10

You love your site and we love your site, but there is a whole world of people out there who might not even know it exists. When they do find it, their first impression will either scare them away or keep them around. Given this, let's take a hard look at the questions and answers here and make sure newcomers see the site at its best!

Below you'll find ten questions randomly selected from this site. What do you think about each of them and their answers? Are they the best they can be or can they be improved? Would they look interesting and inviting to an outsider or are they a little embarrassing?

Upvote the corresponding post here on meta when we're awesome. Downvote when our content just isn't quite up to par.

Oh, and do comment to let everyone know your thoughts and take part in this conversation. :)

4
  • 3
    No no no, clearly a duplicate of meta.workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/321/… :P
    – Zelda Mod
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 21:50
  • @Rarity Oh you. :P
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 21:51
  • 2
    @AnnaLear Sheesh. All this self-evaluation! It's like SE has standards or something.
    – jcmeloni Mod
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 22:05
  • 1
    Heh, it appears I just serially downvoted you (I downvoted a lot of the answers here), hopefully the script is smart enough to not reverse my votes. Will check back in 24h, and if it does, I'll rant about it on MSO ;)
    – yannis
    Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 4:56

10 Answers 10

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12

How to handle false allegations of my behavior and continue performing my job

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

4
  • 4
    Good question, good top answers (but quite a few bad answers and a few "could be comments" answers...)
    – enderland
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 22:01
  • Good question, some of the comments are redundant and some borderline offensive to some Texas astounds me as a state Did I say that?! ;-)
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:34
  • 1
    Comments could do with a cleanup, but good Q&A
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:05
  • This question represents a "real problem"; also, it is an interesting one that we should be proud to show on our top questions page.
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:27
10

What kinds of questions should I ask a recruiter?

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

1
  • 3
    Excellent question and answers. Prime example of what Workplace is about.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:42
9

LinkedIn invitations from people I don't know

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

3
  • A good question, but some really good answers.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:07
  • Also refreshing as it's about networking, but nice and specific and a question I think a lot of people have.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 13:50
  • In this case, I believe what led to the great answers is the community dedication to the "back it up" rule. If that rule wasn't put in place, we just might have seen a lot of comments as answers and one-liners like the two downvoted posts at the bottom. IMHO, sometimes the answers make the question look great. +1
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:32
6

Software Development vs Technical Consulting

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

4
  • I honestly feel this is too localized and an example of what we don't want people to see. I don't know which career to choose? Choose my life for me! The answers are surprisingly good, but the question has a very black and white view of the world.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:39
  • 2
    The intro makes it localised, but it's not really. And it's not so much "Choose my life for me" as "I am making a decision based on these assumptions. Are they correct?" I don't have a major problem with this one. Could maybe use some editing.
    – pdr
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:42
  • Considering this person didn't give a lot of specifics or details that would change over time, I'd say it's not too localized, and the answers seem to support this. +1
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:40
  • Given the comments here, it does indicate that some editing should probably happen, but that the heart of it is good.
    – jcmeloni Mod
    Commented Oct 3, 2012 at 13:49
6

Is it normal to list contractors on a corporate website?

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

4
  • This is an extraordinary question and one that resonates with a very similar situation I was in recently. I learned a lot from reading the answers.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:51
  • Strange question, to me. Saved by an excellent top answer.
    – pdr
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:34
  • Not a question I'd ever have had, as the contractors I work with are in a very different situation than this case, so it was nice to see something productive and outside my "norm".
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 13:51
  • I do not care for the title but think it was a good question.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Oct 4, 2012 at 15:29
3

Getting fired for cause?

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

6
  • 2
    I'm wary about these sorts of questions because of the possible severe legal implications of someone coming here, trusting the site as definitive, and then totally screw themselves over because they are in a different country. There was talk of potentially having a country tag for these sorts of questions (also questions relating to protocol/etiquette as varies by country)
    – enderland
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 22:07
  • 1
    @enderland Anybody that takes explicit legal advice from the internet deserves severe legal implications IMHO. Most of us do a good job of calling out bad advice or specifically local advice.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:47
  • I actually liked this in that instead of whining about injustice, the question was focused on actual actions and expectations for a situation that probably isn't unique to this individual.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 14:06
  • 2
    I'm on the fence on this one. Legal questions are always sort of iffy in my opinion. When you ask a question like this, you're getting opinions from random people on the Internet. Being an expert in navigating the workplace setting is much different than being an expert in New York employment laws...
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:45
  • 1
    @jmort253 - There is some common(maybe uncommon) knowledge that goes around operating in the world. One of these is a basic understanding of laws and rights. Many of us learn them the hard way. So long as the question is not asking for someone to take legal action you can ask about what a person can expect when they are fired. Generally businesses will try to operate on the right side of the law. Many times people expect protections that are not really there. When there is something fishy we can advise to talk with a lawyer.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 21:10
  • @Chad - After taking a second look at the answers, I'm convinced this question is a good example. +1. What saves it is that all answers mention "get a lawyer" as well as some good steps to help protect oneself.
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 3:46
3

How will management react if someone refuses a promotion?

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

4
  • 1
    Very localized and hypothetical, but, with some work, could easily become a good question (probably too late now?)
    – enderland
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 21:57
  • 2
    It's never too late @enderland, just try to make sure the answers still make sense against the edits. :)
    – jmort253
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 22:44
  • 2
    This is one of those questions that discuss a potential bait and switch scam that some employers play, although it isn't totally apparent by reading the question. The answers bring a lot of insight into the reality of the situation with the person asking the question.
    – maple_shaft
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 11:54
  • 1
    I felt like this was in the collection of questions that walks the borderline - there's a lot in here that just may be so specialized that it only helps the asker. But I'm not 100% sure.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 14:04
2

Team building activities for a fast growing team

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

4
  • 1
    Weird, I actually down voted on something I started. :) I really don't know what happened with the answers here - I though (even at the outset) that I was pretty specific in what I asked for, but the answere were all over the map and in the end, very few actually filled my need.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 13:54
  • 1
    This is sort of a polling question in disguise, IMHO, asking for a list of event types to fit a specific need. Even though Beth says she didn't get the answers she wanted, community dedication to providing details, as well as Beth asking the community to "describe in detail" sort of saved this and suppressed the polling aspect quite well! IMHO, the top answer solves the problem: "Talk to the team ... challenge them to come up with something". This not only solves the problem for Beth, but for any future visitor who wants to hold any kind of event for any kind of department... +1
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:50
  • 1
    @bethlakshmi - That is the problem with list questions. I think it was left open more out of respect for the immense good you bring to the site than because it was a good question.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Oct 4, 2012 at 15:06
  • Fair enough. Thanks for the kudos, but I'll close the question.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 4, 2012 at 17:20
1

What can I do to hire people in the tech field who are knowledgeable and personable?

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

5
  • 2
    Relatively ok question, difficult to answer definitively (and there are books upon books written on this subject) but easy to give good answers to. imo the accepted answer was not the best answer
    – enderland
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 21:55
  • Poor question turned ok by some savvy edits. But only ok. Answers didn't improve it.
    – pdr
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:29
  • 1
    Not, IMO, one of our better ones. Not (by any stretch) our worst, either, so after waffling, I didn't vote either way, figuring what I dislike (the generic quality of the question) was outweighed by the insightfulness of some of the answers.
    – bethlakshmi
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 13:56
  • The generic aspect to the question was probably due to my edit. On some sites I contribute to, if you leave in "what resources are there for X", people will sometimes leave comments as answers with nothing but a link. A question is always going to be better if the op can edit it instead of some random third party, since the op knows what she or he is wanting to solve. Still, editing can go a long way, and I think this got some great answers.
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 4:56
  • Another list question :( This really needed to be edited to be brought on point before answers came in.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Oct 4, 2012 at 15:08
-7

Negotiation for Fulltime Conversion After Internship

What do you think about this question and its answers? Vote and comment to let everyone know.

5
  • 2
    Too many questions in one. Answers ended up unreadably long.
    – pdr
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 12:53
  • @pdr agreed, more than two sub-questions is often a red flag, I think this is a good example of why.
    – Zelda Mod
    Commented Oct 1, 2012 at 21:19
  • 2
    Plus, when you have multiple topics in one post, some people don't cover all the questions, making it harder to vote on the answers. There's only two though, likely because it's a bit overwhelming. I voted to close as "Too localized". Great points in the comments about this making 5 really awesome separate questions though!
    – jmort253
    Commented Oct 2, 2012 at 5:00
  • Amazingly while this answer is at -7, the question it's about is at +3, with only one downvote (mine). Nice, we apparently hate the question, but I guess it wouldn't be "nice" to downvote it, it's "nicer" to let it appear as a useful question... <sigh>
    – yannis
    Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 10:37
  • To be fair, I tried to get it closed when I realized it was a bad question but it wasn't closed until VERY recently ;-)
    – enderland
    Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 13:49

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