being attracted to a work colleague - should it go for it, or is it a no-no?

[nana yaw II]

Well....there is this woman in my section at work who i like.

 

But I hear work flings/relationships are not advisable. is this true? She doesn't work in my department though, even though we are in nearby cubicles. She works in our HR department while I work as an admin assistant in our security department.

 

but i chat with her now and then and make small talk and she seems nice.

 

the points i'm stuck on are these though:

 

- would it seem bad to go out with her, either socially or as more than friends?

- would there be gossip? i know i shouldn't give a damn what others think about me, but it wouldn't look good, would it? in a professional context, at the least.

 

thanks in advance.

[SoulSearch_CO]

I'd be terrified to approach somebody from my HR department for a date after Spookie's threads: 1, 2, and 3. (More because of what the HR professionals in those threads said than what actually happened in Spookie's particular case.) But if you're a gambling man - go for it.

 

I don't think dating somebody in the workplace is all that bad if you work for a larger company. Because if something goes bad, you can generally get transferred away from each other. A small company could be awkward.

[lammie]

It's a no-no for me. I don't mix business with personal, but that's just me. I guess you can't control who you meet so I don't blame you.

 

Heh, have you seen Mad Men?

 

I would check company policies first because there are company rules on these things. People will gossip for sure but you can't control what comes out from people's mouth, so you'll either have to withstand that or keep a tid lid on.

[era]

Been there done that....

 

I don't recommend it. Problem is when the relationship ends you are forced to see that person every day...makes it kinda hard to heal.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Same here: been there, done that.

 

Would I do it again? Yep; in a heartbeat. Would I recommend anyone else do it? Other than the girls I ask out, no. I've been lucky enough to work for companies with pretty cool HR staff/policies. However, that doesn't mean things still won't get messy once the relationship is over.

 

Like Lammie said, you have to be able to deal with the gossip, both during and after the relationship. It's never really bothered me, but I don't get intimidated easily and I don't have upper management aspirations. Being the subject of workplace gossip has a large effect on both.

[nana yaw II]

thanks everybody.