LEAVING WORK

Q: Hi Dr. Culp! My supervisor is good at her work, but her stories about family are mostly exaggerated or not true. My co-workers trace her creative imagination to her first year here.

She isn't sure if her brother is the father of the child his girlfriend is giving birth to. I checked on Facebook, which put the number of expected babies in doubt. I kept my silence for weeks, because it's not really work-related. You can't publish the colorful details about why she needs to leave work early.

She seems to be an attention-seeker. I treated her as a good friend and feel betrayed by possibly untrue stories. I've started isolating myself and speaking only about work. Our manager doesn't know what to do and doesn't want to talk to her about it. Really Bothered

A: Dear Bothered, Your response to a severe personal problem became professional when you stopped looking at Facebook and started interacting with your supervisor over work alone. Your manager could hire a detective to see where she goes when she leaves work early and then take appropriate action. mlc

FAIRNESS

Q: Hello Dr. Culp, I must say that I couldn't agree more with Anonymous that companies hiring anonymously are engaged in a coward's way of looking for employees. People can't do background checks on companies the way companies do on people.

In job interviews, when I've been asked if I have questions, I've asked, "How's the company's credit?" "Why are you only hiring part-time instead of full-time?" "Is the company financially strong?" Fair is fair in an economy with companies closing their doors. We need to let our congressmen and women, and our president, know that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Equity P.S. I gave you my first name, which is more than the majority of the classified ads do.

A: Dear Equity, Try rewording your questions to something like this: "Many companies are going under. What can you tell me that will help me see that XYZ is in such good shape that we'll be able to work together for a long time?"

Be very, very picky about ads in print and online. Apply only if jobs are really good and you meet the qualifications. Use the remaining time to market other ways. mlc

**BlogTip**

HUMOR SELLS

Mitch Turck (KarmaFile.com) conscientiously crafted cover letters to employers until he realized that either the employers weren't reading them or they'd forgotten what he'd written. That inspired him to try something new.

"I started writing jokes in my cover letters," he emails. "If employers read them, it might be a differentiator for me. If they didn't read them, it would just prove that I didn't need to take it seriously." One of the jokes included a link to a website. Here's what he wrote:

"Greetings:

"Here is my resume URL: XXXXX

"Here is my cell number: XXXXX

"Here is a photo of a cute puppy: XXXXX

"Thank you for your time."

Sincerely,

Mitch Turck

A few hours passed. The telephone rang. Two days later he got the job.

The next time around, try something different if the same ol', same ol' isn't working. Let Turck's ingenuity inspire you to differentiate yourself in a manner that suits your market.

(Dr. Mildred Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net. © 2011 Passage Media.)