It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Are patterned stockings unprofessional? I am at my first professional job after college and have been in this position for about a year and a half. Today when I walked in the lunch room to get some hot water for tea, I heard a guy say “ohhhh, sexy stockings” as I walked through the door he was facing. I’ve never seen him before, but we’re a corporate office and regularly have field employees visiting, so I think that’s who he was. At first I thought I had misheard him, but the table he was at burst out laughing.

A reader writes: I was hired at a company in January to build a department that provides support internally to other departments. This role is new and meant to provide support so that other departments can focus on higher level work. I was expected to expand to three direct reports by December, but right now I only have one direct report, Mary. Mary was the company receptionist for two years, and I barely interacted with her before I interviewed her. There was a lot of pressure to hire her, since the company culture focuses on upward movement for employees. Should I let Mary go? Fire Mary.