Ask a Manager

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

1. Praying at interviews … and a law firm with a resident chaplain

I walked into an interview for a paralegal position at a law firm, and on the receptionist’s desk was the Ten Commandments. No big deal, right? I thought maybe the receptionist put it there for herself. But then a man comes out and introduces himself as the law firm’s chaplain and proceeds to ask myself and the other two paralegals if we would like to be lead in prayer. The other two ladies chime in with a zealous “YES!” and we proceed to pray about having a successful day. At this point, I’m freaking out. Now I have nothing against religion — I believe it’s a lot like sexual orientation. It’s a personal decision and I would never dream of questioning anyone on their chosen religious beliefs or sexual preferences. But I do believe NEITHER belong in the workplace. So after I met the chaplain, I seriously considered walking out and just stating that this job isn’t the right fit for me. But pretty quickly, the woman interviewing me called me back. She proceeded to lead my interview with another prayer, and then the attorney came in halfway through the interview to listen in. He also asks if we’ve prayed. At this point, I was trying to make the process as short as possible because there is no way I would be comfortable in that working environment. The interview also ended with a prayer. It should be noted that in their job advertisement they did not mention that they were a faith-based law firm and they did not advertise a starting salary range, but their offered salary at the interview was insultingly low and not negotiable.

What happened here? What’s the appropriate response? Isn’t this borderline illegal? And am I wrong in thinking that even if I was very religious, 3 prayers within one hour would severely affect my work performance and turn potential clients off? If they call me back for a second interview, should I find a way to politely tell them why I would decline?

This is so bizarre that I questioned whether it was real, but the letter came from someone who I’ve corresponded with in the past, so …

Yes, this is crazy town. It’s certaintly their prerogative if they want to run their business that way (and they might be small enough that they’re not covered by federal laws against religious discrimination), but not to state it up front in the ad so candidates can self-select out and to act like of course you’d be comfortable with this without even asking is pure insanity. And rude, frankly.

Personally, I would have left after the chaplain attempted to lead me in prayer. If they call you back, you can certainly say that you appreciate their interest but they seem to have a culture that mixes religion with work and it’s not for you.

2. How can I stay motivated at my boring retail job?

Currently, I am a college student, scheduled to graduate in six months. I have my hands full between school, a part-time (unpaid) internship, and my part- time retail job. My internship and school are going very well. What I am struggling with is my part-time retail job. I have worked there for nearly seven years, and I make barely above minimum wage. I am very burned out from being there for so long, partially because I have never managed to move up from a sales associate position to assistant manager — those opportunities rarely come around and are usually offered to people with more open availability — but also, the repetitiveness of the it all, and the low wages. The work isn’t challenging or rewarding, and I am doing the exact same tasks every day. I no longer have the motivation to keep myself busy during my entire shift, as my managers would like me to do. They have told me my failure to keep myself constantly busy at work is a problem. I feel badly about this. I am rather unhappy there, but I would still like to be able to make this last until I graduate and get a higher- paying job. I feel as though getting a different part-time job would be more stressful than anything, as I require a certain amount of flexibility with my hours that my current job offers. Also, I do not know if that would cause an odd gap in my work history on a resume.

I really want to find new ways to keep myself energized and motivated at work so I can become a better worker and less miserable at work. Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.

The best reason I can give you to continue to do a good job at work is integrity. You are being paid to do a job. You’re accepting money for that job. As long as you continue to accept your employer’s money, you owe it to them (and to yourself, because again, integrity) to do the job the way they’re asking you to do it. Do you want to be the type of person who slacks off (and who potentially becomes known for slacking off), or do you want to be someone who’s awesome at what she does, even when it’s not especially exciting?

Plus, a job that you’ve been at seven years should be a great reference for you. Future prospective managers are going to be interested to talk with the employer who worked with you for so long. It would be a shame to squander a good reference just because the work is repetitive — and given your managers’ talk with you, it sounds like that’s already happening and you need to correct it while you still have a window to.

3. Is there a target on my back because I asked for a raise?

I have been at my current job for 15 months and have recently asked for a raise. I backed up my request with a list for the new products I designed for the company (that have sold) and during my lunch/review the boss and manager gave me only 4’s and 5’s on a 1-5 scale (5=best).

Since being denied a raise for the usual reasons of corporate poverty, I am afraid now I have a target on my back. Had I even got a measly 1%, the issue would have gone away. Not to get paranoid, but I am afraid the boss may be thinking that because I didn’t get the raise, I will be disappointed and look for a new job. So now he will have to replace me before he thinks I would leave.

I do enjoy my job and I do not want to leave. I just want to earn what I am worth for my skills (I only asked for $50/week more). Do you think I have reason to worry about this?

Well, a raise request always has a subtext of “or I may leave and find it elsewhere” attached. So yes, it’s probably crossed your boss’s mind that you might be thinking about that. But replacing you based on nothing more than that is very, very unlikely.

4. Is there a protocol for interviewers?

I was wondering if there was an established protocol for conducting interviews. I am currently looking for a job in my field (finance / investment management). So far, I have had a number of interviews — phone, in person, with a recruiter/headhunter — with various organizations. My idea (and may be I am being naïve) of a well-conducted interview includes sitting down with an interviewer who then explains the position I am interviewing for, then we talk about my experience, and so on. Whereas I have come to know well what to expect and what is important in interviews with recruiters, I am very often quite baffled by the order of questions in all other kinds of interviews. Specifically, last week in a phone screen with an HR rep of a very small company, the third question was regarding my salary expectations. Another HR phone screen from another company – and this question was asked at the beginning of the conversation as well. I also just received an email from an HR rep of another (large and very respected) company and she is asking me the same question. I haven’t even talked to this person or anybody else in the company. Is this the reality job seekers should expect in this market or are these red flags?

I have also noticed that interviewers don’t want to take the time to talk about the position but rather start by asking questions right away. Very often I have to steer them towards telling me what the job is all about as the conversation goes on. Is this a good practice on behalf of interviewers?

There’s no universal rule for what interviewers should ask first and in what order. But interviewers often don’t start by talking about the position because they assume you know the basics from the job posting and that the details will come out through conversation as the interview progresses.

And in phone screens, it’s very common to ask some quick deal-breakers right up front; they have a zillion candidates to talk to, and they don’t want to waste time talking about the position if you don’t meet some basic criteria, one of which is often whether you’re in the same salary range that they are.

5. Required to work a full extra day

Can an employer require an exempt salaried professional employee to start working an additional full day (Saturday) on top of their regular ~40 hour M-F work week with no additional compensation?

Yes. You can, of course, try to negotiate a raise or other compensation, or a more flexible schedule. If they won’t budge, then you need to decide if you want the job under these new terms.

6. I’m overhearing talk of layoffs — can I use this as leverage?

I sit next to 2 change managers who are talking about massive layoffs. 25 waves, 100 per wave, to give you an idea of the scale. I’ve been overhearing these conversations for several months now. Recently, I’ve heard my group mentioned as part of the upcoming layoffs. It’s affecting my day to day, just having to listen them talk about my livelihood so nonchalantly.

Do I have any rights in terms of reporting to HR or negotiating a higher severance for having had to hear this? The layoffs are originating from the HR department, so I’m not even sure if it’s worth reporting. I don’t typically use HR as a resource, but I’d love to hear what you think.

Do you have any rights to special treatment because you’ve overheard layoffs being discussed? No. In fact, some might say that you’ve already received the special treatment — the luxury of getting to know ahead of time that you might lose your job and a heads-up that you should be job searching. But as far as reporting it as some sort of wrongdoing or asking for additional severance because of it? No.

7. Why would an employer cancel an interview — after I’d already arrived?

I was recently asked to interview for a position with an organization. The HR department gave me a list of available time slots for the HR manager and the manager of the department where I would be working. I selected a suitable time for both of us, and went to the interview. When I got there, I immediately had my interview with HR and was told that the department manager had set aside an hour to talk to me. After I finished my HR interview, I was told to wait in the reception area and that the department manager would come to get me. 15 minutes later, the HR manager said that they couldn’t find the department manager and that they would go look for her. After another 15 minutes, the HR manager came back to tell me that the department manager was in a meeting and that they would be in touch to reschedule. I was shocked. What are possible reasons that a manager would have another meeting during a mutually agreed upon time and then cancel it after I arrived? Will they even call me back to reschedule?

Reasons: Rudeness and disorganization. But primarily rudeness — since while disorganization may have led her to schedule another meeting for the same time, it was rudeness that led her not to immediately leave it and come meet with you once someone told her you were waiting.

I have no idea whether they’ll call you back to reschedule, but if you have enough other options in your job search, I’d strongly encourage you to turn down a rescheduled interview. You don’t want to work for this person.

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

1. Being asked about salary when you don’t even know what the job is

I have a question about networking and salary. I have a great networking contact who is in management at a company I want to work for. He told me to apply for a general position (not from a listing) and use his name. The hr contact he gave me got right back to me and thanked me for my interest and asked my salary requirements.

I really don’t know how to respond to this. I’m not even applying for a specific job and don’t have a real idea of what the job entails! I don’t want to price myself out of an interview and I don’t want to lowball myself either. It feels weird to go back to my contact and ask for his advice, but it also feels weird to start arguing with HR over a hypothetical job and salary. Thoughts?

They’re asking because they assume that you, like most people, have a certain range that you’re looking for that corresponds with the type of work you’re seeking to do and the level that you’re at. But it’s certainly reasonable to respond with, “Well, without having a specific position to discuss, it’s difficult to give a specific answer, but in general I’m looking for a position doing XYZ. I’d be glad to talk salary once we’re able to talk about a specific role!”

That said, be prepared for this to be met with skepticism, because they’ll assure you still have a salary range in mind, regardless (which you probably do — it’s just silly for them to be starting there before even hinting at what type of role they’d be considering you for).

2. Talking with multiple recruiting companies without it getting back to my employer

I am in a very comfortable job that I like a lot (3+ years, first job) but I have started to look around for a similar position with more responsibility or a different set of tasks.

I always thought I would be searching for a while for positions in this very specialist field in this small (non-U.S.) area, and I was fine with that. Now it turns out there is a lot of demand for someone with my profile and work experience, and I have had several recruiting companies contacting me without even knowing that I was looking. Do you have any advice on how to coordinate different recruiting companies wanting to talk about job opportunities? I am very hesitant in giving out my information to multiple people since I currently do not want word of my search spreading too far. Are there any unwritten rules that I should be aware of?

If they’re contacting you without knowing that you’re looking, it’s fine to say, “I’m happy where I am now, but I’d be glad to talk with you with the caveat that I need to keep our discussions confidential for now. I wouldn’t want my employer to think I was actively looking to leave.” Which is true.

3. Applying for an internship after being rejected for an entry-level position

I have several companies that I would really like to work for and have applied to entry-level positions there. If I get rejected, is it acceptable to try again for an intern-level position, or will that look inappropriate? (My financial situation means that I really need to try to have a more substantial income if I can, but I will take an internship and work something out if I have to.)

Yes, you can do that.

4. Should I complain to an employer for asking me illegal interview questions?

I interviewed for a position at a small nonprofit (4 full-time staff members). I had two interviews; both were with the executive director and the person I would be replacing (the executive director’s #2). I was highly qualified for the job, had excellent chemistry with both staff members and the organization, and felt confident with my answers to their questions. I was not hired.

During the course of the interview, I was asked several questions by both staff members that I know are illegal. These included, “Do you have children?” and “Where did you grow up?” The one that especially bothered me was about where I lived and “How long is your commute?” I live in a suburb but no more than 30 minutes from the city and it is an average commute (i.e., all my neighbors do it and my last commute was 80 minutes). This came up again in my second interview. There was nothing in the job description, nor did anyone tell me the job required urban residency. I know a lot of these questions came up conversationally but I still feel bothered by it.

I was rejected in a voicemail. I emailed a thank you and got a pleasant thank-you back. I want to reply and let them know they are asking illegal questions and while I won’t press charges or while I don’t care, they should know if they want to grow their organization. But a part of me thinks I am just bitter and should let it go. Thoughts?

Yes, let it go. These are not illegal interview questions. In fact, there’s no such thing as an illegal interview question, other than questions asking about disabilities. All the other ones that people think are illegal — questions about kids, marital status, ethnicity, religion, etc. — aren’t illegal. What’s illegal is making a decision based on the answers, and so as a result, smart interviewers don’t ask them — no point in asking a question that (a) you can’t take into consideration and (b) might make the candidate think you’re going to illegally base your decision on.

What’s more, even the law preventing employers from making decisions based on the answers to these questions wouldn’t apply in this case, because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act only applies to employers with 15 employees or more, so this employer isn’t even covered by it. And what’s more on top of that, asking where you grew up (unless it’s designed to get at ethnicity or national origin) or how long your commute is isn’t even sketchy; they’re pretty common get-to-know-you questions.

All of which means, let it go and move on.

5. Should I keep recommending this former intern or should I decline?

I’ve recently served as a reference for an intern who worked under me a couple of years ago. His work was sub-par and I wasn’t particularly impressed with his soft skills either. I’ve been recommending him as an act of good will but am wondering what other options I have without ruining his chances for the positions he’s applying to now? Should I continue to recommend him or can I decline?

Please decline. Would you want someone recommending you hire a candidate whose work was sub-par? Your own credibility is at stake here; you’re vouching for work that you know isn’t good. Tell him you no longer feel comfortable acting as a reference for him.

6. Recovering from a bad interview when you’ll want to apply again

I have a question about recovering from an awful interview, when the organization is one that you’ll need to apply to again. I recently had my first post-grad school interview for a contract position with a regional government. I prepared in advance by brushing up on Excel, reading about the acts covered by the department, studying the position, and practicing interview questions. I felt well prepared (thanks in no small part to your interview guide).

But the interview was terrible. The interviewers asked questions that I wasn’t expecting (I understood the job to be focused on client service; the questions were much more technical and covered ground not outlined in the position). The only opportunity to address how I would be a good fit in terms of experience and personality was at the very end, during the “do you have anything to add?” stage. I don’t think I did all that well on the skills test, largely from the stress of what I knew was a bad interview, but partly because I didn’t have the level of technical skill that I was expecting to need from the job description. Overall, just a bust.

My question is, how do I proceed when applying to future postings with this organization? Should I just lay low for six months or so? I live in a rural region, and this is one of the major employers for people with my background. Honestly, I’m just thrown. I feel like it was such a bad way to start off my job search, and I’m embarrassed by my performance.

Assuming you don’t get the job, follow up with them with a gracious note, and say that you realized in the interview that you didn’t have the technical skills for this particular position, that you hadn’t realized that beforehand, but that you’re very interested in working with them in some capacity and that you hope that won’t mind if you’re in touch in the future about openings that seem like a better fit. Then do so.

This is a good approach because it will show that you understand why this wasn’t the right fit and that you’re not clueless about what your strengths are, and it will set you up applying again in the future. That assumes, though, that the company is smaller enough that anyone will remember or care — if they’re large enough, no one will and this won’t matter at all.

7. How should I approach this potential networking contact?

I’ve read several of your responses about not asking for informational interviews when you really want a job interview, and I’m not sure what I want or what’s appropriate. Recently I was browsing LinkedIn and came across the profile of someone whose list of certifications and resume matches what I’d like mine to look like in the future. He’s employed by a company whose work I’m impressed with and works on projects that I find interesting and lives in a city where I’m planing on relocating.

He viewed my profile and added me as a connection and then a few days later viewed my profile again. I’d like to send him a message to ask if he has some time to answer some questions about how to grow my career, but also would like to ask him to keep me in mind for future openings. Is this a bad idea?

Start with the first part and hold off on the second for now. He doesn’t know you yet and has no reason to keep you in mind for future openings. The value that he really brings to you is that his career looks like what you’d like yours to look like, so focus on that. Send him a note telling him exactly that and ask if he’d be willing to let you pick his brain about his career path and how you can follow a similar one. (And then make sure you come prepared with good questions; it’s frustrating when you make time for a request like this and then the person doesn’t have many questions to ask.)

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

1. Do I have to call applicants back?

Our company submitted a job position online. It says to submit a resume through a link. Now I’m getting a bunch of phone calls about the position. Am I obligated to call these people back?

No. You gave clear instructions, and these people are ignoring them. If you feel like it, you can put a message on your outgoing voicemail directing people to apply through the web link, but either way, you’re not obligated to call these people back. If you did, you could potentially spend hours on it.

2. Who pays for lunch at a recruiting meeting?

I am meeting a potential job prospect. I am gainfully employed, but another firm is interested in me. We are meeting for lunch at a restaurant on Tuesday. Do I offer to pay, and how do I do it gracefully?

No, they pay. Recruiting is a business expense for them.

3. Should I send a resource I created to my new team or will I look like a suck-up?

I made myself a reference document that’s an alphabetical list of all ~200 vendors my company works with. Having them all together on a 2-page document is a major time saver, since there was no document like this before; the only listing of vendors was in a dropdown menu in the software (listed by region, not alphabetically). Should I share this document with my boss or my team? I’ve only been at this job a month and I don’t want to look like a know-it-all or a suck up, I just know this document is useful to me and would probably be useful to other members of my team.

Unless you’ve seen signs that your new coworkers would be the type to take a helpful resource as signs that you’re sucking up or acting like a know-it-all (which most people wouldn’t; you’re looking signs of the unusual here), then by all means, send it around. Don’t send it with a note like “I was surprised this didn’t exist,” of course; instead, say something like, “I created this to help myself and thought others might have use for it too.”

4. How long should it take to approve leave requests?

What is a reasonable length of time for a leave (vacation) request to be approved once it is submitted? We have a manager who holds up everyone’s leave approval until his own plans are finalized so he can have first choice on popular days. We’d like to complain to the director and have a proposed policy in hand. There is nothing specific in the company policy – just “at the discretion of the department head or director.”

Anything longer than a week seems excessive to me — and even that’s on the long side; there’s no reason these can’t have quicker turnaround. But if you’re proposing a policy, a week is a reasonable limit. You can point out that people need to be able to make plans, confirm reservations, etc.

5. Giving your boss a baby gift

My significant other went into work today to find out that his manager of seven years is going to be out for a month because he and his wife just adopted a 4-year-old boy (nothing was said before today, and he will be out starting tomorrow). I think that it is polite and proper etiquette to get the child a gift and give it to his manager when his manager returns to work, but my boyfriend thinks that it will be seen as sucking up and weird. I’ve always thought that this is completely normal. So what’s the appropriate thing to do here?

He’s certainly not obligated to get a gift, but it would be a kind and gracious thing to do if he’s moved to — but it sounds like he’s not really moved to. And if that’s the case, there’s no need. There should never be an obligation to gift upward in the workplace.

That said, if he decides he wants to, I’d send it to his home address, if he can — but if he can’t, giving it to him once he’s back is fine.

6. Interviewer missed our scheduled phone interview and now I can’t reschedule

HR scheduled a second phone interview with me and a director. But the director never called. After 20 minutes of waiting, I emailed HR that I didn’t hear from the boss and to reschedule. HR called (I missed it) and left a voicemail saying that the boss did call me, but that I didn’t answer and there was no way to leave a voicemail. She even acknowledged that as odd since she was currently leaving me a voicemail. I’m positive the boss called the wrong number, but now HR won’t return my emails or calls to reschedule. Am I being penalized for the director’s mistake? How many times should I follow up? It’s my dream job!

You can try one more time, saying that you’re really eager to reschedule and asking if that’s possible. (Make sure you wait three days from your last contact.) But if they don’t respond after that, there’s not much more you can do, unfortunately. But I wouldn’t think of it as being penalized for someone else’s mistake — that’s just how this stuff plays out sometimes; you have very, very little control over many of the elements that go into whether you interview for and get any particular job.

P.S. It’s probably not your dream job!

7. Can I ask to be laid off rather than demoted?

I’m in my mid 20s and have been at my job for a year. I was hired for a junior position but in the first month was unofficially bumped up to mid-level, not in pay or title, but in function, when they let go of an outside agency that did the same work as I do. I am the only person at my company that performs this type of work, I’ve gotten only good feedback, and am proud of what I’ve accomplished.

A month ago, my boss was let go, which has slowly kicked off the restructuring of my department. The president has not shared any details until yesterday, so it’s been a stressful, strange time. Yesterday it was revealed that there would be three new positions in my department, one of which would be filled by the president’s good friend, who works in my field. In his list of positions for our new department, mine was not named, but a support/assistant type job to his friend was. We are supposed to learn in a week or two what these roles mean for us.

I feel like I am either being fired, or demoted. Honestly, I’d prefer the former. I’ve worked so hard over the last year, and think I’ve accomplished so much, I’m looking to move forward not back. Is there a respectful way to communicate that, with no hard feelings, I’d rather be laid off? I’m going to look for work but am also concerned about how a demotion would look on my (small) resume.

You can certainly say that you feel the new role would be a demotion and not in line with what you signed up for and ask to be laid off instead. (They may or may not agree; if they don’t, then you’d need to decide whether to stay while you search or quit.)

However, I’d think long and hard about leaving before you have another job. Job searches often take far longer in this market than people think they will (often a year or even longer), and it’s easier to find a job when you’re currently employed. Plus, it’s possible that you’ll find that the new role isn’t as bad as you think. Why not start an active search without leaving?

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

1. I blew up at my coworker; which of us was out of line?

I work for a fairly large defense contracting company, and it’s my first job out of college. I’ve been working there for nearly 2 years, and I share an office room with 3 other people. The other day, one of my office-mates needed to thread some Ethernet cord through above the ceiling panels of my part of the office. When he started, I was concerned with the dirt and fiberglass getting all over my workspace and I tried to persuade him to consider alternatives. However, he dismissed my suggestions, saying that I was just being self-serving, and he basically bulldozed right on through, threading the cord across the ceiling, stepping on my desk and my papers and having dirt falling down on my space. I got over-agitated and cursed at him, and he fired back, saying that I was being a jerk. We talked about it today, and he said his position was that he was doing his job and he needed to thread the cord regardless, so he took the liberty to do it his way. My problem was that he handled the situation disrespectfully, and did not make clear to me his plans and didn’t take into consideration the mess he was going to make.

He has thoroughly pissed me off because I see my office space as my space, and he violated it by doing whatever he thought he needed to. I am super upset about the issue and the only thing keeping me from talking to my manager about it is that he gave a dry apology (no emotion) and my team is close knit and I fear drama hurts the team. I’d rather have everyone get along, but I’ve noticed he has an attitude towards me and I am not sure if its because I am advancing on the team faster than him or if he is legitimately upset with his assignments and so he loses patience. Either way, I’m getting annoyed and he doesn’t seem to understand he needs to stop treating me in a disrespectful manner. Could I have handled the situation differently? Do I have the right to feel disrespected?

From what I can tell, you were the one who was out of line. He had a job to do, and if he needed to thread something through the ceiling panels above your desk, that’s what he needed to do. The thing about workspace in an office is that it’s not really “yours”; it can be disrupted at any time when a company priority intervenes. You should apologize for losing your temper with him.

2. Should interviewers respond to candidates’ thank-you notes?

I often interview candidates at my company. We’re a successful startup that’s getting a lot of attention, so we tend to have highly qualified, enthusiastic candidates who send followup notes/emails after their interviews. Often I receive these emails before we’ve made a hiring decision. And I’m stumped: do I reply? If so, how do I express professional friendliness while not raising hopes prematurely?

Candidates usually interview with 7-8 employees (and yes, they’re at our office for 5-6 hours — it’s a long day for them). So while I may interview a candidate for 45 minutes, I’m not the final decision maker. Any tips on whether/how to respond?

You don’t need to — think of it like gift etiquette, where if someone sends you a thank-you note for your gift, you’re not expected to then send them a thank-you for their thank-you. If you were, it could become an endless cycle, and we would all just keep thanking each other over and over. That said, it’s certainly a kind and gracious gesture to reply to a candidate’s thank-you note with a quick, “thank you for the note, and we’ll be in touch soon.”

However, be aware that no matter how carefully you choose your wording, some candidates will study the note to try to find hidden meanings in it. I know this because people regularly ask me to interpret these notes for them. But there’s nothing you can do about that, and you don’t need to forego responding just because someone might read something into it that’s in no way there.

3. Listing dollar amounts of scholarships on your resume

As a college student, is it appropriate to list the dollar amount of scholarships/awards received on a resume? I’ve Googled around and people seem to think this is a tacky practice. I currently have: name of scholarship, dollar amount, and a short description (all on the same line, so it’s not necessarily taking up a lot of space). Should I take the dollar amounts off?

Yeah, I don’t think the dollar amounts are really relevant and will indeed come across as a little tacky to some. I’d only refer to the amount if it was enormous — and even then I’d just say “full scholarship” or something without naming the specific dollar amount

4. Company is changing my status from employer to contractor

I am wondering if you can tell me if a company has the right to change an employees status from W2 to 1099 without a 30 day notice?

Sure. There’s no 30-day notice period required. However, they do need to ensure that you’re actually being treated as a contractor once they make that change — which is probably fairly different than you were treated as an employee. So I’d read up on the law and make sure you know what that’s supposed to look like.

5. Is this a bad idea?

Would you think that someone was a whack job if on their resume they:

1. Replaced the word “Objective” with “Aspiration”
2. Replaced the word “Experience” with “Professional Undertakings”
3. Replaced the word “Education” with “Enlightenment”

Yes.

6. What to ask in an internal interview

I’ve been with my current organization for about two years. Recently, a promotion became available at a different location than mine for the same job I’m doing now, but with more responsibility. I feel like I’m well prepared for the interview, but I’m floundering a bit on what kinds of questions to ask them. Because it’s an internal position, I already know a lot about the culture of the location, the benefits and salary, the manager’s style, and the expectations of the job. I’ve met the manager several times, and know many of the people who work there. Other than your magic question (“thinking about people who have really been outstanding at this job in the past, what differentiates them from people who were merely good?”), are there other aspects I’m not thinking of that I could ask about?

Think about what you really want to know. When you think about doing the work every day, what are you wondering about the work itself, the challenges, how success is measured, the immediate and longer-term goals, the team, etc.? People sometimes feel stumped about what questions they should be asking in an interview, but generally if they really think about it, there’s loads of stuff that they don’t know and would like to.

7. Why would a company be hiring in an area that will likely have layoffs?

I had an interview with a very large company. I did some more researching and found they lost a large contract last year and a bigger one, almost 25% of their business, this year. They are planning a workforce reduction, according to the internet news. Why would a company even interview for a position in an area that will most likely have reductions?

Because they may not be planning to cut that particular position. When done well, layoffs aren’t across-the-board slicing. They’re specific cuts that are carefully and strategically chosen. They still have plenty of positions that they need to keep, and the one you’re interviewing for may be in that category. On the other hand, it might not be — this could be an example of a company recklessly hiring when they shouldn’t be. So ask — ask about what you’ve read and how it’s likely to affect this role and the larger team you’d be working with.

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

1. How can I best manage sick leave for my growing business?

I run a small Florida-based business (around 35 employees). Our company is growing and as the company grows, so do the HR problems. My current issue — We offer employees 80 hours of vacation leave (planned time off) and 40 hours of sick leave (unplanned time off). I have a few employees who have already used up their 40 hours of sick leave, and my concern is that now they will want to use vacation time if they’re sick. Some people may think it’s not a big deal, but there is a big difference in scheduling time off and calling in 30 minutes before your shift. From a management perspective, if I know someone will be out, I can allocate resources as necessary ahead of time. But if an employee calls in sick, then it creates a little more havoc with shifting around lunch schedules or finding someone to open/close the office. I’m not complaining about the 40 hours of sick leave that’s been allocated to an employee, but my question is, do I have to let them take time off from vacation leave if they exceed those 40 hours?

I would like to change our company’s policy and insert the following language in our HR manual to deter employees from calling in when they just don’t feel like coming to work and really use sick leave for its intended purpose (when they are sick): “Employees who call in sick after they have used up their allocated 40 hours of sick leave (unplanned time off) in a calendar year must provide HR with a doctor’s note. If this documentation is provided, the employee may use vacation time (if they have it available). Unplanned time off used in excess of the allocated 40 hours per calendar year AND if the employee does not provide a doctor’s note will not be paid (vacation time cannot be used).”

Sure, you can do that. In fact, since no law requires that you offer paid time off at all, you can put any restrictions on it you want. Most employers do not allow vacation time to be used as sick leave, or only do so with restrictions on it — for exactly the reason you say, the fact that unplanned leave is more of an inconvenience than planned vacation time.

However, be aware that you cannot dock exempt employees’ pay in a week in which they do any work. So if they’re exempt, unless they’re out for the full week, you can’t make them take that time off unpaid. You can charge it against their future leave accrual, or you can discipline them for excessive absences (up to and including firing), but you can’t legally dock their pay.

By the way, if you have multiple employees out of only 35 who have already used up 40 hours of sick leave after just five months of the year and still need more, you might take a look at whether people are abusing your leave policy. Certainly people get sick, and sometimes it requires more than five days in five months, but if it’s happening with frequency on such a small staff, I’d wonder if something else was going on.

2. Letting my boss know I’m interested in a new managerial role that might be created

I work for a relatively new department in a much larger organization. The boss is currently having some ideas about reorganizing the department – not changing our individual job duties, but just reorganizing the way we are lumped together on the org chart. I actually made the suggestion for one of the changes that is going to be made. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this would make it possible for there to be a new manager position. One of my colleagues mentioned that the boss had said something along those lines to him, but this is all very vague at this point.

My question then, is this: Is there any way I can or should bring this up with my boss and tell him that if there is a manager position created, I would like to be considered? I would love to just wait until it’s more official, but considering the track record of this department, by the time it’s mentioned in any sort of “official” way, my boss will already have decided who he wants to promote. The reason I’m afraid of not being considered, although I think I am uniquely qualified for this imaginary position, is that unfortunately, another of the managers here has told my boss that I am not comfortable with the idea of supervising, which is not true at all. What do you think I should do and if I do approach him, any tips on how to do it?

Yes, you should tell him, and you should tell him now. If someone else told him — wrongly — that you’re not comfortable with the idea of managing, then it’s all the more important that you talk to him now so that you can proactively correct that misperception. This isn’t the kind of thing you want to passively allow to be out there — talk to him and give him correct information.

3. My friend is dating my boss’s boss

A friend of mine recently started dating my boss’s boss, and I am hoping for advice on how to handle this. I am content knowing as little information about this as possible to maintain my professional relationships, but our mutual group of friends often have social get-togethers where significant others are welcome. I could see this becoming awkward on several levels, particularly given the age difference between us and him.

Don’t drink too much around him, and ask your friend not to share any information about you with him. And if either of them ever attempts to involve you in any relationship drama, no matter how slight, refuse refuse refuse to get involved.

I’d also probably attend fewer get-togethers where the friend is likely to bring the boss (and if she’s any kind of friend, she should understand why), but aside from that, there’s not much else you need to do (or could do).

4. My promised bonus didn’t show up in my check

My boss, who is the owner of the company, was really excited about some work I’ve been doing and told me that he would be extending a $1,000 bonus to me on our next pay period. I received my check today with no bonus. Do I say something? If so, is there a good way to say it? I know it’s not ungrateful to let them know that something didn’t go through, but I have an uneasy feeling about it anyway.

“I wanted to check with you about the bonus, since it wasn’t in my check this week. I wasn’t sure if I needed to follow up with payroll or if we needed to do something else.”

5. I don’t like the way my new boss is addressing me and another team member with the same name

I have currently the senior member of my team. Recently, a new supervisor took over for my prior manager. This is her first experience as a supervisor, and she is also new to the the type of work that she has to do, so I have been spending time training her.

There are two of us who work for her who have the same name. She will address emails to us by using our names in the plural, as in, “Hey Cathys – [some request].” I find this very annoying — like we are interchangeable and not individuals. I not sure if I am off base and this is an acceptable method of correspondance or if I should say something to her about how it offends me. Thoughts?

Let it go. I’m quite sure that she doesn’t intend to signal that she finds you interchangeable. She probably just intends it to be a light-hearted alternative to writing “Cathy and Cathy.” You shouldn’t read anything more into it than that, and it isn’t worth complaining about.

6. Taking a personal day when I’m new to the job

I started a new job five weeks ago, and my boss recently emailed me to let me me know I have a personal day that expires at the end of June. Our HR director had told me separately to think of personal days the same as vacation, but I think it may look bad to take a day just for the hell of it before I’ve even been here three months. Is there a way I can ask my boss if this is part of the company culture without seeming overly focused on days off, or should I just let it go?

Your boss reminded you about it, so it doesn’t sound like she’d care if you used it, but since you’re feeling uncertain, just ask. Say something like, “I generally try not to take any time off during my first few months on the job, but do people normally take these when they’re as new as I am? If so, I’d be glad to use it!”

7. Should I withdraw from this hiring process?

I’m going through a tough interview process. It’s for an internal position in a different department that is known to have difficult staff members. I have successfully completed three rounds of interviews and I was expecting to receive a job offer, but then I was informed that a fourth round of interviews will happen. The position would include increased responsibilities and pay, but I am starting to feel anxious about the pressures of working in the department, especially given the abrupt changes in procedures as I go through the interview process. Also, my department would like me to travel soon for a project, but I feel that it would be unethical of me to say I will go when I may put in my two weeks shortly for a new position.

I’m considering removing myself from the consideration for the new department given my anxiety. Would you recommend waiting out the process if it will be resolved in the next week? I’m not sure what to do.

Well, if you know for sure that you don’t want the job, then you can certainly withdraw now. But if you’re not 100% sure, why not wait to see if you get an offer? If you do, you should have an opportunity to ask any additional questions you have about their culture and any concerns you have. Nothing says you have to take the job if you’re not able to put all your concerns to rest, but you might find that you’re able to.

As for your approaching travel at work, this stuff happens. You can’t refuse travel because you MIGHT get an offer; you have to continue along as if you don’t until you actually do. That means that sometimes people book travel that they end up not doing because they change jobs; that’s just part of how all this works and not something you should base your decision on.