Ask a Manager

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

1. When’s the right time to start bringing in personal belongings to a new job?

When’s an appropriate time to start bringing your personal belongings to a new job? First day? End of second week? I’m talking about belongings like a personal mouse pad, calendar, pencil cup, desk fan, or an umbrella I’m planning to keep at work.

I think any time from the second day onward is reasonable. I wouldn’t do it the first day because you want to get a look at your space and figure out what will be appropriate. You also don’t want to do it on your first day because you might not be taken straight to your desk in the morning; sometimes there are orientations and other meetings that happen first, and you don’t want to be lugging around a pencil cup and fan all morning. But by your second day, it’s fine to go for it.

That assumes that you’re really just talking about the types of items you listed here. If you were one of those people who goes all out with throw rugs, numerous framed pictures, and an entire fleet of Battlestar Galactica figurines, I’d give it a week or two. It can seem a little weird to have already moved in your whole life when you still don’t know where the bathroom is.

2. An employer asked me to bring a recent pay stub to a job interview

I am currently looking for a job doing marketing at a professional services firm. I’ve been interviewing at several firms, and one firm made a strange request. They asked me to bring in a recent paystub! In the same email giving me directions to the building and attaching their employment application, they asked me to bring a recent paystub, saying it was to provide verification of my income. This was for the initial interview with the hiring manager. I brought the pay stub, but it they didn’t ask for it at the interview. I didn’t end up handing it over. I chose not to get into a stand off with this employer, but it really didn’t seem right to me. Have you ever heard of this before? What do you suggest we do in this situation?

Yep. Some employers insist on verifying your past salary, so that they can (a) make you a salary offer that’s built on what you’ve been making, and (b) make sure that you’re not lying about. But usually it’s done much later in the process; it’s particularly weird to do it with a first interview.

I happen to think that your salary history is no one’s business but yours, so they’re already overstepping … but to just casually throw in a request for such personal, not-any-of-their-damn-business information along with the directions to their office — as if it’s just some barely consequential detail — is particularly obnoxious.

I’m a fan of explaining that your salary is covered under your confidentiality agreement with your last employer (which is often the case, if you read your employee handbook) or just bluntly saying that you don’t share personal financial information, but you’d be happy to talk about the range you’re seeking, which is $X.

3. After being laid off, can I ask my company to send an email to my contacts from my old work account?

I was unexpectedly laid off two days ago. I was pulled into an office at 10:10, told my job had been eliminated, and was out the building by 10:30. No histrionics on my part, which I’m proud of. It’s a fairly decent severance package (6 weeks salary, 2 months paid COBRA, paid career placement services).

I’d like to send out a farewell email from that email account to professional contacts, telling them I’d moved on from that place and how to contact me. I don’t want to just disappear or vanish under a cloud. Is this reasonable? (I don’t have access to the account, but I’d be fine with them sending the message through the account as me with text written by me and approved by them. I just don’t want it to seem like I disappeared.)

Also, I want to send out a short email update to my contacts about this change, encouraging them to send me their tips for unemployment and send me leads. Any suggested language to use?

You can absolutely email your professional contacts from that job, but it’s unlikely that your old employer will agree to do it from your old email account — sending message on the employee’s behalf is just not something that’s typically done in this situation, and I think it’s likely to strike them oddly. But you can still email; it’ll just be from your personal account rather than your old work one.

As for what to say to contacts about the chance, I’d just say something like, “I wanted to let you know that I’ve moved on from Company X. I’m actively looking for work doing XYZ, and I’d love any advice or leads you’re able to suggest.” That said, rather than sending a mass email, you might have better luck if you do individual, personal emails or call to people — people tend to pay more attention to / get more invested in contacts that are clearly personal and directed to them, as opposed to ones that they can tell went to a large group.

4. Is the job market any better than it was a few years ago?

I read this post from 2011 where you talked about how the math of the job market was working against candidates. I was wondering – now in the year 2014 – if the same situation of more candidates than positions is still apparent to you as a hiring manager or has the gap lessened? Is math still working against job applicants?

I think it’s a lot better than it was at the height of the bad job market. This is purely anecdotal and not based on actual data, but I’m seeing many more employers hiring, many more people getting interviews, many more people getting hired, and more candidates feeling like they have options. It’s certainly not a strong job market again, but from what I see, it’s much better than it was at its worst. What do others think?

And now here’s actual data for you: When I wrote that post in 2011, there were five times as many job-seekers as job openings. In July of this year, that number was down to 2.1. Having twice as many job seekers as job openings still isn’t great for those job seekers, but it’s a hell of a lot better than three years ago.

5. Should I mention in my cover letter that I can’t start working until a certain date?

Is it a good idea to include somewhere in my cover letter that I wouldn’t necessarily be available to start a job until a certain date? I’m currently working for an organization that will cease its operations at the end of this calendar year. I feel that I should probably start looking for a new job sooner rather than later, but I’d want to see the rest of this organization’s days through. Would including that I wouldn’t be available to start working until the beginning of next year in my cover letter be too presumptuous of me? Would it sound like I’m assuming that I’d get the job? If so, when would be a good time to start applying to jobs?

The issue isn’t that it’s presumptuous; that’s relevant information to prospective employers, and it’s not presumptuous to include it. The issue is that it’s going to knock you out of the running for some jobs — potentially a lot of jobs, depending on what your field is. (The more senior or specialized you are, the less of an issue a three-month wait time is likely to be.) Are you sure that you’re willing to pass up a potentially good job just to stay with your current organization until the end? Depending on your role there, that might be more of a sacrifice than it makes sense to make.

That said, a month from now, it’s going to be much less of an issue (since then the wait will only be two months). In fact, at that point I probably wouldn’t even mention in your applications at all because it’s a short enough time period that it doesn’t require you to give special warning, at least not at the application stage.

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

1. My prospective new employer is wary of hiring me if it will piss off my current employer

My current employer is a 10-year client of a large web development company that I reached out to and have interviewed with. I recently led the redesign of our new company website, which was developed by this company, so I naturally made some well-placed connections. Their HR recently informed me that the only thing holding them back from extending an official offer is that I work for one of their clients. Because they don’t want to sour their relationship due to bringing me on board, they want me to make sure that my current employer is okay with me leaving to work for them.

The problem is that my employer is not aware that I am looking elsewhere and I do not want to let them know without a written offer in hand. I also fear that if I tell my employer I want to go work for their web provider, and they do not “approve,” I am now without an offer and my employer knows I am looking to leave so what’s to stop them from simply letting me go? Please help! This new position would be a great career and salary boost for me.

Yeah, this isn’t uncommon, unfortunately — the other company is understandably concerned about making sure that they don’t lose a client, if your employer feels like they poached you.

Any chance that you can somehow frame it in a way where it doesn’t sound like you were actively job searching? You shouldn’t lie, but could you frame it as, “I got to know them so well during the website redesign that we started talking about working together?” For some reason, that type of natural evolution of a relationship often bothers employers less (not that they should be bothered at all when someone talks to other companies, but many take it weirdly personally).

At the same time, though, you could also try to negotiate a more formal contingent offer from the other place — explaining that you’re uneasy about broaching this with your current employer if they’re not making you a definite offer yet.

2. My employer made me a contractor without telling me

I was a part-time staff member for a distributed company for about two years. I started out as an intern and became permanent part-time. At some point near the 18-month mark, they switched me to contractor status without informing me. I found out because I saw it on my check. They stopped paying me and when I asked about it, the check came to me without taxes taken out. My question is: can they switch my status without telling me?

After another six months, my boss said to finish up my projects because we were done with them and then I was never assigned anything new. I was fully paid and I am still on friendly terms with my boss but I feel like I was kind of phased out. I chalk it up more to a small company’s disorganization than to my relationship with them, because they offered me a full-time position a little while later, but I didn’t take it because I was pursuing another position. Anyway, I do still feel odd that they never informed of the status change and then phased me out without much notice.

I don’t think that there’s any requirement that they inform you if they change your status, but there is a requirement that they assign you the correct status, and I’d be curious to know if you met the legal definition for an independent contractor or not.

Legalities aside, though, it’s completely weird and rude to change your status without talking to you about it. That change has a major impact on your tax obligations! It’s not a minor change, and there should have been a conversation about it. (That said, it sounds like you didn’t talk to them about it either. Ideally as soon as you noticed it, you would have asked what’s up. If you didn’t, it’s even possible that it was a clerical snafu that should have been corrected.)

3. How can I ask my new employer for breaks to sit when I go to trade shows?

I recently accepted a new position as a marketing manager. One aspect of this job, which I haven’t had to do in previous positions, is to travel to and staff our booth at trade shows about 5-6 times per year. I’m fine with the travel, but concerned about the pain I will potentially be in from standing on my feet all day at these events.

I have pretty bad plantar fasciitis and have had various ankle and joint problems over the past few years. It’s something that normally isn’t an issue in my daily life or job, but I could see it becoming an issue a few times a year during these events. I’m still totally willing and able to go to all these events, just might need periodic breaks or to ask for shorter periods of standing on my feet. Whenever I push myself to stand for many hours at a time, it often results in a huge amount of pain and limited mobility the next day, and these events sometimes last for several days.

When and how do you think is the appropriate way to approach this with my new employer? I suppose in a perfect world I should have addressed this when I received the job offer, but am so excited about the other aspects of the job that I didn’t want that to get in the way. Basically, if need be I can deal with this issue I just don’t know how bad or how frequent it will be.

This shouldn’t be a big deal. Frankly, plenty of booths are set up for you to sit a good portion of the time anyway, so it might be a complete non-issue. But you can certainly say to your manager, “I have some foot issues that mean that I’ll be in pain if I stand all day without periodic breaks to sit. Is it feasible for me to set things up at trade shows so that I can sit for a bit after every few hours of standing?”

Read an update to this letter here.

4. Am I disadvantaging myself by telling employers not to contact my references before interviewing me?

In several recent online applications, the employer asks if they may contact my references before they interview me (assuming I am shortlisted). I have been checking “no,” as I am applying for several jobs and I would like to give my references a copy of the job description, my resume, and examples of past work that I have completed that make me a good fit for the position. Would checking no penalize me in any way? Also, I am applying for jobs both in the UK and the US and have references from both countries.

Potentially, yeah. It’s silly for employers to check references before they interview people; it’s a waste of their time and a waste of your references’ time, since they might not even be interested in you after they talk with you. But if they’re asking for permission to do it, it might be something they care about, and you’re potentially disadvantaging yourself by saying no. (To be clear, it’s totally normal and reasonable to say no in regard to your current employer, but not for previous employers.)

I wouldn’t worry too much about not being able to give your references a copy of the job description, your resume, and examples of past work; that’s a lot more information than references generally need — more of a nice-to-have than a must-have.

5. Listing contracting positions when I stayed in my role but the contractor changed

My last two positions have been at companies that provide services to a government agency. The companies have had contracts with the client, and I have worked as a regular, full-time employee of the company holding the contract. When the client very recently awarded the service contract to a different company, I moved along with it. Essentially, day to day I’m doing the same work for the same client, but my actual employer changed.

I understand that this is fairly common with these government contracts, but I’m having trouble finding examples of how to list this work on a resume. Since I’m an employee and not a consultant, it doesn’t feel accurate to list them as contracts under a single heading (and the company holds the contract, not me). I could list them as separate positions (I suppose, technically, they are!), but I’m starting the process of looking for new positions. I want to portray this in the best light — I’m not job-hopping after a short stint, as I’ve actually held this position and done this work for several years.

List it like this:

Teapot Maker, Government Agency Name (as employee of Contracting Company A, May 2011-Dec. 2012, and of Contracting Company B, Jan. 2013-June 2014)

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

1. My coworkers keep venting to me about things I can’t help with

I work at a large university. Professors here wield a lot of influence in academic and administrative decisions. Although I don’t always agree, I accept this is the way things get approved and done. I have two coworkers (who report to professors) in student services roles who must get permission for much of their work from professors. I hear about this frustration because they will come to my office to tell me what their latest roadblock or hold-up is. I am sympathetic and truly wish that processes were easier for all of us.

However, I am seeing a pattern where their venting to me is becoming more frequent, and despite my response that I have no authority to help them out (I am a middle manager), they are asking if I can somehow streamline the approvals process for their work. Again, I am sympathetic to their situation but there is no way my modest position can overrule tenured academics. I am also uncomfortable that these venting sessions are getting kind of emotional (on their end) and I worry about their mental health and well being. How can I support them but at the same time look after my own priorities and my own work?

First, tell them clearly and explicitly that you don’t have the authority to change the approval process for their work, and that this is the way things work there, and that while it’s not ideal, you don’t believe it’s something that will change.

From there, you can say, “I’m concerned by how frustrated this is making you. Knowing that it’s not likely to change, what makes sense for you in the situation?” You can even add, “Can you stay and be reasonably happy, knowing that this is part of the package?” You asked about supporting their mental health and well-being, and that’s the most direct way to do it — by helping them cut to the chase: This is the situation, it’s not going to change, and are they okay living with it or not?

If continues after that, you can also say, “I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to finish up X. I’m sympathetic, but I’m on deadline.” Or you might point out that over time, venting has a way of making problems feel even worse, and you might suggest taking a break from it and see how that goes. (And if she resists, you could be direct and say, “I think it’s starting to make me grumpier, and I’m generally pretty content here.”)

2. I submitted freelance work and haven’t heard back from the client

I’m performing some freelance editing work for a few clients. I submitted my completed work to one client about two and a half weeks ago. They said they were looking forward to reviewing the work I completed. I still haven’t heard anything from them, including about payment. I didn’t sign a contract or fill out any forms for them. I already followed up earlier this week to check in about the work I did for them, and I asked about how they pay their freelancers–kind of a nudge to figure out where they’re at. No response, though. I don’t want to be too pushy, but I also want to get paid. What should I do?

Send an invoice. There’s no need to wait for them to get back to you about payment procedures; it’s normal to just go ahead and submit an invoice, and that’s what you should do. I’d email it to your contact there, along with a note that says something like, “Hey Jane, hope everything worked out well with the work I submitted a few weeks ago. I’m attaching my invoice here. Thank you!”

Also, in the future, sign a contract! It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should lay out your payment terms (and ideally either include late payment fees or an early payment discount, to provide some incentive for paying you on time.)

3. Would it be weird to share this blog with a struggling employee?

I have an employee that I am about to put on an improvement plan. I would like to send her a link to your blog. Is that weird? We’ve already had the difficult conversation and will be putting together a formal plan, but I want to include this site as a resource since I’ve found it so helpful.

I’m probably biased, but I think you can offer up resources — whether it’s this blog or others — without it being weird. I’d frame it as, “Hey, it occurred to me that you might find this blog interesting and useful. In addition to covering all kinds of workplace craziness, there’s often good information there about ___ that I have found to be personally helpful to me, and which I think could be a useful resource to you too.” Fill in that blank with whatever you think will be most useful to her — navigating workplace politics, establishing good work habits, or whatever.

(I think the key here is to use language that doesn’t signal, “You’re a mess, maybe this blog will help,” but rather to share it in a way similar to how you might with someone who was doing perfectly fine at work. Handle it like you would any resource that you wanted to share with someone who you thought might find it useful.)

4. I just realized that I’ve been getting slightly underpaid for 18 months

I work in retail, at a specialty big-box store (you’d recognize the name). My position is full-time and paid hourly. While I’m not technically in a leadership position, I have expanded my duties and responsibilities to the point where I’m often referred to as the “acting manager” when my boss isn’t available. After I received a stellar performance review from my department manager, he told me I’m being given the biggest raise corporate policy allows.

The problem: I’ve been getting paid at an hourly rate $0.50 less than was promised when I accepted the job. I didn’t realize there was a problem until now because it’s such a small discrepancy that any one paycheck would only be off by less than $40, but it accrues over time to be a significant underpayment over the past 18 months since I started in this position. But I also don’t have any written record of what I was told I’d be earning, just a clear memory of two particular conversations with the store manager when he hired me. I realize now I should have confirmed with HR or meticulously verified my first paycheck was calculated correctly. What should I do?

Ugh, there might not be much that you can do now since it’s gone on for so long and you don’t have any record of what it was originally supposed to be. Ideally, as soon as you noticed it, you would have brought it to your manager or your payroll department’s attention to get it fixed. You can still try — but the chances it will be changed are lower, unless it’s going to be clear to them that it is indeed an error (which is possible — it’s just hard to know from what’s here).

I’d say this: “I feel foolish about this, but I recently took a look at my pay stubs and realized that my wages since I started have been getting paid at a lower rate than the rate we set originally. I’ve been getting paid $X rather than $Y. Is there any way to fix this retroactively?”

5. How can I repay my friend for his professional help?

I am in the process of transitioning careers and going to school for my Master degree. A friend of mine works for a well known technology company in the area and I have been in communication with him as a mentor during the transition to get advice. I have expressed that I would love to work for the company because of what they do with volunteer work, celebration of employee milestones, and the caliber of individuals employed.

My friend has put me in touch with a department director to help me gain experience in the technology field and aid the career transition. I have met my friend for lunch a couple of times to discuss my future and he has bought lunch even though I told him I would buy the second time so we can be even. After I have contacted the director of the department, I sent my friend an email asking how I can repay him for all he has done for me, and he replied that I did not need to repay him. Would it be against any professional conduct to send a letter of thanks even though there has not been a formal interview for a position? I think this would be more of a thank you note than a follow-up note because he is not the individual that is hiring, but does have influence on if I would be qualified for a potential position opening.

A letter of thanks would be okay, but it feels sort of duplicative because you already sent an email asking how you can thank him … which means the thank-you is already out there. But why not just tell him you’d like to take him out to lunch or drinks or something? You don’t even need to explicitly connect it to his help; you can just issue the invitation.

For what it’s worth, if you ask someone how you can repay them, few people are going to say “buy me dinner” or “I’d like that watch you’re wearing.” Most people will tell you there’s no need. That’s why if you want to give back to someone, you’re often better off coming up with a specific thoughtful idea and then either doing it or asking them if you can do it. But an open-ended “how can I thank you?” often won’t produce much.