Ask a Manager

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

1. In trouble for sending a farewell email to contacts

The process of giving my two weeks notice went well, and I survived with little drama, thankfully. Today is my last day, so I sent out my farewell email to all of my contacts. I sent the farewell email using my current company email address. My note was very kind, I wrote very nice things about the company, and simply let people know that I would be leaving today and what company I will be going to. About 20 minutes after the email went out, I was called into my boss’s office and was told that sending an email out under my company email address was completely unacceptable and that they would be shutting down my email immediately for “security purposes.” They feel that the email should have went out under my personal email address. I have seen many many goodbye emails, and they are almost always from the company email address (unless they were let go) I truly do not understand why they are so upset. I’m disappointed that after a calm two weeks, this is how my time here will end. Was I wrong do to this?

No, that’s bizarre. It’s very normal to do what you did. My best guess is that your manager wanted to control the messaging about your departure to people outside of your company, but what you did is so normal that if she wanted it handled differently, she should have spoken up earlier.

2. Negotiating when the company told you the salary range up-front

If a company indicates a specific salary or range at the beginning of the interview process, do you have any leverage to negotiate above the range if you actually receive an offer? Or have you implicitly agreed to the range they gave?

You can often try for a small amount above their initially stated range, but if you ask for much more than that, you’ll look like you weren’t operating in good faith — after all, they told you from the outset what they planned to pay. Think about how you’d react if you told a company at the outset that you were seeking to make $X, they didn’t raise any concerns about it, but then a month later after you’d put significant time into their hiring process, they offered you the position at significantly less and told you they wouldn’t budge.

Basically, they’ve told you the salary at the outset because they want to make sure you’re okay with it. You risk making them highly annoyed if you spring something significantly different on them later.

3. Is it legal for a manager and subordinate to have an affair?

I have an “is it legal?” question. I’m curious about legal ramifications of affairs at work. A girl I used to work with is most likely having an affair with her direct manager. This was confided in me by a friend I trust. Before this sounds gossipy, I want to say that I realize it could be false information because it’s secondhand and I would never pass it on to anyone and other than morally and ethically disagreeing with it if it is true, I have no other interest in the matter.

What it made me wonder was: could one or both people in theses circumstances actually get fired for this? Does that depend on the company’s individual policy on these sorts of things or are there larger scale legal ramifications? More of a curiosity question than anything else.

It depends on the company’s policy. But if the company is even remotely smart, they’ll have a policy against it — and most do (although often smaller companies neglect to address this, to their peril).

The law doesn’t prohibit dating or sleeping with your manager or subordinate. It does, however, prohibit sexual harassment, and the problem is that even fully consensual romantic or sexual relationships between a manager or subordinate make it very easy for the subordinate to claim harassment later — to claim that they felt they couldn’t refuse the manager’s overtures, or that they couldn’t break off the relationship when they wanted to, without suffering professional damage at work. And those things would provide legal standing for a sexual harassment claim.

(Plus, those relationships cause all kinds of non-legal problems too: questions about whether the manager can objectively manage and evaluate the person’s performance, whether they’re given unfair treatment when it comes to raises/evaluations/promotions/feedback/assignments, and so forth. And even in the rare cases — extraordinarily rare, maybe impossible — where the manager somehow manages to be fully objective about those things, no one around the manager will buy that, so it causes a perception and morale problem regardless.)

4. My annual review wasn’t in line with my excellent performance

My annual review was conducted last week, it was something I’d been eagerly anticipating for over a month. I’ve worked at the company for just under a year, and because it was a career switch I took a position beneath my experience level. My expectation was that I’d move quickly through the ranks after proving my competence and constantly striving to create value.

Over the course of the year, I moved up from a analyst role to a position managing several people on an IT project. I’ve received nothing but praise from immediate managers and peers, and so I fully expected to receive high marks, a sizable raise, and possibly a promotion commensurate to my current role. Instead, I received an average rating for my level, no discussion of promotion, and a whopping three percent raise. I was incredulous, I can’t remember feeling so devalued and humiliated. I tried to argue my case during the review (in as professional manner as possible), but it seems the decision had been made. I’ve been lumped into the mediocre (or below) pile, and there’s nothing I can do until the 2013 review to change it. What would you do if you were in my position?

Talk to your manager. The messed up reality is that many companies make it very hard for people to receive high ratings on evaluations and routinely give average ratings to star performers. That might be the case at your company, or it might be something else, but either way, start by talking to your manager and say that you felt your evaluation didn’t reflect your performance or the feedback you’ve received all year. Ask what you’d need to do differently to receive a higher rating in the future. Once you hear her response, you’ll have a better idea of whether you’re willing to accept this or whether you want to look for a position somewhere with different methods of rewarding people.

All that said, though, it’s possible that your expectations are slightly too high. I say that because you were potentially expecting a second promotion within a year (which is a lot), and you might be overestimating how well you’re performing in a role that’s relatively new to you. You might be doing a perfectly good job in the new role, but still not in the “excellent” category, which wouldn’t be at all uncommon after such a short period of time in a new role, even for a smart and talented person. And that’s more reason to talk to your manager with an open mind and hear what she says.

5. Noting future work on your resume

I have a question about listing future, accepted jobs on my resume. I’m a second year law student, so applying for jobs a year or two in advance is not unusual. I have a research assistant position secured for next semester, and a summer internship for Summer 2013. I plan to start applying for clerkships (jobs with judges) in January or February. So far, I’ve been listing my future jobs as this on my resume:

Summer Associate, Dewey Chetum and Howe, anticipated Summer 2013

Research Assistant, Professor Smith, anticipated Spring 2013

My career center thinks “anticipated” is the correct word, but my parents think that sounds too speculative. What do you think?

For once, I agree with someone’s parents! “Anticipated” sounds too close to “I think this will happen but I’m not sure.” How about “scheduled” or something similar instead? (That’s not perfect though — maybe someone will have a better suggestion in the comments.)

6. Job was removed and then reposted

I have basically been applying to jobs since before I got out of grad school in my field. I was lucky to have landed a job before I officially graduated and negotiated a start date just after my coursework ended. After starting, a variety of things went awry and I started job searching again. One job that I applied to was kind of a long shot, but I had some experience in that area and so applied anyway. It is several months later and I just received a letter stating that they position had been reassigned a new faculty ranking and so it was being deleted and reposted. They did not mention if this ranking is lower or higher, and never said in the letter if I was even qualified for the last posting since it wasn’t a flat out rejection. I just saw the new posting and it doesn’t appear any to be any different to me, and at this point I have more experience to add to my application. Can I go for it? Or should I accept that I’ve been rejected and move on?

Sure, you’ve got nothing to lose by applying again, and there’s nothing here indicating that they’d rejected you previously.

7. Turning an internship into a full-time job

I am a recent graduate from a top liberal arts college. I started interning at a large environmental conservation nonprofit as a development and events intern this past October. I really enjoy working there, although some tasks are too tedious. The department is quite short-staffed (there are the prospect research manager, major gifts officer, and events manager; the director of development had just left for another position at a different organization). How do I go about asking if there is full-time job opportunity at the department or elsewhere in the organization? Should I approach HR or my supervisors? I realize that there are a lot of disorganization in the department, and having an extra person, like myself, who has been working there for a couple months would really help make things flow better and take some tasks off of their shoulders. I have also been in contact with a board member who I met and help with occasionally. How do I utilize my connection with her to advance my job opportunity at the organization?

Talk to your manager and to HR. Your manager will know about the possibility of upcoming openings in your department, but may not know about others, so you should talk to both. Do not talk to a board member about work at the organization; board members are not generally involved in hiring or the day-to-day management of an organization (and there’s no faster way to piss off the day-to-day management of the organization than to invite the board into that inappropriately).

Keep in mind, though, that many nonprofits are short-staffed and could use additional staff positions, but don’t have them because of lack of funds or because they’ve determined that allocating money to other areas is a higher priority. So you don’t want to approach them as if you’re the only one who’s spotted a need for more staffing, but rather as someone who loves working for the organization and would be thrilled to have a regular staff position there is there’s an upcoming opening that would be a good fit.

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

1. Answering “where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?”

I just bid on a job that would be a dream job for me. I’ve worked in the protocol and diplomacy industry before, so I have the required experience. However, my plans go beyond being an officer … I would like to be the supervisor for the protocol office. What would be an appropriate response when answering the interview question, “Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?”

Personally, I’m not a fan of very specific answers to that question, like “I want to have the XYZ job in this office.” First, it often comes across as a little presumptuous, and second, you can’t really know that that’s your goal until you’re working there and have a much more nuanced understanding of the role as it exists in that particular organization, and what it requires to do the job well. However, you can certainly give a less specific version of that answer, by explaining that you’d like to take on increasing responsibilities and eventually be managing people and projects.

2. Helping the spouse of a top employee

I am the HR Director for a charter school network.  Talent is incredibly competitive in this city, as there are many schools vying to hire top candidates.  We have someone in a leadership role who is really strong and who is committed to staying in the role so long as she lives in this city.  Her husband is a third-year law student and has begun the job search.  She’s been very up front with us that if he finds work elsewhere, she’ll leave to go with him.

Given how strong she is in her role and how hard it would be to replace her, I want to do anything I can to help her husband get a job here.  Between myself and some others in our organization, we have connections to a few law firms in the city, as well as a couple of people in private practice.  My question is, what is the line in how far we can go in helping him?  I obviously expect him to have to stand on his own merit to be hired, but what do you think is the best way of connecting him with our connections? 

There’s no reason that you can’t connect him with your contacts. Be clear with your contacts, of course, that you haven’t actually worked with him and can’t vouch for him in that regard, but that they might be interested in talking with him. It helps if you can offer a reason for why they might be interested, such as that he’s smart or has an encyclopedic knowledge of whatever area of law they practice, or whatever — but it’s also fine to simply say, “hey, this is the husband of one of our top employees and I thought you might be interested.”

3. Is it time to jump ship?

I have been at my current position for a little over a year. It is a small business where I get to work very closely with my CEO. I adore her, and have learned a lot from working with her. The problem I’m having is with the sales staff, who I have to assist. While they are nice people, they are terrible at working as a team, they can panic and blow out of proportion the slightest thing, and they take serious advantage of my tech savvy ways to the point where I’m beginning to suspect they are not even trying to learn the new tech. This is exhausting to me. On top of that, they are not making their billings and I fear the company is in trouble.

I’ve brought it up to my manager that their constantly asking me for help with the tech is putting a damper on productivity. Some of them have complied with her request to stop asking me for help, others have not. They are getting pressure from the CEO to start working as a team and increase their billings or heads will roll, but they are resisting the change. I love working with my boss and my two colleagues in administration are great, team-oriented workers. Is it time to jump ship? Do I wait to see if things look up? I fear my patience is waning, I don’t want my positive attitude to go with it.

Your frustration with the sales staff and your concern about the company’s finances are two separate issues. On the first, talk to your boss again and explain the problems are continuing. You should also start setting boundaries; if people are asking you for help with things that you’re not supposed to be spending your time on, tell them that. Say, “Sorry, Kate asked me not to work on tech stuff since I’m focused on X and Y” or whatever.

On the finances issue, you need to get a more solid idea of whether the company is really in danger or not. That’s not something you want to just guess at.

4. Juggling interest from two friendly companies

I got a job offer a couple of months ago from Company A and could not start immediately so we parted ways. They called me recently to check if I would want to join them at my desired start date. They said if I am interested, they would re-send the offer letter to me as I was the top candidate. I said that I am very interested and I accepted verbally.

While waiting for their offer letter (next day), Company B contacted me for an interview. I told Company B that I was waiting on an offer and it was a matter of few days to decide. They sped up the interview schedule. I accepted to have the interview tomorrow with Company B. The two companies are tightly knit (partial owners, partners, rarely competition short term — long term unknown, etc).

So, shall I disclose the company names to each other? Do I tell Company A that now I am going to interview another company after I just verbally told them that I am interested and they are re-sending the offer letter? Can I drag out Company A once more? This is a very small circle and the two hiring managers know each other as well (worked together or one for the other) from all that I can tell. I want to do the right thing for me and my future prospects. I also respect Company A’s manager and whether this may put him in an awkward position.

You didn’t just verbally tell Company A that you were interested — you verbally accepted the offer. Unless you hadn’t yet agreed on salary and other terms, you accepted that offer. If they find out that you’re continuing to interview, you risk them pulling the offer.

If I’m wrong and you haven’t actually accepted Company A’s offer, then it’s fine (and smart) to continue to interview until things are finalized. But there’s no reason to share the companies’ names with each other.

5. Should I be worried about this company’s hiring timeline?

I‘m just about to graduate with my master’s and I’m in the hunt for my first full-time job. After submitting my resume online, I had a few phone screens, which went well and resulted in my being invited to interview in person. One of these interviews was last week. At the end of the interview, I asked about the timeline and when I could expect to hear back from them. They told me it might take “a while.” When I asked if that meant a few days, weeks, etc., they responded that they have a complicated hiring process and it might take “a while.”

I know it’s only been about 2 weeks, but I’m wondering what to make of this? Initially I thought things went well, but now, looking back, that and another instance rubbed me the wrong way (they asked about my start date availability, and then basically told me I wouldn’t get hired if I couldn’t start right away in January, even though I had made post-graduation plans). Are these things to be worried about? Or am I just over-thinking it?

I don’t see anything too odd here. Hiring does take a while, and employers aren’t always able to tell you exactly what their timeline will be. And it’s not unusual to require candidates to start in a particular month, or even on a particular week or day. They don’t really care that you’ve made post-graduation plans; they need someone to start when they need someone to start.

The only thing that seems remotely odd to me here is that they need someone to start in January but aren’t able to tell you how long the process will take. If someone’s going to start in January, they need to have this wrapped up in the next few weeks. That said, it’s not at all unusual for a company to start out a hiring process thinking they’ll have someone hired by Date X, only to have it take months longer than that.

6. Asking to go part-time after having a baby

I was hired for a public relations job seven months ago and shortly afterward, got pregnant. While I enjoy my job, I have a lot of down time at work and most of my job, outside of attending events in the community, involves writing and graphic design work that I do at my desk. I know without question that this is a job that I could do part-time. I do extra things not required of me just to fill up my hours at work, and often I still have time to spare. I also know that I don’t want to be paying for childcare to sit at work and surf the Internet.

I had planned to approach my bosses a month or two before my due date and ask them about telecommuting options. However, I learned that a previous person in this position did just that after having a baby and they wouldn’t allow her to work outside the office. What is the best time and way to approach this? I’m now somewhat under a time crunch because I have a nonprofit part-time job opportunity that I could transition into instead. However, that job would be less than half of my current salary so I’m eager to make this job work if possible.

Don’t wait until a month before your due date to start talking about this. Start talking about it now. (I’m assuming they know you’re pregnant, since it sounds like you’re six months or so along.) Go to your boss with a proposal for how this would work — what hours you’d work, what you’d commit to getting done in those hours, how you’d handle last-minute or emergency work outside of your part-time hours, etc.

7. Are career-related hobbies worth mentioning?

I am a female engineer. Engineering is a second career for me after 23+ years working in other technical positions. I left the workforce in late 2008 to go to grad school (graduated 12/2011) and have not been able to find work in my chosen field since then. One of my hobbies is designing and fabricating electromechanical computer controlled machines from re-purposed parts. I have been using my hobby to keep my engineering skills current and learning new ones while looking for a job. Grad school used up all my savings so I’m building machines from whatever I can find at thrift stores, yard sales and dumpsters.

I had an interview a while back. During the interview, I brought up my hobby and some of the work I have been doing and was pretty much scoffed at by the hiring manager! What should I be doing while looking for work? Baking cookies? I believe that I have learned a lot from my hobby and I consider it an important part of my engineering education and experience. How do I present this experience in a cover letter and/or resume? Or am I better off just not talking about it at all?

That interviewer was a jerk and a bad interviewer — don’t draw conclusions from one jerk. This is an excellent thing to talk about when asked how you’ve been spending your time, and it’s also one of the few hobbies that seems worth putting on a resume, since it’s directly connected to your field.

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

1. Missed a promotion because I didn’t use a smiley face

What should I do if I work off-site and my manager just does not like me? No joke — I was left off a brand new team which has a real career path, more money, and more responsibility because I did not use a smiley when responding to feedback one time and the manager decided that meant I was unreceptive to feedback. Can your whole potential career path in a company be derailed just over the non-use of a smiley? Is that something you should be super aware of now when you communicate online and/or work off site? The group has added new members and instead of considering me for round two, others were chosen from my group, another group in the company and they are hiring outsiders! Is this a clear case of find a new job as soon as possible? I love my company but I want more to do and more opportunity and it’s clear to me that it isn’t coming my way now.

I’ve got to wonder if the real issue was that you’re creating a perception that you’re unreceptive to feedback in general, and your manager ineptly used the smiley face example as a bad attempt to illustrate that. That’s a ridiculous example, of course, but I’d bet there’s more to the message than a lack of an emoticon (whether or not she articulated it).

Talk to your manager. Say you want to advance in the company and ask what you should work on in order to best position yourself to do that. Listen to her feedback with an open mind, and be openly appreciative for it (even if you disagree). After that conversation, if you decide she’s full of crap or that you don’t think you do have potential to advance there, then you can starting looking at other jobs. But have the conversation first.

2. How can I take a leave of absence?

A year ago, I was hired for my current position due, I believe, to your pointers on resumé writing, interviewing and thank-you notes. Unfortunately, I now know that it’s job not the job for me. I’ve been trying to make it work here, but it only causes conflict and stress. I don’t tolerate either well.

I’d like to take a leave of absence but am uncertain of whether or not they’ll grant my request. (Are they required to?) My main conflict seems to be scheduling; I want to resume my volunteer work but my work schedule keeps fluctuating/expanding. I’ve tried speaking to all the managers about these commitments (which I have adjusted to accommodate for months straight) but I’ve come up with no solutions that the group can agree on. I feel like a sucker. My thought is: Go do some of the work I’ve put off. When I return, perhaps another job offer I’ve expressed interest in will be ready.

Generally people take a leave of absence to deal with a health issue or family situation or to return to school. People don’t generally take a leave of absence if they just don’t like their job or if it’s interfering with volunteer work. (It’s pretty common that a full-time job does interfere with volunteer work, so it’s going to seem odd to cite that.)

Employers are not required to offer leaves of absence and generally do so only when (a) they’re sympathetic to someone dealing with a serious health or personal issue, (b) the employee is highly valued and they want to retain them, or (c) it’s a legally required leave, such as FMLA or short-term disability.

It sounds like you want to leave your job, so start job searching. That’s a more direct route than a leave of absence.

3. Asking permission to be out of work, versus simply notifying your manager you’ll be gone

Should I ask a manager for permission to be absent at work to pass an exam, or should I just notify them that I’ll be absent? I sent a message to my manager, HR, and coworkers on Saturday, notifying them I’d be out on Monday and saying that I could possibly could come to work at the end of the day and work as much as I could. Nobody answered me and said I couldn’t be absent. The day I was absent (Monday), I made all the preparations in the morning connected with my coworkers, like answering the e-mails and doing tasks. My exam ended at 5 pm and at the end of it I was tired and told my manager I’d better go home. He wasn’t against it. So I went home and worked from home at the evening. We have a flexible schedule, but are required to work 8 hours a day. Surely, I didn’t work 8 hours that day, but I wanted either to sign a document about absence or work more during the this week or on the weekend.

I knew that the manager would most probably give his ok for my absence, so that Saturday I wrote my message in the notifying manner, rather than asking permission. But our HR said this manner is not acceptable and I should have asked the permission for absence. Is the HR right about the form or it’s okay to write in the notifying manner?

Your employer can set whatever rules they want. If they want to require people to ask permission for a day off rather than simply announcing they’ll be out, they can certainly have that rule. (They should make that clear to people in advance though, since at many offices — and especially with more senior positions — it’s normal to simply let people know when you’ll be out, rather than asking permission.)

Frankly, my issue would be more with why you didn’t notify anyone until Saturday about a Monday absence that it sounds like you knew about further in advance. But in any case, they can set whatever rules they want. Just apologize and tell them you’ll handle it that way in the future.

4. Contacting an “incumbent” about the job I’m applying for

I work in a large organization, and a job recently posted in the department in which I’ve always wanted to work. I’ve done some reading of the department’s web site and have figured out that the incumbent has been there fewer than 6 months. I’m a little concerned about this, because this very small department would not be adding staff (we have a hiring freeze).

I wonder if the atmosphere is high stress, or the other people are difficult to work with. Is it okay to contact the current person (he is still employed in the position according to our directory) with questions about the job and atmosphere? Should I ask if he is, in fact, leaving and if so, why? I don’t know him or anyone in the department personally.

I have been in my current position for less than a year and the only reason I’m considering this is because it is (at least on paper) my dream job. I don’t want to be seen as trying to job hop if I wouldn’t want the position anyway.

I think that’s fine to do because it’s an internal position. If this were an external position, this would much stickier, at least at this stage (before you were well along in their hiring process).

However, keep in mind that anything you say to him may be passed along to the hiring manager, so you want to be diplomatic in the questions you ask and the rest of what you say to him. You should also keep in mind that jobs and coworkers that are stressful, hard, or unpleasant to one person can be perfectly pleasant and satisfying for another, so don’t take whatever he says as gospel.

5. Resigning when I said I wasn’t looking for another job

I really enjoy my job but it is part-time and I am seeking full-time employment. I am just finishing my MBA and would really like to obtain a better job, as I have student loans. I currently work for a nonprofit and I enjoy it. My dilemma is my supervisor is leaving at the end of the month and I am suppose to assume the position, but I don’t feel prepared to do so, nor has any pay adjustment been suggested as I will be assuming more responsibilities. I recently interviewed for a position and want to take it, if it is offered. The reason this is a problem is because I had another job offer that I declined and the boss found out and asked was I leaving, I said no and really meant it. How can I let the boss know I am leaving if I get the position without seeming as I misled them? This job would allow me to utilize my degree.

Explain that it fell in your lap and was too good to pass up. However, totally separately: Since you don’t know if you’ll be offered this position, you meanwhile need to deal with the fact that your office is assuming you’ll take a promotion that you apparently don’t want. You need to speak up about that.

6. Promised salary review didn’t happen

I was offered a promotion 3 months ago at my company, moving from the service department to the technology department. The terms were that we (two of us were hired for this work) would be on a “probationary” status for 3 months, at which time the company would decide if we were suited, we would decide if we liked the work, and if all were in agreement, the position would turn permanent, at which point we would discuss the increase in compensation.

Now, the 3 months has gone by, we’ve been granted the permanent position, and when I ask when we will talk about the increase, they say “we decided not to.” So we can’t get our old positions back (we actually make less now, without the previous performance bonuses), and we have higher positions with significantly more work and responsibility, but less compensation. The agreement was verbal, so I don’t think we have a foot to stand on, though it is clear that they indicated a raise with the promotion. What do you think of this? Does the company have any commitment to meet? My guess is no, what we get shafted, intentionally.

I think they’re jerks without integrity, but you’re right that if you don’t have a commitment in writing, there’s not much you can do — although it’s worth going back to them and saying, “We agreed to a specific arrangement that included a salary increase if I remained in the position after three months. I took on significantly increased work with that understanding, and I need the company to hold up its end of our agreement.” But again, if they refuse, you can’t make them … but you can certainly start looking for another job.

7. Telling my boss a resigning coworker tried to recruit me

I am extremely loyal to my job. I am lucky in that I wake up every single day and I am truly excited about having the opportunity to work where I do. I am former military — loyalty and dedication are very dear to me.

I have been working with my director trying to fix motivation, workplace attitude, morale, team work, and retention, and to lower turnover. Recently it seems like turnover has been really high, and my boss loves and is implementing my ideas on correcting all of these. Problem is, a worker leaving who is unhappy and accepting a better offer just tried to recruit me. I am flattered — but this is exactly what I am trying to correct. Can I tell my boss? And how? I am not looking to gain a raise, promotion, or even leverage, but I feel this is critical knowledge that affects my entire team. But I know this can be touchy.

Sure, you can tell your boss, but I’m not clear on exactly why you think you need to. It’s not uncommon for people to recruit others away with them when they leave and you can’t really ban it. (Well, you can have people sign non-solicitation agreements when they first start working with you, but that’s pretty unusual and not the best way to address it.) What you CAN do to combat it is all the other stuff you’re working on to improve morale. The way to have a staff that’s immune to recruitment attempts is to have a staff that is treated and compensated well and has rewarding work and good management. Address the source, not the symptoms.