps you get more leeches. <S> Helping out people will only benefit you from having more calls. <S> You don't hold any responsibility to the former company. <S> It's a part of getting a pay. <S> If they mess up with something, they had 15 days to check it with you. <S> They take your personal time. <S> As simple as this. <S> Draw a line <S> Keeping it may even raise a problem for you ). <S> Another thing I'd try to investigate (unless you did it yourself) is to find out who gave them your personal phone number . <S> It's not the company's. <S> Even if the company gave it to the former clients so they had a chance to say goodbye, they shouldn't be allowed, at all. <A> If you like contact your old company and offer them your service for x amount of money for y amount of time. <S> Maybe make a deal that you will answer phone calls and/or email for a certain amount of time. <S> It seems they need your knowledge and probably it will be good for their business if you help them out for some time. <S> It's business, you don't have to be shy to ask to get paid for the work you do. <S> Deals like this are not unusual. <S> And normally people who do this kind of consulting work get paid well - more per hour then before when they worked full time.
| Clients can't ask you stuff because it's counterproductive for them (your information is outdated after your job's last day, plus, you may not be allowed to share former company information anymore) and your ex-colleagues shouldn't ask you anything because anything you had to share is already documented. Next time they call you, even if the question sounds trivial ( oh, I wish you were still working here ), make sure to remind them they have a new contact in charge that will eventually catch up and that you're no longer holding any information about the company (many, if not all, of the companies, take all the information back.
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Managing office temperatures in shared office We've recently moved to a new location in the outer suburbs, and in new shared offices. In our previous location, we had no ability to open windows, or control heating and cooling. In our new offices, we can now open the windows, and have an individual heater/air conditioner for every office. I share an office with two other people which makes this complicated. One runs hot like me, and prefers it to be cooler (but not freezing!) I would say 22-23 is comfortable (though to be honest at home I would keep it more in the 20 range, but I'm happy to compromise). The other runs cold, and prefers it hotter, around 28 if they could! They constantly turn the air con off even when we set it to 24, and when we compromise with opening one of the windows to let fresh air in, they shut the window too, complaining that the wind and the sound is distracting. They also keep the office door closed as it gets quite noisy outside, so no other air circulates, it gets VERY stuffy and hot with three people in a not-so-large space. How might we best approach this situation without seeming like we're ganging up on the individual? I don't mind open windows, I prefer it over a freezing cold air conditioner, but to not be able to do that either is getting ridiculous and affecting my work productivity. I don't want the individual to feel bad either, and just want to come to a good solution/compromise for the three of us so we can work better. <Q> Biology rules in this case. <S> I'm sorry, Dave, but it's just too hot in here for us. <S> I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable, but you can put on a jacket or sweater while we can't do anything to cool off If you're VERY comfortable with this person and are CERTAIN <S> they wouldn't take offense, you could make a joke of it. <S> I'm sorry, Dave, but if we dress any less for the heat, HR may write us up. <S> or something like that. <S> But the point you need to make is that you cannot make yourself cooler as easily as he <S> /she could either wear more clothes or get a space heater(depending on building and company rules) <A> You have come in touch with one of the most touchy subjects in office environments: the office temperature! <S> Being on the hot side myself (my comfort zone is around 18-20 degree Celsius), I understand the topic. <S> What I did when I had to face the issue was: I tried lightening my clothes as much as the office dress code allowed, and then if that was not enough I engaged the "cold" person making visible that I could not be less dressed than that, asking if he <S> /she could do something to help me, too. <S> You can also try seating the cold person away from the window, so that when it is slightly opened the disturbance will be minimized. <A> I am a "cold" person and when working in an office with about 10 "warm" ones, all I could do was dress accordingly. <S> I found extra large scarves and ponchos work wonders, so if you think this would be appropriate you could gift your co-worker an office scarf/blanket. <S> Of course only if your relationship allows this without offence and it fits the dress code. <S> You could also try to find a compromise, e.g. open all windows once every half hour for 5 minutes to let in fresh air (adjust accordingly). <S> The "cold" person could even leave the room for coffee or toilet breaks, so they don't have to "suffer". <S> P.S. <S> I also found that cold-hot compresses work wonders for cold hands when you have a microwave in the office. <S> Just heat it up every once in a while and you have a perfect personal way of heating up. <A> I am the cold person, i found a small oil filled radiator under my desk, kept my personal area warm, but didn't really affect the others too much. <S> And of course you need to come dressed for summer every day
| You can always get a heater or put on more clothes if you are too cold, but the options are limited if you're too hot, and that's how you can begin to approach it.
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How should I handle leaving a company before a big bonus? I have an offer pending soon for a job that I am very interested in. However, my current employer offers an annual salary bonus that is only about a month from being paid out. This bonus is substantial and in almost no case do I want to lose it, but I also don't want to seem hesitant to start with my new company. Technically, company policy states that I was vested for this bonus at the start of the year, and it should be mailed to me even if I leave the company. Of course, company policy also states they can choose to not pay it out for any reason. What are my best options here? <Q> Ask for a start date that is after the bonus payout if you get the offer (it's still pending, anything can happen). <S> If there is an issue with a start date in that timeframe and you're asked, just tell the truth, 'I'm due a substantial bonus at such and such a time, leaving earlier may forfeit the bonus which I'm not prepared to do.. etc,. ' <S> The truth is usually a good idea. <S> Remember that until you actually have the contract everything is a negotiation, best to negotiate strongly without getting yourself involved in a potential tissue of falsehoods.. <A> Tell new company what bonus will be, get them to pay it for you, start asap. <S> and you start asap, or they can wait until you get it <S> and you start after notice period. <S> Don't tell new company, start asap, don't get bonus. <S> Don't tell new company, start later for mysterious reason, look weird. <S> Tell current company, <S> don't get bonus, start asap. <S> Tell current company, don't get bonus, start later. <S> Act weird with current company, say ask them for early bonus or ask some bonus questions, probably don't get total bonus. <S> Stay at current company, get bonus, blow off new company. <A> If the bonus is valuable to you, and it sounds like it is, then the best advice is to simply slog through the next month or so till you have said bonus in hand. <S> Any waves you create before hand make a risk that you will lose it all. <S> Regarding the new job, if they really want you as a new employee they are likely to be flexible as to a start date. <S> I took a job at a different company that was across the country and involved a re-location <S> and it was easy to work out a start date that was two months out. <S> In you case I think that should be pretty easy to be honest with the new employer by explaining that you have a minimum transition time before you can start.
| Tell new company what bonus will be, tell them to pay it
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What does "disciplinary action" usually mean? I had worked at a call center, and hung up on a customer who was swearing at me. He called back and complained to management and they said there may be "disciplinary action". They ended up firing me for just cause (which I'm still considering taking to the labor board) but I'm wondering, what does "disciplinary action" usually mean? Would it mean having to write an apology letter? Or is it really a euphemism for getting fired? <Q> Copying word for word from uslegal.com : <S> The primary purpose for discipline is to assist the employee to understand that a performance problem or opportunity for improvement exists. <S> The process features efforts to provide feedback to the employee so he or she can correct the problem. <S> The goal of discipline is to improve employee performance. <S> Some methods of disciplinary action may have an employer: <S> Verbally reprimand the employee for poor performance. <S> Provide a written verbal warning in the employee's file, in an effort to improve employee performance. <S> Provide an escalting number of days in which the employee is suspended from work. <S> End the employment of an individual who refuses to improve. <S> If you are from another country, you can just look it up on your favourite search engine. <A> Disciplinary action involves deciding how to punish/correct you for doing something you should not have done as it conflicts with legal or company policies. <S> Chances are your company has a rule in place which says you cannot hang up on a customer under any circumstances. <S> We cannot know for sure unless you can enlighten us. <S> The next step is enacting the decision made by your superiors. <S> It can be anything from a metaphorical slap on the wrist to being fired. <S> 'Disciplinary action' is never a guarantee that you are getting fired . <S> It will be up to the company to decide if your actions warrant such a severe punishment. <S> It may vary depending on your country, but writing an apology letter - either to the company or the customer - seems unlikely. <S> If you have been fired, your involvement with the company has come to an end, and unless you are pursuing further action with your labor board, further communication would probably be discouraged. <A> Depending on the severity of the infraction, and the work history of the employee, you can expect the response to vary. <S> Typically these policies are outlined in a corporate document, such as an Employee Handbook. <S> Usually the language says something along the lines of: "...may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment" Not all disciplinary action ends in termination of employment. <S> Often, if the company wants to try to retain the employee, they will implement what is called a "Performance Improvement Plan." <S> The PIP will outline the problem behaviors, and set a plan for how to resolve the issue. <S> The problem employee will usually have a set period of time to show a change in behavior, or be terminated. <S> If the infraction is severe enough, or the employee isn't someone that management wants to retain, you may be dismissed without a PIP or any opportunity to address the problem. <A> disciplinary action usually means some form of official and documented action to sanction unwanted behavior. <S> This may be a written warning or a official instruction from you manager, that goes into your file with HR. <S> This is usually the first step to document cause for firing when the offense is not in it self big enough to fire immediately or the employer wants to give you a second chance. <S> Firing is only the ultima ratio of a disciplinary action. <S> Remember firing is usually also a loss for the employer, since he invested money to hire and train you. <S> So this is usually the least desiderable outcome for both parties. <S> But other than threaten to fire you, the is not much the employer can really do. <S> So this serves two functions: Possibly correct your behavior - and if it is not likely this will succeed or if they want to make an example: Make firing as cheap as possible by having proof for the alleged cause. <S> As, in my experience, call centers often have trouble with staff discipline, immediate firing on the least offense may just be company policy. <A> Usually, the phrase appears in this deliberately vague terminology "Disciplinary action up to and including termination may result". <S> What that means is that they can do anything from a verbal warning to firing you. <S> The reason they phrase it so vaguely is to give themselves the widest possible latitude. <S> If you have a good record and many years of service, it may be a warning, if you have previous infractions, short time working for the company, bad attendance, or the manager doesn't like you, or any of the above, they can get rid of you.
| In employment law, disciplinary action is a process for dealing with job-related behavior that does not meet expected and communicated performance standards.
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Asking for bonus pay for additional project I work as a programmer on a team that supports a group of enterprise applications. The team is so short-staffed and back logged that we currently suffer from an issue where we don't have time to create an error tracking / alerting system. All of our time is spent on supporting/fixing existing functionality, or building new functionality. We all work at the minimum 40 hour weeks, and we are all exempt / salaried. As a team we have discussed the dire need to get such a program in place because it will significantly reduce the time spent on break/fix and maintenance. I would like to offer my manager additional time to create a solution for the team, but I feel like it would only benefit myself if I were to receive a bonus for this additional time spent. The company regularly hires contractors to complete work that they are understaffed themselves to complete, so I feel like it isn't odd for them to shell out more to get what is needed. Is it ethical to propose to my boss that I offer a project plan to create this new program in exchange for a pay bonus? Or would that be seen as a slap in the face and unprofessional? This is not a request for a raise as I feel I am compensated for the average work week. I am requesting a one-time bonus for a one-time time-set project which would be solely worked on outside of usual duties. <Q> I made this suggestion at a former software company once, it was flat out rejected, even though they had the money and needed the projects done. <S> The response was from Human Resources. <S> Basically they said, if the company offers you projects on the side for cash, then they need to be fair and offer all employees the chance to do work on the side for cash. <S> As this company was used to already getting people to work on extra projects for free in exchange for favors, "wink wink" come raise/bonus time, that would directly conflict in this case. <S> To answer your question though, I'd definitely ask, it's not going to hurt. <S> After it was all said and done, I was not looked upon unfavorably. <S> Actually, my company seriously considered it for a few weeks until the "lawyers" (HR) got involved! <A> I would not propose this. <S> As an exempt, I am surprised that your boss has not already come and required unpaid overtime from the group. <S> Secondly, there are off-the-shelf programs that perform these tasks - and they are far more robust than anything that could be created in house by one staff member under stress. <S> If you have a good relationship with your boss, perhaps request some time each week to put forth a plan on differing off-the-shelf solutions. <A> Although this seems to be a bit of a controversial topic here, I have seen several occasions of such an arrangement. <S> If, for example you could free some of your weekends and there generally is budget to get such a solution why should this not be a win-win? <S> Now the problem is that you don´t want to come across as if you are not currently giving it you full effort and want to extort additional money. <S> I would suggest probing by casual chat an see if your boss takes you up on this. <S> Something along the lines: "Boy, we could really boost our efficiency if we got SystemX in place. <S> Pity we don´t have time for this during normal work hours. <S> I am already thinking how I could maybe free some weekends and just do it. <S> Probably will have to get my girlfriend something nice to get her consent, though." <S> Adjust for culture/tone at your place...
| Yes, contractors make good $$$, something to strive for if that appeals to you - and the travel, and the uncertainty, and the taxes, and the healthcare.
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How to send a company I want to join a tailored project without coming off as brash? I built a demo project for a company I want to join. Basically it's a dedicated marketing project in which I built it as if it was done by the company itself (with the logos and everything). I thought it would be helpful for me to build a tailored project to both show my interest and the value I could bring to them. I'm planning to send an email to the marketing manager, but I'm afraid I'll be misunderstood as someone who's overly confident and making adjustments to the way they do business. How to communicate my passion without coming off as brash? <Q> This is a really good idea. <S> It shows initiative (because you made your own project for them), competence (assuming it looks good), and passion (you want to work with them <S> so you made a relevant project). <S> No halfway useful marketing - or any - manager would ever disregard this. <S> Another word of advice - don't worry about appearing brash the higher up the org chart you go . <S> Low level managers (and non-management staff) will always get upset by brashness, including saying their current strategy is crap. <S> High level managers, however, almost universally got there by challenging the status-quo and creating the new from the old. <S> They want people who say that the current stategy is bad and here is how to fix it . <S> I only mention this as something to consider who to apply to. <S> If you feel you are attacking somewhat their current strategy, then send it to someone higher in the org chart. <S> If you feel it corresponds to their strategy, then someone lower is ok (although, someone higher is also good too!). <S> all the best, and good idea! <A> Every industry, type of position, company and culture look at these kinds of things differently. <S> You need to do some research on this company and get a better idea what they're like. <S> If they think you're being to brash, do you really want to work for a company like that? <S> It's possible you won't like working there. <S> There are worse things that could happen: <S> They think your project is so poorly done, they will severelycriticize you to the point where you'll think you need to changeprofessions. <S> They're completely ignore it because they probably post the proper way to apply for a position on their website. <S> Those who can't comply are seen as being less competent than creative. <S> They'll provide critical feedback and see how you handle it. <S> Do you get defensive? <S> Do you just give in and agree with them? <S> Can you apply the feedback to making it better? <S> Not being able to handle criticism is one sign of being brash. <S> Who knows, they may love it, but you're better off finding out more about this company and the people who run it. <S> Hopefully, they've blogged or been interviewed and can provide some insight on what kinds of work they do and the people they want working for them. <A> There is a fine line between proactive and arrogant, creative and annoying. <S> I would recommend to err on the side of caution unless you are 99% certain that you can allow yourself to be a little bold in a particular situation, OR feel that you just HAVE TO take a one-in-a-million shot to set yourself apart from the intense competition for a coveted spot. <S> Why don't you apply for a job first, and either include a link to your project with your application materials (resume, cover letter) <S> and/or (if you get an interview) bring it to the interview? <S> That way you leave to the managers the choice of whether to look at your project, but since you have it, you can point to it when the moment is right as something that sets you apart from the rest and shows your interest and dedication. <S> One exception would be if the company is a small start-up where communication is a lot more straight-forward and dynamic, with less emphasis on 'due process'. <S> Good luck!
| Whatever the case, you want to approach this with humility and ask their permission to show them what you've done before you actually do.
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How to set boundaries with work hours Recently I started work at an R&D firm, and as I was hired one of the big selling points was the opportunity to work on diverse projects and "never get bored". For the first two months I assumed there was some sort of learning curve so I put in long hours (12 hour days). Keep in mind I am salaried. Well it is now 3 months later and I am wrapping up a week where I worked 12-15 hours each day. I feel exhausted and it is taking all my self restraint to keep from quitting. My boss has constantly repeated the mantra that "an 8 hour day doesn't count" . I don't buy this philosophy at all, but I was willing to put in extra work for a while as I was catching up. I have become twice as productive and I still feel like I'm behind. I think part of the problem is that my boss does not allocate reasonable time for finishing tasks. Every task should take "a few hours". I spent 4 days on a "few hour" task. Also our company has entered a competition and I am expected to put in extra time at the office "outside of normal work hours" for the competition. My question is, how do I manage the expectation that I work more than 8 hours? I am fine putting in 10 hour days even but I am physically deteriorating as a result of my work hours right now and it is not ok. Any insight you guys have is appreciated. Honestly just typing this out felt therapeutic. Realistically I need to keep this job for 2-3 more months before I jump back into the job market. <Q> Any insight you guys have is appreciated. <S> At this point, as you already plan to leave in a couple months, the best you can do is buckle up, keep smiling and delivering as best as you can, and endure this exploitation until you are ready to jump. <S> Needless to say, update your resume and start looking for options ASAP. <S> The moment you land one proceed to give your notice period so you can move on as fast as you can. <A> To set boundaries - you just do it. <S> Unless you're working shift work where you can't leave until relieved, there's no one physically forcing you to stay there 15 hours. <S> Work your 10 and leave. <S> Sure, your boss is pressuring you to, but in the end it's your own mind you need to overcome that's keeping you there. <S> This does "run the risk" of him deciding to fire you for a 50 hour work week. <S> That may be a pretty hard sell to HR/other management (is this customary for the whole company?) <S> , so I'm not sure it's a huge risk, but of course have your resume brushed up as leaving voluntarily <S> is also a possible exit for you. <S> When he inevitably tries to sweat you about it, just hold your ground. <S> I'm getting plenty of work done, and it's good quality work. <S> I'm working 50 hours a week, <S> not the bare minimum, but working more causes my quality of work and life to go down. <S> It's not worth it. <S> I'm happy to go above and beyond to hit big deadlines, but not all the time, and I don't think that's reasonable. <S> Repeat as necessary. <S> Now, it is completely legal to force exempt employees to work as much as they demand. <S> However, you're now a fully trained employee delivering good work. <S> If he chronically mis-estimates that badly I am guessing he doesn't actually know how to do the work you're doing, and so calling the bully's bluff could work. <S> It's very unlikely <S> it's in his best interest to fire you and go through the hiring cycle for "only working 50 hours." <S> But if he does - you're better off, plus you get unemployment and can rip them a new one on Glassdoor to make yourself feel better. <S> Next interview, "the job wasn't a good fit, they required 80 hours a week of work and I'm only comfortable with 50" <S> tells people all they need to know (and only weeds you out if they are similarly psycho to the current guy). <A> My boss has constantly repeated the mantra that "an 8 hour day doesn't count". <S> I don't buy this philosophy at all <S> My question is, how do I manage the expectation that I work more than 8 hours? <S> You don't manage the expectation. <S> It's clear that your philosophy about work hours doesn't match the company's. <S> That's a signal that you don't belong there. <S> Use this as a learning experience. <S> Think back and see if you can determine signs regarding this company's philosophy that you could have detected before accepting the job. <S> That way, you'll get better results on your next job.
| I believe you already know what you have to do: find a new job . Instead of trying to change your bosses expectations, start looking for a new company whose philosophy matches yours.
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Sharing the same clothing with others I work with 30 colleagues in a grocery store. Our management wants us to start wearing shared company-provided aprons, which wrap around the neck. Many of my coworkers including myself, find this dirty. Not all of my coworkers care about their hygiene equally. Some of them have unhygienic hair or strong body odors. The aprons will be washed only when needed. I don't agree with this. My coworkers and I would like to refuse to wear these aprons on the grounds that they are unhygienic. Do we have the option of refusing or are we simply forced to wear the aprons if we want to work here? <Q> Can we refuse to wear them for those reasons or not? <S> You can... <S> and either: nothing happens... <S> you never get promoted. <S> you can be fired. <S> I would not throw in my manager's face <S> an out-of-the-blue plain NO.I'd rather explain why it could be better to do it another way. <S> For instance: <S> Hi Alice/Bob, I noticed that our aprons are not always crisp and tidy. <S> It's not only bad hygiene for our customers and us (employees), but also a bad image for our company. <S> Could we be assigned the same apron at all time, so we take care of it? <S> If not, do you think, for the ones who are willing to do so, that we could take/keep the apron outside of the workplace? <S> Like taking it home, washing and ironing it by ourself anytime it's needed? <S> This way, you deflect: no one is accused of anything, and you show your concern about the customers, the company, and your colleagues. <S> You don't complain, you offer a solution . <S> From there, it will depend on your manager's answer, and we can't tell you right now... <A> Take your concerns to your supervisor before outright defiance and move forwards from their solution or lack of solution. <A> Can we refuse to wear them for those reasons or not? <S> In most companies, you cannot refuse to wear the uniform or promotional costume and still keep your job. <S> You could ask, but it's doubtful. <S> They will be washed only when needed. <S> I don't agree with this. <S> If it were me, I'd consider asking if I could take one home each night to wash and wear it the next day. <S> And if that worked out, I'd then ask management if they would consider purchasing an additional apron for me so that I wouldn't have to wash it every night.
| You can refuse to do anything you want at work, but that can be career limiting.
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I feel like my CEO lacks focus, am I being unreasonable? I work at a small (10 person), sport-specific e-learning startup. The CEO is a nice guy but I feel he lacks focus. He is very easily excitable, so if he or somebody else comes up with an idea that he likes he will often become fixated with it for a week or two before completely forgetting about it. These ideas are most often spur of the moment with no research to back them up and range from the unrealistic to the ridiculous. As the sole designer, I am often the first port of call when he wants to visualise these ideas. I've spent countless days thinking about, designing and delivering mockups - often with very little to go on other than 'our users really want this' with no real data to suggest they do. Quite often in meetings with potential customers he'll drop 'we can get it mocked up for you' to appease the client. 9/10 nothing ever comes of the work I put in as by that point he's got bored and moved onto the next 'must have' idea. He's recently had a meeting with someone who suggested that our platform would work well for a different sport to what we specialise in. Technically, our platform could be altered to cater for different sports, however I feel like our small team already has more than enough on our plate. He's asked me to mock something up despite the fact that he's done literally zero research himself, and the only asset he can give me is a logo and a few sentences briefly summarising the conversation. If I were to liken the situation to that of another company, I'd say it would be like Uber offering boats as well as cars (I understand they do offer this service in certain countries, but you could argue that they nailed the core car offering first before pursuing other modes of transport). I really want to tell him to stop chasing these leads as they never materialise into anything positive and distract our already busy team from improving our current platform (which needs a lot of improving). One of the mantras that respected CEO of Huit Denim lives by is to ' Do One Thing Well ', but I feel like this is the opposite of how this CEO runs his company. Am I being unreasonable? <Q> There are some incompetent CEOs out there. <S> Unfortunately there is no one above to straighten them out. <S> The board or owner could fire him but they don't see what is going on day by day. <S> Eventually he will likely bring the company down or be replaced. <S> It might be time to put out your resume. <S> When he comes up with the next bright idea ask about the status of the last bright idea. <S> Keep a list of the mock ups you created that went no where. <S> You are not likely to change him. <S> On further thought maybe keep a report of ideas and where there are and status. <S> Kind of like Area 51. <S> Name Requirements <S> Prelimary Customer Detailed Design & Review <S> Design Mockup sliced bread <S> partial <S> complete <S> ymd <S> none killed <A> What your CEO is doing is often referred to as prospecting . <S> The idea is that you explore enough of an idea to judge if the idea has merit. <S> But not so much as to lose much if the idea is not worth investing in fully. <S> It seems your CEO trusts you enough that you are his go to person for this task. <S> If this task is not rewarding to you then perhaps you can ask him to take on one of the other members of the team as his primary partner in developing his ideas. <S> Realize that with that shift away from his trusted partner, you also lose some of your ability to shape the policies and direction of the company. <S> Should your CEO hit the mother lode of ideas <S> the person that was his partner in the development of that idea is going to be the one that reaps the rewards. <S> I would suggest that if you work at a company that does this type of thing, and you are not comfortable with the prospecting that you return to the world of established corporate policies, and stability and let those hungry for opportunity have a chance to develop the next big thing! <S> If you think you already have the next big thing in the pipe, then explain that to your boss that you believe that the best thing you can do for the company is to focus on the core product. <S> Sure the product will make the company money but its not going to buy you both(or even him) that private island. <S> Another tactic to try is to ask him to prioritize the work. <S> It could be that he is expecting you to just make the prospecting the side job <S> and you are putting to much time and effort into each prospect that you should have been directing more energy to the main product. <S> What ever the case it seems like the big problem here is that you are not in sync with the CEO's expectations of your position. <S> Its a start up, that's probably the job he has for you. <A> Am I being unreasonable? <S> No, you're not being unreasonable. <S> The CEO is not grasping how much focused effort it actually takes to create software. <S> Joel Spolsky says Good Software Takes Ten Years. <S> Get Used to It. <S> That's 10 years with sustained effort in a single direction. <S> Never establishing a clear direction and instead bouncing around as new ideas arise prevents even beginning this process. <S> Some people have a scattered personality. <S> There's nothing inherently wrong with it. <S> In some situations it's useful. <S> At a party for example it's helpful if you can easily bounce from topic to topic and person to person. <S> For building software it doesn't work. <S> You have to maintain an intense focus over weeks or months to produce something valuable. <S> Developers do engage in this for short times eg when brainstorming. <S> But it always ends in establishment of a clear goal that is then taken as a long term unchanging focus. <S> A software business requires long term focus. <S> I've dropped clients for behaving this way. <S> Stayed with one of them for longer than I probably should have thinking, oh he'll come to understand after he's seen some successful feature implementations. <S> It never happened. <S> Every success just got him more excited and caused him to try to push for more in less time. <S> I predict this person will behave in a similar way.
| You may find out that the lack of focus is due to the limited potential of the product you are developing.
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Should I say the real reason as to why I've left the company Leaving company because I don't think the way they solved things was professional, ranging from how they dealt with clients to how certain in office issues were solved. My boss and colleagues were great but I wasn't happy with the rest.That's of course not the only reason why I'm leaving. It was my first internship and they wanted me to continue working, but I've decided not to. Next time I'm in an interview, in case this comes up, should I mention this? Should I go into detail as to why I've left the company? I don't want it to seem as if I had no reason and I do think want to go lengths lying as to why I've left it. EDIT: What exactly should I say when asked why I left it? I feel anything I say I should be able to back up and also they will probably call the company to check out. I should graduate in 3 years. <Q> This one is actually pretty easy for you. <S> Your internship had a limited term on it. <S> While they wanted to sign you up for another round, this is not the same as leaving a job or position. <S> Your internship was done, and you moved on after it was completed. <S> Quite simply, you list it for what it was on your resume - a six month, one year, whatever internship. <S> No one in the world is going to say "wait, why didn't you stay after your one-year internship was done?" <S> They MIGHT ask " <S> did you have the chance to stay with the company?" <S> To which you honestly reply " <S> Yes, I did" (hence, you were good enough that they wanted you to stay), ".... <S> but I was interested in gaining other experience... <S> " <S> Internships pay like crap compared to full-on hires because the trade-off is valuable real-life work experience. <S> If the intern is in it for the experience, no one even blinks if interns move on to gain more and different experience elsewhere. <S> No red flags will be raised, and you won't be in a position to have to explain tactfully that they were kind of jerks, in your opinion. <S> The internships are there for young professionals to try out experiences and for companies to get relatively cheap labor from people who are talented and ambitious. <S> Your experience (of moving on) will be viewed as completely normal. <A> Should I go into detail as to why I've left the company? <S> No , you should not. <S> You could say something like: <S> " There were no growth opportunities for me " or <S> " the internship was coming to an end "as examples. <S> Your instincts are correct, do not lie , but you do not need to go into details here either. <A> You are over thinking this, an internship is not a job as such. <S> You just say "after interning with Acme co and learning valuable real world experience I am now looking for my first full time position" I am assuming you have graduated <A> Speaking poorly of former partners, employers or acquaintances very rarely holds any real upside to you, no matter how cathartic it may seem. <S> As an aside, it seems fairly common for driven individuals to seek out varied internships while in school. <S> The reason being they are interested in the industry they are entering. <S> Gaining a broader exposure to the industry through varied internships allows them to more fully explore the industry and perhaps get a better idea of what particular field they would like to pursue. <S> If you are ever pressed for a reason why you left that company, something along the lines of the above paragraph should suffice. <S> It shows awareness, drive, passion and steers the conversation in a positive direction. <A> As others have stated it is really bad practice to say negative things about your previous employer, the people, the processes or the environment. <S> Doing that is really like burning the bridge so to speak. <S> You never know when things will come back and cause a backlash for you. <S> If you are asked why you are leaving the best approach is to make it about you. <S> Explain why the change is good for you and how it fits into your set goals. <S> The explanations should be forward looking relative to the new situation you are considering. <S> You should not try to reference the previous employer in any way that could be seen as negative. <S> Even saying something like "there is no possibility of advancement" at the company you are leaving can be seen as a negative.
| Never, ever, ever bad mouth a previous boss or company ( internship or regular employment ) as it is almost always considered in poor taste to any potential suitors you may have, and may cost you the opportunity. I would suggest keep your reason for leaving vague and simple. Direct answer to your stated question: no.
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Interviewer asking for offer letter from current company for verification. How to proceed if I never got one? I am working in company A. Still I didn't get offer letter from company A since 1.3 years. Now another (company B) interview is scheduled in 5 days. They will ask about my offer letter (issued by company A) for the document verification. So when I go to the interview, what can I do? How to manage HR that still I didn't receive my offer letter? <Q> If they ask about the offer letter, just state that you don't have one. <S> Suggest them to call your current HR to verify employment; Maybe request them to call the HR only after issuing you a job offer, to avoid issues with your current employer once he knows you are job hunting. <A> The country where this is happening could be important due to varying laws and customs. <S> But I have to say that in general the Company B request for your original offer from Company A should be none of their business. <S> There are other suitable ways to verify your employment at Company A. One would be to show them a pay check stub. <S> Although I feel that Company B really has no business knowing what your current rate of pay is either. <S> Company B should be evaluating you on the basis of your CV/resume and the interview and then offering you a pay rate that they think is competitive for that job skill market. <A> Disclaimer: Your question does not have a country tag. <S> However, from your name & from my experience, it look like India. <S> If not, please let me know, I shall delete the answer. <S> The HR will ask you for your offer letter to verify 2 things: <S> That you really work for the company <S> You actually get the salary you mentioned <S> As paparazzi mentioned above, take your pay slips and your bank statement for 1.3 years. <S> In addition, since you have worked for 1.3 years, you would also have your govt. <S> issued Form26AS from the tax portal, which mentions your net taxable income. <S> These 3 together will prove, beyond doubt that you work for the company and draw the salary you mentioned.
| Also mention that you have not been issued with an offer letter from your company as yet.
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What's the best way to go about getting job with a later morning start time? I'm not a good morning person, and this has caused friction in jobs when I've been consistently the last person in the office, regardless of my performance at the job. I'd like find a job that has the expectation of starting 10:30am. This have a two fold advantage - one in that with that expectation up front, I'm not failing the expectation, but also it would allow myself to relax in the morning and not be rushing out of the house. The problem is I feel like that this is going to be an unattractive ask for many employers. Is there a way to going about seeking this accommodation that isn't going to jeopardize my job search? <Q> Is there a way to going about seeking this accommodation that isn't going to jeopardize my job search? <S> Some companies offer Flextime as an option, where you are expected to do X hours a day, but you may distribute them as they better fit you. <S> You can also try remote working , or some place that may accept remote and on-site work. <S> These are all reasonable options that many companies offer and that are not likely to jeopardize your job search. <S> The problem is I feel like that this is going to be an unattractive ask for many employers. <S> Well... if some company doesn't offer such alternatives then, as per your stated preferences , you should seek for one that does. <S> Naturally some companies may not like these ideas, but other surely will. <S> That way you will not be waisting anyone's time by proceeding with a company that does not offer what you seek. <A> In direct answer to your question, the best possible choice I think would be to start your own business. <S> Then you have a job that starts whenever you deem fit, although you may still struggle with client schedules. <S> I think a big concern from a hiring perspective would be, if you can't make it in by time <S> x, why should I think you will make it in by time <S> y? <S> (Assuming time x is not super early and there are no conflicts like dropping off kids at school.) <S> What guarantee is there you won't simply wake up later for the later start time? <S> If you did find a manager who was ok with one person showing up 90 mins. <S> after everyone else, how should she explain that to everyone who has to be there at 9:00? <S> You are just that much better? <S> Now you're giving the manager extra headaches. <S> What is it about you that makes those extra headaches worth it? <S> However, maybe you are that good at your profession. <S> If that is the case, when the headhunters come calling just tell them that's one of your demands for a new position. <A> You'll generally have very flexible hours. <S> In the US, in fact, companies have to be careful not to require unnecessarily strict working hours else the contractor might be considered an employee. <S> The downside is that it can be less secure, in terms of long term stability. <S> Extra bonus if you can contract for a company a couple time zones west of you.
| One thing you might consider is contracting, especially while working remotely. If you are definitely not settling for something else, I suggest you try to find if they offer such alternatives as soon as possible during the search process .
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How do companies and employees deal with abnormally long commutes due to traffic? I'm considering moving to Northern Virginia because my girlfriend lives there. When I leave her place to get to work, 50 miles away, it takes two hours if I leave before 6 a.m but 3 hours if I leave later. It's got me wondering how employees here manage to consistently make it to work on time when they are spending two to three hours in traffic everyday. Do companies in areas such account for the congestion and allow workers to arrive later than usual? <Q> In principle, it's the employee's problem, not the company's Simply put, your employer doesn't care <S> how you get to work on time, as long as you do . <S> That one employee needs 3 hours to get to work when a coworker might only need 3 minutes is not relevant to the company: they expect you to be on time at the designated place. <S> That's your responsibility as an employee, which you agreed to when you signed your contract. <S> This means that if you're moving for any reason that wasn't forced on you by your employer, you should not expect them to react to that in any way. <S> Now, if you were hired to work specifically at location X and your employer decides you need to work at location <S> Y <S> instead causing you to have a much longer commute, only then can you start talking to the employer about some form of compensation. <S> In this case it's the employer's fault that the commute time increased. <S> However, be aware that it's possible that your contract already includes a provision that states you may be asked to work in a different location than location X, in which case you have no real basis to ask for compensation. <S> Regardless of why , if your commute becomes too long for comfort, the only thing you can do is take steps to shorten it. <S> This probably means either moving houses to live closer to work, or changing jobs to work closer to home. <S> Another thing to keep in mind is that even if you do get some compensation, that doesn't change the length of your commute. <S> What constitutes too long of a commute is highly personal. <S> Some people will happily spend 3 hours getting to work and another 3 hours getting back home. <S> Other people will get fed up as soon as they need to spend more than 20 minutes to get to work. <S> Nobody can decide for you what commute you're comfortable with, but it's important to keep it in mind when you're making your decision. <A> That's unfortunately very common. <S> The possible options are Just live with it <S> Arrange flex time with your employer: time-shift, work from home days, alternate long/short days, stay in town for a night, etc. <S> Use the car time productively for phone calls (if that can be done safely), listening to audio books for entertainment or education <S> Alternative commute methods: train, car pool, company shuttle <S> Move closer to work <S> Find a new job <S> I've seen all of this happening. <S> Commute is a big deal (see <S> e.g. <S> this study comparing an increased commute to a pay cut ) <S> and you need to find something that's long term sustainable. <S> Otherwise the job won't work out, regardless how good it is. <S> Depending on what you do, there is quite a bit more flexibility these days. <S> For example, last week I stayed in town two nights in a cheap AirBnB and workd three really long day in the office, but did the rest of the week from home. <A> Failing that, sometimes telecommuting, at least part time can be arranged in some circumstances.
| Many employers simply won't hire you if your commute is longer than "X" with "X" being defined by that company. Others allow telecommuting if your commute is longer than or farther than "X" As for employees, some will rent rooms closer to work, or have friends they can crash with for times of emergencies, such as inclement weather.
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How to respond to unreasonable boss in front of other staff I lead a team which has been short-staffed for months. I have spoken to my boss and given written reports on numerous occasions detailing why we’re short staffed and requesting that he begin an interviewing process for a new employee. In the mean time we are sharing an extra job between us, and as a small team this often means that we don’t get as much work done as we’d like. In particular, I spoke to my boss yesterday to show him that the amount of work I personally have to do does not match the hours I’m given to do the work in. My boss was very understanding, and in that private setting he not only assured me that he will get a new staff member but also arranged time at a future date where I can tackle this growing backlog of tasks I personally have to do. Then today I was holding a staff meeting and he walked in and (among other things) started asking me why X wasn’t done or Y wasn’t done. I had literally just discussed these things with him yesterday. I tried to give a clear answer but I am concerned that it looked bad in front of the staff. How can I tackle this with my boss, especially given that we had a very productive and clear discussion on it less than 36 hours ago? Is there a way that I can prevent him interrupting and derailing a meeting (which was on limited time as we have so much work to do!) for a topic that did not need to be covered? I know he’s the boss so I’m in a limited position. Please advise. <Q> My team is half the size it was a year ago <S> and there have been management changes. <S> I feel your pain. <S> The first couple times he does this in front of your team, you can say something like the following: <S> I'm sorry <S> , I thought I'd clarified that when we talked about priorities. <S> Given our reduced capacity, we won't be getting to that before (date), so we can work on (higher-priority tasks). <S> Have priorities changed? <S> This conveys to your team that you already tried to address the problem and places the ball back in the manager's court. <S> He's the manager, so if he wants to change priorities he can, but it'll be clear to your team that it's his change, not you flaking out. <S> If he keeps doing this, you might need to get more direct: <S> Ok, which of A, B, or C <S> should we stop work on so we can do that? <S> By this point your team knows what's going on, so you don't need to convince them. <S> Finally, if you're not all somehow tracking your assignments and progress in writing (ticketing system, weekly email with accomplishments, whatever), you might want to start doing that. <S> The benefit is having something to point the manager to, to reduce claimed or actual surprises. <A> There are only a couple options here, as you are in a tough spot. <S> First you ignore it , which is what I would do if it is an uncommon occurrence. <S> If your manager does this frequently , you can have a private one on one meeting spelling out what happened , how if made you look in front of the team , and asking them to stop . <S> This approach carries obvious risk , but at some point you will lose face with the team if the behavior continues. <S> If you confront your manager, do it gently. <S> Even then be prepared for the case where they say " Ok, my bad " and still repeat the behavior. <S> At this point your options are: Talk to HR ( not advisable ) <S> Find a better boss <S> Again, tough spot, hard for us to be of explicit help. <S> Weigh the options carefully. <A> In the meeting, if anyone including your boss comes up with things that don’t belong there, you say “can we do this after the meeting? <S> Some people here have very limited time”. <S> If your boss then decides to waste everyone else’s time, that’s his or her problem. <S> After that, you should consider a private meeting with your boss.
| Talk to your bosses manager ( again risky )
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Overlap in positions during layoff transitions My current position is at a large-ish company that has a well-defined process for laying off or re-allocating employees when a project is terminated. This process is called "reassignment" and it works like this: You (the employee) is relieved from your normal work duties for a period of time, a couple of months typically. During this reassignment period, your work job is to find another job, hopefully with this company but also maybe external depending on everyones needs. If you haven't found another internal position at the end of reassignment, then you are let go with a small severance pay. It looks like my new job will be 100% remote, but I have several weeks left on my reassignment before I get laid off and then get my severance. I have transitioned all of my responsibilities at the old job and they do not expect me to come in the office. I don't want to resign early (lose the severance pay) but it's frustrating to just cool my heels when I could start at my new position already. These companies are not competing and I don't believe there is a conflict of interest between them. What problems am I inviting if I start my new job before being laid off my old one? Legal problems or will it damage my professional reputation? Who does my current employer report my start and end date to and are they allowed to share that information with just anyone? <Q> If you got a new job you should let your current employer know. <S> It's dishonest if you are trying to get the severance while already received a new position. <S> That severance is the last resort for people that will have trouble in their future employment which is certainly not your case. <S> Specific programs like these should be honored imo. <S> If you try to dip your hand on that severance, you may face legal consequences if you signed contracts stating what you mentioned above. <S> Your contract may state that severance package will only be granted if the employee attempts to look for another job during a period and was unsuccessful. <S> If this is not stated in your contract but communicated through one on one discussion, then it may not be a legal issue but a moral one. <A> Depending on your exact contract and location, you might be inviting some issues with taxes (if both of your companies pay taxes on your behalf, for example) and you might get in more serious trouble if you have an accident and both companies have health insurance coverage for you. <S> Additionally, either of your contract may includes terms such as "you are restricted from working for other companies during your period with us", in which case you might also get in trouble for that when they find out. <S> Your old contract/employee handbook probably also includes something about the transition period ending when you find a new job, which you would also be in violation of. <S> And yes, this is very unprofessional. <S> Your current company is doing you a service by continuing to pay your salary while you get a new job, even though you don't do anything useful for them right now. <S> And your idea of thanking them is by milking that salary while you already have a new job lined up. <A> First, don't start on new job before being relived from your current job. <S> After that your answer is easy, in terms of what you need to do. <S> Calculate the money you would get from your new job if you joined right now by quitting your current job with the money you will get by sticking around in your current job till the mandatory termination date + severance pay. <S> If the former is more, quit your current job right now and join the new job; otherwise wait till termination. <A> As long as you are: Fulfilling the requirements of your current position regarding your duties while on "reassignment" Are complying with their rules about external employment. <S> I don't see a problem with starting your new job before leaving your current one, it's no different than taking a job delivering pizzas in the evenings to earn some extra cash.
| Follow your employer's process and pay attention to the rules on outside employment, which is what your new job would be.
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Should I share all the companies I worked with on resume? I am in United states. I worked unpaid for a small company A for 3 weeks at the beginning of my OPT visa period. I did voluntary unpaid work in company A. It is not exactly relevant to the skill set I am applying.Then I continued to work for company B. Question:1. Now that I applying for jobs, should I share both the companies on resume? I feel like removing company A.2. What are the probabilities of background verification agencies to find about company A, if in case I hide about it? <Q> Companies don't have to know how much you were paid for a job. <S> Focus on what you've done and what you learned while working for company A. <S> It can be relevant <S> if you worked within a team, learn to follow deadlines... <S> In my opinion, you should list all companies unless you have too much of them to fit on your resume (but be prepared on questions about unemployment). <A> OK, background checks are generally done on what you declare (in terms of your employment experience, academic history, etc.); and something you don't declare (intentionally or unintentionally, like your criminal record, if any, visa status etc.) <S> if you exclude company A from your experience and only declare that your experience is for company B, then company A tenure in effect has no relevance to your current job searching. <S> However, as Ckankonmange, mentioned, if there is a gap due to you not declaring your tenure with company A, then you have to explain the gap; a gap necessarily does not mean something bad, if at all anyone questions you for the gap (which I very much doubt since it is just 21 days), just tell them. <S> By not putting company A, you are not necessarily hiding it; you feel it is not relevant. <S> However, companies have a last shot question if you have worked for or have any connection to a specific company or any of its competitors etc. <S> etc., if company A falls in the category then mention it if you are asked that question. <S> I will not say, 'What happens if the BGC agency finds out', I would say 'so what if they find out', you don't feel the company A relevant to the current job searching and you have left it out and have claimed only that you have declared in the CV, in terms of experience and otherwise. <A> For someone doing an extensive background check this would seem as: <S> you have some experience in the position you're applying for <S> you have some hobbies and other interests beside your core activities / occupation while having gaps between employments you're spending your time for the benefit of the community (depending on the character of the company A ) <S> or you're broadening your horizons <S> This way you won't mix irrelevant activities into your professional resume while keeping company <S> A on your resume.
| Why don't you have some sections on your resume, like "occupational experience" where you state company B , and later on something like "other activities / voluntary work" where you state company A , giving the time frames of the activities you performed.
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I was fired because I spent too much time on non-work activities. How should I explain it in an interview? Long story short, I worked as a junior web developer for slightly more than half a year. My first job ever, and I already had issues with procrastination, sort attention span, and the likes, you name it. My boss warned me after a rather long time and from that point, I put more effort to my fulfill my duties. Still, my boss claimed it's unhealthy for the office culture that he constantly finds me doing non-work related activities. [there are no directly enforced restrictions in the matter at said company, e.g. direct logging, banned addresses, etc] So I was fired. The problem is that when looking for a job, virtually every employer is interested in the reasons of leaving the previous job, so I have to explain. Needless to say, it's a red light for everyone, yet I need to be employed, obviously. How can I communicate this kind of issue for someone to not gamble their trust in me? <Q> As a developer myself, I know it is an unusual work environment you had indeed if you were able to procrastinate for long periods of time. <S> There is always something, however trivial, that could be worked on. <S> And I too had the same habits at one time. <S> You were fired for not putting in enough work. <S> Your boss noticed you doing things that were not work-related, but you have learned from this experience. <S> As it was your first development job, there may have been certain workplace norms you were unaware of before (such as if you run out of work, having a look at the backlog of low-priority bugs), that you now know to follow. <S> The best you can do is turn your manager's reason for dismissing you into an objective: you've learned to use more initiative to find work rather than waiting to give it. <S> You've gained a greater appreciation for time management. <S> These sorts of things, and can you demonstrate out-of-work or otherwise any evidence of them? <S> This shows you are committed to bettering yourself and it will not necessarily clash with any feedback you get from your former employer. <A> You may be able to get another job just by talking about your understanding of what went wrong and determination to behave differently in the future. <S> In case that does not work, you need an alternative plan in which you show the changes, rather than just talking about them. <S> Volunteer work and education both offer opportunities. <S> If you go with volunteer work, you need an opening that requires working on a project for at least a few days at a time. <S> Ideally, you will be able to get a reference from a supervisor. <S> For education, you need a course that requires focused effort, and results in a measured grade or certificate showing that you applied the effort successfully. <S> If you can pick something related to your work it will also demonstrate improving your technical skills. <A> Learn to concentrate on one job. <S> Be honest about your past but tell your future boss that you learned to improve yourself. <S> You did this and that (see 1). <S> And then I guess take basically the first job you can get to prove that you can work full time. <S> If you have that job for some time and do good full time work then that is a good position to look for a better job (if you want another job).
| In short, you could explain that you were fired for not doing enough work, but emphasise what you have learned from it and how you are actively improving on it.
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Am I compelled to take sick days? Some background is needed here. I'm a young worker from an IT company, so I'm lacking experience to deal with my current situation. I'm not quite the strong guy who can resist everything and be fine, more like the one who can get the cold very easily during autumn/winter. It's quite common for me to get sick three or even four times in that period. Not to the point I can't work, but to the point I'm tired and have difficulty to work. Yet, since it occurs quite often, and since I'll be okay after just one day I try as much as I can to not take sick leaves for such mild disease. It would impact my work more than coming to work while sick, and also definitely impact my paychecks in a way I can't handle it. Young worker means not much income, which I can't afford to lessen. The problem is, the first time, my coworkers where okay with that. After the second time, they began joking cynically about that. This year is the third time I do that, and definitely they're becoming bitter about the subject. They believe (rightfully or not), that by coming at the office sick, I make them sick too. I can't blame them for this, as I think it might be true to some extent (nonetheless, everyone in my office must take the metro to work, and meet probably tens of sick people there but whatever...). It has come to a point where it escalated gently to my project manager. By gently I mean it is no disciplinary action, just unofficial talks between me and the project manager, and in one occasion, with a part of the team. He wants me to take days off when I'm sick. And if at first, it was for my health they were concerned, now they are concerned by the team in general. Here comes my problem. It's been two weeks I'm not sick to the point I can't work. Yet I'm still occasionnaly coughing, blowing my nose, sneezing. When my coworker hear me, they feel uncomfortable as if I could still make them sick, and they tell it to me. Perhaps I can, but it's been two weeks, do they expect me to take ten days off to heal ? Do they expect me to do this every time I catch the cold ? Should I do that, it would require thirty days of leave. That's insanely huge. My situation is not too difficult yet, but I have the feeling it will worsen as time goes, like it already happen, going from "Okay don't overwork" to "Stay away from me forced laughter ". I think I might have to take sick days just to make my coworkers feel better and I don't like that idea. I don't like the idea either of being considered the cause of everyone's diseases. What are my best options at this point ? I considered : -Taking a day or two each time I'm sick, using my paid leaves. It will hurt my planned holidays but less than having something like 10 days of unpaid work a year. -Working remotely. Since I'm not sick to the point I can't work, asking my boss to work from home a day or two would help me curing my cold faster, without being seen as a 'viral weapon of mass destruction' by my coworkers. -Taking several days of sick leaves each time, mostly to accommodate my coworkers. Don't like such option, because I definitely don't need these and it would have a bad financial impact for me. -I considered coming to work with an antiviral face mask as people do in Asia, and to use an hydro alcoholic solution to wash frenetically my hands whenever I get sick. Yet I work in restricted access environment, and facial masks are really uncommon there. I fear it could be seen very negatively by security. -Last option, the one I wish to avoid : escalate to my direct manager (not the project one) or even to HR. In case nothing works, I just thought I could escalate, to ask being sent in another team. I already read this subject in the work place : Dealing with co-workers who don't want anyone to use sick days and so I understand what disturb my coworkers. Yet if I were to listen them every time they say "Stay at home" I'll end up unemployed soon for sure. Thanks for your help. <Q> If you have a fever, or if you have had a fever in the last 24 hours, it is your civic duty to stay home and avoid making other people sick. <S> In most circumstances, going to work when you are contagious is unprofessional behavior. <S> With all that said, it sounds like your problem runs a little deeper. <S> The fact that you are sniffling or coughing does not necessarily mean you are contagious. <S> Resolving your problem may be as simple as sharing some flu prevention tips with your coworkers. <S> Doing so will inform them, which should reduce some of the fear that they are exhibiting. <S> Also, it will show them that YOU understand the facts and how to avoid making your colleagues sick when you are contagious. <S> For more on flu prevention, check out the CDC website. <S> They have many useful resources, like this: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/updated/fluandyou_upright.pdf <A> This is a pickle alright. <S> Obviously, taking extra sick days just to make them paid isn't a very productive approach (not to mention that, base don what you said <S> , you'd only be paid roughly 6 out of 8 days, which means that you're still getting shafted for 1 or 2 days of pay, whether you go out for one or two days or you extend it. <S> Either way, your financial situation suffers the same hit. <S> Working from home seems like the best option of those you've mentioned, if your boss is okay with it. <S> You might want to make clear how frequently you expect to need this option, if you find yourself frequently getting sick for short periods. <S> Barring that, I would at least talk to someone in security about the mask idea. <S> Your concern there seems to be whether building security would take issue with you wearing a mask on your way in, so ask them one day, as you're going through, what their policy is regarding people with face coverings. <S> It may be sufficient to take it off briefly while going through security, and then you can put it back on while you're in the office. <A> I would have a short but serious talk with my general medical doctor in this case. <S> It is my understanding that 1) your coworkers are concerned about their health, not yours and 2) there may be the possibility that you are not contagious. <S> In my experience, it often happens that cold weather is causing sympthomps (e.g. cough, sneezing) <S> that are a normal body reaction and are not related with biological infection. <S> Namely bacteria and viruses. <S> Negotiating a work-from-home day is a plus. <S> That does not mean calling the doctor every day you feel unwell. <S> I expect that the doctor says something like "if you don't show bone pain and temperature at the same time, you can work". <S> That is an example. <S> Final word: use your doctor's professional advice to decide whether to go work or not. <S> If you go work, make it clear to your manager that you have been adviced by your doctor to go work, and there is no danger for the health of your coworkers. <A> if it's just minor symptomatic stuff, <S> I strongly suggest you take decongestants , which will nearly completely deal with the nose running/coughing/sneezing stuff. <S> Also, take supplements - i find krill oil, multivitamins and vitamin d to be really really helpful when taken consistently. <S> When you are properly ill, then take the day off. <S> You can also try to wfh when ill, which will probably be supported by your department.
| While I am no doctor and medical advice should not be allowed here, it is common sense that if you are just showing sympthoms without a real infection, there is no danger for the people around you. I would ask the doctor about what sympthoms to expect in order to take a sick day. If you can't afford to miss work, talk to your employer about other strategies, such as opportunities to work from home.
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My intended position means a colleague's job disappears, should I give him a heads-up? I'm wondering if I'm being loyal enough and how much of a heads up I should give a colleague whose job will disappear. My place of work has been reorganising, and one of the consequences is the previously existing datawarehouse has disappeared. My co-worker whose main responsibility was managing this datawarehouse seems to be expecting he will do something similar when we get a replacement for the datawarehouse. However, I know that under the intended new setup, providing the business with insight will entail more responsibilities than just database administration. I know this because I was asked to apply for the new function (and I intend to apply). Should I tell him? How should I tell him and what? To clarify: my intention is to help him. I know something he does not and it concerns him. So is there any way i can use what i know to help him? Edit 2:He was told recently he will lose his job, and it was a complete surprise. I'm left wondering if telling him sooner would have in any way objectively improved his situation, i think not. <Q> Personally, I wouldn't. <S> Ideally, you shouldn't even know about his job security and, as it's not certain, would only cause him to worry or panic. <S> Leave it with HR for now, they'll find out soon enough. <A> Ask yourself this question: imagine you tell him, he applies for the job, gets the job <S> , you don't, you don't get another job and during the mentioned re-organisation you're the one getting fired. <S> How will you feel? <S> If you answer that with I will feel good because I will feel having done the right thing." <S> then go ahead and tell him. <S> If you however answer that with I will feel bad for not having a job anymore. <S> then don't tell him. <A> The correct person/department will inform him about the changes in the company and the dissappearance of your colleagues job. <A> I'd keep it to myself and let HR do their job. <S> There might be alot of information that we don't know about. <S> What if they have a really favourable position at a different department for your colleague lined up? <S> You telling him might make him miss that amazing oppertunity. <S> Maybe they already contacted him about it. <S> And even if they do intend to lay him off, would you telling him be beneficial enough to warrant the risk? <A> Not something to share. <S> For one thing, suppose you inadvertantly get it wrong, or he gets the wrong idea. <S> Now its a problem for you as well. <A> I disagree with all the other answers. <S> Tell him what's happening, and what you intend to do. <S> Management and HR may not like it if you do that, but that's because they benefit from information asymmetry. <S> That's purely about their own jobs. <S> It's hard to argue that a company is damaged by having an informed workforce. <S> You do not stop being a human being when you walk through the office door. <S> Have the conversation with your co-worker after hours and off-site if you prefer, but it's the human thing to do. <A> I have another point to you - you may get fired for telling him. <S> For breaking your contract's confidentiality agreement, either explicit (in the contract) or implicitly (in work law in most countries). <S> If heh as not been informed - it is not your job to disclose it <S> and it is a breach of confidentiality. <S> Whiyh you agreed on. <S> Which means - you willing to break your own commitments to tell him? <A> Open heads-up is possible without interfering with HR's job. <S> Everyone including me and you should be prepared for eventuality of being no longer necessary. <S> I am saying this because the information I have looks serious and it is better for each of us to be prepared to find a new job. <S> This way, you are not doing unnecessary statements on who will lose the job and who will remain, because anything can theoretically happen (even that you will leave and he will be kept), but this way you are still passing the message which you want him to know. <S> (To understand that also future of his job might not be secure.) <S> I think this is open and truthful approach which can be helpful to him, if he considers your remark seriously. <S> In fact, even if I was managing a team, I would pass this information openly to the entire team. <S> To be early aware of more radical oncoming changes with possible impact on our jobs (without details who will be let go, maybe they are not definite anyway) is my service to my team.
| If your colleague is going to be made redundant due to a restructure, then this is for HR to disclose and not yourself. I would not tell him, as it is not your job to do so. You can carefully help him by a note: I have information that organizational changes in our part of company will go deeper than it might look.
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What are the problems with asking my employer to work less than 40 hours per week? I am a full-time, salaried software engineer who has been with my current company for 3 years in good standing, and I'm currently struggling with chronic lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) that makes it painful to use a computer. I'm considering asking my employer if I can reduce my minimum required working hours from 40 hours per week to something like 30 hours per week. I understand that this may not go over well. What are the potential issues with this request? Is this a reasonable thing to ask? Edit: I work in the USA <Q> What are the potential issues with this request? <S> Is this a reasonable thing to ask? <S> It depends on the type of work you're doing. <S> Can you get your workload done in 30hrs instead of 40hrs? <S> Do they need to recruit a new employee for 10hrs a week to do your 'left over' work? <S> Do your clients require you to work 40hrs? <S> Or is it okay if your work just takes longer (same hours, but more days)? <S> Potential issue (that I can think of) is your employer thinking your work cannot be done part-time. <S> (This may be for good reasons!) <S> Have any of you ever changed from full 40 hours per week to less and been happy with that decision? <S> A couple of years ago I went from full time (40 hours) to 80% (32 hours) because I wanted to <S> and it's been the best decision of my (working) life. <S> "Cons" <S> Everything is 80% (vacation days, pay), so check if you can still pay your rent after going to less hours <S> I have a fixed day off, <S> always Monday, if a public holiday is on Monday, my day off is 'lost' Pros <S> I feel much better myself, more fun at work and at life in general. <S> Ps. <S> I'm in the Netherlands <A> Consider different accommodations other than a limited work week: longer and possibly more frequent break periods <S> a modified seating arrangement taking on other tasks that require less typing (I realize this can be difficult for a programmer, but you're team would probably prefer to have you talk to clients and customers on the phone instead of them.). <S> use speech recognition for answer email and writing other documents/non programming typing. <S> having ice, heating pad, pain medication available at your desk <S> You're probably not the first person with this affliction that needs to have a job, so speak with a physical or occupational therapist and find out what has worked for other patients. <S> Spreading out a 40 hour work week may be just as good as 30 with fewer breaks. <A> You can ask, but be prepared to receive a no. <S> If you can present a solid argument to the company why working reduced hours would be a benefit to yourself and the company, you're more likely to receive it. <S> Example of things are talking about self care and looking after yourself. <S> Would they prefer an employee who can work 100% for 30 hours or an employee who can only work 80% for 40 hours? <S> Would they prefer someone who tries to solve their issue with small time off now, or wait and let your issues develop further so you have to take actual medical leave instead? <S> Be prepared to receive reduced pay, less benefits (E.g. holiday allowance) and other things. <S> However, you may be protected by law and regulations, but you'd need to check your local legislations. <S> I've known several people who have gone down to reduced hours, due to home commitments or self care, and have found it's allowed a new lease on life. <S> This is in Western Europe though and not all shoes fit all feet!
| Also, if you are in a employed in an at will state, an employer could take it as a sign of weakness and decide to let you go to find an employee in better health. It depends on your company and your boss though. The key thing is everything is open to negotiation.
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Is it risky to ask to increase salary after job offer? I had final interview where the company said they would like to have me as new colleague. However, they said my salary's suggestion is over their budget because they are small company, but they would try to give me a best offer. They didn't say (or I didn't ask) how much they would offer me.And today, they sent me the draft contract, everything is fine, only the salary not quite, after probation I would get the salary the same amount as my last job. Now, is it too late or too risky to ask to increase the salary, even just a small increase? <Q> I think now might be the perfect time to ask because you haven't accepted it yet, so the contract (and salary) is still open for negotiation. <S> It's always worth asking because the worst they can say is "no". <S> Whether you accept their lower offer or not is down to you. <A> To answer your question, yes, there is a small risk involved in asking for a bigger salary, but it is very small if proposed in a non-greedy way, especially if you aren't getting a raise over your current situation. <S> For example: I'm thrilled that you've offered me this position. <S> Everything seems to fit and honestly it'd be an easy decision if the salary were a little higher <S> : I've noticed with the currently salary I would wind up making the same I make at my current job. <S> Is there anything you can do to help this make a little more sense financially? <S> Last, I'd like to comment of this part of your situation: <S> they said my salary's suggestion is over their budget because they are small company <S> IMO, if a company is already telling you they are small and can't pay much before you've even started working there, then they are likely quite cheap. <S> If you go there, I wouldn't expect to see many financial incentives. <S> Of course, money isn't everything and is just one part of fulfillment at work, but I just want to call that out. <A> The above answers are very good. <S> However let's look at this a different way. <S> You are an expense. <S> You're looking at this from what the company can do for you (ie. <S> the salary). <S> Instead, show what you can do for them to make the company more profitable. <S> Talk in business terms of how you will add to the bottom line which will justify the larger salary. <A> I have worked for a number of and owned a few small businesses. <S> I have rarely heard any of them admit to an potential employee, " we are flush with cash, I just bought a bigger ski boat and we're shopping for a winter home" or anything similar. <S> We're small and barely squeaking by is the mantra of many if not most small business owners. <S> Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. <S> As long as your paycheck is correct and on time none of that is your concern. <S> It's not your company. <S> You didn't take the risk and invest the long hours to create and run it. <S> In my experience however, before getting hired is the absolute best time to negotiate. <S> Especially with small companies and especially in areas with limited opportunities or if your work background is less than ideal. <S> They say they are cash strapped now, guess what when you ask for a raise in whatever amount of time they say they will "revisit" the topic? <S> Very likely they will say they are cash strapped there as well. <S> Once you are working there, you have inertia in that role at that company. <S> It is less likely you will leave if they refuse a raise or slow <S> play it until you give up. <S> If you are going to try to negotiate for more, do it before you agree to employment. <S> After you work there, all bets are off and you have much less leverage than you think. <A> In this particular case however, [...] over their budget because they are small company, but they would try to give me a best offer <S> In this case you might push for other things that translate to money: More vacation, a faster review cycle, bonus... etc. <S> They probably won't retract their offer just because someone asked for more money, but you might come off as greedy if you phrase it the wrong way. <S> What constitues a "wrong way" depends on the people you deal with, and perhaps subject to another answer, so I wish good luck to you. <A> First, find out what a reasonable rate is for your location and position. <S> The the stackoverflow developer salary survey, or check job sites like indeed.com's salary comparison . <S> Highlight again how great you are for the company. <S> When you think about your salary, make sure to include all benefits, like work from home days that may safe you a commute, annually bonuses, and so on. <S> If the offer is just a bit short of the rate you found, I'd probably not ask for more. <S> You may lose some goodwill when it comes to bonuses or the next round of raises. <S> It's much easier to point at your success throughout the last year and then ask for a raise.
| Once you know what is reasonable and the offer is way off, ask for a better salary, pointing out that this seems to be the going rate for this job and place. In general you can ask for more before you accept, and arguably you should. The answer to your question depends a lot on where you are located, the type of business it is, how crappy your current work environment is, your background and a number of other factors.
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Feeling sick before phone interview I have a phone interview in less than 24 hours. I have been feeling increasingly unwell. It has affected my ability to prepare but expect to be able to at least physically have a 30 minute phone call. Should I let the interviewer know this or ask to reschedule? This is a first round interview but given it's with a technical person I'd be working with, I think it's more than a pulse check (e.g. I expect him to ask me technical test questions). <Q> If you're too sick to interview, then I would reschedule. <S> You can attempt to do the interview and tell them you've been sick, but if it makes you inarticulate or forget answers, then the interviewer can't just assume you would've known if you were feeling better. <S> Most employers aren't going to hold it against you that you can't make a job interview unless it seems obvious that you're blowing them off. <S> These kinds of things can be a good litmus test for the company where you're interviewing. <S> Do you really want to work for a company that can't accept that you get sick from time to time? <S> There is nothing unprofessional about rescheduling. <A> I'd suggest continuing with the interview and, during the opening introductions, tell him you've been unwell lately. <S> He (or she) will appreciate the honesty and will reflect well on you. <S> Plus, they might take it easier on you if you hesitate on some answers. <S> Having conducted interviews, I think postponing the session is worse than pushing through - especially for the sake of 30 minutes. <S> Interviewing when you're ill demonstrates you're keen on the role, but rescheduling might imply the opposite. <A> You cannot know for sure the nature of the interview without asking them . <S> You are just assuming things. <S> I also assumed heavy interviews when talking with technical people, and in a couple of times, they just wanted to know me as a possible future workmate as part of the process. <S> Share a bit of the decision of delaying with them. <S> They also get sick often in a while, and will most probably understand where you are coming from.
| Ask them wether the interview will just be a light chat, or testing your knowledge, and if it the former, you can have it, while ill, if the latter, say you would prefer to delay it a couple of days.
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What can I do if the company owner dismisses my sexual harassment complaint? A male coworker made sexual remarks about me. One of the managers saw and heard it but did not confront him. The company owner has a very violent temper, so out of fear, I did not report it. However, one day this person threatened to punch me in the face, so I felt I had to speak up. Since the manager was off, I called the owner. My aggressor admitted to the owner that he had threatened me, but he said he was joking. The owner just asked him to apologize to me, and asked us to "get along" if we wanted to keep our jobs. Next day, I heard the owner telling the manager that he was tired of hearing my complaints, and he didn't want to hear about it any more. I confronted the owner and told him that if he wasn't going to help me, I would make a police report. He responded aggressively, asking me to go ahead with the police report, and said that he would tell the police I wasn't threatened at work. I asked him why he had a problem with me. He pointed out that I had complained about other coworkers in the past, and that he wasn't going to keep dealing with the issue. He also remarked that "something was wrong with me". After this incident, the manager stopped talking to me, and the owner doesn't even look at me any more. I find it so difficult to work in this environment. I am losing my appetite, I can't sleep, and I feel a huge fear every day I go to work. What can I do to deal with this situation? <Q> Document everything - what was said by whom, who was around when it was said, and what response your manager and company owner had to you reporting it. <A> Find proof. <S> Record the sexual harassment (screenshots of texts, messages, etc). <S> Find witnesses that are willing to give testimonies. <S> Know your rights. <S> If you are in the United States, you are protected under Title IX federal law. <S> Report to the police and get an attorney. <S> Look for another job with a positive, humanitarian work environment. <S> Take care of your mental health. <S> Try meditation to help you stay grounded and centered. <A> The terrible behavior displayed by all parties is despicable . <S> I would also consult with your attorney as to the impact of your case <S> should you leave your job while suing the company. <S> Your lawyer will go through the steps you need to take in order to best build up your case. <S> Ultimately for your own well being, you need to move on to a better company even if you win the case. <S> You just may have to alter the timing of your move base on what is best for your law suite.
| Start looking for another job. If the sexual harassment continues, keep recording it, and seek advice from a lawyer. In this case, you need to hire an attorney to sue the owner, possibly the manager, and the company .
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Colleague asks me to compare my performance with other person, should I provide this info? Me and two other developers (A and B) work remotely for an IT company. Here's the situation: Coworker A has a hostile attitude towards others, sometimes mentions that they don't work well enough when talking in person, refuses to help others to find bug causes (even if he knows them) and so on. This occasional behavior clearly annoys most of us, including management, but he is a stellar performer who always works overtime, so he gets away with it. Coworker B is a nice guy, and, in my opinion, more competent, even though he does not always perform as well as A. A and B recently got into argument the details of which I don't know. After that, A started harassing B at each opportunity. A couple months ago A told me that he "will be responsible for our part of development and mentoring new employees in our area, as discussed with management". B and I recently started working on another project of the same company (though we still continue to work on our main product) by request of the management. This annoys A, because "not enough work is done for the main product". A now asks me to compare my performance and B's performance working on that other project. I am hesitant to provide this info, because I cannot imagine any good use for it (he probably could've just asked us both about hours spent on that project, but I suppose he avoids talking to B or doesn't trust him). I could just ask management if I should provide this info, but everyone always shares information openly in our company, and I don't want to create an impression like I don't trust my coworkers in general (I only don't trust this one). I am also afraid this info can be used for malicious purposes and cause harm to either B or me, but I'm not sure how. Is there a way I could phrase my concern to the management while avoiding sounding suspicious? Also, if management will then ask A why he needs this info, he won't trust me anymore and probably use an opportunity to get me fired if he gets a managerial position. What should I do in this situation? Thanks! <Q> It sounds like you're just taking A's word for things, and not running them past management at all. <S> I'd even go as far as to say you're letting him scare you into not going to management. <S> A couple months ago A told me that he "will be responsible for our part of development and mentoring new employees in our area, as discussed with management". <S> At this point you should have fired off a quick email to your manager asking for clarification - is A now your manager, since he's responsible for your part of development? <S> Is he just the team lead? <S> And can your manager confirm that what he's saying is accurate? <S> A now asks me to compare my performance and B's performance working on that other project. <S> Again: I could just ask management if I should provide this info, but everyone always shares information openly in our company, and I don't want to create an impression like I don't trust my coworkers in general <S> You're overthinking it - <S> if he's requesting something odd, you should absolutely run it past your manager (and ask exactly what you should be sharing.) <S> You don't need to skirt around the issue particularly. <S> You should just state that this seems like an odd request (as B could just pass his hours on directly) and you want to get clarification that it's definitely ok. <S> Also, if management will then ask A why he needs this info, he won't trust me anymore and probably use an opportunity to get me fired if he gets a managerial position. <S> If he doesn't trust you because you've run a request for something that seems rather odd past management, and then would want to fire you or make your life miserable if he's promoted, is that really somewhere you're keen on staying anyway?! <A> What sort of management do you have? <S> Ideally it should be the sort where you can just informally ask your manager if they know about this request for information, and what it's for. <S> If A is surreptitiously trying to do something behind management's back, you and management may be better off knowing that. <S> Is there a way I could phrase my concern to the management while avoiding sounding suspicious? <S> Also, if management will then ask A why he needs this info, he won't trust me anymore and probably use an opportunity to get me fired if he gets a managerial position. <S> You seem to be talking yourself into a situation where A is allowed to talk to management, but you aren't for fear of the consequences. <S> That's not going to end well for you. <A> If you don't have the request from A in writing I would require it in writing before acting on it. <S> Unless specifically instructed to keep this from B I would work with B in developing a fair and thorough comparison document clearly co-authored by both and deliver it to A in an email with B and your manager CCed. <S> Stupid games win stupid prizes.
| If you do send a reply to the question, try to word it very carefully so that nothing in it can be used against either you or B. If you can word it to say how well you and B get on as a team, then that's all the better.
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How long should I wait after salary negotiation email? I got my first job offer, but they offered me a very low salary that is going to make it hard for me to even pay rent and transportation. I sent an email negotiating for a higher salary, and it has been 2 working days with no response. How long should I wait? I really don't want them to change their mind, especially that I don't have any other job offer. <Q> How long should I wait? <S> I would suggest depending on what day of the week <S> you begin the negotiations to be patient and wait anywhere from 3-7 business days . <S> If you start negotiating on Wednesday, it may push further into the following week as most decision maker's are hammered from a scheduling perspective on Monday's. <S> Also, you need to factor in how much more <S> you are asking for ( more time off, more cash, etc. <S> as it all has a cost ). <S> This amount may surpass what the immediate hiring manager is able to do without further approvals. <S> This could add several additional days to the process due to travel, vacations, sickness, etc. <S> In other words don't have a hard and fast timeline in your head. <S> Be patient. <S> On the flip side, if your only asking for a small additional concessions, then I would expect this to be handled typically in a couple of days. <S> In short, the further apart <S> you are in the negotiations, the longer you should expect them to take. <S> The negotiation process, a good read. <A> One week is typical for follow ups. <S> Any more frequent <S> and you might be seen as a pest, any less, and you may be seen as disinterested. <S> One week is customary. <A> Sending them an email soon after the initial email might seem that you are desperate. <S> That won't well for you. <S> On the other hand, not sending a reminder/follow-up email might show that you are either scared of approaching them, or you are too casual with the issue. <S> I wanted to know one thing from you situation, did they offer you the position during the interview, or some days after the interview via phone call? <S> I am asking this because, if they offered you the position during the interview/face-to-face, then you should have negotiated the salary then and there itself. <S> You shouldn't have delayed it. <S> But this depends on when you were given job confirmation. <S> Source: <S> Personal experience
| I would recommend waiting at least a week before sending them a 'friendly reminder'.
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How to ask for a contract with out a non compete agreement? I got my first job offer, and in the offer it says: After joining service with us, you will undertake not to seek any employment with our competitors for a period of (2) two years from the date of termination, resignation or completion of your service without the prior approval of the company. I would like to accept the offer but the salary is not enough even after negotiating. Can I ask for a contract without a non compete and will that solve the problem just in case I get a better offer? If so, how can I negotiate to have an unlimited contract and does this mean I can leave the company at any time? <Q> I don't know where you work <S> but here, in France, it is mandatory for the company to compensate you in order to endorse this statement (25-50% of your gross annual salary). <S> If the company don't pay, you are free to seek another job. <S> Search for your local laws and past court case to see if your local laws are the same. <A> Depending upon your jurisdiction and the details of the non-compete clause, it may or may not be enforceable. <S> You'll need to consult a local attorney to get usable advice there. <S> You should also get clarification about what companies (or types of companies) are considered "competitors" to this organization. <S> As well as who determines whether another company is a competitor or not. <S> With a broad enough definition and a jurisdiction that allows enforcement of such clauses, they could effectively prevent you from working in your chosen field at all for two years even if they fire you . <S> But, this may all be a moot point. <S> If you're not satisfied with the salary even after negotiation, why worry about anything else? <S> Just decline and move on. <A> In the US they are generally considered non-enforceable except for very high-level jobs (think C-level or similar). <S> Keep in mind, if you are in sales, they may have recourse if you leave and take clients with you, especially if you have a non-compete. <A> The key part of your question seems to me to be "I would like to accept the offer but the salary is not enough even after negotiating. <S> " <S> The 2-year non-compete clause just makes the salary problem even worse. <S> This appears to be one of those times.
| Sometimes, your best option is to walk away.
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I want to work in big teams. How to convince future employers that I can? I have been a developer for a number of years. I have always worked in small teams, and never had the chance to work as part of a bigger team. Due to this, I find myself at a major disadvantage when I apply for jobs that mention agile. However, the way I see it, the business problem I have to solve technically is no different. Why do companies consider it so important to have experience working as part of a bigger team? How can I address this concern in the interview? <Q> Why do companies consider it so important to have experience working as part of a bigger team? <S> You are assuming here. <S> Companies (especially Agile teams) care mainly about: <S> if you have the proper technical skills if you are a good team player if you are transparent <S> and if you deliver high quality work <S> And you don't have to be worked with big teams to have all the above. <S> A little agile background for you case: <S> They probably "care" because they are looking for a cross-functional group of people working together . <S> Agile is being flexible and updated/updating at all times. <S> In agile teams, you won't be responsible for one feature(or product) and handle <S> only those customers requests and/or bug fixing - which happens usually within small companies/teams. <S> How can I address this concern in the interview? <S> It is not hard at all to learn how agile process works and get yourself familiar with it. <S> I had 5 jobs in my life and first 4 jobs were within small companies/teams. <S> This one is the first agile team job (25+ developers total, 4 agile teams). <S> I got in by <S> Educating myself <S> so I was able show that I know the process, and I showed interest to work within such a team and that I would love to help/get help on daily basis, report my status on daily basis and demonstrate my work <S> every sprint (agile term - specific period of time). <A> I would like to know what you consider to be small & large. <S> Without that, I feel that we can't really help After a few ( cough ) decades in real-time embedded development <S> the biggest s/w development team I ever worked in was about 11, IIRC. <S> Generally, it tends to be 7 or 8. <S> Coincidentally, we got a new <S> s/w manager recently <S> & yesterday he announced a reorg saying that in future all s/w teams will have 4 to 7 members. <S> I think that when it gets above 10, it gets to be unwieldy and naturally breaks down into sub-teams anyway. <S> Are you talking about small projects , rather than teams? <S> There are 8 of us on s/w development at the moment, but I have daily interactions with systems engineering, the project & the s/w architects, the firmware/hardware guys and the verification team. <S> We are probably between 40 & 60 in total on the project - could that be what you are talking about? <S> I am afraid that, much as I would like to help you, your question is not very clear. <S> (posted as answer, rather than comment, due to length. <S> I will update to a true answer if the OP clarifies) <A> Is it possible you're conflating large companies and agile? <S> Some larger companies are a little more literal in their requirements whether it is due to them being more selective or they sometimes have people involved in the early stages of hiring who don't really understand technical requirements. <S> If you don't have experience in an agile environment, they may prefer hiring people who do. <S> There may be concern about you not having experience on an agile team. <S> It can be a controversial topic. <S> Developers either love it or hate it. <S> They may be assuming you've tried to avoid it in your career. <S> Unless you start interviewing with smaller and or non-agile companies, it is difficult to determine what he problem is. <A> What i did few years back, was, taking two Agile classes online and getting a PRINCE2 Fundamentals certification (classroom study). <S> it was not too expensive and only cost me net 8 days. <S> The certification shows not just the actual knowledge you have gained in the area, but also, that you have identified an potential issue with your professional skillset and proactively addressed it on your own. <S> If you serious about getting in the big development teams, perhaps it can help. <S> Maybe the study will give you a "leg-up" for some positions available there. <A> If you actively contribute to some quite large open source project (think of something with a million lines of source code), it has a large team of contributors and you'll learn a lot by working on that project. <S> But it is really difficult. <S> You could use some Linux distribution and choose some large software there (e.g. Libreoffice, Qt, GTK, GCC, ...). <S> You may need several months of work before having your first (small) patch accepted! <S> If you are unfamiliar with free software development, I would recommend to start first to contribute to some smaller open source project (e.g. a few hundred thousand lines, just a dozen of active developers). <S> You'll find many of them (e.g. on github ). <S> Choose the one you are interested in. <S> You'll learn a lot of things (both technically and socially) by actively contributing to some free software project. <S> And prospective employers would notice you.
| Since it is a software development job, I would recommend to actively participate to some existing free software project (perhaps on your spare time).
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Company wants back a miscalculated salary As a little bit of background, I have been working in Germany for about a year now. It is a startup company with less than 40 people. Last December I received €1.7k more than my usual salary. I reported this to my immediate manager (who is also one of the partners and top management). He said sometimes it happens at the end of the year, and it is ok. I waited for a couple weeks and there were no follow ups. So I used the money. Today, my manager told me that it was actually a mistake at somewhere and I should pay the money back. What options do I have? Is it possible to reject such a demand? There is a law for pretty much everything in Germany. Is there a law or at least a widely accepted rule for such a situation? To be clear, my manager is a really cool guy and he was also very uncomfortable while giving me these news. So I really don't want a problem with him. <Q> If this were a situation with a bank, you would be able to keep the money in most places. <S> However, this is your employers we're talking about. <S> You can take the stance that he said it was OK some 2 weeks ago, and that you're not returning the sum, however that will probably get you fired. <S> You could fight them over it in a court of law, and you may even win (which may be difficult because you have no written statement saying you can keep the money). <S> However, do you want to ruin this relationship with the company? <S> If not, just give them the money back. <S> It's not a large sum, and it's probably not worth your energy, effort, and - potentially - reputation. <A> I am not a lawyer, so I won't comment on the legalities of the situation. <S> However, if you get on well with your boss and with the company then you should try to come to some agreement with them. <S> I don't think the company will be flexible with the amount they get back, but they should be more flexible with the time frame. <S> In previous instances where I have had to pay money back to an employer (contractually) they have been more than happy to arrange a monthly repayment plan, with the amount usually deducted from my payslip. <S> Figure out how much you could easily afford to pay back each month and get from that how long it would take you to pay off the amount. <S> If it would take you 12 months they might still be reluctantly accepting of that, especially considering the incorrect information your supervisor initially told you. <A> As gathered through clarification in the comments your salary statement doesn't say anything about this extra money, but your bank statement was increased by 1700€ compared to your usual salary. <S> This means it is a mistake by accounting and must be paid back. <S> Moreover, if you don't pay it back this is almost certainly illegal as you basically received an extra 1700€ <S> which didn't go through the tax and social security deductions. <S> Your employer is entitled to ask for renumeration of this overpayment for up to three years. <S> Spending it all this quickly was a mistake and may put you in a difficult situation. <S> The sum is nothing to sneeze at (pretty much an average monthly salary after deductions). <S> I recommend paying it back as quickly as possible, if you can't afford to do so immediately offer to pay in affordable monthly rates. <S> If something like this happens again, do not ask your manager, talk directly to someone in accounting. <S> The people there are more likely to know what happened and correct any possible mistake.
| If you can repay in 3-6 months then I would expect any reasonable company to be able to accommodate that.
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1 Month barely have done any work (System Engineer) I was hired about 30 days ago by the COO who's recruiter is a "friend" of his. I also interviewed with the VP and Director of IT who I directory report to. After waiting an unusual month and a half they finally gave me a start date. It has to be very obvious that I barely being put to any use. I have been given micro tasks by the VP and not only immediately came back with scripted solutions, I have even solved security issues that no-one can figure out. The problem seems to be here that the CTO pushes back on giving me production access, or installing any development tools. To make this company even more odd, the development team that works offshore for us, He is the CEO of. To be clear, during the interview the CTO did tell me this is not a position for development in their primary system. The VP and COO said they have a lot of other systems that have technical debt on top of a technical need for local support of how the main systems works from a technical perspective. I literally sit here. Some of you would say i am sure to try to be pro-active and ask questions or talk to HR. First of all again its obvious to my manager I am not being used and to the co-workers around me. Second, there is no HR, at least not until last week did they finally fill that position. I took this job because I could not stand the commute of 1 hour plus a day, of 10 hours of hard work a day. I now have a 5 minute commute of absolutely no work a day and its driving me insane as I would like to be productive. The company making money and moving forward, Is it growing They are busy, and I am getting paid Is it a small to midsize company in its growth post start up phase in the USA, my department there are about 7 people. I am using my office time to keep up on technologies that are relevant to the position.The co-workers are just working and making regular conversation with me. I have asked them to please let me know if there are any tasks they have that I could take off of their hands. My contract (full time) is full of vague IT related responsibilities and is very vague but all of what i would suspect for a System/Software Engineer What should I do here? P.S. I would really like to make it work here. Another job move would look horrible on my resume. The company and people are very nice here personally. I really should not make another move until at least 3 months and do not want to start any bees nest and find myself out of employment. <Q> I can tell you from experience (being in IT) that this is normal. <S> Your team is giving you time to ramp up and learn. <S> The first 2-3 months are usually to get your feet wet and understand the dynamics of the company. <S> Ask other team members how long it took for them to be assigned the responsibilities of where they are at. <S> What you can do is the following: 1) <S> Talk to your manager about low hanging fruits / projects that are simple and an easy "win" for your team. <S> Concentrate on those 2) <S> Learn the business. <S> From beginning to end. <S> Gather documents, read them and ask questions when you can how things are done there 3) <S> Learn about the projects the team are currently working on. <S> Try to see if there are areas you can do to help that you can solve. <S> 4) Propose a plan to your management/lead on how you would like to take more challenges day by day and prove you are up to speed. <S> Even if he shuts them down then go back on learning what you can do to be productive. <S> 5) Tell your manager that you're so bored it's not good for you mentally. <S> See if he can give you something he knows you can do. <S> Key point: Don't stop learning just because you have no assigned task. <S> The faster you can prove that you are an asset, the faster they'll dump work on you. <S> Soon enough, you'll post another question on how to stop people dumping work on you. <A> I'm in the exact same position. <S> I have been working as a consultant for a company for 3 years now and I am paid very good money for it. <S> However, I really don't have much to do <S> and it's driving me insane. <S> I talked to my bosses about it <S> multiple times, everybody is well aware of my situation but still, I only have about 2 to 4 hours or actual work per week. <S> I often thought that it was some sort of punition to push me to quit or something (they do that in France)... <S> but my contract has been renewed 4 times?? <S> They could have let me go many times, but they didn't. <S> I really don't get it. <S> Often I thought about quitting, but the people here are very nice and kind to me and it's what keeping me going. <S> So, I keep myself busy. <S> I read and experiment with the latest technologies <S> and I try to be pro-active and everything. <S> I did manage to learn and improve my skills over time and make sure that that time is not a total loss. <A> You're seen as a potential threat by the CTO and therefore are being left out. <S> However you're being paid which is pretty important and your job would be viewed as ideal by a lot of people and you were told at the start that you wouldn't be working on their primary system. <S> Basically you have a support role <S> but nothing much has come up requiring support, so you don't have many choices <S> and you haven't been deceived. <S> If the job is a bad fit then job hunt, you seem to still be on probationary period, this is one of the reasons there is one. <S> Personally it has only been a month <S> , I'd do whatever I could find and fill the time educating myself on how the business works and looking for potential tweaks I could make in my field. <S> I have had jobs where support was hardly ever needed, but when it was it was critical. <S> Many jobs can be like that in many industries. <S> Think airport firecrew, once every five years they may have an emergency, the rest of the time training, upskilling etc,. <S> Most likely they are still finalising what tasks to give you, it would be rare outside of govt to employ a person to do nothing in your position. <S> So just keep mentioning you are short of work.
| Teach yourself what your company is all about and find ways to be productive to your team and the business users.
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Concerned with my boss presenting my project/presentation About 8 months ago, a coworker and I worked on a project which lasted about 4 months to complete. After completion, we as a team presented the findings to 3 different groups of increasing authority. Everything went well as far as I could tell with the presentations. However, we have recently been asked to present again to a member of upper management. This is actually very exciting for the both of us, since this member of upper management is very influential in the company, and this would give us some good visibility on some sound work we've done. We have just been informed that my boss's boss would prefer that my boss give the presentation with us in the room as support. This bothered me a little because I have always held myself to give credit where due and take responsibility for my work, and I feel this is undermining this ideal for me and my coworker. My boss does not know the information nearly as well as my team does and I believe the presentation would suffer because of this. Not trying to devalue my boss, I just think the presentation would be better suited if my team presented it. It is also worth noting that my boss's boss just assumed his new role a couple of weeks ago. I understand that in the end I'll just do what my boss tells me to, but I am wondering if it would be out of line and seem selfish to bring this concern up to my boss? The last thing I want is this to come off as some sort of power struggle; so if believed that I should confront my boss then what is some phrasing to avoid? <Q> While I can understand and appreciate why you might be feeling a bit put out by this <S> I really don't think you have anything to gain by bring it up with your boss. <S> It wasn't their decision to change who gave the presentation and I really can't see them going against their boss to try and change it. <S> Given you will be in the room "for support" (as you put it) <S> I don't think this is a case where you will be missing out on the credit for the work. <A> Let your Boss do it, as other have pointed out it want his call. <S> Two more things: 1) <S> Use of this time to build a relationship with your (new) boss. <S> Spend as much time prepping him as needed. <S> Then fully support him in the room during the presentation. <S> (If he refused to be properly prepped don't push the issue but make a mental note, this may not be the best guy to work with) 2) <S> During the presentation make keep a look out to how he handles credit, he should give you and your team full credit. <S> If he doesn't even acknowledge your contribution, start looking for job as this is not a guy who will be looking out for you long term. <A> There may be many reasons why your boss's boss made that decision. <S> It may not be a good idea to die on this hill, especially since the decision maker is new to the organization. <S> You mentioned your boss does give credit where it is due (in a comment I think). <S> Thank your lucky stars for that. <S> Not everyone is so fortunate. <S> Be collaborative with your boss on it. <S> She/ <S> He is your "champion" going into this, support them well, make them look good and it will reflect well on all of you. <S> Be ready to hop in with further details, if prompted, but beyond that the cards are going to fall where they fall. <S> Has the boss's boss seen your presentation? <S> Did they make this choice after seeing the original group? <S> They may be looking for a different voice, different frame, politics at play, whatever. <S> At least you get to be in the room for visibility. <S> Use that to your advantage, smile and act like all is well even if it turns out to be hot garbage. <S> Nothing shows character like a crisis, so represent your personal brand well. <S> That's the best you can do.
| I understand your point regarding your boss not knowing the work quite as well as you and your team do but the best approach for this (and one that I think would serve to up your professional reputation with your boss) would be to offer to give them a primer on the presentation in advance if they want.
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How to stop a coworker from constantly nagging about joining his "initiative" In my open-space office our 5-man team, "A" sits next to 8-man team "B". About 3 weeks ago, a colleague from HR came and asked team "B" to mind their behaviour because they were rather loud and tended to swear quite a bit. In order to accommodate quickly, they decided that for each curse one has to throw some change into a jar. Their method proved effective, as they control each other strictly. About a week later, they suggested that our team join their "jar fund" and everyone except me agreed to do so. It is not a matter of the insignificant fine amount, but rather that I do not wish to be monitored in such a manner, despite the fact that I hardly ever swear (definitely the least of them all). I explained why I wouldn't take part and deemed this issue settled. However, one team "B" member keeps nagging me about paying the fine for my grand total of 2 curses (something silly like "damn," no less) basically every day and completely ignores the fact that I'm not taking part. I clearly let him know multiple times that he's being annoying but he doesn't seem to care. At this point, I've definitely ran out of patience and will probably get very unpleasant very soon. Generally, I would not hold back but I don't want to perform a full-fledged rant at work. I could notify his superior, but I would rather deal with it personally. To make it clear: I no longer care about having a good relationship with that person, but I don't want to be "that guy" who reports others for generally insignificant reasons. What is the best way to handle this situation? Update: So it turns out that the problem fixed itself as the nagging coworker received a notice due to multiple complaints from the client regarding his lack of commitment and work ethic and was allowed to leave immediately. <Q> <A> Unfortunately, not participating in this is going to get you labeled as "not a team player", which is a CLM (career limiting move) of the first order. <S> My advice to you would be to participate, since you don't curse often, it would do little harm. <S> Your concern in being "that guy" is indeed founded. <S> BUT if you insist, here is the proper way to do so without doing major damage to your career, go to that person and say... <S> Look, I understand that the teams are participating in this, but I don't feel comfortable, so I am not. <S> Please let this matter drop, the rest of the team has. <S> Then, if this person still persists... <S> Look, we've already discussed this and I am not participating. <S> If we need to get your supervisor involved, we can, but I would prefer not to. <S> Then let the matter drop. <S> If he still persists then, and only then approach his supervisor with... <S> Hi, I'm sorry to bother you with what might seem a petty matter, but I've had several conversations with Joe about letting the matter with the curse jar drop, and he won't. <S> This is making me a bit uncomfortable, could you please talk to him? <S> Again, you don't want to make a huge issue of this, or you WILL BE "that guy" <A> My suggestion (which has worked for me in analogous situations): <S> "I am allergic to collective coercion." <S> [the first nag of each week] <S> "It's still a no, I am afraid." <S> [after that, for a few times] <S> "It's still a no." <S> [for the rest of the day] "No." <S> [for the rest of the week] Always said in even and unperturbed voice, no matter how often it is repeated. <S> Don't even try to convince them to stop nagging. <S> That's the key. <A> Next time he mentions it... <S> Calmly, pull out your wallet, pull out a $10 or $20 bill, make a giant and flamboyant gesture of walking over to the jar. <S> Make sure you get everyone's attention. <S> Make sure everyone sees the denomination of the bill. <S> Even hold the bill stretched out right up to his face. <S> (Always smiling of course.) <S> When everyone is watching, slowly put the bill into the jar while announcing that you are pre-paying for every swear you will make till the end of your career. <S> Alternatively, as J.R. suggested, you could go about it in an understated way. <S> You probably know what is appropriate and will work best between you and them. <S> Get back to work. <A> Tell him you don’t carry change. <S> The last thing you want to do is play games - like bringing in your own “nag” jar. <S> It only reinforces the confrontation. <S> Keep it professional, even if they don’t. <S> Tell him you don’t have any change <S> and you’re not playing his game. <S> Then just stop responding, and get back to work. <S> Consider this: if you were to go to your manager over this, and asked him/her how to properly handle the issue, do you think he/she would say “Take it one step further. <S> Bring in your own jar, label it ‘nag’, and set it on your desk.” <S> Or would he/she say “just ignore them.” <A> More seriously, if you've already explicitly told him you didn't take part in the jar thingy (i.e. explicitly stated "I don't do the swear jar. <S> Please stop pestering me about it." ), having a talk with his team leader could be rather harmless if done correctly and defuse the situation rather than going straight to HR. <S> If you go to the team leader for this issue, be sure to expose the problem while trying not to make a big issue about it or throw blame on your coworker. <S> Something in the line : <S> Hey chief, you know I don't participate to the swear jar, right ? <S> Could you have a quick word with Bob to tell him to avoid reminding me to contribute to it ? <S> If Bob takes it badly it could reflect on his behaviour toward you and may lead to him / the rest of the team putting you off as a negative nancy. <A> We're all being monitored whether we like it or not. <S> You choose not to participate. <S> That's your prerogative, but you should have anticipated some consequences. <S> Usually, people nag like this because the noticed that it bothers you. <S> You showed him that this gets to you, so he keeps doing it. <S> Taking other action could make it worse. <S> You decided to go this route, so <S> Maybe you could suggest that a fine should be paid for any type of annoying behavior. <S> Eventually, he'll look like a fool for his behavior especially in an open environment.
| I suggest you work very hard on ignoring this person and demonstrating to everyone else, in some other way, that you are a team player. Walk away and tell them to stop bothering you about it. Put a jar on your desk labeled "Nag Jar 25 cents" and insist that he drop in a quarter every time he mentions the swear jar. Next time he nags about it, just look at him in the eyes and say all the swear words that come through your mind.
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Senior developer and design review feedback I've been working in the software industry for around 7 years with above average skills. I have worked on many smaller projects, contributing at every layer end to end. I was asked to work on the low level database design for a small application all by myself with the help of requirement specification documents. I received a lot of design review comments and the feedback I received was not good. Some of the mistakes were at design level and some of them were, well, very silly. I had my entire team including junior and senior members in the review meeting and it was a big show down. I was embarrassed. I could not believe that I made those mistakes after the review was finished. I'm beginning to doubt my software skills and now it feels like I have lost the respect as a senior member in the team. How do I undo this fiasco and regain the confidence of my team mates on me going further? <Q> How do I undo this fiasco and regain the confidence of my team mates on me going further? <S> Please remind yourself that the review meeting is there to prevent these mistakes from happening early on during development. <S> The best way to recover from this is to learn from your mistakes and prevent repeating them in the future . <S> As DarkCygnus states: <S> It was one mistake, versus 7 years in the industry. <A> We all suffer from Imposter Syndrome from time to time because of a mistake that we have done or a lack of specific knowledge that we might have. <S> It's not unusual to make mistakes and mistakes can be good. <S> I wouldn't worry about the confidence of your teammates. <S> This one thing won't color their whole opinion of you. <S> It might actually work in your favor. <S> They could think "Hey, he's not perfect either!" and possibly think better of you. <S> Because I'm sure that everyone else on your team has made mistakes too. <S> And they won't hold it against you because I'm sure they wouldn't want you to hold their mistakes against them. <S> I have the same experience as you and I make mistakes all the time. <S> I've also been around even more senior people than you and I and know of tons of mistakes they have made - everyone does it once in a while! <A> They say recognizing you have a problem is the first step in solving it, so start solving the problems. <S> Over document this part of the project. <S> Start doing some research and if there is anything you slightly suspect you do not understand, ask for help. <S> This shows you care enough to ask for help. <S> You never know, allowing someone to teach something to you will help them fully understand how it works. <S> Others will ask you to do the same for them if they're smart. <S> If someone would have prompted you with just one problem, it may have lead you do discovering many of the others yourself.
| If you learn from them and do better next time, a mistake can be worth the initial embarrassment. Don't be too tough on yourself. Be diligent about addressing each issue. Next time you have a new project (especially in an area you're not familiar with), arrange for some intermediate review of your design/code instead of waiting to show it to everyone in some big meeting.
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Should I Put Useful Java Libraries on my Resume? I'm currently 2 months into my first full time software engineering job, and getting a lot of experience with technology they don't teach you in college, like Project Lombok, Mockito, Google Guice Injections, etc. My question is, should I put these technologies on my resume? Or is it assumed that Java developers are expected to know such things/variants of them? If I do put them on my resume, what's a good way to categorize such libraries/skills? <Q> Generally speaking, I list projects on my resume. <S> In the description of those projects I'll list the top level tech used. <S> To be honest, I'm not sure that Project Lombok applies as it looks like it is more of an editor extension. <S> For example: 2015-06 to 2016-02 project: Dental Appointment Manager Part of a 5 person team responsible for business object layer development utilizing Java and Google Juice. <S> Used Mockito to generate all unit tests. <S> I used to have a skills section but, tbh, as a hiring manager I never found those useful as people tended to fill in whatever buzzwords they could. <S> Even if they only just read about it. <A> Just a slightly different answer from NotMe - I generally had a "skills" section in my resume, where I just dumped all the tools I used. <S> It was really useful because recruiters typically have software that scans cvs for whatever they need - and often they look for silly things, if only because they're not clear what they're hiring for. <S> To that end, I'd recommend that if you can use a tool/language/thing, you always put it in your skills section. <S> For when your CV is read by a human, you want to have as NotMe has put - a job, the role, and the technology used. <S> That then makes clear when you last used the technology, and ties it to whatever you used it for. <S> But in short, there is no earthly reason to leave off a skill. <S> Feel free to stick in "IntelliJ" or what have you there <S> - there's no reason to bog down your job description with each individual skill either, you just use the "skills" section to bypass the automatic filtering. <A> Considering that the first layer of a company that want to recruit you is not always a tech people or won't take the time to check what are all the unkown libraries you mention I would suggest to put some general category like : Testing library : Mockito, JUnit <S> Database : <S> SQL : PostgreSQL, NoSQL : Cassandra, ... General framework : <S> Spring, Google Juice Injection <S> This is usefull because it present the general category of things where you have some expertise even if you aren't familiar with the one library that use the company. <S> Also you will often notice that in most of job offer, there is a list of technologies required/wished, if you master some of them, you want to put them on your resume and eventually detail on your level of mastery of them ("beginner", "intermediary", or if you don't like those words, put the time you practiced them). <S> On a sidenote : I don't think that a simple tool like Lombok is worth the mention <S> is you lack a bit of place in your Resume.
| Mockito and Google Juice do seem like they'd be items I'd list with the projects I used them on.
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My manager wants me to travel but multiple issues prevent me from doing it I have worked at this company for about 5 months now and it's my first job that pays really well in my industry. During the interview my boss (owner of company) never mentioned travel as a requirement. After I was hired I realized that 80-90% of the employees at this small company travel. He's asked 2 times about long distance travel for several days and I told him I can't because there are some personal issues in my life going on. They're private but I have a couple family members with health issues. I also have a couple people that rely on me for various things. This last time he asked me to take a 5 hour drive. Even though I'm not happy about it I would probably do it. However my car is very bad for long drives. Its fine for in town driving. He said he'll find someone else for this travel but I need to work out the issues in my car because travel is "part of the deal". My plan was to keep this car for as long as possible so I could save money. I don't know what to do now. I'm worried that I'm going to lose my job over this but I'm not willing to spend the thousands to fix my car or get another one right now. How can I handle this situation in the best way possible, hopefully without losing my job? <Q> Based on your comments, it sounds like you have a Bus Factor of 1 in your personal life. <S> This means that all the people who depend on you are going to be in trouble if for whatever reason you are unable to perform your daily tasks. <S> Find help . <S> It might be some form of community service program, or it just might be a friend that you trade favors with. <S> Single parents do this all the time (I'll watch your kids tonight & you'll watch mine tomorrow). <S> Once you have someone you can rely on, the issues at work won't be a problem any more. <S> From your relative's point of view, you being out of town on business for a day or two is no different from you being sick in bed coughing your lungs out. <S> Either way, you need someone to cover for you. <A> For this apparently obvious requirement for the job, your manager is unscrupulous for not mentioning it during the hiring process. <S> There's a reason he failed to mention it because he knows it is a deal killer for many people. <S> You have several issues: car/money and time. <S> Renegotiate for all of these. <S> Fixing the car situation is either going to cost money or you taking a big risk every time you drive it outside the city. <S> Your time restrictions may require either asking for a lot of favors to help manage the family care or you have to hire someone. <S> I don't know the hiring/firing practices of where you live. <S> Hopefully, the manager will come to his senses and realize he tried to take advantage of you and it failed. <S> Start doing the math and come up with a money figure you're going to need to make this work and get ready to negotiate everything: trip length, travel compensation and other costs (the nature of the costs are none of his business.). <S> If you don't ask for things, don't expect to get them. <S> Sorry you were put in such a bad situation by a worse boss. <A> Ugh. <S> Normally I'd say "get a new job", but this is your first job that pays really well. <S> So the next question is if there is a reason it pays really well? <S> Are you doing complicated work? <S> Is it for the travel? <S> Now I ask how well does it pay comparatively, and how long have you had it for? <S> To keep this same level, it's easier if you have the job for at least 6 months, but nothing is stopping you from looking for other work. <S> You also note "some people depend on you", I'm assuming they aren't family. <S> Will they still be able to depend on you if you have no job? <S> If not, you're doing them a disservice by losing this job. <S> You ill family is unfortunate, I wish them the best. <S> But why do they need you? <S> To salvage this job, can you hire the occasional carer for them? <S> You car is ridiculous. <S> Owning a car that cannot make a 5 hour commute is very silly, lord knows what condition it is in. <S> For your own safety get one that can make a longer commute.all the sections of your question that elicit sympathy, but this one makes you seem like you're not really taking care of your life. <S> A half decent second hand car sounds affordable based on your statements, be aware that you can also resell it. <S> You might not want to spend the money on it, but it will help your job AND honestly, probably save your life. <A> You mentioned that you are working here to get experience in your field, so perhaps you just want to work things out to stay there for about a year and move on (don't explicitly tell your boss that). <S> I think you need to explain the situation much like you have here to your boss: <S> I'm worried about the travel requirements for this job; due to situations in my personal life, I can only travel occasionally for work if it means traveling overnight. <S> I'm not sure where the disconnect happened, but I was never made aware of the need to travel as part of this job during the hiring process, or I would've made my concerns clear prior to starting. <S> I would really like to work something out as I'm enjoying working here and feel like I'm learning a lot and can be valuable to the company despite my travel restriction. <S> Honestly, they did make a major blunder not discussing the need to travel during the hiring process. <S> It's not normal for software engineers to travel 1-2 times a month, and you're correct that many positions that require that much travel both make it clear in the interview process (often in the job posting) and pay more as a result. <S> Hopefully, your boss will recognize that and offer you some flexibility. <S> However, it isn't weird for software engineers to sometimes travel, and if your situation changes to where you absolutely can't travel or strongly prefer not to, then you might want to ask about travel requirements as you apply for new jobs. <A> Be honest with your boss. <S> Explain to him from the get <S> go that you have family members that depend on you <S> and you'd like a reasonable time in advance to prepare things. <S> Also, explain your car situation and ask if there was some way to limit travel. <S> Just explain you wish to fulfill your duties, but need some reasonable accommodations.
| It sounds like this is not a company that fits your life in the long-term sense: even if you are able to convince them to exempt you from travel, you aren't going to get many promotions / bonuses / raises as the one person at the company that can't travel.
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How to deal with public humiliation in a professional way? There is sometimes a problem when you find a person in a workplace that enjoys to target one person and humiliates him/her in public (in front of other coworkers). The person for example points that the target "does not know any better", "is a little bit of a person", changes the last name of the target to a joke to laugh at with the rest of coworkers... Is there a guide on how to professionally yet efficiently deal with difficult personalities who cannot be avoided (in the workplace for example)? How could the manager (third-person) deal with this scenario in case it happens within his/her team? <Q> How should the manager(third-person) deal with this scenario in case <S> it happens within his/her team? <S> That manager should have a one-on-one meeting with this person, and ask about the reasons for this behavior. <S> That manager should also let that person know this type of behavior is not acceptable nor professional, and that he should try to behave up to those standards. <S> If this continues, then that manager should take stronger measures to ensure this does not continue, but that is something only that manager knows and can decide. <A> You can first attack the "public" part of it, call the involved parts to a private place to continue dealing with the issue. <S> Also something to note is that public humiliation(an example could use since we don't know what you mean with that and could be overreacting) <S> is a very serious fault, and cannot be tolerated more than once without taking disciplinary actions. <A> If that doesn't work, you need to escalate it internally to your team leader first, and then to the manager ( in case there is hierarchical system) <S> You also need to maintain boundaries at work and highlight assertively in powerful tone about any discussions that are off topic stating you are not keen to indulge in them. <A> Most importantly, has anyone complained about this kind of bullying to you or any one in general? <S> If there is no victim, no complaint, then, what you are trying to do is akin to social service. <S> You may or may not get desired and positive results. <S> If you strongly want to tackle the situation, you need to take the so called victims into confidence. <S> Not instigate or coax them, but make them complain instead of you asking them to. <S> Once a formal complain has lodged, you can take to the bully, in private or with the team as the situation demands.
| Such a situation calls for being able to communicate assertively and expressing your disinterest about the treatment you are getting and highlighting that its not affecting you in a joyous way from within.
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When given a technical challenge to solve, is it ok to use answers you don't fully understand? While applying for jobs, on a couple occasions I’ve been given a technical question to do at home. Occasionally I feel the solution I provide I don’t fully understand because portions of code is copied from stackoverflow.com Here are a couple examples: Draw a star using css only. The full solution can be found here so I just emailed them the link saying I would just be copying it anyway (looking back, I wasn’t being serious at this point). Another was writing an SQL query to retrieve information from multiple tables. I found the solution spread across 2 or 3 answers on stackoverflow, but one of them was complex enough I wasn’t able to get an intuitive sense of how it worked (before I submitted the solution). In these situations, what’s the honest thing to do? I would feel more honest if I included a list of sources I used to come to the solution, and send it along with the solution. I’m trying to avoid giving the impression that I could do it all directly from memory vs looking up information, and I do feel bad about using information that I don’t 100% understand (for example you could just copy the sql code from here without understanding it). Part of my personality is it's really important to understand every little bit. Though not directly related, it’s worth noting that a lot of sites, including stackexchange, don’t have clear licensing (or the licensing is disputed) for the code provided by contributors. <Q> Problem solving is a key part of software development, and not everyone knows the answer right off the bat, and it's good to demonstrate your problem solving processes. <S> The thing here to to break down the tasks and document how you'd go about solving each part (where to look, what search terms you'd use, what sources you trust). <S> Obviously, start with the stuff that you do know first and establish this as a platform on which to build a firmer, research-based, answer. <A> Getting code examples off the net is something we do every day. <S> There is no issue with this at all. <S> That being said, what would you do if (as part of your job duties) you had to troubleshoot existing code that was written by somebody else? <S> This is part of being a professional - we have to look at code and try to understand what is doing in order to support those who pay our salaries (internal/external customers). <A> If you're asking about the ethics, if you've presented all relevant information, then it's up to them to decide whether it's okay or not. <S> So if you say "Here's a solution. <S> Here's how I got it (googling 'draw star with css', clicking on SE link, copying code). <S> This is how much of the code I understand. <S> ", then it's their responsibility to decide how to evaluate that. <S> If you're asking whether it's okay as in <S> "Will it cost me the job?", well, if your only options are to submit a solution that you don't understand, or nothing at all, the former is better. <S> But a solution you do understand would be even better. <S> Also, just as SE discourages link-only answers, you shouldn't submit a link-only answer as part of a job application. <S> Especially when it's a link to as mutable a website as SE. <S> What if someone decides to edit or delete the answer? <A> What do you mean honest? <S> If you have been given a task with no well defined rules on how to go about it (did someone say something about google?), and you found a solution, it sounds honest enough. <S> However, normally, in the next interview, you would be asked about your code. <S> So if you do not understand it, it can backfire and cost you a job. <S> Finding code on the internet is one thing, using code you do not understand is a completely different thing (a big no). <S> I think the most honest thing to do, if you want that job, would be to submit code anyways (if there is no chance in hell you can complete assignment on your own) and to be completely honest when submitting (and afterwards) about parts which you do understand, and parts which you don't understand. <S> That way you are still completing assignment and you are not lying about your knowledge.
| When faced with problems that you can't solve yourself, it's often worthwhile to submit your reasoning for how you propose to research and learn how to fulfill the problem. You are not cheating, if there are no rules set.
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Should I accept free lunch from hotel RFP responders? I am conference chair for a professional organization and am in the midst of the Request For Proposal (RFP) process for finding our host hotel. I visited the first responding hotel to have a look around and clarify some of the details in the RFP for them. After the look around, they ushered me into the hotel restaurant where we sat and scrawled notes on the RFP. They offered to buy me lunch but I declined--in fact I'd eaten lunch before our meeting because I figured they'd offer and I was unsure about appropriateness. I have another such meeting with another potential venue today. I've been told by a previous conference chair in our organization that this is typical. Is it appropriate to accept a free lunch from the hotel in this sort of scenario? <Q> Since you work for a state government (according to a now-deleted comment), you really should contact someone in your organization, whether it's an ethics department or even HR, but you need to be really careful about accepting any gift when you work for the government. <S> But states (and in particular, your state) may be different. <S> Look at a flyer for a conference where they provide swag. <S> On the registration it almost always says to indicate if you're a government employee and then states that you won't be allowed the swag. <S> In the private sector, that wouldn't be a problem. <S> But in government, it may well be <S> and you need to get an answer for sure from someone other than your manager. <S> Until you get an answer, I wouldn't accept anything. <A> Is it appropriate to accept a free lunch from the hotel in this sort of scenario? <S> In most cases, yes, that's appropriate . <S> It's common for a potential vendor or partner company to pay for lunch, travel expenses and minor incidentals as part of their presales process. <S> While these companies are indeed trying to ensure that you're well taken care of, there are limits to what they spend on this. <S> Simply put they can ensure that you don't have to worry about anything for as long as you're with them on business. <S> But if they were spending outrageous sums of money on you or you otherwise get the impression that it feels more like attempts at bribery than common courtesy, that would be inappropriate, unprofessional, unethical and in some countries illegal. <S> So <S> Of course keep in mind that there's a decent chance you're getting the chef's very best in these situations. <S> The one thing you should be wary of and which was pointed out in a comment is that some companies and some governments have very strict rules on this kind of thing. <S> Typically you would know if that applies to you <S> but if you're in doubt you should hunt down your employee handbook, talk to your manager or HR. <S> Beyond that, I'd recommend using the following rule of thumb when it comes to accepting freebies: <S> if the idea of mentioning what you received to a colleague, manager or customer makes you uncomfortable, that's a clear sign that you should probably decline whatever is offered. <A> It comes down to your own personal ethics (and your companies, of course). <S> Personally; I accepted hospitality once, in 1996, from a photocopier company, and I heard about it for the next year from them. <S> I've never done it since, apart from with existing suppliers and unrelated to any upcoming business. <S> If you want to know about the quality of food and service from a restaurant, I'd visit beforehand, without revealing my identity. <S> Pay for the meal, and then decide if your clients and customers would appreciate the establishment. <S> You can then proceed with the RFP in the knowledge that they can deliver. <A> I assume it's acceptable to post an answer to my own question describing how I ended up handling this situation. <S> TL;DR: <S> I'll decline any future lunch offers. <S> I'm a state employee in the US (originally stated in a comment on an answer that was deleted) <S> however I'm not seeking to represent my employer here. <S> I'm working on behalf of a non profit professional organization (a point I expect was perfectly clear in the question and in the RFP). <S> So I was leaning toward accepting a meal from respondents before talking to my supervisor. <S> She also does similar work for a similar organization and saw no issue. <S> She also pointed out this strange $50 threshold that I'd forgotten about. <S> I'm not sure if that's in actual statute or just a guideline, but apparently someone with sway in my state <S> feels that everything that's worth bribing for is worth more than $50. <S> So we can accept gifts up to a value of $50, and lunch for one is certainly under $50 at the places I'm hitting up. <S> Gold. <S> I get to eat free. <S> But then... <S> In an attempt to separate my personal life from professional matters I've typically used my work contact info for myself when representing my organization. <S> There it is right on the RFP in big letters <S> id.est.laborum@my.state.gov. <S> I've hitched my horse to the state's wagon. <S> Furthermore, I'm in an enviable financial position that I plan to explain to my son something like this once he's old enough: "Your parents and grandparents and great grandparents all helped provide you with the resources to recover from a whole lot of little screw ups. <S> One really big screw up is all it'll take to make sure you don't provide your son with that same assurance." <S> After considering that I realize that paying for lunch at a hotel restaurant one or twice is within my means, but being dismissed on ethical grounds (however astronomically unlikely that is given all the factors above) is not.
| yes, it's common for the host of a meeting to pay for lunch and that goes double in your case since the hotel's catering is presumably also something you'd want to evaluate.
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My boss asked me for a written job offer from another company. First of all, English is not my first language, so, please, forgive me for some mistakes, and sorry if I couldn't make myself understood. I'm currently working for a company that clearly underpays me. My boss went as far as say straight to my face that he knows that my paycheck is not enough for my position. When I asked for a raise, he said that it wouldn't be possible for this year, but I might get some in the following year. So I started looking for a new job. When I got a job offer, I said to my boss I was leaving but he said he would like to negotiate a counter-offer. However, in order to proceed with the counter-offer, he said that he would need a written job offer by that company that was hiring me. I was a little taken aback and might have overreacted. I refused to do so. I asked around a little bit in the office, and none of my colleagues that went thought the same situation was asked to show a written job offer. Did I overreacted refusing to show him the offer? I feels like he doesn't believe me, and it kind of hurts me a little. <Q> No, because it's none of his business. <S> This should raise a red flag that you could see from space. <S> Do <S> NOT give your boss a letter or any other information, do not accept a counter offer, just leave. <S> They have demonstrated that they are not willing to pay you enough, and the threat of you leaving is not enough and they want a letter? <S> That's just shy of calling you a liar. <S> Now, if you give him a letter, you're telling him exactly where you are going to be working, and for whom. <S> This gives him a huge amount of power over you. <S> He could even call the company, or have someone else call and warn them about how terrible a person you are and what a mistake it would be to hire you and that they had better rescind their offer if they are wise. <S> DO NOT GIVE HIM A LETTER! <S> You did NOT overreact, you were very wise to act that way. <A> Did I overreacted refusing to show him the offer? <S> I feels like he doesn't believe me <S> Subjective of course, <S> but I would say no. <S> Honestly, your worth at your current company shouldn't be related to whatever offer you have received from another company. <S> If they don't appreicate your work enough to pay you a fair wage, or at least a wage that you are happy with, then you should not stay. <S> Quick aside, I would imagine this has damaged your relationship with you boss, so even if you did give him the info and he did match it, would you really want to stay? <A> The general rule is: Once you found a new and better paying job, you do not accept a counter offer. <S> The reasons: 1. <S> If they make you a better offer now, it proves that they did not only underpay you, but they did so knowingly. <S> That's not a place where you want to stay. <S> 2. <S> Having looked for and found another job makes you a marked man. <S> There's a good chance you will soon be gone. <S> 3. <S> Do you think of ever getting a raise again? <S> No chance. <S> 4. <S> It happens that people accept a counter offer, and they are fired a week later, just as the new job opportunity disappears. <S> So since you are not going to accept a counter offer, there is no possible benefit for you showing the other company's offer, but lots of opportunity for downside.
| You have no reason to show your boss the offer.
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How to open a discussion with management in a small company? Situation I work in a small company of ~20 people. While this company was a startup ~a decade ago, it is not anymore. The people working there aren't "wild teenagers" anymore; some have kids already. Things like pensions become more important now, but have been repeatedly postponed - if I understood correctly, it first came up 9 years ago. There are other issues that differ from department to department and from person to person, like micromanaging, no opportunity for growth or not supporting work life balance. However, for example the team spirit is excellent and we would like to try and turn this into a place with a future for their employees (sounds dramatic, but you get the point). Issue We had a meeting after work to discuss this. We came to the conclusion that we want to open a discussion with "management" . However, that's where the size of the company comes into play: For example, "management" is only 2 people who work 10 meters from us and we talk to daily. There is no official process for serious requests because we just get up, walk there and talk to them directly. Current plan Our current plan is to write a letter and give it to management as a group. The letter: [Formalities] We would like to bring the following to your attention. As employees at [Company], we add a lot to the company's success, good work atmosphere and development. We think that our contribution is not appreciated enough. We think it is time to take steps towards operating in a way more appropriately for a company of this size, so that [Company] stays an interesting workplace in the future. Appreciation of the team's efforts can manifest in several ways. We look forward to hearing from you inside the next 2 weeks what your plan in this matter would look like. [Formalities] Some of this sounds weird/awkward in English but I did my best to translate the meaning . Question We are not yet sure about all this (well, hence this question) and are still wondering, for example, if the letter should be delivered by the whole group (seems like "ganging up") vs one representative (but who ?). However, to sum it up in one question: How can we start a dialog about work conditions with "management" in a rather small company? <Q> Since the working atmosphere is very informal <S> I wouldn't go the "formal" <S> way of doing things. <S> There are three steps to the problem: The WHO, the WHEN and the WHAT. <S> You said that the management consists of only two persons. <S> Do you want/have to talk to everyone? <S> May be <S> just one of them could decide such a step. <S> Also are there other stake holders? <S> Usually some other people also have a word to say in such situations. <S> Do you also need to talk to them? <S> Then find out WHEN you want to talk to those persons: Because you are seeing management (and everybody else) every day, look for opportunities to talk to one or more of them privately without time constraints . <S> An ideal way would be a department party. <S> After some beers everyone is a little more open to new ideas. <S> Lastly think about WHAT to say in the conversation(s): <S> I wouldn't ask for what you want straight ahead, but rather lay out some arguments <S> so he/she gets it on his/her own. <S> This way it doesn't seem that the management did anything wrong, but came up with the plan on its own. <S> This sounds a little bit silly, but people in charge don't take advice very gladly. <S> After you did everything above there are two options: <S> Management listens to you and change things. <S> You could also profit from it since you helped them. <S> Nothing changes. <S> If everything fails I would go for the formal route and make an open letter to management with your claims. <S> Just don't bring up your prior attempts. <S> Good luck! <A> Managers appreciate it when solutions are offered when problems are found. <S> Rather than send a "hey, we can think of lots of ways to make this better, so we want to hear from you" email you send one that has concrete and actionable items you'd like. <S> In other words, if you guys are after a pension, then tell them that you want some type of pension (be specific). <S> That way they can take a bit to consider the situation and then decide how they want to handle things. <S> Under no circumstance do you set this up as a "do this or else!" <S> demand. <S> Instead, phrase it so that it looks like you guys want a friendly discussion about the future. <A> Phone them and ask them to come to the office. <S> Tell them - in person - exactly what you want, not some wooly words like your sample email. <S> Without precise demands, no negotiation can begin.
| First find out WHO you want to talk to:
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Coworker saying explicit things on social media I recently found my coworker's social media. He talks about me publicly saying sexually explicit things. He also mentions other women. I have never had an intimate relationship with him, the things he is saying are illegal and offensive. Can I report this to HR? Is someone's social media presence at a company relevant? I mean I know that before you get hired, they check that stuff but what about afterwards? Also, is it a bad idea to have another coworker (who is not mentioned on his social media) to report it? I don't want to report it, I am scared. Can I have my coworker report it saying that he recently found some disturbing <Q> If the things he says are illegal, then you can report them to the appropriate authorities. <S> There is a difference between his private life and his life as a company employee. <S> In his private life he can do what he wants as long as it is legal, even if it is offensive. <S> (I can't judge whether he has done anything illegal, you might post on law.stackexchange.com with details). <S> When he writes things about you , a co-worker, then it is not his private life. <S> It's the company's business. <S> They are responsible for you being kept free them harrassment, including sexual harassment, and for you being kept free from hostility towards you - as far as it is part of your work, and coworkers posting things on the internet about you on their private website is part of your work. <S> If this is reported to HR, including evidence (which you easily get by printing out his website), then they would have to act promptly. <S> If I reported it, I wouldn't know for sure whether what I see isn't some weird thing between boyfriend and girlfriend. <S> You would have to say that this is indeed offensive to you. <S> Things are worse for the offender if the website is an any way linked to your employer. <S> If the average reader would think "I wouldn't want to do business with the company employing this freak", then consequences for him are guaranteed. <A> Are you connected to him/her on social media? <S> Assuming not, that means his/her profiles (twitter, facebook?) are public enough that you don't even need to be connected to them on the website to see them--statements made in that arena should be treated similarly to something <S> said out loud in front of people. <S> If you had a coworker who was talking about sexual things he/she wants to do to you, (without any reciprocity or indication you're interested whatsoever)--even if it were outside of work--would be something that you should feel empowered to report to HR. <S> If you ARE connected to him/her on the social media site where he's saying this stuff, then that could be interpreted similarly to sending you text messages/emails indicating his/her sexual desires with regard to you. <S> In that situation you should also feel empowered to file a complaint. <S> I think reporting this anonymously would be pretty transparent since you're the target of the comments being made. <S> You could try that, or have a friend report it, but there's a chance you'll have to get involved anyway. <S> In general, non-anonymous testimonials do carry more weight. <S> So, if you can stomach it, I'd suggest making the complaint non-anonymously--you stand to gain more (in terms of results) and it costs you little, since you'll be an inherit part of the complaint whether you're the one who reported it or not. <A> Don't be shy to report it. <S> I am sure HR wants to know about it also because you are not the only person who reads this. <S> No company wants to have a connection to a person who behaves like that.
| It doesn't really matter who reports it, but they might need your statement to determine that this is actually harassment.
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I got promoted while I am on a job hunt. Will it be wise to mention about getting promoted during an interview? I am on a jobhunt and my 1st interview with Company B went well. To my surprise, the next day, in my current job, I got promoted. I still want to look for a new company and Company B has contacted me for a 2nd interview. And this interview will be with the Senior Manager (1st interview was with the Asst. Manager). Will it be okay to mention about getting promoted in current company? Can I use this promotion as one of my selling-point? <Q> At a minimum, update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your new job title and role. <A> My advice would be to continue on with the interviews, without bringing it up explicitly. <S> I would recommend updating any resumes that you submit to other companies as well as any online profiles (such as LinkedIn) that you have. <S> If Company B comes back to you with an offer, then you can decide what to do. <S> If the offer is worth it, you can accept and give your notice at your current employer. <S> However, if Company B's offer is insufficient, you can negotiate. <S> One point of negotiation may be not accepting a job title that would be a step backwards or a salary that is less than what you are making now. <S> Without knowing the details of your situation, I can't say that I wouldn't accept a lower salary or a lower title. <S> If you are in a toxic environment, it may be worth it for your career or your health to accept a lower salary (although do make sure you aren't putting yourself in a financially dangerous position). <S> Titles also vary by company - I went from a Senior Software Engineer to a Software Engineer position because I went from a company with 6 different titles to one with 2 - so you may be able to accept or justify a title change. <S> When it comes time to accept, reject, or negotiate the offer, do so on the merits of the position and what it offers you. <S> Don't get too hung up on the current salary (as long as it is sufficient to meet your needs) or <S> title if it is something that is better for you (especially in the long term). <A> When a company is about to make a job offer to a new employee they have a concern about a counter offer. <S> They try to determine why the person is looking for a new job, and if they are likely to reject the offer when their current company makes the counter offer. <S> While it is good that you are continuing to look after receiving the promotion, there is still no guarantee that you will take an offer from the new company. <S> In fact the promotion may have lowered the delta between the old company and the new company. <S> Telling them about the promotion is likely to make them worried. <S> They now know that you have received a counter offer. <S> They may be worried that the promotion may make it harder to leave. <S> They will be concerned that their second choice will take another job, while you wait the maximum number of days before rejecting them. <S> It doesn't tell them about the qualities you have, only that your current company wants to keep you around a little longer because it is an inconvenient time for you to leave. <S> The general advice is to reject a counteroffer. <S> The general advice is also to not use the counteroffer as a bargaining chip with the new company, because you might lose both jobs. <S> Telling them about the promotion before an offer is even made increases the risk there will be no offer.
| Telling them won't be a selling point because they may believe that the promotion is only because the current company was worried you are about to leave. I don't know enough about your situation to offer solid advice on discussing your promotion with your prospective employer. At this time, you don't need to give the company you are interviewing with any updates or changes, since you're in the middle of the interview process.
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Contracted Security Guard at a secure facility I have a Co-worker who has never shown up on time for a shift since I've started working for this company (and at this site that contracts the company I work for). Due to the nature of the job (Security Guard) employees are not allowed to end their shift until the person working the next shift arrives. All clocking times are rounded to the nearest quarter hour. If the coworker's shift officially starts at 7:00, this co-worker usually clocks in just in time for the system to round her starting time down to this official starting time. As the shifts are linked in the system, when she clocks in, I automatically get clocked out, meaning the system rounds my shift down to the same number. This means that effectively, my coworker is getting paid for minutes when she's not actually working, where I lose minutes I am actually working since my clock-out time is rounded down. To make it clear that I am spending time working past the time when my shift officially ends, I have been contacting our "command center" to have them correct my clock-out time to the time when I actually stop working my shift. Between the extra few minutes and the minutes spent calling the "command center" on top of that, I am effectively working unpaid overtime every shift where this co-worker's shift follows mine. For this and other reasons I intend to leave this company, but it feels like this co-worker is stealing a part of my pay through the way she behaves. Is there any way I can get her to correct her behavior? <Q> You should talk to your supervisors or managers. <S> But don't make it primarily about the money - make it about the lost time first. <S> If she arrives 7 minutes late every day, that's 35 minutes late/week or over an hour every two weeks. <S> That's 2 hours/month of time you should have out side of work to live your life. <S> However, you can also raise the question about rounding with timing. <S> Since the way the system rounds time may not be in your favor, not only are you losing 2 hours/month of time, but 2 hours/month of pay. <S> Of course, if you get another opportunity and are planning on leaving in the very near future, it may not be worth it to bring it up. <S> Management hasn't done anything yet, even though they seem to be aware of the problem. <S> However, if you're going to be at this company for a while longer, it may be worth the risk of bringing up. <S> If, for any reason, it makes your life more difficult, it should only be temporary as you seek new employment anyway. <S> Rounding like this is normal. <S> However, it seems like your coworker has found a way to abuse the system because of the rounding. <A> Her tardiness should be someone elses's problem. <S> Your problem is that your employers use a faulty time-tracking software that fails when your colleague is late for work. <A> I agree with Lilienthal's comment. <S> Don't fall into the trap of blaming your co-worker. <S> Your problem is with the system, not with your co-worker. <S> The clock should be allowing you to manually clock out after your replacement has already clocked in (even if it's just 2 seconds later, or 5 minutes later). <S> This is a very basic feature that every clocking system already has by default. <S> The fact that the system doesn't allow you to do that by default was a very deliberate business design decision on their part. <S> Now, I'm not a lawyer, I'm just a layman, but I think that you could argue that by designing the system the way they did, they're constantly rounding down your hours. <S> Rounding Hours <S> Worked <S> Some employers track employee hours worked in 15 minute increments, and <S> the FLSA allows an employer to round employee time to the nearest quarter hour. <S> However, an employer may violate the FLSA minimum wage and overtime pay requirements if the employer always rounds down. <S> See Regulations 29 CFR 785.48(b). <S> https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs53.htm <S> And if HR doesn't want to make the process of clocking out easier for you, you may want to file a complaint with the US Department of Labor. <S> And your co-workers may want to file a complaint as well. <S> https://www.dol.gov/whd/contact_us.htm <S> Furthermore, if a cell phone is allowed at your workplace, I think you should find an app on iTunes or on the Google Play store that helps you keep track of your exact hours (using GPS/wifi hotspot tracking/Bluetooth/manual editing). <S> If you can't use your cell phone, you should maintain a log yourself with just a pen and paper.
| You should discuss this with your employers, in the sense that they need to fix their software so it properly tracks each employee's time instead of making assumptions. The way I see it, your beef is not with your co-worker. Bringing it up may only cause aggravation for you. Employee time from 1 to 7 minutes may be rounded down, and thus not counted as hours worked, but employee time from 8 to 14 minutes must be rounded up and counted as a quarter hour of work time.
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My employer is ending my contract, because I intended to leave the country. Is there any need to update them of my changing plans again to stay? I am in a difficult/weird situation that I need to handle very soon. I have moved in the Netherlands for a job position in September 2017, and I have been working there since now. Approximately two months ago, beginning of January 2018. after coming back from the holidays, I have decided that Netherlands aren't really made for me to live in (too cold, cultural differences, etc). Since I am a very honest and direct person, I talked to the CEO about this and told him that it was not in my interest continuing my presence in the Netherlands longer than September 2018. It seemed like he took it pretty well, however days later he changed his mind, telling me that they are looking for longer term employees, and that they wanted to evaluate if it would make any sense renewing my contract in April 2018. They looked through the backlog, and decided not to. Now, this is totally fine, since I wanted to leave the country and move to a warmer one, like Spain or even back to Italy, however as time went by, I think that my decision was too drastic and quick, and took without thinking enough of it, a week after I came back from the holidays. Time is running short, and I have only a month and a half to find a new job and arrange relocation, or to find another job here and stay in the Netherlands for a bit more. If I ever decided to remain here, I would feel guilty, especially because I'd need to tell my current employer that I changed my mind, and that I am looking for another company in the Netherlands. At the same time, I wouldn' want to remain in my current company (even after he'd maybe change his mind on renewing the contract) after this. What's the best way to handle this? <Q> Your employer has decided to not renew your contract. <S> You have no actual nor implied obligation to the company beyond that point. <S> So just figure out the best move for you and move forward. <S> That is what the company did. <S> And you should handle your affairs the same way. <S> Your company is unlikely to have any expectations otherwise, and if they do then those expectations are unreasonable. <S> While I understand your position, providing them more notice than you are required put you in this position. <S> They have now chosen to sever ties with you in April. <S> What choices you make beyond that is not their concern. <S> They could have chosen to try to work with you to get the most out of your time, but instead decided to just end the relationship when it was most convenient to them. <S> Regardless of the needs of you and your family. <S> This was a business decision on their part. <S> In making that decision they willingly gave up any influence on your life decisions beyond that termination date. <S> Please see this question for more on that: Would it be a good idea to give more than 2 weeks notice that I'm moving? <S> Please remember that your boss is not your personal career planner. <S> They can help you with your career in the company but when your interests part ways with your company's interests then expect your boss to watch out for the company not you. <A> You have no legal or contractual obligation to your current employer beyond working out the remainder of your contract and abiding by any post-employment restrictions such as NDAs or non-compete clauses. <S> It's your life and you are free to change your mind as you have. <S> That doesn't mean however that your soon-to-be-ex employer won't be somewhat offended if you stay in the Netherlands, while I've no reason to doubt your sincerity it could easily be interpreted by them as you having lied about your reasons for leaving and <S> such an interpretation doesn't reflect well on you. <S> Obviously this is unlikely to be a major concern since you won't be working there any more <S> but I would consider that bridge likely to be well and truly incinerated <S> and I wouldn't expect to be able to use them as a reference in your future job hunt(s). <S> These aren't insurmountable issues though and you certainly shouldn't make such a large life decision as what country you choose to live in be driven by them. <S> As a side note I'd suggest having a good think about how you intend to present your reasons for leaving your last job when interviewing - I'd stick with something along the lines of The company chose not to renew my contract based on the work load they had at the time since saying well I changed my mind about wanting to live here a couple of months after moving <S> and then I changed it back again a couple of months later <S> will make you look extremely flakey at best and at the same time raise the not-unreasonable concern that you may well change your mind yet again a few months into any new employment! <S> I just wanted to let you know tha <S> I've actually decided to give living here some more time. <S> I understand that you have likely begun planning for the future on the basis of my leaving in April <S> so I'm not asking you to retract my resignation <S> but I felt it was important to be honest with you <S> and I hope you don't hold it against me. <A> Is there any reason why you HAVE to tell your current employer that you are staying? <S> If you feel like you must, out of respect for your CEO or because you risk running into them later, then just be honest with them. <S> Let them know that after considering your options you've decided to give their country some additional effort in adjusting to the new culture. <S> This way, you've given them an honest, up-front head's up, and you can go about staying, or moving, with a guilt-free conscience. <A> Your employer is not your friend <S> Acting as it is leads to your situation. <S> You don't tell your employer <S> you're gonna quit until you are committed to quitting. <S> The same follows to your current situation. <S> They are not continuing your contract and you do not want to change their mind <S> So it seems like you have an agreement <S> and there is nothing to add. <S> Answer to your question? <S> Do nothing
| As for how best to proceed I suggest being honest with them, I'd make it clear that you aren't just angling for them to renew you again though: If you don't want to work at the company anymore, that's fine, but unless there is some personal reason why you think you owe your current employer additional information, then I wouldn't.
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Is it OK to go on other interviews while pending pre-employment medical checkup by a potential employer? I interviewed at Company A more than 5 weeks ago. At week 3 of the hiring process, I had already known I was shortlisted and was only pending final confirmation from the boss. (I emailed the internal HR for updates) At week 4 & 5, the HR ignored my emails. At this point I still haven't gotten any offer. So, I started applying for other companies. Today (week 6) I finally received a confirmation call from Company A. They asked me if I was still open to the position. I said yes. They asked me what preferred my starting date was, and I told them I can start immediately. They told me to go through a medical check up first (most probably within this week), then we can discuss starting dates. Later on I received a call from Company B for a job interview in two days time. I agreed to go because Company B has a really good portfolio and is more relevant to my field. Is it generally OK to continue with the interview? If, later on, I finish my medical check up at Company A's expense, and they agree to hire me, could I still back out? Both companies are actually quite well-known anyway, so I won't be losing out either way. <Q> It's absolutely OK. <S> Until you receive a final offer in writing, anything is up in the air. <S> What if, for some reason, you fail your medical check? <S> You would then need to begin the process and delay starting a job that much longer. <S> Until you have a start date locked down and all the requirements met, it's OK to continue to apply and interview for positions. <S> Once you have a signed offer, you can communicate to other companies that you have accepted an offer and the process can stop. <A> The reason it took so long ( probably ) is that company A had another candidate they considered "better", who dropped out. <S> They kept you on the ropes just in case this happened, and would have told you "sorry" has the other candidate accepted. <S> So, yes, by all means feel free to continue interviewing. <S> You can always tell company B when/if company A offers you a job that company B needs to get back to you ASAP . <A> The company has explicitly told you that you have not been hired and are in fact not yet hireable. <S> -- the fact that their process requires a medical checkup (which they pay for) before you are hireable does not change your obligations. <S> Companies spend money on candidates that they then reject every day -- your obligation to a potential employer is to be reasonably honest and forthcoming , not to put your life on hold until they inform you of a a decision. <S> You have no further obligation to the company until they start paying for your time.
| You should do this as quickly as possible after accepting a final offer so that way the other companies can proceed forward with other candidates.
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What is a polite answering system message to stop clients from repeat calling? Often clients will call my phone continuously until I answer. Sometimes they have already left a voicemail only moments earlier, sometimes they do not leave one at all. I make a concerted effort to return calls during the same business day depending on when they come in. It may be 24-48 hours, but for the most part, during the work week, it is during the same business day. Many social agencies in town have VM instructing clients not to call more than one time and not to leave more than one message as do I. Recently, a caller left me a nasty message about how rude my VM message is. I searched the internet for a better option than saying "please do not continue to call" but have not had any luck finding an answer. <Q> Your clients are frustrated because they cannot get through, this is a failure in procedures. <S> No message will alleviate this. <S> There are plentiful mainstream options such as redirecting the calls through a PABX to someone who will actually answer the phone. <S> Have company protocols in place where someone else fields the calls in the first instance and then passes them on etc,. <S> Most companies work on their side of the problem rather than expecting the client to. <S> It's just good business and professionalism. <S> If it's just you then it is even more important to be contactable, my phone message just says I'm unavailable and <S> gives my cell phone number if it's an emergency. <A> Just answer the phone. <S> You are having a XY Problem here. <S> Do not use phone like email. <S> It is a synchronous mode of communication. <S> People use the phone when they want an immediate reply, or at least immediate feedback on their issue or question. <S> Returning the call "within the business day" is using phone in asynchronous mode, which is not how most people expect it to be used. <S> No wonder people get frustrated and keep calling back until you respond. <S> It is, of course, unreasonable to respond to phone when you are out of office. <S> That is when voicemail comes into the picture. <S> Voicemail is not meant to be a "do not disturb", although you could use it that way. <S> Do that too often (or, what seems to be all the time, in your case), and you will end up with a long list of dissatisfied clients. <A> The content of your message is not objectively rude, though you might want to check the tone of your voice to make sure it's neutral and doesn't come across as belligerent. <S> You can respond to that client with: <S> I'm sorry if I came across as rude, but unfortunately, I have many clients who rudely call me repeatedly while I'm dealing with important matters. <S> Leaving multiple messages won't help me get to your request any quicker. <S> It will, however, force me to spend more time listening to voice messages that I could spend servicing your request. <S> If you answer the second or third time a client calls, you're basically giving them positive reinforcement for calling multiple times. <S> Therefore, if your job allows it, you might also consider turning your phone off at times when you're too busy to receive calls. <S> This way, no matter how many times they call, they'll get directed back to the same message. <A> You cannot "force" clients by restricting them to call only once, but you can only hint it for them; And they will definitely love any humor into it. <S> You could use: " Hi! <S> Laurie's answering machine is broken. <S> This is his refrigerator. <S> Please speak very slowly, and I'll stick your message on my front with one of his magnets. <S> We are limited on magnets so please use only one magnet per issue. " <A> For example: "Calls during regular business hours will usually be returned on the same day. <S> All calls will be returned within 48 hours." <S> Also, if you are out of the office or tied up in an all-day meeting change the message: "All calls received today, Monday, will be returned tomorrow." <S> The repeated calls result when people are worried that an earlier call got lost or is being ignored. <S> If you set accurate expectations that is less likely to happen. <A> Instead, you could use Google Voice . <S> In the US, it's free. <S> Or you could use Visual Voice Mail that some cell phone carriers provide for a monthly extra fee. <S> That being said, since I am only familiar with Google Voice and not the other custom Visual Voice Mail products offered by cell phone carriers, I can only describe Google Voice's offering. <S> Google Voice lets you visually see your voice mails. <S> So you can easily see if you have multiple voice mails from the same person, without forcing you to check the messages in the order they were received. <S> It shows you an automated transcript of the voice mails, which it can also forward immediately to you by email or sms. <S> It allows you to forward calls based on any type of rule you like. <S> It can also forward calls to multiple phones/computers at the very same time. <S> It lets you screen messages. <S> For instance, it lets you listen to messages as they're being left in real-time <S> and it lets you pick up the call before the person hangs up. <S> But it also has other types of screening capabilities. <S> It makes it easier to archive voice messages, if you need to keep some for legal reasons. <S> Drawbacks Unless you pay, Google owns the phone number it gives you and unless you're very lucky, the area code of the free phone number they give you may not be familiar to your clients. <S> Your clients will have to call a phone number different from the one they receive a phone call from (unless you pay, or unless you go through Google Voice to return a call which takes a few extra seconds). <S> The last time I checked. <S> Google Voice had great integration with Sprint (if you had a Sprint postpaid account). <S> For other cell phone providers, advanced integration with Google Voice is a little bit more complicated.
| I suggest using the message to give your policies on returning calls. One solution is to let your clients call as many times as they want.
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Childhood "Publications" in Resume Is it a good idea to put articles that I wrote at 8 years old, in a school newspaper, in my resume? For some context: I was told by an orientation guy from my university to put theses articles on my résumé, like if they were publications. These articles were about nature, while I am in electrical engineering. I think it's because "I need to show I have good writing skills." Edit : I know this question is odd. I just asked it so I can tell the orientation guy that his advice isn't the best. <Q> Also what was it published in? <S> Unless it's a national scientific journal or something recognized by researchers, I wouldn't include it. <S> Matter of fact, I'm not sure what sort of advice you gotten from your university <S> but this doesn't sound like you're getting advised correctly. <S> I would seek other opinions before using this individual again. <A> I remember similar stuff when I was studying engineering and went to my university's Career Center for advice <S> and they wanted me to put some irrelevant (to engineering) fluff on my resume. <S> As an engineer, your resume will be a little different from the resumes by kids in other majors. <S> If you look around, you will probably find that your engineering department can provide better resources for resume advice for you. <S> The best resume advice I got was from a resume workshop hosted by one of the engineering organizations (in my case it was SWE, but look for anything hosted by IEEE (and join your student chapter if you haven't already!), CSCE (ASCE for any Americans reading this), ASME or maybe ACM). <S> It was open to all engineering students at the school and a couple engineers from a local company came and talked about what they liked to see on resumes. <S> It was also a good networking opportunity, before I even really realized what networking was, that led pretty directly to getting my first interview. <S> Oh, and the best career advice I've ever gotten is: don't burn any bridges. <S> No matter what advice you get on your resume, from here or anywhere else, don't go tell the orientation guy <S> he's full of it. <S> It's entirely likely you'll be working with this guy, or someone who knows him, before long. <S> If you see him again there's no need to tell him he was wrong about anything. <S> You should thank him for his time and, if he presses you on how your resume turned out, just say that you got some tailored advice from an engineering-focused organization. <A> That would get your resume noticed all right but not in a good way. <S> Hiring officials have no interest at all concerning your childhood. <S> They would think you were odd or strange for including this information and odd is not what most employers are looking for. <A> Whenever you wonder if you should or should not put something in your resume, ask yourself this: <S> What does this accomplishment say about my current qualifications for this job? <S> When you are an adult and mention something you wrote while you were 8, it doesn't say anything about you at all. <S> Your interests will have changed Your writing skills will have drastically improved (I hope...) <S> The quality threshold of a school newspaper written by 8 year olds will be ridiculously low compared to any quality standards you will be measured by as an adult. <S> Also, do you seriously want someone to dig out those articles you wrote back then and use them to judge your current writing skills? <S> Assuming someone would actually do this (very, very unlikely), do you think that it would be an accurate representation of your writing skills today? <S> I doubt it. <S> So I would consider it irrelevant information and leave it out. <S> By the way, if you want to demonstrate your writing skills, then the cover letter of your applicaton should already be a good demonstration. <A> The Resume / CV's purpose is to get you into the interview group, no more and no less. <S> To do that your resume has to have "hooks" in it that catch the reader's attention and put your info in the "interview pile" instead of the reject pile. <S> Those hooks need to be tailored for each application based on the advert and whatever else you can find out about the employer. <S> If the specific job involves "working on the company newsletter" then showing some pre-exposure would be of benefit. <S> Similar tasks might be "assisting salespeople in technical aspects of their proposals" or documentation. <S> The CV is a means to an end. <S> Once you get an interview then your performance at that interview is what gets you a job offer. <S> The CV is nothing more than notes and you have to show you've got the skills and that you would be a good fit for the organisation.
| Unless the article is highly articulate and amazing for a 8 years old child prodigy, I wouldn't include it.
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After being offered a position, is it appropriate to ask who the other candidates were? I’ve been offered a senior management position. This is an internal move within my current company (a large financial services organization). The interviewer was well known to me beforehand and given the nature of the work I suspect the other applicants will also be familiar faces. Now that the position is officially mine, is it appropriate for me to know who I was up against? Does this change if I am going to be managing one or more of the other candidates? <Q> I dont think is a good idea. <S> Imagine if you are looking for a job in other place. <S> Would you do the same? <S> The company would probably deny your request and add lack of respect for others persons privacy to your profile or maybe rescind the offer. <S> Now imagine if you didn't get the job. <S> How you feel if they pass that information to the winner? <S> What would you think about the company for doing that? <A> Think about how it benefits the company if you know. <S> If it's just some other random person, there is no benefit, so it's just curiosity on your side. <S> However, it could be useful to know if it is someone you will be managing or working closely with. <S> Even then, it would only be useful if a problem develops. <S> So probably the only way to approach it is to ask your hiring manager a more generic question: <S> Since this is an internal hire, and there were probably other internal candidates, is there anything I need to know about the other candidates that would make me more effective at my job? <S> If I am now managing or working closely with someone who didn't get this job, do you foresee any problems, and do you have suggestions for how to avoid those problems to begin with? <A> Now that the position is officially mine, is it appropriate for me to know who I was up against? <S> It is very important to respect others privacy. <S> Asking for their names is definitelty inappropriate, just as trying to figure out who the other applicants were. <S> Does this mean that you have to let this go? <S> If you are just curious: <S> Yes , if you want to use the information to handle your new position with success: No . <S> The interviewer was well known to me beforehand and given the nature of the work I suspect the other applicants will also be familiar faces. <S> You can ask the interviewer what made them choose you to find out what they liked about you. <S> Also try to ask him/her what they liked about the other applications compared to you. <S> This way you show some self-reflection and you can work on this. <S> Does this change if I am going to be managing one or more of the other candidates? <S> I think it's rather important how you act as their manager instead of if you will become their manager. <S> It is very demotivating if you try to be 'the manager'. <S> Give them respect. <S> None of you are better than the other, you just have different positions with different responsibilities and tasks. <S> Accept them for their talents, not their 'failures' (even though it's not good to see shortcomings as failures). <S> It's your responsibility that everything runs smooth now. <S> The future might tell you if you are managing one of the other applicants. <S> Maybe they tell you that they applied for the position. <S> If so... try to help them achieve a position like it. <S> It's always good to help your fellow colleagues, you'll earn their respect and you give them hope. <A> I'd say leave this alone. <S> There is literally nothing good you can do with that kind of information and <S> plenty bad can come of them giving you said information (think workplace dramas etc, reputational loss for the company if it comes out they provide that kind of information). <S> You don't need to know. <A> I don't think you should. <S> At a minimum, you could ask if there is anything you should be concerned about from other potential candidates without getting too specific. <S> An obvious example would be if someone claimed they are the best candidate for the job and specifically mentioned you as being incompetent. <S> Hopefully, if there were any indications of a serious problem, someone else would be looking into it. <S> If they have no intentions of coming up with a remedy for the problem, I doubt they would share anything with you of any value. <S> and hopefully they'll do the same for you.
| You don't need names, and if you are professional and didn't get the job, you wouldn't want your name given. The answer to your question differs depending on the purpose of it. Start from a clean slate and give everyone a chance to prove themselves
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Reaching out to Marketing for experience when I'm an Engineer I'm currently an engineer and am thinking about starting up my own business on the side (still an idea but in the process of creating the MVP). My business would bring zero competition to my current company and would not interfere with my current job. All time spent would be off work hours. Is it ethical to reach out to the president/business/marketing team to work with them and learn how a business is ran? The company is a 200+mil$ company with huge networks and 40+ years of experience. I'm wanting to learn how to run a business from people who are running a business. The president is extremely personable, but he is a business man. Should I tread lightly or not ask for experience where I work? <Q> It would be unethical to waste company time, but you could ask them out to dinner or make an appointment outside of work. <S> It would definitely be unethical to walk over to the Marketing Department and start asking questions about how to market your new business. <S> They are being paid by the company, and they should be working on things that will help the company to make money. <S> Would you feel comfortable asking them to get together outside work? <S> You might suggest getting together for a drink, or a coffee, or a meal. <S> Make sure that you are upfront about your new business and your desire to pick their brains. <S> Assuming you have a good relationship with the person, he/she will likely be happy to sit down with you to answer some questions. <A> Keep your private business to yourself. <S> Any information you do get may not be relevant, there is a huge difference between a company with 600 employees and a sole trader in a different industry, and you're basically telling your employers that you're not concentrating fully on their stuff. <S> There is no upside, irrelevant information or info that can easily be had by doing a bit of research isn't worth much and may harm you. <A> Consider starting your company together with someone who has experience that complements your own (e.g. marketing, sales, or organisational skills) . <S> It's difficult to replicate years of learning without devoting years to it. <S> Some companies (particularly tech firms) impose restrictions on the ownership of ideas that are generated whilst you work at the company so check first to make sure the MVP doesn't belong to your employer already! <S> Is it ethical to reach out to the president/business/marketing team to work with them and learn how a business is ran? <S> If learning how a business is run benefits you in your current position, yes . <S> If your employer is supportive of personal development even when this doesn't benefit them directly, yes . <S> Should I tread lightly or not ask for experience where I work? <S> If you give the impression that what you are asking for may lead to you leaving your current job then expect the people you reach out to to be conflicted. <S> An alternative approach would be to look for a secondment or apply internally for a job in that department in order to learn by doing. <S> If you can make a case for how you can contribute then this benefits both you and your employer. <S> Note that this could still be interpreted as an early sign that you may leave, so it is your read of the culture at you workplace that is key. <A> I would leave it alone, you don't want the wrong person to know you were asking the marketing team non-work related questions, or that you are spending time talking about your own business, because others may exploit that as an issue with conflict of interests.
| If you want your employer to pay you to learn things that don't help the company and will lead to you leaving, no . If you are reaching out in your private time and asking the individuals to assist you in their private time, yes .
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How to respond to an insistent recruiter's cold email? In receiving a second cold email from a recruiter earlier today, I discovered I had missed the first among my usual sea of emails. The recruiter guilts me in the subject line, writing "I haven't heard back from you" and, unlike the first, the email is copied to every email account I think I've ever held, including an email at a previous university, and one from my childhood I now use for junk. The body of the email also thinly veils annoyance with such constructions as: "As I tried to communicate in my last email...", and "When I first reached out...", and so on. I have no interest in the position, and I'm normally good at telling people that politely, but I'm wondering if I should (and, if so, how to) address the assumption that I owe them a response in the first place. I find both that assumption and their attempts to guilt me for not replying unprofessional. <Q> Just be straightforward. <S> Thank you for the interest, but I am not open for new roles at this time. <S> You could escalate this, or make a big deal about it, but it's probably not worth the effort. <A> I receive like 5-10 messages / week from recruiters. <S> I would say less than 5% even made the effort to read through my profile to check, if I would be a good fit. <S> I answer these messages, if I'm interested or not. <S> The remaining 95% are just ignored. <S> Recently many recruiters catch up after a couple of days with stuff like "I haven't heard back from you". <S> Yeah, that's because you're cold calling for a position, which doesn't even remotely fit. <S> One recruiter even sent me 4 messages (passive-aggressively escalating to finally " <S> that's the last time I offer you this supergreat position"), but blantantly ignoring that the offered position was neither my capabilities/industry nor my area I stated in my profile. <S> For catch-up messages I apply the same algorithm from above: <S> If they somehow read my profle I answer, if not I just ignore the messsages. <A> tl;dr <S> You are over-thinking this, ignore these emails. <S> The one thing which you need to understand is that those types of recruiters very rarely if ever take more than 2 seconds composing these emails. <S> You are under no obligation to answer unless you want to mark yourself as someone who wishes to get further emails about jobs that do not fit you very well. <S> Recruiting agencies either own or subscribe to systems in which they simply add your contact info (or more likely scrape from places such as LinkedIn) once, and then choose from several pre-built templates which seem to "escalate" their guilt tripping. <S> These systems can even be automated so they send an "escalated" email every 3-5 days or whatever they see fit. <S> Minimal effort and maximum result is the name of their fishing game. <S> The only recruiters I have ever taken seriously are local agencies with local positions whose job descriptions can be tracked down to a company's job posting, period. <A> Normally I simply ignore uninteresting / irrelevant recruiter emails ( <S> no, I do not want to run a steel plant; no, I am not interested in a PO position in the diaper industry; ...). <S> But in addition to not responding to this guy (under a "Don't feed the trolls" philosophy) <S> I would mark his email as Spam . <S> Arguably, this unsolicited, commercial, obnoxious email is just that, and marking it has spam is a small way to slap his wrist for his bad behavior because your email provider should take that into account in deciding whether or not to deliver future nag-mails from this guy. <A> Recruiters are there to work for you, they need you more than you need them (Unless you are unemployed). <S> Another thing to remember, there are many recruiters out in the ocean of jobs. <S> It sounds like they are already being very aggressive just because they haven't had a response. <S> If they didn't get the hint the first time (From your lack of response), I'm not sure they're really worth working with. <S> I would just carrying on ignoring it <S> , what have you got to gain if you did respond? <S> Unless this is a recruiter you've enjoyed working with before <S> and they've done a good job <S> , it's better to just leave it be and get on with your life. <S> If it really gets too much, it can be considered harassment, but that's a really extreme case <S> and I'd doubt it would come to that. <A> If they are particularly obnoxious I sometimes reply with a simple: unsubscribe <S> Costs you minimal time <S> Clearly indicates your disinterest in further communications <S> Clearly states your desired outcome <S> Indicates that you consider their messages to be bulk, impersonal spam <A> Just be clear, and make your point. <S> I tend to say something like this: <S> Dear [recruiter] <S> I'm not looking for work at this time, or for the forseeable future. <S> Please do not contact me again. <S> Regards <S> As a bonus, if the footer of an unsolicited email contains some form of legal contract (usually about sharing the content of the unsolicited email). <S> I tend to throw one of these in with it, just in case they feel like holding me to the conditions of their email footer: <S> I am not now, nor have I ever been, bound in law by conditions presented in the footer of communications from parties with whom I have no verbal, implied, literal or otherwise contract. <S> By opening this email you have agreed to provide [me] with your organisations contact database, tangible assets and outstanding shares free of charge and at your personal expense.
| If they keep on contacting you, don't forget there are ways to mute, ignore or remove their emails, without you needing to pay attention to them.
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Interviewer said to concentrate on personal work and reschedule interview So my interviewer told me a time that conflicts with my schedule so I asked her for a different time on the same day so I can complete some personal work. She replied back saying no problem we can schedule on a different day but I would like to take it on the day she proposed but at a different time. Is it ok to send this type of email or does it look too pushy to the recruiter? Thank you so much for the best wishes! I also wouldn't mind speaking with you on the day you proposed for Thursday at 2:30PM or before but Friday is completely fine with me as well! Thanks! <Q> It is not pushy at all; I find it perfectly friendly. <S> If I were to suggest any edits, I might suggest being a bit more concise (particularly if you are in a STEM field). <S> I might say something like: <S> Hi Name, Thanks for your flexibility <S> , I really appreciate it. <S> I could do Thursday at/before 2:30 EST, or anytime Friday. <S> Cheers, Name <A> I would not send that email. <S> If you send it you risk her interpreting it against you - that you are dense and don't take social cues. <S> One of the primary things recruiters are sensitive to is if the person is interested and excited about the job. <S> If you're moving around interview dates the message is - <S> I'll get to it when I can, I have other priorities and if it's convenient for me we can chat. <S> Your message should be - this is the most important thing to me, I can't wait to meet in person, and I want the first available slot. <S> At least, if you want to get hired. <A> But consider that the interviewer has other appointments too, so maybe it's just not possible. <S> Don't sound like your interview is supposed to be the only activity they have to plan. <S> Don't request a new time, just make an offer. <S> If you want to reschedule it again at all. <S> If you already mentioned this time in your first request I wouldn't ask for it again. <S> Then maybe they already did the best they can.
| You could make it less "pushy" offering that even the same day would be ok for you, just at another time if this could make it easier for the interviewer.
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What to do when a coworker reveals confidential personal info about me? A 28 year old female supervisor at a different department, looking to sabotage me professionally and socially, revealed my age to some select co-workers. Is this illegal? Should I tell HR? I am over 40 and work in digital media. What is the likelihood that she would get fired? I suspect the motive is jealousy. It is creating a toxic environment for me at work and changing people's perceptions of me. <Q> Retaliation is probably going to be a very bad idea. <S> While her action may have been unprofessional or possibly illegal, I suspect that attempts to have her repremanded for it will cost you politically much more than it will help you. <S> You're going to have a difficult time convincing the right people that this was a big deal <S> (I am NOT arguing it isn't, but rather what others will perceive). <S> Those people will probably consider your complaint to be politically motivated and irritating rather than actionable. <S> Basically, I suggest doing nothing in this case until you have something that others will more likely take as a serious greivance. <A> I am not a lawyer, but I am familiar with New York, having worked there. <S> NY has some VERY strict labor laws, and while she would likely get into trouble, HR IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. <S> By that, I mean that HR is there to protect the company, not to protect you. <S> Your best course of action is to tell the person who is doing this that you don't like your personal information being spread around the office. <S> Tell her that it makes you "uncomfortable", and use that word. <S> Then note it. <S> You want to keep a written record of everything because if this becomes a pattern, you want to be able to go to a lawyer, or to HR with a well documented pattern of harassment so that it's not just a "Well, she did this", but rather.... <S> On February 13, 2017, at 2:15pm by the water cooler, I heard Jessica tell Robert "Can you believe she's 45! <S> Wow, I can't believe she works in such a young field, she should find somewhere else to work" <S> Then, later on March 6, at 11:00 AM, in a meeting about online widget marketing.... <S> Make a paper trail and Document Everything <S> That way, even if the behavior stops for a while, and then picks up again, you will not be caught without recourse. <S> But again, HR IS NOT YOUR FRIEND <S> They won't automatically take your side just because you filed a complaint. <S> The complaint needs to be solid, fully documented, and in the company's best interests to resolve in your favor. <S> If you go in, be ready to supply your documentation and be aware of unforeseen circumstances such as being known as the person who filed against a coworker, which may affect your relationship with your other coworkers. <S> Try to resolve things with her first, then if things continue, get advice from a lawyer, then if the lawyer advises you, go to HR. <A> Your best bet here is to step up your game and become the absolute best person they have in that position. <S> Show them that age is just a number. <S> Once you have the respect that goes with being the best, then no one will care about the jealous woman and her age problem. <S> In fact it will then make her look petty and unprofessional. <S> Is it fair that you have to work harder when you are older than your colleagues? <S> No. <S> But life isn't fair. <S> Everyone who has something that makes them not like the rest of the group has to work harder to prove they belong in the group. <S> I have had to do it as a woman and, in my industry where people over 30 is unusual, I have have had to do it as someone in my 60s. <S> I know people who have had to do it because of their race or because they are autistic or deaf or in a wheelchair.
| So, unless you have an iron-clad case for discrimination and have spoken to an employment attorney, going to HR could backfire.
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Coworker is upset I did not offer them food I work part-time in a restaurant, and my co-workers are a mix of older and younger adults. I tend to speak more with the younger adults at work because they are closer to my age. I work with an older woman at the front, and find her very annoying. She is rude and nosy, and makes a lot of comments that are unnecessary, sometimes they are invasive to my personal life. She tries to avoid speaking to me as she knows I don't like conversing with her. She'll then complain to my co-workers that I never talk to her, etc. I brought in a cake to share with my friends at work. Since it was a fair amount, I decided to share with whoever wanted a piece. I didn't see her around the area me and my co-workers were sitting at, so I distributed the cake to whoever was present. I then hear from another co-worker who tells me that the older woman was complaining to someone about how I didn't offer her a piece. She wasn't around when I was serving the cake, and I had assumed she had already left. She never asked me for a piece either. It may seem rude of me to not consider her, but I don't really think I have any obligation to give her my food if I don't want to, considering the rude things she has said to me. Was it rude of me to not include her when I was sharing my cake? I don't want to be a workplace bully if this behaviour is representative of that attitude. <Q> It does not sound like you did anything wrong. <S> Also, there seems to be lot of gossip around in how she actually felt about it. <S> You can simply walk up to her and say something like: <S> Hey I got a cake other day for you all. <S> I wanted to share it with you but could not find you before it was finished. <S> I am sorry. <S> I will make sure will save a piece for you next time. <S> Depending on how guilty you are feeling about it, you can just buy a small piece of cake for her with the above message. <A> Was it rude of me to not include her when I was sharing my cake? <S> Yes . <S> Exluding a team member, <S> wether you like her/him or not, is rude. <S> Usually, you do that when: either you made it clear before that you don't like that person 1 , or when you want that person to understand you don't like them. <S> Did you do that on purpose? <S> According to what you say ( She wasn't around when I was serving the cake, and I had assumed she had already left. ) <S> , I'd say no. <S> But that's what she thinks. <S> She never asked me for a piece either. <S> IMO, it's like asking someone, out of the blue, if they can join your party without being invited... <S> Put aside what you think about her, and step in her shoes. <S> What would you think and feel ? <S> From there, it seems like you're left with two options, depending on what you want to achieve: you don't care about her : keep it like that, and you enter, soon or later, a dark zone... <S> you want to have everybody to chill out and make the smallest deal of what happened : you just tell her the truth -> <S> Hi Alice, I didn't see you around last time, when I brought a cake. <S> I thought you had already left. <S> Sorry about that. <S> Please feel free to join us next time if you want to... (you can also skip the last sentence, depending on what you want to achieve with her). <S> But my advice would be to talk to her and explain. <S> Be straight and honest. <S> So that you don't look like the " workplace bully if this behaviour is representative of that attitude ". <S> And you may also find out that, being nice to her, she'll change her behavior. <S> Spread the good seeds when you want a good harvest. <S> At least, it's worth trying :) <S> 1 <S> : I've been that guy... fed up with coworkers' attitude. <S> Still bad way to deal with the problem, I later changed my way of behaving, and have been feeling soooo good since... <A> Singling them out and treating them badly is the worst action you can take. <S> You don't need to be friends with everyone but it is counterproductive to make enemies instead of allies. <S> Because you don't like this person, you should have made sure she got a piece of cake especially if she was the only person who did not get one. <S> You could have asked where she was and put aside a piece for her. <S> This was an opportunity for you to help improve your relationship and, <S> by your actions, you made the relationships worse instead. <S> In the future consider that there is never a need to exclude others or be rude at work; it makes you look bad and makes your work relationships more problematic. <S> People can do you a lot of harm if you make them mad at you. <S> You do yourself more harm by responding in kind. <S> Apologize to her, preferably where some others can hear you did so <S> (since the original exclusion was public and her complaints were public). <S> Explain that you thought she had left for the day as you did not see her. <S> Then the next time you bring food in make sure she gets the first piece.
| If someone wants to be nasty to you, then let them look bad by taking the high road and being nice to them in turn. There will always be people at work you don't care for.
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How do I give availability time ranges for an interview (of unknown duration)? I'm trying to tell someone when I'd be available for an interview. Seems easy, right? I'm available 8-11 AM on the 1st and 3-5 PM on the 2nd. But this seems ambiguous in that "8-11" could mean either I'm available ending at 11, or the latest I can start the interview is 11. Or I could just say: (e.g. for an hour interview) I'm available starting at any point between 8 and 10 AM on the 1st and 3 and 4 PM on the 2nd. But this would only work when I know the duration of the interview (which I don't). I will ask how long the interview will be, but I'd like to also give my availability in the same email, to avoid the additional unnecessary back-and-forth. Of course I can also just explain what the end time means: I'm available from 8 AM onward ending no later than 11 AM on the 1st. But this would get very clunky when trying to specify multiple time ranges. How can I unambiguously and briefly give my availability in the form of time ranges? <Q> EDITED/REVISED <S> I'm available as early as 8:00 AM, but I have a hard-stop at 11:00Am, so the earlier the better... <S> Or something like that, <S> but you want to be clear that you have an obligation to end at 11. <A> Gosh. <S> The use of the word "between" implies that there is a hard cap at 11am. <S> The hyphens are used because that is idiomatic when specifying time ranges. <S> Your second and third examples, and all the other weird and wonderful wordings you might see, will just signify you as someone with a very awkward communication style. <S> You generally don't want to show that when you go for interviews. <S> Stick with the simplest, commonest forms. <A> I'm trying to tell someone when I'd be available for an interview. <S> - Seems easy, right? <S> I'm available 8-11 AM. <S> - But this seems ambiguous ... <S> But this would only work when I know the duration of the interview (which I don't). <S> I am available between 8 and 11am, with long interviews to start by 9. <S> That seems fairly obvious that you won't be able to arrive before 8am and not only does it open up inquiring about the duration but makes it quite clear that you want to be on your way prior to the last minute. <S> I always ask about number of interviews and their structure if it's not clear that it's casual (meet the people and we'll let you know soon) vs. comparators and looky-lous <S> (we can't tell you or <S> you'll have to wait to ask). <S> Don't leave them with the impression that your time is unimportant or that you'll jump through hoops at the drop of a hat, unless it's your first job and you need to be flexible over other considerations. <A> I ended up using "from X until Y". <S> I'm available from 8 until 11 AM on the 1st and from 3 until 5 PM on the 2nd. <S> "Until" seems to more clearly than "to" imply that's the latest the interview should end.
| Just stick with "I'm available between 8-11am on the 1st, and 3-5pm on the 3rd".
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Manager trying to drag team into office politics I am not a new employee in the company but I am part of a kind of newly formed team with a newly promoted manager. The team overall is not performing well and she is the main reason (and some team members chip in). After her manager's feedback she tries to promote an idea of camaraderie in the team and suggest that all team members, along with her, announce that they would like to move to different divisions. I suspect this is to cover herself and try to create noise in expense of her manager. She actually said within the team that she is unhappy with her manager. I don't know what she has in mind but I find this so unprofessional that I am tempted to report it. Would it be professional to do that? <Q> In this instance I would advise just letting her dig herself a hole without your help or hindrance. <S> Office politics and taking sides rarely ends well for everyone. <A> Your job as an employee involves seeking the benefit of the company. <S> The job of a manager is to be responsible for organizing and managing employees so that they benefit the company. <S> If your manager is failing to do so, allowing her to use the team to make a point at the expense of the company is out of the question. <S> You need to figure out how you really feel about the team, and if you can honestly say that you want to remain a member of it. <S> If so, then to your direct manager, you can simply tell her that you like the team or the work and want to continue. <S> If you don't want to stay, definitely don't participate in an orchestrated gesture. <S> Chances are if your manager has already gotten bad feedback from her manager and hasn't taken it to heart and worked to improve, failures of the team will properly be blamed on her leadership unless there is a reason not to. <S> Keep focusing on doing good work and documenting that good work. <S> If you notice reasons for the failure of the team, send emails and copy the right people in them with your suggestions. <S> The only way for this to backfire is for the team to be considered to not be an asset to the company and the employees fired. <S> In such a case you would want to make a move before that happens. <A> My advice would be to simply ignore the drama and chow down on work. <S> If your manager starts giving you a hard time for that, you start documenting about her behaviour towards you... <S> That way, it can show that you're interested in the work and that you're able to fight through office drama like this. <S> It can also get you "the long end" in any discussion - you're demonstrably trying to do work, while she and that part of the team are actively trying to sabotage you. <S> Don't get directly involved in the fight unless you really, really have to. <S> Concentrate on work and keep delivering product - at some point she'll end up either sabotaging herself (at which point you drop the "bombshell" of documentation of incidents at HR) or she'll stop. <S> It sounds like she's made it abundantly clear that she doesn't want to be there. <S> In a situation like this, you stay cool, you stay mature and you stay civil and professional. <S> You do not play ball or feed the troll - you do what you're hired to do <S> and you do it well. <S> If she starts cutting you off from more work, you already have opportunity to gather evidence. <S> Patience is key - i've had this way of handling office drama help in the past. <S> It can turn into an opportunity if you play it right. <S> And it's its own reward to be able to sit back and shoot their career in the foot :) <S> Remember <S> - it's not your job to fix the problem... unless "manager" is in your title, it's not your fight to join unless it's directed at you or unless you're certain that you can "win"
| Best practice is not to get involved with other peoples conflicts and ultimatums unless you have the status to force change without repercussions to yourself.
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