... the aftermath of an office party. Every month Amaya Lopez provides us with a list of tips on how to survive perils at work on www.building4jobs.co.uk. Here’s the latest edition



Oh my goodness, this looks rather like last week’s Building bash ...

It’s January and you’re still losing sleep over the way you behaved at the Christmas party. Now you have to continue facing your colleagues while they reminisce about the many ways you made a muppet of yourself. Here’s how to regain your dignity ...

Find out what you did

How drunk were you and whom did you snog? If you have a trusted friend who witnessed events, take them for a drink and threaten them until they tell you everything.

Denial or ignorance?

So for years you fancied Terry/June from accounts and never had the guts to speak to them. Now everyone knows they spent the party trying to avoid your amorous advances. You can either deny everything when it comes up or pretend it never happened. The latter’s best, as people will get bored of getting no reaction. Just remember – unrequited love is a bitter pill, but one that must be swallowed.

Attack is the best means of defence If you can’t remember what happened to anyone else at the party, then make it up. A salacious piece of gossip about a nonentity in the company will soon take over from what anyone is saying about you.

My dancing made everyone cringe

Get some evening classes in salsa, ballroom and tango and you’ll wow even the company directors next year.

I slagged off the people I work with

You could eat humble pie and apologise but this doesn’t mean they’ll forgive or forget. You’ll probably just have to be super smarmy.

Will my behaviour damage my career?

How can I put this gently? Don’t scour the sales for next year’s party outfit – buy an interview suit instead.