A reader writes: In most of the jobs where I've been interviewed and rejected the rejection letter says something like "We will hold on to your resume and contact you if we ever have any jobs that meets your needs" or something like this. Is this just being polite or is it possible that some time down the road they will ...

A reader writes: My wife and I go back and forth about this one all the time. A former secretary of hers was moving and searching for a new job in her new city. The problem was that this person wasn't the most reliable employee. She was always late, took days off without calling and had some other quirks but when ...

A reader writes: I applied for a job with a competitor of the current company I work for. I arrived at work the next day and all my co-workers and people who don't even work with me, knew I applied for the job. Are there any privacy laws preventing this company from telling my current job that I applied there, they ...

Let’s face it, most employees use their company-issued pagers, phones, laptops for personal reasons sometimes. It’s just the way life is now — the lines between work life and personal life are becoming more and more blurred as workers seem to be working round the clock these days. But if you do use these devices for a message or text you ...

Today I did a slew of phone interviews for an open position and thought you guys might find it interesting to peek into the hiring process from the employer's side. This is pretty typical of how a day of phone interviews go. The position I'm hiring for is an entry-level job, doing administrative work that isn't the most glamorous but which ...

My first glimpse of an office birthday party was via the movie Office Space, when the corporate drones stand awkwardly around the cake and sing “Happy Birthday” to their boss in monotone voices. Flash forward seven years: the first company I worked for as a recent college grad had its monthly birthday celebration, and I had an overwhelming sense of déjà ...

So I was talking to my grandma about what I do as a community director at ERE. Now I know some of you have technology savvy grandparents but mine isn't one of them. So I was explaining our website, different technology platforms, who we targeted, what I specifically did and I think she was more confused than ever. So I dropped ...

A reader writes: I recently applied for a city government communications position for which I was perfectly qualified. They asked me last minute to fly out for a four-person panel interview and even went as far as rearranging the panel date so that I could make it, even after I suggested an initial Skype interview at their original time to ensure ...

A little-known clause of the new health care bill gives new mothers the right to pump breast milk at work. It's not something most of us think about until we actually have to do it. After all, who really wants to have to pump their breasts at work? It's bad enough having to share a bathroom with our co-workers, let alone ...

A reader writes: Hope you can help address this pretty strange situation that is occurring in my office. My desk is the closest desk to the side door/parking lot door. Most building foot traffic comes through this door since it leads right to the parking lot/straight to the office area, so it's heavily used. With the way the building is set ...

Back from the #socialrecruiting summit and I had a great time. While I may be a bit biased, I think the speaker lineup was fantastic. I saw quite a few tweets during the summit taking about how difficult choosing between two concurrent speakers was. If we make that choice easy on you, we’re probably not doing our job! And the people ...

Employees hitting each other, a coworker wetting his pants, and now this -- is it just me or have the letters really taken a more bawdy turn around here lately? In any case... A reader writes: I just started a fantastic job working as a legal assistant to General Counsel for a small (60 employee) company. I absolutely love my work, ...

A reader writes: I found your blog while searching for help with a very uncomfortable and embarrassing problem. My co-worker has started wetting himself during work. I'm not kidding, this is not something to joke about as it could be a sign of serious health problems. He wears beige colored pants and around the middle of the day, when he stands ...

A reader writes: I work as a supervisor in a call center-like environment. Technically I am a low level manager, but I am essentially powerless. My job is to keep work flowing to our operators consistently from our various sites and be the communication hub between our sites, keyers, my superiors and our outsourcing company. I am supposed to be listened ...

We’ve all probably heard it before — if you’re attractive you’re more likely to get the gig. Most of us tend to disregard this assumption and emphasize the importance of skills, experience and drive. If beauty trumped all, we think, then the world would be doomed. A civilized society focuses on good character not good looks, right? But what if we ...

Years ago I found an interview question that I really liked. One that told me a lot about candidates. I forget how I discovered it, but once I did I’ve been using it ever since. The question is: Tell me about a time you had to work with someone you did not personally like. I think one of the reasons it’s a great question ...

A reader writes: I have a question of how/if/when transgendered coworkers get to be treated as such in the workplace. Specifically, there is a man in our office (widely known as such) who wears women's clothing, hairstyles, shoes, makeup, etc. every day, and refers to himself as "she". Some women in the office have been claiming that his use of the ...

A reader writes: I moved to my current role in late November last year. Many of the other employees have known each other for years and socialize together out of work. In principle I prefer to keep my work and personal lives separate, but I will go to lunch from time to time and to the 'yay we met our targets' ...

A reader writes: I saw a blind ad (no company name provided) and sent my resume and introductory email. Within an hour, I received an email expressing interest by a recruiter followed by a voicemail. The initial email said “your resume is great.” I sent an email to the recruiter and asked if I could have the name of the company ...

Human Resources. A real department of mysteries. Are they your advocate? How do they really decide if you're right for the job? And why can't you ever get a straight answer out of them? A lot goes on behind the closed cubicles of HR. Curious? Take a peek at a few insider secrets about how HR really functions to better understand ...