advice

Workplace advice for any issue, problem, or concern; from changing careers to co-working advice and decorating needs.

No Place For Hate
When I came to work on Monday earlier this week a coworker of mine came up to me and a group of other cohorts and said “so apparently some neo nazis held a rally this weekend.” Most of our responses varied around the realm of “oh really?” Then he preceded to show us a video that a friend of his who was an anti protester against this white supremacist group has sent him when he counter protested against them that day.
By Joe Pattersonabout a month ago in Journal
The Era of Platform Rent: Three Ledgers for Manufacturers, Distributors, and Community Shops
In 2025, a woman who had run a women’s clothing store in the United States for years closed her last physical location. Before pulling down the shutter, she wiped the shelves one more time, sold the last box of hangers to a secondhand shop, and turned the “OPEN” sign to its back. Then she went home, set up a ring light, and started livestreaming on TikTok Shop.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
Why Employees Don’t Respect Bosses Anymore
Monday, 9 a.m. Conference room. The boss drops a proposal on the table. “I need this rewritten tonight.” The employee closes his laptop. “You’ll have it by ten tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment tonight.”
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
I Was Sure Fair Managers Reward the Best. Then I Became One.
Last Wednesday afternoon, the Outstanding Individual recommendation form sat on my desk. Four names. Two slots. Xiao Zhou and Xiao Li had overtime records in DingTalk. Lao Chen and Lao Zhao had logistics ledgers in the cabinet. I picked up a pen and set it down again.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
The Green Ribbon
When he was packing, Lao Zhou’s hand paused. A 2.4-meter ribbon, fluorescent green, threaded through the collar, around the shoulder seam, tied into a dead knot at the zipper pull. He had been in women’s clothing for twelve years. At first he only hung tags. Then the tags grew as big as billboards. Then came anti-tamper buttons: one wasn’t enough, then two, then four. Now, on this coat, he counted twenty-three security points.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
My Boss Said “We’ll Talk After the Holiday.” That Was Worse Than Working the Whole Time.
On the first day of the holiday, I put my laptop on the washing machine. The drum spun. The screen lit up. My boss’s “we’ll talk after the holiday” spun along with it.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
Outsourced Workers Do the Core Job. Then Everyone Acts Surprised When They Stop Caring.
A few years ago, an outsourced operations engineer was changing a script at a client site. He copied the vendor’s script, changed half the parameters, and missed one. He did not look again before running it. The client side blew up.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
YouTube Doubled Its Monetization Threshold. Here’s What It Looks Like at 3 A.M.
Chen Mo closed his editing software at 2:17 a.m. The YouTube Studio notification sat in the lower right corner of the screen, a small red dot. He clicked it.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
AI Can Write Your PRD. It Still Can’t Make the Call.
Last Monday, 9 a.m., I had thirty-seven unread messages. AI had already generated a PRD draft, broken user stories down to the third level, filled a competitor matrix in a shared doc, and drafted test cases. I held a coffee, stared at the priority column, and hovered over Send. I did not click.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
The Harder I Worked, the More They Nitpicked Me
You revise to the third draft. Your manager says, “The first version was better.” You help a colleague fix data. Something goes wrong. He says, “That part wasn’t my responsibility.”
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal
Dear Jane Doe
Dear Jane Doe, I first want to tell you that I am so sorry for what happened to you. You did not deserve it, it was not even close to your fault and I believe you. Now I want to tell you something: Long ago I was you. I was raped. I was raped at 21, he was 9 years older than me. I am not going to tell you the whole story but I will stand in solidarity with you and all the survivors of rape/sexual violence. I will always do that. Please know that you are not alone.
By Amanda Nicoleabout a month ago in Journal
I'm a 30-Year-Old Programmer, and AI Just Made My Best Skill Cheap. Here's Where I'm Going Instead.
1:47 a.m. You close the IDE. The Agent in the terminal is still running. Logs scroll line by line. You pick up the cup. The coffee is cold. A brown stain rings the inside. You refresh the monitoring dashboard. CPU at 62%. Memory stable. Three tasks left in the queue. You should sleep. You sit there without moving. Your fingers tap the trackpad twice. Then twice again.
By Jinabout a month ago in Journal