Hot answers tagged

748 votes

How to discipline overeager engineer

he's made a point of cutting OT to nothing, focusing on his personal blog/LinkedIn to show off his knowledge, focusing on generic skills/abilities (at the expense of company-specific skills/...
nvoigt's user avatar
  • 133k
262 votes

How can I move past being burnt out when working long hours?

That question is a hard read - I've been through similar experiences to you, although in different circumstances. The answer to your question; How can I keep going? DON'T Or at least - not in the ...
thebluefox's user avatar
  • 2,604
257 votes
Accepted

Should I clock in if computer started updating?

You should just ask your manager what you should do, as how to specifically bill your time will depend on your company policy. Of course, you should get paid for this time. You're at work, updating a ...
curt1893's user avatar
  • 4,566
254 votes

Might lose job and have no income due to insulting my coworker

Let me preface this by saying that I am in several "protected groups" and have dealt with workplace discrimination based on that. Including having been told that "They shouldn't be ...
Old_Lamplighter's user avatar
231 votes

How can I move past being burnt out when working long hours?

I have been through this and at the time I still thought I was 12 feet tall and bullet-proof. I didn't listen to the signs and ended up destroying my health, my career, and my family. I hope I have ...
Old_Lamplighter's user avatar
227 votes
Accepted

I mistakenly took someone else's lunch; how should I proceed?

I really want to come forward and say something among the lines of "I'm really sorry, I meant no ill intention, it was all a mistake and I can even offer to pay back the caterer's fee if you want."...
Joe Strazzere's user avatar
221 votes
Accepted

Manager strongly suggests that I do more unpaid overtime during performance review

What your manager says is nonsense. What he apparently wants is "bums on seats". A nice quote from some top manager at Microsoft: "You can make people stay in the office 80 hours a week. You can't ...
gnasher729's user avatar
  • 166k
221 votes

How to discipline overeager engineer

Do not discipline him. He'll walk, and the company will have lost a very valuable asset. It seems to me the right answer here is for you to sit down with whoever you need to sit down with to get the ...
Philip Kendall's user avatar
218 votes

How to force disgruntled worker not to publicly disclose "GPL'ed code"

While I won't answer the original problem directly I wish to tackle something tangent to this. And I feel it is important enough to warrant an answer and not a comment. From a comment (and the post) ...
paul23's user avatar
  • 1,624
201 votes
Accepted

How to force disgruntled worker not to publicly disclose "GPL'ed code"

This situation is spiraling out of control out of anger and frustration. I can't speak to the legal aspect, but it should not have gotten to this stage. You basically gave him nothing in negotiation ...
Matthew Gaiser's user avatar
201 votes

Soon-to-be-ex-employer trying to force me to disclose name of new employer

Do not sign anything more from your current employer for any reason. You’re doing well there. Block them all on LinkedIn and social media. Do not share any further information about your future plans, ...
mxyzplk's user avatar
  • 35.3k
170 votes

Departing senior engineer refuses to introduce replacement to open source community/peers

I'm kinda surprised that you're surprised by this. Gust has personal working relationships with people that maintain that open-source software. You don't think Gust has vented about your company's ...
Kevin's user avatar
  • 30.1k
169 votes

Management does not care when product is stolen

As a former retail manager, beyond the risk/safety/insurance reasons already given, there's a big one that's important: distraction. I had several workers who cared a lot about loss prevention, to the ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 16k
168 votes

How to discipline overeager engineer

Referencing an answer I put in another question: Does having two jobs simultaneously count for twice the experience? Your company assumes that you count each day as fully worked. You state that your ...
SZCZERZO KŁY's user avatar
161 votes

Insubordinate chief engineer training colleagues to be "too mobile" out of spite

I think you need to readjust your view point on the matter. These employees aren't leaving because they were trained, they're leaving because they aren't being targeted for retention. To solve this, ...
Edwin Buck's user avatar
  • 7,847
159 votes
Accepted

Very bad online reputation is destroying my chances of getting a job

The first rule of selling yourself in these cases is Tell A Compelling Story. You cannot change the negative information that the potential employer will receive. They will search you out, and they ...
Ben Barden's user avatar
  • 21.3k
142 votes
Accepted

Handling interview with manipulative colleague from past job

As someone who has first hand experience working with her, I'd think your input would both be desired and, as an employee of the company with first-hand knowledge, I do think you have an obligation to ...
PoloHoleSet's user avatar
  • 10.6k
135 votes
Accepted

Interns I'm training don't care and it affects my performance

Clearly, you are not managing these interns the way they need to be managed. It may well be unfair that they need to be managed so differently from typical employees, who want to accomplish, but this ...
Kate Gregory's user avatar
130 votes

What's the politest way of writing when you have not received a reply?

While I also think your mails are reasonable, I'd like to provide a different perspective: You are telling them that they failed to reply. While true that might be considered rude, no one likes ...
tritop's user avatar
  • 587
128 votes

How to discipline overeager engineer

I don't see an overeager engineer, I see a disgruntled one. In this answer, I addressed a similar problem, but one that had gotten worse How can I deal with troublesome Professional Engineer? You ...
Old_Lamplighter's user avatar
127 votes

How to force disgruntled worker not to publicly disclose "GPL'ed code"

I know you did not ask anything on behalf of yourself but humanitarian considerations compel me to strongly advise you to avoid hanging around anywhere near the ass end of your company because that is ...
A. I. Breveleri's user avatar
125 votes
Accepted

Taking notes during a daily stand up?

everything I have read online says not to take minutes/notes at the daily stand up because that is not the purpose of the stand up meeting This advice is usually about an official and formal text ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 39.4k
124 votes

What is the normal rate of turnover among developers and does it impact productivity?

What is the normal rate of turnover among developers You turnover rate looks insane to me. It's more what I´d expect with callcenter-agents. If you really mean you need to source 35 employees to ...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 22.3k
116 votes
Accepted

Is it okay if I tell my boss that I cannot read cursive?

The fact that you can't read cursive is going to be hard to hide so you might as well just be up front about it and get the discomfort out of the way. If you disclose it yourself then that gives you ...
neubert's user avatar
  • 10.3k
115 votes
Accepted

Employer planning on making a change that I'm prepared to quit over. How should I tell manager?

Should I tell him I'll quit or just do it without giving an explanation? Don't bother. Threatening to quit is extremely unlikely to cause the company to abandon the fingerprint scanner. And you were ...
Joe Strazzere's user avatar
111 votes
Accepted

Employer has my signature on a blank form. Is this allowed?

We can't tell you whether it's legal or not. But to answer your other question... Yes. Go to HR. Don't delay, do it tomorrow. Say you're just checking on if this is normal, standard policy and is it ...
Chris E's user avatar
  • 43.2k
104 votes

Employer telling colleagues I'm "sabotaging teams" when I resigned: how to address colleagues before I leave?

they will only provide the papers in-person, and not via e-mail, for some odd/nefarious reason). It doesn't matter. When they give it to you, just say that you need your lawyer to review it. And of ...
Stephan Branczyk's user avatar
103 votes

Employer planning on making a change that I'm prepared to quit over. How should I tell manager?

For your case, don't bother. Better to leave on good terms and get a reference. It sounds like it's not a good place to work, and you're better off finding a better job. As an aside: Nighfillers at a ...
Ash's user avatar
  • 3,606
101 votes
Accepted

How to handle use of alcohol in an interview?

I'm with you, Matthew - this would be a red flag for me as well. As long as you handle the situation tactfully and respectfully, it's always OK to end an interview quickly. In this case, it's best ...
Roger's user avatar
  • 7,946

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible