If English is not your native language, you might not be super sure how to use gender-inclusive language when speaking or writing it. Why is this important? When at work, I want (and need) to be seen first for my skills, not for my gender. Here are three specific scenarios I’ve been asked about or …
Do you have to be serious to be professional? I sure hope not. Life is too short to keep a straight face for eight plus hours every workday. But there are ground rules: Keep it short, keep it consensual, don’t bother others, and know your environment. I brought in pool noodles at a previous job, …
Have you ever known someone who’s irritable or even downright nasty, but suddenly able to rein themselves in when someone who has power over them, or whom they want to impress, is around? Kissing up and kicking down is common, but also human nature. You hear the same story often enough – someone on their …
When I see an ad that encourages me to come join a young team, it negatively influences my view of that company. Best case: the person writing the ad is using “young” as a synonym for energy, enthusiasm and drive without thinking a lot about it. Usual case: the team being hired for is currently …
What’s the sweet spot for a self-evaluation? First, what’s your goal as an employee in a self-evaluation? Let’s separate out idealism from reality first off. Of course it would be nice if a self-evaluation were a chance for you to honestly reflect on your work for the past year, be proud of your achievements and …
Assigning potential employees a software task to complete before their interview has become normal. Is this a bad practice? It assumes that the candidate has or can quickly get all the equipment and programs necessary. It assumes that the candidate, who is often already working full-time and may be going through multiple job application processes, …
There’s a brilliant piece by Chelsea Troy explaining why even very experienced programmers can have gaps in their knowledge about topics other programmers deem super basic. Let’s go back to our cheese slicer: if you’d never seen one, you’d use a knife to cut your cheese. Which of these conversations leaves the knife-wielder feeling like …