you’re making these 5 mistakes in your interview thank-you notes by Alison Green on October 24, 2012 You probably know that it helps to send a thank-you note (which I prefer to think of as a follow-up note, not a thank-you) to your interviewer after you meet. But it’s not just as simple as “send a note.” If you don’t handle them well, they lose their effectiveness. Make sure you’re not making these five mistakes when you send a post-interview note of thanks. 1. Treating it as a perfunctory exercise. Too many job candidates view thank-you notes as just one more box to check off in their job-searching steps. They send generic, perfunctory notes that signal “I’m just sending this because I heard I was supposed to.” These aren’t especially useful or impressive to an employer; they really just convey that you read somewhere that you should send a note, and you’re dutifully doing it. Instead, your note should be truly personalized and should build on the conversation that you had in the interview. If it just conveys thanks for in interviewer’s time and reiterates that you’re interested in the job, it won’t add much to your candidacy. 2. Thinking of the note as being merely a thank-you. The job search advice industry has done job seekers a disservice by using the term “thank-you notes” to describe what they should send after an interview. The reality is, most interviewers don’t really care if you thank them for the interview; they’re not interviewing you to be charitable but rather because they might want to enter into a business arrangement with you – one that they’ll benefit from. So, despite the term “thank-you note,” your note shouldn’t be as much about giving thanks as about following up on the interview in a way that demonstrates your enthusiasm for the job. It should build on the conversation from the interview and explain why you’d be a good fit for the job. 3. Sending a thank-you gift.Believe it or not, some people send fruit baskets or other gifts after an interview. Do not do this. You will unsettle your interviewer and create awkwardness – and it won’t help you. If you’re not qualified, a gift isn’t going to change that. And if you arequalified, you’ve now made your interviewer uncomfortable by implying that you think your qualifications aren’t enough on their own, but that the interviewer might be swayed by a basket of apples. It’s tacky and ineffective. 4. Writing your note ahead of time. Some job-seekers write their notes in advance, figuring they can then just hit “send” on the email after the interview. But this means that the note will truly just be a thank-you; it won’t be able to reference anything from the interview conversation, and thus it squanders the most important method for making these notes effective – showing that you can build on that conversation. 5. Handing your thank-you note to the receptionist as you leave the interview. Not only does this suffer from the same weakness as the previous item – denying you the chance to reference specifics from your interview – but it also makes it clear to the interviewer that you did so. When it’s obvious that you wrote the note ahead of time and planned to drop it off as you left, it drains much of the significance of the gesture and turns it into one that conveys only “I’m checking a thank-you off my list.” Remember that from the interviewer’s perspective, a thank-you note doesn’t just signal manners; more importantly, it signals interest. Interviewers want to know that you went home, thought about the discussion, digested it all, and concluded that you’re still enthusiastic about the position. If you hand a note to the receptionist as you leave, enough time hasn’t passed for that to be realistic. I originally published this at U.S. News & World Report. You may also like:do I really need to send a thank-you note after being rejected for a job?rejecting anyone who doesn't send a thank-you note is terrible hiringhow to write a thank-you note after a job interview { 29 comments }
gifts and charity at work — 3 questions by Alison Green on October 24, 2012 Three letters with related themes — gifts and charity in the workplace. 1. I’m in charge of coordinating collections for gifts and charities in my department I am an admin at my job. In the past, I have sent emails to the team for collections (voluntary only) for birthdays, new babies, and sending sympathy gifts. Our department has grown, and now people are asking me to send solicitations on charities and one to help a coworker’s family friend. How do I handle this? Part of me feels this should be all or nothing. How can I send out for one but not the other? But the asking for donations other than for a life event is making me uncomfortable. I am also very concerned with everyone and their mother asking me to send out these types of things and this just becoming a slew of spam donation emails. My brief take: Stop flooding people’s email with these requests by email, and stop spending your own time coordinating all of this. Instead, set up a bulletin board or something where people who want to post requests for contributions can. And consider ending the birthday stuff entirely; we’re all adults. 2. I don’t want to bring cake for my office nemesis In my office, we have had this birthday tradition whereby on a person’s birthday, something edible is brought in to celebrate. Traditionally, the last person to have had a birthday is responsible for this. There are various reasons why I would rather not participate, but the person before me has been too afraid to skip me. So being caught in the cycle, and due to a desire to reciprocate, I have sucked it up and always brought something for the next person. However, this time I am faced with having to bring something in for someone who has been freezing me out for the last year, to the point where we don’t even greet each other– and we avoid each other when not in a business situation. I have never been close to this person, so our interactions never went beyond business related things and basic politeness, though this person has, a few times, tried to shift blame onto me for their own mistakes in the past. Given that history, I honestly do not care about their silence towards me as long as it doesn’t interfere with our ability to deliver. This year, the next birthday after mine happens to be this person’s. I am not in the least inclined to even acknowledge this coworker’s birthday, but I feel an obligation to repay the birthday food by bringing something in for someone– just not this person. Just the thought of having to bring in something nice for someone who won’t even say good morning offends my sense of self-respect, but on the other hand, a little voice tells me that the rational thing is to forget self-respect, be totally fake, and play the office politics. Another brief take: Just bring a cake. It’s a work obligation, not a social one, so your feelings about the coworker don’t matter. 3. Dealing with with overly aggressive workplace charity drives I work for a large nonprofit company. Every October, my company has an organization-wide campaign for employees to give to other charities. Their goal is 100% participation and they are very pushy about it. I have no problem giving to charities; however, I do it all year long and give away about 10% of my household income to my church and other organizations which are not beneficiaries of the various fundraising activities at my company. I do not want to sign up for any donations to come out of my paycheck and since our finances are limited, I do not participate in the fundraising activities in the company such as tickets for ice cream socials or purchasing overpriced chocolate covered apples, chili, etc. My manager says they track participation and even if I do not have money taken out of my paycheck, they will scan my ID if I purchase one of the items. She is even frustrated on how pushy the company is about fundraising this year. This company always has some type of fundraising or donation campaign from donating school supplies to canned goods. Many people overall are feeling tapped out, especially since the company delayed our merit increase by 6 months because of financial issues. The officers and directors in the company are all gung ho about it, but they make twice as much as the average employee. How do I handle this when confronted by pushy fundraisers stationed at the table outside the cafeteria or if the issue that I did not give would come up with someone in my chain of authority other than my manager who knows about my situation? Can they keep me from moving up in the company because I do not participate? Tell the pushy fundraisers that your household charity budget is already stretched thin for the year, and consider telling your manager that pushing employees to donate while simultaneously freezing salary increases isn’t good for morale. If she tells you it’ll affect you professionally, donate $5, file it under “my company is annoying,” and move on. Readers, what do you think? You may also like:how can I stop my employees from giving me holiday gifts?Boss's Day is a crock and we need to kill it offmy office isn't acknowledging my adopted baby { 237 comments }
what to say to your resigning boss, when you hate him by Alison Green on October 23, 2012 A reader writes: What do you say to someone you work for or with who is leaving? Someone who you kind of hate. My boss is leaving. His lack of skills as a manager have been a very irritating thing to me, so much so that I think I could write a book . He has been quietly telling a few employees today, and he’ll probably do that for another day before sending an email to everyone to tell them why he’s leaving (health reasons) and all that jazz. I’m pretty sure I’m on his “inform before the mass email goes out” list. And I really don’t know what to say to him. Say, “Thanks for letting me know, and best of luck.” If he were leaving for a new job, you’d also say, “Congratulations on the new job.” You can also ask logistical questions, such as the plan or timeline for filling his position and how things will be handled in the interim. You’ll notice there’s nothing here about telling him he’s made your life miserable or he sucks as a manager or you’re glad that he’s going. You do not say those things, although you can think them. But he’s leaving — this is good news. Be gracious. You may also like:I saw an email from my boss saying it's a "relief" I'm quittingeverything you need to know about how to quit your jobcan I leave before my notice period is up if my boss is being a jerk? { 36 comments }
my husband emailed my manager about our decision for me to resign by Alison Green on October 23, 2012 A reader writes: Recently, I accepted a part-time RN position, but resigned within the 90-day probationary period due to several personal and professional factors. I had tried to re-enter the workforce after being a stay-at-home mother for 9 years. I had mixed emotions about leaving the position, but overall it was not meshing well with our family needs. I felt like an RN number rather than a respected individual. My husband sent a polite, professional email to my former nurse manager, expressing our family decision for resignation. He sent the email to communicate that he was no longer going to be able to support me in the endeavor of working. He was fed up with the financial burden the job had become. Childcare costs and commute were draining my earnings. He told me that I was not being “assertive” with them and so he took the matter into his own hands. He felt he had the right to do so since he is deciding what is best for our family situation. His email said (editor’s note: names changed to protect identities), “Speaking to you as Jane’s husband, I now have a problem with Jane’s full time schedule, which is producing unnecessary stress and financial burden on my family. My original support for her was limited to part time weekend only work to maintain a healthy family structure. From one professional to another, I ask for your understanding that Jane can no longer continue to meet the needs of ABC’s work schedule.” The nurse manager expressed during my exit meeting that she and the nursing director were “concerned” about the email from my husband and sent it to H.R. I had sent her an additional email in my own words after my husband had sent his. My email was much more emotional and expressed apologies for resigning. I told her that my husband meant well and was only trying to help me out. She stated she has never received an email from a husband before and that it appeared as if he were sending in my resignation for me. I did not want him to send the email, because I knew that they would not understand where he is coming from; it is odd and unorthodox. It’s absolutely “out of the box.” But nothing threatening or negative was said to justify her sending it to HR or telling me it was “concerning.” I can understand her saying to me that it might be inappropriate, but “concerning” seems very judgmental. What is the meaning behind sending his email to H.R.? And does quitting within the 90-day probationary period banish you from possible employment in the future for a different role? Or did my husband’s email cause that? Should I be apologizing for his email with another communication to H.R. or the nursing director? I personally think the nurse manager has a hard time with thinking outside of the box. There is a first time for everything. Oh dear. Yeah, you can’t have your spouse contact your employer on your behalf about anything. The only exception to this would be if you were in the hospital and he needed to inform your manager. Having your husband involve himself in your resignation (or salary negotiations, or requests for time off, or anything else) is … well, it’s not done, it’s unprofessional, and it would absolutely be alarming. It’s not about “out of the box” thinking; it’s a huge violation of professional norms and what it means to conduct yourself in the work world as a professional. Your husband crossed a line that made you look unprofessional and made him look … a bit crazy, and possibly scary too. The thing is, this is so very much Not Done that when it happens, people will assume that you’re either in a scary, dangerous situation or that you lack professional judgment: 1. Scary, dangerous situation. You may bristle at this, but the reality is that having a spouse appear to dictate your decision to resign — and to go so far as to convey that decision on your behalf — makes most people wonder why he has this much control over your professional life … and whether that level of control indicates an abusive relationship. This type of control (including speaking on the spouse’s behalf in a situation where she should speak for herself) is a common hallmark of abusive relationships. That doesn’t mean that you’re in one — but it means that it sure looks like a possibility from the outside. (If this rings at all true to you, you might take a look at this for more information.) 2. Professional judgment. First, let me be clear: It’s completely your prerogative if you want a marriage where your husband makes the decisions for your family. As long as you’re a willing participant, that’s your call and no one else’s. But this arrangement only applies to the two of you, and you can’t expect people outside your marriage to play by those rules. Your employer’s relationship with you is with you, not with your family or your husband. You can’t ask an employer to accept that they’ll be talking with him rather than with you. It just doesn’t work that way. And if you appear not to recognize that, it will raise questions in people’s minds about your judgment. I’m hoping this situation is #2. I suspect it probably is, and so I’m going to answer the rest of the question assuming that it’s #2. But please don’t disregard #1 without thinking it through. In any case, this is why your manager reacted the way she did. She said it was concerning because it is concerning. And she forwarded the email to HR because if it’s scenario #1 above, she wants HR in the loop, and if it’s scenario #2, they’d want it in your file in case you apply in the future, because they’d have concerns about your professionalism and judgment. As for what to do now, I would just let this go at this point, rather than sending another email; another email will just make this more convoluted than it already is. I would not reapply with this employer in the future; getting emails from an employee’s spouse announcing her resignation is not something they’re likely to sign up for more of. And I think this does raise questions that it’s worth spending some time thinking about. Good luck. You may also like:I'm supposed to fire my husband's ex-wifeI gave two weeks notice but got told to leave immediatelyhow to write a resignation letter { 565 comments }
convincing your boss to allow flextime schedules by Alison Green on October 23, 2012 A reader writes: I’m a manager in a small department and have to get approval of flexible schedules for staff from my boss. Boss wants everyone to be at work during normal business hours, doesn’t like flexible schedules, and sees all requests as the same (trying to get out of work). Yes, I’m confused about this thinking and believe Boss doesn’t really understand flextime and its advantages, but I’m wondering how to best discuss this. Boss tends to overreact whenever I bring up the topic and gets into the issue of “not trusting the employee to really work and not goof off.” I see a request to temporarily change a schedule by arriving earlier and staying later on some days and leaving early on other days because of family schedules/child care issues to be different from a request to work at home on certain days on an ongoing basis. The first example involves working all hours at the office for a limited amount of time and the second example involves working some days at home with no finite term, but Boss lumps all these requests together and denies all of them. Any suggestions or advice on how I can approach the subject and try to get Boss to logically consider these requests? You can read my answer to this question over at the Intuit QuickBase blog today. Plus, three other careers experts are answering this question there today too. Head over there for all four answers… You may also like:am I asking too much of a flexible schedule?my manager has a million questions about EVERYTHINGhairy legs at work, my office sent me a random TV, and more { 72 comments }
giving the boss a gift “from all of us” … when it isn’t by Alison Green on October 23, 2012 A reader writes: We have a very small company, and I am part of the upper management. We typically recognize an employee during our monthly company meetings. I would like to also recognize our bosses and provide them with a small gift. However, I understand that my coworkers and subordinates may not be financially capable or willing to donate. Would it be wrong of me to present a gift to the boss during our company meeting? I would not present it as this is from ME but this is from ALL OF US. Even if the others don’t know anything about it? Yes, that’s weird. First, it’s not “from all of us” if no one even knows about it but you, and you may find others think it’s odd that you’re claiming they’re part of something that they’re entirely out of the loop on. (Do not solve this by getting them in the loop; the power dynamics here are such that people won’t be able to freely opt out, and so that’s not a solution.) Second, your upper management doesn’t need gifts from the company, especially at a meeting where others are forced to sit and observe. That’s going to come across as self-congratulatory (if people believe the managers know about this in advance) or sucking up (if people believe it’s just coming from you). In general, etiquette dictates that you don’t give gifts to your boss. It also dictates that managers should feel awkward about receiving them. It’s nice that you want to recognize your managers. Do that by thanking them for whatever you appreciate about them, one-on-one. Skip the gifts and the public announcements. You may also like:Boss's Day is a crock and we need to kill it offwe gave an expensive goodbye gift and the person didn't leavehow can I stop my employees from giving me holiday gifts? { 20 comments }
mini answer Monday — 7 short answers to 7 short questions by Alison Green on October 22, 2012 It’s mini answer Monday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go… 1. Told contact about a job but don’t want to recommend her The other day I ran into a former coworker. I let her know how things were going, and she mentioned she was looking for work so, I let her know my company is hiring and encouraged her to apply on her own through the public website. My company has an employee referral program but, I didn’t mention this because I don’t want to give a reference for this person. I mentioned the job opening to her to be friendly but, felt like if she got an offer it would be on her own reputation and decidedly left out mention of the referral program. To my surprise and embarrassment I was contacted by our HR team because she listed me as an employee referral! I don’t want to stand in the way of her getting a job but, at the same time I don’t want to risk my reputation and give a professional reference. Was the mistake mine? Was mentioning a publicly advertised job opening inadvertently offering a personal referral to this person? Should I muster up a few positive words putting my reputation at risk or simply let our HR team know I did not refer this person? You did actually refer her to the job. That’s not the same as recommending her, but you told her about the job and suggested she apply, so she didn’t do anything wrong but noting that. However, that doesn’t bind you to giving her a recommendation. Simply tell your HR person, “Yes, I told her about the job, but I wouldn’t be comfortable giving her a recommendation.” (I’m assuming here that you don’t want to give a recommendation because you don’t feel you can honestly recommend her work. If you do think she’s great and just don’t want to go out on a limb for her, that stance is worth reconsidering.) 2. Is this rejected candidate really alleging discrimination? I recently sent out a host of rejection letters through our Applicant Tracking System, and a candidate (who wasn’t even close to qualified for the position) responded with, and I quote, “Was the applicant a whiteboy?” How ridiculous is that? Have you ever received a similar email, and is the best course of action always to ignore baiting emails? I’ve been in HR for 7 years, but have never received should a blatant question of discrimination. Yeah, I would ignore that. It sounds like a hostile response fired off in frustration and not a genuine question, not all that different from “did this job opening even exist?” or other hostile responses that some candidates send when they react poorly to rejection. Someone who genuinely wants to raise issues of potential discrimination doesn’t go about it this way. 3. Past work with a competitor I’m looking into applying for a job with a very well-known company in my industry. The thing I’m worried about is that I recently finished an internship with the company’s biggest competitor. I’m worried about whether I should include the position in my resume. I should mention that the internship was not a good experience, and I’m worried that the tasks listed on my resume for the internship will not impress (basically receptionist type duties not industry specific or useful). Should I include the internship? And if I get an interview, what’s the best way to discuss past experiences with a competitor? Yes, you should list the internship. Industry experience is a good thing, and you shouldn’t need to worry that it was with a competitor. However, when you say it wasn’t a good experience, if that indicates that you didn’t do well there, that element could be an argument for not including it — but not simply that the work for a competitor. 4. Explaining why I’m leaving a boring job I took a job in June for what I thought would be a good opportunity. Well, I quickly noticed on day one that this maybe wasn’t the best move, when in my orientation I saw they had added a new person to the HR group and she was now working on the projects I was supposed to work on. I have been in the job for about 4 months now, and I still don’t have a full concept of what my role is supposed to be. Within the first 5 weeks, I didn’t have anything to do and I was bored to tears. I don’t speak to anyone and no one speaks to me in the office, which can be quite boring. I have now made the decision to move on, as this is just not for me. How do I address this in my resume, cover letter, and interview without being negative? It’s certainly reasonable to explain that you’re looking for a new job because of lack of work at your current one. But before you do, have you been assertive here — talking to your boss about your concerns? If not, I’d try that first. While your boss certainly bears some responsibility for this, you do too if you haven’t raised the problems with her. (And not speaking to anyone in your office is something that you can potentially change on your own.) 5. Can an HR rep date someone at work? I work in HR at a small-medium company, and I am basically the HR manager for the hourly manufacturing employees and any issues involving them (including terminations, investigations, disciplines, etc). I know you’re not in HR, but in your opinion, is it ever ok to date someone who you have that type of authority over? There is a mutual interest in a personal relationship between one of the employees and myself. Nothing has happened so far — just the exchange of some emails and some conversations, but he has started talking about wanting to meet up outside of work. I’m not sure when or how I should bring this up with my boss, because I know she will NOT be happy, although there is no written policy regarding personal relationships within the organization. I’ve never been in this situation before and I’m not sure how to handle it. I know my boss will want to know and I don’t want to sneak around. I’ve been very clear with him that personal life and professional life have to be very separate things. We seem to have an understanding on that level, but I don’t want to jeopardize my reputation or bring any risk to the organization. Talk to your boss. If your organization is large enough, it’s possible that she can arrange things so that you’re never involved in meetings or decisions involving this potential paramour. Alternately, she might tell you that no, your department simply can’t date at work because of the nature of the work you do. Either way, you’ll find out the answer, and you’ll show you have integrity by raising the situation on your own before acting on it. As for what to say, I’d say this: “I want to talk to you about something potentially awkward. I’m considering dating someone in another department, but before I do, I want to talk to you about whether that would be seen as inappropriate because of my position.” If you can’t bring yourself to say that, assume that you aren’t sufficiently interested in the person. 6. Quitting an internship to take a dream job If you are currently working as an unpaid intern and receive a job offer for a “dream” job in your field (a paid one), is it considered horrible form to end your program early, or just out and out quit? Is it worse to damage your reputation by quitting or pass up a potential career opportunity that may not come by again? It depends on what arrangement you have with your employer. If they’ve stressed that that expect interns to complete their commitments, then yes, that’s what they expect and breaking that agreement would probably burn that bridge. But there are plenty of organization that understand that unpaid interns may leave if a paid opportunity appears. If you don’t know, talk to your manager and find out. 7. Overcoming the call center stigma I’ve recently graduated (with a first class degree, the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. summa cum laude) and am now working full-time hours in the call centre that I worked in part-time as a student. At the same time, I’m actively searching for other jobs with better hours/pay, with the full approval of — and glowing references from — my current manager, who’s very understanding about the fact that this isn’t a long term career for me. At the interviews I’ve had, I constantly come up against the barrier of call center work being regarded as “work lite.” Not really customer service because I’m communicating over the phone or online; not really administration because it’s a one-stop shop; not really sales because we don’t build relationships. All of this is patently untrue: I’m well regarded in what is the best performing center of this FTSE 100 business estate and seem to spend half of my waking hours filing complex reports and checking in on customers with special cases. How do I overcome the stereotype of call centre workers being lazy, reading from scripts, and never following up on their promises? You need a resume that more clearly describes the work you do and what you’ve accomplished there. If employers aren’t getting the right idea of the work you’re doing, it’s because your resume isn’t telling them. I strongly suspect you need clearer, more compelling bullet points describing your work there. You may also like:a coworker who I referred to a job is demanding I share my referral bonus with hima resigning employee gave me the best giftare short interviews always a bad sign? { 81 comments }
my coworker’s questions are getting out of hand by Alison Green on October 22, 2012 A reader writes: I have a coworker issue that isn’t really dire, just annoying. My coworker and I started the same job on the same day, about five months ago. She is very thorough and competent once she gets something, but the trouble is that she seems to be afraid to do anything unless she has checked with me (or someone else) 2-3 times on any given issue. I have spent almost half an hour in the past trying to convince her that we didn’t have to attend a cancelled meeting. We regularly dial in to teleconferences, and I am just now to the point where I don’t have to tell her how to dial in if there are not explicit instructions on the email invitation. Once or twice, she has asked me “What does that say?” in regards to an email we’ve both been CC’ed on. Last week, she was getting ready to work from home for the first time and she asked me if she needed to bring her laptop power cable! It does not seem like a severe enough problem to go to my boss, and I know that with any new job comes a lot of questions — I certainly have had my fair share! However, it has gotten to the point where I dread seeing her IM’s pop up on my screen several times a day. Is there anything I can do to help her solve small problems on her own? I realize that some of it could be communication issues — English is not her first language, and she seems to be trying very hard to make sure she understands something before she proceeds, which I appreciate. But it’s driving me nuts! Do I just need to suck it up in order to be a good coworker? Not necessarily. You presumably have your own work that you need to focus on, and it’s in her best interests to learn how to stand on her own … but if her instinct is to ask for help rather than trying to figure things out on her own (which is what is sounds like, based on your examples), then being always available to help will probably keep her semi-dependent on you. The easiest option is to stop making yourself so available to help her. When she IM’s you questions, you don’t need to answer them immediately. You can minimize the IM window and continue doing what you’re doing. Or you can respond back, “Sorry, right in the middle of something.” The same thing goes for questions in person — there’s no reason you can’t simply explain that you’re busy and can’t stop what you’re doing. Alternately, you can address it big-picture rather than case-by-case. Say something to her like, “I tend to get really focused at work and having too many questions pulls me out of what I’m focusing on. I can answer the occasional question when it’s urgent, but could you direct most of your questions to ___ (fill in your manager’s name here)?” Furthermore, you’ve got to pull back your own investment in these conversations. Why did you spend that half hour trying to convince her not to attend a canceled meeting? That’s not your responsibility. Tell her once, and then she can do what she wants with that information — it’s not your job to convince her of anything. Similarly, you didn’t need to spend months telling her how to dial in to conference calls. After the third or so request for help, why not just say, “It seems like you’re having trouble remembering this. Will you write this down so that you know in the future?” In other words, while her behavior is absolutely too dependent on you, you’re contributing to the situation too. Be more conscious of your own contributions to it, set appropriate boundaries, and tell her directly when she should handle something on her own. You may also like:if I don't accept calendar invitations, will people assume I won't be at meetings?I'm in trouble for leaving for a business trip without a late coworkeram I supposed to confirm interviews the day before? { 91 comments }
6 red flags in your job history by Alison Green on October 22, 2012 Long before you get to a job interview, hiring managers are forming opinions about you based on your resume and your job history. Here are six of the most common red flags they look for. 1. You have multiple short-term jobs. If you have a history of quickly moving from job to the next without staying very long, employers will wonder whether you get bored easily, or can’t keep a job, or don’t know how to identify the right fit for yourself. If you do have good reasons for the job changes (such as a spouse in the military), make sure to fill in your interviewer quickly so she doesn’t draw the wrong conclusions. 2. You quit your last job with nothing else lined up. Since most people line up a new job before quitting an old one, employers raise their eyebrows if you left without something new waiting. They wonder what the real story is: Did you blow up one day and walk off the job in a fit of anger? Do you get upset at work and make impulsive and rash decisions? Were you actually fired but trying to claim you left on your own? 3. You were laid off from your last job. While plenty of layoffs are about company cutbacks or restructuring, employers know that companies sometimes use them as an opportunity to get rid of lower performers. To combat this question, be sure to mention if your whole team or division was let go. If you were the only one laid off, that raises more questions that if you were part of a group that was laid off. 4. You’ve been unemployed for a while. Even in this economy, some hiring managers look at long-term unemployed candidates and wonder if there’s a reason that other employers haven’t them. Fortunately, many employers do understand that it can take time for even good candidates to find work in this market – but it’s important to show that you’ve been spending your time volunteering, building your skills, or something other than a year-long job search. 5. You have large gaps between jobs. When employers see gaps of unemployment, they wonder what happened during that time. Did you leave the previous job with nothing lined up, and if so, why? (See #2.) Were you working somewhere that you’ve deliberately left off your resume, and if so, what are you hiding? Gaps raise questions that you don’t want on a hiring manager’s mind. 6. None of your past managers are on your reference list. If you only offer peers as references, or other people who didn’t directly supervise your work, hiring managers are going to wonder why. Managers are usually best able to speak to the quality of your work and your strengths and weaknesses, and steering reference-checkers away from those conversations can be a red flag. Plus, employers will usually ask to be put in touch with your past managers anyway. I originally published this at U.S. News & World Report. You may also like:how bad is job-hopping, really?am I being unrealistic in my expectations of the interview process?can you leave dates of employment off your resume? { 72 comments }
employer asked me to produce free work as part of hiring process by Alison Green on October 22, 2012 A reader writes: I am searching for a new job in marketing. One of the companies that I applied to recently is a technology company that is looking for a marketing person to manage their website, social media, and email campaigns. I sent my resume along with a few examples of my work in, only to get an email reply back after a phone interview that said the following: “At this point, you are in a group of candidates that are on the fence and we need you to complete the following request before we move on with the process. To help us better compare you with the other candidates, we would like you to send us a sample of what you can do with website design. One of the possible early projects for this marketing position is redesigning the look of the website. I would like you to take our homepage and create an image (JPG/GIF/PNG) of what you might suggest as our new look. It can be as simple as just moving some things around or redesigning the footer or as complex as a completely new look. I have listed some websites that are examples of websites in our space. Thank you.” I really don’t have a problem completing this task from a skills aspect. I just am hesitant because in a past job interview, a similar task was asked of me … which I did complete, only to be told I was not selected and the job was going to a current employee’s child. A few weeks went by after all this, and I saw online the design I had submitted during the interview process was now being used by this business! It was clearly a ruse to get free design work. I am worried that this is the same scam. I know the economy is still bad and small companies are struggling, and I really hope that this is legitimate, but my gut doesn’t think so. What advice do you have on how I can protect my work if I decide to pursue this opportunity? I thought maybe I would not send my submission via email as suggested but rather in person on my own computer? Or is my gut right that this another disaster or am I overreacting? Well, first let’s talk about this kind of thing in general and then we’ll come back to this specific request. As I’ve said here many times, it’s crucial when hiring to see candidates in action — to see them actually doing the work they’d be doing if hired. Often someone has an impressive resume and interviews well, but when you see them actually doing the work, you quickly realize they’re not as strong as they’d appeared. (And vice versa too; sometimes this can identify a candidate who’s stronger than her experience might have led you to assume.) My book co-author is fond of comparing this to how a football coach holding try-outs wouldn’t ask a player whether he could make a tackle; he’d ask to see him do it. Additionally, having candidates do a piece of work similar to what they’d be doing on the job has the added advantage of letting candidates get a better feel for the work and self-select out if it’s not for them. However, you have to do this carefully. You can’t ask people to do real work that you’ll then use in your business (or if you do, you need to pay them for it). For instance, I’ve asked candidates for communications positions to draft fake press releases for events that will never happen / asked analyst candidates to research and summarize their findings on a particular law or bill (work that my staff had already done previously, so I knew the correct answers) / asked admin candidates to write an email in response to a tricky and sensitive hypothetical / etc. None of this is work that I’d ever use, and candidates in these cases get that it’s not “real” work; I’ve had maybe two people over the years refuse (out of hundreds). Employers also should think about how much time they’re asking candidates to spend on an exercise — an hour is reasonable; a weekend is not. And the employer’s own investment matters too; it’s one thing to ask someone to invest a couple of hours after they’ve gone through a couple of interviews and are a finalist, but you shouldn’t ask that of them before you’ve done any real screening. Okay, now let’s get back to your situation. First, I’m suspicious of the request simply because of the way it’s worded. There’s something about those first two sentences that just hits me the wrong way; it’s just … unprofessionally worded. But even leaving that aside, it’s not a reasonable request, because they can see “what you can do with website design” by looking at what you have done with website design — by asking for samples of previous sites you’ve designed, something that any strong candidate for this job should have. Plus, it’s ridiculous to ask a designer to redo a website without knowing anything about the site’s goals and what the client wants to achieve with a redesign — the most basic questions any designer is going to ask at the outset of such a project. Instead, it would be far more useful for them to sit down with you and your portfolio and have you walk them through the design decisions you made and why … and if they’re not ready to invest that time with you yet, then they could ask you to do a write-up like that in writing. Or if for some reason that’s not an option, they could ask you to pick any other website of your choice and redesign its home page. But not theirs. Asking you to work on theirs is too close to asking you to produce free work. So what, then, should you do? You’re in an awkward position because if they don’t intend to act unethically and instead are just naive or inexperienced, you risk missing out on the job opportunity by refusing. So you’re stuck in a position where you have to decide if you’re willing to potentially forego the interview if you say no, without really knowing their motives. One middle-ground option would be to say something like, “I don’t usually do spec work, but I’d be glad to send you examples of redesigns I’ve done in the past, along with commentary on what choices I made and why.” If that’s not good enough for them, you probably have your answer about their intentions. (Probably. Not definitely … but probably. But grrr, the lack of total certainty is why it’s frustrating.) You may also like:I'm supposed to write 23 mini-essays in 24 hours before an employer will even interview meI was invited to a 300-person cattle-call interview, and now the company wants to know why I'm not interestedcan I ask interviewers to get back to me either way? { 101 comments }