Ask a Manager

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

1. Sending a handwritten thank-you to follow up on your emailed thank-you

I’m a recent grad who’s been going through a battery of interviews lately. Usually, I’m the type of girl to send a handwritten note afterward to follow up, but the companies I’ve been interviewing with all have short time frames for making hiring decisions so I’ve been following up with emails instead. I would still like to send handwritten notes though, but I don’t want to come off as redundant. Do you have any content advice for a post-email thank-you note so that I don’t end up repeating what I’ve already said?

It should be blank, because you shouldn’t send it. Sending two thank-you notes for the same interview is going to come across as overkill. It’s too much. Sending them by email is fine to begin with, and there’s no need for another. At this point, your job is to sit tight and wait to hear back. (And good luck.)

2. Asking to telecommute to an unpaid internship

If an internship is unpaid, is it ok to ask if you can telecommute? I think this is a reasonable request, but I have found that many managers I asked to do this were either perplexed or slightly offended that I asked. I don’t want to pretend that I don’t live in the real world and that I don’t have bills to pay, because I do, and I would like hiring managers to recognize that. I want the experience, but I have eat. What is the best way to articulate this request?

Well, a lot of them aren’t going to be amenable to it, as you’re discovering. Many internships are designed to be based in the organization’s office because they involve interaction with other people, going to meetings, being available for ad hoc conversations, and other work that’s more easily done in-person. Moreover, with very entry-level work where part of the point is to provide feedback and development, managers usually find it easier to have a face-to-face relationship. So you can ask, but realize that a lot of them will say no — so make sure you do it at the very beginning of your conversation with any employer, because if you wait until the end of the hiring process, many are going to be irritated that you didn’t bring it up earlier (so that they didn’t invest further time in the hiring process if it’s a deal-breaker for them).

3. I’m being told to donate my time to our CEO’s second organization

I am the assistant to the CEO of a large nonprofit. As such, I not only help my boss, but also help out where ever needed. He recently started another nonprofit that is completely separate from the agency I am employed with. They keep different accounts, have different staff, and are a completely separate entity. I am not an employee of theirs, and their employees are not listed on our payroll.

Saying that, my boss who heads both organizations often asks me and a few other staff members to help out with things for this organization. They currently rent a space in our building. I love helping out, but the work is interfering with the already large work load I have. They are basically getting free labor for our agency staff, and aren’t reimbursing for any hours that we put in. Our accounting department and our independent auditor have discussed billing for our time, but there haven’t been any action made to remedy the situation.

I want to approach my boss about the extra workload and how I am confused about how these separate agency fits into our own (we provide completely different services). Any suggestions? Or should I just suck it up and do the work hoping the problem will eventually fix itself?

Talk to your boss. Tell him that the work for the second organization is interfering with your ability to put your own organization first. Tell him that you’re uneasy about essentially volunteering your services for the other organization during time that you’re being paid by Organization 1, and that you’re not comfortable continuing to do it, at least not without a formal arrangement where Organization 2 is billed for your time.

You can also go back to your accounting department and push them to handle this, since … well, since they should. And out of curiosity, does your nonprofit’s board know that the CEO is diverting the organization’s resources to his own separate organization? If not, they probably won’t be pleased to hear it.

4. Is it normal for contractors not to get feedback or performance reviews?

I have been a government contractor working on-site for a large national institution for over 2 years. I like my job, but am becoming increasingly frustrated by that lack of feedback I receive from my manager. There are no performance reviews performed by my actual manager, who is a contractor from a different contracting company. I have the same position as eight other people and am losing my motivation to do a good job.

My superviser will casually say that I am doing a good job and thanks me for my work on various projects from time to time. He has even said that they couldn’t afford to lose me. The contract company I work for has almost no idea what I actually do all day and rarely communicates with me. They do an annual performance review where they basically check in with me for 10 minutes and give me a small raise, which I believe is given at the same rate to all of their other employees. I’m sure if there were a problem that was relayed to them from my supervisor I would hear about it, but positive feedback is never really relayed. I feel I am not being rewarded, financially or verbally, for doing work that is in some cases better than others who have my job. I watch one of them play video games for most of the day and ignore emails, while I work late to make sure my clients are happy. But we are treated the same.

This may be a fault, but I recognize that I do better and stay motivated by positive feedback. Is it normal for contractors not to recieve feedback or have a performance review with their on-site supervisor? What can I do to ask for a raise when the people who grant it don’t know what I do or how well I do it, really?

Yes, it’s pretty normal. In fact, it’s a widespread problem even among non-contractor employees and their managers … but among contractors, it’s often considered not even a problem, but rather par for the course with contracting.

You can certainly make a case for a raise by pointing to your achievements, just like you’d make a case for a raise normally … but realize that in the environment you’re working in, they may find it more efficient to treat you all as a group, without much individualized attention.

5. Negotiating when a company has just been acquired

I recently interviewed for a job with a start up. I was told that there would be no equity/stocks or options as my compensation, only the basics salary, med, 401. I agreed. My final interview is next week.

The company got acquired yesterday. They are eager to hire me. However, as I see it, we are now part of a larger org and my duties will increase and my initial negotiation had been with a start-up but that has changed. This situation is new to me and I would like to know what I can negotiate to get the best package due to this changed situation. Can you please advise?

Yeah, it’s a different situation now. But it doesn’t sound like you’d already discussed salary, only benefits, and being acquired doesn’t mean that they’ll necessarily be offering equity now (in fact, it might be less likely). In any case, if they make you an offer, you can certainly ask about the changed landscape in light of the situation, and you then proceed with your negotiations accordingly. You’re not locked into anything yet.

6. Putting church community outreach work on your resume

I was just asked to help out with a community outreach committee at my church. My dream job would be to do community programming in the museum field, so it’s something that I want to do. I’m wondering if I do end up helping with community programming at the church (something I have done in the past), would it be OK to add to a resume? The community outreach is more in the way of helping people and events, not pushing the bible down their throats (ew).

Sure, you can absolutely put that on your resume. In general, assume that volunteer work can always go on a resume. Just be specific about exactly what you did, since volunteer work is often described in a vague way that doesn’t really convey what the person actually did.

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

1. Manager wants to know if I’m looking for another job — and I am

The company I work for is very small. Salaries are significantly below market rate and turnover is high. I have been in my position for almost two years. The majority of our department has left in the past six months and another employee just recently resigned. My boss is new to the company and is surprised by constant turnover. He just pulled me aside to ask if I was looking as well. I am.

I didn’t answer outright. I was honest that many in my age bracket (entry level up to a few years of experience) don’t stick around long-term because promotions here are awarded based on tenure and not performance (another post altogether but trust that this is true and not speculation). I told him I had doubts about my ability to move up within the company.

He had good reason to ask; he wants me to take on accounts that have been shuffled around to five different people in the last year and doesn’t want to have to reassign them again. It’s worth mentioning that these accounts had not been previously handled by an entry level employee until staff turnover necessitated it. Although he’s new, I do really like him so far and don’t want to mislead him, but how can I handle that without putting my current job in jeopardy? Also, I’ve been looking for several months and am finally getting calls for phone interviews (thanks to your blog!) So I will (hopefully) have to deal with this sooner than later.

Well, first, I’m a big proponent of being transparent with your manager when you’re ready to move on — but only if your manager makes it clear that it’s safe for you to do so. So you’ll have to judge whether or not that’s the case here, and since it sounds like he might be new enough that you don’t know that, it’s fine to err on the side of safety rather than potentially jeopardizing your own job. That doesn’t mean promising him that you’re absolutely not looking, but you can go with a middle-ground answer instead. For instance: “If someone came to me with an opening that gave me opportunities that I don’t have here, I’d have to consider it, but I don’t have any current plans to leave.” And when it does come time to leave — well, things change and people do move on when the right opportunity arises.

2. Should employers offer more flexible interviewing arrangements?

I’m curious to know your thoughts on whether firms should allow for flexible interviewing, like giving candidates the option to request first round video interviews or out of hours interviews at evenings or weekends.

My thought is that employees are typically expected to be at work during a certain time frame (8 to 5, etc), and as such, they should be willing to interview during the company’s standard hours. In all of my years interviewing for jobs, never have I asked to do it after hours. It seems to me that, while yes we would want the candidate to want to work for us, we also want them to work for us, which would mean following the basic rules. I don’t know that I’d necessarily want to hire someone who wants me to bend the rules for him or her, especially in something as simple as interviewing. I’m on board with occasionally having off-times for interviewing if a candidate just can’t get away from their current job, but I’ve always managed to do it. I’m more flummoxed by idea of offering first-round video interviews. If it were an out-of-town candidate, I can see that; it saves money for both company and candidate. But if it’s a local candidate, I fail to see why the candidates can’t be expected to use initiative. Lunch break, using PTO, and so on. Is this more of the bending-over-backwards that the younger generation seems to expect, or is it becoming the new norm?

It depends on the candidate, and it’s important to keep in mind that your job is to hire the best people out there. So for a desirable candidate who I really wanted to recruit, or for a hard-to-fill position, I’d be as flexible as I could and do a first-round interview by phone or Skype (although if we moved forward, I’d want to meet in person), and I’d try to work around their work commitments (especially given that the most desirable candidates are often already employed). But on the other hand, if I’m already skeptical that someone is the right candidate, particularly relative to others, I’m not likely to come in on a Saturday or arrive before breakfast.

I don’t see requests to meet at a non-standard hour as a candidate not following the rules, but rather as a reality of what might be an inflexible work schedule. You don’t have to accommodate the request, but you shouldn’t hold it against them for asking.

3. Translating application materials for a spouse

My husband is applying for some engineering jobs in Spain that specifically emphasize fluent English skills. Spanish is not required, but is mentioned as a plus (among other languages). My husband doesn’t speak Spanish, but I am a Spanish teacher. He asked if I could translate his resume and cover letter so that he could submit them in both English and Spanish. His thinking is that providing the Spanish would be helpful to anyone at the company who doesn’t know English well. I think that not only is it a little presumptuous, but it also might inadvertently misrepresent his language skills. There are no specific instructions for this on the job postings. Who do you think is right? Also, would it be okay to mention in the cover letter that his wife is fluent in Spanish, or is that a taboo topic?

You are right, and your husband is wrong. It would indeed misrepresent his language skills (and if the company needs applications translated, I’m sure they’re prepared to handle that on their own, so it’s not likely to come across as “considerate” but rather as “look, I have Spanish skills”).

He also shouldn’t mention in his cover letter that you’re fluent in Spanish, because it’s not relevant to his qualifications for the job. It will come across as if he thinks it is, and that will be confusing. (Is he implying that you’ll translate things for him if he’s working there? Or just that he has some exposure to Spanish? It’s not clear, but either way, it doesn’t belong on his application.)

4. Managing people older and more experienced than you are

After some company restructuring and a few people leaving, I’m being promoted to a (newly created) supervisor position. I’m one of five writers on our production team, and most of them have been there longer and are ten years older than I am. Our team is fairly tight-knit, and I’m friends with several of them outside of the office. I was hoping you could give some advice on managing a team of people older and more experienced than you, especially when you have worked with them as a peer? I’m not a confrontational person by nature, and I really have to fight “asking” people to do things rather than telling them “this needs to be done.”

Coincidentally, my book co-author Jerry Hauser and I just wrote about this topic over at The Management Center. Rather than repeat it all here, I’m just going to link you to what we said there:
http://managementcenter.org/managing-older-staff

One other thing I’ll add is that you don’t need to be “confrontational” to manage people. You just need to be matter-of-fact about what needs to be done (as opposed to being overly hesitant or overly aggressive) and believe me, your staff will appreciate you being straightforward rather than making them guess what you want. (And speaking of things that I’ve written with The Management Center, chapter 10 of our book — the chapter on exercising authority without being either a wimp or a tyrant — might be really helpful to you.)

5. Am I applying for jobs too early?

I want to get a job (nothing special, probably just data entry), but can’t start until mid-May because of prior commitments. I started applying to jobs yesterday, figuring if anyone called me it’d be in a few weeks or months. But someone called me about one of the jobs this afternoon. I’m assuming that since they’re calling so quickly it means they need someone right away and won’t want to wait until mid-May.

I’m not sure what to do. Am I applying too early for this type of job? Talking on phones is really stressful for me, and now I’m afraid that I’m going to have to keep making phone calls just to find out I can’t be considered because of when I’d be able to start working.

It’s really hard to time this type of thing perfectly. If you wait, you might not have found work by the time May comes around, so it really does make sense to start looking now. But that also means that you might hear from employers who want you to start sooner than you can. And that’s fine — you can simply let them know your timeline and ask if that works on their end. Frankly, it’s not that far off — only seven weeks, and many hiring processes take longer than that … even when they start out moving quickly in the early stages.

6. Leaving a job early to work overseas

I graduated from undergraduate last spring and in November, I was lucky enough to start my first job at an international nonprofit, which was exactly the kind of place I was hoping to work.

Ever since I studied abroad in China, though, I have been itching to go back. I just found out I got into a selective two-year Peace Corps-like teaching fellowship in rural China, which is a dream opportunity that would certainly help my Mandarin language skills, likely relate to potential graduate study, and would allow me to work for a great cause with a solid alumni network. I’m pretty sure I want to accept, and I feel that it would be much more difficult to do something similar in a few years when I am more settled in the US with such luxuries as furniture I didn’t get used off Craig’s List and maybe even a car. (I also have a pile of student debt, but I could defer my loans while I am on the fellowship.) However, I might have to be in China as early as mid July or August for this program, which would mean that I would leave my job after less than a year of being there.

I feel very grateful for my job, and I do not want to let down my supervisor or burn any bridges. The job is definitely administrative and I expect that the basic tasks of the position would remain the same if I stayed on for longer, and I gather I would have to stay at the organization for several years before I would move into any other position. How heavily would leaving my job early weigh in the future?

It’s not the end of the world, and you can do it once. You may or may not burn the bridge with your organization. (Leaving after three months, you almost definitely would; leaving after nine or ten, you’re more likely to get away with it, but they won’t be pleased.)

This is not license for people to take jobs intending to leave them in a short period of time that they know the employer would never have agreed to up-front, because that’s still not okay. This is a bit different though — I assume you didn’t know that you’d get into this program when you applied and otherwise were planning to stay in your job for a while.

7. How important is it that your resume and LinkedIn profile match?

How important is it to have your resume and LinkedIn profile be similar? I understand that LinkedIn can be a platform to highlight more skills and attributes for past/current jobs.

Also, is it important to have your LinkedIn profile open to the public? I am still wary of having personal information on the Internet, let alone my resume. Do you have to list every job on LinkedIn as you do on the resume while searching?

Your resume and LinkedIn don’t need to be identical. In fact, LinkedIn gurus would tell you that what’s appropriate for a resume format isn’t appropriate for LinkedIn, and that if you really want to take advantage of LinkedIn, you should be presenting your information in a format better suited for the site anyway. That said, obviously if your job dates and titles don’t match up, that’s going to be a red flag. But sure, you might choose to mention one job on your resume and not on LinkedIn if you don’t care to highlight it there.

As for making your profile public, you certainly don’t need to, but you’ll really be missing out of the point of LinkedIn if you don’t.

It’s wee answer Wednesday — six short answers to six short questions. Here we go…

1. Giving notice when your job has changed

Up until 4 months ago, I loved my job. I was hired for a very specific channel of communication and I was passionate about the work I was doing. I thought I was doing a good job, and I was meeting my benchmarks. But then I was told that since I had been in my role for 2 years (as had my colleagues) that we were to switch responsibilities and I watched my passion and love go to a colleague while I took on a new role. Had the new role been advertised on a job board I would never have applied. I had literally no interest in my new work and unfortunately my poor attitude showed. I take responsibility for showing my disdain and lack of interest in learning my new role. Due to that, during my review I was put on probation/performance review for the end of the year where I struggled with the new role.

I had been looking for a new job ever since the role change. I am very close to receiving an offer, we are working out the details. At the same time I have a review to for my progress in 3 weeks. Do I still give the normal 2 weeks notice? If I am already on probation, is it likely I will get canned immediately? Also, my boss will be away for the next two weeks on assignment. I don’t find it fair to push my start date back for my new employer based on her being out. If it was already planned on her part, can I still give two weeks even if she won’t be in?

Your employer just assigned you to a whole new job because you’d been in your old one for two years and it was “time to rotate”? Did you have any warning that your company operated this way, and have you seen them do this with others? Because that’s bizarre if you didn’t know that was part of the deal when you accepted the job.

In any case, yes, you should still give two weeks notice, because not doing so is generally seen as unprofessional and would give them legitimate reason not to give you a good reference in the future (which hopefully you can still get for your first role there). That said, you should be prepared for them to tell you that there’s no need to work out the full notice period and to leave earlier. But you certainly don’t need to delay giving notice until your manager is back in the office. Call her, or if you can’t do that, give your notice to her manager or HR.

2. Should you list your desired salary when it’s optional?

I just applied for a position at a large, internationally known nonprofit. The competition to work there is intense. On their web application, they have an optional box to fill out your desired salary. I left it blank since it was optional, but now I’m wondering if I cut down my chances to work there. I understand that there are probably many people applying for the position and I may not get an interview based on others being better potential fits. But I do want to know for the future — should I list my desired salary, even if it’s an optional choice?

I wouldn’t list it. If you name a number without having even spoken with them about the job yet, you might potentially under-cut yourself and end up with a salary lower than what you might have obtained if you had waited until you could negotiate later in the process. Or you might be taken out of the running altogether for asking for too much or too little (the latter sometimes signals that you’re at a more junior level than they’re seeking). They made it optional, so I’d treat it as truly optional.

3. Do I have to take my break when my boss tells me?

I arrived to work for a 8-10 hours shift, and my boss said that I have to go on break an hour after I get there. I said to him, “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a break?” He said, “It doesn’t matter, go on break.” I said, “I want to take a break when I’m tired a little later when I need one.”

I went on break but am not happy with this as it happens a lot. I was wondering if this was ok. It doesn’t seem right and we don’t like when it happens. I live in upstate NY.

Depending on the time and length of your shifts, you might be in luck. New York’s laws on breaks are a lot more specific than many other states’ break laws. (And many states don’t require breaks at all.) In New York, you have to be offered a 30-minute lunch break between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. for shifts six hours or longer that extend over that period, and a 45-minute meal break halfway through your shift for shifts more than six hours starting between 1 p.m. and 6 a.m. (If you’re a factory worker, the breaks have to each be 60 minutes.) For shifts that start before 11 a.m. and last later than 7 p.m., you’re also entitled to an additional 20-minute meal break between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

That’s pretty unusual though. In most states, your manager can tell you when to take your break, whether that’s when you want to take it or not.

4. Interviewing for your own job during a restructure

Due to the current financial strain at my current employer, our department is to be restructured. We are reducing the number of staff but will be performing the same duties, requiring the same skills. Nothing else will change. How do you approach a competitive interview where you already know the candidates as they are all your work colleagues? They know you equally well. We all have the same strengths and skills. We are all highly qualified with equivalent qualifications. We can all perform the job very, very well and have all been very successful in our careers.

Do you have any advice on how you can be successful in a competitive interview under these circumstances?

Prepare for it just as much as you’d prepare for an outside interview; don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you know the job and the organization well, you don’t need to do much preparation. Spend some time following the advice here on how to prepare for behavioral interviews — you want to do a lot of advance thinking about how you’ve excelled in different types of situations related to the job: how you’ve handled difficult customers, how you’ve taken initiative to solve problems, how you’ve handled a large workload — whatever specific situations are relevant to the job. You want to go in prepared with a bunch of examples of how you’ve done these things awesomely. You also want to think about why you should be one of the people hired — what is it about you that’s fantastic? Figure out how to communicate that as well. And last, you might be asked for your thoughts about internal matters that you know about first-hand (related the company’s operations, challenges, etc.), so come prepared to talk knowledgeably (to the extent possible) about those types of things as well. Good luck!

5. Why didn’t this hiring manager get back to me after I was personally referred and she said she’d schedule an interview?

Last month, I applied for an opening that I’m highly qualified for. I have experience working on the organization’s issue and I meet both the general and preferred qualifications. The hiring nonprofit also happens to be a coalition partner of the nonprofit I recently interned for. Three people from the organization I interned for recommended me to the hiring manager — the president, a department director who is also my former supervisor, and a mutual contact. The mutual contact also introduced me to the hiring manager at an event we both attended. When we spoke, she asked me to send a follow-up email. She said she would review my application materials and schedule an interview.

I followed up that same day. Five weeks have passed and I haven’t received a call or email. I haven’t followed up again because I don’t want to seem pushy. What should I do and what do you believe is going on?

She’s disorganized, or she decided to move forward with other candidates instead, or the job is on hold, or all kinds of other possibilities. It’s not being pushy to send a follow-up when you’ve been personally referred to a job or when the hiring manager told you she’d be in touch to schedule an interview. Both of these things are true here, so you have double reason to not feel pushy. Follow up right now, today, with an email telling her that you’d still love to talk if the position is still open and she thinks you’d be a strong candidate.

6. Can employer forbid me from drinking water until my break?

Is it legal for my boss to tell me that I cannot drink water until my break? I work in a factory that gets extremely hot, and recently my boss implemented a rule that we can’t drink anything until we go on break. We already have people passing out from the heat and several other questionable rules.

OSHA worker safety regulations require that employers to maintain safe working conditions, including access to drinkable water. However, OSHA makes determinations in this area on a case-by-case basis, rather than having one blanket rule. A receptionist in an air-conditioned office with regular breaks may not need to drink water at her desk, and in most cases employers could legally prohibit it. On the other hand, in a hot factory without frequent breaks, OSHA would probably require that you be allowed more frequent access to water. (Although that’s strictly a guess on my part; a lawyer could tell you more definitively.)

One complication: OSHA regulations also require that employees NOT be allowed to have beverages in an area where they could be contaminated with toxic or infectious materials, so if that’s your manager’s concern, it would make more sense. (Although then OSHA would presumably require that you be given more frequent breaks to drink water, given the heat.)