Ask a Manager

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

1. Asking job candidates, “Tell me about yourself”

I am a manager for a small nonprofit organization and I am responsible for a lot of the hiring that we do. I feel like saying, “Tell me about yourself” is a pretty standard entry point for initial phone screenings, and I always assumed that a standard answer would include a brief summary of where you are from (if you feel comfortable sharing that), where you went to school, and maybe a general overview of the most recent roles that you’ve played or (depending on your experience) a brief description of your overall career trajectory that explains how you got to where you are.

Today I interviewed two candidates for an opening we have. One gave me a 30-minute-long dialogue about her education, her very first job (she has several years of experience and several positions on her resume), and her master’s degree experience, without telling me anything about what she is doing currently or what she has done since 2010. The second completely skipped over her education and early work experience altogether to discuss what she’s been doing for the last 10 months (she finished a master’s degree in August 2011). This had me wondering, both as an interviewer as well as from a candidate’s perspective, is there a better way to ask, “tell me about yourself?” And also, is there a preferred or more helpful way to answer that question?

Personally, I don’t ask it. You rarely get information that isn’t on the resume — and in fact, if you look at what you say you’re expecting in an answer, it’s all stuff you already know from reading the candidate’s materials (minus where they’re from, which isn’t really useful anyway). But if you’re going to ask it, I definitely wouldn’t ask it in phone interviews — since they’re usually much shorter than in-person interviews, and you presumably have a slate of questions that you want to get through, and thus want to be more directive in how the conversation goes than “tell me about yourself” might allow.

But why ask it at all? I know some interviewers think it’s a good softball opener, but why not ask something like, “So, what interested you about this opening?” to start off with?

(And while we’re on the topic, here’s how I recommend candidates respond to “tell me about yourself.”)

2. Fingernail length in job interviews

I’ve read on your blog somewhere that nails should be neatly filed and slightly over the tip of your finger in length. However, I’m an art hobbyist, and I have to keep my nails very short to keep them from digging into my palm (thanks to my awkward handling of pencils). While I can keep them neat and tidy, they’re lacking in length. Is this going to be an issue with interviewers? Are they going to look at my nails and write me off immediately? I’d hate to give up a hobby for the sake of pleasing interviewers. Thank you for your advice!

You didn’t read me say that they need to be slightly over the tip of your finger. I could give a crap about the length of your nails, as long as they’re not disgustingly long or grossly jagged. Don’t worry about having short nails — no one will care.

3. Can I be fired for refusing to work when I’m not getting paid?

If your employer is consistently cutting you paychecks that bounce, are you required to work? Can you be fired if you decline to work shifts until paid?

There are two separate issues here: the bouncing paychecks, and whether you can be fired for refusing to work. You could indeed by fired for refusing to work, although you’d be eligible for unemployment because not being paid is a qualifying reason for leaving a job in their eyes (and in everyone else’s eyes). But separately, your employer is required to pay you for your work within a period of time dictated by your state government (usually a few weeks or less). If you’re not being paid, and you’d like your money, contact your state department of labor for help.

4. Can I get in trouble for leaving work early because of snow?

I made a judgement on the snow conditions and left work early on Friday, as I was afraid I would not make it home. Plus, I hate driving in the snow and bad weather conditions. Can I get into trouble for this?

Legally? Sure. Will you in practice? It depends on your employer’s policies and/or culture and/or how your manager handle these things.

5. Should I wear a suit when I go for job testing?

I am a recent graduate, and I have been invited to a 2-hour literacy and numeracy test for a government job. This is the first “big girl” job I’ve applied to and had a response, so naturally, I’m quite nervous! I don’t doubt my capabilities in literacy and numeracy, but I do wonder what I should be wearing to the said test. I’ve taken you up on your advice on purchasing a nice suit, much to the teary-eyed joy of my parents, so would I be correct in assuming that I should be wearing this to the test? I don’t know if there will be anyone present who will judge my physically appearance as an applicant there, but I’d like to know for sure before I under/overdress.

Wear the suit. Even if you’re overdressed compared to other applicants, you’ll stand out for being professional, not for being over-dressed, and that’s a good thing. Employers who like suits — and the government falls in that category — appreciate it when people wear them to professional functions even when they don’t have to.

6. Our last bathroom question for a very long time

I have a simple question, but to me confronting the issue is terrifying. I am a supervisor, and I have only two employees. Every time I go into the staff bathroom, the toilet is disgusting to say the least. How do I confront the issue without embarrassing anyone? I am tired of cleaning up other people’s mess so I can go to the bathroom. We do not have a cleaning staff.

Why terrified? You have to deal with far more difficult conversations as a manager. Plus, anyone leaving the bathroom in these conditions has no shame anyway, so there’s no need to worry about embarrassing them.

Either send an email to your staff or post a sign in the bathroom, instructing people to clean up after themselves. Also, consider hiring cleaning staff.

And thus ends our bathroom discussions for a very long time, because I can’t take any more of them.

7. What to wear to a job interview when you have a cast on your leg

I’m a man who recently graduated with a masters degree in economics and am in the process of applying for jobs. A couple of weeks ago, I had the misfortune of rupturing my achilles, requiring a cast from my toes up to my knee. None of my dress pants will fit over the cast so I have been trying, without success, to find information about the right dress code for a job interview under the circumstances. The only thing that I have at the moment that fit over the cast are blue sweatpants. What would you do?

If only you were a woman and could wear a skirt, this would be so much easier. Is there any chance you can find some wider-legged dress pants that will fit over the cast? If not, tell them your situation ahead of time, sound embarrassed, and ask if you’ll make a horrible impression if you show up in the only pants that will fit over your cast, which unfortunately aren’t normal business attire. If they’re at all normal, compassionate, reasonable people, they will say it’s completely fine, and that will be that. (If for some reason they balk, take that as a signal that you’d be working with jerks if you took this job.) Also, make sure that the sweatpants you wear are as nice as possible — don’t wear the kind with elastic at the ankle, for instance. Good luck!

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

1. My boss banned sugary foods from the office

Today my boss, who is also the buisness owner, tried to tell our office staff that we are banned from bringing in sugary foods, and she told a coworker who brought in doughnuts for the office that if they weren’t gone in an hour, she was going to throw them away. She has no health problems when it comes to such foods; she just has no will power to not partake in them herself. Is is legal for a buisness owner to ban certain foods from the office?

Yes. But you can still make a case to her for changing the policy, and offering to keep these foods out of shared spaces might help if her concern is that she’ll be tempted. But ultimately, it’s her call. A silly call, but hers to make.

2. Being asked to take a public speaking course when you have a history of stuttering

My company has asked everyone at my job level to take a public speaking course. I think we are all being asked to go because two of my four teammates are terrible public speakers.

This would be fine, except that I have had a stuttering problem since I was a little girl, and the thought of taking a class like this makes my anxiety go through the roof — not because I am afraid of public speaking, but because I am afraid it will aggravate my stuttering and cause it to return with a vengeance. I had many years of speech therapy, and I am able to hide my stutter now to the point that most people do not know I do it. I have developed my own personal techniques for preparing for public speaking over the last 30 years, and I feel I do a very good job. In fact, it was noted on my lastest performance review what a great job I do in communicating with clients. I just don’t want to risk a recurrence. Do I have the right to ask my manager if I can skip out on this training, or should I suck it up and attend?

Talk to your manager and explain what you said here. If you explain that you’re concerned that this will cause a return of a problem that it took you years to overcome, any compassionate manager will recuse you. If she seems hesitant, offer to bring in documentation from a speech therapist or doctor. (Employers aren’t legally bound by doctor’s notes, but even just offering one can be helpful in persuading them that something is both real and serious.)

3. Asking for feedback after a job rejection

I know you’ve talked about asking for feedback after receiving a rejection. I was wondering do you think it’s better to call or email?

Email, always. First, whenever you can email an employer rather than calling, you should — because calling interrupts people and demands an answer on your schedule rather than theirs, whereas email can be answered at their convenience. Plus, in a case like this, you want the person to have time to formulate their thoughts and not be put on the spot.

4. Manager only gives feedback when there’s a problem

I was hoping you might shed some light on a tough work situation I have. I have multiple supervisors (a challenge on its own to deal with), but my on-site supervisor is the one I struggle with most because she doesn’t show any emotion besides displeasure. I’ve been told by other people that she will never give anyone positive reinforcement for good work done. The best sign of her approval, they told me, was if she doesn’t say anything to me at all. I don’t need a lot of praise, but her stoic demeanor makes me uncomfortable and I constantly worry that there is feedback I am losing because of a lack of communication. The few times I have suggested improvements to methodology have provoked negative responses to other things in the past, so I am hesitant to bring it up to her. How can I best work with her if I cannot read where she stands on things?

You can certainly ask her for more feedback — asking her what she thinks is going well, where you could do better, etc. But it sounds like your best bet is to believe what your coworkers told you: With this manager, hearing no feedback is good feedback. That’s not good management, obviously, but it’s not that uncommon either. Some managers simply don’t see their job as to give praise; they see it solely as ensuring that work gets done, and correcting people when needed. Not a great approach, but not unheard of.

Since you can’t do anything to change her, your options are to (a) accept that this is how she works and interpret accordingly, or (b) be upset about it, which won’t result in her changing but will result in you being unhappy. Go for (a).

5. Telling prospective employers that I’m doing some career soul-searching

I’m early into my career and am wondering, is it ever alright to admit to potential employers that I’m still doing some career soul searching? Specifically, I’m applying for internships at the moment, and one company is hiring for several departments, but only has one job posting. I feel that I should mention which departments interest me most, but I find myself listing a multitude of departments that are quiet different. My plan was to write a cover letter that emphasizes my desire to work with the company in question, but what’s a good way to say I’m open to working in a variety of departments without sounding overly immature or flaky?

It’s fine to say that you’re at the start of your career and not yet committed to going in one particular direction, and that your goal right now is to do useful work and get experience. But I’d stop there — don’t give a long list of departments or explicitly say that you’re soul-searching. Employers want to feel that you have some sense of direction, so that you won’t end up pulled in a different direction than whatever they hire you for.

6. Telling retail employers I have complete availability

I graduated from college in May. Apparently I’ve taken a lot of bad advice from all of my well-meaning relatives, so thank you for writing your blog. It confirms what I always suspected! I’m sure there are dozens of questions I could ask, but what I’m pondering right now is how to apply to shift work, like at a coffee shop or retail.

Since I am unemployed, I don’t have many scheduling demands. Since I just graduated, my sleep schedule is completely destroyed. I wake up before class, go to bed when projects are done, spend all day studying, regardless of actual time. It doesn’t help that I’m a night owl living with family who wake at 4:30. Once I get a job, I plan on settling into a pattern, but until then it could go either way.

If I mark that I am available for all shifts and all times, or 80% of them, does it come across as desperate? Will the employers believe me? Should I pick a time slot and stick with it? I really just want something to tide me over until a better position, plus give me much needed work experience.

No, it doesn’t come across as desperate, and food service and retail employers will love it. They want people with open availability; those people often go to the top of their stack of applications. You can find more advice on applying to these jobs here.

7. My email was hacked!

I was contacted by two amazing companies that I’d love the opportunity to work for. After I interviewed for both positions, a few days later I woke up to find that my email account was hacked. A link (I’m not sure if it was a virus or just spam) was sent to everyone in my contact list, including everyone who I interviewed with over the last few weeks.

You can imagine how distraught I was. I spent two hours emailing those who received this bad email telling them my account was hacked into, apologizing for any inconvenience this may have caused, and to not click on the link that was sent to them.

Do you think this hacking situation affected my interviewers’ impressions of me, putting me in a negative light? I know it wasn’t my fault and these things happen to people all the time, but out of all the people I interviewed with (a total of 7), I only received a response back from one person telling me not to worry about it. Bad sign? Or do you think they already made up their minds about me as a candidate before the email was even sent to them?

They didn’t care. They deleted the email without even thinking about it. Unless they’re really odd, it’s not going to affect their impression of you at all. Put it out of your mind.

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

1. I want to be an employee, not a contractor

I’ve been offered a contracting job with a fantastic company, but I want to be a full employee. They said they’d hire me as an employee if I move to California (where everyone else in the company is), but that isn’t an option for me for at least five years. Is employee-ship something I can negotiate? I know it’s not your area of expertise, but would it cost them a zillion a year to have a New York employee? They make a lot of their money from customers in New York, if that make a difference.

Not a zillion a year, but it’s something of a pain in the ass to set yourself up for employees in a different state if you’re used to having them all in one single state. For instance, New York requires employers who have any employees based there to establish a workers compensation insurance account and a disability insurance account with the state and to make ongoing payments into them, among other statutory requirements. Plus, adding employees in new states means keeping up with (and complying with) employment laws in those states — which can be a not insignificant burden, particularly for a smaller company. None of this means that you can’t try to negotiate it anyway, but you should go into the conversation understanding that you’d be asking them to take on a whole new set of operating fees and bureaucratic headaches.

2. Asking for a raise after getting a bonus

I’ve been in my current position for 2.5 years with only paltry annual cost of living increases that have not kept up with inflation. Unfortunately, my company does not have a practice of conducting regular performance reviews. In the past, I’ve mentioned to my boss and our department head that I would appreciate having a review so that I can get a sense for how I’m doing. About seven months ago, they surprised me with an impromptu review in which the feedback was 100% positive, and they then solicited my feedback on my job and our department and presented me with a nice bonus. Since I wasn’t expecting this review, I was not prepared to discuss my overall compensation.

I have an excellent relationship with my boss and the department head, and know from informal feedback that they continue to be very pleased with me. In fact, just last month our department head said to me (jokingly), “You’re never allowed to leave!” so I feel I’m in good standing to ask for a raise. However, is it too soon to ask them for a raise in light of the bonus? If not, would I approach my direct supervisor or my department head about this? I suspect my boss does not have authority to approve a raise. And should I approach them in person prepared to discuss it on the spot, or would it be better to ask in advance for a meeting to discuss this?

It’s not too soon. A bonus doesn’t impact your salary on an ongoing basis; it’s different than a raise. I’d approach your manager, not your manager’s manager, because even if she doesn’t have the authority to approve it on her own, you shouldn’t go over her head. She deals with plenty of things that she doesn’t have the authority to approve on her own, but that doesn’t mean that you go around her — same thing applies here. As for whether to ask for a special meeting or not, you could — or you could just bring it up at your next regular meeting with her. But this is definitely a conversation to have in the context of a meeting (either existing or scheduled just for this); don’t just pop into her office randomly one day.

3. Where is my job offer?

I interviewed for a position within municipal government on December 20 and was contacted by phone on December 31 by the hiring manager, who verbally offered me the job. Following a brief discussion over salary and potential start date, I verbally accepted and asked when I should expect a written offer. The manager said he would forward my information to human resources and that they should be in touch with me about the formal offer. I was warned by the manager during the interview and during this phone conversation that the HR department typically moves more slowly than he would like, so I was prepared for the hiring process to take some time; however, it has now been nearly three weeks since I received the verbal offer and I have still not been contacted by human resources. I have exchanged a couple of emails with the hiring manager letting him know that I still have yet to hear from HR, and he has responded to say that he is looking into it and later responded that I should be hear something soon, but friends and colleagues that I’ve talked with seem to think this delay is unusual. Should I be concerned and/or consider moving on with my job search at this point?

Some employers really do take this long, and he did warn you about it in advance. But why not ask him to give you a sense of what timeline you should expect, so that you have some information to work with? Meanwhile, though, you’ve got to abide by the “you don’t have a real offer until you have the offer” principle, which means that if you’d be job searching if this offer hadn’t happened, then you should continue that search. (To be clear, that doesn’t mean that I think this sounds like it’s going to fall apart; I don’t. But until you have that formal offer, you risk something changing.)

4. Interview wear when blazers don’t fit you well

Reading through your posts, I’ve noticed you highly recommend people wear suits. My problem is that every time I put on a blazer I completely lose my confidence. I’m a little broad shouldered and on the short side (5’3″) and I feel like a football player when I wear a blazer. I’ve had several of them and never end up wearing them to interviews because I just don’t feel confident wearing them — I just think I’d be self-conscious the whole time and it would affect my interview. I never get ones with shoulder pads to avoid the bulk and I’ve tried on expensive ones, cheap ones, different shapes and styles and I just don’t feel I look like a professional adult in them, but rather a child in dad’s suit jacket. Is it better not to wear a suit and be confident? I normally wear a high-quality LBD and a simple black cardigan over it.

Same rule as always: Know your industry. In some industries, the outfit you described would be absolutely fine. In others, it wouldn’t not be considered sufficiently professional. So you’ve got to know what’s expected in your industry (and more specifically, in your industry in your geographic area).

But on the discomfort issue: Have you tried a tailor? A good tailor can usually fix the problems you’re describing.

5. How to count years of work experience

When people ask how many years of work experience I have, how should I answer? Do they generally mean how many years of full-time experience, or how many years of experience in a particular field?

I didn’t follow the normal routine of graduating at 22, working a few years, then doing my MBA. Instead, I often balanced 2-3 different jobs which essentially added up to a full 40-60 hour work schedule until I got through college (3 degrees which are unrelated to each other but all miraculously relevant in my current position). I started working when I was 14 years old, which would mean 17 years of work experience spread out over 8 employers. This includes waiting tables, running my own online business, and working for the university. Although I gained a lot of valuable skills such as the ability to multi-task, manage others, and prioritize, I am new to my chosen career path (marketing), which means people make references to my limited work experience when considering my job responsibilities. On the one hand, I get amazing performance reviews from people who didn’t expect such quality contributions from an entry level employee like me. On the other hand, I feel like I can be selling myself better to get higher earnings based on the strengths I have built over the years.

There’s no one right answer to this question, but usually when people ask how much experience you have, they’re talking about professional full-time (or close to full-time) experience. I’d leave out anything pre-college, since if you’re 30 and you say that you have 20 years of experience, it’s not going to ring true to people (and usually they’re not including waiting tables, etc. in the question). It’s also fine to say “X years in marketing, but Y years overall.” But really, your ability to sell yourself isn’t going to be based on how you answer this question; it’s going to be about what accomplishments you can point to and how you can tie them to the work you’d be doing for whoever you’re talking to. That’s where I’d keep your focus.

6. Being asked to work on Valentine’s Day

I am a waitress in California. I saw my schedule today and I am scheduled to work on Valentine’s Day. I am a full-time student and have school all day that day. My manager says I need to find someone to cover the shift because school is not an excuse. I know each company probably has their own policy, but it’s not a national holiday and I just want to know if this is wrong or right.

It’s pretty typical for hospitality workers to be expected to work holidays like Valentine’s Day and to be asked to find a sub for the shift if they can’t. There’s nothing wrong with asking not to be scheduled that day because of school, but your manager is also within his rights to tell you that he needs you there.

7. Messaging LinkedIn contacts on my husband’s behalf

My husband and I relocated last fall to a new country for my job. It was a fantastic move for us both because his field is much more in demand in our new area. He had to wait a few months for his employment authorization paperwork to go through, and now that he has it, is excited to be looking for work. However, his LinkedIn profile isn’t very developed since he is not a big fan of social networking (he also does not have a Facebook profile). He’s going to work on improving it, but in the meantime, would it be strange or spammy for me to message my LinkedIn contacts on his behalf? I would keep it very short and upbeat, just saying that we had recently relocated, he’s excited to be looking for work in his field, and I would appreciate it if they could let me know if they hear of something. What is your take on the etiquette around this?

Meh. I think it’s fine when you’re contacting friends and family, but if you’re going to send the message to people you don’t know that well, you risk it looking bad that he’s not networking on his own behalf (especially when LinkedIn makes it so easy to see which of your connections he might want to reach out to). I also wouldn’t do it via LinkedIn if he himself doesn’t have much of a LinkedIn profile — that’s the first place your message recipients are likely to look to learn more, and if his profile is barren, it’s not going to make a great impression. But he should be able to put together a decent LinkedIn profile in an evening — why not have him do that first?

(Also, it’s entirely possible I’m being too rigid about it being weird to do on his behalf. Anyone want to argue it’s fine?)