First Months
What a probation period is actually assessing
Probation is rarely a test of whether you can do the job yet, and understanding what it does test changes…
· 4 min read
Marta writes about first months, managing up, money at work, mostly the parts other people skip and would rather show the working than assert the conclusion.
16 articles
First Months
A good question makes you look more capable, not less
The fear of asking is really a fear of a particular kind of question, and the difference between the two…
· 4 min read
First Months
What to do in the first hour after you have caused a problem
The damage from a mistake is largely decided by what happens in the hour after you notice it, and that hour…
· 4 min read
Moving On
How long you stayed is read as a signal, and the reading is cruder than you think
Tenure on a CV gets interpreted quickly and often carelessly, and understanding the interpretation helps…
· 3 min read
Skills
Most of what you learn at work will come from people who are not your manager
Development is widely assumed to flow down the reporting line, and in practice the reporting line supplies…
· 4 min read
First Months
Every workplace runs on a calendar nobody hands you
Organisations have annual and monthly rhythms that decide when things are possible, and learning them…
· 3 min read
Money At Work
When a promotion is worth less than it looks
A step up can carry more responsibility, more hours and only a marginal pay change, and the components that…
· 3 min read
Moving On
What an exit interview is actually for
The conversation is presented as a chance to be heard on the way out, and understanding who reads the…
· 3 min read
Moving On
Keeping a professional network without going to networking events
Most of the value people attribute to networking comes from ordinary working relationships maintained…
· 3 min read
Skills
Presenting to a room more senior than you
Senior audiences listen for different things than your own team does, and most presentations aimed at them…
· 4 min read
Skills
Being the only person who knows how something works
Sole ownership of a critical thing feels like job security, and it functions much more reliably as a…
· 4 min read
First Months
Reading what the person before you left behind
Inheriting a role means inheriting decisions, half-finished work and a reputation, and most of what you…
· 4 min read
Money At Work
A pay freeze, a deferral and a cut are three different messages
When pay stops moving, the specific form the decision takes tells you a good deal about how bad the…
· 3 min read
Money At Work
What a job costs you to hold
Two roles paying the same amount can leave you with very different sums, because the costs attached to a…
· 3 min read
Moving On
Going back to a former employer
Returning to a place you already know shortcuts most of the risk in changing jobs, provided you are clear…
· 4 min read
Skills
The first time you are on the other side of an interview
Being asked to help assess a candidate exposes how crude hiring decisions really are, and it changes how…
· 3 min read