Telecommuting Challenges

A substantial portion of all U.S. workers telecommute, and more would like to. But telecommuting presents challenges for managers used to working in close physical proximity to staff. Managers have to learn new techniques to communicate with remote staff, or risk telecommuting employees feeling isolated, frustrated and out of the loop.

California State Disability Insurance

Ever wondered about paying the employee's SDI payments for them? Some California employers do just this. While it certainly isn't mandated, covering the payments can be a relatively simple way to provide the benefit at no cost to the worker.

Review this article in the Houston Chronicle's online publication, chron.com, for details on how to calculate the tax payment, whether the payment itself will be taxable (hint: it depends on the industry you're in) and when to stop paying.

Interview Insights: The Weakness Question

I've always wondered what the value of the weakness question was. It's not like anyone can really answer this one honestly -- a candidate who says they pretend to be working while they shop on the internet is going to be shown the door fairly quickly.

You can't say that you don't have a weakness, either, unless you're applying for a position where arrogance and delusion is the number one priority. And the age-old technique of creating a fake weakness to spin as a positive has definitely outstayed its welcome.

I personally think this question is one that can be left off the list without losing anything from the interview process. But if you're the interviewee, you have to come up with something. For ideas on how to answer the question without seeming trite, cliched, arrogant or a flat out liar, check out this article on dealing with the weakness question.

Documentation, Documentation, Documentation

You've probably heard the saying "if it isn't documented, it doesn't exist." But in my opinion, there should be a mandatory extra sentence telling managers "but hiding that documentation away without ever acting on it won't help you either."

File notes are the worst example of this. The manager keeps an inordinate amount of detail about the employee's work habits -- for example, "Jane Doe arrived 15 minutes late on Wednesday." But without talking to Jane, asking her why she was late, why she failed to call in advance and warning her that continued tardiness could lead to disciplinary action, that documentation means nothing. And in fact -- it's those very actions that are most critical to document.

Interview Insights: "Tell Me About Yourself"

Competition has never been more fierce for jobs. Answer those tricky questions, avoid getting tripped up, and find new ways to set yourself apart from the rest with our series of top interview tips.

If the question "tell me about yourself" has you squirming in your seat, you're not alone. It's hard to find ways to describe yourself positively without sounding either arrogant or insincere. But you have to find a way to sell yourself, because nobody else is going to do it for you.

Check out this post for four ways to approach the question.