Ask a Manager

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

1. Applying for jobs that require advanced degrees when I don’t have one

I did not go to grad school for the kinds of reasons you cite in your writing. Is it appropriate to apply for a job that lists an advanced degree as a requirement if I think my job experience qualifies me for the position? If so, is that something I should address directly in a cover letter?

Sure, you can absolutely do that, as long as it’s not a job that absolutely requires a graduate degree (as some do, like some teaching jobs, for instance, or practicing law). Some employers will consider you and some won’t, but there’s nothing wrong with trying, particularly if you’re highly qualified aside from the degree.

2. Should I stay or should I go?

I’ve been working in a large nonprofit university for the past two years. I came on as an assistant and have been working here, heart and soul. I’m going to be finishing my Master’s degree this May and have a lot of technical experience as well. My problem is, I want to stay at my organization and can’t seem to find growth opportunities. Because of recent restructuring, I now have three supervisors in this department and this means three times the responsibility. They don’t need to manage me because I work independently and they know Ill get the job done.

I’ve been looking for other jobs at the company (the benefits are amazing, its prestigious, and other locations have excellent cohesive departments-so it seems) but can’t seem to find any. Should I start looking elsewhere? The growth I was promised when I started isn’t coming and it’s kind of a “boys club” department so I doubt they’ll try hard to make it happen, no matter how much they compliment my work (reluctantly I might add). I worry I may have to start over again and I don’t want to do that. I want to grow in college administration but I fear I’ll be stuck here as an admin forever. I’ve followed your amazing blog, presented really thought out projects with business proposals, attend networking events, etc. Should I stay or should I go?

I’d work from the assumption that nothing there is going to change since so far all signals point that way, and decide what you want to do with that knowledge. Are you willing to stay there for the next few years, without any promotion? If not, then yes, start looking around at other places.

3. Asking about what a post-service-year job offer might look like, without committing to taking it

The job I have now is not actually a job, but a “service year”, which means that I have a specific period of time that I am working with my organization (very tiny nonprofit). When my term of service ends in August my position is turning into a full-time staff position, and I have all but been offered the job. My supervisor has said “I hope you’re considering staying on” directly to me. So, it seems like they will offer me the position, but there has been no “official” offer.

I’m not actually sure that I want to take the job. Maybe I just have “grass is greener” syndrome, but I’ve been thinking of looking for other jobs when my service ends. I work with a bunch of really nice people, but I am the youngest person by 30 years. I also sometimes feel that this position isn’t really right for me. I’m in a very direct service role but what I’m really interested in is more indirect service. It’s not like I struggle to do the work, I just feel like I could really shine in a different role.

I’d like to have a frank discussion with my supervisor about pay, benefits, vacation time, etc. before it’s too late for me to start searching for other jobs. Ideally, if I’m going to leave at the end of my service year, I’d like to have another job lined up. I’m not worried about looking like a job-hopper, because people in the nonprofit industry would understand by looking at my full job title why I only stayed for a year. So, do you have any suggestions about how to approach my supervisor about this? She is a pretty understanding person, so I’m not afraid of her flying off the handle or of being prematurely terminated. I’m more concerned about coming across like I’m only interested in what they can offer me, or that I don’t like the job and won’t be as committed if I stay on for another year.

Say something like this: “I really appreciate your mention that I might be able to continue in a full-time position after August. I know there are no guarantees of that at this point, but since I’m starting to think about making plans for that time, I wonder if you can talk to me about what the offer would look like if you did make one, as far as what the job would look like, the likely salary range, etc.” And you can either ask her about benefits or ask any coworker, since benefits are usually the same across the board, at least for junior level jobs.

If during the course of this conversation, she basically makes you an offer, it’s fine to just thank her, explain that you’ve only just started to think about what you’d like to do in August, and ask if you can have some time to think about your options.

4. Answering questions about when I could start a new job

I am currently job searching while still working a job. As I fill out applications, I get the standard “When can you start?” question. My honest answer is “After I give my current job my two weeks notice.” I make it clear that I would leave my current job if offered a new job, so it seems “after two weeks notice” would be the obvious answer. But is that too vague an answer to put down on an application or is that acceptable?

That’s totally fine and normal.

5. Why was this interview so unthorough?

I’ve come to expect a kind of grilling at interviews, but recently I’ve gone to interviews where I was asked almost no questions. At a recent interview, most of the time was spent with the interviewer talking about the position and then me taking him through my resume. He asked questions about particular parts of my resume (but they were fact-based questions about what I did and not behavioral). It was almost too casual for a formal interview.

I’m applying to entry-level positions, so part of me thinks they might just be trying to figure out if they like me personally, since my experience is pretty limited. What do you think of this interview style? Is it related to the fact that I’m interviewing for entry level positions? Am I right in thinking it was more about fit and personality than relevant experience? I’ve had these types of interviews when I knew the interviewer previously, but I had never met this man before.

He’s probably just an unskilled interviewer. They are legion.

6. Part 2 of question #5

I have a different question relating to the same interview above. The interviewer spent a large part of the beginning talking about the position and company, and I asked questions throughout this time. Then we did the whole resume walk through and question period, and then at the end of the interview he asked if I had any questions. I said I had none because they were already addressed at the beginning. He gave me a bit of a weird look, so I’m wondering if I should have asked additional questions, but really, we spent such a large time talking about the position and company at the beginning that I was all out (although I probably could have made up a few about culture and whatnot).

If it was truly a conversational back-and-forth, then I can understand feeling like everything you were prepared to ask had already been answered … but I always wonder how it can really be when someone says they were left with no questions. This is, after all, a job that you’d be spending 40+ hours a week at for potentially years. When you think about the enormity of what you’re potentially signing up for, do you really have no other questions that you’re wondering about the work, the culture, the expectations, the management?

7. Should I contact this employer again?

I applied to a job almost three and a half weeks ago. The day after I applied, they called me after 5:30 pm and left a voice mail. I called back the following day (after 5:00 pm because it’d be difficult to call earlier and I thought it’d be okay since they called me late) and left them a message. I called again (earlier) the next day after that, and they answered, but had to go to a meeting and said they’d call me back. They didn’t call me back. I then had a medical emergency that I didn’t recover from for three weeks, so I wasn’t able to call back again myself. Should I call them and explain I’m still interested but couldn’t call sooner because of a medical emergency? Should I just apply again if I see them posting a similar position? Am I too much of a nuisance at this point for them to want to deal with me?

There’s no reason you need to explain not calling them back; you made the last contact, so the ball was in their court. You can certainly follow up again, but it sounds like at this point they’ve probably moved on with other candidates (which isn’t your fault for not calling them back, because you did). You can definitely apply again in the future though.

It’s fast answer Friday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Well, some of them are short. Here we go…

1. Can you block off time on your calendar for your own projects?

Is it considered bad form to block off time on my calendar when I have a deadline? Two days a week, I’m tied up the whole afternoon because I have an evening deadline. (This isn’t procrastination; I get the handoff from others around noon and I have to be done with my part by the end of the day.) The people I regularly work with know this, but they often (understandably) forget which afternoons, and people I work with less frequently don’t know about my schedule. The result is that I have to continue to decline conference call invitations or remind people that I won’t have time to meet on Wednesday but Thursday works, creating more back-and-forth. Would it be frowned upon to create a recurring appointment on my Outlook calendar for those afternoons to mark that time as busy, considering it’s not really an appointment, it’s just regular work?

No, it’s good form. Getting your work done is at least important, generally more so, than most conference calls or meetings. Setting aside work blocks on your calendar is a good idea, both for conveying to others that that time is reserved and also for conveying it to yourself so you don’t schedule over it with less important things too. I’m a huge advocate of this — do it!

2. Can I push back on this schedule change?

I am in a salaried full-time position. I work a 4/10 schedule (4 days a week, 10 hours a day), and commute an hour in each direction to make it to my job. Add on the branch mandatory lunch (which I never take), and that makes my work days 13 hours long.

My manager has proposed a schedule change which would not make my days longer on paper, but with changes in traffic patterns would effectively make my day over an hour longer—bringing me to 14 hours either spent at work or commuting. I will also be forced to miss necessary medical appointments. There is no room for negotiation, and my protests were met with how I should be happy because I have the best schedule, the easiest job (a job with one of the highest rates of burnout? I think not), and the fewest obligations because I’m single and don’t have children. Do I have any recourse?

Well, you can certainly make your case against the proposed schedule change. But ultimately it’s up to your manager. At that point you’d need to decide whether you want the job under these changed terms or not.

You could certainly point out, though, that citing your marital/parental status as part of the justification for your schedule change is problematic. (There’s no real legal issue there, both because few states protect against discrimination on those fronts and because that’s not the reason for the change, just part of his lame efforts to tell you why you shouldn’t care, but it wouldn’t hurt to point it out anyway.)

3. Coworkers are pushing me to badmouth my predecessor, who I like

I work as the director of my division in a large organization. My predecessor, who stepped down about a year ago, was my supervisor and was a great mentor to me. We still stay in touch and he has told me that he is willing to recommend me in the future (I am confident he would give me a great reference). However, the organization just wasn’t a fit for him and he was not well-liked by most of our colleagues.

Now that he has left and I have filled his position, on numerous occasions my colleagues (including people senior in the organization) have approached me to complain about his work and tell me how much better I am in the role than he was. Sometimes they will really push to try to get me to talk badly about him (“Can you believe so-and-so did that? What was he thinking?”). I obviously don’t want to engage in this because it’s so unprofessional. I would be horrified if it ever got back to him that I was involved in a conversation like this (in fact, it already worries me that it might, even though I haven’t said anything and am just on the receiving end). At the same time, if I say something in his defense (or even just say nothing), I’m pretty sure my colleagues will think I stand behind his work and will think less of me as a result. Any advice?

“Thanks for the kind words about my work — I appreciate it! I know the fit here wasn’t a great one for Bob, but he’s a good guy.” And if you’re still pressed to say something negative or listen to them badmouth him after that: “I have a good relationship with him,” said in a pleasant tone.

It’s unlikely that they’re going to think less of you for either of those statements, unless Bob molested puppies or something.

4. Can’t work out my two weeks notice

I gave my two weeks notice to my boss after finding out my family would be moving to another state because my fiance was offered a better job. But they need him to start immediately, meaning I can’t fulfill my entire two weeks left. This would deem me not eligible for re-hire. Is this going to make it impossible for me to find a new job if I just don’t show up for the rest of the schedule?

You don’t mean you’d just stop showing up, right? You’re planning to talk to your manager and explain the situation, apologize, and ask for leeway? If you do that, your manager will probably be understanding. But yeah, if you just stop showing up without doing that, that would be a huge bridge-burner and reputation killer.

5. Explaining post-graduation work as a server

I graduated last May and continued working for a high-end resort as a server in one of their restaurants. My degree is in hospitality and tourism management so it is related. I planned on doing it just for the summer because I made more than I could make at any entry level job in my field. My husband is in the military and we were told that we were moving in September so I stayed. Then it got pushed to November and I didn’t want to apply, be accepted and then leave 2 months later. This continued until we finally moved in January.

How do I explain this in interviews when I’m asked why I didn’t go after a higher position in interviews? Being a server taught me many things and I know I can use these skills to sell myself in an interview, but I’m stumped on how to answer the question of why I stayed on as a server instead of going after a higher job. I’m hesitant to mention the husband in the military thing since I don’t want it to seem as if we will be moving again soon.

“I knew I’d be relocating soon, and I didn’t want to commit to a new job and have to leave it a few months later. But the work taught me (fill in the blank).”

6. Can recruiter stop me from applying to a company directly?

I’m working with a legal recruiting firm. I am a paralegal/legal assistant. My recruiter tells me this scenario: They submit my resume for position XYZ at a very large law firm (100-plus attorneys). That same law firm advertises on Craigslist and any other form of recruiting they can. The recruiter has told me that if position ABC comes available in that firm, I cannot contact that firm directly, that I need to work through the recruiter because previously they submitted me for position XYZ. I’m told this is the policy for 12 months. This language is nowhere in their placement agreement with me. Can they prevent me from working directly with this firm on other positions?

They can’t stop you from applying directly if you’d like to, but that company has a contract with this recruiter stating that the recruiter “owns” any candidates they submit for 12 months — meaning that even if you apply with the company directly during that period, the recruiter will still be owed a fee on your candidacy. Because of that, the company itself is going to want you to go through the recruiter, since that’s the contract they have with that agency. (This is typical of how most recruiters work. And while the contact is with the company, not with you, the company is going to abide by it where you’re concerned.)

7. How does my daughter explain a cruise ship firing?

I’m asking this question on behalf of my daughter, who has just graduated college with a degree in recreation and hopes to be hired for her dream job as a youth counselor for a cruise line. She did a two-week cruise internship over Christmas break 2011, and last summer worked for the same company on their Alaska cruises, working on three different ships in the fleet. She loved her job, loved the company, loved the kids, and was having the best summer. There was a very busy day when she was working alone with a group of kids (usually there are two counselors), and a child in her care slipped away unnoticed before being picked up by his parents. The checkout sheet was unsigned at the end of the session, but because she had seen the parents come by the kids club several times that morning she thought they had picked him up, and she didn’t report it to her supervisor. The parents noted the situation in their comment card at the end of the cruise, and without verbal or written warning she was terminated, confined to her cabin until the next port and put ashore in Juneau. The cruise line did provide a plane ticket home. It was traumatic, embarrassing, scary and demoralizing.

She still dreams of working for a cruise line. Cruise jobs are very competitive, so she needs her previous cruise experience to even be considered for an interview. Her supervisor from one of the ships has offered to be a reference for her. She is preparing responses for an interview, but the application is somewhat of an obstacle, especially the question “why did you leave your last job?” The Alaska cruises were a summer job, as she was returning to college full-time in September, so would it be acceptable to respond that this was “seasonal work”? Or should she give an ambiguous explanation such as “job ended”? One person suggested writing “willing to discuss at interview.” We have been advised that the cruise line HR office will provide confirmation of job title and dates of employment, and will state that she is not suitable for rehire. They may or may not refer inquiries to the hiring officer who has her personnel file for further information. So how does she fill out her application? How does she balance being truthful while making herself an attractive candidate?

Well, here’s the thing: Letting a child disappear while under her care is a Big Deal. You and she realize that, right? While it might have been “demoralizing” for her to be fired without warning, it was terrifying for those parents and could have ended much worse than it did. And it was utterly reasonable to fire her without warning. It sounds like you don’t realize that, which worries me.

And this an especially big deal when she’s applying for jobs that would have her supervising kids again. It’s likely going to be prohibitive. While I understand that she wants to include the cruise experience to help her get a future cruise job, it’s not going to help her. Imagine if it happens again and something happens to the child, and it comes out the the company hired her knowing that it had happened before.

She’s probably better off getting other job experience for a while, and then trying again. But it’s not ever going to help her to include this job on her resume, because it will probably be disqualifying … and she certainly shouldn’t be misleading about why she left it; they will verify, and discovering that she was disingenuous will only make things worse.

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

1. Can you submit mileage reimbursements for only a few dollars?

I’m filling out last month’s out of pocket expenses and find myself wanting to make several mileage reimbursement requests for a few dollars each. Normally I might have one or two requests a month for about $20 or $30, but last month I had to make several errand runs for work.

As a manager, would you see the low mileage reimbursement requests as petty? I hate to be seen as someone who nickels and dimes the company, but I’m short on money and get nickle and dimed a lot myself. I usually don’t request reimbursement for the 50 cents I stick into the parking meters when I have to park in the city. I also can’t request mileage reimbursement if I have to travel to our site that’s further away (because it’s considered a “normal” part of my job duties to work there several times a year.) That trip alone is 70 miles round trip extra than I normally commute and I didn’t understand that I wouldn’t get reimbursed when I took this job. I guess I feel like at least by requesting a few dollars here and there, I can make up some of the losses I take as part of work. But I don’t want to hurt my relationship with my boss or company to do so.

Don’t give it another thought. You spent the money on a work expense that they’ve told you they reimburse, so it’s fine to submit it. I wouldn’t question it at all if an employee submitted low mileage reimbursements like this.

2. I regret making a counteroffer to an employee

I am a manager of a team of four analysts in a small field office overseas. Recently, one of my staff received an outside offer at another company. I gave him a modest counteroffer, including an upgrade in title from analyst to senior analyst. While his work is decent, it is not outstanding, and I would have not promoted him under normal circumstances, although I would have considered it in the next 8-10 months. He does an equally OK job as to someone I would hire new, so I promoted him to retain him, not because of his performance.

So, I have read your posts on counteroffers, and now have a related question. As predicted, the day after this person’s promotion, another staff came to me completely demotivated. She has worked at our organization in the same role for the same amount of time. While she does have some issues, when you get down to it, she does outperform the newly promoted staff. She came to me asking for clarity about how one actually gets promoted at our organization.

I regret making the counteroffer/promotion, and realize it was my mistake. However, now I am stuck with it. How do I deal? I am trying to manage the newly promoted person to perform better and live up to his new title. But, what messages do I give to the rightfully disgruntled staff? Obviously, I can’t take her aside and say, “Hey, I know your coworker is kind of crappy, but got another job offer and I didn’t want to hire somebody else, so tough luck!” How do I manage my way out of this one?

I wish I had an answer, but I don’t. You can’t really justify promoting someone whose work doesn’t merit it, or even justify trying to retain the person by other means if their work isn’t outstanding. And because there’s no justification, I can’t think of any way to explain this to the coworker or mollify her very understandable frustration. (And to make matters worse, you might end up losing the better employee because of the attempt to keep the worse employee.) This is a clusterfudge.

3. Putting a school career day presentation on my resume

I presented at a school career day as a representative of an organization that I volunteer with. Should I include this as an achievement on my resume? I don’t have any children that attend the school (I don’t have children at all) so this was not something that I had to do. I was honored to be asked to present (although I don’t feel I really have a career at the moment) and I think that I did a great job. What do you think? For background, I would like you to know that I didn’t just talk. I created an experiment and conducted it in front of the students. In one class, I had the students separated into groups and they did the experiments with the help of the teachers and my instructions.

It’s cool that you did it (and I am sort of obsessed with school career days), but it’s not really resume-worthy. It was a one-day (one hour, probably) thing without accompanying evaluation or accountability, so it doesn’t really meet the bar for a resume.

4. Applying for a job when a friend works in the same department

I am applying for a position for a company that I am totally excited about. I meet the qualifications for the position that I am applying for, and I feel like I would excel in the work environment that they project. A college friend whom I haven’t kept in much contact with (I’m only a few years out), has worked for the company for 3+ years in the department that I am applying for. What is the most appropriate way to request her help? Ideally, I would love her to put a word in for me. How do I approach this situation without being presumptuous that she would do so?

Email her and let her know that you applied for the position, and tell her that you’d love any advice that she has. You don’t need to ask her to put in a good word for you; most people will do that on their own if they think you’d be a good candidate, and asking for it directly can be awkward, since the subtext of “I’m applying for a job on your team” is generally going to be “and I’d like the job and would love your help.”

5. Is it ever okay to call to follow up after an interview?

I’m contemplating when and how to follow-up after a final interview I had with an organization on March 19. It was 2.5 hours of back-to-back interviews with 3 people, which I thought went quite well. Of course, I have debated that issue many times in my head since. The hiring manager said that she would get back to me by the that Friday, but didn’t seem 100% sure about that. I sent my thank-you’s, and one of the 3 people said that they had one more candidate to interview that week before making a decision.

Friday passed. The following Thursday I hadn’t heard anything yet, so (based on my findings on your site) I sent an email asking for a timeline update in the afternoon. Still no response. A friend told me that I should call … Is it ever ok to call? If I were to call, I think I should at least give them a week after I asked for the update.

This is a junior-level management position at a large non-profit. Technically it is a new position that they want to fill “immediately.” They are reorganizing the management to create a more effective team.

Well, here’s the thing: If they want to make you a job offer, they are going to contact you and do it. They’re not going to be dragging their feet and only remember when you call them. So calling is likely to result only in (a) another lack of response, (b) a vague response (“we’ll be in touch once we have a decision”), or (c) a rejection. And yes, a rejection would give you closure, but frankly, you’re better off giving yourself closure right now and mentally moving on, and letting it be a pleasant surprise if they do offer you the job. Trust that if they want to hire you, they’ll get in touch.

6. Listing a childcare business on my resume when my field is accounting

Several years ago, I had to quit a job because the child custody and child support legal battle got to be too much for me to handle as a professional accountant and mother. I took a 6-month break then to plan a childcare business, which thrived for about a 16 months. Although this is a break in my accounting experience, I proudly list it on my resume because (a) I need to account for the time and (b) it shows the entrepreneurship in me. A girlfriend says I should list the childcare business in a section captioned “Other Experience.” What is your advice?

I agree with her. I wouldn’t kick off your main experience section with it because it’s not what you want to most showcase, but an “other experience” section is perfect for it.

7. Getting an MA while job-searching

I’m getting conflicting advice about this from my friends, so wanted to get your opinion. I am in the process of job hunting, and I have been looking for about 3 months now and finally got my first phone interview coming up this week. I decided a few weeks ago to apply for my MA in intercultural and international communications, because I need a plan B. If finding a job is going to take me several months (perhaps even a year), I want to make good use of my time, and getting my MA has always been on my “don’t want to call it a bucket list-bucket list.” The university is in another province, but it is about 80% online. I would have to go to the campus for two weeks in September or October for the in-class portion of the program, and the following year I will be out of country for three weeks for the placement portion of the program. But other than that, I can do the coursework at home. Therefore, I can continue to do this even if I got a job, which is why this program works so well for me.

First, does studying for my MA help bridge the gap in my resume? I am currently unemployed and have been since the end of November. I recently moved back to the country which is the reason for my unemployment. I figure the longer it takes to find a job, the bigger the gap will be since my last job. Second, when in the interview process should I bring up the part about needing two weeks to attend university classes as part of my MA? Would this be a deal-breaker for most hiring managers? In my opinion, improving my education and skills will only benefit my employer, as this program compliments most of the positions I am applying for and matches well with my skill set.

Since the program is one that you’re arguing won’t interfere with full-time work, it’s not quite as good of a resume gap-filler as a traditional program would be … but it’s not nothing either, and you can certainly use it.

As for when to bring up the time you’ll need off, I’d wait until you have an offer and negotiate it then as part of your overall negotiations. The two weeks shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for most jobs (although you might need to take it unpaid if you don’t have enough vacation accrued by then). The three weeks next year will be more unusual for most jobs, so make sure that you include that as part of your negotiations too — you don’t want to find out next year that they won’t let you take three weeks at once.