Ask a Manager

It’s once again time for short answer Saturday — six short answers to six short questions. Here we go…

Interviewer insisted I was uninterested in the job

A friend got me an interview with his company. It was going well until I met the senior manager; towards the end of the interview, he dismissed one of my questions about the work by saying “I don’t think you’re actually interested in this, I think you just want a job.” I didn’t respond very well, as I sat there in stunned silence while he gave me “job-hunting tips.” Should I have argued back with him? I’m in a field where getting in someone’s face is an acceptable negotiating tactic, but it felt out of place at an interview.

There are three possibilities here: (1) You really were coming across as if you weren’t that interested, and this guy was candid in response; (2) he’s just a jerk, or (3) he wanted to test you to see how you’d react (which is jerky if there was no reason for it but potentially not so jerky if the field really does require the ability to stay cool under hostile questioning, and if you don’t yet have a professional track record proving you can do that). You might be able to get a sense from your friend of which category this guy might fall into.

I don’t think you should have “argued back,” but I do think you should have calmly asked, “What makes you say that?” and then responded calmly to whatever he said.

Interviewing at a company where an employee recently died

An executive of the company I am going to interview at recently passed away.  I will be interviewing with a managing director and an officer and I was wondering if you thought it was a good or bad idea to offer my condolences.  Should I just not mention anything about the passing to ensure I don’t overstep my bounds?  I never met the executive, nor have I met the interviewers (everything has been through a hiring manager thus far).

Absolutely. Don’t go on a long or emotional soliloquy, of course, but do say, “I was so sorry to hear about the loss of ___.”

Can my manager ask if I’m looking for a new job?

Is it ever ok for a manager to ask you if you are looking for a new job during a review? Let alone follow it up with a variation of “so we know if we need to replace you”? This happened at my first review with a company I have work for for three years. This company does try to replace people if they think they are looking for a new job and I am looking. The way it was approached I couldn’t think of saying anything but the truth.

Sure, they’re allowed to ask that. And in fact, if I thought someone was looking, I’d probably ask — no one likes to blindsided by a resignation they didn’t see coming, and I’d want the opportunity to try to keep the person if they were good. But you’re also not obligated to share the truth — and if your company has a pattern of pushing people out once they find out they’re searching, it would be silly to tell them the truth. (And they’re ensuring people will lie to them by operating that way.)

Interviewing my potential new boss

My manager of two years resigned and moved on to a different company a few weeks back. Interviews are being held for internal candidates to find a new manager for our team. I am going to be on one of the interview panels whose focus is to judge the candidate’s chemistry with the team (people who will be reporting to him directly). What are some of the ways I can gauge our chemistry with the new potential manager in a half-hour interview? What specific skills or competencies can I probe that would indicate how well the candidate would gel with our team? Our previous manager was a great manager and consistently received excellent ratings in employee surveys. How can I make sure we pick the right candidate who has the potential to fill the previous manager’s large shoes?

I’d ask: How would you describe yourself as a manager? What kind of feedback have you had from previous people you managed, in terms of what they liked about your style and things that they weren’t huge fans of? (A manager who can’t come up with an answer to this question is someone who’s not at all thoughtful about management; beware.) How would you describe the bar for your team? What kind of work culture are you happiest in? How do you set goals for your team? How do you ensure those goals are met? What’s something you’d like to see us doing differently?

Plus, pay attention to general vibe and energy. Is this someone you can imagine yourself working with?  And remember that you’re looking for someone who can get things done, who can lead others to get things done, who will work to make your lives easier, who will reward great performance and remove low performers, and who is smart, insightful, and not a jerk. But you’re not necessarily looking for someone who you’d want to have a beer with. People often confuse the two.

Am I applying too early?

I am finishing my first year of university and applying for jobs this summer. I was last home in late February, when I applied to jobs at many locations. Most of the people seemed surprised that I was applying so early, but I didn’t know if I would be back and able to hand out resumes again before the summer started. I know that you generally do not recommend following up on job applications, but since I am not looking for a professional job and I initially handed out my resume so early, before people were really thinking about hiring for the summer, I was wondering if you think that I should do some sort of follow-up. I have heard a lot of people who think that it is best to try to speak directly to the manager, but I’m not sure if this would be considered more of a nuisance than a benefit.

It sounds like you’re trying to apply on your timetable rather than theirs, and that’s not going to work. I’d call up these places and ask when you should apply for summer work, and then follow that timeline. It sounds like you’re applying at places that like in-person applications (like retail or food service), but you can always email your resume when you’re back at school, with a note saying that you were there in person in February but realized that was too early for them to be thinking about summer hires … and then, yes, call to follow up (something I’d never recommend with professional jobs but which seems to help with non-professional ones).

Can I list my fellowship value as part of my compensation history?

Can I list the value of my graduate fellowship on my compensation history? I am a National Urban Fellow, which is a nationally competitive and accelerated MPA graduate program. As part of the program, I am placed at an organization to work and learn as I also complete coursework towards my degree. For all intents and purposes, I am an employee for the 9-month mentorship.

I am fast approaching “liberation” from my 14-month program and am on the job hunt. A position that I’m applying for requires a compensation history, which makes me die a little, deep down inside for all those reasons that you’ve blogged about. In addition to further developing my professional and leadership skills, I also expected to upgrade the jobs and salary range that I’d qualify for after the program. I don’t mean to be ungrateful for an opportunity to do good work and get paid (once I land a position), but I also don’t want my pay to be based solely on my past compensation. This is completely selfish, I know, but I’m wondering, can I count the value of my fellowship as “income” on my compensation history? The fellowship pays for my education and provides me a stipend. All together the value of the fellowship is $65,000. My last position paid me $45,000.

It sounds like it might be sketchy or it might be legit, depending on details that aren’t included here. Basically, you don’t want to lie. One option is to just be straightforward about the arrangement, noting the value without claiming it as direct compensation. Anyone have any experience with this?  (Oh, and the place demanding a salary history because they can’t figure out on their own what you’d be worth to them is being stupid.)