When you're going out of your way for your employer, at the cost of your own time and energy, it's important to take a look and really think about why you're doing this… If you've been going above and beyond for an extended period of time with no commendation, appreciation, or acknowledgment of any sort, you're just setting yourself up for failure. For one thing, that extra work you're doing and the energy you're using is only going toward setting a higher benchmark for your performance, and yo…

There are a lot of confusing things happening in this story, like how this night shift worker became integrated with their company's development team, contributing significantly to the point where the higher-ups were using their reporting dashboard for their reports. Yet, at the same time, there was somehow no one willing to stick up for them when their head was placed on the chopping block for seeking increasing compensation for their constantly-increasing responsibility and contribution. Stil…

Getting laid off from work is hard. It's a huge blow to your confidence and leaves you wondering where you're going and what your future prospects are. Maybe you're just not good enough to move forward on this career path—where can you get next? Who would possibly hire you after this failure? It's important to remember that being selected for layoffs doesn't necessarily say anything about you or your abilities; who knows if it even says anything at all. What's important is to get that CV togeth…

After a lifetime of being told that “It's not personal” and "It's just business" it's surprising how personal employers take a resignation, finally coming face to face with a situation where they're not in control.

Sometimes all it takes is for one person to pull the plug and quit to make others realize they have other options as well. When that happens, the entire team can turnover within months, with the last of the team practically sprinting to get out of there before the building collapses on them (—will the last person out please get the lights?) Of course, there are usually a variety of issues bubbling away under the surface long before the entire thing boils over. Management changes are usually a d…

Of all the many frustrating experiences that are waiting for you when you arrive at work, there is arguably none greater than a coworker who refuses to pull their weight. Without fail, their dragging of the chain will hold back the rest of their team, who will have to pick up the slack if they have any hopes of keeping projects on track and hitting KPIs—keeping the ever-watchful roving eye of management looking elsewhere and the team's heads off the chopping block. Still, after weeks, months—ye…

When you receive an offer from a new employer, you may be incentivized to approach your current employer and see if they'll match the offer. After all—as we often discuss, your current employment is a known entity, and so it will often seem preferable to stay in the comforts of the known—rather than branch out into the unknown of the new role that is being offered. Usually, your current employer will come back with what they can reasonably offer, seeking to match the offer you've received. It's…

You really shouldn't say something that you don't mean that could cause an outcome that you don't want to someone who will happily oblige you. Retailers love to set rules and swear by them as if they had been written in stone since the dawn of time—and definitely not something they made up 15 minutes ago. These rules will blatantly disadvantage workers and be strictly enforced to the point where there is no nuance for grey-area scenarios. After all, being able to predict extremely obvious gray…

Throughout your life, your superiors' insistence that you adhere to cumbersome processes and procedures will be a literal thorn in your side, causing you wasted hours and undue stress as you attempt to follow them. But—occasionally, things might just work out in your favor. When they do, it's usually owing to the fact that the superiors, who are insisting that these processes be followed, aren't nearly as good at following them themselves as they would like you to believe. In fact, they may rev…

Companies love to introduce small fees as a means of saving a few dollars or adding an extra stream of revenue. Hey—if you're a bank or network provider with 70 million customers, charging each of them a $0.10 fee every month is going to shore up a clean $84 million in revenue a year, and that's not going to look bad for some senior manager's bonus figure. These tactics can be employed against your employees, too. Nitpicking small costs and introducing small penalties can cause broad-sweeping c…

Having a close-knit workgroup can be amazing; it's the kind of thing that has to form naturally with a bit of time and pressure that nurtures (and necessitates) cohesiveness and codependence. The relationships you form in these workplaces can be incredible and turn out to be life-long bonds, but they can also create a workplace environment that is unintentionally toxic. Eventually, something is going to change. Maybe the company expands, or there is going to be a falling out between people on t…

Sometimes you have to fake it ‘till you make it, that may or may not include your salary. I’m not sure you're on the right side of ethics if you do this.

Why is it that so many businesses would rather lose $10 in the name of saving $1? Time and time again, extreme cost-saving measures end up costing more in the long run. This engineer left the company they worked for shortly after completing the installation of an important mystery machine (No, not the one from Scooby-Doo.) For some reason, the manager at the client's site kept their number and contacted them personally to come and rectify an error with the machine. They agreed that the engineer…

It's often said that you should never break two rules at the same time, lest you run the risk of being caught for the more serious rule after calling attention to yourself through the less serious. You can probably find that phrased uttered in a similar fashion throughout the ages of this site. When we mention this, we're usually talking about driving with a broken headlight on your way to rob a casino with your ten closest friends. You could be pulled over on the way and have the entire heist…

Starting a new job is always tough. Sure, you might have tons of knowledge and industry experience, but there's always a different way of doing the same old thing at every new organization you walk into. You might think that a square peg would always just fit into the square hole, but your new job may require you to revolve the square 360 degrees clockwise, counterclockwise, and then on a vertical axis—all before putting it in the same square hole you always did before. Sure, it may be stupid,…

The queue is a foundational structure of society. First come, first served—it's as simple as that. This serves as a great equalizer of man. Every person's status is one and the same when they are in the queue—all are equals and must wait their turn. If you refuse to wait your turn, you'll be That's all well and good, except people with status, particularly entitled people with status, keep looking for loopholes to avoid waiting in the queue like everyone else because they think they're better t…