Ask a Manager

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

1. I’ve been ordered to draft an email praising myself

I recently started a position (it’s been a little over a month) as a facilities coordinator on contract for 3 months and was thrown into the deep end of it all! That’s fine; I put on my game face and got a project that was lagging for almost 9 months completed in 3 weeks. Everyone is quite impressed by me and they keep telling me that I’ve done a wonderful job, and I’ve graciously thanked them for the support and compliments.

Recently, one of the heads approached me and asked me to draft an email that he would like to send to the director praising my efforts on the project. I’m completely baffled — I’ve never had to do that and I don’t even know where to begin. The head is a pretty straightforward gentleman. He isn’t fond of being over the top or flowery and his instructions were the same — don’t make it too flowery and emotional.

I’ve tried to back out of it, saying that it is unncessary for him to do this (again very graciously) but he’s quite insistent. Any ideas on how to either a) ask him to not ask me to do this; b) ask him to not do it at all; or c) provide him with a simple draft email that he can customize?

That’s pretty bizarre — it’s not uncommon to be asked to draft your own recommendation letter, but a simple internal email praising you? But in any case, you already tried to beg off and he was insistent, so you should go ahead and do it or you could end up turning a nice thing (he wants to praise you) into a problematic thing (you won’t do what he’s told you repeatedly he wants from you).

I’d just keep it very factual, just reporting the facts of what you did: Project X had lagged for nine months, you did A, B, and C to complete it in three weeks, and the results of that work will be ___. Let him add in any specific praise he wants beyond that.

2. When should I call references?

I am a relatively new manager working at a public agency and am now looking to hire a new person to assist me. My question is about hiring practices and how to avoid opening your agency up to liability while also getting the information you need to make a good choice. Specifically, when is the right time to call references? Can this be done when you still have a large pool of applicants or does this have to wait until after you have narrowed the field and held interviews? If you call one person’s references, do you have to call every person’s references? What if they list a company they worked for and you know someone there that is not listed as a reference, is it ok to call your contact and ask their impression of the applicant?

Wait to call references until you’ve finished your interview process. At that point, you should have one or two candidates you think you’d like to hire, and that’s when you call references. You can call them just for your one top finalist, or if you have a couple of people you’re having trouble deciding among then you can call references for each of them to help you make your decision. But there’s no point in calling references before that point — it would be a waste of your time, and a waste of the references’ time (and thus rude to your candidates, who are having their references called prematurely).

And it’s fine to call people they’ve worked with who aren’t on their official reference list, but you should never do that if the contact is at their current employer, since that could jeopardize their current job.

3. Bolding job titles in your cover letter

My co-worker recently told me about a trend in cover letters that a career counselor told her about: bolded job titles throughout your cover letter. I think the reasoning behind this is to draw attention to your qualifications and work experience so they don’t get lost in the letter’s paragraphs. Do you recommended this or should this be avoided?

There’s nothing wrong with judicious use of bolding in a cover letter, but I have a different concern with this advice: If the idea is to bold your job titles, then you’re probably doing too much summarizing of your job history in your cover letter, and that’s not what your cover letter is for. It shouldn’t summarize your resume — there’s no point in that because the hiring manager will also be receiving your resume and doesn’t need a summary of it. The cover letter should be focused on information that isn’t on your resume, and I have a hunch that this “career counselor” (something anyone can call themselves, by the way) is way off-base on what she considers effective cover letters in general.

4. Paying internal hires less than external hires

I am a hiring manager who has recently had a bit of trouble with our HR department about the compensation rate for a role. I think the role should be compensated at the rate that we compensate other in roles of the same responsibility / experience.

The going rate for this role is higher than the internal rate. If I promote someone internally, HR will want to compensate the person at the internal rate, but they seem to be fine with paying an external person more — a lot more for the same experience. In my mind, I think that is a disservice to my staff. Is this a normal practice or is it fair that I bring it up and push for the market rate for this person?

It’s not uncommon at all, but it’s a horrible practice and you should push back against it as strongly as you can. Point out that this practice will only encourage your best staff — the ones who are getting promoted — to leave the organization in order to earn a fair market rate for their work, and that’s exactly the opposite of what you want to achieve. If you want to retain your best people, you can’t offer them salaries that penalize them for already working for you.

5. I’m being required to attend a 10 p.m. meeting

I am working a part-time job at a hockey store while I am in graduate school. I am a sales associate there making minimum wage. What I am curious about is if it is acceptable for an employer to expect its employees to come into a meeting at 10 p.m. on a Monday night? I feel like it is a ridiculous request to ask part-time employees to attend a meeting late at night when some of them have other jobs and are either working all day at another job/school and some working another job at that time. The manager has made this meeting mandatory and is threatening to write up anyone who doesn’t show.

Yes, that’s ridiculous. Not illegal, but ridiculous and inconsiderate. Have you tried explaining that while you’re glad to attend any meetings at work, you’re normally in bed by 10 p.m. (whether or not you really are) and it will be difficult to attend something so late at night? That may or may not work — but I’d certainly try that before getting angry.

6. Should I leave my Bible major and church experience off my resume?

I have a B.S. with two majors, one of which is a Bible major. I will also soon have a second graduate degree, with one in business and one in theology. If I’m interested in working in a secular environment in the near-term, should I leave information about my Bible/theology degrees off of my resume? Similarly, I have leadership experience in the church, but is that appropriate to mention when applying for a secular job? The education and experience says valuable things about me in terms of achievement, growth, and leadership experience, but I’m not sure if they also could hurt my chances at getting an interview for jobs outside of ministry. What are your thoughts on this?

There’s no reason to leave any of that off your resume. You want to make sure that you’re demonstrating that you’re not someone who will inappropriately inject religion into the workplace, of course, but simply having those two things on your resume are unlikely to cause those sorts of worries in an employer. (The sorts of things that would cause those worries would be any sign of proselytizing in professional contexts or showing that you don’t have a boundary between religion and professional things — for instance, if you had a religious email signature. But your education and leadership experience don’t indicate those things.)

7. Finding time to interview while temping

I am currently living in a new city after having graduated from college in May. To make ends meet in this new city, I have been doing temporary work. Assignments can last between one day and a month. However, I have also been seeking full-time employment. My question is about what to do if I am asked to interview for a position while working on a temp assignment. I would of course turn down a day-long assignment if I had a pre-scheduled interview that day, but if I had previously accepted a long term or even shorter term assignment and then was offered an interview, what should I do?

It’s hard to take time off for a position where you are filling in for someone’s time off, and I’m not a situation where I can turn down longer-term work, but I also need to interview in order to find a full time position. Should I explain the situation for the hiring manager and ask to interview outside of normal business hours? Or hope that the place I am temping at understands? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Start by asking for an interview outside of normal business hours. If you can’t get that, then talk to your temp company about how they want you to handle this.

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

1. Am I being too nit-picky over an employer’s spelling error?

Recently, an accounting/tax office opened up in my neighborhood. I considered applying until I noticed..the store banner reads “ACCOUTING SERVICES.”

I had a discussion about this with some people–they think I shouldn’t be too picky to apply there. My view is that if a company can spend so much money on a store sign, the very least they can do is make sure everything is spelled properly. To me, the error signifies carelessness, and unprofessionalism. Just like my resume and cover letter should be free of misspellings and grammatical mistakes, so should a store’s billboard.

If a company can be so careless with that, how can I be sure that as service providers to members of the community, they will do their job properly, and that they treat their employees fairly?

I agree with you that it indicates sloppiness, but we don’t have enough information to know anything more than that. Is it indicative of how they generally operate? Did it happen because the person who normally proofreads is swamped with other work? Is the manager struggling with failing eyesight? We can certainly conclude that this place probably doesn’t run like a really well-oiled machine, a model of professionalism and care, but without having more context, we can’t really say whether the tax work they do is sloppy — and we definitely can’t know anything about how they treat their employees (since attention to detail and fairness aren’t strongly correlated).

The best thing to do is to take it as one data point of many — don’t ignore it, but don’t let it be your entire decision either. Apply, interview, and keep your eyes open for other red flags.

2. I was fired without any warning

A few months ago I accepted a job at a small family-owned company. I immediately felt uncomfortable and quickly found out it was a hostile work environment. Daily, I observed the owner yelling at my boss and slamming doors and cursing loudly while I was dealing on the phone with customers. I kept my distance and acted professionally. Although I disliked the job this did not affect my performance and I was praised by customers and coworkers by my service.

This past Friday, I was let go without warning. My boss claimed that there have been complaints, but nothing was very bought to my attention, and this all came without warning. During our meeting where she told me I was being let go I asked why nothing was never brought to my attention and she just kept unprofessionally dodging the questions saying they are an at-will employer. Although this was a “at-will employer,” don’t they need to give me documentation or need to bring issues to my attention before just abruptly firing me? I am seriously bothered about how this was handled and I feel it was completely unprofessional and unethical.

Nope. There’s no law that requires employers to warn you before firing you. In general, they should; it’s good management practice to give people feedback and let them know if their job is in jeopardy — both because you might actually get the improvement you want and because you don’t want other employees to worry that they could be fired without warning too.

(While I’m destroying your beliefs about employment law, I’ll also add that while this might be a workplace that felt hostile, it doesn’t sound like a “hostile workplace” in the legal sense, which requires discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or other protected class.)

3. Asking for more time to pump breast milk at work

I have trouble expressing myself and need some direction treading through this problem. I work as a bank teller in a busy branch that just went through a merger, so nearly all my coworkers and managers have been working with me for only two months. I’m a nursing mom of a 6-month-old though, and I’m having trouble finding time to pump with how busy this place has become.

The only laws I can find for my state (Pennsylvania) say that employers must provide “reasonable time” for nursing moms to express milk, but don’t say how much time. My employer’s disability company sent me a letter when I was coming back from my 6-week maternity leave, stating that “nursing mother’s rights allow up to 20 minutes unpaid at least every three hours to express breast milk.” Often I work 6+ hours and can only pump once because we can’t have more than one teller away from the counters, so I have to work around everyone else’s lunches. I always work 3.5-4 hours on Saturdays and never get to pump on those days. Today I worked for 7 hours and was only able to pump once, after having breast milk leak all over me. Now I have a clogged duct and that can lead to medical problems.

How can I tactfully let my superiors know that I need a more reasonable schedule to pump? I’ve never asked for any kind of accommodation for anything. I don’t want to come off as being too demanding, but I really do not want an infection in my breast because I have to wait so long to pump.

Just be factual and direct: “The letter I received from our disability company when I returned to work said that I should have up to 20 minutes every three hours to pump. I need to start taking that time. What is the best way to coordinate to make sure we have coverage?” This isn’t demanding; it’s just straightforward.

4. Should I be reimbursed for using my cell phone and personal laptop?

I have a question regarding reimbursement for the use of personal equipment as a communications consultant working full-time and on-site with an organization. Recently, I accepted a independent contractor position with a local company and have been in this role for about a month. Although I am expected to be working on-site everyday, the organization has yet to provide me with a fully functional computer and/or phone. They have set up a desktop in my office, but it lacks basic software (including Microsoft Office) and is worthless for anything other than browsing the Internet. As a result, I have been using my personal laptop and cell phone every day to accomplish tasks on behalf of this organization. (It is worth noting that this was NOT the expectation that was communicated to me when I was hired, and they are aware that I am using my own equipment because what they have provided is lacking.)

Is there an acceptable (and tasteful) way to request reimbursement for the usage of my personal devices on the invoices that I regularly submit to the organization? Or do you even think there is sufficient reason for me to do so? Your thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

You can absolutely submit for reimbursement of any work-related cell phone charges — but probably not for your personal laptop, since that’s not an additional expense you’ve incurred.

However, are you sure you’re correctly categorized as an independent contractor? If you are, you might be expected to cover your own expenses (depending on the nature of your contract — or, lacking a contract (which I hope isn’t the case), the arrangement you agreed to). But there are details here that make me question whether your employer has correctly and legally categorized you — because working on-site every day is a big factor pointing toward you really being an employee. (That said, the IRS guidelines are not black and white; you can read them here.)

5. Unexpected mileage reimbursement check after an interview

About a month ago, I had an interview out of state and was turned down for the job. It is a company that I would definitely still like to work for, and might apply to again when I have more experience. I was surprised today to receive a mileage reimbursement check in the mail, since travel reimbursement was never mentioned. (I had traveled 250 miles.) I am wondering whether I should just go ahead and accept this as normal, or whether I should send a thank you to my contact in HR?

Send a thank-you! There’s never any harm in being gracious and thanking people. Don’t go overboard, obviously — but there’s nothing wrong with a quick email saying something like, “Thanks so much for the mileage reimbursement check for my interview, which I just received. It was a pleasant surprise, and I appreciate it!”

6. I don’t want to take my break so early in my shift

One of my shift managers at work almost always make me take my “lunch” break really early in my shift. Let’s say it’s an 8 hour shift, he’ll make me take it roughly 2 hours in. I’ve mentioned how early it was, but what else can I do? I’m in California.

California requires that you be provided with a 30-minute meal break no later than the end of your fifth hour of work — but as far as I can see, doesn’t doesn’t say anything more about when it must be offered, which means that your manager can indeed have you take your break just two hours in. (However, if your shift is 10 hours or more, you must be provided with a second break no later than the end of that tenth hour.) That said, you could certainly try asking him if you can take your break later in your shift; sometimes just asking will get you what you want (or will at least get you an explanation of why it’s not possible).

7. Listing a reference who was laid off

I have a question about listing job references. I wanted to list a particular person who has a great professional background, knows my skills and work ethic well, and has already enthusiastically offered to be a reference, except I recently found out that they were laid off from our company days ago because the organization is struggling financially (I should note that I’m an unpaid intern). Would it be awkward for me to list them? When putting them down on my list of references, should I write “former [insert position here]” and list their personal email and phone number (which they volunteered) or is there a smoother way to do this? I also have two other great recommendations from this internship, so should I perhaps not include this third reference at all?

It’s completely fine to list references who have moved on from the job where you worked with them, even if they were laid off. Reference-checkers don’t really care about the reference’s current work situation; they care that they can speak with some nuance about your work.

The way you suggested listing this person is precisely right — name, former position, and contact info. (That said, if you’re already offering up two other references from that same internship, three might be overkill. But make sure one of those is a manager.)