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2015
Ask a Manager
how to interview your potential new boss
Ask a Manager
DECEMBER 11, 2015
A reader writes: Our department was asked by our director to have an informal-type “interview” with two of the finalists in line to fill our manager position (the current manager is retiring). We are a small department of eight people, and we are tasked with “being unemotional” and to have “facts” as to why we prefer one over the other. Yet, we were told to not assume that this will make a difference in who is hired. You can read my answer to this question over at Inc. interviewing
8 things you should never tell your interviewer — even if they’re true
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NOVEMBER 23, 2015
In an ideal world, an interview is a candid discussion between candidate and interviewer of the job and whether the candidate is the right match. And indeed, candor will usually increase both side’s chances of ending up with the right fit. But there are some things that can hurt your chances if you’re honest about them with your interviewer. At U.S. News & World Report today, I talk about are eight things you should never share with your interviewer. You can read it here. interviewing
when an employee gives you the silent treatment after getting feedback
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OCTOBER 16, 2015
A reader writes: One of the people I manage gives me the silent treatment when I correct him on something or ask him to do something differently. I don’t ever correct him in a mocking way or publicly. In In the hours that follow the correction, he will avoid eye contact with me, position his body language away from me, and only speak to me if I’m asking him a question. He’s He’s usually over it by the next day and we go back to our usual friendly working arrangement/interaction, but during the hours that the silent treatment is happening, I feel emotionally drained.
is it impostor syndrome or a bad fit, managing is stressful, and more
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OCTOBER 22, 2015
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. submitted an expense report late and now can’t get reimbursed for thousands of dollars. work for a big company that you’ve heard of — we bounce in and out of the Fortune 500 depending on various market conditions. seldom travel for work and they can’t seem to get me a travel card — the application goes through fine but then it gets sent to the office instead of to me and I just haven’t bothered to pursue it from there. have made two trips for the company and paid for them out of pocket, about $2500 each time.
Skill based learning – How it drives an organization’s performance
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should I take the University of Phoenix off my resume?
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MARCH 30, 2015
A reader writes: I’ve got an MBA from University of Phoenix and at first I was really proud of it. I’d worked really hard to get through the corporate finance classes. Marketing, management, human resources…it all seemed pretty standard stuff for an MBA, only with no PowerPoint presentations since everything was online. thought I should get some credit for being able to stick with a program independently. My education has never helped me to get a job. I don’t know what to do. It’s intended to signal a plus (a degree!) resumes
manager asked about religion, new job was a scam, and more
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DECEMBER 21, 2015
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Manager asked about religion when I asked to take a day off. My workplace has an unfortunately named paid time off day called “Religious Day.” It’s essentially a personal day that’s granted when someone is hired, without the need for accrual. Besides the name, the staff handbook does not specify what this day is to be used for. If you’re not religious, it seems like just another day of paid time off similar to a personal day. Am I on solid ground here? Your manager was out off line. 2. But one of my close friends is his direct manager.
how long can it take to hear back after a job interview?
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JULY 27, 2015
A reader writes: There is this company that I have wanted to work for since I got into the work I do now. finally had the experience to apply and have done so and I also was referred highly by a current employee. I was contacted fairly quickly for a phone interview and then a few days later for a face to face interview. I had my interview on July 1 and felt it went really well. I met with all managers and the lead. I was told that they may have an extended interview process of a few weeks, but they would let me know either way. still have not heard anything back from either email. interviewin
update: my boyfriend has my old job and there’s tons of drama
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DECEMBER 21, 2015
Remember the letter-writer whose boyfriend had her old job and was being treated badly by a board member? Here’s the update. The museum’s operating season ended one week after you posted your response to my question about what to do about Pat. At that time, per your advice, I started slowly getting rid of my volunteer duties by letting the board know that I was resigning my position as chair for a semi-annual event. Pat requested an “employee review” between herself, a handful of other board members, and my boyfriend for this past Monday. updates
Leaving performance reviews behind: Where to start [Guide]
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stop claiming subjective traits on your resume
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AUGUST 14, 2015
Do you have anything like the following on your resume? excellent written and oral communication skills. strong initiative. visionary leader. creative innovator. able to present strategic concepts clearly and persuasively. If so, remove it! Remove it all! Your resume is for experience and accomplishments only. It’s not the place for subjective traits that anyone could claim without evidence. Employers want to see evidence of the traits you’re claiming, not just proclamations. That’s what belongs on your resume. resumes
I racked up $20,000 in personal charges on my company credit card
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JUNE 4, 2015
A reader writes: The short version of the story is that I genuinely misunderstood the way my corporate credit card was to be used. have been using it over the last few years regularly for personal reasons, including medical, car payments (a car is required for my job, but not covered under expenses), and general personal shopping. This just means I get charged PayPal fees for the cash advance, and it means nothing more is due until the next billing cycle. wrote back to this letter-writer and asked: “Just so I really get the whole situation, did you really think was allowed? Ooooh.
do not cheat the one-page resume rule by using a tiny font and tiny margins
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SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
If you’re early in your career, you’ve probably heard that your resume should only be one page. And perhaps you’ve tried to wiggle your way around that rule by using a tiny font and non-existent margins so that you can cram more text into one page. If you’re done this, you’re violating the rule in spirit and probably making your resume less effective. Before I go any further, let me clearly note that if you’re at least midway into your career, the one-page resume rule doesn’t apply to you. You get a second page at that point. And line spaces are not your enemy. resumes
my office is going overboard on team-building activities
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AUGUST 13, 2015
A reader writes: I’ve been in my office for about 10 months. When I initially joined, we had a weekly event called Friday Fitness, where each week a different person would lead a quick 15-minute workout. Everyone in our office thoroughly enjoys Friday Fitness because it breaks up the monotony of our office desk jobs and is a great team-building activity. Unfortunately, the success of this event has prompted my manager to start initiating new team activities. When these ideas were being floated around, I almost fell out of my seat! Only one other coworker and I raised objections.
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is 8-6 the new 9-5?
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OCTOBER 8, 2015
A reader writes: I wanted to get a perspective from you and your readers on whether you think a majority of businesses and industries are now expecting longer workdays from their employees. Colloquially, “the 9 to 5″ has been a phrase to discribe full-time jobs conducted during normal business hours. Obviously all individual offices will vary, but based on my own experience and the experiences of people I know, it seems like “the 8 to 6″ would now be a better descriptor. These hours didn’t account for unpaid lunch time, either. For some people. hours a week.
what to say if you want to walk out of a horrible intervew
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OCTOBER 20, 2015
One thing I’ve noticed in years of writing this blog is that people when find themselves in terrible, ridiculous job interviews where they’re being mistreated — or even just interviews where it’s clear really early on that this isn’t the right match — they feel obligated to stick it out until the end. You’re not obligated to stay when that happens. In fact, look at it from the employer’s side: Employers cut short interviews all the time when it becomes clear that it’s not the right match. You’re allowed to do the same thing yourself. bad interviewer behavior
how managers should communicate decisions they don’t agree with
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AUGUST 25, 2015
A reader writes: I’m a unit head at a government agency that is having some serious financial and managerial turmoil. The powers that be are contemplating a decision that could have a very negative impact on my area, and our manager called all his units to discuss the issue. He explained the case he would make, but also said repeatedly, “I’ll do my best, but you know that the boss will end up doing whatever the boss wants, and there’s nothing I can really do to stop it.” Which is historically true, but was also incredibly demoralizing to hear. Ugh, yeah, your manager mishandled this.
can I bring a crib sheet into interviews to help me answer questions?
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DECEMBER 21, 2015
A reader writes: I work in a sector where it is common to ask competency questions in interviews (apologies for being vague, but if I stated my work area you’d probably respond with “oh yeah, those guys probably DO get a lot of competency questions”). These range from informal “how would you handle this situation?” ” discussions to “please take us through the X process” to full-on sheets of exam questions with mark schemes. Needless to say I loathe the things. But recently I got my first bad reaction. Are there better ways to handle this problem?
2016 Training Program Best Practices
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my team wants me to bring them cookies, coworker is constantly monitoring me, and more
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APRIL 14, 2015
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My team wants to be recognized with cookies and trophies. need you to tell me if I’m being a terrible person. manage a small team of part-time associates doing a pretty entry-level customer service job. Previous managers have apparently baked cookies, purchased novelty trophies, and made up awards to celebrate when employees made their goals. Most of this was on their own time with their own money, although admittedly it wasn’t too much of either. That’s what they get paid for, and it’s what I expect them to do.
everything you need to know to ask for a year-end raise
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DECEMBER 21, 2015
At U.S. News & World Report today, I’ve rounded up everything you need to know about year-end raises, including how to ask for one, how much to expect, and what to do if your performance hasn’t been great this year. You can read it here. everything you need to know to ask for a year-end raise was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. salary
my manager wants twice-a-day reporting on how I’m spending my time, affair is causing a scandal, and more
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AUGUST 10, 2015
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My manager is asking me for twice-a-day reporting on how I’m spending my time. My current manager has started making me do a daily “plan of day” and “end of day report” to send to him. have to record in an Excel spreadsheet what I plan to do and what I AM doing every hour and send to him daily. The problem I have, is that there are 6 men in my department and he hasn’t asked them to do anything remotely the same. Is this discrimination? Do you have concerns about my work or my productivity?” Now I don’t think so.
fired employee wants to attend the holiday party, rejected for going to school full-time, and more
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NOVEMBER 18, 2015
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Fired Fired employee wants to attend the company Christmas party. Our office recently let go of an employee for numerous reasons after several warnings, for minor things such as frequent lateness, too many personal calls and emails on company time, general friction with other coworkers, to more serious things such as a very sharp decline in their work quality, cursing at other coworkers, and admitting to getting high at work. They also requested a hotel reservation, which is generously supplied free of charge for those needing one.
Ditching the formal performance review? Kineo shares 3 Elements for Success
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is a higher-paying job worth extra stress?
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NOVEMBER 10, 2015
A reader writes: I’m an executive assistant for a medium size nonprofit organization. absolutely love my job, the organization, and my boss. Like most nonprofits, the salary is on the low side. Currently I am at $40,000 a year but usually I receive a few enhancements, making my salary closer to $43,000 a year. I was contacted by a corporation for an executive assistant position at $65,000 a year. The allegations were settled privately. This would be the executive I would report to. I’m sure my husband trusts me, but I don’t know if I could trust my new boss. salary
when your boss asks you to plunge the toilet (and the return of the nieces)
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MARCH 23, 2015
Two years ago, my nieces (then 9 and 12) helped me answer a letter here. Since then, there’s been a clamor for their return. They’re back today. reader writes: This happened to a friend once and I always find it amusing to ask my colleagues in tech. He recently got hired at a small company, no more than 20 employees, in a very small office. There were two bathrooms, one for men and one for women. Two stalls in the women’s bathroom; a stall and a urinal in the men’s. My friend never found out who ended up plunging the toilet. So here’s the question. 14-year-old M.:
how to explain to interviewers why I quit my job without another one lined up
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JULY 30, 2015
A reader writes: I recently resigned from my position at my previous employer due to its toxic environment and unsupportive senior management. I was constantly being thrown under the bus. The position didn’t align with my career goals anyway, and I could no longer reconcile the fact that I was in a stressful, low-paying job I didn’t even want. Now that I’m doing interviews, potential employers are asking me why left, and I don’t want to necessarily badmouth my previous employer. ” Should I be honest? Were you fired? Forced to leave? They don’t know. interviewing
my new company wants me to change my name
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
A reader writes: I am starting a new job next week. Somehow another employee, who is a favorite of the regional manager, objects to my name, so I have been told I cannot use it. My middle name is King and it is a name that has been in our family for years. have been called King since the day I was born – 54 years ago – and have never had anyone even mention it, much less object to it. This entry-level employee says it offends her religious beliefs. She has been at the company for several years but is still at entry-level, so how can she carry so much weight? What are my options?
HR's Critical Role in Creating Productive and Meaningful Workplaces
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my boss turns it into an ordeal every time I ask him a question
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OCTOBER 7, 2015
A reader writes: I’m a paid intern at a small technology startup. My boss wrote the entire codebase for our project; there’s no documentation, and also it’s my first time doing this kind of work outside a classroom. (I’m a woman in my mid 20s. My college degree is in humanities, and I had a totally different career for a couple of years before this; I took an intensive training course on programming over the summer, and have taught myself a lot.). Naturally, I have lots of questions. Examples: I emailed him some code that wasn’t working as expected. What do I do?
actually useful questions to ask in informational interviews
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FEBRUARY 3, 2015
A reader writes: You’ve written before about how NOT to behave in an informational interview (i.e. use it to try to get a job), but I wonder what you recommend to get the most out of them when you’re approaching the meeting with the proper mindset. I’m about six months away from getting a masters degree, and another student in my program recently arranged for me to have lunch with her and a family friend. She organized the lunch because the family friend works in an industry related to the particular niche of our field I’d like to work in. What types have more trouble? job searching networkin
stop doing the office housekeeping work
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JULY 3, 2015
I’m quoted in this Refinery29 article (which was also reported on by the UK’s Daily Mail ), talking about how taking on the office housekeeping work (planning parties, cleaning up the kitchen, ordering lunch) can hold you back. Here’s an excerpt: “People don’t get high-profile projects, win promotions, or make a name in their field because they planned office parties or remembered all their coworkers’ birthdays,” says Alison Green, founder of Ask A Manager. …“One of the best things you can do…is to simply point it out,” she argues. Can we change that?'”
how do people take phone interviews during the work day?
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JUNE 25, 2015
A reader writes: I work in New York City. I do not drive to work. Every time I start interviewing, I run into an issue with the dreaded phone interview. Even if I ever worked in an office that was large enough for me to commandeer an office or a conference room for a private call, I personally don’t think it’s appropriate (nor prudent) to conduct a phone interview in my office. always try to set them up for the morning and go in late, or afternoon and have a “doctor’s appointment,” but often I do not have that option and they want to speak in the middle of the day.
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what to do when your new boss is hard to work with
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NOVEMBER 6, 2015
A reader writes: We have a new department head, who is my new direct manager (previously there was no one person supervising this group). Since she’s arrived, we’ve had problems with her understanding of how our existing procedures work. If you say, in a perfectly neutral or even friendly tone, “Normally when this happens, this is how we handle it,” she says she does not have time to do it that way or does not want to do it that way, or even “I have been in this for 30 years and I’ve never handled it that way.”. even took pains to frame my question as “do you want to do this?”
do job-seekers really need an elevator pitch?
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OCTOBER 14, 2015
A reader writes: I recently visited my grad school on behalf of my employer as part of their college recruiting team. My objective was to collect resumes and speak with students regarding our summer internship program. I’ve worked the career fairs before but have not done so in a couple of years, and at this one I noticed some students doing something that I found off-putting. They’re making an “elevator pitch” for themselves. want an engineering intern, not a salesman, and the slick pitch and presumptuous attitude was actually a turn-off. It’s nearly always the case though.
how to take a vacation when your work never stops
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DECEMBER 4, 2015
A reader writes: The holidays are here, and I’m meant to be taking a week off for vacation. The trip is booked, it’s been approved months ago by my boss, and I’ve scheduled my requested time with an eye to our work cycle and done my best to get everything done and covered before I’m gone. She says I can either not go, or be available during my leave at all times for work, or I can pay out of my own pocket for a freelancer to come in to backfill me. There may be no way to save this vacation, but I wonder: how does one responsibly take some time off? workplace practices
I was fired after a stranger sent photos of my private text messages to my employer
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
A reader writes: I’m a part-time retail employee at a clothing store, as well as a full time graduate student. left work a couple of weeks ago, got on my bus to head home, and as always, spend the time on my phone — Facebook/Texting/Instagram, etc. At one point, my boyfriend texted me asking if I’d left work yet. wrote back saying something to the effect of ‘Yesssss….and and I can’t be home soon enough….I’m I’m tired and the fat cow sitting next to me is taking up half my seat as well as hers AND hasn’t heard of deodorant.” Anyway, I got fired, but I think it’s ridiculous. So: Be nicer.
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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