All Questions
277
votes
19answers
57k views
How should I deal with an employee who has slept with my wife?
I'm the owner of a business with about 30-40 employees. Recently, I found out that one of my employees has been having an affair with my wife. The employee has worked for me for 4 years. I felt like I ...
218
votes
19answers
61k views
Is it rude to leave an interview early if you have already made your decision?
A friend of mine went on an interview recently for a software developer position at a well known company. It was a senior position, and he had very relevant business experience in the industry. I ...
123
votes
25answers
41k views
How can I overcome “years of experience” requirements when applying to positions?
Having just been rejected as a candidate for a job because I do not show the number of years of experience they require, I have some questions about how "years of experience" is interpreted by hiring ...
80
votes
14answers
6k views
How can I prepare for getting hit by a bus?
As a member of small teams, I had significant responsibility. Whether driving progress by organizing meetings or maintaining/creating/understanding a large percentage of specific technical ...
71
votes
16answers
10k views
How can I ask my interviewers for feedback following an interview?
Recently, I had an interview with Amazon. At first, things went smoothly and well. After two interviews, they decided not to move forward with the process. I'm the type of person who wants to ...
71
votes
9answers
3k views
How can I tell people to get to the point?
I've recently come to a work place where people use a lot of useless business lingo and generally inflate communications with long unproductive fluff. I frequently find myself nodding and hoping they ...
67
votes
8answers
5k views
How should I respond to an inappropriate question in a job interview?
In the United States, it is considered discriminatory to consider certain things about a candidate when hiring, unless that thing is actually relevant to that job. Specific to this question, a ...
66
votes
6answers
15k views
Is it considered rude to turn down a job after initially accepting it?
Earlier today, I was offered a position which I accepted. It is supposed to start in about a month.
I feel like I've made a huge mistake. Can I do anything about it without coming off as ...
63
votes
8answers
6k views
How soon should you return to work after illness?
I apologize if the answer to this question seems blatently obvious to some, but to me it isn't.
At the moment I'm off work sick. I imagine I might be well enough to go into work tomorrow, though not ...
62
votes
9answers
4k views
Is it appropriate to ask about a company's dress code during an interview?
Many people are dissatisfied with their company's dress code.
Seeing as this can be an important factor in job satisfaction is it appropriate to ask about the dress code during an interview?
If ...
60
votes
23answers
17k views
How can I encourage a culture of punctuality in a software company?
As a new technical lead in a new company, what are some additional strategies to employ to change the culture of the development team so that people show up at the time that I've requested?
TLDR: My ...
55
votes
11answers
4k views
If my employer is planning a big project around me, should I tell them I'm looking for a new job?
I've been in meetings all week with my small company's owners, planning a big project for which I am a critical resource. However, meanwhile I'm looking for a job.
My company has pretty low ...
55
votes
14answers
4k views
My colleagues frown on me for using my vacation days. Should I stop using them so much?
I work for a company that gives 25 vacation days a year. Unused days are not paid and if not used they become wasted and you cannot use them the next year. When you leave the company, you are not paid ...
54
votes
9answers
3k views
How can we protest a deadline that is too short?
Our Project manager made a project's presentation and assigned it to our team. The amount of work was estimated at 3 weeks.
Our team members discussed the project and we calculated that the amount ...
53
votes
11answers
8k views
How should I deal with colleagues asking me to hide problems with their work?
My specific situation is that I am working as tester for a web application project, and after some low level security tests I realized the application has lots of vulnerabilities. I would normally ...
52
votes
9answers
5k views
What do I say when resigning after just a month?
I have started a new job in a new company. I left my previous job because I felt I was being ignored and quite frankly I did not feel valued.
I have been in this new Job just under a month and I ...
52
votes
10answers
4k views
How can an employee perform a self-appraisal without being arrogant?
Recently, everyone in my company has been required to do their annual self-appraisals for the upcoming performance reviews. And as I struggled to write my own, this got me to wondering...
How can an ...
51
votes
3answers
3k views
How can I determine a reasonable salary to ask for?
I'm looking for a comprehensive answer to this question, not short answers that just tell me one piece of the equation.
The ideal answer should include:
How can I determine the average salary rate ...
49
votes
10answers
4k views
How can I deal with a difficult coworker?
I have a member on my team who acts like a boorish pig. He "borrows" my belongings without asking, almost as if he's entitled to it. Last time, I had some snack on my desk and he just took it to his ...
49
votes
19answers
4k views
How can I reduce the size of a long resume without hiding all my skills and experience?
I'm in the US and have 30 years of experience with a bunch of different companies, working in high-tech and the software industry. I have a lot of links, skills, and education which has pushed my ...
48
votes
10answers
4k views
How can I use my masters degree to get a higher salary?
I have almost completed my masters degree in computer science. I have interviewed at a lot of companies, where they told me that they don't think a Masters degree is necessary for a software ...
48
votes
13answers
3k views
Should I go to an interview I don't intend to accept the job (if offered)?
In a conversation with a friend, he slipped that he intended to go to an interview for a senior position in software development. I was surprised, since I was under the impression he liked his current ...
48
votes
16answers
5k views
How do I deal with difficult but talented employees?
I am managing a team of 10+ knowledge workers (developers, testers, technical support, no sales person).
There are employees in my team who are extremely talented, who can consistently provide better ...
47
votes
15answers
3k views
Is it naive to tell my current employer that I'll be leaving, months in advance?
I'm relocating to another coast in 3 months. The move isn't job related, i.e. I don't have a job out there yet, but I'm committed, e.g. I have other reasons for going, and I've signed a lease on a ...
46
votes
8answers
3k views
How can I politely decline a team lunch?
Most of the time, I find that lunch time is the one time that some bond occurs with between colleagues. There is a canteen onsite which we go to. We get to know a bit more about the person we are ...
45
votes
10answers
2k views
How can I approach my boss with bad news?
The project I'm working on isn't going well; unfortunately, I just don't have the resources to complete it as assigned. However, nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news. What can I do to make the ...
44
votes
3answers
2k views
Is it okay to ask why the previous employee left or was let go?
In an interview is it okay to ask the interviewer why the previous employee left the position or was fired from the position I am applying for? I would like to understand why someone would have quit ...
43
votes
14answers
3k views
In an interview, is it required to have question(s) for the interviewer?
A Lifehacker article this week took on the final question in most interviews: "any questions for me?"
The conclusion of the article, and most other advice I have seen, is that "Yes!" is the only ...
43
votes
14answers
6k views
Just got an initial job offer. How do I ask for more without any real justification?
I just got an initial programming job offer for $75k + benefits. It's an initial offer, so I feel like I should give a counter offer ($5k - $10k/year more) to avoid unnecessarily leaving any money on ...
43
votes
17answers
2k views
How can I communicate my preference to stay where I am now in my career path, and not move “up”?
I'm a developer and 100% happy being a developer writing code for the rest of my life. All I ever want to really do is just write code. Most certainly, I never want to be a project manager, which I ...
43
votes
5answers
4k views
Protecting resume against recruiters, double-presentations, and MS Word?
Early in my career, I encountered unethical recruiters in the tech industry. In the worst case, a recruiting firm sent my resume to dozens of companies without my consent. This resulted in a double ...
42
votes
10answers
1k views
How do I take a vacation when I'm wearing too many hats?
I've been at my current job for a little over two years, during which I've not taken a vacation or used much of my paid time off. I know that if I do, odds are I'll end up getting phone calls or ...
42
votes
5answers
2k views
Does the first person to mention a number in a salary negotiation lose?
When talking about salary negotiation (or any negotiation), it's become somewhat of a conventional wisdom that "the first to give a number loses" (example one, example two).
Is this true?
Here are ...
41
votes
17answers
4k views
How can one interview somebody for a job requiring work under severe stress?
A friend of mine is working in a company which is developing and maintaining a set of mission critical products. If one of those products fail at 3 AM, it is mandatory to do something immediately to ...
41
votes
9answers
2k views
Should I be giving unsolicited help?
Situation is this: X and Y sit near my cubicle. X asks Y some question, which Y doesn't know an answer to, but together they spend quite some time talking on that.
I have heard their conversation, ...
40
votes
2answers
2k views
boss smokes and colleagues who smoke get insider info
I recently started a new job and my boss is a smoker, so she frequently has smoke breaks together with my other colleagues who are also smokers. During these smoke breaks, they often discuss important ...
39
votes
8answers
2k views
Using gym at workplace during work hours
My company has a gym, a nice swimming pool, squash court, badminton court et al but the employees are not allowed to use during working hours. The employees can only use from 6 am - 8 am and from 5 pm ...
39
votes
8answers
3k views
How do I maintain a good relationship with an employer after resigning?
I'm working my first job and would like to have my current boss as a reference if possible. But if I leave, it's almost certainly going to be a resignation to move to another job. I feel like I'm ...
38
votes
13answers
3k views
How to deal with a team lead direct report that acts unprofessionally?
I am a team leader. I have a team member who directly reports to me and who came from a small company and who had strong programming skills and very very poor communication skills and poor corporate ...
38
votes
10answers
2k views
Is it a good idea to put dislikes similar to those in SO Careers profiles in your resume? If so, why?
Those of you who have a CV on careers.stackoverflow.com probably know that there is a section called Technologies under which you can mention the technologies you like or dislike; something like this:
...
38
votes
14answers
5k views
Selecting interview attire for a technical job interview
According to the book "Programming Interviews Exposed":
In general, though, a suit is overkill for a technical job interview.
A standard technical interviewing outfit for men consists of ...
38
votes
11answers
2k views
How can I get an idea of the work hours when applying for a job?
One key piece of information that I'd like to have before joining a company is what the culture is in terms of expected work hours. I am worried though that asking this question may make them perceive ...
38
votes
6answers
1k views
When is it appropriate to stop an interview early?
Today I've interviewed a person, who refused to try to solve a simple (and quite common) practical problem. I mean, literally refused to try to solve it. He said something like: "Well, I just don't ...
37
votes
9answers
3k views
I just found out that I am the lowest paid on my team. How do I negotiate a raise without revealing this knowledge?
So for the past few weeks I have been working overtime as from my last question Saying no to project managers?
I recently found out about what my team coworkers were making through a friendly chat ...
37
votes
10answers
1k views
How best to indicate that I've been the “go-to person” on a resume
For the past 7 years or so, wherever I work, I end up becoming "the guy everyone goes to ask technical and programming questions". Because of that, I'm always "promoted" (sometimes formally, sometimes ...
37
votes
6answers
1k views
Should I encourage my coworkers to share their salaries with each other?
Objectively speaking, the only party that would not benefit from everyone knowing what everybody else earns (specially people in similar positions) is the employer.
Yet, there's a stigma about it.
...
36
votes
4answers
1k views
Why is it important to gain “visibility” in the workplace?
My boss has recently been pushing me to take up stuff and try to gain visibility across the organization.
I just do not understand the idea behind this.
Why is it important to gain visibility? If I ...
35
votes
3answers
10k views
Jokingly told my boss “I quit” on April Fools, and I think I just got fired [closed]
I jokingly told my manager "I quit" via email (it was longer than that) as an April Fools joke. We get along pretty well normally.
Well, it seems my joke was taken a bit too seriously as I just got ...
35
votes
9answers
1k views
Is it inappropriate to add a religious title on the top line of your resume?
I make my money in software development, but my real love is my "weekend job" as an ordained clergyman. As such, my proper title is "Reverend," and thus the top line of my resume is "Rev. Michael ...
35
votes
8answers
1k views
How can I get out of a bad job assignment without quitting?
I'm a software developer. Recently, my boss has told me my upcoming project assignment will be doing manual quality assurance on a web site some colleagues are building.
I feel that spending 6 months ...
