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Alison Green

Columnist, the Cut
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@AskAManager
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Alison Green is the Cut’s workplace-advice columnist. In addition to “Ask a Boss,” she has run her own career-advice website, Ask a Manager, for 15 years and is the author of Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-Stealing Bosses, and the Rest of Your Life at Work and Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results.

  1. terrible bosses
    ‘My Boss’s Incompetence Fills Me With Rage!’How to avoid freaking out and getting fired.
  2. terrible bosses
    ‘My Boss and His Girlfriend Bullied Me!’It’s really common for companies with drinking-heavy cultures to have dysfunction like this.
  3. terrible bosses
    ‘My Boss Texts Pictures of Strippers to My Co-workers’What to do when your boss is treating the office like a frat house.
  4. terrible bosses
    ‘My Evangelical Boss Tried to Convert Me!’The power dynamics can make you feel trapped.
  5. terrible bosses
    ‘My Boss Is Always Making Racist Jokes!’One of the problems with working for start-ups is that they often don’t have HR.
  6. ask a boss
    ‘My Co-worker Hates Me!’If she’s badmouthing you to your coworkers, that’s concerning.
  7. ask a boss
    ‘I Have to Work With the Woman My Husband Had an Affair With!’It’s not unreasonable to find this upsetting.
  8. ask a boss
    ‘How Can I Make Sure I Don’t End Up in Another Horrible Job?’The key is not to rely so heavily on what your employers tell you about themselves.
  9. ask a boss
    ‘I’m So Nervous at Work, and It’s Holding Me Back!’It’s normal to make some mistakes, especially when you’re new.
  10. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Keeps Guilt-Tripping Me for Leaving My Job!’You haven’t done anything wrong here.
  11. ask a boss
    ‘Is It a Bad Idea to Work at the Same Company As My Boyfriend?’You have to commit to keeping any issues in the relationship out of the office.
  12. ask a boss
    ‘Is It Just Me, or Was This Job Interview Full of Red Flags?’The reality is that job hunting is aggravating.
  13. ask a boss
    ‘I’m My Boss’s Favorite, and It Sucks!’It’s not cool for your boss to complain to you about a co-worker.
  14. ask a boss
    ‘I Keep Getting Rejected for Jobs I’m Perfect For!’There are lots of reasons why qualified candidates get turned down.
  15. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Wants to Change My Job, and I’m Not Happy About It!’It’s okay to push back, especially when you feel this strongly.
  16. ask a boss
    ‘My Co-worker Keeps Fighting With Her Husband in Our Shared Office!’When you share work space, you have to be thoughtful about how your personal life affects others.
  17. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Lectured Me About Arriving On Time and I’m Furious!’When you’re working overtime, it can be tone deaf for your employer to nickel and dime you about what time you’re getting in.
  18. ask a boss
    ‘I Feel Awful About Giving a Bad Performance Review!’If you’re doing your job well, sooner or later someone isn’t going to like you.
  19. ask a boss
    ‘I Have Zero Motivation to Do My Job’Ultimately, it all comes down to who you want to be professionally.
  20. ask a boss
    What to Do If You Were Just Laid OffThere are steps you can take to decrease the amount of time you’re likely to be out of work.
  21. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Is Insecure and Petty!’Even if she never turns on you, you still can’t trust her.
  22. ask a boss
    ‘I’m Allergic to the Birthday Cake My Co-workers Gave Me!’Food allergies at work are the worst.
  23. ask a boss
    ‘My Co-workers Won’t Stop Talking to Me in the Bathroom!’If you allow people to interrupt you, you’re teaching them that their behavior works.
  24. ask a boss
    ‘Is My Co-worker Trying to Sabotage Me?’There’s only one good to way to disarm her.
  25. ask a boss
    I’m Treated Like a Boss But I’m Not One!This is rarely the right thing for your career.
  26. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Found Out I’m Job Hunting!’Will this be awkward? Yes, probably.
  27. ask a boss
    Should I Tell My Boss Everyone’s Mad at Her?She’s following up with people too soon and too often.
  28. work
    ‘Will I Get a Better Job If I Pretend I’m a Bad Assistant?’If your coffee tastes like sludge, you’re probably not going to be the default coffee-maker for long.
  29. get that money
    What Salary Should I Ask For? How to Figure Out Your Worth.Don’t trust salary websites.
  30. work
    ‘I’m Scared to Tell My Boss I’m Behind on Work and Need to Ask for Help’You are not a bad person for letting this happen. You fell down because you are human.
  31. ask a boss
    ‘I’m Ashamed of My Work History and Want to Make a Career Change at 40’You have a bunch of things going for you.
  32. ask a boss
    ‘Should I Feel Guilty Leaving Work for a Job Interview?’Your first trick should be: dentist appointments.
  33. ask a boss
    ‘Should I Quit My Boring, Well-Paid Job?’Take a look at what you’ve accomplished.
  34. work
    ‘I’m Trying to Fire a Bad Employee and the Entire Office Thinks I’m a Bad Boss!’The most powerful way to combat office gossip is to be very open about how you manage.
  35. work
    ‘Should I Quit My Job If I Don’t Get Better Projects?’Delicately tell your boss she needs to act if she wants to keep you.
  36. ask a boss
    ‘I Hate Talking to My Co-workers in Person!’You might prefer email, but sometimes a face-to-face is unavoidable.
  37. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Wants Help With Her Dating App Profile!’You need to set boundaries, and talk to her boss.
  38. work
    ‘My Co-worker Is Always Out Sick!’You don’t necessarily have all the facts.
  39. ask a boss
    ‘My Best Friend at Work Is Bad at Her Job!’It’s actually better for her if you don’t help her so much.
  40. ask a boss
    Are Informational Interview Questions Even Useful?Do not ask, “Will you hire me?” And it depends entirely on your approach.
  41. ask a boss
    ‘My Co-worker Is Rude and Unprofessional!’Where is this person’s manager?
  42. ask a boss
    ‘My Co-workers Are Hanging Out Without Me!’Not everyone clicks with everyone else at work, but you can do a few things to feel more comfortable.
  43. work
    ‘My Co-worker Got Promoted Instead of Me But I Do More Work!’You were passed over unfairly … or you weren’t.
  44. ask a boss
    How to Prepare for an Interview: The Ultimate GuideSpend twice as much time preparing than you think you need to.
  45. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Is Passive-Aggressive!’Whenever your boss sulks or behaves like a child, that’s not your problem to solve.
  46. ask a boss
    How to Answer the 6 Most Common Job-Interview QuestionsThink about what your interviewer wants to hear.
  47. ask a boss
    ‘My Boss Is Having Sex in the Office!’You are not overreacting.
  48. ask a boss
    ‘How Should I Explain My Weaknesses in a Job Interview?’Do not say, “I’m a perfectionist” or “I work too hard.”
  49. ask a boss
    ‘I Was Tricked Into Being an Executive Assistant!’Talk to your boss as soon as you can.
  50. ask a boss
    ‘How Do I Explain Reasons for Leaving a Previous Job?’Here’s what to say if you were laid off, fired, or if you hated your boss.
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