Ask a Manager

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

1. Who pays for coffee at business meetings?

I am a designer and have been doing more and more freelance work in addition to my day job. I don’t have an office, so I frequently meet clients at coffee shops. At these meetings, am I expected to pay for the client’s beverage/snack? I have found that generally the client insists on purchasing my coffee, but my initial thought was that I should be paying since I am the one courting their business. What’s appropriate in this situation?

Generally, the business owner (you) pays and the client doesn’t. That said, if the client insists on paying, graciously accept and thank them. Next time, you can always jump in with, “Let me get this for you.”

2. Will it be harder to get a job at 27 than at 24?

I graduated college when I was 24 and am now 27, and while I’ve been applying to places for the past three years, I really haven’t gotten any offers. A few people have been telling me that the older I get, the less people will hire me because there are always younger people who will work for cheaper (obviously they don’t know how cheap I can be). But seriously, is this true? I have two part-time jobs that I’m currently working because the bills need to be paid. I’m just concerned that I’ve past some sort of age limit for a career. Most of the rejection letters/calls I get are “we went with someone with more experience,” so maybe not.

Age discrimination is a real thing, but it usually applies to people much older than you — there’s a reason age discrimination laws don’t kick in until 40, and many of us think 40 is weirdly young to need that protection. What IS true, however, is that the longer you’ve been out of school without having a professional job, the harder it is to get one — not because of your age, but because of the stretch of working years without professional experience, which tends to make you less competitive. I would worry not about your age, but about finding ways to get more professional experience ASAP, even if it’s through volunteering or internships. Good luck!

3. Should I be annoyed at the constant misspelling of my name?

For the three years I’ve been at my current job, my last name has gone through at least three misspelled variations. HR (and more importantly, my paycheck and taxes!) have it correct, but my work email address, my nameplate, my information on the company directory, my listing in the “service anniversary” announcements, and on various pieces of paperwork put in by coworkers are all misspelled in various creative ways. My name is not common, but it is in no way “exotic” or “foreign” and is not particularly long. (Editor’s note: It’s a very normal name.)

Just how annoyed should I be over this? I personally find it incredibly discourteous that no one bothers to spell my name right, or check with me, or in any way make sure they are not mangling my name. It is right there on emails that I send every day.

I’ve come to accept that my work email is not easily changed (in fact, when I was first hired and pointed out the error, my manager at the time essentially told me “too bad, so sad, we don’t change them”), but I’m not sure how best to handle it when I see coworkers turning in paperwork with my name misspelled. I would like to bring it to their attention that they are mangling my name and ask them to please spell it correctly in the future, but I’m leery of coming off as anal-retentive or nitpicky (which I can sometimes be!). I would mostly be directing this to employees who are senior to me, and I really don’t want to burn bridges, but I’m tired of getting called “Chocoltae Teapot!”

As someone whose name is also constantly misspelled by others (who like to write “Allison” rather than “Alison”), I decided a long time ago not to care. I look at it as a word that has multiple correct spellings, like grey/gray or whiskey/whisky. My name uses one spelling, but I know what people mean when the use the other, and I’m not bothered by it — as long as it’s in informal uses, and not something that’s going to be published or otherwise “official.” That’s probably what I’d recommend for you. I mean, you could make a big deal about it and correct people every time they get it wrong, but then you’ll be the person who’s always screaming “It’s ONE L, damn you!” I think you’ll be happier just letting it go.

That said, it absolutely does need to correct in official stuff — bylines, your company email, and published documents. I would correct it there — but be prepared to have to patiently do it multiple times.

4. Explaining why I’m looking for a new job after such a short amount of time

I am currently in a job I haven’t been in very long (a little less than 6 months) but have started to look for new jobs. The main reason I am looking is because I am contractual and work 40 hours/week but have no benefits. No paid time off, 401k, health insurance, etc. How do I address this in a cover letter where an employer will notice or ask about my short stay? I anticipate it will take me a while to find a good fit, and by that time I may even hit a year at this job (in which case my “contract” would be up but my company has a history of renewing contracts and already mentioned renewing mine) but would like to know how to word it properly in a cover letter if I apply to something now.

It’s fine to say that you’re on a contract job but looking for something more long-term. You don’t have to get into the lack of benefits, etc. up-front; people generally understand that contract jobs often mean no benefits. If someone asks how long the contract is and the answer is “indefinite,” it’s fine to at that point explain that you’re looking for a role with benefits and so forth.

5. I don’t feel comfortable training new employees

I have a question for you about training new employees. I currently work in an industry with a high turnover rate. Most new hires stay less then six months. I have been there almost three years and am the most experienced person on the team.

Because of this, I end up doing all of our training, whether it be a new-hire or someone who is going to be cross-trained. I want to help however I can, but I just don’t feel comfortable training people. It’s not something I have been taught to do, and it makes me frustrated in addition to putting me behind on my own work. Whenever I try to address this with my manager, I am told that I am the best one to do it because of my patience and my work experience. No one else seems to want to train either.

I don’t want to sell myself short, but on the other hand I really feel like I need some training myself before I train others. Can you think of a good way to address this with the boss? Should I go over her head since she is not listening to me?

It sounds like you are the best person to do the training, if you’ve been there three years and most people stay less than six months. And it’s really very normal for non-managers to be asked to train new hires on their team, and most of them do it without special training in training. In fact, it’s so very, very normal that protesting is going to come across pretty weirdly. That said, if there are specific elements of training that you don’t feel equipped to handle, you should discuss those with your boss — not with the aim of getting out of them, necessarily, but with the aim of finding a solution, whether that solution is additional training for you or something else. (But keep in mind that “something else” might just be assurance that your boss thinks you’re doing a perfectly fine job at it and wants you to continue.)

This is not the type of thing you should go over your boss’s head about.

6. Will it look bad to do this internship, and how do I find out if I’d need to commit to staying for the whole period?

I just graduated college with a degree in journalism, and as you can imagine, it’s been kind of tough finding a job in the field. I’ve widened my net and am considering a communications-related internship in a major city’s mayor’s office that I found out about through a friend who works there. I’ve already conducted a phone interview for the position and have an in-person interview tomorrow afternoon. The position pays much better than anything I’d be able to find in retail or food service and it’s part-time for the next three months. I will, of course, keep going on the full-time job search, full steam ahead.

My question is this: is it going to look suspicious to potential employers that I accepted a non-journalism position — and an internship, no less — after I graduated? Also, I know that leaving the internship if a full-time job offer came my way would be contingent upon the terms discussed before the internship offer was accepted. But is there a way I can ask about that before the job offer, so that I don’t waste their time if they’re looking for someone to commit for the full length of the internship? I’m managing my expectations and know that it’s not likely that I’ll get a full-time job offer within the next three or four months, but I’d hate to pass up on it to stay at a temporary internship.

It’s not going to look suspicious; people take the jobs that can get in order to have an income. And there’s an argument that any work is better than no work when it comes to developing professionally.

Before accepting the offer, it’s fine to say, “I’m really excited about this internship, but wanted to ask how people generally handle it if they get a full-time offer before the internship is up. I’m continuing to search for a position for after this position is over, but if I were to be offered something that started earlier, would you need me to commit to turning it down?”

Read an update to this letter here.

7. How should I get in touch with this employer when I have another job waiting for my answer?

I recently applied for an academic position, which I’m really excited about. I did a 15-minute phone screening a few weeks ago and told the person I spoke with that I would be out of the country for my wedding for about 10 days. The person I spoke with said that wouldn’t be a problem as one of the people involved in the hiring process would be out during the same period and a few days longer for her own wedding.

In the meantime, I’ve been offered a short-term consulting position in Belize for the summer and need to make a decision. I sent an email to the person I spoke to on the phone to ask what their timeline was and if it had been updated since the job description said they wanted to fill it by July 1st. She’s out of the office until June 28th. Her email auto-responder gave the email of her colleague, who I also emailed but didn’t respond.

I’m now debating with my husband whether or not calling is too much. I think it is and I could become the “annoying person who they drop.” He thinks calling to ask if the position has been filled shouldn’t matter, but it also means I have to seek out someone who I haven’t been in contact with previously. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

You’ve tried the obvious people to reach out to and haven’t been successful. At this point, I think you need to make a decision about the short-term position in Belize independent of anything that might or might not happen with this job. After all, you’ve only had a 15-minute phone screen for it — you’re far from a finalist at this point, and it doesn’t sound like their process is going to be over by the time you need to make a decision. Jobs fall through all the time, and in this case, their process has barely begun. Make the decision you’d make if this job weren’t even in the picture.

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

1. What was up with the bizarre call from a recruiter for a job I’m not a fit for?

I received a rather bizarre phone call today and wonder if this is a “thing,” an issue of an inept recruiter, or a red flag for a company in general.

A recruiter contacted me after having (supposedly) viewed my resume on careerbuilder.com and wanted to set up an interview. The position was as a financial advisor. That is not at all my field or an area in which I have any experience or interest. I sounded flustered, I’m sure, because (1) I thought I’d removed my resume from Careerbuilder long ago (I later checked my account, and I had no resume uploaded; I can only think the recruiter managed to find some sort of archived resume); (2) my field has nothing to do with financial advising or financial anything; (3) I just tend to not be prepared for these sorts of things anyway.

Third point aside, I managed to question what it was about my resume that made the recruiter think I might be a fit for the job. At this point she sounded flustered herself and said something to the effect of “Your resume indicates that you have excellent communication skills. This is for an entry-level financial advisor role.” (I have over 7 years of experience in my field.) At that point, I declined to interview, stating that I’d prefer to stay in my field, and we hung up. I mean, if the best someone can say about my fit for a role is that I “seem to have excellent communication skills,” that doesn’t seem like a situation I want to get in to.

I know recruiters are paid when they fill a position, but is this common? It strikes me as a very ineffective way to go about recruiting, even for entry-level positions.

So very common, especially for the sort of role it sounds like she was trying to recruit you for. Those tend to be warm-body roles, where they’ll take just about anyone they can find — and since this is a job market where it’s not exactly hard to find candidate for most roles, that tells you something.

2. How to describe filling in for a colleague on your resume

How should one note covering a colleague’s leave on their resume? My position is meant to serve as back-up to our grants administrator (I work at a community foundation), with the understanding that when that person is on vacation I would cover the role and help process grants on higher-volume weeks. When our grants administrator went on maternity leave, I covered the process–which essentially superseded my own role, due to the volume and time-sensitive nature of the work–for three months. Shortly before my colleague was due to return, she gave notice. In total, I will have served as acting grants administrator for 6+ months. This equals about a third of the time I have been in my “real” role (as a research manager).

My resume currently says I “support” the grants function, but for 6 months, I truly did manage all aspects of the role, and also contributed significantly to refining and developing new procedures, as well as training the incoming grants administrator. Do you have any suggestions for how to note this on my resume without being redundant (since I am still covering my own responsibilities during this same period and, for the foreseeable future, I will again be “supporting” the grants function)?

“Served as acting grants administrator for six months” — followed by what you did in that capacity and any achievements you had in the role.

3. How to get informational interviews when no one is responding to my emails

I’m a recent grad with a B.A. and I’m deeply immersed in the whole job search. I am not having much luck, as a lot of work in the field that I am interested in appears to require a Masters, at least, and previous research experience…at least that’s what I can tell so far. Essentially, I need more information, and thus would like to do informational interviews. I am not having any luck, though, with getting these set up. I have been contacting HR people at relatively large organizations in my field. Is this the correct person to get in touch with, and ask them to put me in touch with employees at their organization, or should I send emails directly to employees (researchers, in my case)?

In addition, I have read all of your warnings about these NOT being a job interview–and I promise I understand that! But do you have any other advice about the way to make the most of informational interviews?

Nope, don’t go through HR. You want to reach out to the specific person you hope to meet with, and do four things in that initial email: (1) Tell them why you’re interested in talking with them in particular, as opposed to someone else in that field (and being flattering doesn’t hurt, as long as it’s not obsequious); (2) suggest a meeting with a specific (and short) time limit, like 20-30 minutes; (3) tell them precisely the type of thing you want them to ask about (so it’s clear that you’re prepared and have thought this through, and so they know what to expect); and (4) offer to make it easy as possible on them — meeting at their office, or buying them coffee somewhere nearby, or even meeting via phone if that’s more convenient for them. Good luck.

4. Should I update this headhunter so she doesn’t think I’m off the market?

I was contacted by a headhunter recently hiring for a position I am well qualified for. This was a few weeks ago. She hasn’t had a chance to present me to her client yet because they had a board of directors meeting immediately followed by a time sensitive project that needs completion, so hiring for this position has dropped lower on their priority list. As soon as they have breathing room, the headhunter will present me.

In the meantime, I am continuing my job search since there’s no guarantee this potential job will pan out. I was laid off in October and have been doing some freelance consulting since then, but not having a consistent paycheck is stressful. So, I have taken a 3-month temp position through a staffing agency to bring in some steady income while I continue to search for a full time permanent job. The temp job is in my industry and fits my skill set well, and I want to at least update my LinkedIn profile with the information so it doesn’t look like I am unemployed anymore (operating on the theory that having a job makes me look more desirable to potential employers). However, the headhunter I am working with is one of my LinkedIn connections, and I don’t want her to see my update and assume that I am no longer on the job market and then not present me to her client. Should I give her a heads up about the temp job before I update my profile so there are no surprises? What should I say? Should I also send her an updated resume? I don’t want to offend her.

You’re over-thinking it. It’s fine to update your LinkedIn profile. You can note there that it’s a short-term position if you want, but you really don’t even need to. If it will give you peace of mind, it’s fine to send her a note to check in and mention that you’re doing some temp work meanwhile but that you remain very interested in the role she mentioned once they’re ready to move forward, as well as in any others that she thinks might be a good fit.

5. How to turn down a promotion at my part-time job

I have an unusual problem. I work part-time at a retailer while I’m in school. I’ve been promoted once in this past year and the store manager wants to promote me again. The trouble is, this new position is going to involve a lot more time, a lot more hassle, not a lot more money, and I’m going to hate it. (I know I’m going to hate it because I help the current person with it and it drives me insane.) And to be brutally honest, I’ve been looking for another job–for reasons I don’t need to go into here.

I need to be able to turn down the promotion without burning my bridge with the store manager. How do I do that?

You have the perfect excuse since you’re in school: Say that while you appreciate being thought of for it, you need to focus more on your schoolwork than the new position would allow, and so you’d prefer to stay in the job you’re in currently, which is the right fit for your schedule.

6. Do I have to list both schools I attended, when I only graduated from one?

I transferred from UC Irvine to Brown. On some versions of my resume, I list both, but on others, I only list that I graduated from Brown in 2013 and my degrees. The reason for this is that listing two colleges can look awkward and take up space. However, I don’t want potential employers to think I am trying to hide my time at UC Irvine. What is your opinion?

It’s fine to simply list the school you received your degree from; you don’t need to list the school where you did some of your earlier coursework.

7. Contacting companies that don’t have current openings

Some companies don’t have the option to submit a resume or fill out a form for future consideration if positions open up, or even a “careers” page. When I email such companies inquiring about potential job opportunities, should I attach a resume and cover letter to this inquiry email, or ask them if they are interested in taking a look at my resume/cover letter, and only send them those items if they respond in the affirmative?

You should alway attach your resume; they have no idea if they’re even interested enough to email you back unless they can see that first. As for the cover letter, that’s going to be the same thing explaining why you’re emailing them in the first place, so there’s no need for an additional document. Make those one and the same.

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

1. How do I poach someone from another employer?

I work for a real estate company and we would like to hire an amazing blogger to work full-time providing interesting content for our website, but it has been difficult finding a good fit. There is a guy who writes a real estate blog for a local newspaper and we think he seems great. We would like to reach out to him and see if he might be interested in coming to work for us.

Now, how do we do this in a nice, professional way? I don’t know how to phrase an email that’s basically saying that we would like to steal him away from his current employer. Should we make that clear right away or is it better to ask to meet with him and explain what we’re looking for face to face? We have never been in contact with him before, only read his articles.

Well, assuming that you’re not going to snatch him off the street and force him into a van, you’re not really proposing stealing him from his employer. He’s a free agent who is going to make his own employment decisions. So instead, what you’re doing is telling him that you think you might have work that would interest him — from there, it’s up to him to decide whether to take with you about it and, ultimately, whether to accept any offer you might make.

I’d be straightforward about what you’re looking for though; if you’re circumspect, it can seem misleading. Just email him, tell him that you love his work, and say that you’d love to talk with him about a position you’re hiring for if he might be interested. Describe the position a little bit, and ask if he’d be interested in meeting to talk further. (By the way, do a thorough interview — don’t just offer him the job if he seems interested. You really don’t know enough yet to know if he’s your guy, and even if you did, most good candidates will be put off if a company seems willing to hire them without any due diligence to check into fit, skills, etc.)

2. Asking an intern to curb his out-of-control yawning

I have a 21-year-old intern who yawns. A lot. In all types of meetings. 1:1s, groups, new hire orientations, etc. And it isn’t the kind of yawn most people do (covered mouth, unobtrusive, minimized, embarassed). It is a jaw-disconnecting, mouth WIDE open, cavity-baring, arms stretched wide, crack your back kind of yawn.

In other bad habit news, I have already told him to stop 1) arriving late, 2) biting his nails like there is a meal under the cuticle, and 3) speaking at the top of his lungs, so I have held back from being too direct about this remaining habit. I don’t want him to report back to people that I am really picky, intimidating or demanding about his personal habits. These things can backfire.

What I have done is:
-Stopped speaking while he is arching his back/grabbing oxygen, waited until he finished, then asked “Are you OK?”
-Commented “My, you really need to get to sleep early tonight I guess.”
-Given him the arched eyebrow / stank eye combo stare

I am considering throwing paperclips at his gaping mouth the next time and see if I hit his tonsils. Any advice?

Just tell him. He’s an intern. He’s there to learn how to behave professionally in the workplace. You can certainly acknowledge that this is yet another on the list of things you’re asking him to change: “I know I’ve already asked you to modify some other habits, but there’s one more I’m hoping you’ll work on, and hey, this is part of the deal with internships; you learn how to come across professionally in an office.”

3. HR said their job offer is utterly non-negotiable

I have been offered a job that I would love to take. An HR rep just called me to discuss the details of the offer. I asked her who I should reach out to if I were to negotiate the offer. She said it’s impossible, no part of the offer is negotiable. I asked for 2 to 3 days to review the offer, and even then she pushed me to accept it on the spot. I did not cave in and said I was looking forward to receiving a written offer in email today so I could review it and get back to her on Monday.

I haven’t seen all the details of the offer yet, but I am pretty happy with the salary. I am getting very generous vacation time with my current employer, so I was hoping my new employer could match that. Following your advice, I was going to negotiate both my salary and my vacation time. So far, the HR of the company has been handling the process, but the hiring manager called me yesterday to extend the offer. I am not sure if I can negotiate it, and if I can, which one of them do I talk to? As soon as I mentioned negotiation, the HR rep changed the tone of her voice and said the offer was not negotiable and they had candidates lined up for this job. What do you think? Do you think I could still talk to the hiring manager?

Talk to the hiring manager. The HR person sounds like an ass. Say, “Jane told me no parts of this offer are negotiable, and frankly I’m happy with the salary, but it would be difficult for me to walk away from the X weeks of vacation I’m getting with my current employer. Is there any flexibility there?”

I’m not going to tell you there’s no risk of them pulling the offer, given the HR person’s crappy approach. There is. That wouldn’t be reasonable at all, but it does happen. So you’ll need to decide if you’re willing to take that risk or whether you’d just take the job without the extra vacation time.

4. Can I pass a resume along to a hiring manager who rejected me last year?

A former colleague reached out to me recently to ask if I might know anyone at an organization where she has recently applied for a job. She has already gone through the standard application submission there, but is hoping that a personal contact also putting her resume in front of someone there would be more likely to result in a favorable response.

I interviewed at this same organization last year. Although I did not get the job, I did have a nice rapport with the hiring manager who interviewed me. I have not been in touch with this hiring manager since finding out I did not get the job, but things were left cordially. This is not likely to be the same hiring manager for the job my former colleague is applying for.

Would it be strange for me to reach out to the hiring manager who interviewed me with a note that I was passing on the resume of my former colleague, that she had recently applied for X position there, and that I think she would be a strong candidate? (Assuming the last part is true — I have a favorable opinion of the candidate but haven’t seen the job description yet).

I would like to help my former colleague if I can, but I also don’t want to commit a professional faux pas with this hiring manager, as he could potentially be a useful contact for my own future job searches.

Nope, not strange. You’re treating the hiring manager like any other professional contact, so this is normal and fine to do.

5. Can my manager keep me off the schedule if HR told them to put me back to work?

Can a store manager legally keep you off the schedule once Human Resources specifically tells them to put you back to work? Even if they have someone taking extra shifts to work in your place? Is there a grace period? What can I do?

Yes, a manager can keep you off the schedule. There’s no law telling them that they have to obey HR’s directive (unless HR’s directives are themselves about following the law, like “don’t pay employees under the table”).

6. Can employer make us listen to a talk during our break?

I have had this issue with my employer for the past year. They tried to kill two birds with one stone by having a rep from a charitable organization talk to us during our 15-minute break. Can they do this? I’m in Texas.

Yep, as long as it’s a paid break. Texas doesn’t require that employees be given breaks at all, so if they give them to you, they can require you to use them however they want. However, if it’s an unpaid break, they can’t dictate what you do with that time.

7. My boss found me on LinkedIn

My issue is that my boss just found me on LinkedIn. And I’ve been job hunting for a while. I only joined LinkedIn earlier this year, so I’m not super familiar with profile editing, and I haven’t spent much time on it since setup. When I saw she had requested to connect, of course, I immediately went about trying to edit out any detailed resume information or any of the “contact me for” section. Honestly, I’m still paranoid that there may be something incriminating (job hunt wise) that I missed in my edits.

I’ve heard that one of the golden rules of LinkedIn and job hunting is: don’t friend anyone you currently work with–and I haven’t. However, I’m also afraid that if I don’t do anything (or hit the ignore button), things may quickly become awkward around my very small workplace.

I think you’re way over-thinking this. It’s very normal to be on LinkedIn, even when you’re not job searching, and it’s also normal to connect with people you work with. There’s no reason she’ll assume you’re actively searching just because you have a profile there.

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

1. My company told me not to come back without a doctor’s note

Today I was complaining once again about my pay not being correct. I told them it was causing me stress and my blood pressure was starting to rise, and I stormed out, saying I was going to the doctor. They just sent me a email telling me I need to get a doctor’s note before I come back. Can they do this?

Guess what happens when you tell an employer that their actions are causing you a health issue and you storm out, saying you’re going to see a doctor? You sure as hell can expect them to take that seriously — you’ve just told them that your workplace is putting your health at risk. They’re going to cover their own asses by asking for documentation that your doctor has cleared you for return to work.

2. How long should it take to get a promotion approved?

During my performance review in March, my manager told me she wanted to promote me to senior level but at the time, she was waiting for things to go through upper management. This is my first job and I’ve never been promoted before, so I’m assuming promotions need approval? It’s been 3 months since our conversation and she hasn’t said a word about what is going on. Do promotions usually take long to implement? I could tell she wants to promote me, but since I haven’t heard a word, I’m not sure if it’s going to happen.

Promotions do often need approval, but there’s no reason it needs to take three months. Go back to her and ask what the timeline is for moving forward.

3. Truffle making and other chocolatier work (and short-term jobs)

I am a pastry cook. In my previous jobs, my main focus has been on catering and traditional pastries and cakes. In my most recent job, I have learned the ins and out of truffle making and other chocolatier work. My mother-in-law has recently passed, so my husband and I are quitting our jobs and packing up to go be near our family. Due to the circumstances, I am leaving my job after 5 months. I am torn between leaving it off my resume for fear that the short term will make me look bad, or including it because chocolate work is a unique skill set and will make me an asset to future employers. What should I do?

I know next to nothing about chocolate work, but if five months is generally considered long enough to establish decent chocolate skills, then include it. You have a perfectly understandable reason for why your stay there was so short.

4. Asking for a raise when I didn’t meet all my goals for the period

I’ve been somewhat unhappy with my company lately, so I’ve been casually looking for a new job, and recruiters have been interested in me. However, if possible, I would like to stay with my current company for a while longer, but I would like a raise. I know that I should point out the value I add and not mention offers I’ve got from other companies, but the thing is that I haven’t met the objectives my manager set in my mid-year evaluation meeting. It was pretty obvious to me that I wouldn’t have time to work on those objectives, but my manager insisted I should put them down in writing. I think I did a good job nevertheless, but since we were understaffed we spent a lot of time in reactive mode and we didn’t have time to be proactive about anything.

I know that my manager thinks I’m one of the best employees on the team, but my performance form does not reflect that at all. Even if my manager does agree that I deserve a raise, won’t my performance form cause the higher-ups to deny his request?

Your performance form should hopefully reflect the totality of your manager’s assessment of you, and if your manager agrees that other work became higher priorities than the goals that were originally laid out, then that should be reflected there. It’s not reasonable for a manager to give someone a poor evaluation if the manager agrees that they did excellent work and that there were extenuating circumstances for the goals not being met.

So if you think your performance merits a raise, make the case for that, and rely on your manager to make the case for it to her own managers if she agrees.

5. Helping an unhappy boss

I’m a college student who works at an independently owned ice cream and smoothie shop in the mall during summer and winter breaks. I enjoy the job, and my boss is a great guy who has always gone out of his way to treat his employees fairly and kindly.

However, I’ve noticed a change in his personality lately. For several months, he has told all of us how he is under a lot of stress and he’s no longer the happy man he once was. The mall is not doing well financially, and our stand apparently only makes about half of what he needs it to make. There’s also the fact that he is tired of food service/restaurant management and he has described himself as “being in a rut” and compared the stand to “a cage in a zoo.”

I’m worried about him and I want to do something, but I have no idea if there is anything I can do, or anything I should do. I mean, I am just a part-time seasonal employee and I’m also only 21, whereas he is his late 40s/early 50s. Although he has been open about his problems with all of the employees, part of me worries that it is still none of my business and I should leave well enough alone. Besides that, what could I do that wouldn’t cross boundaries? That’s what concerns me–that by getting involved, I’ll be investing too personally in my employer’s life. I feel bad for him and it makes me feel awful knowing he’s clearly stressed out and I can’t do anything. What would you do in my situation?

It’s kind of you to be concerned, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do because of the nature of the relationship. You’re just not in a position to be able to offer help. You could offer a concerned ear, but even that isn’t really appropriate — and, in fact, it’s not really appropriate for him to be venting to you and other employees.

Trust that he has other people in his life who are better positioned to be able to help him, and just keep doing your job well. Be a good employee, let him know that you appreciate the way he manages the staff, and trust him to find age-appropriate, relationship-appropriate help from other quarters.

6. Manager emails and texts me at all hours

I am a salaried employee. Is it ok for my boss to text me and email me all the time, even late weekends? Is it ok for him/her to ask me to call an hourly employee late at night to work?

Ethically or legally or something else? Legally, if you’re exempt, this is all allowed. If you’re non-exempt, it’s allowed but you need to be paid for the time.

From a management standpoint, no, he shouldn’t be doing that unless you’re in the type of business where it’s truly required, like, say, managing the PR of a troubled starlet prone to weekend and late-night debacles or running a one-person I.T. shop in a business with very rickety I.T. infrastructure. (But you’d probably know if that were the case.)

One way to put a stop to this is to simply not respond to the late night and weekend emails and texts. Deal with them when you’re back at work on Monday, and if he complains, tell him that you leave your computer off on weekends / were busy and not looking at work messages / etc. If he tells you it’s part of the job to be responsive at all hours, then you can decide if that’s a job you want.

7. Can I send my coworker possibly nitpicky formatting corrections when I review her work?

Part of my job is to review test procedures and reports from my coworkers and send any corrections, such as incorrect information, spelling, and so on. They do the same with my reports, since all documentation requires a certain number of reviewers/approvers at my company.

My question is regarding formatting corrections. I have one coworker in particular who isn’t very good at formatting in Word — for example, instead of using the automatic bullets and numbering formats, she will type in a, b, c, and if the sentence is more than one line, she’ll hit the space bar in front of the first word so that it lines up with the previous line (instead of indenting.)

This may sound nitpicky, but seeing that makes me cringe. Is it obnoxious if I correct the formatting while I’m looking over the report? I suspect that I’ll get to a point where I can’t be bothered anymore, but for now I feel a compulsion to correct it! Aside from just not using good formatting practice, I know that it would waste time if she had to make any corrections, since she’ll have to re-space the entire paragraph.

I’d correct it, but I’m nitpicky about that stuff too and it would drive me crazy not to. Why not correct it and then offer to show her how to set it up correctly in the future? (You can frame it as saving her time and making the final product look better, both of which should be true.)