Ask a Manager

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

1. Employer wants me to pay apply for a job

I recently learned of an internship position at a nonprofit organization that I think would be a great opportunity for me. I started applying through a third-party website, but I quickly ran into a roadblock when I was instructed to pay a $25 fee in order to submit my application. Even though I have no doubt that the posting is legit, I have serious reservations about paying an application fee for a job.

I’m not sure how to proceed. At this point, I’m considering dropping it all together. I’ve also considered contacting the person at the organization in charge of this internship. If I decide to go the second route, I’m having some difficulty with how to word that email. I’m curious to know your thoughts.

You absolutely should not have to pay to apply for a job. But did they say what the fee is supposed to cover? If it’s for a background check — as opposed to getting your application looked at — that’s a thing that sometimes happens. (I don’t love it; I think it’s a cost of doing business that the employer should cover, but it’s not unheard of.) But if this isn’t about the background check and is really just to apply, no, that’s totally ridiculous and not okay.

2. How can I get rid of some of my work?

I was hired to help with a specific job function, but my first day I was handed a bunch of extra duties. These are thankless administrative tasks. I would like to talk to my boss about not having these duties on my plate for much longer. In a recent conversation, he agreed that I should be working primarily on the job that I was hired for, but there wasn’t any follow-up as to whether those other duties would be given to someone else. How can I bring up that I don’t want to do these job functions with being whiny or looking like I don’t want to be a team player?

“You mentioned recently that you agreed I should be working primarily on X and Y and not getting so pulled into administrative work. Is this something we can work to change? I’d love to talk with you about how feasible that is and what we’d need to do to make that happen.”

3. I saw coworkers smoking pot at work

I’m a manager and witnessed two guys under another manager smoking pot, as I was driving into work. They were on work property, and it was during work hours.

While not being judgemental on a personal level, I am not sure as to my fiduciary duty to my employer on whether or not to report this. I feel compelled to report them but have to work with them, and know they will not get fired. I’d just as soon shut my mouth. Thoughts?

I’m as pro-privacy and as anti-Prohibition as they come, but what you do on work property during work hours is your employer’s business. And as a manager yourself, you have a higher level of obligation than if you weren’t.

So. Is there a safety issue? Would you report them if it were alcohol? Would you want to know if they’d been your own employees? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then yeah, you do need to tell their manager what you saw. (You can ask them to leave your name out of it if at all possible, since you need to work with these guys.) If the answer to all three questions is no, then I’m not going to tell you that you’re obligated to take this on.

4. My coworkers won’t stop commenting on my weight loss

About 10 months ago, I decided to lose the weight I had put on after my last marathon. It was keeping me from being my best and feeling good about myself. I took off about 70 pounds and now am at a healthy weight for my height. The problem is the rudeness I am getting from coworkers. I have had comments ranging from “you’re too thin” from my boss of all people, to “put on some weight” from another coworker. I am 5’2 and 125, NOT underweight. I am muscular and have low body fat, so I do appear lighter than this (I wear a size 0) but I am in proportion. I do not wish to discuss my weight, my body or have constant intrusive questions as to what I am eating at lunch. I am an athlete, and my standards of fitness and weight are not the same as an ordinary person. Yes, this does happen. Almost daily.

I am uncomfortable with this and at the point of going to HR, especially with my boss’s comments. How do I proceed?

“I don’t want to discuss my weight, thanks.”

“Let’s not talk about my body.”

“My body’s not up for discussion, thanks.”

Because our society is so weird about weight, lots of people think that talking about how thin you are is borderline-complimentary, or at least neutral, unlike talking about how fat someone is. So it’s likely that they genuinely don’t realize that they’re putting you off (clueless as that may seem). Clearly let them know them know that the comments aren’t welcome, and they’ll probably stop. If they don’t, you can escalate (“Hey Jane, I’ve asked you to stop commenting on my body and you haven’t stopped; you’re making me uncomfortable”) but try the lines above first.

5. Can I put work on my resume that I can’t verify?

What should you do if you have valuable work experience that can’t be proven? For two years after high school, I worked in a local copy/print store. Unlike a typical copy place, though, we also ended up doing a lot of design work as well, making things like fliers, pamphlets, and business cards for local businesses. While I was there, I picked up a lot of skills relevant to the line of work I’m hoping to enter-graphic design, copywriting, editing, desktop publishing, etc., and it’s also the only real office experience I have (a bad job market and family emergencies have left me working freelance since college.)

Until recently, I’ve been keeping it off my resume because, at this point, there’s no way to verify it. Not long after I transferred schools, the place went out of business and the manager I worked under has disappeared (I heard a rumor she moved out of state.) However, as my job hunt drags on, I’m realizing I need all the help I can get, and I’m considering putting it back on. Without anybody to back me up and prove I’m not simply making it up, should I add it back on, or would it be more trouble that it’s worth?

There’s no requirement that every detail on your resume be verifiable — and it would be odd for employers to try to verify every single detail. They’ll verify the stuff they care about most, but the fact that you can’t prove that you did design work at this job is no reason not to talk about the fact that you did. It’s true, and it’s relevant. If someone wants to talk to the shop, you can explain they’re out of business (which is not exactly unheard of with employers), and you can offer to demonstrate your design skills in other ways. (In fact, if you’re applying for design jobs, you should have a portfolio displaying your work anyway — and they’re far more likely to focus there anyway.)

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

1. Reaching out to an employer multiple times after applying

I recently applied for a position at a product design firm and I felt and still feel that it is a great fit for me. After a couple of days, I found that the hiring manager is also on LinkedIn. He listed his email on his page and I sent him an email stating that I had applied for the said role and that I am really interested in speaking to him. That was last week.

I still haven’t got any response from the team, so I emailed the support email for the company. The person responsible told me that my application was indeed received and that I would hear back from the team should there be mutual interest. I’m getting pretty impatient that it’s close to 2 weeks and I haven’t heard back. Should I send a LinkedIn email to the hiring manager to re-iterate my interest in the position? Is that too pushy?

Should I just stay put? I know you’ve told us to move on the second that the application has been sent but I really want this position and it’s driving me nuts!

Whoa, no, do not continue to email them. You have expressed your interest — three separate times. That’s two more than you should have. They know you’re interested, and now the ball is in the court, and they’ll move on their own timeline, which might be very, very slow. They might not contact you at all. But you’ve done your part, and now it’s up to them to decide if they want to talk further with you.

If you reach back out, you risk being an annoyance and getting rejected simply for being too pushy. Being driven nuts by the wait is not a reason to do things that will sabotage your chances. Move on, move on, move on.

2. Am I not getting interviews because I ended my last job on bad terms?

My last employer and I did not end on good terms, and there is a very long story behind it. Ever since I resigned, I haven’t gotten an interview with any of the jobs I’ve applied to. I was wondering, could my past employer be telling people not to hire me? Or do I just have bad luck when it comes to job applications?

Are you in a tiny field where people talk? If so, it’s possible. But otherwise, I would strongly doubt it. It’s rare for employers to contact references before even interviewing a candidate, so it’s more likely that it’s not about that at all. (It could be about the quality of your cover letter and application, or your experience, or that you haven’t sent many applications compared to what you generally need to in today’s market, or that there’s just a lot of competition out there.)

3. When should I tell employers that I need visa sponsorship?

When is the appropriate time and method for an applicant to mention that they will need a work visa sponsorship to a prospective employer?

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that (1) the job posting and the careers section of the employer’s website do not mention anywhere that US citizenship or permanent residency is required of applicants, and (2) applicant is currently legally employed with a well-recognized US employer and has a US-based address, so it is not immediately obvious in the resume (but applicant is neither a US citizen or permanent resident.)

On the one hand, I would hate to plant a pre-conceived bias against my application that could get it screened out pre-interview. But on the other hand, waiting right up until the offer stage might seem like important information was being withheld.

It’s not like this issue has any meaningful bearing on an applicant’s ability to perform the job role, so I would hope that to a good employer, it doesn’t matter, but it is dependent on an organization’s legal and administrative capacity (they may not have anyone who can help with visas), and there may be a cost involved. Any thoughts as a hiring manager?

You should mention it up-front, on your resume. (One way to do it is to write something like “Current U.S. Visa status: would need sponsorship.”) Not every employer is willing to do the work of sponsorship or take on its costs; smaller employers and employers in fields where it’s not common usually won’t want to do it.

If an employer is set up to do it, it’ll seem normal to them to see it on your resume, and if they’re not, it’s useful (and considerate) to alert them to your status ahead of time so that they don’t start the ball rolling with you only for you both to discover later in the process that there’s an obstacle that they’re not willing to take on.

4. My company said we were closed July 3 and now says that we aren’t

My company has had July 3rd and 4th marked on our company calendars as “closed” all year long. Many of us made vacation plans accordingly. They informed us today that marking Friday, July 3rd as a company holiday was a “mistake” and we’re really only closed on Saturday, July 4th. Is this illegal, or just lousy management practice?

It’s legal. But it’s really crappy, since obviously people had made plans based on what they were told. The company should eat this one and either close that day or give people an additional day of vacation time this year to use that day (or another time, if they hadn’t already made plans for that day, in order to be fair across the board).

5. My contract requires four weeks notice — do I have to give it?

I am required by my contract to give four weeks notice. A potential new job is pressuring me to give less (2 weeks). Legally, can I leave giving less than 2 weeks? I realize that it may say something about the new employer if they’re really pressuring me in this way, but I am wondering what if anything my current employer can do legally.

It depends on exactly what your contract says. When you have a contract, all your answers are in there. But whatever it it says, you can probably try to negotiate with your employer to release you early — or negotiate with the new employer to cover any losses you incur if you break the contract.

However, are you sure it’s a contract and not just a line in the employee handbook that says that they want four weeks? If it’s that, that’s not legally enforceable. (Most U.S. workers don’t have employment contracts.)

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

1. I didn’t get the job, but my interviewer keeps endorsing me on LinkedIn

Last fall I interviewed for an amazing job for a large, reputable company. My interviewer, “Stanley,” is well known in this industry and although I don’t know him personally, a few of my colleagues know him well and his daughter was actually a client of the agency I worked at a few years ago. So Stanley is legit.

The interview went well and Stanley said he would follow up with an answer either way. He never did — I assumed they went with a better qualified candidate and got over it. He did connect with me on LinkedIn prior to the interview, which I thought was great – a new contact!

Flash forward several months and I start receiving notifications on LinkedIn that Stanley has endorsed me for a particular skill. I thought – okay, that’s odd considering Stanley and I have only ever met in person once and although he has my resume, he has no way to know of my ability of strategic planning – unless I astonished him 7 months ago during our interview, but that seems unlikely. But since then, he has endorsed 3 or 4 more skills. I know it’s a benefit to me to have recommendations of skills and proficiencies but I think it’s a bit strange. I think it would be weird to reach out to him about it – maybe I should take it as a positive that he’s keeping me in the back of his mind for a possible job in the future (who knows!).

What’s your take on this? Is this a common thing among professionals or is it likely he’s just getting prompted on his LinkedIn page and clicking yes – which causes me to rethink how legitimate endorsements are for individuals?

It’s pretty weird, but yeah, he’s probably just getting prompted on his LinkedIn page. He’s almost certainly not deliberately going to your profile on his own and then thinking of skills he can add for you; he’s just getting nudges and suggestions from LinkedIn, and he’s merrily (and weirdly) playing along.

But you should indeed rethink endorsements! They carry no weight at all, because of exactly this kind of thing. You can actually turn them off on your profile so that they don’t display at all.

2. Employer invited me to interview but won’t give me the job description

I’m just starting a job search after relocating and having a baby. I have been applying to various positions in my new area. In a lot of cases, mostly local jobs with smaller organizations, the postings are anonymous, the “local nonprofit looking for admin” type of thing. I have been tracking my applications on a spreadsheet with links to postings for future reference, and to avoid situations like this.

I got a call that basically said, “Hi, this is Jane from xyz organization. I would like to schedule your interview with Molly.”

I was confused and didn’t recognize the organization and asked for further details. All I was told was that I applied to a position and they want to bring me in. I arranged a time and asked that a confirmation email be sent including a job description, figuring I could study up before the meeting. The email I got just confirmed the time and address. I replied saying that the original posting must have been made confidential and again asked for a description. The response was that she was only responsible for setting appointments and did not have a description. I can’t figure out what job this is and am hesitant to go into an interview basically blind. I’ve included the conversation incase you want to take a look.

My gut is telling me that if the interview process is this messy, this is not a place I want to work. But I don’t want to come off as a flake for not knowing what job I applied to. So should I just cancel the interview? Say that since I don’t have many details on the job, I don’t feel comfortable going in without a description and if that can’t be provided then I will pass on the job?

It sounds like you’re dealing with an inept, apathetic assistant, but that doesn’t mean that the organization is this messy. For all we know, this person is about to be fired tomorrow for exactly this kind of thing.

I’d write back and say, “Could you check with the hiring manager for the job description and forward it to me? I’d rather not interview without knowing what the role is. Alternately, if you can connect me with her, I’d be glad to ask for it directly. Thanks!”

If she still doesn’t provide it, at that point I’d decide whether you feel like going ahead with it anyway; it’s certainly reasonable to choose not to, but you also might figure you’ve got nothing to lose by seeing what comes of it (other than your time, which does count).

Going forward, don’t just save links to job postings; save the full posting, for exactly this kind of reason.

3. Should I apply for an important job, knowing that I’m trying to conceive?

I have been at my current position as a fundraiser at an arts nonprofit for almost a year. I have several years of fundraising experience (as well as in other areas of the arts) and I have been working toward an ED position. My ED left in December, and we currently have an interim ED. The organization will be opening up the ED search in July, and I have been encouraged by several people outside of the organization to apply. I feel that I would be more than capable – even excel – in this position, but I am facing an internal struggle.

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for eight months, and after some challenging news, are exploring options with a fertility specialist. I may have a long road ahead of me with this, and then if I do become pregnant, I will take my three month unpaid leave. However, I feel conflicted if I should apply (yes, I know it doesn’t mean I’ll get the job) knowing that there may be an extended period of leave (hopefully) in the next year or so. The organization really needs stability, and having the new ED gone for a few months really doesn’t sit right with me. What are your thoughts?

A few months is nothing in the scheme of things, when it comes to having the right ED in place. Nothing at all! I mean, it’s not ideal, but it’s such an important role that no sane organization would rather hire someone who’s not the best candidate just to avoid the best candidate’s few month of maternity leave.

Apply.

4. Someone at work threw away my shoes

I work as a server for a widely known corporate food chain. Last night, a friend of mine dropped off my shoes that I had previously worn a time out. And today an employee threw my shoes away and only one was recovered. $150 shoes that I had only worn once. My manager’s response was, “You should know not to leave your stuff here.” Are they responsible for this? Please help!

No, they’re not responsible for your shoes. Your manager should have been nicer about how she explained that to you though. There’s a difference between “You should know not to leave your stuff here!” and “Oh no! I would hate to lose shoes too. We can’t be responsible for items people leave here because there are just too many people coming through, but that really sucks and I’m sorry it happened.”

5. I no-showed for an interview and now want another chance

I’ve been on a mad job search. I got an interview with a company that I wasn’t sure I wanted to work for. On the day of the interview, I psyched myself out and somehow convinced myself that I could find a better job somewhere else. So I didn’t go, and didn’t call or email. It’s four days later now, and I’m feeling pretty regretful and really wishing I went to the interview. Would it be totally out of the question to call and apologize and ask for another interview?

Yes. You no-showed for an interview. Unless you were legitimately in the hospital in a condition that left you unable to phone or email, that’s going to permanently torpedo your chances with that company. And rightly so — it came across as inconsiderate and rude (you wasted their time, and took an interview slot from someone else who might have really wanted one), or incredibly disorganized, or both.

Look, people make mistakes and do things they later regret. All of us do. But you’ve got to take the consequences — which in this case mean that this bridge is burned.