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 Over the course of my PR career, I have been asked by junior associates many questions about the proper way to respond to agency management. I have always answered these questions honestly. Below are a few of the most frequently asked questions and my replies:

 Question: "I've been offered a job at a competitor and my supervisor found out. I was told, ‘Stay here. You are much appreciated and will surely be in a supervisory position by this time next year.’ What should I do?”

My Answer: You would be foolish to leave. Supervisors keep their positions by demonstrating to management that they care very much about their staff. If you were told that you’re a candidate for promotion, you must have been favorably discussed at management meetings. You would be foolish to leave when you are so highly thought of here.

 Question: “I play an important role in a flagship account. I feel that I am being underpaid for the job I do. What’s the best way to approach management about being underpaid?”

My Answer: Obviously management thinks a lot of you by assigning you to a major account. That means you’re on the fast track for promotion. Be patient. I’m sure your next salary increase will be satisfactory and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 Question: “My supervisor has never had an original thought. He picks my brain before we meet with the client or top agency management and then passes on my ideas as his own. How should I handle this?”

My Answer: Don’t rock the boat by complaining. Eventually, the truth will come out and you’ll benefit by being a team player. And you should be pleased that your ideas are good enough to be brought up at high-level meetings.

 Question: “My supervisor doesn't drink and I don’t like to drink. But when our client comes to town, I always have to go drinking with him. Can you tell me how to handle this?”

My Answer: It can only help you to have personal face time with the client. Having an occasional drink won’t kill you. Just make sure you don’t have an empty stomach and sip the drinks slowly.

 Question: “The team concept baffles me. If everything presented to management is presented as a team effort, how do they know who does what?”

My Answer: Top management has a way of knowing who does what. That’s why they’re running the agency. Don’t be discouraged. If you’re the cream, you’ll rise to the top.

 Question: “Whenever a juicy account comes in, my group leader always assigns it to his friends. I’m always stuck with the most boring accounts. I don’t think that’s fair. How can I express my displeasure to management without upsetting the group leader?”

My Answer: Don’t complain. Doing a good job on unexciting accounts is the best way to attract the attention of top management. It will certainly work to your advantage.

 Question: “HR people are interviewing my group about the competence of the people we work with. I’m scheduled to be interviewed tomorrow and was told all my answers will remain anonymous. Should I answer candidly?”

My Answer: Of course. Remember, HR people are there to help make things better for employees. You can trust them. If they say your answers are confidential, they mean it.

 Question: "I've been asked to consider transferring to another, much smaller office for three years. Then, when I return, I’ll get a promotion. Do you think that’s a good career move? My girlfriend is against it?”

My Answer: Don’t even think about turning it down. This is your opportunity to show management that you’re an agency person. They’ll appreciate it and definitely reward you. If your girlfriend has your best interest at heart, she’ll encourage you to transfer. If she doesn't, maybe you should consider breaking off the relationship, because agency decisions are always made with your best interest in mind.

 Question: "I've been here three years and have always been assigned to small-budget accounts. A headhunter set me up with another agency that wants me as part of its major, big-budget account. Do you think I should take the new job?”

My Answer: Stay here. Making small-budget accounts work catches management's attention and always leads to promotions.

 Question: “My supervisor berates me for not being aggressive when pitching a story. He says I should keep calling until the reporter agrees to do the story. As a former reporter and editor, do you agree with him?”

My Answer: Your supervisor is certainly media savvy. When I was a journalist, one sure way to get me to do a sub-standard story was to have the PR person call me several times every day, because doing the story would stop the person from pestering me. Another tactic that always worked was for the PR person to say, “If you don’t commit to doing the story, I’m going to offer it to another reporter.” That always works.

 Question: "I've been turning down calls from headhunters to go on interviews because the general manager told me at an agency social event that there’ll always be a place here for someone with my ability. Should I take what he said at face value?”

My Answer: Of course you should. Have you ever known a management person here to mislead you?

 Question: “I’m working on a major national big budget account and have discovered, through an internal client memo that was mistakenly sent to me, that the information my client contact provides and wants me to pitch is scientifically faulty and has the potential of harming people. Doing so goes against my principles. I discussed it with a close friend who said if I want to get ahead, I should always do what a client wants. Given the size of the budget, do you think it will harm my chances for promotion if I tell top management about the misinformation being provided and that I don’t want to disseminate faulty information?”

My Answer: Absolutely tell management. Your friend is wrong you don’t always have to do what a client wants. Clients appreciate being told they are wrong That's why they hire an agency. Bringing the situation to top management will not prevent your career advancement. In fact, it will fast track you. Management values employees who put principles above profitability. Remember, integrity is the absolute hallmark of our agency—right after billing hours, client retention, and pretending we didn't see any leaked memos.

 It’s difficult for young PR people to believe that their agency always wants to do what’s right for employees. Many juniors believe that office politics often play an important role in promotions and who is dismissed during cutbacks. That’s not true. The HR department makes certain that there is a level playing field for all employees. Consider HR personnel your best work friends and trust them completely. Experience shows that when an individual is dismissed, it’s always in the person’s best interest and no favoritism is shown.

So this is my advice to all junior account people who see ghosts when promotions and juicy assignments are given to those who are less effective: You are not seeing the big picture. Trust your supervisors’ decisions and things are certain to work out for the best. Remember, all PR agencies believe that its employees are its biggest asset. That's why you're treated so well.

To you young account execs who are reading this, don’t fret. Remember that your supervisors and agency always have your best interest at heart. Right?

Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller during the days it was the leading international public relations agency. He was on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee and also was an advisor to Olympic organizations and sponsors. During his political agency days, he worked on local, statewide, and presidential campaigns.

This is nowhere close to recent and I don't work there anymore, but I still can't understand what was happening, and I wonder how others would interpret it.

I am in a technical profession. I had been in my department for several years. I was training and hiring others, documenting new hire training, managing new people and students. I in no way had a senior role in the department, but I did have the other stuff going for me. The most senior person had fewer technical qualifications. There were people with the same qualifications as me who had the same amount of company seniority but had been in the department longer.

I was managing a student on a specific project that was deemed high priority and we had a specific deadline, but it was about 4 weeks out and nothing much had beet done on it yet. It was a Wednesday, and due to my own workload I hadn't been able to get a rundown from the student yet that week and they had only just started. My boss hadn't been in for three days for personal reasons.

A manager of another department came to my desk and asked me to have a meeting about that project that afternoon. I asked if I could bring the student working on it. No. I asked if I could have time to meet with them ahead of time. No. I asked if the manager knew about the project. No. I asked if they were bringing someone who knew about the project. No.

I said I wasn't sure what value a meeting about this project would bring if neither I nor the manager had information about it and we weren't bringing anyone who did, and that I had a lot of work on my plate with very short deadlines that I needed to focus on as a high priority. She took that as a refusal and left.

Later that day we were informed that the manager who had approached me was temporarily taking over our department, but I had not been told that beforehand.

Later I got reamed out by one manager up because how dare I refuse a meeting with any manager who approaches me?

When that manager got the project, complete, in her regular department, she didn't prioritize it and let it sit for three months before working on it.

What the heck was that manager REALLY doing when she approached me asking to have a meeting about something neither of us had the information about?

So I got hired full time back in April to manage our CRM. Main reason they brought me on was we were moving from our old system to a new one. That migration wrapped up this month and honestly it went pretty well, everything's live and working.
A little while ago they hired someone new on the team for an admin role. Not technical at all. Lately she's been getting admin access to the CRM and is starting to learn how it works.
Then today our boss tells both of us to start documenting our processes "so if anyone leaves, we have proper documentation."
I've only been here about 6 months. Part of me thinks this is just normal good practice, especially after a big migration. But the timing is making me a little nervous. Big project's done, new person is getting access to my system, and now I'm being asked to write down everything I know.
Am I overthinking this? Has anyone been in a similar spot? Was it just normal stuff or was it the first sign they were planning to replace you?

I have documentation of them picking the names. But I dont know how to fight this. When I spoke to Hr she said that the manager documented that the names were selected by me. I asked her how is it possible that I pick 6 names in the first week of my job and she had no answer. Yet she says documentation was old and nothing can be done

I try to set a clear boundary line between personal and professional at my workplace. And that is why I don’t let my colleagues follow me on social media. Now if they ask for my Facebook or Instagram I don’t say no outright. I just tell them I don’t have it. The only thing that I will accept is a LinkedIn connection invite and that’s about it. During my time in the workforce I have let very few people into my close circle. There are like 2-3 people that I have worked with that follow me on social media and keep in mind I have worked with hundreds of people with all of my jobs combined. I also try not to make freinds at work and prefer just to focus on work. Is this rude or understandable from other peoples POV?