The British newspaper The Independent reported that Virgin Atlantic sacked 13 flight attendants for criticizing the airline's flight safety standards and describing its passengers as chavs on Facebook.  And yes, I didn’t know what chav meant either.  Apparently it’s the British equivalent of white trash.  In a statement, the ...

Real Simple Magazine has just featured one user manual that’s worth reading – how to be plugged in without being impolite.  Hap tip to Yahoo! Shine for the highlights, which contain advice from some of the business in the tech-etiquette business: 1. You’re walking down the street and listening to your iPod when you run into someone you know. ...

I’m not late to the game on this one, I swear.  It’s just that I’ve been waiting.  Watching to see what Sarah Palin will do next.  Ever since her disastrous turn with Katie Couric, I’ve been anticipating her next public speaking snafu.  Why did I think she would make one?  Quite simply, because she admitted she didn’t know ...

On Newly Corporate, Jennifer Robinson has a great post for professional women on the vices and virtues of changing your name when you get married.  I’m glad someone else is giving advice on this, because I’ve hemmed and hawed about the issue since my wedding in 2004.    My husband wanted me to take his name, Shankman, but at the ...

Thanks to Phil Rosenberg at Secrets of the Job Hunt for providing this primer on asking intelligent questions, when prompted, at the end of a job interview:   Do you have any questions?  This is asked at the end of most interviews, and it gives the candidate a chance to shine and stand out from the pack. Do you come loaded with ...

I often talk about steering clear of talking politics in the workplace because you never know who you might offend.  This is especially relevant during a presidential election year, when everyone has an opinion and doesn’t hesitate to share it.  Kris Dunn over at the HR Capitalist has some useful tips on how to avoid an uncomfortable ...

My new book, Success for Hire (ASTD Press) features employee recruitment and retention practices that a lot of people think they know but in reality, don’t put into practice.  One of those practices is effective in-person interviewing, which can ensure that you hire the right candidate the first time around.  The next time you speak ...

Last week, I gave a talk on twenty-first century recruitment and retention at the American Society of Training and Development’s annual conference in San Diego.  While I was there, I attended a few “train the trainer” sessions on improving your technique for delivering educational content in the workplace.  The guys (they were ...

A WCW reader writes:  “Dear Alexandra, I’ve read your advice about the right way to leave your job, and I think it’s good.  Only trouble is, the people I work with aren’t exactly helping me out.  I gave them six weeks notice so that I could find and train a replacement, but no one except me seems to feel this major urgency to hire ...

Here’s a disclaimer before you start reading this post.  I’m not writing it to brag or leave you thinking that I’m the greatest colleague or employee of all time.  I’m trying to make a point, so I hope you will look at it in that light.  Now that said, I’ve often been told that I am really great to work with.  Some people ...