Ask a Manager

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

1. Is it worth talking to a job candidate who’s currently making far more than I can pay?

I am the hiring manager for a manager-level position at a large association. The online system my organization uses to collect applications for our openings asks for salary information of the applicants’ previous positions. This is not something I would normally ask for, but of course I note what people say if they choose to fill it out.

We have an applicant who seems like a great candidate. His initial phone screening went very well. However, I can see from the application that he is making in the neighborhood of $25,000 more than is budgeted for the position. We could not possibly come close to matching his current salary, in part because of the constraints of our budget, but also because of our commitment to ensuring pay equity among staff with similar positions and levels of experience. Other managers with his level of experience make much closer to the budgeted salary for the position.

I’d like to bring him in for the next round of interviews, but I’m wondering if I should first call him up and talk through his salary requirements. I don’t want to waste his or our time. It’s certainly possible that he would be willing to take a pay cut to join our organization, but it’s also highly likely this is too much of a pay cut to continue considering this position. I would love your advice on how to proceed!

Yes, call him and talk to him about it! It’s possible that he’s open to taking less because he wants a shorter commute or better quality of life or all sorts of other reasons. It’s also possible that he isn’t open to it, of course. Either way, the best thing to do is let him tell you how he feels about it, rather than deciding without talking to him.

2. I left a job due to bullying and now it’s hurting me in interviews

I resigned from a prestigious, high-paying management position recently because a part-time software consultant verbally harassed and bullied me and my staff. The owners are well aware that this consultant has bullied everyone for years (due to many complaints), but they did nothing to protect me or other staff from this person and set no behavior guidelines for this person after I voiced many complaints over a period of months.

I don’t regret leaving the company because the daily harassment was hurting me psychologically, but the issue I have is that I feel being honest in interviews about why I left the company is hurting my chances of being hired. I am tactful with my explanation and simply state that this person had a different management style than I was comfortable with and was aggressive towards me and my staff and I don’t criticize the owners, but despite this honesty, I am having trouble getting past the first telephone interview. What are your thoughts?

Yep, I’d come up with another reason to explain why you left. It sucks that you can’t be honest, but the fact is that at this stage, interviewers know very little about you and your judgment. They don’t know if you’re melodramatic or high-maintenance or difficult to get along with, so they don’t know if your version of events is credible, or if you were the problem, or if this is all code for “I was pushed out.” In fact, one of the few things they know about you at this point is that you’re wiling to air your former employer’s dirty laundry (however tactfully you’re doing it).

You’re going to get better results if you can use a different explanation.

3. Do these recruiters’ overtures really mean anything?

I moved across the country about 14 months ago for my husband’s job. I have a strong resume, great references and a wonderful reputation, but continue to struggle to find a full-time position. I know a lot of that comes from being in a new city. I’ve been building a local network, and have had quite a few interviews (nearly 10) where I made it to the third round before I was cut from the process.

Most recently, I’ve encountered an identical situation with two different employers. In both cases, I was working with internal recruiters, and after a few weeks I was told they went in different directions (an internal candidate, and an internal referral). Both recruiters then sent me new openings within their companies, and suggested I explore those options. Another thing to note is that after interviewing, I hadn’t heard from the recruiters for 2-3 weeks, and then only after I inquired on status. Are these new suggestions just an empty gesture of good faith on behalf of the recruiter, or should I assume that they still see potential for me to find a fit within their organizations?

Assume that they’re being genuine. Recruiters are very comfortable rejecting people and never talking to them again; they do it all the time. So if they’re reaching out to you about new openings, it’s because they think you’re a viable candidate.

4. What should I wear to this second interview?

I was wondering if you can help me in regards to appropriate dress for my next interview on Wednesday. This is my second interview with this company. The first was a group interview and now we have moved to a one-on-one stage. In the first call, I was told to wear “smart casual,” so I wore this with my glasses and pulled back hair. (Only later to read on the net that jeans were a giant No No, even with smart casual — but they were very nice jeans! Oh well. Live and learn.)

The place I’m applying for is just a summer job as a waitress at a water park’s cafe and they said that the group interviews would be informal, so I figured what I wore to the first interview ended up being okay — nothing requiring a full business suit but still neat looking. The sort of thing I would wear to meet the boyfriend’s parents. However, they did mention that the one-on-one interview was more formal this time (but still same dress code) so I’m stuck with the dilemma of what would constitute “smart casual” in this situation. The company culture seems to be fairly laid back and trying to project a “fun” image, which is why I’m hesitant to overdress, yet I have to still look professional. I only own either jeans or dress pants and with the latter I can’t seem to achieve the “casual” bit. Or am I over-thinking this entirely?

What you’re looking for are pants that are more formal than jeans but less formal than dress pants — like khakis or just plain cotton pants. Alternately, you could wear a skirt (just make sure it’s not too short).

On a side note, I wish people would stop making up terms like “smart casual,” which generally just manage to confuse people. (For my wedding, I want to tell everyone to come in “slothful lounge,” but I am being overruled.)

5. Contacting companies I’d like to work for, without a specific job opening

I am moving back to the U.S. from overseas soon, and in preparation I am sending letters of introduction along with a copy of my resume to companies that I am interested in working for. These letters are basically elongated cover letters stating my current situation, job history, accomplishments at previous jobs that highlight skills, and also reasons why I am interested in working for the recipient company.

My question is regarding how and if I should follow up. If I don’t hear anything back from the companies, is it alright to send them another note when I am back? If I don’t hear back, should I leave well enough alone? How do you as a hiring manager regard letters of introduction that are not for any specific job opening but more of a “please keep me in mind should anything come up” letter? Anything to avoid when writing an introduction letter?

Well, first, why are you sending elongated versions of a cover letter? Just go with a normal cover letter, of about one page in length. Hiring managers aren’t likely to read anything longer, especially when they don’t even have job to fill.

Beyond that, I wouldn’t follow up if you don’t hear back — you’re already contacting them unsolicited about an opening they may or may not have, and so following up a second time risks being annoying (since if they wanted to talk, they would have told you).

I’ll also add that while I know this tactic has paid off for some people, it often doesn’t really get you anywhere, so make sure you’re applying for actual openings as well.

6. Am I too new to ask for an ergonomic keyboard?

I work in a job that requires a lot of typing, which has caused me wrist pain. I got an ergonomic evaluation and they recommended I get a special keyboard, but my department would have to pay for it. At some point my manager would have to authorize the purchase. As a relatively new employee, two months, will this potentially send the wrong message/be a bad idea?

How expensive is this keyboard? Assuming we’re talking about a sum in the low three figures, it shouldn’t be a big deal to ask, and no reasonable manager will think worse of you for it. It’s not like you’re asking for a fancy chair because you like fancy chairs; you’re asking for something that’s medically necessary to do your job.

7. Being drug tested on your first day at work

Is it normal for a company to require a drug test on your first day of employment? And require you to give a urine sample in the office, with no prior notice? In my past experience, if a company requires a drug test, they will specify that in your offer letter/onboarding documents, and have you complete the test prior to your start date. It seems odd to me that a company would test after you start, seeing as if the person fails, they then get fired — which is a pretty awkward situation that could have been easily avoided.

Yeah, it’s terrible practice for exactly the reason you state, but not uncommon. Bizarrely, many companies do all kinds of stuff after the job offer that could result in the offer being revoked — drug tests, background checks, salary verification. It’s inexplicable. (I’ll spare you my rant against drug testing, since I’ve given it here recently.)

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

1. My intern was promoted above me

I have been in my current position for two years but have been with the company for three years total. An employee who has been my intern for the past year has been promoted to a position that is above my current position.

I am upset and think its probably best that I find a new job. How should I handle this? Should I talk to my boss to ask why or what I could have done better? I’ve always done a good job and have made my boss look good with no major errors throughout my time working for him. I was blindsided by this news and feel its a slap in the face. I would appreciate any advice you could give me about the next steps I should take.

Well, first, step back, take your emotion out of it, and ask yourself if you can see why the intern was promoted. Is she fantastic at the work? If she hadn’t started as an intern, would you have thought her a viable candidate? You want to take your ego out of this as much as possible and really look at the facts.

After that, yes, it’s certainly reasonable to talk to your boss and say that you’re feeling a little awkward about your intern being promoted above you, and that you’d like to get a better understanding of what you yourself can do to move up in the organization in the future.

I’d hold off on deciding to quit until you’ve had a chance to talk to your boss and let this sit with you for a while. It’s likely that this wasn’t intended as a slap in the face to you at all, but that there were actual business reasons for doing it. Your focus now should be o getting a better understanding of what they were — not from a defensive stance, but from truly seeking to understand it.

2. My coworker keeps answering all my emails in person

Every single time I email my coworker, instead of her responding to my emails, she walks over to my desk to respond. Today she just walked over, pulled up a chair, and started talking! Never mind the fact that I was in the middle of working on something else. I work with a lot of spreadsheets and numbers and I really have to focus on what I’m doing. When she interrupts me, it takes so much time for me to get my focus back. People in this office seems to have a culture of this walking over thing and I really hate it, but this person is by far the worst as she does it several times a day. I’ve been here for about 10 months and I’m the newest one here, and I’m not sure how to address this with her.

I cannot even express how annoying and distracting it is for her to constantly walk to my desk with every menial question and comment instead of just replying to my emails. How can I get I her to stop doing this and to just respond to my emails?

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m right in the middle of something and can’t talk. If you’re able to send me an email, that would be easier for me right now — but if not, then when I’m at a stopping point with what I’m working on, I’ll let you know and we can talk.”

Repeat as needed. After you do this enough, most people will get trained to stop walking over and interrupting you.

Alternately, if you’re comfortable being more direct, you can say in a apologetic tone, “I tend to get really focused when I’m working with spreadsheets and it can be hard to be interrupted, so email is usually the best way if something isn’t an emergency. Or we can set up a time to talk if it’s not something where email makes sense.”

(If this were your boss or someone else above you in the hierarchy, you’d need to approach this more delicately, but that doesn’t sound like the case here.)

3. Did I make a mistake by turning down relocation assistance?

I was hired for a dream position. It is cross-country, but exactly what I want (also, my fiance had already moved over there a few months prior to my interview). While applying and interviewing, I used my fiance’s address. However, I was always upfront that I was in the process of moving (which is true; I had given notice and three-quarters of my stuff had already been moved with his relocation stipend).

They offered me a rather large sum for relocation assistance. I was a bit surprised by that, because as they offered it, they pretty much repeated what they already knew — that I was already three-quarters moved, thanks to his stipend. When they asked me how and when I wanted my relocation stipend, I honestly replied that I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility, especially since my fiance’s firm already had paid for most of our move. After that chat, the formal offer came in, and notably the quoted sum of relocation assistance was omitted in the text (with a small note that if the move wasn’t fully covered by my fiance’s job they could provide for additional costs).

After some quick math, my fiance figured the only thing not really covered by his stipend was the transit to get me out there. I mentioned that to my company, and quickly received a second offer with a modest sum that I suggested (but not the whole amount they initially offered) to fix that problem. I signed — mostly relieved. Mostly.

My only concern is this: Just how unprofessional did I just make myself look by doing this? I am sure that in many people’s eyes this shows me to be a total twit in some regards (after all, I just left multiple thousands on the table, but not enough to really change my financial status in any great way). However, I honestly did not see a way to handle this differently without being wildly misleading. How much reputation damage have I caused at my new place of work? Do I look clueless, foolish…or perhaps (I hope) just honest?

You just look like you’re honest and have integrity. There’s no reputation damage here at all. Think about this from their side — it would be bad, not good, if they thought that you had tried to milk them for relocation assistance that you didn’t actually need.

4. My sublessor is using his job to threaten me

My question is a little outside the realm of the blog, but I thought you might be the best one to ask:

I’m subletting with a friend from someone who it turned out is not entirely sane and actively tries to intimidate us and make us feel unsafe. We move out at the end of this month so it’s becoming a non-issue, but he works for a law enforcement branch of the government and is using that position to make threatening statements about what he can and will do if we don’t do what he wants. He is also copying someone from the same office (using their government email) on our interactions. I can’t decide if this is something worth calling the agency he works for about. I know that if I were in this agency I would absolutely want to know if someone was using their position to make threats and intimidate people but that could just be me. I don’t want him fired (well, I wouldn’t mind) but I would like the powers that be to know this is happening. Is this worthwhile or am I wasting my time?

I’d absolutely want to know about this if I were that guy’s boss, and I bet his agency would want to know too. Most employers do not take kindly at all to employees using their positions to threaten people in their personal lives.

My only caution to you is to think about whether you’d be further inflaming an already volatile and possibly dangerous situation, and how you’d handle it if this sends him over the edge.

5. Are all the religious institutions on my resume turning off employers?

I’m in my early 50s and want to make a career change. I have a solid work history and an Ed.D. The problem, I think, at least for many, is that my work history is in religious institutions, and my education is from religious institutions (all regionally accredited).

I think my education and experience are a big turn-off to most hiring managers. Even though my degrees are legit, and I have many transferable skills, I imagine my resume is automatically put in the “no thanks” pile. Is this correct? And, if so, what can I do about it?

It could be — rightly or wrongly, some hiring managers will worry that you’ll have trouble shifting into an environment where religion isn’t front and center, or that you might bring tricky-to-manage religious issues into the workplace.

I’d talk explicitly in your cover letter about why you’re seeking to move away from working in religious organizations (without getting into religious tenets or shifts in religious beliefs or anything else likely to make employers feel that they’re now more privy to your religious beliefs than they should be). Just a few sentences — but do address it up-front, because they’re going to be wondering.

But beyond that, I’d put a real focus on networking, even more so than usual. People who already know you, or who know people who know you, will be less likely to initially define you by this stuff, and more likely to see the fuller picture of who you are and what you bring.

6. Questions that stop you (me) dead in your (my) tracks

Have you ever been asked a question that you ever regretted having to answer (other than this one)? Something so completely off the wall (but perhaps valid) that it actually made you stop dead in your tracks?

Plenty of questions make me stop dead in my tracks (like this one or this one), but those tend to be the ones I most like answering. I do get plenty of questions I don’t answer, though — usually because of lack of time, but sometimes because I just don’t have an answer. The nice thing about being the blog owner is that I don’t have to answer anything I don’t feel like answering. I hope never to be put into some sort of prison work program where I have to answer every question sent to me.

7. How can I get a job doing art?

I graduated about a year ago with a BFA in Fine Arts (animation and illustration) and since then, I worked at Best Buy for about six months because I had moved back with my family in the suburbs and there really is nothing else there but retail, and I do not have a car. Jobs I have had before that were other retail jobs at similar large department stores and some waitressing jobs.

Now I have moved to Chicago, where there are more opportunities and transportation. I have been told that I am a great artist, but I have never had art-related jobs in the past. I haven’t really had any sort of community/volunteer/exhibitions either, since my work is cartoons for the most part. I haven’t done too much freelance work either. Looking back, I wish of course that I had thought ahead and gotten into the loop, but at this point I am 24 years old and looking for a foot in the door of art-related jobs.

I know I have done wrong by myself not to get into this ahead of time, but do you have any advice as to how I can better my chances of getting a job in my field without a good list of past experience and work? It’s not that I am bad at what I do, but it’s a matter of proving to the employer that I can do the job well if just given the chance. I assume that just flat out writing in my cover letter that “I would really like to get the ball rolling with starting my art career” isn’t a very good idea and that they won’t be interested in taking on some sort of apprentice. But what else can I do here?

Art is a really competitive field, with more people who want to make their living at it than there are jobs. I’d look into internships and volunteering, so that you have relevant work on your resume and build a portfolio. You might also connect with your school’s alumni office to see how they can help — if they’re selling BFAs to people, they should be helping them use them to get jobs afterward.

Do not go to grad school, for all the reasons here. What you need is work experience, not more time out of the workforce — and art degrees are notorious for being expensive without (usually) making you more hireable. (Anyone from the art world want to disagree? I’d love to hear from you guys on this.)

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

1. Can my boss force me to lock up my cell phone at the start of my shift?

I am a recent high school graduate working at an ice cream shop for the summer. There has been an issue at work with one of my coworkers using a cell phone on the job, and my boss decided to make us lock up our phones at the beginning of each shift. I tried doing some research and all the websites I read seemed to agree that it was illegal for him to force us to give him something of our own possession. I told him I wasn’t going to give him my phone and I could sue him if he fired me for resisting. It worked, and I do understand that he can fire me for using my phone. I was just wondering if I was correct that it was illegal, and also why schools can confiscate phones if employers cannot.

Nope, that’s not correct. Your boss can absolutely require you not to have a cell phone on your person while you’re working, and to lock them up in a locker or some other area so you don’t have access to them while you’re on the job. Nor could you sue him if he fired you for refusing to comply. No law prohibits this.

2. Creating a website for your resume

What are your thoughts on creating a website for your resume? I think it’s tacky to send people to a website to view or download your resume, but what do you think?

Well, it doesn’t make any sense to send someone to a website to view your resume if it’s a context where you could just as easily attach it to your email (or whatever). Employers are generally annoyed to be asked to take an extra, unnecessary step in that context. Just give them the damn resume when you email. (Sorry, companies who are trying to make money by marketing this idea to people.)

But there are plenty of other contexts where it can make sense — if, for instance, people are coming to your website for other reasons and you want them to have access to your resume. So basically, it’s all about the context … but if you’re doing it as part of a job application, don’t. (Online portfolios are fine, though, and make sense in many fields.)

3. Can my employer lower my pay when transferring me to the same job at a different location?

I have recently decided to move to Nashville with my girlfriend, where rent is cheaper and to live in a more urban atmosphere. While looking for job transfers within my company, I have been told by a few coworkers that since I live in Connecticut where the cost of living is very high, if I transfer into the same position at the same company but in a different location (like Tennessee in this case, where the cost of living and minimum wage are lower), my pay could be lowered.

I am being told by my friends outside of work that it is illegal to lower pay when making a lateral move within the same company, but everyone at work seems to believe that since the store in Tennessee is in a different market with a different pay grade, the new store will hire me on as the same position but for less. Could this be true? Is there a law prohibiting this? Should I contact my HR manager? What gives?

Your friends should stop giving out job advice, because they’re wrong. There’s no law that prevents your employer from lowering your pay when transferring you. Hell, if they wanted to, they could lower your pay because they moved you to a new cubicle, let alone a new state. (If you want to have some fun with your friends, ask them to show you the law they’re talking about. It doesn’t exist.)

4. Filling out two separate time cards to avoid overtime

I have a non-exempt coworker who works 40 hours a week. Recently we lost a person who works the mornings, so this coworker has been coming in to help with the morning shift 3 days a week — an extra 3 hours each day. He goes on to work his regular 8-hour shift each of those 3 days. He clocks in on a second time card for those morning shifts, and when I asked him about it, he said he was told to by the owner so he didn’t have to be paid overtime. His morning shifts are in a separate category on his paycheck information sheet, so it doesn’t get rolled in with his usual 40 hours. This is in California – is this legal to do? I feel he deserves fair compensation for all the extra work he is doing, but maybe there is a small business loophole I’m unaware of?

This is a small business with an owner, no managers, and 7 employees. We all share all of the work, and have in the past been asked to help with the “morning” shift and were compensated fairly for it. My coworker will be doing this for long-term so the owner can avoid having to train a new person, but is also avoiding having to pay my coworker OT. I’m looking not only for the legal aspect of this, but how to address it if it IS illegal.

Nope, that’s not legal. You can’t get out of paying someone overtime just by having them use two different timecards. If they’re non-exempt and they’re working more than 40 hours a week, they must be paid overtime (time and a half) for everything over 40 hours. And that’s true nationwide, not just in California.

Here’s some advice on how to address it.

5. How to resign when you rarely see your manager

I’m currently working from home, and most contact with my manager is over Skype in a weekly team meeting. We do meet up for team meetings in person, but this is usually only once a month.

I’ve now been given a start date for a graduate scheme which starts in September, and I will have to give four weeks notice of my resignation. What is the best way to approach my manager, given that I’ve never had reason to arrange a meeting with him before?

(To further complicate matters, I’ve only been in this job since February, but the application process for the graduate scheme took so long that I chose to accept this current job in case I either didn’t get on the scheme, or decided I’d rather not work for a big company after getting to know them. I really love this job, but it lacks any of the training prospects of the grad scheme.)

It’s fine to do it over the phone. Just call him. If you need to set up a time for that call in advance and it seems odd because you don’t normally do that, well, so be it — a little weirdness won’t kill him (or you). Just say, “I need to speak with you for 10 minutes this week. When is a good time to call?” And even if it feels weird, he’ll understand afterwards why you needed to schedule the call.

I’d be prepared for him to be a bit frustrated, though, that you’re leaving after only seven months, which in many jobs is the point where you’re just exiting the training mode and the company’s investment in you is just starting to pay off.

6. Do I have to list my current job on my resume?

Do I have to list my current job on my resume? A company is interested in me based on my position prior to my current. My current position has nothing to do with the job I am interviewing for. The company that is interested in me has a copy of my older resume prior to my current position.

You don’t have to, but it usually makes sense to do so. Interviewers are likely to ask what you’ve been doing since leaving your last job, and if you’ve been in the new position for longer than a couple of months, it can seem odd that it’s not on your resume — particularly if there’s any chance that you’ll refer to that work in the course of the interview.

The exception to this is if you’re working in a wildly-outside-your-field, just-for-the-paycheck job while searching for something else. (For instance, it could make sense not to list your current part-time stint at a coffee shop if you normally work in health care.)

7. Looking for a new job after managers reneged on a work-from-home agreement

After working with my present employer for a few years and being generally close to the company campus, my spouse completed law school and found a great position at a firm that is a substantial, yet drivable distance away. As my spouse started the job search, I made sure my management team was aware of the possibility for a move and asked about the potential of going remote on a full-time basis, as that is fairly common in our organization. They were receptive to this and approved the request when my spouse had an offer letter in hand. As I have never had a substantial problem with the organization to this point, I believed they were operating in good faith so I did not get the agreement in writing. Now that I have made the move to be near my spouse’s work, my management team has reneged on their offer and are requiring me to come into the office with only limited remote opportunities.

Given this betrayal of trust, I am going to start searching for a new job. I generally like the organization I am with, but I am hesitant to apply to internal positions because I am required by company policy to inform my management team of any internal applications I make. I fear that alerting them to an internal job search will create hostility and pressure from them and I do not want to be forced out before I am certain I have a new job lined up. The question is this. Should I bother with internal positions at all given this context, and if so, how do I address the applications with my management team so I do not burn any bridges? Given the context, they are going to know why I am looking.

Well, you could just be straightforward and say that you’re looking because the commute is too long, as you told them it would be, and you need to move into a role where you can work remotely. But if you think that they’ll become hostile to you, then you’re better off looking for positions outside the organization (and thus not being required to give your managers a heads-up).