Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My new desk is right next to my manager

My office is currently undergoing a rearrangement of the seating plan. I work in a team of 10, and my new assigned desk is right next to my manager. My current desk is a couple away. This is the second role where I have been moved to the seat directly next to the manager. Is this coincidental or is this something which managers do for a reason? If so, what does it mean?

Without knowing a lot more, I have no idea whether it’s happening for a reason. It certainly could be entirely coincidental. But if it’s for a reason, it could be any of the following:
* Your manager wants you near her because the nature of your work requires you to talk to each other frequently.
* You chit-chat too much or otherwise waste time and she thinks being right next to her will cut down on that.
* She enjoys your company.
* She’s not yet confident in your work (because you’re new or junior or still figuring things out), and being right next to you gives her the opportunity to observe your work habits and possibly more easily give feedback.

Do any of those sound like the case? If not, I’d assume the move is coincidental (someone has to be at that desk, after all).

2. My coworker keeps promising people information that I’m not allowed to release

I work for a large research university. Our department coordinates with many other research divisions on campus, sharing best practices, co-hosting events, etc.

I have a colleague who works in a related department (I’ll call her Sally) who won’t stop volunteering me to share personal data from the students/staff at the university. Sally continually asks for me to share our student information lists with her (separate) department, to use for marketing purposes. This information includes student/staff names and email addresses. We have obtained this information from subscribers self-selecting into communications from our department.

I have continually explained to her that we will not share our data, as we do not have permission to distribute and it is an abuse of their information. We’ve had this conversation countless times in person and via email. Every time she is understanding, but continues to ask.

My latest dilemma is that she is now sending people from across the university to me to ask for my lists. I have gotten three emails in the last week that say something along the lines of “Sally told me to ask you for this information list for marketing our XYZ…” In the case of the emails this week, I have never met the people requesting this information. I feel it puts me in an awkward situation to say “no” when she has clearly already promised them the information (even though it is not her information to give!). How do I handle this? Continue to tell her no? Is this worth looping a higher-up in on?

I’d go back to Sally and say this: “We talked several times in the past about how we cannot share student information lists, but people keep telling me that you sent them to me for these lists. We must be miscommunicating somewhere. How can we solve this?”

If she says she just forgot, then say, “How can we handle this going forward so that it doesn’t keep happening?”

If it happens again after this conversation, then yes, I’d give her boss a heads-up and explain that you’ve tried to address it multiple times with Sally directed and would appreciate her advice in figuring out how to get it to stop.

Meanwhile, though, for any future requests, just matter-of-factly explain to people that Sally got the policy wrong and in fact you can’t release the info because of (reason). You don’t need to feel awkward about that; you’re not the one causing the miscommunication.

3. Candidates who are willing to do any job, rather than having specific goals or interests

I work for a national full-service staffing agency as a staffing manager. Note, I didn’t say temp agency. I staff for some temp jobs, but mostly we focus on temp to hire and direct placements. Therefore, getting the right fit for both the client and our employee is very important. We like to see long-term relationships made.

One of the most common situations I run into is when a candidate comes into the office to apply or for an interview, and I ask what type of work they are looking for, and they respond “I’ll take anything! I don’t care what type of work you have, I’ll do it.” While I appreciate this willingness to jump into any job in order to get a paycheck, it’s not really what we do. I have people that apply on the same day for an executive management job (salaried, requiring a degree and high skill level) and a warehouse/forklift job. When I try to explain that I would prefer to have specific direction as to which types of jobs to match them up to, they seem confused. To be honest, it’s not my job to decide for someone what their career path should be. I believe that every job you have contributes some way to what you will eventually do for a career, so I have always chosen my jobs with goals in mind.

How do I politely make it clear that if they just want day labor, they should go to a different type of agency? I hate to put the candidates through so many hours of applying, interviewing, testing, etc. if that’s all they want. Also, how do I help guide someone towards long-term goals when sometimes they can’t see beyond the next paycheck?

I have had bad luck with making what I thought were long term placements, and they will quit after one day. They talked the talk basically but couldn’t walk the walk. And after we had spent at least 6 hours just with the person going through the process. (Not all at one sitting). It makes us look bad with our clients and honestly, it blindsides me and I get very disappointed because I am very invested in our employees to help them be successful.

Why not be clear with them about what approach you need from candidates and why? I’d say something like, “That’s not really how we work. We find our placements are much more successful when people have clear professional goals, and our clients are generally looking for employees who specifically want the type of work they’re hiring for. I see you’ve done XYZ in the past — are you looking to continue in that line of work, or are you looking for something different?”

Keep in mind, too, that your job isn’t to guide people toward longer-term goals. If you need them to have goals in order to be right for your agency, that’s totally legitimate. It’s also legitimate for them to just want a job; there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, even though it’s not right for your context. So ideally you’d explain to people up-front what you need from the candidates you work with, so they’re clear on it before they apply or come in for an interview — and they can then decide if that’s the right match for them and also be better prepared for their conversation with you.

4. Should my resume list a job I worked off the books?

When I was in college, I worked a part-time job that was off the books (hourly), yet the business ended operations about six years ago. I took the job because it was within walking distance of my house and allowed for very flexible hours, both of which I really needed at the time. Unfortunately for me, that job was the environment where I thrived the most: a very small entrepreneurial enterprise that sold niche collector items exclusively online. I worked there for over five years, anywhere from 15-40 hours a week. I started off by making items presentable, and by the time we were finished I was just about doing all of the business except signing the checks. This included data entry, spread sheets, inventory, bookkeeping, merchandising and pricing, customer service, website design, and training temporary employees. So I still have a lot to say about this job!

The economy was our downfall and we never recovered. Between my back going out on me at the most inopportune time ever and the poor entry-level job market, I was out of work for three and a half years (excluding a two-week warm-body job and six-week temp job). I did eventually get back to steady work (a year and 10 months and counting), but I will be looking again real soon. I’m raising the bar at my current temp-to-perm job, but other than this off-the-books job, all of my other jobs have been dead-end and short-term.

Google searches for the name of the company do not bring up much, only resumes and profiles of employees. We didn’t have a need for a storefront, and local business wasn’t our thing, so this is totally predictable. In the past our company had more search results, but those have understandably vanished over time. I could totally understand a potential employer seeing this as a red flag, even before a thorough background check doesn’t bring up the job.

Should I omit this from my resume? What about my cover letter? If I discuss it in my cover letter, should I address the payment situation?

You should list it. It’s work you did, and it’s relevant. The off-the-books part isn’t great (you were basically cheating the government by not paying taxes), but that might not even come up, and the benefit you’re likely to get by listing it is greater than the possible harm. You don’t need to explain the payment situation in your cover letter, or even at all — unless there’s a background check where you know it’s going to come up, and then you’d explain it at that point. Meanwhile, try to track down your manager from that job or anyone else you worked with; if you have references from that job (especially your manager), it’s not likely to be a huge sticking point. (And lots of businesses don’t have a web presence, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.)

5. Team-building treasure hunt

I’m just curious for your take on a team building event my organization had today. One of the events was a “treasure-less treasure hunt.” The event itself was pretty cool. You had a route to follow and a list of questions to answer. You would walk down a street and say what color doors houses 20, 25, and 30 had. Or you would go through a park and have to find a statue and say who it was of and what they were famous for. Or list the numbers of the busses that ran down a street. Our office has just moved and it was a great way to get to know the new area (we’re in the UK and in the middle of town; the route took us right by the town hall).

But there was a problem. We were told to bring comfortable walking shoes (which we all did) but the route was four miles. What do you think of a team building day having an unexpected four-mile walk in the middle of it?

I think if all of you were enthusiastic and enjoyed it (and were warned about the four-mile walk in advance and given the opportunity to opt out and chose not to), then it was fine for your particular team. But in general, offices need to think about people who can’t comfortably walk long distances (for medical or other reasons) or who would prefer not to; it will be an issue on some teams and not on others. On teams where it is an issue, it’s better to choose another event, since leaving someone out or making them uncomfortable is contrary to the whole point of team-building.

Of course, I’d also argue that there’s not a huge amount to be gained from these kinds of activities in general, aside from just having fun if the activities happen to be fun for the people involved (which can be a crapshoot). The best team-building comes from having people do actual work projects together, with clear goals, clear roles, and appropriate feedback and recognition, and from giving people the chance for meaningful input into the direction of the team.

Read an update to this letter here. 

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. Should recruiters disclose salary range when they reach out to you?

How common is it for recruiters to disclose salary range for positions when they reach out to you? I’ve heard colleagues who have professions that are highly technical and in demand talk about how recruiters have disclosed salary ranges to them for the openings they are recruiting for. This has helped my colleagues ask for more money. One even told his boss, “I have recruiters on LinkedIn offering me $XX more.” This helped him get a substantial raise last year. I, however, haven’t had much luck, and while my professions isn’t as highly in demand as theirs, it’s still pretty hot. I always get the typical “it depends on experience or we’re focused on finding the ideal candidate,” etc.

I think it does indeed vary by industry; there are some industries where it would be laughable to approach a passive candidate without talking about salary, and others where the coy kind of line you talk about is still accepted.

But in general, when a recruiter is approaching you (as opposed to you applying for a job), they should be prepared to talk salary. It’s pretty obnoxious to try to entice someone to spend time interviewing when they weren’t actively looking if you’re not even willing to tell them what the job pays … and it’s perfectly reasonable to say to a recruiter who contacts you, “I’m not actively looking, and I’d need to know the salary range before spending time talking further.” But like everything in job searching, it also comes down to how many options you are and how willing you are to walk away … if you know that you’d secretly want to interview regardless, then it’s more difficult to take a hard line.

2. I thought I was a finalist for a job, but they’ve just reposted the job ad

Just as it was becoming clear that it is time for me to get out of my current company (very poor management, junior employees that I greatly outrank and outperform being paid a significant amount more than I am, a new and potentially unsafe environment), I spotted an ad for a very reputable national company for a dream position in a very swanky (and totally safe) office with much better pay. Hooray! I polished up my resume and immediately applied–and got a call back within 30 minutes. I’ve since had two in-person interviews with the manager I would be working under and a phone interview with HR, all of which seemed to go really well. Afterward,s the manager I would be working under called me to schedule a final interview with the person above her (who will decide between the final candidates) and even gave me a few tips on how to impress this person.

I felt like my chances were really good–and then a fresh round of ads went up for the position on a few different job sites. I was told it was down to just a few people and that they were looking to choose between us fairly quickly, so seeing a blitz of new ads was kind of disconcerting (and heart-sinking). Does this mean that the other candidates and I are already doomed?

Nope, not at all.

Many employers keep ads fresh until they’ve made a hire, just in case things don’t work out with the current candidate pool. In fact, it might not even be the doing of the hiring manager at all; for all we know, it could be a junior HR person who’s totally out of the loop on how the hiring process is progressing but knows that the position is still open and thus is freshening the ads for it. Or, sure, it’s possible that it does mean that they decided they wanted a new influx of candidates. But there’s no way to know from the outside, and you shouldn’t read anything into it.

3. I applied for a job directly and through a recruiter and got different answers to each application

I had applied to a position directly through a company’s website a few weeks ago. I really want the job and I feel I am a very good fit for the position as I meet all the minimum requirements and I have experience in 90% of the responsibilities of the position. The role requires specialized knowledge in a particular industry, so I don’t expect that many people will meet the requirements. I customized my CV and cover letter to the job specs so that all the relevant information is highlighted.

I hadn’t heard from the company all this time, and fearing that my application had been lost in their application tracking system or that I had been rejected without it being communicated to me, I applied to an external recruiter recruiting for the same position. The next morning, the recruiter phoned to say he has received my application, I am exactly who he is looking for and he is excited to present me to his client. But we would only hear in a few days since the HR manager is on leave.

Later the same morning, I received a pro-forma rejection letter from the company sent through their ATS, saying that unfortunately I have been unsuccessful. I have been reading advice online about whether candidates should send an application through a recruiter and also directly to a company for the same position, and the general consensus is no because of the potential bun fight over commission or introduction fees. People talk about duplicate applications going straight to the round file to avoid these problems.

I would like to know whether you think the issue over commission might ever be a problem if I progress further with the recruiter since I was already rejected. Did I sabotage myself? What do I do now to salvage the situation?

You should tell the recruiter what happened — that you had applied directly earlier on and just received a rejection, and ask what he thinks you should do.

However, be aware that he might not be able to present you at all at this point; since you had applied on your own earlier, the company “owns” your candidacy, and the recruiter likely wouldn’t get paid if they hired you — which means any work he does on your candidacy would be him working for free. I know that’s not always intuitive to candidates (it’s kind of an insider baseball thing that you shouldn’t be expected to know), but those are the rules he’s going to have to play by.

Still, though, you really do need to explain to him what happened and let him decide how to handle it from here.

4. Announcing on LinkedIn that you’re “seeking new opportunities” when you’re currently employed

I’ve seen a lot of LinkedIn profiles where the user has “Seeking New Opportunities” on their profile. I am just curious if you had any ideas of how this works exactly. Are these people not connected to anyone that works at their same company, or do they just not care that someone could see this and realize that they are perhaps looking around for new opportunities? I know there is a way to have LinkedIn not notify everyone on your network when you make a change to your profile (such as this one), but there is always the chance that a coworker could come across your profile and find out that way.

Are you sure they’re currently employed? You most commonly see that with people who aren’t, but if you’re seeing it from people who are current employed, I’d assume that they either (a) don’t care if their company sees it (possibly because they’re being laid off soon or have other reason to be open about their search) or (b) don’t think about the fact that their company could see it.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My new job wants me to sign a paper agreeing they can dismiss me without investigation if they suspect theft

I recently took a position that I’m very excited about and am about a week into the two-week training process. When the company ran my background check, they found a nolle prossed (dropped) misdemeanor charge from when I was barely 18 and got into a bit of trouble, thanks to my high school friends. (I haven’t expunged or sealed it because I can’t pay for an attorney.) I provided them with paperwork and even a copy of the report indicating that I was only charged per the policy of where we were at the time (along with several others) and had not engaged in the activity, explaining the entirety of the situation and indicating that I hoped all of my accomplishments since then hopefully spoke more to the person that I am than something that happened by association more than a decade ago. They agreed and made an offer knowing about all of that.

Today one of the trainers informed me that an HR person was looking for me to get me to sign a form but we kept missing one another. After a little inquiry, the trainer told me that it is a form stating that if there is even a slight suspicion of theft, I can be terminated without investigation and that I can’t sue over it if it happens.

I’m not going to do anything I shouldn’t, obviously, but I’ve never been asked to sign this sort of agreement and have had several positions in the last decade. Is this a standard thing that I have just somehow avoided? If it is (or even if it isn’t), I’m wondering if I have any protection at all in this situation since they won’t even do an investigation to confirm their suspicions before terminating me.

No, it’s not standard. I would say this to the HR person and/or your manager: “I’m confused by this, and concerned. We discussed this before you offered me a job, and my understanding was that you agreed that something that happened more than a decade ago when I was a teenager, and where the charges were dropped, wouldn’t be an obstacle to my employment here. I accepted the job based in part on your assurances of that. Can you help me understand where this is coming from now?”

You may also want to check your state’s laws on use of criminal records in employment, because many states prohibit basing employment decisions on arrests that didn’t lead to convictions and/or misdemeanors from over five years ago.

In general, though, an employer can dismiss you (everyone, not just you) without an investigation if they suspect you stole (or if they dislike your shirt or they object to your love of CBS family comedies, or pretty much any reason that isn’t about illegal discrimination or retaliation). What they can’t do is defame you by telling people that they fired you for theft, unless they can actually prove that you were guilty.

2. I switched jobs to make more money, and then everyone in my old job got raises

About two years ago, I started as an editor for my department. When I began, our supervisor told us she had been pushing for a higher salary for editors with HR. Around my two year marker, the approval from HR still hadn’t come through and I found the pay unsustainable as I accrued more bills, so I began seeking out other jobs.

I have since moved into another position within our department that I primarily took because of the pay increase it promised. It was a small raise that came with a massive increase in work, but I took it because I needed the extra money (and lo and behold, I’m actually much happier in this role). Because the job requires a lot more work than I had as an editor, it obviously makes sense that I would be making more in this position than I did as an editor.

Here’s my conundrum: the supervisor’s proposal was approved through HR after I left. This means that some of the editors who started at the same time I did are making more money than I am now, and I’m still doing a lot more work. Because I previously earned more in my current position, would it be completely unreasonable of me to ask for a raise? I’ve only been in this position for four months, so I am hesitant, but I also feel it wouldn’t be out of line because of my above average performance (I’m not saying that to be conceited; I’ve heard around the office that my boss brags about me quite a bit), and because the major reason I took this job was to make more money than I was in the previous role. But if people in my previous role are now making more money than I am in the new role, wouldn’t it logically follow that my salary should be increased as well?

I know that if I ask for a raise, I need to do it based off merit, but is this something worth mentioning in a salary negotiation when I wouldn’t otherwise be asking unless I’d been in my new role for at least a year?

No. The fact that the people in a job you’re no longer doing got raises doesn’t really have any bearing on what the job you’re currently doing should pay. It does absolutely suck that if you’d stayed where you were, you’d be making more money than you are now and doing less work. But you can’t argue that your pay for what you’re doing now should be based on the pay for a different job. I’d focus on the fact that you were happy with the salary when you took the new job, and you turned out to be happier in the job itself — and work toward being able to make a case for a raise after a year.

3. I was invited to interview but then told they’d hired an “exceptionally qualified” candidate before I could

I recently applied to an administrative assistant position online, and someone from their HR department emailed me on Monday and set up a phone interview with me for that Thursday. On Wednesday, I received this email: “I am sorry to do this, but I will need to cancel our phone interview scheduled for tomorrow. We have offered the position to an exceptionally qualified candidate and she has accepted. Thank you so much for your interest in Teapot Inc. We will keep your resume active for 6 months, but please also feel free to reach out to me should you see a position of interest on our careers site.”

Is it just me, or is using the phrase “exceptionally qualified” kind of demeaning to a job seeker? Should I respond and say I would have loved the opportunity to interview? Not respond at all?

It’s not demeaning to explain to you why they decided to short-circuit the interview process and hire someone before finishing talking to everyone they intended to talk to. I know it’s tempting to analyze every word employers choose to say to you in a hiring process, but this is just someone trying to explain a decision in a way that they hope will be understandable to you. They’re not saying “you suck.”

Respond and be gracious (which means you shouldn’t say you would have loved the opportunity to interview, which sounds a little too let down or even chastising). For example, you could say: “Thanks so much for letting me know. The job sounds great and I’m glad you were able to find the right person for it. I’d love to remain in touch and hope we might have an opportunity to connect in the future.”

4. Mentioning that I took an interviewer’s certificate recommendation

I am wondering if there is an unobtrusive, non-annoying way to mention that I’ve enrolled in a program recommended to me by an interviewer in a follow-up email. Last week, I had my second interview for a position that I am very interested in. During the interview, a post-graduate certificate program was recommended to me by the hiring manager.

Whether or not I get the job, I appreciated the recommendation, as I’ve been trying to get my foot securely in the door of my desired profession. After some research, I decided the recommended program looked great and I enrolled.

Now I am seven days post second interview and it is time to follow up. Is there a graceful way I can mention that I am pursuing the advised program without seeming presumptuous or should I leave that out?

Sure. You can say something like, “I also wanted to thank you for mentioning the X program. I did some research into it and it looked exactly like what I’m looking for, so I’ve enrolled. I’m grateful to you for mentioning it to me.”

5. Should my resume include a job I quit after a month?

I’m an ER nurse. I started at a new job just a few weeks ago. I haven’t yet completed my probation period, but I don’t think I can in good conscience work at this hospital any longer, because I’ve observed some really serious safety problems. (A full explanation would be long and technical. The short explanation is that they don’t have the right equipment or the right policies to provide safe patient care, and management encourages staff to take unsafe shortcuts and “find workarounds” instead of enforcing good practices.) I don’t think my input could significantly change the ingrained systemic problems, so I’ve resolved to quit and find something else.

My concern is about whether to keep this short-lived job on my resume. My impulse is to leave it off, because it could look bad that I bailed out from a job so quickly, and because anything I did there wouldn’t mean much in terms of experience gained. But on the other hand, would it be considered dishonest not to mention it?

Nope, it’s fine to leave it off (and in general, you should leave off jobs that you left after only few months, unless they were specifically designed to be short-term jobs from the start). A resume is a marketing document; it’s not required or expected to be a comprehensive listing of everything you’ve ever done. It’s not dishonest or even unusual to leave something off your resume that you don’t want to highlight.