The Workplace Stack Exchange
The Workplace Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
118
votes
12 answers

My boss wants me to attend a meeting every day before work hours

My manager at a software company I've worked at for a few years has asked me to join a status update (a standup if you are familiar with agile) meeting daily, before my normal work hours. My boss didn't call this meeting, but a project manager did…
Jay
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118
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12 answers

Will declining my company's many social events negatively influence my career?

I've been working for this company in the Netherlands for 6 months now. When they said they valued get-togethers and game nights, I expected the occasional Friday afternoon gathering or a game night every now and then. Not the multiple times a week…
Summer
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118
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6 answers

What should I do if I'm not able to complete a take home task for an interview?

I'm a Software Engineer who interviewed for a position as a Software Product lead. The first interview went well and I was given a practical - case study to submit back within a week. I'm a person who enjoys a challenge and I did not mind a role…
kev
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118
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13 answers

When (if ever) is it considered professional to yell in the workplace?

I've noticed this trend in my workplace where more and more people yell at each other, especially managers and executives to regular employees (who don't yell back). Personally, it's making me uncomfortable. I've tried to bring up the issue with…
heapOverflow
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117
votes
10 answers

How can I safely terminate my contract before its end date?

I've been offered an amazing new job that I'm 100% set on accepting. The only problem is that my current job is a contract that doesn't end until December 2018, and I also have to give 4 weeks notice to leave here. The 4-week notice period can be…
user59347
117
votes
17 answers

How can I encourage a culture of punctuality in a software company?

As a new technical lead in a new company, what are some additional strategies to employ to change the culture of the development team so that people show up at the time that I've requested? TLDR: My team doesn't show up on time. I've tried to…
Jacob G
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117
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16 answers

What career paths are available to a developer who's not interested in management, leadership, or teaching?

I'm a developer who is gainfully employed. However, I've been having many discussions over the past 6 months, initiated by my superiors, about my career path and moving up. I've made it abundantly clear that I don't want to pursue a management type…
user34243
117
votes
15 answers

Retaining ambitious employee with rare skill set

We hired a talented engineer "Alice" some time back, and she has excelled at everything we throw at her. If she needs to use a new programming language or tool, she buys a book and learns it over the weekend. Within a few weeks, she'll pick up…
Villager
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117
votes
13 answers

How can I filter out software engineering jobs where I'll be asked to write algorithms in the interview?

I rarely act as a "programmer" in my daily job. I lead a team of engineers and consider myself an engineer. I build features, fix bugs, work on APIs, DBs, etc., but I rarely ever have to write algorithms... and when I do... I just google the best…
Karen34
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117
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6 answers

I encountered my boss during an on-site interview at another company. Should I bring it up when seeing him next time?

I have been casually looking around for a new job for a few months now and had some Skype interviews so far. One of the companies I interviewed with flew me in for an on-site interview last week. We had a series of interview rounds with short…
user100865
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117
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20 answers

Coworker is trying to get me to sign his petition to run for office. How to decline politely?

My coworker knows that I live in "his district" and he's been coming up to my desk for the past few days asking me to sign his petition to run for local office. Personally we don't share the same political views and I'll most likely vote for his…
Pelican
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116
votes
7 answers

How to discuss a project that I accidentally gave a suggestive name to

Background For my thesis I wrote a program that performs calculations on galaxy models. I named it easy_galaxy. My adviser thought the name was too long, and asked me to shorten it. I came up with EzGal (pronounced exactly as you think: "easy…
Conor Mancone
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116
votes
12 answers

What to say instead of "calm down" if you see the other person getting angry during the discussion?

Assumptions: Conversation is verbal. We will be talking face to face. In a heated argument, people can't be expected to stop talking automatically. They may continue to talk to prove their point. In the middle of the conversation if I notice the…
Aquarius_Girl
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116
votes
12 answers

How to break the news to the employees that we will start with frequent, surprise drug testing?

The company I'm currently working for is asking for all team leads - which includes me - to break some policy changes for our teams. Our boss wants to introduce a new policy for surprise drug testing. From time to time, when she feels like, she…
T. Sar
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116
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8 answers

Is it unethical to not hire somebody because of their body odor?

Recently I encountered a candidate for a job that has a notable problem with body odor. This person is an intern so I've worked with them for a while, and can say for sure that the issue is consistent. The company would like my recommendation as to…
Scrotinger
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