Ask a Manager

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

1. Mentioning money when asked where you’d like to be in a year

I’m a program coordinator at a prestigious university and have held my position for a little over seven months. My question is this: when a self-evaluation questionnaire asks you where you’d like to be in a year, is it okay to mention that you’d like a raise in addition to the greater responsibility that you of course hope to be taking on?

It’s not really the place for it. They’re asking where you’d like to be in terms of your job and career, not financially. If you do end up taking on more responsibility, you can certainly talk about money as part of that, but that’s not what this questionnaire is asking about.

2. Manager isn’t enforcing the rules on account stealing

I have a situation at work that has happened repeatedly and my boss has not yet enforced the rules within the organization. The rules are as follows — if there is a note in our sales database that another salesperson is currently pursuing the account, then no other salesperson can contact them for at least one year since the last follow-up activity. I have a coworker who repeatedly pursues my current large potential leads, and when I go to the boss for back-up, he does not do anything. I play by the rules because this is a small business and the other sales rep who I mentioned (who pursues my prospects) is married to the VP of Operations. Any suggestions on how I could encourage my boss to stand up for me?

All you can really do is ask. Point out that the company has clear rules on this that aren’t being followed — to your detriment — and ask for help in addressing it.

3. I don’t want my resume to be in Word

I work in a very technical, non-Microsoft field (Unix mostly), and as such I prepare my resume using the skills I know best. The end result of my resume is either plain text, HTML, or a PDF. The style is typically clean and easy to read. However, I’ve noticed two things in my job search — recruiters often demand I put my resume in a Word document (which I can never seem to make look as good), and many online applications use text boxes that make it hard to format the content in any meaningful way (like using simple bullet points).

Of course, content is king, and I spend most of my time worrying about what I write and not how it looks, but I do wonder: when my resume gets delivered to a hiring manager and has been filtered to the point of looking ugly, does that hurt my chances of gaining an interview?

If it’s hard to read or quickly skim, sure. But there’s no reason for that to be the case in Word or text. Keep a plain text version of your resume (using asterisks instead of bullet points, for instance) so that you have something you can easily copy and paste from for online applications. And as for recruiters, they want it in Word because they often strip out your contact information before passing it on to hiring managers — because they “own” your candidacy and don’t want employers contacting you directly (or they may not get paid for connecting you).

4. Should I resend my resume in a PDF?

I have been sending my resume out as a word document, and just realized I should probably be sending as a PDF. Can I resend the resume as a PDF to jobs I’ve already sent it to as a .doc? Should I forget it and move on?

Forget it and move on. Sending it in Word isn’t a horrible thing — plenty of people submit their resumes in Word — and you’ll annoy employers by sending it a second time.

5. Explaining frequent moves as a military spouse

I married very young to a man in the military with about a year of college and limited professional experience. Somehow I managed to get a nice professional gig for 2-1/2 years. Then the moving started … needless to say, I have had 6 different positions in the past 7 years. I completed my degree in 2011, moved a fourth time back to my hometown, got a great job, and got a divorce. Unfortunately, I have been advised that my great job (it’s state government, been here for a year) is being eliminated and I will need to find a new position by May.

For the past two months, I have been editing my resume, submitting short cover letters, and applying my heart out. I’m getting NO response…not even a nibble. I don’t think telling potential employers I am recently divorced (and therefore wont be moving/leaving any positions) is good protocol. Do I have a scarlet letter on my forehead because of my many positions and frequent moves? How do I explain this so I can even get a call?

Say it right up front in your cover letter, because otherwise employers will assume you’re simply a job hopper. You don’t need to get into the divorce, but you can certainly say, “For the last seven years, I’ve been a military spouse and thus had to move frequently. That’s now behind me; I’ve settled down for good in ___ and am looking forward to finding a job that I can stay at for a significant period of time.”

(At the same time, though, make sure the problem isn’t one of the more typical problems with resumes and cover letters. Read this.)

6. Asking for feedback after starting a new job

I started a new job (part-time, temporary) a bit less than a month ago. I love the organization I work for and really want to see this job turn into a full-time position by being as awesome an employee as possible. In doing so, I want to ask my new manager for feedback on how I’m doing so far, but I don’t know when would be long enough to have worked with me for her reliably critique my work. The position is only 15 hours/week and is slated to end in August. I would ideally like to meet with her a few times to discuss this, but am wondering when the first meeting should be. Three months in? Longer? What’s you’re take on this?

Ask now. It’s entirely reasonable to ask after a few weeks how you’re doing and if there’s anything you should focus on doing differently or better.

7. Where have you found jobs?

I was thinking perhaps your readers would like to share where they have found jobs (I am so over craigslist and indeed) so am curious if others have come across additional sites to share.

Sure, I’ll throw this out to readers. One tip from me: Most fields have niche job sites (Idealist for nonprofits, PRSA for communications, Roll Call for politics, Chronicle of Philanthropy for foundations and fundraisers, and so forth), so you should try a search for the name of your field plus the word “jobs.”

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

1. Alerting other employers when you’ve received an offer

I was wondering about what to do with other job possibilities in various stages after one receives an offer. I have been unemployed for a few months, but all of a sudden things have really picked up, and I have scheduled a bunch of interviews within the last two weeks. One of my potential employers has moved forward with reference checking and wants me to start as early as next week after they work out payment logistics and draw up an offer letter. In the meantime, I have 3 other interviews scheduled this week. Of course I don’t want to complete my job search until I have something in writing, but I don’t want to string anyone along either — one interview is a second round, and they sound very excited about me as well. Do I go to all of my interviews this week, knowing that the other company is moving forward, or do I cancel? Whenever I end up withdrawing my applications, how do I do this gracefully?

Yep, go on all your other interviews and continue your job search exactly the way you would if this weren’t happening. First, offers fall through all the time, and you should never count on one. But second, it’s possible that they’ll make you an offer for far less than you’d accept or that you won’t be able to come to terms on something else. Keep up your job search until you have an offer — and not just an offer, but an offer that you’ve accepted.

Once that happens, only at that point should you alert other companies that you’ve accepted a position and thus are withdrawing from consideration with them. (You can do that with a short email.)

2. Telling employers that you’re not seeking rapid advancement

I have been working for about 8 years, and in that time I’ve realized that I am much more of a “work to live” person as opposed to the “live to work” type. I am an asset to my company — I’m hard-working, dependable, conscientious and have a great rapport with coworkers and clients. I recently earned a masters degree. But I dread the “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” question, both from my boss and potential future employers. To be honest, I’m content with a stable, somewhat challenging job that offers cost-of-living salary increases. I am not interested in being in my boss’ position someday or getting rich and powerful. I am not inclined towards a high-pressure job (or one with more pressure and responsibility than the one I’m in now). But I sense that employers view this with suspicion if not disdain.

I am looking for new employment and find that many employers want to hire workers who seek rapid career advancement. I really don’t know how to present myself out there (or “in here”). I don’t want to lie because I don’t want to be groomed for a more advanced position but I also don’t want to be rejected for appearing apathetic or lazy. So far I’ve mostly been skipping the openings that blatantly mention the rapid-advancement thing but it’s still an issue in my current job and I expect it would be in interviews and future jobs. Can you offer any advice or insight?

If you just want a job, any job, then yeah, you could skip saying this, so that you avoid being screened out by the hiring managers who might not like it. But if you want a job where you’ll be happy and have a good fit, then be candid about it. Plenty of managers will be happy to find someone who feels like you do — and screening for them will ensure that you’ll find a job you’re comfortable in, rather than one that expects you to be someone you’re not.

3. Should I complain about this HR person?

I interviewed for a Fortune 500 company and was told I would hear back by Friday of that week if I got the job or not. When I heard nothing, I called back the following Monday and was told they were still deciding and I should hear back from them either later on that day or the following Tuesday morning. Interesting enough, that Tuesday morning, I got a letter from that same exact person dated Thursday of the week before I did not get the job, so basically I was lied to by that HR person when I called Monday knowing last week they typed that letter to me. Should I complain about this to her superiors as this is unethical?

Uh, no. She gave you wrong information. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe she couldn’t remember off the top of her head who you were and just guessed, or maybe she didn’t feel like rejecting you on the phone. Regardless of the reason, this isn’t a big deal. If you complain about it, you’ll only succeed in being marked as a high-maintenance crazy person and never getting considered by that company again.

4. Listing year-long travel on a resume

A friend of mine is updating his resume as part of an ongoing job search, and we can’t agree on how to put a positive spin on a one-year gap he has.

A while back, he was unemployed for a long period of time. Sick of staying home, he decided he would take this time off to grab his backpack and see the world. In a year, he visited 19 countries across six continents. He calls the experience in his resume “Project Management” because he was on a budget, carried out all sorts of negotiations across cultures and language barriers, bought and sold vehicles along the way, worked with local government agencies, dealt with medical emergencies in rural parts of the world, etc. I feel that the term “Project Management” is misleading because people expect it to mean something completely different, but I might be wrong.

How would you suggest that he present this on his resume? Should this fall under the “Other Experience” section? How do you even call this?

This isn’t “project management.” If I saw that on a resume, I’d be turned off — because it would seem like the person was either trying to spin me in a really disingenuous way, or like they had no idea what project management actually entails.

This might be something he could talk about in his cover letter or list in another section on his resume, but it sure as hell shouldn’t be called “project management.”

5. Including college acceptance letters on your resume, long after you’ve graduated

I’ve just started my first hiring job, and I’ve come across a couple of resumes that list college and high school GPAs. One even listed all the scholarships she won to colleges that she did not attend, even including “Harvard acceptance letter.” Is that normal to list GPAs ? It’s completely unrelated to the job post, and most of these candidates are at least 4 years out of school.

High school GPAs don’t belong on a resume after your freshman year of college. College GPAs should come off if you graduated more than five years ago. And acceptances to schools you didn’t attend never belong there, unless you’re trying to proclaim “I’m pretentious and a little naive.”

6. Current employer asked for my resume

I’ve been in my current position for 6 months as of tomorrow. Last Friday, my boss’ boss asked if he could have a copy of my updated resume. I sent it to him Monday morning, but felt it to be weird to ask him why he needed it, so I ended up not asking. Is this common? I have never been asked to provide an up-to-date resume when not job hunting before. Googling showed that this is common for contractors, but I’m not a contractor; I work in a library. Any insight into the mind of manager for this scenario would be appreciated.

It’s not uncommon. It can be used for grant applications, professional bios, and all sorts of other things. Why not just say you’re curious what it’s for and ask him?

7. Will shoplifting harm my future job prospects?

A few weeks ago, I was caught shoplifting at a store. They banned me from that store for the next 5 years and I’ll be paying a fine. This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I don’t know why I did it…why I almost ruined my future over some stupid merchandise. I regret it, but I realize I’m so so so so lucky because cops weren’t called, and this coupled with other things has made me seriously consider going into counselling for my issues.

Could this affect my future job prospects? Even though cops weren’t called, my social security number was taken. Would it come up in a background check? I’m currently unemployed but actively searching and I’m worried if this may follow me around.

Nope. If police weren’t called, you’re not in any system but the store’s own system (if that). If you didn’t have police contact, there’s no central database where this kind of thing can be accessed, even with your social security number.

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

1. Asking to come back to an interview question

I’ve always been told (and told others-eek!) that if you can”t answer a behaviorally related question (“Can you think of a time when you’ve XYZ”) immediately, it’s perfectly fine to ask to come back to this question. My mother is very strong on this and has been in charge of hiring for her organization for several years, and I also do recruitment as part of several of my roles, and prefer this to a flubbed answer, but as I think you have said before, it’s all about how the applicant handles it.

However, I recently interviewed for another position that I appeared to be well qualified for, and when the company finally contacted me back to advise I was unsuccessful, the feedback was that this made the interviewer uncomfortable: she found it “highly unusual” and “sometimes you just have to give it a go.” I was extremely surprised to hear this, as during the interview I said “I’d really love to give you a work related example so could I take a second to get back to you on that one,” and then I voluntarily came back to the question and gave what I thought was a really good answer which demonstrated my performance and success in a similar role.

I’d be very interested to know your thoughts — have I had bad advice, or is this interviewer just a weird anomaly? The only other thing I could think of was that I came across as “pushy” by choosing when I wanted to ask the question, but I did ask reeeeally nicely!

Weird anomaly. If you don’t have an answer on the spot, it doesn’t make sense to make the interviewer sit there for five minutes while you try to come up with one. What you did is perfectly fine, as long as (a) you really do come back to the question on your own, and (b) you don’t do this when the question is one you should have been prepared for (like questions about why you’d excel in the role or what you’re looking for in your next job).

2. Do employers have to provide the same benefits to all employees?

Are employers legally obligated to provide the same basic benefits to all employees? Can employees be selectively denied benefits (such as health insurance, paid time off, or education assistance) that are available to other employees? What if the other employees work in a different position or department?

Employers can offer different benefits to different classes of employees, such as: part-time and full-time employees, employees working in different geographic locations, employees with different dates of hire or lengths of employment, and exempt employees and non-exempt employees. They can’t treat employees differently based on any protected class, like race, religion, or sex, of course — but differences like the ones I described in the first sentence are pretty common.

3. My boss is having an affair with my estranged wife

My small, high-skill company has few formal policies. A year ago, they allowed my best friend of 24 years to hire me as a direct subordinate. As my boss, he’s been an excellent manager, and our productivity and work quality have impressed the executives. As my best friend, he naturally became well acquainted with my common-law wife from the day I met her 7 years ago. When she packed her bags last month, my life became agony. I sure felt lucky that my boss could tolerate my low (zero) productivity, and that my friend stood at my side as adviser and confidant.

Three weeks after she left, my friend/boss comes to my home to confess that they had been dating for a week. During that week, he used my outpouring of personal confidences to formulate advise that served his purpose of getting me out of his way. He admitted that he deliberated carefully. A potential wife for him at the cost of (1) throwing his best friend under a bus at the height of the most heart-wrenching pain of my life, (2) losing a valuable corporate asset (me), which would lead to my immediate homelessness. Mind you, there had been no prior personal friction that might explain his betrayal. He simply, out of the blue, decided that dating this fine woman made all these consequences palatable. This is not the man I knew for 24 years. I don’t know who he is anymore.

But job opportunities in my specialty are precious few these days, and I have no savings. On the other hand, my productivity is still abysmal with no foreseeable improvement. My ability to conduct business under this man’s supervision has been broken in a way that may not be fixable. How can I keep my job? Should I? (Really, living in a shelter could be no worse than this.) What would a (higher) manager do if this unfolded in a lower part of the hierarchy? Has misconduct occurred? Abuse of an employee? Living this ongoing nightmare day-by-day is beyond my endurance. But what can I do except endure?

How terrible. I’m so sorry. It’s possible that your company would consider this misconduct by your boss, although I’m not sure that that will really help you in any tangible way if they do. I think your best bet is to start job searching, and move to a new job as soon as possible. Good luck.

4. Required to take time off for lunch

I work in Massachusetts as a temp, and was wondering if I can be required by my boss to take time off for lunch. The email I recently received (after having my hours cut due to lower work volume in the office) said, “Please take a 30 minute lunch if you work over 5 hours. It needs to be shown on your timesheet.” My (limited) understanding was that I’m entitled to lunch if I work over 6 hours, but that I need to be compensated if I agree to work through lunch and remain on the premises.

However, I’m wondering if mandating unpaid lunches falls under the “these are the conditions of employment, take it or leave it” category. What are your thoughts?

Yes, you can be required to take an unpaid lunch break. You’re correct that your state law requires a break to be offered if you work more than 6 hours, but it doesn’t prevent an employer from requiring a break earlier than that, or requiring additional breaks.

5. Listing classes on LinkedIn

LinkedIn keeps asking me to list my classes taken at university, high school and independently. Is there value in having those listed? I have a number of independent courses and two college degrees, so they are asking for a rather large time investment to put all those in. Do you think employers want to see every class you’ve taken? Just the ones related to your degree or the job you’re applying for? Or should I not even bother?

Don’t bother. With the exception of a very small number of fields, employers don’t care. (And even in those few exceptions, no one cares about high school. No one.)

6. Male coworker seems to be hitting on me

There is a very social male coworker in my office. I, on the other hand, am an extremely shy introvert. Since he joined the company he visits me at least once a day. He also visits other coworkers, but his visits with me consist of asking about my weekends or how work is going. He also compliments me on my outfits, compliments I’ve not heard him give to other coworkers. The compliments aren’t inappropriate or anything — just “you look great in red” or “your hair looks nice.” I’ve always thanked him and then changed the topic or went back to my work.

Two months ago, he started to put his hands on my shoulders. Having this happen, much less having to confront him was mortifying. After the third time I pulled away and made it clear that it wasn’t appropriate. After that, I *thought* he got the picture that we could be friendly with professional boundaries. On Valentines, I found a very nice box of chocolates and two pink roses on my desk. It is an open environment, so everyone in the office noticed (much to my embarrassment). He confessed to leaving them. I thanked him and then changed the subject. See how much I like to avoid rather than addressing it?

Last Friday he emailed me an invitation for a lunch meeting for this Friday. The meeting is to discuss some freelance work (something I said I was interested in before the chocolate and flowers incident). Everyone I’ve asked thinks he has an ulterior motive for the lunch — that the offer for freelance work is just a way to get me to go to lunch and he’s really testing the waters. Would you recommend that I go to the lunch? Or would it be best to politely withdraw? If I do go, should I prepare for the possibility of him asking me out or am I just over thinking it?

You can certainly go to the lunch, but go with the full knowledge that he’s going to see it as an opportunity to advance his romantic agenda with you. No one gives chocolates and roses on Valentine’s Day to someone who they’re not pursuing. He’s pursuing you; it’s not business. Proceed with that in mind.