You don’t know what you don’t know

Dear Short Answers: I am very happy with the job I currently have but I often get calls from recruiters. Is it wrong to go on job interviews if I’m really not interested? GAP Dear GAP: It doesn’t hurt to talk and you may stumble on something interesting or meet someone who could be useful [...]

Reading the Tea Leaves

Dear Short Answers: How do you get over having a crush on someone at work?  Especially when the other person is clearly not interested in you.  But I have to see him everyday and that is just driving me crazy.  I don’t want to make a fool of myself.  But I also don’t want to [...]

The Nose Knows

Dear Short Answers: I work in an office with a lot of people in their early 20s. It’s great to be around such energy and enthusiasm but I do have one complaint. They all (especially the men) smell like they never wash their clothes. Didn’t their mothers teach them how to do laundry? Or is [...]

Truth Will Out

Dear Short Answers: There is an employee at work who has been taking many, many “sick” days recently. I just found out that she hasn’t really been sick. Friends have actually seen her out and having a good time when she claims to have been sick in bed. Normally, I would say this is none [...]

You Gotta Problem?

Dear Short Answers: I work remotely with a partner who is in the dictionary under “responsible” — he does what needs to be done in sickness and in health and no matter what else is going on… He lives in exotic places and vacations all over the world. And he never makes it my problem. [...]

Time for a Change

Dear Short Answers: How do you know when it’s time to retire? Tired and Grumpy Dear T&G: It is time to do something else when the work you do takes more than it gives.  Maybe you need to find another career, or maybe you need to rethink your priorities.  Either  one can be energizing. 1 [...]

Keeping It Light

Dear Short Answers: My senior director at work (to whom I report) is intelligent, personable, and well-respected. She often employs an incorrect word when speaking at meetings. For instance, when it is clear she means to say “semantics” she says “schematics” which are clearly different. She also says “Orientals” instead of “Asians.” Looking for advice [...]

Independance for All

Dear Short Answers: About a year ago, I found out that my husband was having an affair. When I confronted him he admitted it. He was ashamed, humilitated and said it would stop. I believe that he ended the affair but I still couldn’t get over it and forgive him. We agreed to stay married [...]

Is Anybody Listening?

Dear Short Answers: Is it bad to talk about your work all the time? It is, after all, mostly the thing that I do. Worker Bee Dear WB: Consider your audience. If it’s a dialogue and others are participating — carry on.  But a monologue about anything gets tiresome. Like Unlike

It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

Dear Short Answers: I am a long-time editor at a print publication. Last year, a new publisher came onboard and promised that if I cut back drastically, this would mean extra money for me. So I did — a lot. However, after this past year of “working harder,” I’m making even less money now — [...]

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