Jeff Silverman

I'm in my final year of my CS degree and I've started applying for internships, graduate programs, and junior roles. However, I have this lingering apprehension about going into corporate. I feel like...

My experience is that life in corporate is nothing like life in academia. For one thing, the problems you are given as a student are problems that... have already been solved, and are usually simple enough that you can get them done relatively quickly. Or else they are research problems that nobody has ever solved and you might or might not solve them.
By way of contrast, in the corporate world, frequently, they do not know what they want. I was on one assignment, and I was told that my user interface was hard to read. I asked if it would be easier to read if I color coded it. They didn't know that was possible, and once they did, they wanted color on EVERYTHING.
You might want to spend a moment and read Frederick Brook's, "The Mythical Man-month". Your apprehension is well founded. The fastest way to make a late project even later is to add more people to it.. No matter what you know and what you do, you are going to be the new person on the project and you will make it later. more

My coworker who sits next to me really annoys me, she’s always stealing my ideas. If I talk about something or mention an idea, she later presents it to the boss like it was hers. She also keeps...

Suggest a really bad idea. Research it carefully. Never discuss why it's a bad idea. Feel free to lie about why it is a good idea.

At the end of the year our department head calculated our bonuses and based on that we received our annual bonus. I accidentally found out that my bonus was exactly half of what my colleagues...

In other words, if OP suspects that they are a victim of discrimination for one of the protected reasons, a violation of labor law, then they should... just keep quiet about it. Right?

Right.
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why is it that someone can apply for various jobs advertised and he/she feels is suitable and qualified for it but never gets a chance of even being shortlisted?

The job market has become seriously deranged in all sorts of ways. HR departments are creating help wanted ads as a means of figuring out what market... wages are (if they put in a $ amount and get too many inquiries, then they know that $ amount is too high. If they put in a $ amount and get too few inquiries, then they know that the $ is too low. They aren't actually hiring, they're measuring the market). At the same time, applicants are padding their resumes and stretching the truth more and more. AI sites are automatically matching resumes and help wanted ads more

Hello everyone! I want some advice: our company got a new owner. The previous one was great, he brought everyone together and supported us. The new owner, however, can swear at people and treat...

Which might be grounds for a "hostile workplace" lawsuit.

Hello everyone! I want some advice: our company got a new owner. The previous one was great, he brought everyone together and supported us. The new owner, however, can swear at people and treat...

You could have a discussion with him. Make "I" statements. You could say, for example, "I do not like it when I see you being rude to people. I... want my management team to be a role model for how people should treat one another.". When you see him being rude, in the moment you may say, "I don't like it when I hear somebody say WHATEVER HE SAID. I think it is rude, it is uncalled for, and there are other, more effective words you could say". Many people in management positions are not true managers; they are bosses. A boss just gives orders. A manager is far more interesting and more successful in the long run. "I want the company and you to be successful. This is what I want you to try". more

My daughter is having problems at school, so we have to switch to homeschooling. I quit my job to take care of her, but my husband doesn’t want to pay for everything. He’s used to me helping with...

Would like to hear his side of the story before jumping to that conclusion. There might be something in this narrative we have not heard.

My daughter is having problems at school, so we have to switch to homeschooling. I quit my job to take care of her, but my husband doesn’t want to pay for everything. He’s used to me helping with...

Let's back up a moment. What were your daughter's problems at school that you had to pull her from school?

My boss doesn’t like me and often picks on me. But I just found out that her son is in my mom’s class. Now I’m wondering if I should use this somehow or leave the kid out of it. Maybe I could just...

This is a terrible idea. Asking your mother to somehow get the kid involved in your work place issues puts her in a conflict of interest position. ... It's not fair to her, it's not fair to the kid. If the boss finds out about that, that will make matters worse

I have a suggestion: open communication. Arrange a private meeting. Ask your boss: "I get the impression that you don't like me, and I feel I am getting picked on. I want to know why, and what I can do to stop this". Then see what she says. Take notes. Then send a follow up E-mail with the notes: "Did I capture what was said accurately and completely?"
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Hi, can you help me out? Today is my third working day at the bank. My probation period won't end for another three months. But my manager is demanding that I sign an agreement for full financial...

Not necessarily. A new person should not be expected to figure out if an instruction is legal until they have been trained on the rules.

I have been interviewed several times on Teams, told I was hired, and then offered a check to pay for the cost of setting up a home office. My bank would not accept the check. So, does that mean that...

Ann, not every job interview conducted through teams, or zoom, or any other messaging system is a scam; but some are. To protect yourself, you have... to figure out an independent means of verifying the integrity of the people you are dealing with. That's hard to do.
However, your bank keeps records of who writes bad checks - bad checks are time-consuming and distressing. So if your bank refuses to accept your employer's check, then you probably have dodged a bullet.

What you could do is ask at the bank if there is a more senior manager who can help you. A lot of the senior people have been around for a while and they have networks of trustworthy people who can help you. more