Ask a Manager

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

1. Does my boss hold it against me that I leave work at 5:00?

I work at a small company(~15 people) and many employees work longer than 8 hours a day. I’m in the lowest position in my organization but feel I have about 8 hours of work a day on average. When I leave work after 8 hours, my boss looks at me like I’m insane. I was told during the interview that this job would be a primarily 9-5 job with some exceptions of longer hours some days.

The strangest thing is my boss made it very clear during my interview that the most important thing to him was that I got my work done on time and thus far I haven’t had any problems. I can’t tell if I’m just imaging things, but I’m terrified my boss thinks I’m lazy. Help!

If all you’re basing this on so far is a look, there’s plenty of room for misinterpreting. Sure, the look might mean “how dare you leave at 5?” but it also might mean “I had no idea it was 5 until I saw you leaving — where did the day go?” or “I envy your ability to leave at 5″ or who knows what else.

So why not ask him about it? Ask for feedback about how you”re doing overall, and as part of the conversation, say something like, “I might be misinterpreting, but do you have any concern about the hours I’m working? I generally work 9-5 but stay later if I need to in order to get my work done. I want to make sure we’re on the same page about your expectations there.”

2. A job that fired me says I can use them as a reference

I was recently discharged from my job, and the director of HR said I could use her as a reference. I was only employed for about 90 days from when I was hired and I wasn’t a temporary hire. I am confused why she would offer this to me when I was fired. Can you tell me if it would it be wise to use her name as one of my references or not a wise move?

I wouldn’t. First of all, you were only there 90 days, so they’re not going to be able to speak with any nuance about your work. Second, you were fired, so whatever nuance they do have isn’t going to skew positive. She probably offered because it felt like the kind thing to do, but I wouldn’t put her (or anyone from that job) on your reference list.

3. Is paying for LinkedIn worth it?

Is the premier Job Seeker membership tier on LinkedIn worth it? It’s pretty pricy, but I’d probably be more inclined to pay for this than some scammer job board site.

I don’t think so, but maybe others who have tried it can chime in. It does let you see who has viewed your profile, though, which is interesting information (although not especially useful, since you have no way of knowing if they viewed it and thought you were a great potential candidate or thought you were sadly lacking).

4. Is being introduced to the team a good sign at a job interview?

I have a question about a job interview I just did. Is being introduced to the team a good sign? I have read that it could be a good sign or that it does not matter. The hiring manager could do that every potential employee, right?

Yep. Some hiring managers do it with every candidate, some do it only with candidates they think are strong, some do it when they have time to kill during the period set aside for the interview, and some don’t do it it at all. You can’t really read anything into it.

5. Telling an employee that she’s disliked and should look for another job

Are there any ramifications to a manager and a supervisor for pulling in a current, good employee who they don’t like and telling them that they are not liked in the team and they should probably look for employment elsewhere?

Legal ramifications? No. (Assuming their action isn’t based on the person’s race, religion, etc.) Other ramifications? Sure. The person is probably going to feel horrible and start looking for another job.

Are you the manager or the employee in this scenario? If you’re the manager, you need to be more direct and give the person feedback on what the issues are (and agree on a transition out if that’s how you want it to go). If you’re the employee, take it as writing on the wall and start job searching.

(I should note that “you’re not liked here” is BS feedback … but in some cases it could be reasonable to say, “You’re having problems integrating into the team, which is causing problems X, Y, and Z.” So I’d want to know which it was before fully condemning the manager.)

6. Will a background check reveal that I quit my job recently?

I quit my previous job where I worked only 5 months because of an abusive manager. I was offered a new job contingent upon a background check; however, during the interview process I let them assume I was still working there because I didn’t want to say anything negative about why I left without finding a new job first. Now I am afraid they will verify my employment and find out I already quit a month ago. How should I handle this?

Did you lie to them about it, either on your resume or when talking to them? If you didn’t lie but rather just didn’t mention that you’d left that job, it’s not a big deal. You weren’t under any obligation to update them when you quit.

However, if you did explicitly lie, that’s a problem. Part of the point of a background check is to check your integrity and make sure the information you provided is accurate. If it wasn’t … well, yeah, that’s going to understandably be an issue. You’re better off owning the decision and not trying to hide it.

7. Should I mention I needed to revise an answer on a hiring exercise?

After an initial phone screen, I was asked to complete a timed technical exercise. The problems were emailed to me and I had to send back my responses within a certain time frame. That same evening, while thinking about the exercise more, I realized with horror that I had misinterpreted one of the questions (of only two) and submitted an incorrect response. I quickly sent a revised answer with a brief note explaining that I had realized my error and hoped my revision would be taken into consideration. I figured it was likely that I would never hear back.

The next week, I was asked to interview by phone with the hiring manager. I was prepared to discuss why I made the mistake and how I would prevent a similar error from happening while on the job. But it didn’t come up in our conversation, though the hiring manager did ask what experience I have doing the technical aspects of the job (this is actually the part of the job in which I am least experienced, but think I would enjoy).

Now, I’ve been invited to interview in person. My question is whether you think it would be useful to bring up the technical exercise, or if I should just not mention it unless they do?

They thought you were strong enough to invite to interview after that happened, so they presumably saw your revision and were satisfied by it. That said, I’d still probably say something anyway, just because it would bug me if I didn’t (and because it’s possible that saying something about it could move you from “barely made the cut due to that weird answer on the exercise” to “strong candidate with no reservations.”

So if there’s an opening to do this naturally, I’d say something like, “I hope you got the follow-up I sent to the technical exercise. I was mortified when I realized I’d misinterpreted the question originally.”

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

1. Do companies keep “do not hire” lists?

Do companies maintain a no hire list and is it legal to do? I asked because I applied to two positions with this company that are an exact fit for me. In addition, I know the hiring manager of the department. Unfortunately, I was never contacted. There is an employee at this company who I worked with for 11 years at a previous company. Before she was laid off from the company, she and I had a little disagreement. Could she have contacted personnel and besmirched my reputation?

Some do, most don’t (but most do know of candidates they’ll never hire, just without keeping them in a centralized list somewhere). And yes, such a list would be perfectly legal.

It’s possible that your former coworker has blacklisted you, but it’s more likely that you simply didn’t get contact for the same reason that the majority of job seekers don’t hear back from a single given company — they have tons of qualified candidate and are only going to interview a few of them.

2. Manager is asking me to find work to do — but there isn’t any

I’ve been in my current job at a university for about 13 years. Initially it was busy, as we were building a new program from scratch, but after a few years, I calmed down, and then eventually, other centralized departments started offering the same services that I provided. For the past few years, I have had nothing to do. Literally nothing. Last year my position was RIF-ed to half time due to underutilization. Before it happened my boss asked me to “come up with other things I could do for the department”. I’ve been re-educating the last 4 years, and have new skills, but none of them translate to this job. I had nothing to offer. I have a new boss, and I asked to meet with her to see if she had any ideas of what I might be able to do, and got the same thing – “come up with some ideas”. I thought of a few things, but they are so far from anything I know how to do or that I could get caught up on, I feel like I’d be setting myself up for failure.

Is it normal for managers to ask people to “think of something to do”? All of the responsibilities in my job description have been taken from me by other departments. I don’t think it’s right that I’m expected to come up with new things on my own. I’ve been trying to find other work for a long time, and I get no callbacks. Both in my old skillset, and my new one. The depression that this job causes affects my education and the rest of my life and it feels like I’m on the cusp of falling down a hole of unemployment and permanent homelessness. (I’m filing bankruptcy because at half time, this job doesn’t pay enough to pay my mortgage) I don’t know if I should quit and go work in food service to get out of the bad situation, or if I’d just be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

It’s not unheard of for a manager to ask an employee to figure out how their time can best be used, but the bigger point here is the one you’ve already come to on your own: You need to be looking for other work, because this position might not be around much longer if the work is no longer needed. I wouldn’t quit with nothing lined up though — both because of the income and because it’s often easier to find work when you’re already employed. There’s no point in leaving prematurely just because you know the job is likely to go away at some point. Plus, if/when it does, it will be a layoff, which means you should be able to collect unemployment benefits (which you can’t if you quit).

So stay there but keep job searching, and do it as actively as you can. I don’t know what your resume and cover letters are like, but if you’re not getting interviews, it would be worth taking a look at the advice here and seeing it if helps. Good luck!

3. Was my boss hinting I can take extra vacation days off the books?

I’m in my first real professional job and recently accepted a new position at my company in a different department. I was previously part-time, so I now get paid vacation days, but it’s a very slim amount. The other day, when my new boss was telling me she would be out of the office the next day, she asked if I would be in. I said, “Of course,” and she replied that she is very bad with keeping track of days out. I kind of nervously laughed and she said, “Seriously, I am.”

Was she implying that I can take off more days than technically allowed? I’m not trying to pull one over on my company and would finish all my work in the same way I would if I took an official day off. Also, since this is my first real job, I don’t understand much about how PTO works. The man previously in my position is at a new company, but I do know him so would it be inappropriate to ask him how flexible my new boss is on this policy?

Assume that there’s no flexibility on PTO unless you’re told that there is. It would be pretty unusual for for your boss to hint to you that you can take extra vacation days beyond what’s in your benefits package rather than just coming out and telling you that’s the case. So no, I wouldn’t assume that she was hinting at that at all, and I wouldn’t contact your predecessor to ask about it, since you risk that getting back to your boss and looking bad. Assume the number of vacation days you were told you have is in fact the number you can take.

4. Can I ask to do a second interview by Skype rather than traveling again?

I am writing you because I need your expertise! I am currently interviewing for a position that is in another city (five hours away). I had my phone interview with the HR manager, and then she invited me for a second interview. I took off of work and traveled to the city where I would be interviewing the day before so that I would be prepared for the next day ( the interview was 8:30 am). The HR manager sent me an email the day before the interview to let me know that two of the panelist were unable to make it and that she and another manager still would like to interview with me. However, I would need to come back and interview with the other members of the panel (there was no way around this).

Would I be wrong to ask if they can do a Skype interview with me for that second interview? I do not want to keep going back and forth. I spent a lot of money for gas, food, and hotel that I’m not getting reimbursed for.

Sure, you can ask that, and it’s not an unreasonable question for them. However, be prepared for the possibility that they will want to meet you in person (especially if the actual hiring manager who you’d be working for wasn’t in the first interview). Also, be aware that there’s some research coming out showing that candidates who do video interviews are perceived as less likable and are less likely to be recommended for hire. So if you really want the job, it might be in your best interests to go back in person, even if they’re willing to talk by Skype. (And yes, that is unfair, but it’s one of the realities when you’re looking at non-local jobs.)

5. I want the job that I turned down a few months ago

After graduating from college, I received an offer from a PR company. At the time, I did not want to work in PR and was unaware of the clients, so I turned down the offer since I had interviews with 3 other companies where I would have been offered a better package. Unfortunately, the companies turned me down and I was left jobless. This has been the most horrible 4 months of my life trying to find a new job and thinking about the PR job that I would enjoy now.

Would it be appropriate to reach out to the team again at the PR job and ask about a new position? I never gave them a reason as to why I turned it down and asked to stay in touch, but they just responded with “I’m sorry to hear you aren’t joining us.” I really believe that I made a mistake as I had gotten along with the team, enjoyed their client list and could see myself grow with the PR company now.

Sure, you can absolutely do that. Be prepared, though, for them to ask you why you turned them down last time. You don’t want your answer to be “I thought I could get something better” — you’ll want to have an answer that doesn’t sound like they’re your last choice and/or that you’ll be likely to leave them if something better comes up.

6. Should I tell interviewers about an internship I was offered but which got canceled?

Three months ago, I got accepted for an internship in a very big cosmetics company in Germany. (I’m a Vietnamese national studying in Finland for a bachelor degree in International Business). However, the timing was not good for both of us and my visa application for internship took longer than usual. They weren’t able to be that patient and decided to cancel the internship. It was a pity, but the internship was only optional for me (I completed the first and compulsary internship before that).

Now, I’m about to graduate within three months and have started applying for several companies in recruitment positions. I wonder if I should mention that I was accepted by such a big company like that in the interview or simply put it aside?

Don’t mention it. It’s not being accepted that really impresses people; it’s working there and having real accomplishments you can point to.

7. My biweekly paychecks don’t add up to my annual salary

I recently was calculating out my gross biweekly pay into my annual pay. My company is on a 26 biweekly pay period schedule. But when I multiply my paycheck amount by 26, it’s about $150 less than my annual salary. I emailed payroll, and they told me I have to multiply my biweekly paycheck by 26.1, to account for an extra paycheck every ten years. This made no sense to me since my office letter dictated a salary “annually.” Is this a common practice? I was paid monthly at my last job and am new to biweekly pay.

That’s not common, at least not in my experience. And their explanation is ridiculous — if there’s an extra paycheck every 10 years, they could simply adjust your biweekly checks in those years, rather than keep $150 of your money the other nine years.

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

1. Are email rejections impersonal? Should I use postal mail instead?

I like to respond to applicants who do not get the position they have applied for. I think it is just the right thing to do, as that way it is a point of closure for people. I was wondering however, is it somewhat impersonal to send an email rejection or as I call them “Thin Letter,” versus a mailed letter? Do you have any suggestions on how to make them less impersonal? I am moving from mailed letters to emails, but I just think it is still somewhat cold.

Actually, most applicants prefer email. It’s faster, and it’s a common mode of communication. It’s also kind of weird to apply online or by email, and then get a rejection letter in the mail. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if people felt the postal letters were more impersonal than an email.

What really matters is your wording. That’s where you have the opportunity to ensure you’re conveying warmth rather than chilliness.

2. My coworkers joke about my predecessors being fired

I’m relatively new at my job, and occasionally my coworkers joke about the people who have had my position before me who have gotten fired, including the details of escorting each person out. Am I paranoid to think I could be next?

Why not ask them what’s up? Pick the one who you have the best rapport with and say something like, “You guys have made so many comment about people in my position being fired that it’s hard not to wonder what that means for me. What happened with the previous people?” You’re hoping for a response like, “Oh, they were terrible and there were obvious warning signs, and we can all tell you’re different for them.” But you want to be alert for things like “there’s no way to please the manager,” “the role is set up for failure,” “people think they’re doing fine and the next day they’re fired,” etc. But just ask — they’re making comments, so the subject obviously isn’t off-limits … and it actually might be weirder NOT to ask in the context of those jokes.

3. Should I send a less-than-perfect work sample?

A job to which I’m applying wants five work samples. It also asks me to “Tell us about why you selected the samples of your work to submit.” This is a journalism job, and photography, while secondary, is becoming more and more a part of the online work I do. My photos have good composition but the lighting was not good and my camera is older. Is the poor lighting something I should acknowledge when submitting a particular work sample? In other words, is it okay to say, “While the lighting here is not ideal because I was indoors, this photo tells the story of the event”? Or should I just ignore the not-great parts of the photo and trumpet the positive?

I’d absolutely include the caveat about the lighting, because otherwise you’re likely to come across as someone who doesn’t realize it. It’s much better to acknowledge that you do get that than to seem oblivious. (Although if you had additional, stronger photos you could send as well, that could be helpful. And of course, if the job you’re applying for includes photography as opposed to just reporting, you’d definitely want to find better samples of that, because in that case the photos would be a much more relevant part of your work sample.)

4. Is my book deal hurting my job prospects?

I’m underemployed right now, in a somewhat complicated situation. I’m a writer. I do freelancing when I can, but most of my writing (that wasn’t for my previous job) is blogging I do in my spare time. I have a sizeable audience — enough that I’ve garnered a contract for a book coming out in a couple years.

I’ve put this information on my resume, because what’s better for a writer than to say “Hey, look, a book!” right there upfront, right? And I’m looking for writing jobs in fields similar to what my book is on (it’s nonfiction). But I realized after a few months of only getting a couple calls for interviews that my book deal might be hindering my search more than helping it. I may be giving potential employers the impression that I’m more concerned about my writing career and will leave as soon as that takes off.

I’ve tried to be as upfront about the book as I can in my job search and framed it (in cover letters and interviews) as “Writing is something I’m passionate about, and X position would help me in that endeavor and challenge me as a writer by Y and Z.” Am I approaching this in the right way? I don’t want to come off as someone who’s just looking for a day job to support her hobby, but I’m worried employers get that impression simply because I have a book coming out! Are my concerns legitimate?

Actually, I think the problem is less your upcoming book deal and more how you’re framing it. Look what you’re saying to them: “Writing is something I’m passionate about, and X position would help me in that endeavor” (employers aren’t interested in helping you in that endeavor; they’re interested in you helping them in their work) “and challenge me as a writer by Y and Z” (they’re not interested in challenging you as a writer; they’re interested in you getting their work done well). You’re presenting this all as YOU YOU YOU, when at the cover letter and interview stage of the hiring process, employers are much more about THEM THEM THEM. And if they did have any minor worries about whether you were more committed to your blog and book than to the job with them, that framing is going to blow it up in a major way for them.

Try refocusing on how your skills will help them and see if it doesn’t get you different results.

Read an update to this letter here.

5. My son is being treated unfairly at work

My 23-year-old son works in a manufacturing plant. He is very diligent and has a great work ethic. He has also been written up for items he was never told about. He was not made aware of the write-ups. He’s in school for electrical engineering right now and works third shift but works over often and is called in on nights that he is suppose to have off. He has learned all of the machines in the plant and comes in handy when they break down and is called upon to do this job. He is even asked to oversee testing of new machines.

Recently he has put in an application for mechanic and is being denied the job because of the write-ups. In my opinion, they’re working him hard and paying him minimal ($12.50/hour) because they have him between a rock and a hard place. He’s been with the company now 3-1/2 years. Something needs to give here. Any ideas?

If your son isn’t happy with his pay or his hours, and his employer isn’t willing to change those things, then your son would need to either accept that and decide he can be reasonably happy with the job anyway or start looking for a job somewhere else.

But keep in mind that this is his career, not yours. You can certainly give advice if asked, but he needs to steer this, not you. And meanwhile, be careful to avoid the “my kid is being treated unfairly” trap, which can be easy for parents to fall into when they’re only getting one side of the story — or even when they’re getting all of it, if they tend to think their kid is great and others should do a better job of recognizing it. (I’m not saying that’s the case with you — just throwing it out as something to think about.)

6. How should I list language proficiency on my resume?

I was recently certified at the Intermediate Mid level in a Spanish oral proficiency exam. I’m looking for advice on how to add this information to my resume. When I do a Google search for how to indicate language skills on a resume, I find most mention language ability in terms of being conversant, proficient, or fluent but rarely specify oral proficiency vs written proficiency. While I believe my skills are equal in terms of my reading, speaking, and writing ability, my certification is specifically for Spanish oral proficiency. Also, my certification was completed with a computer based exam but there is also a non-computer based exam, should I indicate that as well so that its clear which exam I took? Or is that overkill?

The certification is through the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages which is a respected organization but I don’t know that its well known outside of the fields of education or language testing. Because of the lengthy name, I’d like to use an abbreviation (ACTFL) instead but I’m not sure if this is appropriate when I’m unsure if it will be recognizable to the person reviewing my resume.

Finally, I was rated as Intermediate Mid. This rating is not redundant as they have Intermediate Low, Intermediate Advanced, Advanced Low, etc. I don’t know if this will be understood if I put it on my resume as Intermediate Mid. Should I simply state Intermediate?

I’m thinking that it will ultimately look something like this and might appear to be overly wordy and redundant:
Certificate in Spanish Oral Proficiency – Intermediate Mid Level, American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages Computer Based Oral Proficiency Interview, 2013

You’re including way too much information. Unless you are in a field where everyone will know and be impressed by that particular test, I’d just state it in terms of conversant, proficient, or fluent, just as your Google search suggested to you. You can add “oral and written” if you prefer.

7. Which post generated the most comments?

I noticed that the letter regarding the racist Halloween costumes has now generated 746 comments. I myself have been checking back to it for the past couple of days. The response activity made me wonder…what post (if not this one) has generated the most response from us?

That was the third highest ever, leaving out open threads (which have generated 900+ comments on occasion). The two that topped the Halloween costume post are:

bad interviewers and weird candidates – (858 comments — although to be fair, this was a request for stories)

can I expose this terrible interviewer? (771 comments)