All Questions
31,695
questions
963
votes
29
answers
543k
views
Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I’ve automated my job?
I currently work on a legacy system for a company. The system is really old - and although I was hired as a programmer, my job is pretty much glorified data entry. To summarise, I get a bunch of ...
- 5,117
717
votes
10
answers
148k
views
Potential employer flew me out for interview, cancels return flight
A company I was interested in just flew me out for an interview. It was on the other side of the country, so they paid for my flight and hotel. Unfortunately, the interview went disastrously. I ...
- 2,747
621
votes
20
answers
156k
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 four years. I felt ...
572
votes
20
answers
78k
views
Criticized for doing my job too well
Our company had a big problem with people not taking our mandatory online training seriously. Even though the higher-ups try to stress how important it is, people will usually flip through a 4-hour ...
- 2,951
507
votes
21
answers
132k
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 ...
- 20.7k
399
votes
9
answers
71k
views
Can I talk to my rubber duck at work?
I have noticed I have had great success using another co-worker as a metaphorical rubber duck (sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally). It improves my productivity vastly. However, I know ...
- 5,282
377
votes
17
answers
53k
views
My manager told me I should feel comfortable about telling him if I want to leave the company. Should I tell him?
I work as a software engineer and have been at my company for almost 3 years now. I have recently started considering other opportunities outside of my current role. There isn't anything particularly ...
- 3,770
373
votes
20
answers
57k
views
My boss' new hire, a friend of his, is making advances on me
I am a woman who has been working on a team of men for a number of years now. Up until recently I have been treated very well and with respect. I love my job and get on well with my boss and ...
- 2,645
371
votes
13
answers
75k
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 information,...
- 111k
356
votes
15
answers
48k
views
How to convince HR to let my star employee work from home?
We recently got a new CEO and he took away everyone's ability to work remotely, including that of my most productive team member. As you can guess, everyone's productivity has dropped considerably, ...
- 1,671
355
votes
20
answers
88k
views
What is a 'friendly' way to let managers know that having good developers is a privilege?
I work for a small company, where we recently had a change of managers. The new manager has no experience managing developers, and the old manager has moved into a development role to fill in gaps ...
349
votes
17
answers
58k
views
How do I deal with the "30 minutes remaining" problem?
As a developer, I often get to this point where at the end of the day I finish a big task and still have approximately 30 minutes to go.
The problem is that 30 minutes are not enough time for me to ...
- 6,413
347
votes
18
answers
74k
views
Coworker keeps threatening to tattle on me for "time theft"
One of my coworkers is especially nosy and keeps tabs on when I come to work and leave, and how long my lunch break is, how many times I go to the restroom and how long each break takes, and so on. ...
333
votes
7
answers
42k
views
I'm about to automate myself out of a job. How do I approach my boss to discuss this?
I work for a small-ish company (~15 employees).
I've managed to automate myself out of 80% of my job, starting in 3-4 months. I would really like to stay with my company, but my best analysis suggests ...
- 24.8k
330
votes
22
answers
65k
views
What to make of bizarre off-topic questions during job interview
Last week, I interviewed for a mid-level programmer position. It ended up being the strangest interview of my life. I won't name the company, but it was not a startup and was full of people who have ...
- 1,889
323
votes
5
answers
84k
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 ...
- 10.2k
312
votes
13
answers
60k
views
Is it normal to take lots of breaks in a programming job?
I currently have an internship and I've been assigned to a single project and that project alone. While I'm usually several weeks ahead of schedule and put a lot of thought and detail into my work, I ...
- 4,031
311
votes
22
answers
119k
views
How can I overcome "years of experience" requirements when applying to positions?
Summary: I have 2 years of experience, but want to get a job that explicitly requires 3-7 years. I consider myself with sufficient skills. How can I get a job that requires more years of experience ...
user874
306
votes
19
answers
59k
views
Why is it 'expected' that software developers work on their own projects in their spare time?
I have been working in software development for the last five years, and have had a number of jobs during this time - most of them have been fixed term contracts, but I've also had a permanent ...
- 2,938
297
votes
17
answers
42k
views
Was it really unprofessional of me to leave without asking for a raise first?
I've just given notice to my current job for a new position which offered near triple my current salary ($37k as a software engineer). I knew that I was underpaid when I took the job but as a previous ...
user106021
290
votes
8
answers
56k
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 ...
- 4,978
288
votes
12
answers
55k
views
Coworker is easily and often offended and doesn't want us to mention offensive topics like facial hair
We have an employee who seems to be easily offended by non-offensive things. The latest example is that we should not talk about how facial hair makes someone look different because this person is ...
- 1,825
281
votes
27
answers
65k
views
How to know if I am a 'Real Developer'
I am in my 5th year as a developer (3.5 years as junior/mid level and now a senior dev).
My current role is not going well (people issues). Anyway, I said to one of the managers I was thinking of ...
- 4,541
281
votes
17
answers
35k
views
How to be diplomatic in refusing to write code that breaches the privacy of our users
I am a team lead in a company located in Manila, and I am currently writing an app that has a seriously questionable feature request for its Android users -- which is to secretly record its ...
- 1,671
279
votes
10
answers
58k
views
Is it acceptable to ask a waiter to pay if a customer leaves without paying?
I’ve recently started working for a restaurant (which will be anonymous for now) in Virginia (U.S.A.) as a waiter. I’ve learned to enjoy it, but recently a customer left without paying. I looked ...
- 1,713
276
votes
17
answers
62k
views
Very bad online reputation is destroying my chances of getting a job
3 years ago there was a criminal investigation that resulted in my name being published in the news papers. Although the case went to court the charges were dropped. My online reputation was basically ...
- 961
270
votes
11
answers
45k
views
Fired by an Intoxicated Boss
Last week, my boss was visibly intoxicated and told me I was fired. I asked if he was serious, and he said yes. He gave some nonsensical reason about me eating too much KFC. He then rambled about ...
- 2,032
269
votes
17
answers
46k
views
Making a job offer to a candidate while privately advising them to decline
I work at a small technology company (12 employees). This past summer I managed a bright, talented intern (a rising college senior) who did great work.
My boss (the CEO) and others in the company ...
- 1,487
266
votes
8
answers
43k
views
Provider is "cheating", but I don't want to disclose how I found out
I am an experienced IT developer who recently switched to IT consulting. My current project involves fighting horrible software performance on a server farm my client has rented.
My client recently ...
- 1,661
260
votes
9
answers
48k
views
How do I deal with my current employer not respecting my decision to leave?
I've worked for my current company for about 18 months now. Their primary market is consultancy - we get assigned clients, travel to their offices for the work week (from my experience this is usually ...
- 1,993
258
votes
16
answers
40k
views
Is Screenshot Time-tracking Common?
I am a freelance developer. When I work on projects for a client I tend to bill to the half-hour, which has been fine. Additionally, I do my best to track each type of thing "research", "coding", "...
- 1,441
256
votes
13
answers
52k
views
Employer asking us to move items that are approximately 1000 lbs (450 kg) each. How can I address this issue properly so that no one gets hurt?
Our employer is asking us to move items that are approximately 1000 lbs (450 kg) each from one building to another.
We will need to move 5 of these machines out of a building and somehow load them ...
- 1,453
256
votes
15
answers
49k
views
Does using documentation as a developer make me look unprofessional?
I’m a junior developer and working every other three months in a software development company as part of my corporate studies.
Even though I’ve been programming for almost 1 year (3 x 3 months work ...
- 1,879
256
votes
9
answers
93k
views
How to handle a senior developer diva who seems unaware that his skills are obsolete?
I am an IT productivity consultant brought in to a small software development company (twenty employees). The problem is a senior developer on a team of five developers who work on the leading product ...
- 4,843
251
votes
8
answers
55k
views
Required to work unpaid overtime to "make up" for a shorter commute after moving closer to the office
So a friend of mine this weekend lamented one of the changes in his employment that happened recently. It got me thinking whether or not you can consider that acceptable.
He works and lives in the US ...
- 23.4k
246
votes
21
answers
69k
views
Did I overreact to my boss asking me to get him coffee?
In the middle of a meeting with my managers, me (a supervisor) and field staff, the manager stopped the meeting suddenly to request that I refill their cup of coffee. I was stunned and tried to joke ...
- 1,327
245
votes
14
answers
74k
views
I've killed my colleagues' characters during RPG session, now they won't talk to me
Introduction
I am a software developer and I've been with my current company for about 4 months now. Initially I've generally stuck to myself but after a while (a month?) of getting to know everybody ...
- 1,723
244
votes
13
answers
49k
views
Was it really inappropriate to write a pull request for the company I interviewed with?
This happened to me last year while I was interviewing with a company for a position I didn't get. I'm currently employed elsewhere but I'd like to know for future applications.
I had an excellent ...
user90809
244
votes
9
answers
86k
views
Someone forged my resignation letter [closed]
So about six weeks ago, my mother’s illness took a turn for the worse, and I took some time off work to take care of her. It was all very rushed because we never expected her condition to worsen so ...
- 1,319
242
votes
9
answers
59k
views
How can I inform my boss that I may have been hired by mistake?
I was hired at my current workplace just over a month ago. During the interview process, I found out that someone I knew from university was also interviewing for the position. I'll call him Jim. Jim ...
- 1,429
240
votes
23
answers
102k
views
How to gently enforce "nohello" to a coworker?
I am a huge proponent of nohello in the workplace - I get way too many Slack messages and other interrupts to waste time on pleasantries. I keep my Slack status set to "nohello.com" as a way ...
- 3,160
240
votes
6
answers
37k
views
Is it reasonable to expect overtime from unpaid interns?
I am a unpaid intern at a tech company and several weeks ago I had my first performance evaluation. While my manager told me that the code I had been submitting was excellent and that my work was more ...
- 1,421
240
votes
10
answers
45k
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 conventional wisdom that "the first to give a number loses". Steve Hanov says so. So does Knocks.com.
Is this true?
...
- 8,691
234
votes
21
answers
64k
views
Boss asked me to sign a resignation paper without a date on it along with my new contract
After messing up at work by calling in sick way beyond the assigned time (my day starts at 9, and I called in at 11) I got a stern talk with my boss and senior programmer. My boss was ready to fire me ...
- 1,815
233
votes
12
answers
34k
views
Dealing with the unexpected death of an employee
This morning, a bunch of news flashed around in our regional TV about the death of a young male, just out of his teens, killed in front of his house while going home from college last night.
That kid ...
- 8,759
232
votes
7
answers
33k
views
New manager unapproved PTO my old manager approved, because of a conference at the same time that's now a "condition of my employment here"
I'm taking a vacation in mid-April of next year with some friends, we've all already gotten the time off approved from our various jobs and bought plane tickets. My previous manager said it was fine ...
- 841
232
votes
14
answers
37k
views
Interviewer privately warned me against taking the job
Two weeks ago I interviewed with a large company. The interview went well and I felt that the company would be a good fit for my needs. Some of the interviewers during the process seemed like they ...
- 1,121
226
votes
17
answers
37k
views
How will losing mobility of one hand affect my career as a programmer?
The effects of a genetic disorder started affecting one of my hands. Now it's barely visible and only causes mild discomfort and a slight loss of agility, but upon reaching its final stage my hand ...
- 951
223
votes
15
answers
36k
views
How can I move past being burnt out when working long hours?
I'm in my 30s, married with a couple of kids. I have been working at a company for the past 3 years. Last year our company bought a competitor that was having financial issues, and laid off most of ...
- 1,459
223
votes
10
answers
33k
views
How do you decide when to go home for the day?
As a salaried software developer, I've worked in a few environments where I've been told "we don't have 9-5 hours here, we just expect you to get your work done". Which sounds idealistic, except that ...
- 7,677