It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I’m biased toward midwestern candidates At the east coast company I work at, I’m frequently on hiring committees for competitive positions that typically include a wide range of candidates from all over the U.S. I recently noticed a concerning pattern in the candidates that I … Read more
A reader writes: I just left my job. I had worked at the same small company for six years. Over the years, I have seen admin staff leave with little notice and staff who gave notice but did not actually work through it. My boss, Amanda, told me that she actually did not want them … Read more
Congratulations, it’s 2025 and you are now the COO of a major pharma (or life sciences) company. Right away you get to work improving your company’s value chain including all those activities and processes involved in creating whatever product or service is being offered. These challenges require at least a tertiary mastery of a myriad … Read more
Jane is able to see which pages you are monitoring? Perhaps she thinks you aren’t tracking the progress of the group as a whole. That might be what she means by “help”. I think you should ask about her prior job experience. It sounds like she’s expecting more of a micro-managing style, and isn’t seeing … Read more
Although a resume is the first impression job seekers get to make, it’s amazing how many people continue to gloss over errors. In today’s job market, you need to make sure your resume is going to be read rather than quickly scanned and thrown away. You want your resume to impress the future employer reading … Read more
A reader writes: I’m learning the ropes in a new job, and there are lots of things that are very difficult to figure out by yourself. That’s expected though, and I am supposed to ask Lawrence for help. Lawrence has been with the company for several years now, but we hold the same job title … Read more
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can I work remotely across the country if I’ve been having health problems? I am a primarily in-office knowledge worker who gets Fridays to WFH. Over the last couple of months, I’ve been having heart-related health issues that rest seems to help. I’ve asked for … Read more
A reader writes: I’d be really interested to hear your take on a situation that cropped up for me while I was attending an internal job interview this week. I’d been asked to prepare a presentation of “no longer than” 10 minutes. I practiced plenty in advance and was generally coming in at 8 minutes, … Read more
A few years ago, I accepted a job as a director of strategy at a small agency. One of the perks of this job was that I would deal with clients less, because this company had client managers to do that, and wouldn’t have to do things like public speaking. To be clear: This wasn’t … Read more
You go to work, you do your work, and you come home wondering where this is all going. You wonder what your next step is. What can you be doing to elevate your career? So, you ask your manager. And your manager stares at you blankly and points to your projects. You’re confused and head … Read more