Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Was I wrong to leave before this interview even started?

I recently moved across the country and was applying for jobs in my new place of residence. A company wanted to interview me and I informed them that I was driving across the country and would arrive the day they wanted to interview and asked if we could interview the next week (it was a Friday and they’re closed weekends). They said that that wouldn’t work, so I made the long drive and freshened up in a rest area. I drove to the appointment and it was in a downtown setting, so I paid for parking and went in.

Immediately, I was handed a 12-page application by the receptionist with tests and questions and whatnot (which I hate in general since I had already submitted a resume and cover letter) but I begrudgingly filled it out.

Meanwhile, while I was filling this out, I could hear the interviewer interviewing another applicant for the same position (office door was open). I finished the application and politely waited. I do not bring a phone in and I’m allergic to the material in most watches, so after waiting what I thought was about a half hour, I asked what time it was. It was 45 minutes after our scheduled appointment time, and so I told the receptionist I had to go put more parking money in (I had only put in for an hour past the appointment time, thinking it would be plenty).

When I went outside, I decided that I did not want to interview with the company since I felt that they had made me wait well past the time, had made me fill out an application, and I just didn’t get a good vibe from the interviewer based on the questions and statements she was making to the other candidate. They did call me about 15 minutes afterwards and asked me if I was coming back, but I politely told them I no longer desired the position.

Was that reasonable on their part? The good news is that I have found a position I love that’s challenging, fun and interesting, but I always wondered if I was just being high maintenance or if this is commonplace and standard.

Having to fill out an application even though you already submitted a resume and a cover letter isn’t terribly unusual (although good employers will make it as streamlined as possible or avoid it altogether). But 12 pages is unreasonable. The bigger issue though is keeping you waiting 45 minutes without even an apology, especially when they knew you’d altered your moving plans to be there on the date they asked for.

I don’t think you should have just left without saying anything (although I also don’t blame you for doing that), but you were absolutely reasonable in deciding that you were no longer interested. Ideally you would have told the receptionist that directly, without them needing to call you to find out where you were, but they’re far more in the wrong than you are.

2. Should we re-hire employes who quit and now want to return?

What’s your experience and opinion on rehiring past employees who quit and want to return? Let’s say the typical average employees, no standouts or outliers, who leave for money, but you are aware they had issues with management. Three of us in management have differing opinions. One is willing to rehire them since they will be ahead of the learning curve, one is on the fence and willing to give cursory interviews to see if mindsets have changed, and one does not believe in rehiring.

You should jump to rehire people who were outstanding employees, assuming that you can fix the things that drove them to leave in the first place. These are people who you know do great work, who thought the grass might be greener somewhere else and discovered that it’s not. Those are great people to have on your staff.

But average employees who had issues with management? I’d want to know why you’d want to. First and foremost, you should be striving to hire better-than-average employees (which should always be your goal in hiring; you should never be actively looking to bring on someone middling). Second, if they had issues with management, have the things that frustrated them changed? If not, I’d think that you’re inviting problems on to your staff.

3. HR manager was fired from last employer for major integrity violation

Our human resources manager was recently fired from a federal housing apartment complex for instructing tenants to write rent checks in her name. I do not believe the owners of our company are aware of the HR person’s firing from the complex.

A coworker, currently working at our place of employment, was a tenant under said HR person. Consequently, she has reservations about the HR person’s access to private files. Is there an appropriate way to express that employees are not comfortable with our HR person having access to our personal records such as SSN, bank accounts, etc. because of this recent incident?

Whoa, I would be too.

Your coworker should say this*: “I feel awkward about this, but Jane was recently fired from the apartment complex where I live for instructing people to write out rent checks to her personally. Because of the nature of the offense, I’m uncomfortable with her having access to our social security numbers, banking info, and other personal information.”

* Who they should say it to depends. In a small company, saying it to the owners would be fine. In a larger one, they should go to whoever oversees HR.

4. Psychometric tests in hiring

This afternoon, I completed an online job application to a healthcare organization and within a few hours received an email that I’d need to complete an “online assessment” for my application to be considered. It turned out to be a mix of inane personality-type questions and 3-minute timed logic puzzles. I know you’re not generally a fan, and I definitely am not either. It’s the first time I’ve encountered these “psychometrics” in my 15+ year career, but it seems like they’re increasingly common.

I’m wondering, though, if I were to be called for an interview, would it be out of line to ask what relevance that test has to the position? Or to bring it up at all? Because it was a pretty big time commitment (~45 minutes) and honestly a potential screaming red flag that this is not somewhere I’d fit — but I’d like to know their reasoning. (I work in marketing and communications; hopefully those types of logic puzzles would be pretty low on the list of tasks I’d be expected to excel at!)

Yeah, employers really need to think about (a) how and whether the assessments they’re using relate to the must-have’s for the role, and (b) the fact that they’re sending signals to candidates about what they value most in the role. (After all, if I apply for a senior-level position and you have me take a typing test, I’m going to wonder if I totally misunderstood the needs of the role or whether you’re really, really bad at hiring.)

It would be absolutely reasonable to say something like, “The assessment test you had me complete earlier in the process seemed like a mix of personality questions and logic puzzles. Can you tell me a bit about how you use the results of those assessments in the hiring process and how they relate to the work of the position?

5. How long should expense reimbursement take?

In our office it is not uncommon to not be reimbursed for expenses and mileage for between 3 and 6 months at a time. Is there a time limit on when employees should be reimbursed their expenses?

Three to six months?! That’s beyond awful.

Within two weeks is ideal, and anything longer than four weeks is problematic. You don’t want to be asking employees to float the company money for business expenses, especially if those charges are large ones. If for some reason you can’t reimburse expenses reasonably quickly, you should let people put expenses on a company credit card instead of essentially giving the company an interest-free, short-term loan.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Talking to an employee who’s requesting too much time off and seems disengaged

I have an employee who’s been requesting a lot of time off, especially on weekends. We work in hospitality, and so weekends are a crucial time for us. She’s been with us for a over a year (a very long time in our industry, as we only have one year-round position). In the last month, she’s put in requests for part or all of three weekends off in June, as well as a couple other assorted days and a week and a half chunk of time off in July.

There are two reasons this bugs me – one, it means that if I approve these time off requests, it gets more difficult for me to approve them for anyone else, as we need coverage during those times. Secondly, her work has dropped off significantly and her attitude has become rather negative in the last couple months, so I suspect that the many requests for time off are because ultimately, she doesn’t want to be at work.

As a very small business, we try hard to treat our employees well. We literally cannot afford to give paid time off, so all this leave is unpaid. I rarely do not approve leave requests because I see it as the one perk I can offer people, but if I keep approving her requests, I’ll get into a position where I can’t approve them for anyone else. And, furthermore, I’m starting to think I won’t be able to keep her in the off-season (as we did last year) because her attitude is so poor and she doesn’t seem to want to be there.

I know I need to talk to her. But what do I say? Part of me wants to just give her a head’s up and put her on notice, but she’s very young and I’m not sure she’ll take me seriously. The mother hen in me wants to help her find a new job where she’ll be happier.

Be direct about what you need from her. “Hey, Jane, I want to talk to you about your time off. You’ve been requesting a lot of weekends off, and while I try to approve them when I can, this is starting to make it hard for me to approve time off for other people during the same periods. I can give you the occasional weekend off, but generally your job does require working weekends. Are you able to return to consistently working weekends from now on?”

You should address the other things you’re noticing too: “I’ve noticed you seem less engaged with work recently. I’ve observed (fill in specific behaviors you’ve observed — not just “bad attitude” but specifically what’s she’s doing that’s giving you that impression). What’s going on?” Then listen.

Depending on how both these conversations go, you may need to have a more serious conversation with her, but direct conversation about what you’re seeing and what you need from her is the first step.

2. When your boss is at the next table during your dinner interview

I’ve been curious about something for a while, and when you answered the question about Princess Peach, I thought of a question that I wanted to ask you about Rachel from Friends: In season 10, episode 14 of Friends, The One with Princess Consuela, Rachel has a job interview at a restaurant. When she gets to the restaurant, her current boss is having dinner there at the table right beside Rachel’s. Rachel tells her current boss,”I’m on a date!” and when her potential employer shows up, she tries to carry on the lie:

Potential Employer: Your resume is quite impressive.
Rachel: I don’t know if I’d call my online dating profile a resume.

When the interviewer becomes confused, Rachel tries to hint that her current boss is at the table beside theirs, to no avail. The scene ends, and we find out later that Rachel didn’t get the new job and got fired from her old one for “not being a team player.”

What I’ve always wondered is, what could Rachel possibly have done to salvage this situation?

She could have gotten up from the table, met her interviewer at the front of the restaurant (so not within earshot of her boss), and quietly said, “I have a very awkward situation here — my current boss, who doesn’t know I’m talking with you, is sitting right over there. Would it be possible to go somewhere else so that we can talk openly?”

But Rachel wasn’t ever really a paragon of sound professional judgment (see: hiring Tag, sleeping with Tag).

3. Can we ask employees to pay for coffee if it’s better coffee?

We recently had a test run of the Starbucks Coffee Brewer and would like to keep it. However, it is a bit expensive. We do not have a set number at the time, but we are thinking it will come up to about $1.50 per cup. How do we get the employees to pitch in? What would be a good system? How do we present this idea to them?

We might even go with a system where employees simply swipe their credit card and pay for their coffee that way. The issue here is the employees are used to free coffee, though most of them are not happy with the service we currently have. We would like to provide better coffee, better service, but they would need to pay for their coffee.

Why not explain the options to people and what it would cost to do this, and let them decide if they want it or not? You’re likely to get more support for it if people choose it for themselves.

(The potential downside if that if you have a few people who don’t want it and they’re outvoted, they’re now going to be stuck paying for coffee, which is pretty universally thought of as a perk most offices provide for free. You could always keep a couple of regular coffeepots for people who don’t want to pay and are willing to drink the lower grade coffee.)

4. My office forgot my birthday

I’ve been trying very hard to not let this situation bother me too much, but my coworkers forgot my birthday, and it’s really bumming me out. I wouldn’t expect every workplace to celebrate birthdays, but I’m upset because I work in a small office (8 people) and I know that birthdays are a *thing* here. When someone’s birthday rolls around, they get a card and cake (we even have a spreadsheet on our server with people’s birthday and favourite type of cake listed). Usually during or around the lunch hour, everyone convenes in the meeting room and we all share the cake and chat for a bit.

Last year, my first day on the job was two days after my birthday; so it made sense not to celebrate, as everyone had only just met me. This year, my birthday was on a Sunday, so I thought maybe Monday something would happen. It’s now Tuesday nearing the end of the workday, and I think I’ve been forgotten. I want to be professional about this, so I’m definitely not saying anything about it—nothing will be gained by mentioning it. However, it hurts to be forgotten (especially in such a small office). Should it have been my responsibility last week to mention my birthday in passing? I guess I’m just really asking if it’s OK to feel a bit slighted, or if I’m putting too much into this.

Of course you feel a little slighted when everyone else is remembered and celebrated; it’s normal to feel a little overlooked. But it’s far more likely that it was the result of some administrative oversight (like someone forgot to put your birthday on the calendar when you were first hired) than an intentional decision.

Why not bring in cupcakes tomorrow and make a joke about how you got stuck celebrating your own birthday? (It has to sound truly good-natured though!)

5. Putting nanny experience on a resume

I graduated from college two years ago with a BS in Journalism (advertising). After graduation, I worked at an oil and gas company for a year before moving out of state. I constantly searched for a job before I moved, but rarely got so much as a rejection email back from companies. It was beyond discouraging. I have a few friends who had taken on nanny jobs after moving to a new state, so I decided that was an option worth looking into.

It didn’t take long before I found a great family and I have been working for them since August. While I love this family very much, I am also very ready to get back in the job market. However, I’m struggling again. I really only have one year of office experience post-college, and I have no idea how to make my nanny duties marketable on my resume. I highly doubt anybody is interested in my ability to change a dirty diaper or coax a 3-year-old out of a tempter tantrum (l still can’t do the latter, let’s be real). How can I professionally explain my duties while remaining relevant to jobs I’m seeking (admin, entry level, etc.)?

Think about what you’ve done that uses skills that would be relevant to an employer. You’re right that changing diapers won’t be transferable, but what about managing a family’s busy schedule, handing sensitive situations with diplomacy, problem solving, and bringing calm and order to chaos? You’ll need to expand on those — talking specifically about what you did that demonstrates those or other skills, but look at it as demonstrating to an employer that you have the sorts of personal traits that are highly useful in loads of entry-level jobs.

And, of course, write a great cover letter.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. I’m trying to resign but it’s not working

I started an internship at a start-up company in November, and now that Ive graduated college I’m ready to move on. The thing is, my boss is making it literally impossible for me to leave! She mentioned maybe offering me a full-time position, but no details were involved, so I stuck around until I got an offer. I was made an offer and I came back after the weekend and said I couldn’t afford it and that I had to decline the offer.

This week: Boss comes in to my office and tells me: “I talked to (other boss) and that offer is the best we could do. You’ll earn that until you find another job or we hire someone to replace you. Then you can put your 2 weeks in, okay?” Walks out.

I ALREADY declined this offer the previous week! What should I do now? Is a straightforward email with a two weeks notice acceptable in this circumstance? Am I in the wrong?

They aren’t making it impossible for you to leave — you just need to be clearer that you’re putting in your notice. It doesn’t sound like you’ve done that; you turned down their offer, yes, but you didn’t tell them that you’d be leaving.

Go meet with your boss and give her two weeks notice in person. Don’t do this over email; it’s a face-to-face conversation.

If she pushes you to stay until they hire a replacement, it’s fine to simply say, “I actually do need my last day to be in two weeks; I’ve made other commitments for after that that I need to keep.” (Or if the reason you’re leaving is the pay, you can also say, “I’m not able to keep working at this rate, so I do need to wrap up in two weeks.”)

2. My client is deducting fees if we want to get paid quickly

Part of your answer to this question (“can we delay payroll if someone isn’t turning in their hours on time?”) made me have a question of my own. Earlier this year, a company I freelance for moved their payroll department to India. It was inconvenient for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is it started taking about 3 months for them to pay me for a project, and that was usually at much persistence.

The communication hasn’t been great, but I finally “get” their new policy. We submit invoices through an online system and the default timeline to get paid is 60 days. I felt really hesitant when I saw that because I don’t trust them to pay me on time anymore, so I’d really rather not wait 60 days. So I saw that actually you can get your payment quicker if you deduct a fee (I’m serious). For instance, for a certain percentage rate off your base pay, you can get paid in 30 days or 10 days instead.

I changed my last invoice to 10 days, taking the fine because I wanted to test the system and make sure it works. They did pay me, but they took 20 days, not 10. (And this is by direct deposit, by the way, so there shouldn’t be much variation.) I think that’s really unfair, needless to say. But is this even legal? I looked at the laws in the original state that they were paying us from and it sounds like deducting wages like that was strictly forbidden, but I’m guessing it’s not now that they’re paying us from another country? I’m just curious on your opinion and what you would do if you were me (particularly about this thing where they took twice as long to pay me as I requested). Do I have any grounds to put my foot down?

I know some people will be like “drop this client” and maybe that’s fair, but to put it in perspective they give me a steady, ongoing amount of work, which is important as a freelancer and pay at or above the industry standard. I’m reluctant to sever the relationship, but this is making it difficult to live (since I can’t trust them to pay on time anymore). It’s enough of a burden that I’ve started interviewing for work as my freelance lifestyle has become unsustainable. But in the interim, I have to take this work, so I want to do whatever I can to relieve these problems.

The relevant laws on wages are the ones for the state in which you’re working, so it doesn’t matter that this company’s payroll is being handled in India. However, wage laws — including how quickly people need to be paid — refer to employees, not to contractors. Since you’re a contractor, it’s a whole different set-up for you. There are no laws requiring that contractors be paid within a certain amount of time; it’s governed only by what’s in your contract. Ideally you’d have a contract with clear payment deadlines and late fees. (The enforcement mechanism for this is taking the client to court if they don’t abide by the contract, so it’s not quite as easy in that regard as it is for employees either; employees have state labor departments who they can go to if they’re not getting paid.)

3. An upcoming lease renewal is complicating my job search timeline

I recently went through two rounds of interviews at a small company for a job that I very much want. At the last interview, I was told that I was one of the top candidates. We did not discuss their timeline for following up.

This new job is in a different city. My lease ends in a month, and I need to know soon whether to renew. My landlord will not allow me to do a month-to-month. (I live in a city with a very renter-unfriendly market). It has been a week since the last interview, and I have not heard anything. Would it be appropriate to follow up to explain my housing situation, and if so, when?

It’s fine to send them an email saying something like, “Thanks so much for meeting with me last week. I remain really interested in the position and wondered if you could give me a sense of your timeline from here. I’m excited by the prospect of moving to Dallas for the job, but am about to have to decide whether or not to renew a lease here in Boston; while I of course don’t expect you to alter your timeline to accommodate that, I’d be grateful to get a sense of when I might hear from you about next steps.”

That said, absent an actual offer from them, I’d proceed however you’d proceed if you knew you weren’t getting an offer. You don’t want to mess up your housing situation and end up with no job from them.

4. How do I tell my boss I want to apply for a promotion?

I have been working on my (small) team for 4 years, and though I like the work, I’ve been eager to look for a stretch position in management (not my current job). My team opened one, and I’d really like to apply for it because I like my work and my team very much, and I’d love to grow with them (rather than need to go elsewhere for growth).

I’m currently in the position of teapot manager, and the position open is a new position that would supervise me and report to my boss. In looking at the job description, it’s a reach position for me in terms of years of experience and some types of skills. I do think I’d bring great strengths to the role, but I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I didn’t get it. I’d be happy to keep working in my current role if the person who came in as teapot deputy is someone who really brought unique strengths to the position.

How do I tell my boss I’d like to apply? I don’t want to ask her permission, because I’d regret not applying at all, but I respect her and value her opinion, so I’d like to apply with her blessing without sounding cheesy. Also, is this going to make my boss nervous that I’m trying to leave? I’m not really urgently trying to leave, but in the next year or so certainly I will be looking for growth opportunities my current role can’t give me.

It’s not really about asking permission, but it’s about asking for her advice. Tell her your goals for your next steps professionally and that you think this job could be the right next move for you, and ask what she thinks. For example: “I’m really interested in moving into a ___ role, and I’m thinking about the deputy role that has opened up on our team. I know I don’t have all the qualifications on paper, but I think I could be great at it because of XYZ. I wanted to get your thoughts before I formally apply.”

That said, don’t apply for this just because it’s the management role right in front of you if it’s not actually the right fit. Being somewhat of a stretch is good; being a true reach probably isn’t, because you want a role that you’ll excel in. (That’s especially true when you’ll be managing others, since having the wrong person in a management can have a really negative impact on other people’s own jobs and quality of life.) Be honest with yourself about how strong a match you really are and how quickly you’d grow into the pieces that you’re not currently strong in.

As for whether it will make your boss nervous that you want to leave: It’ll certainly let her know that you have aspirations beyond what you’re doing currently, but that’s not unusual or particularly problematic. A good boss will want to know that and will want to help you get experience that will help you move in that direction, if it’s at all feasible in your current role.

5. Do I have to be paid if I’m sent home right after coming to work?

If an employer schedules an employee to work but when the employee arrives the manager tells them they aren’t really needed, does the employer have to pay them for a certain number of hours?

It depends on your state. Some states do have a minimum number of hours you must be paid for if you show up, called “reporting time pay.” To find out if your state does, google the name of your state and “reporting time pay.”

There’s also a state by state listing here, but I can’t vouch for how accurate or up-to-date it is.