It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers.
1. How can I explain to coworkers that I’m working from home as a medical accommodation? (#3 at the link) It turns out I’m autistic. I was diagnosed not long after the letter was published, and all my quirks and needs fell into place. Permanent remote work is, it turns out, a common accommodation for autism. My need for natural light, privacy, quiet, and reduced visual noise are common. I could not reply due to comments being closed, but the responses I did see were helpful.
2. I hate my job — do I have to stick it out for a year? (#3 at the link) I am the person you answered in May about leaving a job after what I perceived as a stint of short strings. Your response was so encouraging. Then, a serendipitous set of dominoes started to fall, which included someone going into preterm labor (they and baby are happy and healthy), an unexpected budget increase, and an immediate need for me to rejoin my old team, under my old boss, at the higher title that I took when I left. It feels like a second chance from the universe.
3. Should I leave my job with great benefits but a problem boss? After I saw your response and the comments, I started job searching. After a lot of therapy, soul searching, and talks with my husband, I realized I needed to get out of finance. I’m working as an event waitress for now, since that schedule works better with my very intensive grad school program. And given the diagnosis, and all the big changes going on in my life, baby plans are on the backburner. I suppose everything happened for a reason.
4. The person who needs to confirm my employment dates always gets it wrong (#2 at the link) I did connect with someone I interviewed with to let them know I was having some issues with a former employer and to ask if they could give any details, because I was concerned about future prospects. She let me know that they decided on a different candidate for reasons that had nothing to do with my former employer. They went on to say I was a strong candidate and interviewed well. I also decided to email Mary with some verifiable information to refresh her memory and it was returned as undeliverable. I did some googling and the former agency seems to be not on the web anymore. It seems she has closed the agency and is running a completely different business now.
