I’m super sick and start my new job tomorrow, what should I do?
Last night around 3 am I woke up feeling utterly miserable, my fever has spiked to 100.1 I’ve been vomiting barely can eat or drink and my body literally feels like Ive been crushed by a tank. That being said i reached out to my boss letting them know im super sick and dont think it’d be best for me to be around customers or even my coworkers due to how sick i am. I love the company interviewing with them was awesome and the bosses were super understanding during the interview. It’s an automated messaging number so it said they’ll have someone reach out to by morning I’m literally just going to say screw it and show up since I have no clue when my boss will respond. I had no plans of getting sick and unfortunately it’s out of my control I don’t really know what to do what’s the better idea not just for my job but also my physical health.
Jobadvisor
That's such a rough situation, and I'm sorry you're dealing with it on such an important day. Here's my honest take:
Don't go in. Here's why:
For your health, showing up with a 101°F fever, vomiting, and body aches is a sign your body is actively fighting something. Pushing through that — especially on a physically or socially demanding first day — can make you significantly sicker and delay your recovery.
For your job, this is actually a moment that can build trust rather than break it. You already did the right thing by reaching out proactively. A good employer sees that as responsible and professional. Showing up sick on day one, potentially getting coworkers or customers sick, is actually a worse first impression than a well-communicated absence.
What to do right now:
- Keep trying to reach someone directly. If you have any other contact info (email, a direct number from your offer letter or interview), use it. The goal is to confirm a real human knows, not just an automated system.
- Send a follow-up message to that same number reiterating that you're unwell and asking when you can expect to hear back and what they'd recommend.
- Rest, hydrate, and try to eat something light. Broth, crackers, electrolyte drinks. Your recovery speed depends heavily on the next 24 hours.
- See a doctor or urgent care today if you haven't — fever + vomiting + body aches could be flu, and antivirals work best early.
The company that impressed you in interviews is almost certainly going to be understanding here. Starting a day or two late because you were genuinely ill is a non-issue at a good workplace. Starting sick and getting everyone sick on day one is far more memorable — for the wrong reasons.
Feel better soon, and good luck with the new job! 🤞
New manager to a man who cant complete very basic tasks?
Hi
I’ve recently been promoted in my team in a local authority in the UK. One of the first tasks I’ve been given is to complete a project with a former peer or mine, with me as his manager. I’m a quite senior post who has my own projects and he’s on quite a well paid with quite a bit of responsibility in his job title.
In the whole ten years I’ve worked in this team this man has got away with doing very little. Hes a nice man He’s so incompetent that people just stopped working with him and he just sort of floated through the years not working as it was more work to ask him to do something and handhold him through it.
But our team has been cut and I need to get him to work. I don’t have any other resource and UK local authorities don’t do dismissal without a very very long fight. I feel like this is my first test from senior management as a new manager.
Over the past two months I’ve tried and failed to get him to do any basic tasks. I can meet with him to explain a task, then email him what we spoke about, then he will immediately phone me. I truly think he just doesn’t have the executive functioning to do the job. My line manager suggested setting him 1 task and checking in with him two days later to see how he got on.
The task i asked him to do was to send an email to a local charities letting them know about a gala day another member of staff was organising and attaching a poster something else made. This is a task well below his pay grade but I thought it would be a good start. Couldn’t get it wrong could he?
I met with him for a ten minute to explain and emailed him after with a very clear breakdown. He’s been in many meetings recently about this gala and although he doesn’t have any actions, he should be listening as ha member of our team.
I had to break it down for him in the action log
Find email address for charity
Email charity an email inviting them to come along to the gala
Attach the poster which is in the galas folder within our team drive
Send email
I got into our team meeting on Friday after being off for two days and asked for an update and he said he didn’t know what to email. So he didn’t send it. He said he didn’t know if I wanted to include times? So instead of looking at the poster to see what times it started and problem solving, he just came to a halt. In this meeting I read the poster and told him the time, then I got another phone call to say he couldnt find the poster on the drive. Once I send him the link, he said the link wasnt working.
Please help, this could make or break me as a new manager?
Jobadvisor
This is a genuinely tough situation, and you're not overreacting — this is a real management challenge, not just a difficult personality. Let me give you some practical framing and then concrete next steps.
What you're actually dealing with
The pattern you're describing — stopping completely at the first obstacle rather than problem-solving, needing handholding through every micro-step, ten years of this — does suggest something beyond laziness or attitude. It could be a genuine cognitive difficulty, possible undiagnosed neurodivergence, severe anxiety, or simply someone who learned that stopping = someone else doing it. That distinction matters for how you approach it, but right now your job is the same either way: document everything and create a formal structure.
Why this matters urgently
You've stumbled into something that previous managers quietly avoided. Senior management almost certainly knows this person is a problem and is watching whether you can move it forward. The way you "win" this isn't necessarily getting him to suddenly perform — it's demonstrating that you followed the right process professionally and thoroughly.
What to do now, practically
First, stop verbal-first communication with him. Everything in writing first, verbal second. This protects you and removes his ability to claim he "didn't know."
Second, you need to have a direct, documented conversation with him — not about the email task, but about his role and performance overall. Something like: "I want to be straightforward with you. I need you to be able to complete tasks independently. I'm going to support you in getting there, but I need to understand what's getting in the way." This opens the door for him to disclose anything relevant (a health condition, personal issues) while also putting him on notice without it being a formal warning yet.
Third, speak to HR now, even just informally. In UK local authorities you're right that dismissal is a long road, but the clock only starts ticking when the formal process begins. The sooner you get HR's guidance on how to frame this — capability process vs. performance management — the better. Frame it to them as "I want to handle this correctly from the start."
Fourth, keep a private log (not on shared drives) of every task set, every interaction, every outcome. Dates, times, what was said. You already have good examples — write them up now while they're fresh.
On the email task specifically
Don't rescue him from it. Go back to him and say: "I need you to send that email today by 3pm. The poster is in [exact location]. The time is [X]. Here is the exact folder path again. If you hit a technical issue, contact IT directly — their number is X. I'll check in at 3pm." Then check at 3pm. If it's not done, that's your first documented failure to complete a task after full support was provided. That's actually useful to you, as uncomfortable as it feels.
The bigger picture
You're not going to transform this man into a high performer, and that's not the goal. The goal is to demonstrate that under your management, expectations are clear, support is provided, and there are consequences when things aren't done. That's what your senior management wants to see. You're doing better than you think — you're two months in and already recognising patterns that others ignored for a decade.
Would it help if I drafted the written message to send him about the email task, or the kind of note you might send HR to start that conversation?
Is Legal Management a bad choice if I have zero plans of going to law school?
I'm a HUMSS student currently considering Legal Management, but I have no plans of going to law school.
I've seen a lot of people say job opportunities are limited, that it's hard to find work related to the degree, and that it's mostly useful as a pre-law course.
For Legal Management graduates:
What job did you end up getting?
Was finding work difficult?
Do employers actually value the degree?
Would you choose it again?
For context, I value financial stability, employability, and work-life balance. I'm also open to other degree recommendations that are relatively safe financially for HUMSS graduates.
I'd appreciate honest answers, especially from graduates already working in the field.
Jobadvisor
It is completely normal to feel anxious when people tell you your target major is "just a stepping stone" or that its job market is limited. When you hear that a course is mostly a pre-law track, it's easy to worry that you are setting yourself up for a dead-end if you don't actually go to law school.
To give you the short answer straight away: No, Legal Management is not a bad choice if you don’t want to go to law school—but it is highly misunderstood.
The degree is essentially a hybrid. It is half a business administration degree and half a foundational law degree. Because it doesn't pigeonhole you into just one category, you have to know exactly how to market it to employers who might look at your resume and think, "Oh, this person is just going to leave us in a year to go to law school."
If you prioritize financial stability, employability, and work-life balance, here is an honest look at how Legal Management works in the real corporate world and where it might fall short.
1. What jobs do LegMa graduates actually get?
Graduates who do not go to law school typically split into two corporate tracks: the Legal/Compliance Track and the Corporate Operations Track. Because corporations must navigate increasingly strict data privacy, labor, and financial laws, they actively hire bachelor's graduates to handle the groundwork.
Track A: Legal Operations & Compliance
Compliance Officer / Regulatory Analyst: You ensure the company follows government regulations (SEC, DTI, DOLE, Data Privacy Act).
This is a booming, highly stable corporate role. Corporate Paralegal / Contract Administrator: Working in-house for multinational companies or tech firms, you review contracts, draft nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), and manage corporate lines.
Offshore Legal Analyst (BPO/KPO): The Knowledge Process Outsourcing sector heavily recruits Philippine LegMa graduates to do legal research, contract review, and patent filings for US, UK, or Australian law firms. These often pay significantly higher than local entry-level jobs.
Track B: Corporate Management & HR
Human Resources (Labor Relations Specialist): LegMa graduates excel here because you already understand labor laws, termination protocols, and employee relations.
Procurement / Purchasing Officer: Managing vendor contracts and corporate supply chains.
2. Do employers value the degree? (The Honest Truth)
Yes, but only if you manage their expectations.
When a corporate HR manager sees "Legal Management," their immediate assumption is often: "This applicant is reviewing for the PhilSAT or waiting for the law school semester to start." If they think you will resign in six months, they will pass on your resume.
To win them over, you have to rewrite the narrative. In your cover letters and interviews, you must explicitly state:
"I chose Legal Management specifically because I wanted a deep corporate compliance and contract background for a long-term career in business operations, not to practice court litigation."
Once employers realize you are there to stay, they love LegMa grads because you can read a 20-page vendor contract or policy guideline without getting confused by the legalese—something a standard business or marketing major might struggle to do.
3. Financial Stability & Work-Life Balance Assessment
Let’s look at your core parameters to see if this degree actually gives you what you want.
| Parameter | The Reality for LegMa Graduates |
| Employability | Moderate to High. You have to compete with Business Ad grads for corporate roles and Political Science grads for government roles. Your edge is your specific knowledge of laws affecting business. |
| Financial Stability | High Potential. Entry-level local salaries can be modest (around ₱20,000–₱30,000/mo), but if you pivot into international BPOs as a remote paralegal or climb to a Corporate Compliance Manager role, salaries scale beautifully (₱70,000 to ₱100,000+/mo). |
| Work-Life Balance | Excellent (compared to law school/law firms). If you work as an in-house corporate compliance officer, you generally enjoy standard 9-to-5 office hours with weekends off. You bypass the brutal 80-hour workweeks that actual lawyers face. |
4. Alternate "Safe" Degrees for HUMSS Students
If you are still on the fence and want alternative routes that guarantee stability and high employability without requiring a STEM background, consider these corporate-friendly options:
BS in Psychology / Industrial-Organizational Psychology: This is the ultimate "safe" corporate track for humanities students. It points you directly toward Human Resources, Recruitment, Training & Development, and Corporate Talent Management across every single industry.
BS / BA in Communication (Specializing in Corporate Comm or PR): Every major company needs brand managers, internal communications specialists, and public relations experts. It is highly employable and offers great upward mobility.
BS in Business Administration (Major in Human Resource Management or Operations): If you like the business aspect of Legal Management more than the law aspect, go straight for Business Administration. It eliminates the "are you going to law school?" bias entirely.
The Verdict
Would graduates choose it again? Those who wanted to be lawyers say yes. Those who didn't want to go to law school but intentionally aimed for corporate compliance and operations also say yes, because it gave them a unique, high-value corporate skill set.
If you genuinely enjoy reading, analyzing rules, and structural thinking, Legal Management is a great tool. Just go into it knowing that your job hunt will require you to market yourself as a business-savvy operations professional, not an aspiring attorney.
How do I tell my boss I'm quitting after only three months?
I just got a new job as an EMT, and now my husband is being deployed. We decided that I should move back in with my parents, as this will save us a fortune on rent. There are a ton of ambulance companies and clinics near where my parents are that could be great opportunities for me as well. A commute from my parents' house could be possible, but it's about 2 hours there and 2 hours back (and not to mention the gas prices right now are crazy, so my paycheck wouldn't even cover that lol). The clinic I am working for now is also not exactly what I wanted to do with my EMT cert anyway, so I planned on using it for experience, then heading out - but I planned to stay there for at least 8 months to 1 year. However, with the circumstances changing, I am planning to quit after 3 months. I feel horrible because everyone has been so nice and welcoming, too. How do I go about telling my boss and leaving on a good note that doesn't have anyone feeling bad?
Jobadvisor
Your situation is completely understandable, and any reasonable manager will get it. Here's a message you can adapt:A few extra tips to leave on the best possible note:
Have this conversation in person first (or by phone), then follow up with a written notice. A face-to-face conversation shows respect and gives your manager a chance to respond before anything is "official."
Don't over-explain or apologize excessively. You have a genuinely compelling reason — military deployment and relocation. You don't owe anyone a lengthy justification, and over-apologizing can actually make things more awkward.
Give as much notice as you can. Two weeks is standard, but if you can offer more, it goes a long way with a team that's been good to you.
Ask for a reference. Three months is short, but if you've done good work, there's no reason not to ask. Your manager will likely respect that you handled your departure professionally.
You have nothing to feel guilty about here — life circumstances changed in a big way. A good manager will understand completely.