a manager on another team criticized my work

by Alison Green on September 24, 2013

A reader writes:

I work for a manufacturing company in a technical position. I met with the tech team recently to go over some issues that we were having with product launches. Along with my manager, I wrote up a proposal that would include manufacturing requirements earlier in the design process. I was told to present this to several people for comment and suggestion via email, and did so.

Most of the feedback I received was positive, but one person who is above me in another department disliked it strongly. I received a phone call demanding to know what prompted the proposal. I told this manager of the meeting our team had (which this manager was invited to but did not attend) and mentioned that I worked with my manager, who approved the proposal being sent out. The dissenting manager criticized me and my experience, and directly blamed me for problems in the design and development process, saying that I was not engaged enough during meetings. I kept trying to (politely) defer the conversation until my manager was present and could speak as well, but this was denied.

My manager is out of the office in the upcoming few workdays, but I feel a bit trapped in the meantime. I take a great deal of pride in my work and want my projects to be successful, but I don’t know how respond to this effectively. The proposal was straightforward and did not blame any person or project. I don’t want to feel like I should avoid making proposals, but I also do not want to get chewed out for making one that somebody dislikes — and I feel this is especially difficult in light of the request to be more engaged. I don’t really know how to diplomatically navigate this.

Thanks for any advice at all. I’m admittedly rather weak on skills like office politics (though your blog is a tremendous resource for navigating situations), and a wiser head than mine would be appreciated immensely.

I’d bet money that this guy feels like the proposal reflects poorly on areas he works in — and/or that it would require additional work from him or his team, which he either doesn’t want to deal with or is annoyed that he wasn’t consulted about first. (And yes, I know he was invited to the meeting and didn’t attend, but he might legitimately feel like you should have looped him in separately once it became clear that it was going to involve his team.)

It’s also possible that there are legitimate reasons why the proposal wouldn’t work well. It’s even possible that he’s right in saying that you don’t have sufficient experience to understand the issues involved in the proposal, and it’s also possible that he’s right that you haven’t been engaged enough during meetings that would have helped you approach this differently. I have no idea, obviously — but it’s worth pointing out that these could be real things, and if they are, he’s not out of line to point them out.

And of course, he could just be a jerk. There are plenty of them.

Regardless, as for where to go from here, I’d just sit tight and talk to your manager when she’s back. Explain what happened and see what her take is. But this is key: When you talk to her, don’t sound wounded or irked by this guy — sound like you’re genuinely giving his concerns a fair hearing, because that’s going to make you a lot more credible. (And it’s also going to make things less awkward if she realizes that the other manager had a point.)

Beyond that … Being excited about something you’ve put together and then have someone else crap all over it is indeed frustrating. But part of making proposals for change is dealing with this reaction. Sometimes it will be legitimate (and you want to be open to that, because you want your final plan to be as strong as possible, which means gathering as much data as you can, including critical input), and sometimes it won’t be legitimate at all (because some people are just curmudgeons and resist all change). Being okay with both of those things will make you better at what you do. So don’t take this as a sign to avoid proposals in the future — just take it as an education about what the next part of the process often looks like.

Read an update to this letter here.

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how can I tell my coworkers their Halloween costumes are racist?

by Alison Green on September 24, 2013

Throwing this one out to the readers to weigh in on. A reader writes:

I wanted to ask your opinion of something since we are approaching Halloween. I’ve been at my current position for about 9 months and I just found out that we are having an office Halloween party next month where we are encouraged to come to work in costume for the day. I didn’t work here last year when they had the party and I’ve never worked anywhere that allows people to work in costume. Apparently, people in my office really get into the spirit and put together some really creative costumes. I’m pretty excited too because Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

I heard that some people are planning on wearing costumes like “Indian” (American Indian), Geisha, Gypsy and that someone did blackface last year for his “Basketball Star” Costume. What is your opinion on alerting coworkers that these types of Halloween costumes are racist? I am African-American and would be pretty offended if someone expected me to praise their costume if it included blackface, but I’m not sure how to express that, or bring it to everyone’s attention or even who I should tell.

I work in a small office with no HR department, although we do have an office manager who handles most of the personnel tasks. In the same vein, is it okay to tell a coworker discreetly on Halloween that their costume is racist? A lot of my coworkers are older and/or not very sensitive to racial issues and may not even be aware.

Readers, what say you?

Read an update to this letter here.

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{ 817 comments }

10 ways you’re making your employees less productive

by Alison Green on September 24, 2013

Most managers think a lot about whether your employees are being as productive as you need. But many don’t think about whether they might be standing in the way of people’s productivity themselves.

Here are 10 ways you might be derailing your employees’ productivity.

1. Being a bottleneck that prevents your staff from moving work forward. Do you insist on approving every minor detail or a project when you have experienced, competent employees who could easily handle those details themselves? Or maybe you really do need to approve work, but it sits in your in-box for weeks because you’re swamped with other things (or, dare we say it, less organized than you should be). Whatever the reason, if you’re acting as a bottleneck and keeping your staff from being able to drive work forward, it’s a sign that something needs to change – either you need to give them more authority to act without your approval or you need to reallocate your time so that you’re able to get them what they need without unreasonably long delays.

2. Not truly delegating responsibilities. Too often, managers use their staffers as “helpers” to the manager, rather than giving them real ownership and responsibility. This leaves the manager bearing the burden of spotting what needs to be done and assigning the work, and leaves staff members feeling that they’re only responsible for executing the specific tasks the manager assigns and aren’t empowered to act more broadly. It’s the difference between asking your assistant to make sure there are enough pads and pens in the conference room for an upcoming meeting versus telling her that she is in charge of all logistics for the meeting. If you tell her the latter, she might notice that while there are enough pads and pens, there’s trash all over the room and the speaker phone isn’t working – and fix those things proactively. (Bonus: Most employees will be happier with broader responsibilities than just executing individual tasks.)

3. Not conveying clear expectations. If you don’t communicate clear, concrete goals for staff members’ work, and ensure you have a shared understanding of what success in each role would look like, you’re falling down on one of your most important jobs. A good test: If you and your staff member were both asked what’s most important for them to achieve this year, would your answers match? If not, chances are low that you’re going to get the level of performance you’re hoping for.

4. Not giving useful feedback. If you want employees to perform at the highest level they can, you need to give them clear and direct feedback about what they’re doing well and what they could do better. You will get better work from people by helping them develop their strengths and tackle problem areas. (And remember that feedback isn’t just for criticisms – as the old saying goes, “Praise what you want to see more of.”)

5. Not allowing people to carve out time to concentrate. Are you guilty of always stopping by for impromptu conversations rather than scheduling regular one-on-ones? Have you discouraged employees who wanted to block off quiet work periods on their calendars, telling them instead to be accessible to colleagues at all times? If so, you might be impeding your employees’ productivity. While people of course need to be accessible and you don’t want to ban spontaneous conversations, in many jobs you need to balance that against employees’ need to focus. If you’re constantly interrupting their workflow or insisting that others be allowed to, their inability to deeply focus will be reflected in your team’s output.

6. Not asking people what they need to do their jobs better. You might think that you already know what your team’s needs are – but you might be surprised by what you’d find out if you asked. Many people won’t speak up on their own if they need new software, a faster computer, or other tools to do their job – but if you ask, they’ll often tell you.

7. Not letting people telecommute when the work allows it. Guess what happens when you let people work at home when they need to? Instead of people calling out sick or taking a full day off to wait for a repair person, they often still work on those days, because they can do it from home. (And what’s more, telecommuting is a benefit that earns many employees’ loyalty.)

8. Insisting on doctor’s notes in order to take sick days. If your company requires employees to present proof of illness when they need to take a sick day, it’s time to rethink that policy. Having to go to the doctor’s office when you have a cold just so that you can get a doctor’s note to show your employer is insulting – and it often results in employees coming to work sick, when they can’t focus and can’t produce at normal levels. It also means that illnesses get spread to more employees – which means more people not working at full speed.

9. Scrimping on training. As the economy has pushed companies to try to do more than less, budgets for training and development have taken a major hit. As a result, employees are often expected to produce results without getting much (or any) training – which can lead to serious inefficiencies, as people struggle to figure out software or other key elements of their job on their own.

10. Creating a climate of fear and anxiety. Ruling through rigid control, negativity, and a climate of anxiety and fear might ensure that no one steps out of line – but it also ensures that employees won’t bring up new ideas for fear of being attacked and won’t be honest about problems – which will limit what your entire team is able to accomplish. (Moreover, very few great people with options are going to want to work for a fear-based manager.)

I originally published this at Intuit QuickBase.

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applying for a job when the salary is too low, messing up at work, and more

by Alison Green on September 24, 2013

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

1. Posted salary is too low, but I should apply anyway?

An executive assistant position, reporting to the CEO and board of a nonprofit organization, has been advertised. I’m very qualified for the position, but the salary range they’ve listed is, at the high end, 30% less than I’m currently making; I can’t take that much of a salary cut. Should I apply for the position and, if offered, try to negotiate the salary up, or is this wasting everyone’s time?

Wasting everyone’s time. They’ve been clear about the salary they’re offering, and it’s dramatically below what you’d accept. It’s one thing if it was just a little bit below; then there might be room for negotiation. But it’s highly, highly unlikely that you could ever negotiate the salary up 30% higher. They listed the salary up-front for a reason; believe their ad.

2. Why hasn’t my promotion been announced?

I recently was promoted at my job (from analyst to senior analyst). I’m one of six people in my department. The promotion went into effect in the very beginning of August — both in my pay and also in our company listing of titles. When you hover over my name in Outlook, senior analyst comes up.

About two times a week, our company intranet announces all new hires and job changes/promotions for salaried employees (I am salaried). No announcement has been made here, nor has one been made in our many, many departmental meetings since the time of this promotion. As I mentioned, this is a tiny department. So far, everyone has noticed my Outlook title and taken me aside to congratulate me.

I’ve been hesitant to update my email signature or my LinkedIn title since no announcement has been made. I’m wondering if I’m supposed to keep this under my hat until such announcement is made, but at this point I think that won’t ever happen. I finally updated my LinkedIn but turned off the email blast that comes with, and updated my signature but stopped using it for internal communications. I’m sure I’m just being paranoid, but wanted to know your take on this. I want to be proud of my work and the recognition I got for it, but am left just feeling unsure of myself.

I would assume it’s an oversight and that it’s fine to update your email signature (since your pay and title changes have gone into effect and since no one has told you not to). But since you’re unsure, why not just ask your manager instead of wondering and worrying? Say something like, “Since my promotion hasn’t been officially announced to the staff, is it okay for me to change my email signature to the new title, or is there anything I should be waiting for first?”

Direct, straightforward, problem solved.

3. When should I tell an interviewer that I need to leave at 5 every day to pick up my child?

I am trying to get my foot in the door in a stable interior design company. I have been grappling with this for awhile: In an interview, when do I bring up that I must leave at 5-ish (not 6:30-ish or beyond) — every day. This is because I have the responsibility of being a mother (who must pick up her child and care for him at the end of the day). Also, it is really 5 pm, and unfortunately not much leeway because childcare itself ends on a strict schedule.

The kind of interior design firm I would like to work for is usually larger with projects that can suddenly have needs at the end of the day. (Ie., someone is leaving for out of town and needs x,y & z done by the next morning; meeting coming up, etc.)

I have gotten the impression from others’ advice that bringing up “kids” is almost a taboo word when interviewing for a job. I do understand why this may be the case, but it is a reality for me. I do find it hard to think that this should be an unwelcome aspect to me as a potential employee, but it is a very real one. Do you have any ideas as to how this should be brought up during an interview?

Well, first, don’t bring it up until you have an offer — because at that point they’ve already decided they want to hire you and may be more willing to make concessions. But second — and maybe more importantly — it sounds like the type of firm you’re targeting (ones with projects that have sudden end-of-day needs) might be incompatible with the schedule you can work right now. You might need to look at other types of companies that are more likely to be able to accommodate the schedule you need; otherwise, you might just be setting yourself up for hearing it won’t work.

4. Talking about an employer’s mission in my cover letter

I graduated with an MS almost a year ago and am still waiting to get an interview. I learned that writing about the company’s mission in your cover letter impresses them. I think I’m making a mistake by reading the mission statement oon the company website, and summarizing it as best as I can in the first paragraph of my cover letter. Even after summarizing or paraphrasing, it still sounds like I just copied and pasted their mission statement. Is this causing them to toss my application? What can I do to improve my chances of getting an interview?

Yeah, don’t do that. They know what their mission is; they don’t need you to restate it for them. I suspect the advice you’re thinking of is that it’s helpful to talk in your cover letter about why the organization’s mission interests you — but that’s very different than simply regurgitating it.

5. My manager is pushing me to say when I’ll return after surgery

I’m having a personal surgery done. I told my manager the date of my surgery and told her I don’t want to get into it because its private. I told her a few months ago and she was fine with it. I just said I’d need a few weeks off. Now she is asking me the date I’m returning to work. How do I answer this when I don’t even know? My surgery is coming up soon.

Well, yeah, of course she wants to know when you’re returning; that’s completely reasonable. If you can’t predict with certainty, you need to give her a likely date, along with the caveat that you can’t predict with precise certainty when your doctor will say you’re able to return — something like, “I expect to return on October 15, but with this type of surgery, that could end up being off by a few days in either direction. Let’s plan on the 15th, and I’ll update you either way one week before.”

6. Did I come across terribly on my second day of work?

I’m 17, and today was my second day of work. This is my first job. My manager left work and left my assistant on the floor. When it was time for me to leave, I asked my assistant manager if I could go, and she told me to fold all the clothes on the front tables before I left and put them in size order. So I did and she came over and told me I didn’t fold the shirts right, and so she messed up all my clothes I had just done. Then as I was fixing them, she went to my previous table and she found that one skinny jean was in the wrong spot, so she told me to just go home. Now I feel like I really messed up and she is going to tell the manager I didn’t do my job. After I left the store, I got really upset because its only my second day and I didn’t mean to mess up.

People mess up on their second days; it’s normal. Don’t freak out. The next time you’re at work, make sure that you’re catching on to what they’re training you in, and if you feel like you don’t quite have it, it’s fine to ask to be shown how to do a particular task again. In the future, though, if something like happens, a better way to handle it is to say, “I didn’t realize I’d done these wrong. Could you show me how to do them correctly?” That shows that you’re interested in getting it right, and it generally will make a better impression than saying nothing. Good luck!

7. Should I confirm my new job offer (again) before I give notice?

I am putting in my two weeks notice on Wednesday so I can move to a job that I accepted three weeks ago. I did have the offer in writing. Since it has been a while, would it be weird if I check in with the new company to make sure nothing unforeseen has come up before I put in my notice? It feels a bit weird to me, but I’d hate to put in my notice and then find out an hour later that the offer is rescinded. I have no reason to think it would be; this is jusy me being paranoid!

You can absolutely check in with them. Don’t make it sound like you’re worried the offer might have fallen through, though; just say you want to confirm the start date since you’re about to give notice. I’d say something like, “I’m about to give notice to my current employer, and before I do I wanted to confirm that a start date of X is still looking good to you.”

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is it fair to reject these two job candidates?

by Alison Green on September 23, 2013

A reader writes:

Our HR department is pretty lousy, despite us being a large organization and a big name in the industry. And so I ended up dealing with applicants we were interviewing for a position in my team directly. These applicants are all fresh graduates and have given me serious grief. Throughout the process, I felt I have had to run after the candidates on the shortlist to set up interviews, almost like they weren’t really interested in the position although they had applied.

So long story short, we decided on two candidates after the first round interviews to take them forward to the final interview. I got in touch with both candidates about their interest in taking the interview over the next few days since we have to book a slot with our partners, which is not an easy task. One candidate seemed very shifty about it and asked for time to think about whether he wants to take the second interview, then emailed me later asking me about salary package and roles and responsibilities before he decided whether he wanted to come in for the interview. Since we had provided a very clear job description in the advert he had applied through and we had also discussed it during he first interview, I am annoyed by the dilly-dallying about a simple yes/no response to whether he wants to take interview or not. I responded to his email but he has not gotten back to me either.

The second applicant very enthusiastically said he is very interested. I have called him back three times over two days since then to inform him of the time his interview has been scheduled for but he did not answer his phone or call back, although he certainly has the number I call from (since I had spoken to him a number of times when literally chasing after him to schedule the first interview). I emailed him but no response to that as well.

I’m bewildered at this lack of response. We are no longer interested in either of these candidates because we feel their attitude is quite unprofessional. Is it alright to send them rejection emails now, although technically we were in the process of scheduling the second interview which both did not respond to in the timeframe requested?

I would really like to know your thoughts on whether rejecting these candidates on this basis would be unfair/ unprofessional of us.

Yes, it’s reasonable to take these two candidates out of the running and move forward with others instead. However, I’d take a different approach with each.

For the person who is still thinking over whether he wants to come in, it’s certainly reasonable for him not to have his mind made up yet about whether he’s interested in the job or to ask for time to think over an offer — but taking this long to decide whether to even come in for an interview is a bit much. You don’t need to explain all that in your rejection email, though; you can simply write something like, “Just wanted to let you know that since we haven’t heard back from you, we’ve decided to move forward with other candidates instead. Best of luck in your search.”

But for the candidate who hasn’t responded to your repeated attempts to contact him about an interview, realize that while it’s certainly possible that he’s decided he no longer wants to pursue the position and just hasn’t bothered to tell you, it’s also possible that he’s on vacation (and away from his phone and email), dealing with a family emergency, or something like that. That doesn’t mean that you have to pause your hiring process meanwhile, but it does mean that you should account for that in the way you word your response. I’d say something like, “Since we haven’t heard back from you, I’m assuming you’re no longer interested in the position. Best of luck in your search.” That way, if it was something like being out of the country, when he sees the email he can respond to let you know what the situation was, and if you’re (a) still interviewing at that point and (b) satisfied with his explanation, you could put him back in the mix if you still wanted to.

Now, totally aside from this … What’s up with your candidate pool “giving you serious grief”? That tells me that something is going wrong in the hiring process. (Or, to be fair, that this is a position that by its nature isn’t going to attract the cream of the crop; those certainly exist, and you can’t always fix that.) It’s worth taking a look at whether there’s anything in your hiring practices that might be causing this: Where are you advertising? How are you talking about the position in your ads? Are you actively looking for and recruiting good candidates to build your pool, or are you just waiting to see who responds to an ad? How long are you taking to get back to people (since the best people may drop out of your pool earlier on when they get other opportunities)? What’s your screening process like? How are you selecting the people who move forward? What signals are you sending during the hiring process about your culture?

I don’t mean to say this is your fault, or your company’s fault. It’s certainly possible that you just got a crappy batch of candidates; it happens. But because it’s happening, I’d take a look at some of the questions above and make sure everything on your end is set up to attract and identify good candidates and screen out the rest.

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can we forbid employees from bringing their wives with them when they travel?

by Alison Green on September 23, 2013

A reader writes:

Our company is located in California, and sometimes our employees have to spend the night at a job site and the company pays for their hotel room and meals. Can we forbid an employee from having his wife/girlfriend come out and spend the night with them? I would like to make a policy that forbids employees from having visitors (girlfriends/wives/etc.) come out to a site when they are working and specifically spend the night.

I wrote back and asked, “What is your rationale for wanting to ban it?”

The letter-writer: Several concerns: 1) I don’t watch to encourage an atmosphere for sexual harassment 2) Specifically if the guys go have some beers after work.

Me: “I’m not sure I’m understanding the concern. If someone brings a girlfriend or spouse, how would that encourage sexual harassment?”

The letter-writer:  These guys are in their 20’s and tend to have fun and get a little rowdy in the evenings…we would prefer that they don’t have any distractions. I would think that the company could make this stipulation as long as we’re consistent with all employees.

Me: “Sorry to press this point, but what’s the sexual harassment concern? That’s not making any sense to me. If they’re with people who they’re in consensual relationships with, what’s your interest in preventing that?”

The letter-writer: The one guy has his girlfriend up there, but there are 4 other guys also on the job. I have no problems/issues with the one guy and his girlfriend, that’s definitely consensual…but add in alcohol with 4 other guys and I’d rather just restrict it and make it 100% work.

I’m still not getting it. Are you concerned Employee A is going to harass Employee B’s girlfriend? Or harass his own girlfriend, or what?

Regardless of your rationale, these are adults. Why are you interested in micromanaging what they do in their off time? And why do you have employees who you trust so little?

In any case, if you’re not paying them for their time after work, then I don’t see what possible justification you can have for controlling whether and how they socialize when they’re off the clock.

If you want to make rules about who they hang out with, I strongly suggest you pay them for that time, so that you have some sort of claim to it. Otherwise, it’s not yours.

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how to talk about your weaknesses in a job interview

by Alison Green on September 23, 2013

How are you supposed to answer the super-common job interview questions, “What are your biggest weaknesses?”

After all, what job candidate wants to give an employer a reason not to hire them? When you’re focused on trying to convince an interviewer that you’re right for the job, the last thing you want to do is to tell them all the areas where you need improvement. And as a result, this question can feel like a trap – does the interviewer truly expect you to divulge your weak spots, when the answer could work against you? No wonder job-seekers hate it.

For years now, the common advice about this question has been to answer with a strength disguised as weakness: Say you’re a perfectionist, or that you work too hard, or that you have trouble leaving work behind when you go home at night. But unfortunately for job-seekers who try these answers, interviewers are increasingly refusing to accept them. And that’s no surprise, since they’ve become well-known clichés that scream “I’m giving you a fake answer to avoid an honest response to this question.” Savvy interviewers will refuse to accept these disingenuous answers and will push back for a more sincere answer.

So what do you do when faced with an interviewer demanding that you lay bare your weaknesses?

For starters, recognize that it’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s in your best interests not to end up in a job that plays to your weaknesses – so it’s best to find out now whether your weaker points will be deal-breakers in this job. If they are, it’s far better to find that out now, rather than get fail at this job or get fired from it.

Moreover, candidates who talk with ease about both their strengths and their weaknesses come across as humble, self-aware, and comfortable with themselves – qualities most employers are looking for. They also come across as thoughtful partners in the hiring process – and most hiring managers are impressed to see that you’re as concerned about making sure that the fit is right as they are.

That means that you should come prepared with an honest assessment of your weak spots. What have you struggled with in the past? What have past managers encouraged you to do differently? If you could wave a magic wand over your head and change something about your professional skills or traits, what would it be?

Once you have that answer, don’t stop there. Part two of formulating a strong response to this question is to think about what you’re doing to combat those weaknesses. You don’t want to just say, for instance, that you’re disorganized and leave it at that. But you certainly could say, “A few years ago, I realized that I didn’t have organization systems that worked for me, and as a result, I had trouble keeping track of everything I wanted to be juggling. So now I’m vigilant about writing everything down and making to-do lists. I check every morning to make sure that nothing has slipped through the cracks and I know what all my priorities are for the day and the week, as well as longer term. I know I’ll have to be a list-maker forever, because without them, my natural state is a less organized one.”

In other words, talk about the weakness and talk about how you’re controlling it.

No sane hiring manager is going to reject you for admitting that you have some weaknesses, since everyone does (interviewers including). But they’ll respect you for talking honestly with them, and you’ll benefit from being able to honestly discuss how those weaknesses might or might not impact you in this particular job – and that’s information you need in order to make good job decisions for yourself.

I originally published this at U.S. News & World Report.

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managing a lying sister-in-law, unsigned letters of complaint, and more

by Alison Green on September 23, 2013

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

1. I manage my sister-in-law, and she’s going to skip out on work

Through a set of unusual circumstances, I have wound up supervising my sister-in-law. While this is not in line with the policy of my organization, management has taken a blind eye approach to the situation. And here is why it is against policy. I have found out from another family member that this employee has planned a day trip on a day she is supposed to be working. Not only working, but is in charge of a program for the public that is taking place during that particular shift. If my employee calls in on that day, what do I do? The only reason I know the truth is because we are family. Otherwise, I would just accept whatever lie she is going to tell me and not question it.

This is indeed is one of the many, many reasons why people shouldn’t manage friends or family. But for some reason you do, and you and she have both allowed it, and yes, you are seeing evidence that it’s a bad idea.

But in this situation, you’re getting tripped up by the fact that you feel that you only know her real plans for the day in question because of family connections. And that may be true — but as a manager, there are many times when you get information through other than official channels — maybe not family members, but other employees, or a chance glance at Facebook, or running into someone at a sports event when they they told you that morning that they had pneumonia. This isn’t much different than that. You can’t pretend not to know it; the reality is that you do. If she’s calling out sick in order to go to a pre-planned day trip on a day that you need her at work, you need to address that just as you would if she weren’t a family member and you found out some other way. You could certainly talk to her ahead of time in the hopes of heading it off, but ultimately you’re going to need to put family connections aside and do your job. (And frankly, your sister-in-law should have considered that it might get back to you — and she shouldn’t be putting you in this position.)

Read an update to this letter here.

2. Can we send an unsigned letter with our concerns to our main office?

I work in a branch of a main office about 45 minutes away. We do have an office manager. We’ve been having issues with burn-out (it’s a hospice) and lack of management from our director of nursing. Many issues and concerns have been brought to her attention and seemingly disregarded. Our office manager is very concerned about the morale and interactions among staff. He has been proactive in checking in with staff and noting concerns. The problem? Although he is doing all this, he admits he really has no authority to address or change anything. He had encouraged staff to speak with admin in the main office. I would expect, in his role, he would address this during manager meetings.

Would it be professional/appropriate to compose an unsigned letter voicing staff concerns and inter-office mail it? I’m pretty sure I know your answer; face to face is always best!

Yeah, don’t email a letter like that. If you have concerns, talk to someone in person. And drop this “unsigned” idea — people take concerns much more seriously when they know who they’re coming from and that those people aren’t hiding behind anonymity. If you’re not comfortable doing that, then tell your office manager that you’re not, and encourage him to speak up himself, since he’s the one who seems to be organizing and driving this push for changes.

3. When I got to work, all my things were in a box

I arrived to work late this morning and missed a team meeting. When I arrived, my stuff was in a box in a drawer. I thought I was fired, but after their meeting I was given more work. More than usual, as well. No one said anything, not even my boss. I was afraid to ask as this would probably give them the opportunity to fire me. I am hoping this will just go away, as I find it odd that no one has formally said anything to me. I have had some issues with attendance but in the other hand, I have increased production at work and am one of the highest/top performers. I know that I can still be fired regardless, but I carry the entire team, and I know that isn’t fair to start with. But I like feeling needed so I don’t complain too much. I don’t try to take advantage of that. I needed to take personal days off for bereavement, etc. I’ve had a few verbal warnings and I am really working as hard as I can. I also got a new manager about two months ago. Anyway, what do I do?

You’re assuming they wanted to fire you because you found your stuff in a box, but you were afraid to ask about it, so you just continued working as usual?

Your stuff could have been in a box for some other reason — they were spraying for bugs or moving desks or who knows what. It’s a bizarre thing to find and not ask about, so ask. If they wanted to fire you, they would have — it’s not like they forgot and will be reminded when you ask about the box.

4. How to calculate my hours as an independent contractor

When I work as an independent contractor, what is the correct way to count my hours that I will bill? Say I work from 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and I take 2 breaks of 15 minutes each and a 30-minute lunch break during that day. Should I bill for 9 hours or 8 hours? Should this kind of work situation include the standard break times under most state laws (15 minutes every 4 hours; meal break paid or not paid, etc.)? I’m transitioning from a salaried position where I supervised hourly employees to where I am working on my own and billing for my hours. Thank you for helping me to understand how to correctly handle this. [As a contractor, I do know to plan and allow for my projected self-employment tax.]

As an independent contractor, state laws on breaks don’t apply to you. If you’re billing hourly, you bill only for the time you actually worked — so if you take breaks or lunch, you don’t bill for those.

5. I don’t want to fill out time sheets in advance

I’ve been working (part-time) in my current job for almost 3 years. In that time, there have been four occasions where I have not been paid for multiple weeks. I’ve had to go back through all of my records to find the exact weeks, exact hours, plead my case, and finally, months later, be paid. The last time this happened we had to threaten legal action (which I HATE to do!).

We have just recently hired our third interim CFO since I’ve been here. She has another “new way” of doing things. They’ve asked me to submit a time sheet for the week I’m currently working on Tuesday evening. I work Monday through Thursday, and my time sheet covers Sunday through Saturday. They will not allow me to alter the sheet to something like Wednesday through Tuesday. I don’t feel comfortable filling out a time sheet for two days I haven’t even worked yet. What if I get sick? Or work overtime? I live in California and am paid from Virginia. What laws do I fall under?

This is governed by the laws of the state you’re working in, which is California in your case. But that’s probably irrelevant here, unless California has some bizarre law on time sheets that I don’t know about (which is certainly possible). Companies can require you to handle time sheets however they want, but they need to pay you for all hours worked, including time and a half for any hours worked over 40 in a given week if you’re non-exempt. So it’s fine to ask you to fill out a time sheet in advance as long you have a way to report (and get paid for) any hours above what you pre-reported. In other words, the law cares about what hours you’re paid for, not what reporting scheme you use to do it, as long as that system is accurate.

6. Do I need to “resign” from a job I never started at?

I filled out and submitted employment paperwork about 3 months ago for a company that says they will be “calling me in” when they have more income. (By the way, I have never received an offer letter.) I’ve now been offered some contract work by a second company with the condition that I sever any relationship that I might have with that first company before they bring me on. Since I have never worked any hours under the first company, do I need to “resign”? My view is that it is polite to let the first company know that I will not be able to start with them (if and when) and won’t be able to work with then during the period under which I’m contracted to the second company. But I’d like to be sure that I don’t have to formally “resign” from the first company.

There’s no need to formally resign, since you’ve never started working for them. (And frankly, that might never come to fruition — so far it doesn’t sound like there’s any real commitment on their side.) However, it would be courteous should let them know that you’ll be unavailable for whatever period you’re doing work for the second company — just as you would let them know if you accepted a full-time job somewhere and thus wouldn’t be available for them anymore. Just say something like, “I’ve accepted contract work for months X-Y and won’t be available during that time, but would be interested in working with you afterwards if work becomes available.

(Of course, you don’t even need to do that if you don’t want to. You could wait and see if they contact you, and if they do, you could tell them then. Doing that could provide you with more insight about how likely they really are to extend any work to you. Either of these options is fine.)

7. Explaining to my manager why my career goals have changed

In the last couple of years, I’ve started in a new career path that I’ve really enjoyed. The career plays to my strengths and I am doing good work. There is a lot of career mobility if one is ambitious, and I have been really attracted to the idea of excelling in this career. I have expressed interest to my supervisor about potential career opportunities and the ball started rolling. I would really enjoy the work of the next career step, which is a traveling position.

However, I have young children. I had talked to my partner about accepting a traveling position in the future, but my partner was under the impression that this would be far in the future, not in the next few years. My partner is now upset at this career trajectory and the negative impact it would have on our family and my partner’s career now that immediate plans are in place.

Is it possible to step back without losing face professionally? How do you change a career trajectory without looking wishy-washy? I do recognize that a lot of this issue is a personal nature that I need to work out with my partner. My question pertains about how to tell my supervisor that my career goals have changed, if I choose to do so.

You could say, “I’ve thought more about the logistics of traveling so much while my kids are young, and I’ve realized that I should wait X more years.” Or you could simply say, “There are some things in my life that would make frequent travel difficult right now. I’d like to pursue this in the future, but probably not for the next X years.”

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what does “we’re ironing out the details” mean when I’m waiting to hear back about a job?

by Alison Green on September 22, 2013

A reader writes:

I have recently interviewed at an amazing company for an internship program that they have open for this semester. I had two phone interviews on the same day and had two in-person interviews the following week. After each interview, I sent a personalized thank you e-mail within 24 hours. A week after the in-person interviews, I left a voicemail for the hiring manager, and today (a week and a half after my last interview) I sent in a follow-up email following what you outlined on your “ask for a timeline” post.

She sent back a response within an hour saying that she doesn’t have a timeline and that she will let me know as soon as they finish “ironing out the details.” I feel like most of the details would be ironed out since it’s an internship program that they have proudly acclaimed to have run for years. I also thought that they would begin the program soon since it’s already a couple of weeks into the fall semester.

Should I be worried that this may just mean that they don’t like their current candidates (i.e., me)? I’m sure they’re still not interviewing since they probably need to pick an intern as soon as possible. I was very optimistic after all of those interviews went well but now I’m not too sure.

It could mean all sorts of things. For instance:

* the past funding for the program has fallen through and so they’re figuring out where it will come from this year
* the person who used to manage the program left or otherwise can’t do it this year so they’re figuring out who will (or whether anyone even can)
* they have higher priorities that they’re focusing on right now, and they haven’t had enough time to focus on selecting people for internships yet
* the person who championed the program in the past left, and they’re thinking about whether/how to continue it
* they’ve made offer to their first choices for internships, and they’re waiting to hear back from those people before notifying other candidates
* something else entirely

It’s impossible to know from the outside which of these it is. Speculating won’t do you any good, but will likely drive you crazy.

But what you do know for sure is that you don’t currently have an offer from this company. Until you do, you should proceed as if you won’t, and make whatever decisions you would make for yourself if you received a firm rejection from them. That doesn’t mean that you will eventually get rejected by them (you might get an offer, you might get a rejection, or you might never hear an answer from them at all), but because you have no way of knowing what the outcome will be, you need to proceed as if there won’t be an offer and make decisions for yourself accordingly. If they do come back to you with an offer at some point, let it be a pleasant surprise, and decide at that point what you want to do.

But sitting around waiting to hear something, when there’s no guarantee that you ever will — and when, statistically speaking, most people in your shoes will be rejected — is a recipe for causing yourself stress and anxiety and for making bad decisions that you wouldn’t have made if you’d known that this job wouldn’t come through (such as not pursuing other work in the meantime).

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was this raise rescinded as punishment, publicizing employees’ ages, and more

by Alison Green on September 21, 2013

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

1. What should I say if my manager asks if I’m job searching?

I work in a large department in a nonprofit with a fairly high turnover rate. In this department, i work in a small team of four plus my supervisor. I’ve been in at this nonprofit for two years. Morale has been notably low since my supervisor was hired (her management style leaves a lot to be desired). Shortly after she was hired (less than a year ago), one team member quit and the other gave his notice this week. This makes me the most senior person on my team. I think they may ask me point-blank if I am job hunting (I am). What would be the best way to handle a boss asking this question?

“No.”

It’s rarely in your best interest to let your employer know that you’re job searching before you’re ready to leave. If you tell them, you risk being pushed out before you’re ready to go. (There are some exceptions to this, like if you have a great manager who makes it clear that it’s safe for you to be candid with her, but that doesn’t sound like the case here.)

If you’re worried about saying you’re not job searching and then quitting soon after, you can say that you weren’t actively looking and the opportunity fell in your lap. They’re not entitled to candid answers to this question unless they set the stage to show you candor is safe.

2. Was this raise rescinded as punishment?

A friend (I’ll call her Vanessa) is seriously overworked. Without getting into too much history, she has literally been doing the job of two people for over a year now. They finally hired a manager for her, but the workload hasn’t stopped or slowed down as this person gets up to speed, takes lots of vacation and days off, etc. To their great credit, her organization recognized her hard work, long hours, working 7 days a week for months at a time, etc., and rewarded her with a bonus and a nice raise. It was promised to appear in this paycheck.

Since the promise about the raise and bonus, an issue arose stemming from some duties that Vanessa was specifically responsible for, details of which were overlooked, that caused some fairly significant problems. Everyone told her they understood that the issue was the direct cause of her aforementioned long hours, hard work, and multiple balls in the air she is expected to juggle daily, and she was lightly reprimanded, but that’s it.

This paycheck arrived today, and Vanessa’s raise and bonus were not included in it. No one has spoken to Vanessa about rescinding the raise and the bonus due to the issue mentioned above, but Vanessa has a sinking suspicion that this is how she’s being punished for what happened. Can a promised pay raise and bonus be rescinded as punishment without informing the employee first?

Yes. Employers can change your rate of pay at any time, as long as they don’t do it retroactively. If Vanessa didn’t have a written contract specifying the date the raise was to take effect, then they can certainly do this. However, she shouldn’t just assume that it’s her unspoken punishment; she should ask about it. First, because it could just be a mistake or misunderstanding — they could have intended the raise to go through and don’t realize that it didn’t, or it might not be effective until the next payroll (or beyond). Second, because it’s not cool to rescind a raise without telling someone; that would actually be pretty unusual. So Vanessa should go talk with her manager and ask about it.

3. Resigning when you know you’ll be told to leave immediately

I have worked for a small, family-owned business for over 7 years. During that time, not one employee, including the owner’s daughter, has been allowed to work after submitting their two weeks notice. Everyone has been immediately escorted out of the building after being severely berated for their “traitorous” actions toward the business and the family.

I will be starting a new job and can’t afford to lose a paycheck for two weeks. My new job has a set training schedule so starting early would not be an option. I am seriously considering leaving a time delayed email resignation, leaving and not going back. This really goes against all my ethical standards, but I’m not sure what to do.

Companies that make people leave as soon as they give notice are forfeiting their right to normal notice periods — since no employee in their right mind would expect that notice period to be honored. The employer has broken their side of the social contract around two weeks notice, and thus you are no longer bound by it in your dealings with them either. (That said, you might as well tell them you’re giving them two weeks notice, even though you’re planning to start your new job immediately, since they’re going to make you leave anyway — no reason for them to know that they have lack of notice to hold against you. In other words, offer two weeks notice but do it on the last day you plan to work, since you know they’ll have you leave that day.)

However, don’t resign by email. That’s cowardly and will taint your reputation among anyone who hears about it. Resign in person, knowing that they’ll send you on your way that same day.

4. Posting employees’ ages on company website

Is it legal for a company to publish employees’ ages on the company website?

I was recently asked to update everyone’s bios and compile a list of birthdays and current ages. The purpose was to update the “about us” section of the website to include bios and ages. As far as I know, you can ask for a date of birth for certain forms and HR issues, but for marketing and public-facing internet material? Not so sure.

Sure, that’s perfectly legal. There’s no law protecting people’s ages from being posted online. Hell, you could post mine online if you wanted. But it’s weird — why would your company think that its customers would care about employees’ ages? People don’t really identify themselves by age once they hit adulthood.

Since you’re in charge of coordinating this project, why not push back and say something like, “Is it okay if I skip the ages? I think people will be uncomfortable having those posted, and customers will be more interested in the bios anyway.”

5. Applying for a job with a company whose contest I recently won

I won a contest a few months ago (just a simple Twitter enter-to-win type of thing) and was contacted by an employee of the company that works in my field to give me the winning information. I recently began job hunting and was wondering if it would be inappropriate or a turn-off to contact her. I just want to introduce myself, let her know my passion for the company, and ask if I can send her my resume for consideration in case any positions open up. Just FYI, I am an entry-level candidate, albeit with considerable internship experience and currently employed in my first full-time position, which for a variety of reasons isn’t working out.

Sure, you can do that. There’s nothing wrong with that. But make sure you have an outstanding cover letter — which is always the case, of course, but especially when trying to use an (admittedly fairly flimsy) connection.

6. My company is doing layoffs — should I be job searching?

I have been working at a large corporation for nine months as my first intended-to-be-long-term job. It is not what I imagined myself doing (I planned to go into nonprofit work and still ultimately see myself moving there after I build up more experience) but I enjoy my job, get along with my boss and coworkers, am well compensated, and am generally quite content to stay where I am. However, my company is undergoing financial trouble. There have been significant layoffs over the past year or so and management has implied that there are more layoffs coming. Some rumors say that almost half the employees may be let go.

I think I have been doing a good job (no complaints in my performance review) and have been working hard to take on new areas after other members of my team quit or were laid off. That said, I am the least experienced person on my team and am scared that I may end up on the chopping block. I don’t want to be a job hopper and abandon this job (that I really like!) so soon after my company took a chance on me and invested so much into training me. But nor do I want to find myself unexpectedly unemployed! Should I be job-searching?

Yes, you absolutely should be. You don’t have to take a job that’s offered to you if you don’t want to, but you should get the process started because job searches can take a long time. You could start searching now and still not have an offer in six months — so you should get a head start now, in case you are indeed laid off down the road. You don’t want to be starting from scratch then.

If you do get an offer and you still don’t know where your company’s layoffs stand, you can evaluate your options then. But the point is to start generating options for yourself now, so that you’re not left without many.

7. Should an unpaid internship be listed as work experience or volunteering?

I completed an unpaid internship as part of my master’s program while employed by an unrelated company. The internship was an excellent experience and provided much more high-level training than expected. Is it better to list that under employment or volunteer history? Currently I’ve been listing it like this for Sandwich Taste Testing Manager type jobs:

Employment History
Chocolate Teapots Manager 2008-present
Sandwich Taste Testing Internship 8/2012-3/2013
Chocolate Teapots Maker 2004-2008

And then moving the internship to volunteer experience for Chocolate Teapots Exec type jobs. Is this weird? Am I overthinking it?

Internships should absolutely go under Work Experience. The Volunteering section is generally for more traditional forms of volunteering, not a structured internship.

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