Ask a Manager

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

1. Can I stay in my boyfriend’s hotel room during his team-building trip?

My boyfriend has a team-building trip coming up where they provide him with a hotel room for four days. He wants me to stay with him in the hotel room. Would his boss care if I stayed in the hotel room while my boyfriend was out training?

This isn’t a trip you should go on. If it were a regular business trip, where he was traveling to do work at a client site or something like that, it might be fine to do. But this is a team-building trip, which means that there are probably going to be activities in the evening and the whole point in him being there is to bond with his coworkers. Taking someone else along is going to look tone-deaf and inappropriate and will probably harm his standing with his manager and maybe the rest of his team.

The exception to this is if he’s absolutely sure that there are no activities in the evening and that he won’t be expected to be hanging out with coworkers then. That would be unusual for a team-building trip though, so he’d want to be 100% positive that it was the case.

2. I picked my own goals for the year and didn’t meet them

My boss was on medical leave at the beginning of last year and then did not return. I was never given specific goals. At my mid-year review, my new boss ask me to set goals. I chose some that I felt were reasonable. However, as it turned out, my client volume tripled and I severely underestimated the impact of a new software upgrade. I did my best to salvage the objectives, but they are going to appear last-minute and weak. I have the sinking feeling that he is going to point out the obvious, that it was I who picked these goals. What is done is done. But looking forward, what can you advise people when asked to set their own goals? I want to avoid trying my own noose next year.

Well, the problem here isn’t that you picked your own goals. It’s that when it became clear that you weren’t going to meet them — for reasons that might be quite legitimate — you didn’t speak up to your manager at that point. If goals are going to be real — something that really shapes your work and defines success in your job — you can’t wait until the end of the year to think about them; they need to be a core part of what you’re doing throughout the year. If circumstances change to the point that the goals no longer make sense, then you need to bring that up proactively to figure out how to adjust them. Or even if they end up not being adjusted, you want to make sure that your boss is in the loop about the fact that you’re proceeding differently. Because you didn’t do that, your boss might have reasonably been assuming that the last plan you two discussed — those goals you created — was still in effect.

So the lesson for the future is: Keep your boss in the loop when there are major changes to what you’ll be accomplishing in a given period.

3. The person I referred for a job has alienated his whole team

I recently referred an associate to join my team at work. It is a small team located at HQ for our organization – with that said, news….gossip travels fast. I didn’t know the associate really well; he happened to take a training class I attended and was very engaging, and I felt an immediate fit/gut feel that we needed him on our team. He was not trying to “schmooze” for a job, because I never mentioned we were looking during the class.

Now, after 90 days, the associate has alienated the entire team; he’s very critical, pissed off several, threw several team members under the bus, etc. Needless to say, the team doesn’t trust him, there’s subtle exclusion from emails/meetings, and he is truly feeling the effects of his wrath. He now has feelings of guilt and wants to make it right – but to some degree it appears to be too late.

What do you think? Is there any hope for him to “win friends and influence others”? What, if anything, more can I do? I tried to offer guidance upfront but it just didn’t work. Are there potentially other underlying issues going on? Is there a silver lining or tunnel light? Please help.

I don’t know. It’s possible that he could execute a major turnaround, but I think that’s going to be up to him and whatever caused him to behave that way to begin with. I don’t think you should get more invested in trying to fix it; it’s really his to handle, and you’re in danger of being overly involved already.

I would take it as a lesson not to recommend people whose work you don’t know first-hand; it’s just too easy to get the wrong impression about someone when you only know them or their work superficially. I’d also acknowledge to the people involved that you misjudged his fit; everyone makes mistakes, but if you appear not to recognize yours here, that won’t reflect terribly well on you.

4. How important is font style and size in a cover letter?

How important is font style, size, and uniformity in a cover letter or resume? I found an example of a good cover letter on another website but noticed it had four different font styles and sizes, including some bolding. I actually found it distracting to read, so I’m wondering your thoughts.

Ick, yeah, that’s not a good idea. A small amount of bolding — fine. But a jumble of fonts styles and sizes will make it look like an obnoxious marketing flyer, rather than a serious business letter. You want hiring managers to view you as a prospective colleague — and you don’t write to colleagues that way. Stick with one font and font size, and rely on the content of your letter to stand out, not the formatting. (That also means that you should probably not even use the content of that letter as a model, because its author is lacking a fundamental understanding of what a good cover letter is.)

5. The best time to use a letter of recommendation

During a job search, when is a good time to give a prospective employer a letter of recommendation from a previous employer?

Usually never. Letters of recommendation don’t really carry much weight because (a) no one puts critical information in those letters, since the person they’re written about will read them, (b) when hiring managers get to the point that we want to talk to your references, we want to talk to them on the phone, where we can hear their tone, hear where they hesitate before answering, and hear what happens when we dig around about potential problem areas.

When an employer is ready for references, they’ll ask you for their contact info. Until then, hold your fire.

(Exceptions are fields like academia and law, which inexplicably continue to use recommendation letters, but they’ll ask for them as part of their application process.)

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

1. I think my manager is trying to push me out of my job

I’m a recruitment coordinator for a bank, and I have recently had a bad performance review and have been on an recovery plan to get me back up to speed. My reasoning as to why I’m not exceeding my role and what is expected of me is that due to the volume of work I have to do, I’m doing at least two people’s workload, but my workplace seems to think it’s not. I’m making avoidable mistakes constantly, and due to the fact that I’m on a recovery plan, my manager is being very unsupportive and not really advising me on the best things I can do to avoid making mistakes. He’s constantly saying that the capability isn’t there and the role has outgrown me.

I’m trying my best to work as hard as I can and completing my objectives sent, but I’m constantly receiving negative feedback. How can I try and make them understand that there is physically a lot of work for one person to handle without sounding like I’m not fit for the role?

Well, you may not be able to. Your manager is saying pretty clearly to you that he doesn’t think you’re equipped to the job as it’s currently configured; saying that the job has outgrown you basically means “the role has evolved into something that you’re not the right person to handle.” That’s a pretty clear message that he doesn’t think you’re the right fit for the role and that he’s planning to move you out of it.

I hear you that you’re convinced that he’s wrong, but ultimately it’s his call. Don’t get so focused on why he’s wrong that you don’t hear what he’s saying: he’s giving you a warning that you need to be looking for other work. That means that you should use this time to actively job search so that you have a better shot of leaving on your own terms, or at least so that you have a head start on a job hunt if he ends up letting you go. I’m sorry — I know that’s tough to hear.

2. Interviewing internally when I can’t put on more professional clothes

I currently work as a production employee in a factory. We obviously are allowed to dress very casually for both comfort during working hours and ease of movement when we are doing our jobs. Recently a job that I am very interested in opened up in our corporate office so I applied. Today my supervisor approached me and told me that “Kathy” would like to meet with me on Monday for an interview in the middle of my shift. I would literally leave my work area and walk to a conference room for the interview. As “Kathy” knows my current position, and that we will be speaking during my shift, how worried should I be that I won’t have the ability or opportunity to change into clothing that would be considered more interview and office appropriate? My current job is clean, so nice jeans and a nice shirt or sweater would be easy to wear, but I could by no means dress as I normally would for an interview.

And just a side note on the awesomeness of the company I work for and the management there: My supervisor told me she gave an unsolicited positive reference to my interviewer and wished me luck. Where I work is very big on hiring and promoting internally and helping current employees with their career goals.

Will you have five or 10 minutes beforehand where you could change clothes? If so, I’m sure that would make a great impression … but if that’s not practical, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. Wearing pants (ideally non-jeans) and a nice shirt or sweater should be perfectly fine, and when you first greet your interviewer, you can casually mention that you would have normally worn a suit but working on the production floor makes that impossible. I’m sure she’ll understand that even if you didn’t say it, but saying it is helpful because it signals that you’re conscientious about professionalism.

Good luck!

3. Is this just a sympathy interview?

I recently saw a job ad on a law firm’s website. As it so happened, I had a connection at the firm who happens to be a partner. After a couple days, a recruiter reached out to me to set up a phone interview. While preparing for the interview, I went back to the site to re-read the description, only to find that the ad had been taken down.

Does this mean that the job has already been filled and this is a sympathy interview because of my connection? Or is there a silver lining in there somewhere?

Don’t read anything into it. Sure, it’s possible that the job has been filled and it’s a courtesy interview — but that’s pretty unlikely; most hiring managers don’t waste their time interviewing people just for the hell of it, particularly when a hire has already been made. It’s more likely that they’re no longer accepting applications because they’ve identified enough strong candidates to interview.

4. My volunteer manager refused to give me a letter verifying my job

I’m a volunteer firefighter. Recently I asked my fire chief to write me a letter stating that I work for the fire department so that I can get discounts on a lot of things. He refused and his reason was “I don’t know you enough.” Is he allowed to do that?

I can’t think of any law that would prevent it, although I wonder if he didn’t understand what you were asking. It sounds like he might have thought you wanted a reference (and it would be reasonable to decline if he feels he doesn’t know you well enough) rather than simply a confirmation of your employment. If there’s any chance that’s the case, it could be worth going back and clarifying with him.

5. Listing lots of smaller temp jobs on a resume

I have been wondering how to shorten my resume. I have worked for multiple temp agencies here recently and they are for the same job title. I am wondering how to list this on my resume. As of right now, I have it formatted like this: Temp agency name, the company, dates, and below the job that was done.

All the short-term projects that I have done through these temp agencies generally last only 3 to 4 months. Am I listing this correctly or is there a better way? I feel sometimes that having them listed separately looks bad, almost like I am job-hopping but I am not.

I’d list all the temp jobs under one overall heading, like this:

Temporary Administrative Work (through Agency A, Agency B, and Agency C)
Dates
* Placed at companies including Wayne Enterprises, Madrigal Electromotive, and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes
… followed by bullets describing your work and achievements at any/all of those companies.

That way, it’s all one listing and it’s not taking up tons of unnecessary space. Plus, it’ll be clear in a single glance that it was all temp work, rather than risking the appearance of job-hopping. (Temp work and other intentionally short-term work, like internships, doesn’t count as job-hopping, but when someone is quickly skimming your resume, they might not realize it was temp work unless you make it very clear.)

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

1. Can I offer to fix my company’s lame social media presence?

I’ve been an avid reader of your site for a while now, and your advice has helped me score my first career-type-job out of college! I love this job and the people I work with.

We’re a small, local paper in the south. There has been talk around the office of updating our social media presence, which I think is desperately behind the times. We’ve got a Facebook page that is haphazardly updated, no Twitter presence, and a website that is more like an online e-book version of the newspaper. The site doesn’t allow for news updates, galleries or even comments on stories. I’m the youngest person in the office by at least 15 years, and I think the age gap might give me a better perspective on how social media is supposed to work. I took a few classes on social media strategies at university and I’d love to put those skills to use in
addition to my role as a reporter.

However, I haven’t even been here a year. My boss is great, but she hasn’t given me much direct feedback. I’ve never been told I’m doing poorly, and I think my work is good, but I don’t know for sure. So, how do I go about bringing up my desire to make some changes? I’ve started to work on a proposal of sorts to give to my boss and her boss, but it’s basically a list of things we’re doing wrong and how to fix them. I don’t think that’s the right tone to strike here, but I’m having trouble coming up with a better one. I’d love to have the chance to tackle this and fix our social media presence, but I’m worried my relative inexperience and my lack of evidence I’m doing a good job won’t convince her. I’d hate to see us bring in an outside company to run this when a willing person is sitting across the hall. (If it makes a difference, our interaction with readers on Facebook has gone up noticeably in the ten months I’ve been on-and-off-again working on it.)

Since there’s been conversation in the office about updating the paper’s social media presence, it’s reasonable to speak up and say that you’d love to take it on. However, instead of presenting a list of what’s currently being done wrong and how to fix it, frame it as “here are my ideas for what we could be doing differently, here’s why I think it will get us better results, and here’s a mock-up of what it could look like.” (The mock-up is optional, but often being able to show something concrete helps people better envision what the changes you’re proposing would look like. If a mock-up isn’t practical, then other types of examples of can work too.)

She may not ultimately agree — she might want you to stay focused on your other work or might want to bring in someone who’s done professional work in this area — but you won’t be out of line for proposing it, as long as your tone is “here’s what I think would work well” and not “what we’ve done so far sucks” (even if it does).

2. My former employer won’t let me back to pick up my belongings

I was recently told to leave my office and to not come back. I still have personal items and food there, but the boss won’t let me in to retrieve them. What should I do?

Call or email your former manager (or HR, if you have them) and say this: “I have personal items remaining in the office that I need to pick up. What’s the best time in the next few days for me to do that?” If they tell you not to come by at all, then say, “What arrangements would you prefer to make to return my belongings? Would you prefer to ship them to me?” Be pleasant and calm; that will make it much harder to respond to you with anything ridiculous, like a refusal. (That said, if the items are pretty minor, it might be worth it to your own peace of mind to just let them go.)

3. I may have done too much research before an interview

I have an interview for a great job coming up in a few days. Because it would be such a great fit, I’ve been doing a ton of research on the position, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and a few other unorthodox search methods.

As a result, I’ve come up with a ton of information. I know why the existing person is leaving, why they were hired (they actually created the project I’d be in charge of), how long they had been there, a ton about the project, a ton about the company, and quite a bit about how everything works. I’ve found Youtube videos about the project, reviews from other people about the project, and a lot of background about everything else.

So my question is this – knowledge is power, so how much should I reveal that I know about the position in the interview? I don’t want the committee to feel uncomfortable when they’re telling me things that I already know. On the other hand, I don’t want them to think that I haven’t done my homework. How much would you recommend I reveal?

If it would be relevant to bring it up, it’s fine to say, “I saw online that X is happening and…” But I wouldn’t bring it up just for the sake of bringing it up; mention if only if it directly relates to something you’re talking about and will strengthen the conversation. And it’s fine to let them tell you things that you may have already read about on your own, without jumping in and saying, “Oh yes, I read all about that.” There’s usually a lot to be gained from hearing how people describe that sort of thing anyway, even if you already know the basics.

4. My new coworker is undermining me in front of students

I have a colleague who has recently joined the school in which I teach. He teaches a higher level of a subject which I teach. I have been at the school since 2010 and know the ropes. I have given him leeway, in that I try consciously to help him feel at home.

Recently, he has taken over as his a room in which I have worked for nearly five years, but in which i still occasionally teach. He comes in to my classes to get things from his desk then asks me in front of pupils to “make sure I lock the door afterwards.”

I have been feeling cross, as I find it quite thoughtless, especially as this is something I did for years without anyone needing to ask me. I feel he is being high-handed and don’t want to exacerbate things, but need to ask him to stop, especially in front outdents as it is undermining me. How would you handle this without worsening things? I have to do something as I feel increasingly resentful.

I think you might be taking it too personally, and your best bet is to simply stop caring. It doesn’t strike me as especially egregious. But if you feel you have to say something, I’d say something in the moment, not later (later will make it into a much bigger deal than would make sense). You could make a joke about the classroom’s theft-worthy contents, or your inability to handle such matters without reminders, or … well, I don’t know. These all risk sounding bitter if you’re feeling bitter, so you might be better off reverting to deciding not to care.

Update: My advice here sucked. There’s much better advice in the comments, which is to talk to the teacher privately and ask him to stop interrupting you while you’re teaching a class.

5. Are we required to have employees use timesheets?

All the employees in our small company (9 to be exact) are salaried, exempt employees. Am I required to get some sort of official timesheet from them each month? Or is it enough that I have them send me the sick and vacation hours they have taken at the end of each month, as that is really all I need to keep track of? And I save these emails in a separate folder that I can review at any time.

With exempt employees, you’re not required to track their time at all. You certainly can if you want to; some employers choose to do time-tracking for exempt employees to track vacation time usage, time allocation to various projects, client billing, etc., but you don’t have to.

(With non-exempt employees, you don’t have to have timesheets either, but you do need to ensure that you’re paying them for all hours worked, which usually points employers toward timesheets or some other form of time-tracking.