104 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

Think about it. I have a question. I sent a mail to one or more people. I cc’d you. If you are the only one who knows the answer, what do you think I want you to do? Not tell me and let me waste my ...
  • 164k
63 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

The real "risk" is you disqualify yourself due to refusing to complete the take home assignment. As someone that used to hire people, you assess using the same process in order to not ...
57 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

It really does depend why you were CC'd in. Sometimes it's an FYI, in which case common courtesy is to read and remain silent unless invoked. Sometimes it's as a training opportunity e.g. "Junior ...
  • 13.9k
54 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

If it's really taking you that long to set up for the test, this may suggest that the test is bad... but if others are completing it in a more reasonable amount of time, it may also be that the test ...
  • 49k
39 votes

Called Dr. in government setting?

"Dr." in a civilian setting tends to refer to medical doctors (MD, not PhD). Of the people I know who have PhDs (and there are quite a few, both male and female), I don't think once have I ...
  • 44.9k
38 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

Answer if you know the answer. That's why you were CC'd - in case you know. Don't answer if you aren't able to meaningfully contribute to the subject.
  • 3,917
37 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

If you do NOT want the job, the most polite is also the most politically correct. I would go with something like: Thank you for your opportunity. For personal reasons, I will not pursue this job ...
  • 26k
35 votes

I think I am micromanaged, what should I do?

None of my former managers has ever ... Every manager has a different managing style. It is quite useless to compare managing styles at this level of detail. I didn't reply to his Teams message in ...
  • 26k
32 votes

Coworker posted private chat message in a public group

Q3: Is it common practice to cite private messages and I have no reason to be upset? It was not private; it was a work conversation. You shouldn't have had any reasonable expectation of privacy. ...
  • 6,382
25 votes

Coworker posted private chat message in a public group

I know it's hard, but my suggestion would be to do nothing. There's a saying: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake". What your co-worker did was childish and ...
  • 5,655
20 votes

Coworker posted private chat message in a public group

TLDR: you made a wrong decision, told the decision in a 1:1 chat to your coworker. Now it comes back to bite you and your coworker goes "told you so". Own it. Yes, pointing fingers at you is ...
  • 11.1k
18 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

If anyone has any advice on how to politely decline a take-home test task, I'm all ears. A simple "Thank you for the opportunity, but I think I'm going to pass on completing this test. I've ...
18 votes
Accepted

How should I explain my plans to exit my new job to my manager and recruiters?

Should I just keep my head down and work at my new job and accumulate stress from poor performance until I'm likely let go, and avoid the new job in discussions with recruiters, or be more honest with ...
13 votes
Accepted

How to deal with a coworker who only wants to communicate via video conference

1. Use the standup Given that you indicate you already have a standup, I would expect this person to be indicating there if they expect to need help to progress their tasks during the day. If they are ...
  • 1,972
13 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

I ask a question to one person so that person is the one responsible. If I get no answer, I hold that person responsible. Other persons in CC are either to be informed or other people that may ...
13 votes

Called Dr. in government setting?

I think it varies by the field you work in. Using that title is usually to reflect you position in the organizational hierarchy. In some job types, having a doctorate is important to that hierarchy ...
  • 16.4k
11 votes

I think I am micromanaged, what should I do?

How visible is your work? The common themes I'm picking up here is that your manager seems to be in the dark about what you're doing. Their only real approach on how to "fix" this for them ...
  • 5,055
10 votes

I think I am micromanaged, what should I do?

Am I right that he is micromanaging? Perhaps. Although much of what you wrote doesn't appear all that "micro". Perhaps it's just "different" than what you are used to. Or perhaps ...
9 votes

How should I have handled this wardrobe mishap?

You should have ignored it because it had nothing to do with you. If you are offended by seeing the a bra strap you may want to stay home and avoid going outside.
  • 5,310
9 votes
Accepted

How to communicate a problem with a speaker Info. form that got disabled after I sent it to the speakers via email professionally?

As the organizer, everything that does not work to plan is by definition your fault. If it does work to plan and people don't like it, it's still your fault. If you don't want that responsibility, or ...
  • 127k
8 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

Very likely they think it is for 2-3 hours, because it is 2-3 hours - for them. You are not enough familiar with their virtualisation environment, not with their standards, and so on. Either they did ...
  • 4,751
8 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

Different locations and even different departments have different cultures and conventions. As partially demonstrated by the plethora of answers above, this is not a question that has a widely ...
6 votes

Called Dr. in government setting?

There's only two situations in which it is typically considered appropriate to call someone "Doctor" when speaking verbally. The first is a medical doctor who is acting at the time in a ...
  • 5,826
6 votes

Is it rude to reply to an email where I'm not being addressed but was CC'd?

If you want to respond, I'd suggest you consider responding briefly to the addressee rather than the author -- "Hey, I know you've got this under control but if I can help just ask. I'm guessing ...
  • 49k
6 votes

How should I have handled this wardrobe mishap?

If you are wondering whether you should talk to her about her clothing choices, the answer is NO. Maybe she is lucky and has a close confidant in the company that will tell her without wondering if it'...
  • 127k
6 votes

Coworker posted private chat message in a public group

Q1: What can I do, other than raising this problem (citing private conversations out of context), with my manager? I think your best option here would be to do nothing. Your coworker is/was pissed ...
  • 13.9k
6 votes

Coworker posted private chat message in a public group

coworker raised issue (A) via a private message on slack Issue (A) was resolved via private messages. This is the root problem. Your coworker mistakenly used the chat feature to track an issue, but ...
  • 6,789
5 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

A friend of mine used to run a small electrical engineering and software company. A lot of embedded programming. They had a rudimentary take home test before a formal interview. The coding problem ...
  • 4,744
5 votes

What is the best professional certificate for Digital Transformation?

"Digital Transformation" is absurdly, almost obscenely, under defined. It can mean anything from a website to a complete sales and support system to redesigning the company's internal ...
  • 49k
4 votes

How to politely decline a take-home test task

In one of my previous lives, I did the hiring and always gave take-home tests. The idea was not only to avoid the unnecessary time and cost of flying candidates around, but to operate in as ...

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