Ask a Manager

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

1. Can I ask for a title that better describes the work I’m doing as a volunteer?

I am a licensed attorney, and have been for about seven months now. Because the job market still sucks hard, I have been clerking (for free) in the office of a local judge. While not ideal, this has gotten me both experience and exposure to the legal community. My issue is this: the judge, in introducing me to other attorneys, often refers to me as his “intern,” a title which bothers me because in the legal world “intern” generally denotes someone still in law school and otherwise unlicensed to practice. My position does have some similarities to that of an intern (most notably being unpaid) but I am an attorney and I do the job of one, and I would like other attorneys — particularly those that might employ me one day — to know that. Do you think this is a reasonable request, and if so, how would you go about asking it?

Yes, it’s absolutely reasonable. You’re doing what sounds like substantive work, and you’re doing it for free; you should at least get an accurate title out of it. I’d say something like, “Do you think we could give me a title? I’d love to be able to put something that accurately describes my work on my resume and be identified that way when you’re introducing me. ___ is a title that many offices like ours seem to use for someone doing the type of work I’m doing.”

2. Declining an offer to interview for a different position after being rejected for another

I received a rejection letter for a part-time position I interviewed for last week. The top half of the email was standard boilerplate: “We decided to move forward with other applicants …” In the second half, she stated that the company believes I would be a better fit for a different full-time position within the company and asked if I would be interested in applying/interviewing for that. I had read the description of this other role before I applied and I have no interest in it. I like to do follow-up emails, but the question I have here is how do I address the second half of her email in a polite, respectful manner?

Just be straightforward. It’s not rude to not be interested in a particular job. Say something like: “Thanks so much for mentioning the X position. It’s not quite what I’m looking for, but I appreciate your thinking of me for it. Thank you also for letting me know your hiring decision for the Y position, and best of luck with your new hire.”

If you’re inclined, you can be specific about why you’re not interested — “I’m focusing on roles with an emphasis on teapot construction” or whatever — but that’s not necessary.

3. Should I reapply to a position when I applied last month and haven’t heard back?

A company I would love to work for recently had a job posting for a junior position that seemed right up my alley. I quickly applied, heard nothing, sent a follow-up a week later, and still got nothing. This was about a month ago. The posting is still on the company website, even as others have been taken down, making me think they’re still looking. I’ve been toying with the idea of tweaking my resume and cover letter and applying again, which makes me wonder: is there any kind of expiration date on a job application? Is there a certain amount of time a job posting should sit empty before applying again (assuming I even should, or should I just take the hint and move on?)

If you reapply only a month later, they’re going to assume that you forgot you applied the first time and you’ll look disorganized. A better idea, if you want to reach out to them, would be to send the hiring manager a letter reiterating your interest (and if you sent a lackluster cover letter the first time, improve it now).

4. My interviewer discussed my interview with a former employee

I recently had an interview to become the manager of my current department. The day after my interview one of the ladies I work with tells me that my store manager discussed my interview with an ex-employee rather extensively. Is this illegal? I feel humiliated and degraded by her actions. What should I do?

No, that is legal. It’s legal for an interviewer to discuss your job interview with pretty much anyone in fact. And indeed, interviewers often do talk interviews over with others when they’re working through their assessment of a candidate. There’s no reason to feel humiliated by it, unless the discussion was particularly disparaging.

5. How are other companies increasing the number of women in upper management?

Today my company announced it will be introducing a mentor program and focusing more on training staff for upper management. During the meeting about it, I raised the point that our upper management is entirely men, and asked about whether the programs could help address that imbalance.

People were very positive about the idea but didn’t seem to have thought about it before; the CEO and HR head both came over to me to chat about it afterwards, and were both keen but also went “ah, well, it’s hard because we’re a male-dominated industry and sometimes the person with the most experience and skills is always going to be a man.” I agree this is currently true, but I think we should be working to change that rather than just iterating it.

I’d like to email the HR head who’s implementing our program with examples of how other companies are actively supporting women and equality in upper management and go “hey, look at what this company is doing, maybe we could incorporate something like this?” Do you (and/or your readers, maybe?) have any ideas or examples I could send him?

I’m throwing this out to readers for ideas. Readers, what can you offer that might help?

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

1. Someone is deleting my work

About every two weeks, somebody deletes a large part of my work. I don’t know who’s doing this, how, or why. I have to use a program that won’t allow me to retrieve earlier versions of text files, so I can’t get the deleted text back. I’ve started keeping a back-up text file, but even that has its problems – it’s not really compatible with the other program.

By the way, there is no chance that I’m accidentally deleting my own work. I’m very good at using this program. Also, the deletions happen while my work’s being reviewed by a couple of other people. They blame nebulous computer issues and don’t seem interested in looking into it more or fixing the mysterious computer problem. This is extremely frustrating.

What else can I do about it? Or, how can I move on to another job without burning any bridges here? I love every other part of working here, but when my work disappears and nobody seems to care, I don’t feel that what I’m doing is valued/valuable.

Do you have an I.T. department? As soon as you’re done reading this answer, go there immediately and tell them what’s going on, and enlist their help in solving it.

If it helps, it’s far more likely to be user error than maliciousness. I mean, yes, it is possible that one of your coworkers is regularly and systematically sabotaging your work, but it’s way more likely that one of them is misusing the program without realizing it. Your I.T. people should be very concerned about this and should track down the problem. If they’re not, then you need to raise this with your manager, explain you tried enlisting I.T., and ask for help in brainstorming what else you can do.

Read an update to this letter here.

2. When is the best time of the day to quit?

When is the best time of the day to quit? I have been talking to another company and if everything goes well at our meeting tomorrow, I want to talk to my boss on Wednesday. However, he is in the office kind of sporadically, so I never know how long he is going to stay. Is it a bad idea to talk to him as soon as he comes in (and then having to work there for the rest of the day) or should I wait until towards the end of the day? Is there a standard “time” for this kind of talk? I have never had to do anything like this before, so I am a bit clueless.

Well, first, do not resign until you have a formal job offer. Not just a conversation where everything went well, not even a conversation where they say that they’ll be making you an offer soon. A formal job offer, that you have accepted, and a start date.

Once all that happens, talk to your manager. Time of day doesn’t really matter. I have a personal preference for hearing that kind of thing in the morning, because that allows me to immediately start doing all the things I’ll need to do when someone resigns, whereas if I hear it late in the day, I might have to wait until the morning. So if you can do it in the morning, it can be a kindness … but the exact timing isn’t really a big issue. In fact, it’s more likely to be determined by when your boss can meet with you.

3. Is my manager getting ready to fire me?

My supervisor keeps trying to force me to train multiple other individuals to do parts of my job (even though it doesn’t impact them at all) but won’t allow me to be trained on other tasks that do impact my job because “we already have someone who does that.” For example, he wants me to train five people how to run the website even though that is my main responsibility. But he won’t allow me to take a records management course because it wouldn’t be fair to XXXX. Is he setting me up to fire me?

Maybe. Or maybe something else is going on. What kind of feedback are you getting from him? (And if you’re not getting any, ask for some. Always, but especially since you’re worried about what’s going on.)

In any case, I’m a big believer in just being straightforward about stuff like this. Say something like this: “I noticed that you’re having me train all the account managers in how to run the website, and I wasn’t sure if it indicated any concerns about how I’m doing it. Can you share your thinking with me so that we’re on the same page?” (Of course, if you ask, you’ll need to be prepared for an answer that you might not like — but it’s generally better to know than to not know. And you might find out it’s something else altogether, like that your manager got chewed out by his own boss the last time you went on vacation and no one was covering the website.)

4. My second job is requiring hours that conflict with my first job

I currently work a full-time position for one company. Recently I took a second part-time job, which is “requiring” that I work on Black Friday, a minimum 12-hour shift. My full-time job is open that day and I am required to be there also. Also, I have availability to only work on Fridays after 5 p.m. What are my legal rights, and is this “requirement” from my second job a breach of policy or law? I don’t feel this is right and would like to know my rights as an employee to both of these employers.

No, that’s perfectly legal. Each of your employers can require you to work whatever schedule they want, and they’re not required to accommodate the agreement you have with a different employer, or even to always adhere to the hours you originally said you were available to work. And if you’re in retail (which it sounds like you might be from the Black Friday mention), it’s pretty common to be expected to work during major shopping periods.

You can certainly try pointing out to your part-time job that you have a full-time job and told them this from the start. They might have simply overlooked that. But if they won’t budge, then you’ll have to decide if you want the job under those terms or not.

5. Should I drive my transcripts 40 miles to be considered for a job an HR person is blocking me from?

I applied for a job in August the day it was posted. The requirements were someone with a Masters or JD, submission of an electronic transcript, etc. I have a JD and was qualified for the job, but both my undergrad and law school did not offer electronic versions of the transcript. I know that a sealed transcript is considered official, so I submitted a written paragraph as an attachment that explained this situation. I even offered to drive the 40 miles to the job location and hand deliver my official transcripts if needed.

Fast forward to now, November. The job is re-posted after they did not find a qualified applicant and no one was hired. I call HR and ask them how may I re-apply and/or update my application. I have now opened the sealed transcripts and scanned them to a jump drive, now verifying my education experience. Since then, I have been working now for 2 months as a voluntary intern in the field and have practical experience as well. I wanted to update my application or re-apply so that my new resume, transcripts, and references will support my qualifications. HR stated that the system will not allow me to re-apply because without my transcript and without verifying my education earlier, I did not meet the qualifications. The only advice she gave me was to next time make sure that all of my materials were complete. She added that even if this job were re-posted in a year, I would still be unable to apply.

This is a small university with one person working currently in the department where I am applying. I want to drive 40 miles to the job location and physically deliver my updated resume, official and sealed transcripts, printed application, and references. This would give me peace of mind to know that my file was not passed over due to a technicality. I have no problem with being passed over for a job, but I find it unsettling that I was labeled as not meeting the requirements of (Masters or JD), when I indeed possess a JD. Is my plan a good or bad idea? Any advice? Or am I better off not working for this company?

I wouldn’t drive there, because it sounds like this HR person will block you from applying anyway; her objection wasn’t that you couldn’t get her those materials now (since you can), but rather than she has already disqualified you and isn’t willing to reverse that.

So it might be a lost cause. But before you conclude that, I’d try emailing all your materials to the hiring manager directly, with a short and cheerful (not irritated) note explaining the situation. Be as brief as possible — two sentences, max. (Example: “I’d love to be considered for the X job, but because my law school transcript wasn’t electronically available when I first applied in August, Lucifer Bigglesworth in HR has told me I am permanently ineligible. However, I’ve since obtained electronic transcripts, and I’m hoping you’ll consider me a candidate.”)

This way you might be able to bypass this awful HR person who doesn’t understand that the goal of her job is to hire the right person, not to throw up bureaucratic and unnecessarily rigid roadblocks.

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

1. Should I tell job applicants about errors on their resumes and cover letters?

As I’m reviewing resumes, I frequently see errors on resumes and cover letters (spelling mistakes, grammar errors, things like that). Should I let a candidate know, in the interest of helping them out? I’m more inclined to want to mention it when it’s just one rather than when there are several.

Nah, not your job. I’m all for giving job candidates feedback once they’ve interviewed, but for simple spelling or grammatical mistakes and for people who aren’t going to be asked to interview, I think that’s something you need to leave them to manage on your own. (Plus, I’m doubting that you really have time for it or that it would be a good use of your time to do.)

2. I cried in front of our director when I was sick

The other day I was sick and ended up needing to leave early because I made a (last minute) doctor appointment. My team lead asked that I ask our director (my boss’s boss) if it was ok since my boss was on vacation and she didn’t feel comfortable giving me the go-ahead. When I went to the director’s office. I told her I wasn’t feeling well (headache and dizziness) and had made an appointment at my doctor but would need to leave right then. As I was telling her this, I started crying (I’m a crier when sick). I apologized and explained that I tend to cry when not feeling well. She told me to go ahead and asked if I would be ok to drive.

Now that I’m feeling better, should I apologize to her again? I don’t think I necessarily need to pop into her office but if I run into her in the hall or something should I bring it up or wait and see if she does? This is the second embarrassing interaction I’ve had with her and don’t want to come off as someone who is inept or awkward.

Side note: the first interaction was shortly after I started and we were on the elevator she made a comment about being tired and yawned…normal reaction might have been to say something about how it was almost the end of the day blah blah…my reaction “oh yeah, my cat likes to jump on me in the middle of the night blah blah…” pretty sure I came across as the creepy cat lady that day.

I don’t think you need to apologize in the sense of owing her an apology, but I think you’re right to acknowledge “hey, that was a slightly unusual moment between us” — especially since you’re feeling weird about it. I’d just pop your head in her door and say, “Thank you for being so kind to me last week when I was sick. Apologies for the emotion — that happens sometimes when I’m sick.” That’s it; don’t make it a bigger deal than that (and you can frame it more as a thank-you than an apology).

As for the elevator conversation, you’re overthinking it, I promise. That conversation doesn’t sound like anything to worry about.

3. My manager is delaying my performance review

It is that time of the year when my company does annual performance reviews that are typically followed with a raise and bonus. (These are usually done in October, so we are already a little late.) My boss had me fill out the evaluation over a month ago and then scheduled the review over two weeks ago. He’s not a morning person but scheduled my review for 9am and then came in at 9:30 saying, “Oh s***, we were supposed to do your review today!” In his defense, he has been very busy, but there hasn’t been much time to re-schedule, and he hasn’t mentioned re-scheduling my review since then.

The holidays are approaching quickly, and I’m starting to get concerned about if/when this is going to happen. We both have PTO coming up and will be in and out of the office at different times. I’d like to bring this up in an appropriate way, but I feel uncomfortable because we all sit in cubicles and several co-workers sit within ear shot. I don’t really want them to hear me bringing this up. What would you recommend?

“I’m eager to reschedule my evaluation. Could we do it on Monday?” If he doesn’t commit to a new date, then point out that you’re entering a period where you’ll both be in and out for the holidays. Basically, approach this as you would anything else you needed to get him to meet with you for; don’t make it more emotionally charged just because it’s a performance review.

Email this to him if you don’t want to be overheard (although the fact that you are getting a review like everyone else isn’t terribly sensitive information).

4. I missed an interview request that a company sent to me 14 days ago

I recently missed an email request (14 days ago) for a 30-minute discussion about a job application I submitted. How should I respond for being late?

“I was mortified to discover that I missed this email when it went to my spam folder. I realize you’ve probably moved forward in your hiring process, but if you’re still interviewing and I’m not too late, I’d love to talk with you.”

5. Were my college career center’s resume recommendations correct?

I’m planning to do a co-op/internship next semester for college credit. I went to my college career center to talk about my options. They way it works is, I tell them what I’m looking for, and they send my resume to companies aligning with my interests. Those companies will then (hopefully) contact me for an interview and if they like me, I will be hired on as their intern for next semester.

Now, because I have to send my resume through my college so they in turn can send it to those companies, I gave my resume to the lady for critique. My resume has 4 inches of white space at the bottom. To avoid having so much white space, she suggested I put down relevant coursework, my GPA, and a reference section. From what I’ve read about your advice on resume writing, they seem unnecessary to put down on a resume. So, my question is, do the same rules apply for internships as do “real world” jobs? I don’t have much experience, I’ve only held minimum wage jobs (server, retail cashier, childcare provider, hotel front desk, etc.). She said that by putting coursework (such as accounting, management, marketing, etc.) it will show companies that I am not at all clueless in those areas. My classmates have done co-ops/internships through the school before, and obviously they were able to find an internship with what I assume is the same resume advice I’m being given. So should I put down my GPA, coursework, and a reference section? These internships are supposed to be a learning opportunity, and perhaps companies would like to see what I’ve learned in school and such so they can better find out if I would be a great intern for them. Still, I would greatly appreciate your input!

It’s not that including those things will get you rejected; it’s just that they don’t really strengthen your resume. Ideally, you should try to figure out if there’s more you can play up about the kind of worker you were at the jobs you’ve had, even if they don’t seem like they’d lend themselves to accomplishments (the resume linked from this post is a great example of how to do that). But ultimately, if you want to pad some of that empty space with coursework, no one is going to be outraged or disgusted or anything.

That said, only include your GPA is it’s high or it could hurt more than it helps, and don’t include references at all, as they do not belong on a resume and that would be like including a haiku just to use up space.

To answer your first question, internships have the same resume rules as other jobs, but often when you’re applying for internships you have less work experience to flesh out the resume with.