Greg Giangrande

Greg Giangrande

Jobs

A career coach gave me bad advice — can I sue?

I worked with a career coach who gave me guidance about asking for a raise and promotion. It was bad advice, and I was fired. Can I sue the coaching firm?

Wow — that must have been spectacularly bad advice. What did you do, threaten the boss? Pretend you had another offer to get a counter? Blackmail the boss? Any of those typical best practices?

I can’t imagine what the advice is that got you fired, but I think you would be hard-pressed to prevail, particularly because if the advice was egregious, it reflects poorly on you for following it. Even the worst career coaches aren’t that bad, so it sounds like there was a serious disconnect between you and the company about your level of performance.

Ask for clarity from your employer as to why you lost your job so that you can learn from it.

I need advice for my daughter, who is a recent master’s graduate in marketing. She’s interested in pursuing a career with Norwegian Cruise Line, specifically on one of their ships, since it has the same name as her. What and how do you suggest she get in touch with the right person to communicate her interest in wanting to work for that specific ship? And suggestions on how she should compose an email to them to get her exact point across?

A big cruise ship overtaken by a speedboat in Oslo fjord. Oslo, Norway, August 2018
While the desire to help your child secure their dream job, sometimes it’s best to let them steer their own ship. Getty Images

Hi, mom. I get it. I have children, and we desperately want to help them. Sometimes, our desire to help actually hurts them despite our best intentions. It would have been better for you to steer your daughter in my direction, so she could ask for my advice directly. Just don’t reach out to an employer on your daughter’s behalf. She shouldn’t communicate her interest in working on a specific ship — particularly if only for the reason that she and the ship have the same name.

She should apply to jobs within the company that she’s qualified for and explain what it is about the company and cruise industry that appeals to her (other than her name). Once she’s inside and proven herself, then she can explore transferring based on the company’s internal policy.

Gregory Giangrande has over 25 years of experience as a chief human resources executive. Hear Greg Wed. at 9:35 a.m. on iHeartRadio 710 WOR with Len Berman and Michael Riedel. Email: GoToGreg@NYPost.com. Follow: GoToGreg.com and on Twitter: @GregGiangrande