Jonathan Rivett

Melbourne

Owner and Senior Writer at The Age

The Ink Bureau is a writing agency that's precious about words. In a good way. We don’t like it when words are put to waste. So we aim to make ours indelible.

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Articles

I think my colleague is exploiting a work policy. Is my resentment fair?

2 days ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor June 6, 2025 — 5.01am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I work in the medical field and I have a colleague who is claiming long COVID exemptions. They no longer work during certain times. Aside from long COVID, my colleague seems fit and well. This exemption has led to grinding yet unspoken resentment.
My colleague keeps spelling my name wrong. Should I feel insulted?

1 week ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor May 30, 2025 — 5.01am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I have worked in a team for more than a decade, and we get on well. We are friends as well as colleagues. But one of the team regularly misspells my name, and the names of others. I asked them several times – and now each time – to stop doing this, and they think I’m not serious.
Was I wrong to ignore a pushy LinkedIn salesperson?

2 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor May 23, 2025 — 5.13am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. A person contacted me on LinkedIn and said they admired my work and would like to connect. I was happy to oblige, and we had a conversation over chat about the ups and downs of the industry we’re in. Then the tone suddenly shifted, and this person sent me a sales pitch for some software. It was a bit jarring.
Was I wrong to ignore a pushy LinkedIn salesperson?

2 weeks ago | watoday.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

We see the endless digital reams of facile self-help advice. We see the constant, puerile declarations of un-self-aware, supremely confident know-it-alls. We see the absurdly insulting insistence that you can take valuable business lessons out of everything from childhood cancer to a polar bear saving its cub. And yet, we persist.
My colleague talks with their mouth full. Should I raise it with them?

3 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor May 16, 2025 — 5.01am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. My colleague talks with food in their mouth, and it is driving me mad. It constantly happens. I have tried to ignore it, but recently, I had a “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment when I asked this colleague a question as they were having a drink of water.
My company cut our pay rise and gave our bosses more. What can we do?

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor May 9, 2025 — 5.02am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Workers at the company I’m employed at were all “promised” a pay rise. When the pay rise took effect, the increase was lower than we’d been told it would be – without any explanation – and all bonuses were removed entirely.
My company cut our pay rise and gave our bosses more. What can we do?

1 month ago | watoday.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Exponential Interactive, Inc d/b/a VDX.tvCookie duration: 90 (days). Data collected and processed: IP addresses, Device identifiers, Probabilistic identifiers, Browsing and interaction data, Non-precise location data, Users’ profiles, Privacy choicesmoreCookie duration resets each session. View details | Storage details | Privacy policyConsentCookie duration: 365 (days).
My boss publicly criticises me. Am I being managed out of my job?

1 month ago | watoday.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Exponential Interactive, Inc d/b/a VDX.tvCookie duration: 90 (days). Data collected and processed: IP addresses, Device identifiers, Probabilistic identifiers, Browsing and interaction data, Non-precise location data, Users’ profiles, Privacy choicesmoreCookie duration resets each session. View details | Privacy policyConsentCookie duration: 365 (days).
My boss publicly criticises me. Am I being managed out of my job?

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

Careers contributor May 2, 2025 — 5.01am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I have found recently that my manager, who has few people skills, is engaged in a subtle form of bullying: there is constant, daily criticism or micromanagement of everything I do. For example, I am called out in public for doing ‘the wrong thing’. Other colleagues follow the same process, but are not criticised.
My boss publicly criticises me. Am I being managed out of my job?

1 month ago | watoday.com.au | Jonathan Rivett

OpinionMy boss publicly criticises me. Am I being managed out of my job? SaveNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeI have found recently that my manager, who has few people skills, is engaged in a subtle form of bullying: there is constant, daily criticism or micromanagement of everything I do. For example, I am called out in public for doing ‘the wrong thing’. Other colleagues follow the same process, but are not criticised.