Alison Green

As the blogger behind Ask a Manager, Alison Green functions as the Dear Abby of the workplace, answering readers' questions daily on career, job search, and management issues. She's also the author of How To Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager and Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader's Guide to Getting Results and the former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management.

I Have To Share A Hotel Room With My Boss On A Business Trip

Work-life balance pretty much goes out the window when you’re brushing your teeth next to your boss.

I Have To Share A Hotel Room With My Boss On A Business Trip

What’s The Best Timing To Send Rejection Letters?

“If you send them quickly, people feel like you thought they were such a terrible candidate that you barely needed to think about them.”

What’s The Best Timing To Send Rejection Letters?

My New Company Won’t Honor The Extra Week Of Vacation I Negotiated

What are are your options if your new employer refuses to honor the benefits that you agreed?

My New Company Won’t Honor The Extra Week Of Vacation I Negotiated

Is A Higher-Paying Job Worth Extra Stress?

You love your job, but you’re offered a 50% raise to work somewhere with a stressful work culture. What should you do?

Is A Higher-Paying Job Worth Extra Stress?

My Resigning Employee Is Badmouthing Me During Her Last Week In The Office

What should you do when you think an employee is leaving amicably, but gossip tells you otherwise?

My Resigning Employee Is Badmouthing Me During Her Last Week In The Office

Is It Possible To Prepare Too Much For An Interview?

Where is the line between being well-prepared and sounding rehearsed?

Is It Possible To Prepare Too Much For An Interview?

How Do I Tell My Employees That They Can’t Work From Home?

Just because most work can be done remotely doesn’t mean that it should. A manager asks how to get his employees to put in more face time.

How Do I Tell My Employees That They Can’t Work From Home?

What Can I Do About My Boss Forcing Us To “Volunteer” For Company Events?

What do you do with a boss who uses thinly veiled threats to “encourage a spirit of volunteering,” but never outright requires attendance?

What Can I Do About My Boss Forcing Us To “Volunteer” For Company Events?

Is A 10-Hour Workday The New Norm?

Does anyone actually work nine to five anymore?

Is A 10-Hour Workday The New Norm?

As The Boss’s Wife, Do I Really Have To Attend His Work Events?

Does the spouse of a tech executive have an obligation to show up for company events?

As The Boss’s Wife, Do I Really Have To Attend His Work Events?

Should I Be Worried That My Job Interview Was Short?

Is a short and simple hiring process a sign that they’re not interested in you?

Should I Be Worried That My Job Interview Was Short?

My Coworker Tries To Compliment Me Into Doing More Work

Praise doesn’t feel so great when it’s used as an excuse to increase your workload. Is it possible to push back?

My Coworker Tries To Compliment Me Into Doing More Work

I’m Sick Of Being The Office Therapist, What Should I Do?

How do you set boundaries when you’ve inadvertently become the go-to office agony aunt?

I’m Sick Of Being The Office Therapist, What Should I Do?

My Friend Lied On His Resume And Wants Me To Be His Reference

Everyone should know better than to lie on their resume, but what’s the best way to call them out on it?

My Friend Lied On His Resume And Wants Me To Be His Reference

Should You Charge Your Family For Using Your Professional Skills?

You probably won’t charge your dad for “fixing” his email, but what about building a website?

Should You Charge Your Family For Using Your Professional Skills?

Should A Manager Trash-Talk The Company’s Decisions?

What’s the best way for a manager to tell their team that they disagree with C-suite decisions?

Should A Manager Trash-Talk The Company’s Decisions?

How Can I Say “That’s Not My Job” Without Sounding Rude?

Is it possible to push back on extra work and still prove that you are a team player? We explore some strategies.

How Can I Say “That’s Not My Job” Without Sounding Rude?

Can I Change My Mind After Accepting A Job Offer?

Do you owe it to a future employer to follow through on taking a position if you are having second thoughts? Is backing out a career killer?

Can I Change My Mind After Accepting A Job Offer?

Help! My New Office Is Full Of Dogs, And I’m Allergic

Dog-friendly offices can be a big stress relief for pet owners, but if you have allergies, the perk can feel like the pits. How to deal?

Help! My New Office Is Full Of Dogs, And I’m Allergic

What’s The Best Way To Answer “How Long Have You Been Job Searching?”

When you’ve been unemployed for a while, a question about the length of your job hunt can feel like a trap. Here’s how to handle it.

What’s The Best Way To Answer “How Long Have You Been Job Searching?”

Impact

London is going to use heat from the Underground to help heat its homes

NGOs need business’s help: Here are the best ways to offer support

What it’s like inside the world’s largest bike parking garage

Creativity

Let’s talk about SNL’s most important new cast member: Bowen Yang

The Jennifer Lopez-Constance Wu movie ‘Hustlers’ shows how the world runs on strip club rules

‘Ms. Monopoly’ is not as patronizing as Hasbro’s version for millennials, but it’s not empowering either

Co.Design

This smart toilet seat monitors your heart health through your gluteus maximus

Another reason to silence your notifications: They could alter your memory

Fabric dyes are a toxic problem. These beautiful alternative colors are made out of food waste

Work Life

When your body calls time-out

What to do if your boss is professionally ‘breadcrumbing’ you

The five-minute email rule completely transformed the way I work