Ask a Manager

It’s mini answer Monday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go…

1. Coworker told me I’m overqualified and should be applying for other jobs

I just graduated and am interning at an advertising firm, hoping to turn it into a full-time opportunity. There’s about 6 weeks left in my internship and yesterday, an employee (she’s entry-level and oversees some of my work) asked casually, in the elevator, if I’m applying to other jobs. When I gave a neutral answer, she told me I should be, because she thinks I’m overqualified for our field.

I’m completely confused by her comment! I didn’t study advertising, and I went to a “top college,” but I wouldn’t say I’m overqualified (at least not more so than any other  entry-level worker). In any case, I don’t understand why she would tell me that. Do you have any clue what she might have meant? Is that a tactful way of telling me I’m not going to be hired?

I suppose it could be, but she could have also meant it as a mild slam against advertising or the particular place you both work. Or it was simply a throwaway comment. Since you’re concerned, why not go back to her and say something like, “I’ve been thinking about what you said to me the other day about applying for other jobs and being overqualified. I’d actually really like to work in this field, and ideally here, and I was hoping I could talk to you more about what you meant.” (Keep in mind that as an entry-level employee, she might have no idea what she’s talking about, so you shouldn’t take her response to you as gospel — just use it as general background to consider.)

2. Talking about religion at work

Can my manager tell me not to talk about God at work?

It depends on what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Your employer can’t prohibit voluntary religious discussions among employees during times when you’re allowed to be discussing other non-work issues. They can, however, stop you from discussing God or religion with any employee who tells you she doesn’t want to talk to you about it (because that would be religious harassment from you toward that other person), and they can stop you from doing it if it’s interfering with work.

3. I haven’t heard back from my internship about my start date

I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and it has been immensely helpful to me in my internship search. Your advice helped me land my dream internship – paralegal intern with the local district attorney’s office… or maybe not?

I received their official acceptance letter for the fall semester in May. Since fall semester for me starts in early August, a little over a week ago, I took the initiative to email the attorney I was in touch with about my start date. I wanted to give them over a month’s heads-up, so if they have loose ends (background check, etc.) they have time to tie them up. I got a reply after the July 4th holiday saying only “Let me check.” This, on its own, is not unusual; my attorney contact likes short confirmations like that. What is much unlike him, though, is he didn’t follow this up in a week.

Should I send another email? How long should I wait before trying to get a feel on it again? I wouldn’t be so anxious on it if it wasn’t for the fact that I have to be employed no later than the semester’s start date, and that I have some other duties with a leadership role in my pre-professional organization at school.

Wait 10 days from his last response to you and check back in. I wouldn’t be too worried though; people are busy, and things can slip through the cracks or get pushed back by higher priorities. So give it a reasonable amount of time (in this case about 10 days) and try again.

Read an update to this letter here.

4. Manager wants to test our knowledge on things we were never trained on

I work at a KFC / Taco Bell. Our manager decided to give us all except for himself a food safety checklist thing as a test of what we know. I’ve been there over a year and technically have not been formally trained on anything, but I work as a cashier and on the line. On the test there are questions about cooking and prepping the chicken, which I know nothing about, and that’s a lot of the test. And it’s due in a couple of days and if we don’t turn it in, or get under a 75%, we get fired. A lot of us working there think that this is very unfair to us to be graded on stuff that we weren’t formally trained on.

Can your manager give you tests on stuff like that in the first place? And if they are able to do that, is it fair to base our jobs on that test if we were tested on things that we don’t know and weren’t formally trained on?

Yes, your employer can test you on anything they want, and can base your job on the results. But no, it doesn’t make any sense to do that when it’s something you have no way of knowing and don’t use in the course of your job. If he wants you to know that stuff, he should train you on it.

If I were you, I’d go back to him and say, “There’s a lot in here that we don’t use in our jobs, like X, and have never been trained on. If it’s important for us to know these things, could we get training on it first? I’d be glad to learn it, but so far we haven’t been trained on it.”

5. I have a disability and my shared-ride service is making me late to work

I have a physical disability, that means I cannot drive myself or take standard, fixed-route public transportation. Luckily, I live in a good-sized city with a fair paratransit system (for context: they provide door-to-door, shared-ride transit service exclusively for people with disabilities and seniors). Unfortunately, I have been having problems using this paratransit system to get to work lately. I’m just an intern, and I only work a few days a week, but I’ve been late to work every day for the past three weeks! I have done everything I can to rectify the situation with the company in charge of the paratransit service, and while I hope the issue has been resolved, I really can’t be sure.

To be fair, I have never been more than 20 minutes late, but I know I simply can’t expect my supervisor and coworkers to put up with this kind of behavior indefinitely, no matter how understanding they have been so far. How can I apologize to my supervisor, the director of the department, and the coworkers who have had to cover for me for the past few weeks?

I don’t want to say the issue has been resolved, because I’m not sure yet that it has been. Of course, I will continue to work on the issue until it is resolved and I can get to work on time, but I don’t know how to make it clear that I am committed to this position and enjoy working there, while simultaneously discussing my consistent lateness. I definitely don’t want to let the issue go unaddressed, especially to the people who have had to cover for me. What kind of approach would you suggest?

Explain the situation to your manager, and explain what you’re been doing to address it. Tell them you take it seriously, but that you’re concerned that you can’t be positive the situation has been resolved. Ask if it’s possible for you to have 20-30 minutes leeway on your arrival time in case it continues to happen, and ofter to stay later to make it up if needed.

In many jobs, arriving 20 minutes late isn’t going to be a big deal and will be something that can easily be accommodated if there’s a good reason, which there is in your case. (Frankly, they’re probably legally required to give you that accommodation under the ADA anyway, but I’d start by simply explaining what’s going on and asking if it’s okay.)

6. Taking time off around the holidays when you’re new to a job

I’m looking for a job and usually when you just start a job you can’t take any time off before one year. But if you usually go away to relatives for Christmas, how do you and when do bring that up? If I don’t take advantage of my family’s offer to visit then for Christmas, I’m stuck twiddling my thumbs. Should I just forget about Christmas for that year?

Maybe, but it will depend on the vacation policies of the place you end up working. Plenty of places let you take time off within your first year. If yours doesn’t, then it doesn’t — but plenty will. When you get a job offer, ask about benefits, including time off, and say something like, “I generally go away for a week around the holidays in December — will I have earned the leave to be able to do that by then?” (If not, some employers will let you take the time unpaid if you negotiate it as part of the offer discussion.)

7. Should I mention I’m planning on grad school during an interview?

My family and I do not have the same thoughts on when should graduate school plans be discussed in a job interview. My family thinks that I should mention my graduate school plans after the company has decided to hire me. Since I am planning to attend my classes this fall and am still job searching, I think that it should be mentioned during the interview process. I have a recently completed a job application where I hinted that I am going to go to graduate school. One of the questions asked about my availability for overtime and irregular hours, and I answered that as long as it will not conflict with my graduate school classes then it will be okay (I think I might have also wrote that I am going to go part-time and taking evening classes). From reading many AAM posts, I noticed that there are some things that can be left to be discussed later on in the hiring process; thus, I am wondering what your advice is on mentioning graduate school plans to future employers.

It depends. If you’re asked about your availability, then yes, you mention it, because it would be misleading not to. (But when/if you do, you make it clear that it’s part-time and at night, so that the employer isn’t envisioning you needing to miss every Thursday afternoon or anything like that.) But if it doesn’t come up and it doesn’t seem like the job’s schedule will be impacted by your school schedule at all, then you’re under no obligation to mention it — although I would at least mention it once you have an offer, so that if it turns out that it IS an issue, you’re able to figure that out before you’ve started work.

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

1. How to ask for the job description before interviewing

I know the best idea is to keep a copy of all job descriptions you apply to, but I have a habit of not doing that. Most of the time, the posting is still up when you hear back, and more of the time you don’t hear back. I just got a request to interview for a position, but the posting is no longer available. Is there a correct way to ask the HR recruiter for a copy without coming across as unprepared?

Yeah, ideally you really should keep copies of them all, because some companies do take ads down while they’re still interviewing. But if you didn’t, just go ahead and ask: “Would you be able to forward me a copy of the description? It doesn’t seem to still be online.”

2. Did I mishandle my turning down of a job offer?

I declined a job offer and it didn’t go very well. During the interviews when the salary and position was mentioned to me and I was asked if it was acceptable to me, I said yes. I didn’t think that would be construed as a binding acceptance of the offer. So when I did receive the offer (which came by email without advance notice), I took a week to get back to them to decline. But apparently the team had already started to anticipate work for me. I was shocked to hear this. I know there are no legal tangles because I haven’t signed any papers, but I feel awful because every relationship is important. I have verbally and formally (email) declined the offer. Is there anyway I can improve the situation, and prevent this in the future?

They sent you an offer throughout email without telling that it was coming? That’s weird, and that’s on them — what if you were out of town and not checking email or your internet access was down for a few days or something? Not to mention, it’s just a weird way to do things. When you make a job offer, you call someone up and talk to them. You don’t just shoot off an email.

So they’re in the wrong here, not you. That said, in general you don’t want to sit on an offer for a week without some sort of response — even if it’s just, “Let me talk a few days and think it through.”

3. Negotiating a raise after a probationary period

I am in the final stages of a job interview/application. The CEO called and said I was the committee’s preferred candidate and they were going to call on references. During the interview they indicated that there would likely be second rounds, so I was really excited about this. He asked if I had any questions about coming on board. I said that we had not talked about salary, although they had requested salary history (I wrote that I preferred to keep it private, but I was seeking a salary in the low $50,000s). I mentioned this and he said that the previous person was making low $40,000s, but he would visit the budget and see if the mid $40,000s would be possible with a 6-month probationary period with a raise at the end.

What are the usual terms for probationary periods with a raise with good performance? How much of a raise would be typical? I’d like to start at $45,000 and raise it to $48,000. Does that seem unreasonable? I understand that we would need to agree on criteria for good performance. Should this be in the original offer letter or is this something we should discuss once I’m on board (looking at a start date in 2.5 weeks)? Finally, if they do annual performance reviews, would I then wait a year from the 6 month review to revisit my salary should they offer merit or cost-of-living raises?

That’s not an unreasonable amount. Frankly, it’s possible that it should be higher, but I have no way to say without knowing more about your industry. However, you should absolutely get this agreement in writing. If they balk at that, then you should take that as a sign that this is NOT a binding agreement — it’s a “maybe we’ll do this, maybe we won’t.” Far too many people have made agreements like this, not gotten them in writing, and then had them fall through. And not always due to bad intentions on the part of the employer — but people miscommunicate or misremember things, hiring managers leave the company, etc. You want it in writing if you want to count on it.

4. Yes

Is it legal for my employer to give raises and/or bonuses based on an evaluation that was never given to me orally or in writing?

Yes.

5. Explaining that kids and immigration status kept me from working

I am a recent graduate (June 2013) and during my time at school got married and had 2 children (1 and 3 years old) and also relocated from Canada to the USA. I am beginning to feel it’s time to get out and work, and also just recently received my green card allowing me to work. I am often confused when I apply to entry level jobs or jobs for recent grads and they tell me that I do not have enough experience. Why do these employers list the jobs as entry level when they expect you to have much more experience? I have 1 year previous working experience in my field, but I completed that in 2008/2009. When they ask why I haven’t worked, I most often say that during that time I wanted to focus on school, but none of the employers seem to like that answer. Should I just say, “I didn’t work while I was in school because I had children to take care of” or “I was waiting for immigration to grant me a green card.” I am really unsure how to explain the gap in my resume when I was unable to work due to children and immigration.

Explain that you weren’t allowed to legally work in the U.S. until recently. No one can argue with that.

As for the entry-level jobs, yeah, the definition has been stretched in recent years. You do generally need experience to get most white-collar, full-time jobs now, but that experience can come from part-time jobs, internships, and volunteering — which are all common for recent grads to do in order to cobble together the experience that then allows them to get hired for more stable.

6. Asking for an alternate schedule one day a week

I’m a job seeker, and I also currently participate in a support group that meets at the beginning of the business day, once a week. If (hopefully when!) I get offered a job somewhere, would it be unreasonable to ask for the possibility of working, say, 11-7 on Tuesdays instead of 9-5 like the rest of the week? (Assume an office position that doesn’t completely hinge on being present at a specific time, as might a receptionist’s.) And is this something that should be considered a favor/benefit on the employer’s part if granted? If offered as proposed here, it wouldn’t actually be “flex” time; it would be a specific set schedule that just happens to be offset in time from the other days of the week.

Sure, you can ask about that. Plenty of employers will say yes, and some will say no, but it’s not unreasonable to ask. Most will consider it a benefit, and also flex time — flex time generally means starting and quitting times that are more flexible than the traditional 9-5 schedule, but doesn’t have to mean that it varies all over the place; it also includes things like a 7-3 workday or 4 days at 10 hours, or what you’re proposing.

7. My graduate program changed its name

I am in the process of the job hunt, and recently discovered that my masters degree has had the name of the program changed. It was only the second year of the program when I was enrolled with a fairly long multidisciplinary name (Community Leadership and Philanthropy Studies). The degree is housed in the School of Social Work, but has always included classes from other departments (including the business school). Now three years later, the name of the degree has changed to Nonprofit Management. The course requirements are essentially all the same, but the name is different. Were I in a situation where I needed to show my graducation documents, the name on my degree would read the old name — but if someone were to Google my degree and university, nothing official would come up. Should I just change the degree listed as Nonprofit Management and address the name change of the program at a later date with an employer if necessary? Or do I list the name of the degree at the time I received it?

Either is fine. If you’re asked about it, or asked to show your graduation documents (which is rare), you’d just explain the situation. This is one of those convenient dilemmas where it’s really not a big deal. Pick a way, explain if needed, and done.

It’s fast answer Friday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go…

1. Can I save my reputation at my summer job?

I managed to get a summer job that is (sort of) in my field (thanks to your blog), but I’m afraid that I’ve made some REALLY dumb mistakes and ruined this opportunity and maybe even my future in the field. The first mistake was that I didn’t get along very well with the other summer worker, but we’ve managed to resolve the situation and we are getting along better now and things are going more smoothly. However, the manager spoke to us both about the situation. Second, I spent too much of the budget for the project I was hired for on one part of it. My manager spoke to me about it and was not pleased at all, and I feel absolutely beyond embarrassed and I’m stick to my stomach about the mistake now. She said I wasn’t in “trouble” but that she questions my “judgement.”

I get along well with the other staff members there and as far as I’ve been told (by the manager), I’m doing a good job. But I don’t particularly get the impression that my managers like me and I feel certain that because of my mistakes I won’t get a good reference from this, when it’s said and done. I don’t know what to do. I can’t quit (not that I would anyway), because my field is small and, you know, people talk. If I suck it up and stay, they’re still going to talk about what a horrible job I’m doing. I honestly fear that I won’t be able to get a job in my field because of this and I don’t know what to do. Is there any chance of me being able to turn this job around and maybe end up leaving with a good reference, if not… what do you recommend I do?

Talk to your manager. Tell her that you’re mortified by the mistakes you made and that you really want to do better. Tell her what you’ve learned from the mistakes that you’ve made, and ask for her advice in moving forward from them. People do make mistakes, particularly early on in their careers, and they recover from them. You will too, particularly if you’re explicit with your manager about your desire to repair your reputation. (By the way, the not getting along with the coworker was probably more damaging than the budget mistake. That’s always avoidable and will make you look petty — make sure that going forward you simply don’t see it as an option to get prickly with coworkers.)

2. The same person keeps getting all the jobs I want

I am a patent secretary in the Boston area. The patent community is very small and pretty much everyone knows one another. I have applied to a few positions where I thought I “had it in the bag,” only to find out that they chose another candidate. As it turns out, the “other” candidate is always the same person. She moves from job to job and brags about getting more money each time she moves on. This person changes companies/firms approximately every 6 months! This is so frustrating. I’m not the only one she does this to. I have a friend in the same profession who is her Facebook friend, and she is always aware of her Facebook employment updates.

How can I get around this? I wish I knew what she says to be able to bounce around and still land all the good jobs. I’ve been a temp for a couple of years and I always get questioned why I bounce around.

That sounds horribly frustrating. All you can really do is keep in mind that you never have it in the bag, no matter how qualified you are or how well the interview goes; there could always be a stronger candidate than you. And of course, it doesn’t follow that if she were out of the picture, you’d be the one getting the offers — they could be hiring someone else instead. Which I realize might just be more discouraging, but I think it will help not to see it as her taking jobs you would otherwise get.

That said … it’s weird. And I’ve got to assume that eventually her mad job hopping is going to cause problems.

3. How do I convey personality traits in a cover letter?

In a cover letter, how do I convey intangible personality traits that often set me apart from other applicants without sounding egotistical or like I’m full of it? For example, I am very approachable. I smile a lot, make eye contact, look nice, and, as a librarian, that makes patrons extremely comfortable approaching me and asking me for help. I am very friendly, I will always go that extra step or ten to make sure a patron gets what he/she is looking for (but that sounds cliche in a cover letter), I am passionate about my work and my field, and generally, people just like working with me. But see, that all sounds conceited and perhaps quite untrue. But it’s not, I swear. When I am close but not quite on many jobs I am applying for (different type of library, not quite enough tech experience) this can set me apart. So, any thoughts?

This is where the old writing advice “show, don’t tell” applies. You’re right that you don’t want to say, “I’m friendly and passionate and make people comfortable and they like working with me.” Instead, describe how that comes through in your work, talk about how you approach patron relations and why, and maybe some successes you’ve had. You’ll convey the same things, but instead of just asserting that you have those traits, you’ll be demonstrating them, which is a lot more effective.

4. My GPA was low in law school due to family health issues

I’m finishing off law school, and working on applying for jobs. However, during my 1L year, my grades took a nose drive. In October of my first year, my father needed emergency open heart surgery. He’d had a kidney transplant the prior winter, and because of multiple infections and complications, he needed to have a heart valve replaced. He had a 40% chance of surviving the surgery. Unfortunately, his surgery was during the week of midterms at my school. The dean was very understanding, and my absences were all excused with exams rescheduled, but my father’s recovery was long and arduous.

I was certain that I was going to lose my father, and I spent as much time as possible with him over the rest of the school year. My grades took a tumble. Since 1L year is fundamental, I spent the last year catching up on two years of law school. My grades have since improved drastically (so has my father), but my GPA is still low.

Since then, they’ve recovered, but now it’s job hunting season. I’m really concerned that prospective employers might dismiss me based on these less-than-stellar transcripts. Should I address this issue up front, like in a cover letter? Or should I hope that I still get an interview, and explain it there if I’m asked about my grades?

If you don’t have to include your GPA on your resume, don’t. If you’re asked about it in an interview, you can explain it then. If you do have to include it though (because of application instructions, etc.), then yes, include a short explanation in your cover letter — just a sentence or two — and explain that your grades have since improved dramatically (you might even say, “my GPA since that time has been X”). (And I’m glad your dad is doing better.)

5. Who can I use for references?

I have just started a new job search and have come across my first posting that asks to submit references. My current job is my first full-time job after college, and I have only worked there for 2 years. I worked several summer internships prior to my current position, however I did not have a specific manager and have not stayed in contact with anyone I worked with at the companies.

I am struggling to determine who I should contact for a professional reference, as I definitely do not want to list my current employer. I recently started a volunteer position, but have not volunteered there long enough to use them as a reference. What other type of references, other than past managers, would be suitable references to list on a job application? What type of relationship is expected between a reference and a job applicant?

Generally managers, but when you’re in your first job out of college, it’s understood that you might have a hard time coming up with manager references, since you usually won’t be using your current manager. However, I’d do whatever you can to get in touch with someone who could be a good reference from your internships — think about who there knew your work best and try to find them on LinkedIn, etc.

If I were interviewing someone in your shoes, I’d absolutely understand why I couldn’t talk to your current manager, but I’d expect to be put in touch with people who knew your work in your previous roles.

6. Should I remove unrelated summer jobs from my resume?

I’m a college student and I will be graduating in decemeber 2013 , I have work experience but only summer jobs that don’t relate to the kind of position I want to obtain after graduating should I remove them from my resume considering the time frame has only been from may-august for 4years and q different one each year?? I don’t have any other work experience.

Uh oh. The first thing you need to do is clean up your writing. I’m not one to nail people for minor mistakes in a casual email to a blog and I usually clean up those errors without comment, but this is so extreme that I want to point it out to you here, because this kind of email (misspellings, missing punctuation, run-on sentence, etc.) will get you instantly disqualified from any job you apply to, no matter what’s on your resume.

On to the answer: Keep your work experience on there. It’s far, far better to have some work experience — even if unrelated to the field you want to go into — than to have no experience at all. Also, do whatever you can to get an internship in your field before you graduate; it’s a tough job market, even with that experience.

7. When people where I volunteer offer to help in my job search, what can I ask for?

I am currently working at a nonprofit as a volunteer. That is, I am an Americorps volunteer and am just about to finish my year of service. All the upper management in my department and for the organization in general know that I will be leaving soon and have asked me about my job search. They seem to want to help and have mentioned in passing that if I need anything to ask them. My question is how do I reach out to these potential resources? Should I send everyone my resume and let know what I am looking for? Any advice would be helpful!

Meet with people individually. Tell them what type of work you’re looking for and ask for their advice. Email them your resume afterwards, with a thank-you for their time and a request that they let you know if they hear of any openings that you’d be a good fit for.

Individual meetings are better than simply emailing everyone your resume because (a) they’ll get more invested in you and your search and (b) you’ll have the chance to hear their advice, rather than simply giving them a resume. Good luck!