c/career-advice

Shoutout to my manager for pulling me aside after a rough client call

I totally botched a presentation to a client in Chicago last week and was ready to quit, but my boss just said, 'Let's talk about what we can learn from this.' We spent 30 minutes breaking down what went wrong without any blame. How do you guys handle major screw-ups without letting it wreck your confidence?

Had a total wake-up call about pricing at a job fair in Cleveland

I was at the Northeast Ohio Green Industry Expo last year, just talking to other landscapers at a booth. This guy asked me what I charged for a basic spring cleanup, and I told him my old rate of $350 for a standard yard. He looked at me and said, 'You're leaving at least a hundred bucks on the table, easy.' He broke down his costs right there on a napkin - fuel, labor, dump fees, the whole thing. I went home and redid all my numbers that night. Now I charge a flat $500 for the same service and my profit is way better. How do you guys figure out your rates without feeling like you're asking for too much?

Warning: A manager in Denver once told me to never ask for a raise before hitting my one year mark.

I was working a project lead job and had just finished a huge client launch three months early. I went to my boss, let's call him Mark, thinking it was the perfect time to talk about a salary bump. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "You haven't earned the right to ask yet, wait for your review." It completely killed my drive for the rest of my time there. What's the worst career advice you've ever gotten from a superior?

I tried two different ways to ask for a raise and one worked way better

First, I just asked my boss in a meeting if I could get more money, and he said he'd look into it. Nothing happened. A month later, I made a simple one-page document showing the three big projects I finished, how they helped the company, and the average salary for my role in Phoenix. I brought that to our next talk. He approved the raise the same week. Has anyone else found that showing your work with some numbers makes a real difference?

My manager told me to stop sending weekly project updates, and my promotion came 4 months later

I was sending detailed emails every Friday for over a year with zero feedback. He finally said 'I trust you, stop reporting and start deciding' and that shift in responsibility was the real test. Anyone else get a breakthrough from being told to do less?

Question about a really weird interview I had in Chicago last month

I went for a marketing job and the manager asked me to sell him a stapler on his desk, which was fine, but then he started stapling random papers together while I talked. He said it was a 'focus test' and offered me a role in a different department on the spot. Has anyone had an interview go totally off the rails like that?

Serious question, what's the deal with the 'two week rule' for job applications?

Honestly, I got laid off from my marketing job in Phoenix back in March and was applying like crazy. I kept hearing you should follow up after two weeks if you don't hear back. So I did that, every single time, for like 15 applications. Ngl, I got zero replies from those follow-ups. Then I got a little desperate and followed up on one after just four days. The hiring manager actually wrote back the same afternoon saying they were impressed with my initiative and moved my application forward. It didn't get me the job, but it made me realize the two week thing is just a made up number that everyone repeats. The timing seems to depend entirely on the company and the person hiring. Has anyone else found a better way to figure out when to check in?

Appreciation post: The week my old boss called me a 'glue person'

It was a Tuesday in 2018, right after a huge project in Chicago fell apart. The lead dev quit, and I just started fixing handoffs between teams without being asked. My boss pulled me aside Friday and said, 'You're the glue that held this place together this week.' That phrase changed how I saw my own role. Anyone else have a moment that redefined their job for them?

My big presentation in Dallas crashed when I accidentally shared my screen with a cat meme tab open

I was halfway through showing our Q2 numbers to the whole team last Tuesday when my browser decided to refresh and put a picture of a grumpy cat wearing a tiny hat front and center for a solid five seconds before I could switch back.

Got some blunt feedback from a manager at a tech meetup in Austin

He said my resume was 'a list of tasks, not a story of impact' after I asked for advice. Now I rewrite every bullet point to show a clear result, like 'cut report time by 30%'. Do you think focusing on outcomes is better than listing duties?

Finally got that project report done after a week of fighting with the data

I had to pull numbers from three different systems for a client in Phoenix and nothing matched up. Spent a full 8-hour day just trying to get the sales figures from our old CRM to line up with the new one. Has anyone else had to merge data from Salesforce and HubSpot, and how did you make it work?

My plumber buddy told me 'you're not selling a service, you're selling a solved problem' and it kinda broke my brain

I finally gave networking events a real shot after avoiding them for 3 years

Everyone in my old office in Atlanta said they were the best way to find a job. I went to one last month focused on tech project managers and actually met the hiring manager for a role I applied to online. We talked for 15 minutes about a specific problem his team was having, and he told me to email him directly. Has anyone else found a good job this way, or did I just get lucky?

A Tuesday in March where my boss just said 'good job' and it felt huge

Last week, I was stuck on a report for three days (it was about Q1 sales, the boring kind). On Tuesday, my manager walked by, pointed at my screen, and said, 'That looks clean, good job.' That was it. No big meeting, no email. But for some reason, that tiny bit of clear, specific praise made the whole grind feel worth it. Has a small comment from a boss ever totally shifted your mood at work?

A manager in Austin told me to never admit a mistake to my team

I was leading a project last year and gave a junior analyst the wrong data set, which set us back two full days. The manager's view was that showing weakness hurts your authority. I told the analyst exactly what happened, apologized, and we worked late to fix it together. He actually seemed to trust me more after that. Now I'm curious if that manager's advice is common, or if being upfront about errors is better for team morale long-term. What's your take?

My old boss in Chicago told me to never ask for a raise

He said it makes you look weak and they'll just give you more work. Happened at our annual review meeting last March. I've always wondered if that's just his outdated view or actual good advice. Anyone dealt with a manager who gave advice that felt totally backwards?

I used to think networking was just handing out business cards at events. Then I spent a year actually helping people in my field without asking for anything back. The difference in my career after that was huge.

Hot take: I used to think networking was just for suits at conferences

I was at a brewery in Portland last week and overheard two guys talking shop, and one offered the other a lead on a project. It clicked that real connections happen anywhere. How do you spot a good chance to network outside of formal events?

Just read a report that said 40% of people who get promoted into management quit within 18 months

I finally had a project pitch fall apart in a client meeting last Thursday.

Spent three weeks building a detailed proposal for a new marketing strategy with a local restaurant group, but their main investor walked in and shut it down over budget concerns. I had to pivot on the spot and salvage what I could from the conversation. What's your go-to move when a plan you're sure about gets rejected out of nowhere?

I always thought a formal degree was the only way into tech, but a 6-month coding bootcamp changed my mind completely.

I started tracking my daily tasks in a $5 notebook and it changed how I ask for raises

I was stuck at the same pay for two years and felt I couldn't prove my extra work. Last month, I bought a simple notebook and wrote down every single thing I did each day for four weeks. When I met with my boss, I had a list of 47 specific projects and wins, not just vague claims. I got a 12% raise yesterday. Has anyone else used a simple method like this to show their value?

I asked for a $5,000 raise at my delivery job and got offered a manager spot instead...

The day a customer yelled at me for a policy I didn't make taught me more than any training ever did

I finally looked up the average salary for my job title in Phoenix

A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed it's about $15,000 higher than I'm making. Anyone else find a big gap like that and how did you handle it?