Ask a Manager

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

1. Who has the final say in hiring?

I had a two-part interview this past Monday at a company for a role that is my dream job. Although I rocked the portion of the interview where I got to meet the executive VP and VP of the department, my meeting with the HR manager did not go as well. (There was a question she asked that I did not expect, so I wasn’t thrilled with my less-than-stellar answer.)

Who has the final say in hiring? Human Resources or the executive Vice President of the department to whom the role would report? (The executive VP and VP gave me a writing assignment and they did say it would really depend on the pitch I turn in.)

HR should never have the final word on hiring (except for HR jobs, obviously). The person who should be making the final decision is either the manager who the role will report to, or — in some cases, if that manager is very junior — a manager directly above her (for instance, the VP of marketing might make the final hiring decision for the assistant marketing manager job, even if that role reports to the marketing manager rather than the VP).

HR’s job is hiring is to facilitate the process, ensure that laws are being followed, do some initial screening (sometimes), and — in some companies — help train managers on how to interview well. They might provide input from their interactions with a candidate, but they shouldn’t be deciding who is hired in any department other than their own.

2. My employer pays some people for sick days but doesn’t pay others

My question is about sick day favoritism. I work at a very small company. Our vacation policy is that we get 10 days per year, which start from exactly one year after your start date. For example, I started on June 13, 2011, which means on June 13, 2012, I got 10 vacation days to use until June 13, 2013, when I got 10 more. Vacation days do not roll over into the next year, so it’s a use-it-or-lose-it policy and everyone gets 10 days/year no matter how long they have worked here.

We do not have a policy for sick days. The first time I called in sick, I was unsure if I would get paid or not or if I would have to use a vacation day. When I did get paid for it, I thanked my boss (who is the owner). She said, “Oh, no problem, I pay sick days within reason as long as someone doesn’t abuse it.”

I have worked here for over 2.5 years. In that time, I have called in sick twice. The first time was in June 2013 and the second time was in the last few weeks. I did not get paid for the second time. I really don’t think two days in 2.5 years is unreasonable or abusing it. My only thought for her justifying this is that in January I needed 1.5 days for my grandfather’s wake and funeral. When I told her I needed the time off, I provided her with the obituary that named me as a granddaughter and provided info about the services. She did pay me for that time, and I did not use vacation time. I don’t know what the laws are for bereavement and if she is required to pay me for that or not.

My issue is that I know for a fact that certain other people and definite “favorites” of hers have taken and been paid well over their 10 vacation days and have been paid on many, many, many sick days. One person has taken over 10 vacation days and received pay for them, and has also taken 4 sick days and has been paid for them. Am I making a big deal out of this? Is it worth saying something? Or should I just suck it up and forget it? We don’t have an HR person I can go to, and there are no policies on this which makes it really uncomfortable.

Only a few places in the U.S. require paid sick leave (Connecticut, San Francisco, and a few jurisdictions), and most of these laws only apply to employers over a certain size, so I’m going to assume they don’t apply here. No law requires employers to provide bereavement leave; that’s up to the employer.

So ultimately this is up to your employer and she can change the policy for different people if she wants to … unless she’s doing it in a way that discriminates based on race, religion, sex, or another protected class. In other words, if everyone who gets extra vacation happens to be race X, that could be a legal issue (as long as there isn’t another obvious explanation, like they’re all in a different job category from the people who don’t get the extra vacation, or otherwise different situated than them).

That said, it might be worth advocating for one clear policy, so that people aren’t left guessing about whether or not they’ll be paid for sick time and only finding out after the fact.

3. Should I be reimbursed for spending huge amounts of time on new hire paperwork requirements?

I recently left a company where I had a high level position. A few weeks after my departure, they offered me a position as a temporary remote consultant, fulfilling many of the same duties I previously had, until a replacement is hired. I was happy to help them out in this way for a few months.

The problem is that the administrative process of being rehired has been horrible. It’s a large, slow-moving organization and both HR and my supervisor have been little help in the new hire process. For example, when I was hired the company required that I have my I-9 form notarized since I now live too far away to come in to HR personally to have my documents verified. Unbeknowest to me, apparently this is something notaries are not supposed to do and I had a very difficult time finding one willing to do it. All told, I spent a total of about 5 hours searching, calling around, and driving around to eventually get the I-9 notarized as they required (I alerted HR to the issue but they were unhelpful). Not to mention the gas money spent driving around to various notaries and the $25 I had to spend to overnight the form to the company as they required. I’ve also spent quite a bit of time working with IT by phone to get my email back online (which took over 2 weeks!). Now, after 3 weeks of work, I’m trying to work with payroll to actually get paid, since I’m hourly but unable to get access to log my hours in a timecard due to HR’s mistake in filing my new hire paperwork. No one follows up or calls back, so I’m spending a lot of time on my (personal) cell phone calling around to various company divisions to try to resolve the problem.

Since I’m hourly, should I be charging the company for the time I’m spending on all of this? One of my mentors said no, because it’s not included in my job duties, but I say it’s my valuable time spent doing this in service of my work with this company. I’m trying not to let my frustration cloud my judgment, but I have to admit I’m feeling pretty fed up with the company at the moment.

Those sure sound like work expenses to me. Generally speaking, if your company requires you to engage in specific activities in the course of your work for them, those are work expenses (with some obvious exceptions, like obtaining work-appropriate clothing). Obviously, you apply some common sense to this; you’re probably not going to charge them for the stamp it takes to mail new hire forms back. And frankly, I’d probably eat the $25 overnighting fee in normal circumstances, but five hours locating a notary because most notaries don’t do the work they wanted?  No way — that’s an expense that should be reimbursed.

So I would just write up these expenses and submit them with receipts like you would any other business expense. However, if you’re unsure, just ask your manager beforehand. (Make sure to explain it took five hours, so that you don’t sound like you’re nickel-and-diming them, which she might assume if she figures it took 20 minutes.)

4. Can my employer make me stand up all day?

Can my employer expect me to stand for a full day? The bank at which I work has recently refurbished and has introduced a policy of no seating. I am expected to stand all day talking to customers as an advisor. In a seven hour shift, I am allowed 30 mins downtime. Is this allowed?

I can’t think of any law that it violates, although if you had a disability qualified under the Americans with Disabilities Act and which made this difficult for you, they’d need to provide you with reasonable accommodation.

5. Online applications that require a current job when you’re not currently employed

As part of the job search process, I am finding that many employers ask you to create a profile on their web site as part of the application process. Usually “current employer” and “current title” are among the required inputs. How should a stay-at-home mom answer those questions?

I have been a stay-at-home mom (voluntarily) for the last 3 years after 10 very successful years at work. I don’t want to be screened out of the process for jobs I am extremely qualified for just because I’m not currently working. I have kept current with professional training and updates to my industry, but any consulting projects I’ve done in the last 3 years were small, informal and unpaid. I am definitely networking, but I haven’t found a personal connection yet for some of the companies in which I’m interested and I think I have to go through their system.

Yeah, online application systems are not set up to deal well with any deviations from the norm (and sometimes they don’t even deal with the norm well). Can you lump that consulting experience into a “current” freelance role for yourself, just to get around this? It’s unlikely you’d be called out on it in an interview, and if you are, you can explain.

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

1. Should I give feedback to a part-time intern who isn’t proactive and has a hard-to-read demeanor?

Now that I’m (sort of) supervising someone for the first time, I’m trying to do it properly, based on your advice! I work at a tiny nonprofit with only paid staff, and it’s pretty informal. We have an intern who’s been coming in one day a week, and although he’s a grad student at a great university, his work isn’t great. That is, his work product is fine, but he’s not very proactive, didn’t do any problem-solving for a tiny but pretty basic concern, isn’t very emotive, and when I ask him to do something differently, he just says “okay” kind of blankly. It’s kind of a turn-off (and if we’d had more applicants, we probably wouldn’t have taken him on staff to begin with).

He’s said that he wants to work in nonprofits going forward, and I think these traits will make it harder for him. I’d like him to learn from this, and our organization also really wants to maintain a good relationship with the grad school program he’s in. How formal should I be with feedback? Since he’s only in one day a week, would it be awkward, or overkill, to do a mid-point and/or final assessment? So far, he’s on week 4 of a 10-week internship. That’s really only going to be ten work-days total, so it’s hard to judge.

(I don’t know if this is relevant, but he’s also a little older than I am – I’m not in grad school yet; I finished undergrad in 2011, and he finished in 2010. My boss, the executive director, is also fairly new at managing people; I am the first person he’s hired.)

Give him the feedback! Part of the point of interning is to gain professional skills, and getting feedback is an essential part of that. Don’t unload it on him all at once, of course, but pick the two biggest things (probably not being proactive and not doing any problem-solving) and sit him down and talk to him, just like you would with a full-time employee. You could do it in the context of a mid-point assessment, or you could do it more informally — but don’t wait until a final assessment to do it, because at that point he won’t have the chance to work on improving in it.

However, with the flat “okay” thing, I’d just address it in the moment rather than making such a big deal of it. With that, when he does it, just say something like, “I’m having trouble reading you. Can you tell me more about your thinking about what I just said?”

2. I missed the deadline for a video interview because of technical problems

I recently applied for a job at my dream company, and I was asked to do a video interview before a set deadline. However, I didn’t manage to complete the interview because of internet network problems. I was given one week to prepare, with some assignments and presentations to do. I could record the video interview anytime within that one week. The problem with not being able to get another internet connection other than the one at my place was because it was 3 a.m. I’ve emailed HR and explained my situation, but I doubt they would reply to me because it just sounded like some lame excuse. Could you give some advice on what I should do? The position is still being advertised. Do you think I would still possibly be considered if I apply again? Should I state in my cover letter that I actually missed my video interview and am replying again? Will you actually be annoyed if you see my application again, if you were the HR at that company?

I think this ship has sailed, unfortunately. You emailed and explained the situation, but they didn’t reply — so I don’t think reapplying with an explanation will change things much. If you’d had technical problems earlier in the one-week period they gave you, or if they’d given you a much shorter period of time to complete it, a reasonable employer would make an exception, but if I were the employer in this exchange (which I’d never be, because I think video interviews suck), I’d be looking at the fact that you waited until the very last minute and didn’t leave yourself any buffer … which isn’t the greatest reflection on you as far as planning and work habits. I’d be worried you’d wait until 3 a.m. the night before a work assignment was due and run into trouble if the work required troubleshooting at that point, and if I had other strong candidates, I’d probably just move forward with them.

There’s no harm in reapplying with an explanation, but I think you’ll want to be prepared for their thinking to be something like the above.

3. Did my boss fire me through my coworker?

I was supposed to work at night, but my son was sick and I couldn’t find anyone who would take him, so I informed my boss and she said it was alright. The next day, I was informed by a coworker that I was fired from my job. I didn’t know if there was legal action I could take against my boss for improper management. I am not scheduled to work until next Saturday, and I planned on going into work anyway, because I don’t want them to say I “abandoned’ my position, because she could just deny that she ever said it. I am unsure what to do, because I have not heard from my boss, and I was told yesterday that I was fired.

It’s pretty unlikely that your boss would relay that message through your coworker. Not impossible, but highly unlikely. If you think there’s any chance that your coworker was serious (and not joking or pulling a horrible prank), call your boss and ask. You don’t need to wait until Saturday, and you don’t need to spend this whole week worrying and wondering about it. Pick up the phone and find out.

4. I was fired for saying I’d like to punch my manager

I was blowing off steam and regretfully said something like “I’d punch my manager in the mouth” and my coworker snitched on me … in turn I got fired. If I didn’t act on it, is that a good reason to be terminated?

Yes, threatening violence is pretty much always reasonable grounds to fire someone. You might have meant it in jest, but it’s not crazy that a workplace wouldn’t want to mess around with that.

I’d also suggest not framing things like this as “snitching.” That’s a concept that doesn’t generally apply in the workplace, because it implies that you and your coworkers are on one side and your manager is on the other — not a great mentality to have at work and one that will generally work against you in the long-term.

5. Does this mean I didn’t get the job?

I had an interview with an HR manager and 3 engineers for an engineering position. At the end of the interview, the HR manager initially said, “We should get back to you in a week” and then immediately looked at the engineers and said, “We will let you know in a week either way.” Does this mean that I did not get the job?

No. She might have been thinking out loud, or confirming her timeline with them, or emphasizing to them that they need to meet that timeline, or who knows what else. Maybe she likes to repeat herself. It doesn’t mean anything, other than that they hope to let you know in a week, either way.

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

1. Is it okay to share job applicants’ resumes with my coworkers?

I’m in the midst of the hiring process for the first time in my role as a manager, and the wonderful woman whose position we’re filling (due to retirement) mentioned that she’d be curious to see who’s applying. I haven’t shared that info with anyone other than our director, and she’s only seen the resumes of people I’m calling for interviews. Is this information that can be shared? I’d sort of assumed that would not be kosher, but maybe I’m mistaken.

Also, I’m inviting the two other librarians in our department to be a part of the second interviews that we’ll be doing in a few weeks. Can I share the resumes of those candidates with their future coworkers before they meet or should I let the interviews speak for themselves?

It’s absolutely fine to share information about applicants, including their resumes, with others within your organization; in fact, it’s common practice in many companies to share them within your department, or with other departments who might have an interest in a particular candidate, or to share the resume of the new hire with your whole team before the person starts. There’s no expectation that only the hiring manager will see the resume. But regardless of what you decide about a wider audience within your organization, it’s nearly essential that share candidates’ resumes with people who be interviewing them; as a candidate, it’s frustrating to interview with people who don’t appear to know anything about your background.

(That said, it makes sense to remind people that they should not share anything they learn about candidates outside the company and that people’s jobs could be jeopardized if news of their job search got around. You wouldn’t want someone seeing that a candidate works with someone they know and then mentioning it to their contact, which can happen if people haven’t thought through the consequences of that.)

2. Should I have to plan a going-away party for my cubicle mate?

Without a pre-designated person who organizes these things, who is responsible in an office to organize a good bye for our coworker? I was rudely “told” by another coworker that it was my responsibility since I sit next to the person in a 2-to-a-cubicle situation, and that I was this person’s friend. To me, this was taking a huge leap of assumption. I have sat next to this person for nearly 2 years, and yes we talk a lot and have laughs. Fun coworker, yeah, but not friends, huge age difference that has mattered at times and certainly no connection outside the office. I’ll be the same friendly, funny, sharing person with the next person who moves into the cube. Would that mean I’d be responsible for the next one who leaves too?

I really don’t feel comfortable with the office social situations to be an organizer. I was thrown off-guard when the person suggested I should be the person to organize something and at first said I hadn’t thought about it. Then they continued on with, “Well, you are their friend,” and in final reply I retorted with, “Hey, I just sit there.” The person became rather fluffed and stormed away saying, “Well, I will do it!” Was I so wrong?

Well, yeah, kind of.  “I’m sorry, I’m swamped with work and wouldn’t be able to do it justice” would have been a reasonable answer. But you essentially said, “I don’t like this person enough,” and sitting with her for two years does imply that you know her reasonably well (more so than anyone else at work, potentially)

That said, I’m not a fan of leaving this to random people or some people will get goodbyes and some won’t. It’s better to have someone like an administrative assistant in charge of all of them (coordinating with the person leaving to make sure they even want something done, and with the option for other people to help out by planning any particular ones ones as the desire arises).

3. Should I really say I have no salary requirement?

My father is the owner of a small business. I worked for him for almost 3 years right out of college. But now I am looking for an entry-level job in a field different from the one in which the family business specializes. My father is really supportive about my job search and offers advice to me from the perspective of a business owner who has experience hiring people. But he advised me to answer the salary requirement question in a way that I find awkward.

My father told me to answer the salary question by saying that I do not have a salary requirement because what I want is to enter into the new field and that the wage is the least of my priorities. And then I am to describe why I want to enter into their company in particular. If they still seem puzzled about me not having a requirement, I should further explain that, because I have no major expenses at the moment (like children or university tuition), I am able to live decently off of a modest salary. This is true. But at the same time, I do not want to come off as desperate to potential employers. And if hired, I do not want my employer to think that it is okay to not ever give me a raise.

My father does not share my concerns. He says that as an employer, he is blown away when someone says to him that he can pay them what he wishes now and that once he sees their work, he can evaluate what salary they deserve/what is fair pay. He cites examples of employees who started at minimum wage but who proved their outstanding skills within the first week of hire and got a significant raise by the second week of work. This is an honor system that may not be prevalent in larger companies that actually have salary negotiations.

What is your opinion regarding my father’s advice? Do you think it could also be relevant to jobs in larger companies with more formal hiring procedures?

Not generally, no. It very well might work with other small business owners, but typically — and certainly at larger organizations — employers will expect you to have some idea of what salary range you’re seeking. You can certainly try saying, “You know, I’m changing fields and so I’m pretty open on salary. Right now, my priority is to get a job that let me do ____.” However, many employers will still push for a salary range (and some online applications will require them before you can even apply), so you do need to be prepared with a number, which means doing enough research to know what the market rate is for the types of job you’re applying for.

(And regardless of how you modify your dad’s advice, the one part that you really should leave out is the part about citing your own financial situation — that’s generally considered unprofessional and doesn’t belong in salary discussions.)

4. Can I keep my current company’s name confidential on my resume?

I am interviewing within the same industry — leasing. Should I put “Confidential” as the company’s name on the resume? How should I respond when the prospective employer asks me who I’m working for? Can I say I would like to keep that private?

No, that’s going to be weird. And if you refuse to say where you’re working, they have no way of knowing if you’re even working at all. You have to list the name, although you can certainly let interviewers know that your job search needs to be confidential for now.

5. Reapplying to a company after a bad interview four months ago

I have been in a great job for the past year, but my dream job has come up. Only, I applied for this job four months back, made it to interview stage but was unsuccessful. The other candidate seems to have left after only four months. I asked for feedback, but got a rather disingenuous “you interviewed well, but the other candidate just had more experience.” The reason I know this feedback to be inaccurate is because I gave an awful, rambly interview and I’m pretty sure they knew it. I feel I have improved significantly in the past four months, I’ve really been given more responsibility at work, am more confident and have been reading relentlessly to try and up my game.

What do I say on the cover letter? Do I acknowledge that I was interviewed before, wasn’t successful, but have improved significantly? I really want to come across as professional and confident. Should I make a phone call? Help!

Apply the normal way, and then send an email to your contact there, letting them know that you did. You could include something like, “I had the impression after our interview a few months ago that I wasn’t at my best. I’d love another chance to talk.”

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

1. How can I get my staff to stop socializing in front of clients?

Can you suggest a few phrases I can use to redirect my team during quieter periods of time when they all get chatting about their personal lives? I work in a veterinary office, and I’d like my team of client service representatives to be a bit more professional. How can I positively encourage more polished behavior, get them to stop talking about their personal lives, especially when there are clients in the waiting room.

Rather than waiting until it’s happening and addressing it in the moment (and in front of clients), and potentially having to do that multiple times, I’d talk to them about the pattern, not a particular incident — and lay out your expectations for how you want them to operate, whether you’re around or not. For instance: “I’ve noticed that sometimes when clients are in the waiting room, they’re able to overhear personal conversations and that can appear less that polished and professional. When clients are around, we should keep the conversation work-focused and not chat about personal lives.”

After that, if it continues to happen, address it with the individual perpetrators as you would anything else in their work that you needed to correct — remind them of the standard of behavior that you expect, ask them to operate differently, and address it with escalating seriousness if it continues after that.

2. My company plans to lay people off with no notice

My particular organization is highly matrixed; I very recently became the lead for ~10 people at a large onsite project but all of us have an actual supervisor who is not onsite. As such, I have no supervisory authority over anyone out here. I do get a high level of input over what level of staffing our workload supports, however, I do not have control over HOW adjustments to that workload are done, those is handled by our supervisor.

Workload is down, and there have been layoffs. Up until now, these have been trimming the “fat,” if you will. This next round is going to involve folks who people like, who work hard, who do a great job, and who would be rehired in a heartbeat. We work in a highly cyclical industry, so the occurance of layoffs is not “uncommon” and our dwindling workload is public and not a secret. HR is (and by forced proxy, my supervisor) going to take a policy of “Do not tell until the day of!” which is going to be ~2-3 weeks in the future.

I am new to an “official” leadership position out here, and I am struggling with this policy. The individuals in question can, in my opinion, be completely trusted to be professional and to get their remaining work done. As well, it provides them the heads up to smooth over their own transition. Unfortunately, I am in the “need to know” loop, but if I was not in this loop, and somehow had foreknowledge of these events, I don’t know what I’d do, but it would probably not be intelligent.

Is there anything I can do to help? Is this normal? Is this smart? In a reciprocal situation, handling layoffs in this manner would completely de-prioritize me coming BACK to work for the current company from whatever post layoff gig I would establish. This is long term hugely problematic as we rely heavily on “experienced folks” for this client. Our success is directly tied to keeping this experience in-house in many people’s opinion.

This is very, very normal and often how layoffs are handled. Whether it’s smart or not depends on the issues and people involved, but often no, it’s not smart; it often leaves the laid-off workers feeling even worse than they otherwise would, and it leaves the remaining employees feeling shocked and concerned that they’d be treated the same way.

If you were more senior, I’d say that you should use your position to advocate for handling things differently, but because you’re not, there’s less of a chance that it would help (and could potentially make you look naive, simply because this is so common) … but if you do have credibility and capital to spend, this is a worthy usage of it.

3. What did my manager mean when she said my lack of confidence is holding me back?

I’ve been in my position as a mid-level manager for 2.5 years. My manager recently told me my lack in confidence is keeping me from “getting to the next level.” That’s a hard thing to change. What does she want to see different in me that would prove to her I am ready for “the next level?”

There’s no way for me to know that from here. But you should ask HER. If your manager ever gives you feedback that you don’t understand, don’t rely on guessing — ask for clarification. In this case, you could go back to her and ask for specific examples of what you should work on changing.

4. Interviewing with a noticeable rash

I developed a rash along my jawline and neck due to a new shampoo I was trying, and my doctor says that it can take up to a month to completely clear up. Of course, during that time I’ll be interviewing for my dream position. I can cover up the redness pretty well with makeup, but the bumps are still visible. There’s a grouping near my chin (on my face, not my neck) that’s pretty obvious, and you can tell it’s not acne.

Should I be immediately up-front about it at the interview and tell them what happened, or do I not worry about it?

It’s hard to say without seeing what it looks like, but if it’s pretty glaring and you’re self-conscious about it, I’m a fan of giving a quick explanation just so that you don’t go through the whole interview feeling self-conscious about it and wondering what they’re thinking. Adapt this to fit your own style, but I’d say something like, “Please excuse this allergic reaction — the last thing anyone wants for a job interview!” and then move on.

5. How should my resume list a job that changed after six months?

I have a question about how to list my current job on my resume. I accepted the current job at Pay A and Title A in Department A. After about six months, a new department was created and I was shuffled into it. About six months later, after the new boss got to know us, our skills, and what we do, our new positions were finalized. So, basically, I then had Pay B, Title B, in the newly formed Department B.

As I am now starting to apply for other positions, I was wondering if I should list two separate positions on my resume or if I should just go with the most recent title and department. If I list them separately, like two different jobs (in some ways they are – Title B is a step up from Title A), I’m afraid it will look like an extra job hop after six months or at best a year. I feel it would give an inaccurate impression since the change wasn’t my idea. What do you think?

It doesn’t count against you as a job hop because you stayed at the same company. You can probably get away with just listing the most recent title, or you could list it like this:

Title B (dates)
Title A (dates)
* accomplishment
* accomplishment
* accomplishment

(In other words, keeping it as all one grouping and just being clear about how the title changed.)