Ask a Manager

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

1. What does an interviewer’s “wow” mean?

I recently interviewed for a job with a panel of five people. After the interview, everyone was friendly and shook my hand. As I exited the doorway, I heard one of the interviewers say, “Wow”. It wasn’t loud, but I heard it. What is your interpretation of that reaction?

Well, it could mean, “Wow, she was fantastic,” or it could mean, “Wow, she really bombed that.” Like most other things in job interviews, you’re better off not trying to read into anything and just waiting to see what happens. (That said, if you’re pretty sure you didn’t outright bomb, and you’re not the type who inspires wows about your arrogance/anger issues/overpowering smell, then it was probably a good wow.)

2. Should I let my friend know his references are terrible?

A number of years ago, I worked for company A, and I am still friendly with a few people there. More recently, my entire department at company B was eliminated and we were all laid off. One of my good friends and recent former coworkers (Mr. X) from company B applied for a management position at company A. One of my company A friends sits right near the hiring manager’s office and heard her calling around to a number of different people for references about him. What she overheard was not good. Apparently people within the industry didn’t have a lot of complimentary things to say about Mr. X. I have no way of knowing if these were references provided by Mr. X himself or if this was general community-pulsing; my friend at company A did not know who was on the other end of the line, but noted that there were multiple conversations, all involving Mr. X. Needless to say, someone else was hired. In addition, Mr. X came across as both desperate and aggressive with too many follow up calls, requesting information, etc. (I know – you don’t do that!)

So although I really wish I wasn’t, I am armed with incomplete but reliable and pretty damning information about my friend Mr. X. When he and I worked together, I personally saw him as very good at what he did, got along with everyone, didn’t seem to make mistakes or have any major problems, so I don’t know where this information is coming from. I can handle telling him not to be too aggressive, that can come up in a regular conversation when we discuss our job-hunting efforts. But what do I do with the information about his reputation (which he thinks is solid)? Do I keep it to myself or tell him? WHAT do I tell him, and how do I broach the subject? This could destroy his spirit. Plus, without knowing who was approached, he can’t even pinpoint anyone in particular (except his provided references, of course) to do damage control.

Ouch. I could argue this one either way. On one hand, this isn’t your problem to solve, you don’t have first-hand information, your friend probably wasn’t supposed to pass along what she heard, and you’re right that without knowing more specifics, Mr. X will have trouble figuring out where the problem is. On the other hand, knowing that he has some reference problems could allow him to do more thinking and digging and potentially figure out what the issue is and solve it — or at least stop offering up a particular person or persons as references, if nothing else. What do others think?

3. My boss has a cold and is spreading his germs all over the office

My boss is currently sick with a cold and he keeps sneexing and coughing without covering his mouth or washing his hands. He is constantly touching things and using my office supplies. I do not want to get sick as I just returned from having my appendix taken out. What can I do to prevent him from spreading his germs?

This is harder with a manager than it is with a coworker, but you can certainly say, “I hope you don’t mind if I keep my distance while you’re sick. I don’t want to get your cold.” In fact, because you’re recovering from surgery, you could go even further and tell him that you’re going to take some additional measures because of that and ask that he be careful not to touch your supplies until he’s recovered. (If you weren’t, though, it wouldn’t be out of line to say in a self-depracating way, “I’m terribly germ-phobic — would you mind if I protect my supplies from you until you’re better?” Not because you’re really germ-phobic, but because that will go over better than “you’re disgusting.”)

4. I gave the wrong answer when I was ambushed with a salary question

I met a former coworker for dinner, and after catching up, she surprised me with the news that she would like to recruit me for her company (she is the hiring director there). While she was describing the kind of position they want to create for me, she asked what someone in that role might make, and I gave her a general ballpark range. She said that number was right in line with their budget.

I have since met with the CEO and they are as interested in bringing me on as I am in joining them, but after doing some research on the job, I realized the range I gave my friend off the cuff was about $10K too low. I realize my mistake in this was verbalizing a number without any research or even a job description in hand (one does not exist yet). But I would like to see if I can still make this work in my favor. Should I allow them to make me an offer and then try to negotiate up from there, or should I try to discuss this with my friend before anything is put in writing?

Say this: “When we originally talked, I threw out a ballpark salary for a role like this. Once we started talking more seriously, I thought more seriously about as it as well and did some research into the market rate for this type of position. I think I’d be looking for a salary around $X if we moved forward.”

5. When my employer makes a new hire, they increase everyone else’s salary to that level

The public university I work at sometimes does “equity increases”–basically, if they want to hire a new employee at a certain salary, everyone who currently works there at the same “level” but makes less than that gets a raise to make them match. This is an insane policy, in my opinion. I’ve seen horrible employees receive 15% raises for doing nothing; they just happen to be working there when management wants to hire a new person in who requires a higher offer due to their salary history. Is this a common policy? I know you favor transparency when it comes to salary, but isn’t this one of the terrible things that can happen as a result of it?

Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever said that I favor salary transparency! But I don’t think this is a consequence of it — this is just a ridiculous policy all on its own, and one of many silly results that you see in work environments that don’t tie pay and other rewards to performance.

6. Employer isn’t returning my reference’s phone calls

I interviewed for a position I’m highly interested in last week. They told me that they wouldn’t contact my references until I was considered a strong candidate. They started calling my references on Monday! I was ecstatic and thought this was a great sign. However, one of my references missed the employer’s call. She tried to call back twice the next day. She left a voicemail and still no response. Why wouldn’t they contact her back right away or at least by some point by now? Did they change their mind? If not, is there a time frame in which I should hope they will return her call?

All kinds of reasons. They could be out sick, or on vacation, or busy with higher priorities. Or they might be moving forward with another candidate. There’s no way to know; you need to just wait and see what happens. You can certainly check in with them in a week or so though.

7. Do I have to work this extra week?

My contract stipulates that I give 4 weeks’ notice (and this is not a calendar month). I resigned on Monday, 29 July 2013, and technically 4 weeks from this date is Monday, 26 August. I asked my employer whether it will influence my pay if I did not work until the end of the month. He did not give me a direct answer but merely said that I must work the extra week until the end of August 2013.

Where does this leave me? Will my pay not be the full month’s pay if I only worked my 4 weeks?

If you have an actual contract and it says that you must give four weeks notice, then your obligation is to give four weeks notice, period. It’s possible that your boss is operating in bad faith here, but it’s also likely that he just didn’t recall the precise requirement in your contract.

I’d simply tell him that you checked the contract, confirmed that it requires four weeks, and so your final day will be August 26.

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

1. Should my cover letter mention that I got my masters at age 20?

I know that in general, you’re not supposed to indicate your age, marital status, religion, race, etc. on job application materials. My question is, what if you’ve accomplished a lot at a really young age and want to show that off? I graduated with my B.S. at age 18 and then with my M.S. at age 20 from a well-respected university. Whenever I talk to my friends or family about my frustrating job search, their responses are always, “Of course someone is going to hire you! Look how smart you are! You’re 20 with an M.S.!”

I’m wondering if employers would have the same reaction if I mentioned in my cover letter how motivated I am and pointed to my age and achievements as proof. I think that including my age also sheds light on why I have such an extensive education with so little work experience. What are your thoughts?

Sure, I think you can do that. Don’t put too much emphasis on it or you risk looking like you over-value it, but you could definitely mention it in passing in your cover letter.

2. Should I mention in my cover letter that I know and admire the hiring manager?

I was going to apply for this job regardless, but I was looking at the website and realized one of the directors this job reports to is this wonderful woman I worked with a bit at my current job. We were not in the same department and I didn’t report to her, but I helped on certain projects and took an employer-sponsored week-long intensive class she was in. And she’s so personable and nice, I think everyone enjoys working with her.

I guess my question is, do I mention that I know her in the cover letter? How can I do it without being weird and getting all gooey about how nice it would be to work with her? I’ve interviewed with this company before, and I once emailed a different hiring manager to ask about my application a few weeks post-interview and she sent my email right away to HR. So I think this company really doesn’t like it when you reach out to the hiring managers. And the HR director is nice, I’ve met with her several times, so I just want to play it cool, not step on any toes. But if possible, is there someway be like “The director is awesome! I’d love to work for her!”

I also don’t have the director’s personal email address (I could figure it out but again, the idea is not to come on too weird), though we are connected on LinkedIn. So I’m thinking I shouldn’t contact her outright, especially if I’m not 100% what she’s looking for. I don’t want to make things awkward for her. But I am going to apply because I obviously think I’m qualified. Does it hurt or help me with HR that I’ve worked with this woman and look up to her?

The fact that you’ve worked with her doesn’t help you on its own, but it could help you if she says good things about you. And frankly, I think you’re being overly cautious about not wanting to reach out to her. You know this woman. You worked with her. In most cases, it would be odd to apply for a job and not tell someone you know there that you did. So apply, but then email her and let her know that you did (forwarding your resume and cover letter to her in that email as well). This is normal, people do it all the time, and it’s not going to be weird to contact her, even if you’re not quite what she’s looking for.

In addition, it’s completely fine to mention in your cover letter something like, “I worked with Jane Smith at ABC Company, admired her accomplishments there, and would be thrilled to work with her again,” but I wouldn’t get into any gushing, since the gushing really isn’t about your candidacy.

3. How can I stop my youth from getting in the way of getting a job?

I started working full-time at the very young age of 15. When I was 16, I obtained my GED and started taking college classes at my local community college. I am 18 now and I have been trying to get better jobs in a more professional setting than jobs that are hiring teenagers in high school. I have always worn professional clothing such as dress pants, shirt, and blazer. My make-up has always been natural looking in neutral shades. I have always been a hard worker who is upbeat and punctual. However, I do look really young and that hinders my chances of being taken seriously.

I am still a student in college, and I have found some part-time jobs that have the perfect hours and pay for me. I have a few interviews set up, but I am afraid that as soon as they look at me, they will decide I’m too young. Most of them are customer service rep jobs and I have all the qualifications for them, but I need to be able to make a good enough impression where my age won’t stop me from getting the job. Do you have any tips?

If you’re covered on the professional appearance front, the other thing to focus on is demonstrating maturity in other ways: Be polite, responsive, warm, thoughtful, and show good judgment. Send well-written emails in complete sentences, not text speak. Do all the stuff that parents usually hassle teenagers to do: Shake people’s hands and look them directly in the eye, sit up straight, and look attentive. Make sure any online presence you have is scrubbed clean of anything that screams “teenager.”

All of this is going to counteract any worries that you’re too young — because “too young” in a job hunting context usually means “too immature.” So show that’s not the case, and you should be okay.

4. Chatty coworkers, part 1

Do you have any advice for how to get talkative coworkers to leave you alone at work? I have a coworker (same position as me) that frequently talks to me about non-work things while I am trying to work, sometimes for 15-20 minutes at a time, several times a day. I’ve tried saying that I can’t focus while she’s talking to me and that it makes me nervous when she stands over me while I work, but it doesn’t really change anything. She might pause for a moment but keep standing there, or back away slightly without leaving. She always leaves eventually, of course, but on her own timeframe.

I have been basically ignoring her while she talks, not making eye contact, and only responding to direct questions with yes, no, or a noncommittal “hmm.” My coworker also follows me if I move to a different work area while she’s talking. I’m concerned that my manager will see this as “two employees talking to each other all day” and not realize that I’m barely talking…only the coworker is. Headphones aren’t an option in my workplace, and I don’t know what else I can do to get this coworker to leave me alone without being rude.

I have lots of advice here and here and here, but it’s all going to come down to you needing to be more assertive — and not worrying about being “rude” if she forces you to do that by ignoring your polite requests. You need to clearly say to her, I cannot talk right now. I have to focus on work.” If she continues talking, repeat it. If she still continues talking, then say, “Jane, I mean what I said. I need you to leave now so that I can work.”

If that doesn’t work, this woman is more than a garden-variety chatter — ignoring repeated requests to leave isn’t normal. In that case, then you go to your boss and say, “I’ve asked Jane repeatedly to stop talking to me about non-work things while I’m working, but even when I clearly request it multiple times in a row, she continues talking. Can you advise me on how to handle this?”

5. Chatty coworkers, part 2

In my female-dominated work environment (higher education), it is exceedingly polite, somewhat conservative, and intricately political. Frequently, colleagues–none of whom I manage–either initiate small talk with me while waiting for items at the printer, or hang around a little too long after making a work-related request to chit-chat (or ramble about her opinion of the project’s/client’s/method’s merits). It annoys me tremendously. When I’m working, I have no patience for small talk. During break times, I have no problem entertaining small talk or listening to someone ramble. My question is twofold: in a culture where it is customary to engage in frequent, short, casual conversation, would it be bad politics to shut down the distraction? And if this isn’t a bad a move, in your opinion, how do I politely say, “That’s nice, but I’m busy”? Or should I resign to keeping my office door shut most of the time?

It annoys me when people talk to me when I’m working too, but a small amount of this is part of the package when you work with all people. If you have a zero tolerance policy, you’ll come across as aloof and even rude, and it will probably impact your relationships with others there. That’s true in any workplace culture, but it’s especially true in one where these short casual conversations are the norm. You can certainly wrap it up after a minute or two (see the advice here on doing that), and you can signal that you’re deeply focused on something when someone is near (try looking utterly engrossed with your computer screen and taking a few extra beats to “hear” that someone has spoken to you), but you’d probably be doing yourself a disservice by excusing yourself entirely from this kind of thing.

6. Can a company I temped for hire me as a permanent employee without buying out my contract?

If my temp agency pulls me from an assignment, on their own, without the client company asking to end the assignment, can that client company hire me on as a permanent employee, without buying out my contract with the temp agency?

It depends on what the company’s contract with the temp company says. They’d probably have to pay a fee to the temp company, but that’s something they’re more likely to know than you.

7. Milwaukee is blocking pay raises for employees who move out of the city

I was talking about this story with a guy at the gym yesterday. I was pretty sure that this couldn’t possibly be legal — to block pay raises for city of Milwaukee employees who move out of the city (the city council is ticked off that the state government has invalidated the residency requirement for city employees, while completely overlooking the issue of why don’t people want to live in the city of Milwaukee) — but then I realized that where you live is not a protected class. I would love the opinions of some of the lawyer readers of AAM.

Yeah, I can’t think of why it wouldn’t be legal, just like residency requirements are legal, although we’d need a lawyer to say for sure. I’ve never understood why cities think it’s a good idea to impose residency requirements for their jobs though; you’d think they’d want the absolute best employees possible, and that means drawing from as wide a pool as possible. I highly doubt city residents would prefer slightly less competent city employees just because they happen to be city residents.