The Workplace Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
103
votes
8 answers

Can I refuse to work on projects I find unethical?

I'm a software engineer in a consultancy company. I've worked there for several years and until last November, I worked in the main offices on internal, deep learning-based projects. My company then sent me to work as a consultant for a client, and…
avazula
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103
votes
12 answers

Is it okay to slightly modify a forwarded email?

Sometimes when I forward a professional email, I find myself wanting to slightly modify it. Either because there's a small English mistake (I work with non-native speakers) or because, since they're talking to me, they might reference this person in…
Nico
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103
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2 answers

How Should I Indicate Language Proficiency on my Resume?

Question: What are some good ways of listing language proficiency on a resume? Problem: Language is such a complex thing to explain simply. There are several aspects of most languages (reading, writing, speaking, listening), and being good at one…
jmac
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102
votes
11 answers

How to politely ask colleagues to converse somewhere else?

I work in an open plan office and we have some meeting rooms people can use. However, often when people leave these rooms they will keep talking outside of the meeting rooms for 10-15 minutes, disturbing me and other colleagues. I see everyone…
Summer
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102
votes
10 answers

Do I have to tell my colleagues that I'm leaving?

I handed in my notice this week and my boss has told me that he has not said anything to the team because he "knows that it is my personal business and is something that I need to do in my own time". However, I don't think that it should have to be…
SnookerFan
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102
votes
5 answers

Why do job listings specify M//F in the title?

I often see M/F in the description of software developer jobs, e.g. in countries like Germany, France, and Switzerland. I assume that m/f means "male or female". I'm wondering: Why specify that in the job title? Isn't it obvious that both genders…
Benjamin Gruenbaum
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102
votes
4 answers

Is it ethical and do you bill hours when there is a severe lack of timely access from the client?

I have a client with whom my hours are capped at 20 hours a week. This client is not timely at all, neither with giving me access I need nor with responding to emails. Last week, this left me only able to bill 13.5 hours because I was waiting so…
J.S.Orris
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102
votes
8 answers

"I'm not telling you to work nights and weekends, but I am expecting that to happen" - what does this mean?

So my manager told me this morning "I'm not telling you to work nights and weekends, but I am expecting that that will happen". I asked her what she meant by that and she said "I won't approve any overtime, but I do expect that overtime will occur".…
atomizer
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102
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9 answers

In an interview with a small video game company, should I comment about bugs I noticed in their game?

I have a short interview next week at a small videogame company for a programmer position. They are currently working on a new game, so I downloaded the demo and played through it. There are some bugs and a few objectively bad design choices. For…
ffff
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102
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13 answers

Assigned to a buggy, failing project days before it is due

I have been working for 1 year now in a tech company as an Expert Unity 3D developer. And few days ago, I got "promoted" to a new project. It is a Unity3D project that a customer paid for (with a huge sum of money). And I have 5 days to help to…
FrancoisL
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102
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12 answers

Company threw a surprise party for the CEO, 3 weeks later management says we have to pay for it, do I have to?

Title says it all. We were not informed beforehand, not even about the party itself and now, 3 weeks later our manager says we have to pitch in with a little more than 5$. I am not upset because it's too much but because the lack of communication…
CloudedLeopard
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102
votes
5 answers

Member of the board asks for admin access and wants non-compliant device on the network

I'm one of the many network operators at a corporation. One of the board members asks every time — when in her opinion changes are too slow — for admin access (credentials) so she can do it herself. I denied it every time, promised a fix within 24…
MKZ
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102
votes
9 answers

How to convince new employee to stop trying to change our office culture on profanity

Programmers and clients alike will use the F word very casually in my office (IT in rural Australia). It's not an insult but only acts as a qualifier to how difficult (or easy) the situation or problem at hand is. It is culturally acceptable in…
happybuddha
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102
votes
12 answers

New supposedly experienced software developer disrupting my existing work in volunteer organisation

Update: this situation is solved Read how it all ended at the bottom of the post. Background I am a graduating Software Engineering student, working as a backend application developer. About a year back I encountered this volunteer organisation by…
Belle
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101
votes
12 answers

How to ask boss for written authorization to violate a strict company policy?

My manager has asked me to violate a company policy that they disagree with. The policy is very strict and violating it normally is considered gross misconduct. The policy is for security and violating it puts the organisation at risk. I would not…
Tim J
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