November 2008

boss cut hours by half

November 30, 2008

A reader writes:

I am my boss’ only employee and he cut my hours to 20/week a few weeks ago. I was surprised, to say the least. I thought he did it because he didn’t want me there anymore so I asked him if that was the reason. He said it was solely because of money, so I have continued working my regular hours and get paid for only 20. I have been with him for 3 years and he has been good to me. I know business has been slow and that he has kids in college.

However I can’t help but be a wee bit paranoid that he will axe me for someone new and cheaper (and make me train her on my way out). People always say bosses cut your hours in an attempt to get rid of you. Is it just moronic to think that he’d actually tell me if he was going to get rid of me? If he does, I’ll really be screwed – if I only worked the 20 hours a week it’d be easier to find a new job, but I’ve kept my regular hours helping him dig out of this hole. He just got a $100,000.00 equity line on the office – I don’t know if that means anything.

Would I have any recourse if he does leave me high and dry?

You need more information.

Some people may find this naive, but I’m a big proponent of just being honest about what you’re wondering about and simply asking him. In order to make good decisions, you need to find out more about what he’s thinking — for instance, does he foresee the cut in your hours being temporary, or is it for the foreseeable future? Is it an interim step that might eventually lead to needing to eliminate your position altogether? Is he offering you 20 hours because he feels he needs to offer you something, but he’d really prefer not to have any staff at all right now? What kind of commitment, if any, is he realistically able to make to you right now? These are the kinds of questions you need to know the answers to.

And when you have this conversation, let your three years of working with this guy inform your thinking too. Is he a generally ethical and open guy? Or have you seen him break his word, deceive others, or trample over someone else to protect himself? Of course, even if you know him to be an upstanding person, keep in mind that financial circumstances beyond his control may cancel out his best intentions — so you should always have a safety net ready, no matter what.

Also, if you are going to work twice the hours he’s paying you for out of loyalty, you really should protect yourself. For instance, tell him that you understand the position he’s in right now, that you feel loyal to him and want to help, and that you’d be willing to continue to work full-time with a half-time salary if he’s able to offer you an employment contract locking in work for you for __ months. (You fill in the blank.) What you don’t want is to work half your hours for free out a sense of a loyalty and a feeling that you’re both in it together, only to find yourself let go with no warning at some point down the road (in which case, without a contract, you would indeed be left without recourse). So by all means, make the offer if you think he’s earned it, but protect yourself too.

Good luck!

{ 8 comments }

Posted in advice about your boss

can I make the company give me THEIR references?

November 28, 2008

Yep, a Black Friday extravaganza: three posts in one day.

A reader writes:

After the second interview, when an interview requests my references, is it ever possible to turn around and also ask the interviewer for references from the prospective company? I would only do this if (1) I am really sure that I want the position, but I’ve heard things about the company about turnover/chronic underperformers/bad juju and (2) if I felt comfortable enough with the interviewer to do so.

Would this move be perceived as obnoxious?

I’m envisioning it as a bit of a 360 degree interview, because if I am going to leave my current job for one that seems more stellar, I feel that I have the right to also investigate what I’m leaving for — the real picture, not the one that’s given in interviews. Your opinion?

(For the record, I haven’t yet done this, but came close many times. I also wish in some jobs that I had insisted.)

Yes, you can do this, and it does happen occasionally, so the company shouldn’t think it’s crazy. (Although frankly, even if you were the first person in the history of the world to ask it, they still shouldn’t think it’s crazy because it’s a smart thing to do, but many, many people — less intelligent ones — think things they haven’t encountered before are crazy.)

However, because it’s not a common request, be careful about the way you ask for it.

Give context and frame it in a positive light, not a precautionary measure that you’re taking after being burned previously. For instance, explain that you are looking for a position where the fit is really right because you want to stay for a long time, and ask if you can talk to others who work in the department, or even the previous people who held the job.

This is a reasonable request, and if the company is resistant to it, that’s a huge red flag — either because they’re hiding something or because they have a culture problem that makes them think reference-checking should be a one-way street, which is possibly indicative of an environment where employees’ opinions and quality of life aren’t valued. (Although if you’re asking to talk to previous people who held the job, it’s reasonable for them not to offer up anyone who was fired, disgruntled, or generally not very good at the job.)

However, do wait to ask this until an offer has been made. Your request will take up time from people whose schedules aren’t slated to include this sort of thing, and so it’s reasonable for the company to want to wait on that until they know they’re interested in hiring you.

{ 5 comments }

Posted in job searching, references

silence from manager after layoff

November 28, 2008

A reader writes:

I was recently laid off. My boss works in a different office and was not there for the layoff. The SVP who was there told me that my boss wanted to have a conversation with me about the situation. It has now been over a week and I have not heard from her. It is my understanding that the onus is on her to contact me since she presumably had to make the decision about my employment and was then not there to follow through. Am I supposed to contact her?

Contact her if you feel like contacting her; otherwise, you’re under no obligation to do so. However, it’s probably worth your while to reach out because she may be able to point you toward job leads or act as a reference for you in the future.

My suspicion is that your boss knows that talking to you directly about the layoff is the right thing to do, but has chickened out of what she feels will be an awkward or difficult conversation. This is lame and she sucks as a result, but you should still exploit whatever help she can offer you.

{ 3 comments }

Posted in advice about your boss, layoffs

checking references without intent to make an offer

November 28, 2008

A reader writes:

Do potential employers ever check a/some/all candidates’ references with no intent to present an offer to a/some/all of the candidate(s)?

And where is the reference check in relation to the rest of the candidate choosing process?

Only if they’re insane. Checking the references of a candidate you have no interest in hiring would be a complete waste of time — why would you bother? Unless you work at some crappy, inefficient company that insists that you check references across the board, this would make no sense — and if you do, you should quit because that company is ridiculous.

Personally, I check references only post-interviews, once I know who my top one or two candidates are. It’s my final step before making an offer. Candidates should strongly prefer this, too, since it protects your references from fatigue.

{ 5 comments }

Posted in references

job-hunting while pregnant

November 26, 2008

A reader writes:

I was laid off in July and am currently job hunting. I am also 10 weeks pregnant right now. I am 37 and this is my first pregnancy after several years of failed fertility treatments. I am thrilled, but I have been keeping the news very quiet until I am safely past the first trimester.

I had a second interview this week for one job, and they have already checked my references, so an offer may be forthcoming shortly. My question is when I should tell a potential new employer. I figure I have a few options:

1) Tell them during the interview process, which is technically still ongoing. I am not in favor of this option, as I think all it would do is put me at a disadvantage. Although it could help weed out family-unfriendly companies, it just feels like an irrelevant piece of personal information at the moment.

2) Tell them after I get an offer. I have been leaning towards this option, as I want to avoid appearing to pull a bait-and-switch on them (especially because I know the hiring manager who would be my supervisor personally; he is the husband of one of my husband’s co-workers and we have hung out socially a few times). I know that legally they are not supposed to take pregnancy into consideration with a job candidate, but it would be hard to prove that they did if they rescinded the offer. This would also give me a chance to find out about/negotiate for a maternity leave policy, since I will not have been at the company long enough for my job to be protected under the Family & Medical Leave Act. Telling them in this timeframe feels like the best compromise to me between being honest and still having some leverage.

3) Tell them a couple of days after I am hired. They’ll be stuck with me at that point. I don’t like this option.

4) Tell them 1 or 2 months after I start, hopefully before I begin to show. I read one advice column advocating this method. The advantage is that by this time you’ve hopefully proven yourself as a reliable employee and could deliver the news matter-of-factly, telling them that you are just now going public with the information and couldn’t be happier. The problems I see here are that: a) They might not have anyone start until after the 1st of the year, which means I’d be waiting until at least February to tell them; b) it still feels a bit like a bait-and-switch; and c) I am afraid the stress of keeping this a secret from them might eat me up inside.

First, congratulations on your pregnancy!

I’d go with option #2 — tell them once you get the offer.

I wouldn’t raise it before you get an offer, because even at many family-friendly places and even despite the law that prohibits discriminating based on pregnancy, plenty of interviewers are still going to think, “We have that big event right when she’ll be out on maternity leave, and candidate B, who is not pregnant, would be able to be there for it.” It’s human nature. Don’t risk that.

But you’re pretty safe raising it once you have the offer, because rescinding it that point would look an awful lot like pregnancy discrimination, which is prohibited by law.

Good luck!

{ 26 comments }

Posted in interviewing

why poor performers don’t get fired

November 24, 2008

Almost everyone has had the experience of working alongside someone who is a chronically poor performer — and then puzzling over the question of why nothing is being done about it. Today at U.S. News & World Report, I explore the reasons why. Please check it out, comment, etc.!

{ 0 comments }

Posted in firing, good management

scared because of interview lying

November 23, 2008

A reader writes:

I’m a legal assistant and I went for an interview with a lawyer. The office is small and there’s only one lawyer. The thing is, I lied on my first interview. My last job was at a law office assisting one attorney. I said I left on maternity leave but the truth is I left because my ex boss did not paid well. I did not want to mention this issue which I know is not proper.

My worry is that in the interview, I was asked if he can contact my ex boss and I said yes. So now I really don’t know what my ex boss is going to say or if he will really call. I’m schedule for a second interview. Do you think they will tell me that I lied regarding my past employment? Or are they really interested in me? Please advise because I’m truly scared to show up for the second interview.

I doubt they know (yet) that you lied. They’re not likely to want to waste their time with an interview just so that they can confront you about a lie. However, they’re likely to find out about the lie if you do well in the second interview and they get to the point of calling references. A very common reference question is, “Why did she leave?” At that point, the discrepancy in your story is going to come out.

Obviously, you should never lie in an interview. Ever. It doesn’t matter if you think you have a good reason for it. It’s immediately disqualifying if the interviewer discovers it, because of what it says about your integrity. It’s odd that you felt it wouldn’t be proper to mention that you left your last job over money (a perfectly legitimately reason) but didn’t feel it would be improper to lie in an interview. I’d write this job off, learn from the experience, and move on.

{ 2 comments }

Posted in interviewing

connecting to your interviewer on LinkedIn

November 20, 2008

A reader writes:

Is it recommended to add as a contact to your LinkedIn account someone you had recently interviewed with, if they are already in your extended network? Of course, this is dependent on the assumed rapport (although that can be hard to tell as well).

I have mixed feelings about this. I think different hiring managers feel differently: Some only want to connect on LinkedIn with people they actually know, while others are perfectly happy to connect, even if their only knowledge of you is a job interview. I don’t think it’s inappropriate to request the connection though; just don’t be offended if they choose not to accept it. Different people use it in different ways.

However. That’s for LinkedIn, which is all about professional networking. When it comes to more socially oriented sites, like Facebook and so forth, do not attempt to add your interviewer as a contact. I’ve had candidates do this to me, and it feels like presumption and over-reaching. Facebook is social; attempting to connect there is like inviting your interviewer to a dinner party. It’s not appropriate.

{ 5 comments }

Posted in interviewing

invited to apply and then rejected

November 18, 2008

A reader writes:

I volunteer for a company and they asked me to apply for a post which I would not have applied for in the first place. I applied and they gave it to someone else. Why set me up for such a fall?

I can see how it would feel like that, but they weren’t trying to set you up. Being invited to apply for a position is exactly what it sounds like — being invited to apply, not being anointed. Otherwise, they’d just offer you the job.

Companies do this when they think you might be a strong candidate, so if nothing else you should at least feel flattered that they thought highly enough of you to reach out. But the process that follows — interviews, etc. — is there so that they can dig more deeply and see if indeed the match would be the right one. During that process, they may find out that the match isn’t as strong as they had hoped, or an even stronger candidate might emerge. That’s just the nature of it, and you shouldn’t take it personally or feel that they slighted you.

That said, this is why when companies invite someone to apply for a job, especially a volunteer or current employee, they need to be careful to make sure that the person clearly understands the situation and knows that they’ll be considering other applicants as well.

{ 6 comments }

Posted in rejections

stop sending me recommendation letters

November 17, 2008

Someone has to break it to you, so it’s going to be me: Please stop with the letters of recommendation. Don’t attach them to your resume and don’t offer them up at the interview. I know you feel good about them but, unfortunately, they aren’t useful. Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I explain why. Please check it out here.