How to Ask Why You Didn't Get the Job

Dear Evil HR Lady,

Is it considered poor taste to call an interviewer to ask why you weren’t selected for a job?

How to Ask Why You Didn't Get the Job

A One Week Resume Review Service

Holy cow, it's the offer of a life time. Alison at Ask a Manager is, for one week only, doing personalized resume reviews for only $75.

She's only doing it for a week, though, so if you want yours done, you better ask fast.

And for the record, she didn't ask me to post this, but I saw her post and thought, on the off chance that some of my readers don't read her (and you really should), they need to know about this.

She has all the details at Ask a Manager.

Why You Should Be a Slacker

If you want to get ahead, you need a Type A personality. Go, go, go. Right? The more stress you’re under, the better you perform. You can handle everything.

Turns out, that's not quite right.

Why You Should Be a Slacker

Bait and Switch Jobs

Dear Evil HR Lady,

After two years of unemployment, desperate job hunting and massive amount of resumes sent, I was finally HIRED! And now I am miserable. The job is in my career field but it’s a linear move which can be seen as over-experienced issue (not an over-qualified issue). My daily work consists of administrative assisting for an Associate Director which was not included in the job description, as well as working as the Scholarship Coordinator.

After a week on this job, I am bogged down by the immense disorganization in tracking scholarships and donations. The student/recipient money tracking borders on fraudulence. After a recent staff meeting, I realized why my initial suggestions/ideas on improving the system and promoting the program were not encouraged. In the staff organization chart, my position is next to the interns and secretaries. After ten years in the Non-Profit profit, I honestly feel like I was hired on a lie. I was under the impression I would have far more autonomy and not be a paper pusher. My frustration is starting to reflect in my attitude and my performance which is uncharacteristic to my personality.

After finally recovering from a terrible job market, I want to be grateful for this position. But the non-creative, clerical workload, topped with the outright dishonesty in the job description has left me in tears on a daily basis and already planning an exit strategy.

Any suggestions or words of advice on how to proceed with this delicate issue?

Bait and Switch Jobs

7 Steps to Becoming an Adult at Work

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I am 18 years old and just started a full time job. I work 10:30-6:30 at a daycare center and I already hate it. I started working as a sub there and wasn’t getting many hours, so when they offered me this job I was really excited about the hours I would be getting. But, I now have no life. Summer is coming and I’m not going to be able to do anything. I feel depressed and sad all the time. I never smile. I would like this position if I didn’t have to stay so late and maybe had a day off now and then, but that is just not possible here. What should I do?

7 Steps to Becoming an Adult at Work

Why Workplace Bullying Should Be Legal

Workplace bullying is a real problem, but the solution isn't new legislation. In fact, laws can protect the bully as well. Here's why.

Why Workplace Bullying Should Be Legal

My Job is Awesome, But My Boss is a Jerk

Dear Evil HR Lady,

The company I work for is very small (6 of us in total including part-timers). The founder and my boss are also father and son respectively. My boss is a bully and true to your advice I have been trying to offset his negativity by rising above it, concentrating on the task at hand, and confronting him where necessary. However, nothing seems to help for very long. I have even started creating a log of all ‘misdemeanors’ in case I ever need to substantiate any claims. It would make for rather hilarious reading if it wasn’t happening to me.

I love my job - the work is great and I feel all the things I should feel when satisfied with the content of my day. It’s just I can’t seem to keep my boss happy. I do a universally accepted great job (customers all over the world send very positive feedback) and when it comes to appraisal time, he will nix all my efforts by something like (and this is genuine) forgetting the sellotape. He doesn’t communicate much, he engages in politicking, he tells half truths which I discover later when talking to other colleagues, he’s never on time for meetings and often just blows them off at the last minute, complains about everything under the sun when everyone else gives a glowing report, shifts the goalposts, undermines my authority (gives me responsibility, takes it away and dumps it back last minute if it’s not going well for me to pick up the pieces and clear his name), all my ideas are rubbish in his view… need I go on?

Please don’t ask me to update my CV and prepare to look for a new job - it really is a great job, I get a fab work-life balance as it’s a mile from my house, all my other colleagues are lovely and genuine, I have a fantastic rapport with all my customers and I am doing a great job earning money for the company. I just need to know how to handle my boss. It is a tricky situation, and I guess there’s no simple answer to the problem but I’m hoping you are able to enlighten me with some golden nuggets of wisdom.

My Job is Awesome, But My Boss is a Jerk

Key to Success? Stop Being So Cheerful

So, it turns out that people who were really happy as children tend to not pay attention while crossing the street and die young, or something else just as miserable. (I made up that part about cars because I'm cranky and I'm feeding into my bad attitude in the hope of living longer. If you die young, you never get to be one of those crabby old ladies that do whatever they want because they are old and I so want to do that.)

Key to Success? Stop Being So Cheerful

Am I a Bad Employee or Do All My Past Bosses Stink?

Fired one time for not being a team player? Maybe it's an anomaly. Fired 3 times for the same reason? Either you have really bad luck, or you really stink.

Am I a Bad Employee or Do All My Past Bosses Stink?

March Madness in the Office

Dear Evil HR Lady,

My coworker is running a March Madness pool. People are paying $5 to place bets. Gambling is illegal in our state and I'm afraid he'll get busted. Should I tell the boss or HR?

March Madness in the Office

Can You Be Fired For Asking For a Raise?

You want--no deserve--a raise. Is it possible that if you get up the courage to ask for one, your boss will fire you? Can they even do that?

Can You Be Fired For Asking For a Raise?

Is Anybody Even Reading Cover Letters?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

Now that employers aren’t reading resumes - instead just putting them through scanners to find keyword matches - do they still read cover letters? I’ve got no problem crafting specific cover letters for the various jobs I’m applying to. That said, my job search is time-consuming enough without spending time and energy on a cover letter no one is going to read.

Is Anybody Even Reading Cover Letters?

And if you don't have time (or desire) to read my article, linked above, make sure you read Alison Green's (Ask a Manager) article on cover letters. I quote from it in my article, but you need to read the whole thing.

Why is the Hiring Process So Slow?

You would think that with unemployment being so high that hiring would be super easy. After all, you simply tell your employees that you’re hiring and post the job on your company’s websites. Within minutes LinkedIn is buzzing with all that networking and your company’s servers are being overwhelmed with hundreds of applicants.

So, Why is the Hiring Process So Slow?

8 Ways to Stop a Coworker From Sabotaging Your Reputation

Dear Evil HR Lady,

There are two of us in equal positions at my office. The excuse our Manager used for not promoting either of us was that there could only be one promotion and therefore it would not be forthcoming this year because if one was promoted the other would make too much fuss. Since that time this other employee has been determined to undermine me with our boss by finding fault with everything I do, even to point of saying I am not qualified for my job, lied about my number of overtime hours and quoted me as saying I thought he was an idiot. I find my boss is buying everything she says. What can I do at this point to help save my job and bring attention to fact she is deliberately trying to get herself promoted by sabotaging me.

8 Ways to Stop a Coworker From Sabotaging You

How to Get Your Boss Fired

Dear Evil HR Lady,

My coworkers and I are all miserable because our manger is, in a word, terrible. While I’d love to list her shortcomings (they are many), I’ll just say that in the seven months she has been here, she single-handedly ruined what used to be a fantastic, high-functioning group.

Finally, one of our coworkers (we’ll call her Tanya) approached HR about the problems we’ve been having. This launched a little investigation into our team. Over the past eight weeks or so, HR has been meeting with each of us individually, Tanya and our manager together, and the manager’s boss (who visibly bristles every time this woman talks) separately. We were sure this investigation would culminate in our manager’s termination. Yet, she persists.

As far as we can tell, our manager is railroading us at every turn, and HR is blaming Tanya for being insubordinate. They also seem to think the rest of us are all on edge because Tanya and our manager don’t get along. Dumb. It seems completely infeasible that they don’t see what’s really going on, but they’ve shown no indication that they’re going to do anything but develop more “process” for us and mediate the conflict between Tanya and the manager. We’re feeling pretty helpless right now.

We’re all actively looking for other jobs (and helping each other look), but we’d really love to salvage the situation here if at all possible. Is there anything you recommend we can do as a group to tactfully communicate, “You’re about to lose an entire team of people if you don’t get rid of her”? We’re vaguely considering approaching HR as a group, but we’re not even sure how that conversation would go. Any insight you can give would be greatly appreciated

How to Get Your Boss Fired

Have You Received Rude Rejection Letters?

In a tough job market, rude rejections unfortunately are common. What's the best (or worst) kind of job hunting rejection?

Have You Received Rude Rejection Letters?

Sexting and Other Bad Career Moves

Want to get yourself fired? Combining your sex life with your office life is a good way to get yourself and your career in trouble.

Sexting and Other Bad Career Moves