Once again, it’s short answer Saturday — six short answers to six short questions. I also want to note that I’m indebted to Evil HR Lady for her “short response” columns, which pre-date these short answer Saturdays by many months.
Here we go…
I was recently contacted by an external recruiter with a position very similar to the position I am currently in. It would be an increase in pay, but a downgrade in title. In the industry that I currently am in, I would prefer to work for one of the top tier companies because reputation does 80% of the marketing in my industry. I am currently with a highly ranked company with a bad management structure and so I am looking to leave soon. I understand that they don’t want to reveal the company, but it definitely impacts my decision to pursue this position. Is it typical to not reveal the company? Can you think of any ways around knowing the company to make a decision?
It’s not unheard of for a recruiter not to reveal the company at the early stages of contact, but under no circumstances would I expect that secrecy to continue all the way through to an offer. You can’t possibly make a good decision about whether to accept an offer (or even interview really well, for that matter) without knowing who you’d be working for. Ask the recruiter at what stage she expects to reveal who the employer is.
I have been in face-to-face sales all my life. Last year I changed companies and started a position in telesales. Honestly, I haven’t been doing well. It is just not the right position for me. All our calls are monitored and I have had some unflattering criticism. Today my boss told me I was too nice to clients and basically my voice was too high-pitched and I would never be taken seriously. Although I am offended, I also don’t know how to change my tone. I have always been taught to talk with a smile and my sales voice is different than my regular voice. Any suggestions?
It’s possible your boss is off-base, but it’s also possible that she’s on to something and it just didn’t get delivered very diplomatically. I’d think the best thing you can do is to put your hurt feelings aside (admittedly hard), go back to your boss, and ask if her feedback was about your voice in general or about a tone that only comes out sometimes. There are definitely people — some women, in particular — who sometimes use a tone or voice that makes them sound much younger than they are. (I once worked with a woman who, I swear to God, talked in baby talk sometimes. I don’t think she realized she was doing it — it must have sounded like something else in her head — and when her manager finally talked to her about it, I hope she considered it a favor, although I imagine it was an awkward conversation.) Get more information. There really might be something that you’d get better results by tweaking — and if not, well, more information is never a bad thing.
By the way, you’re also looking elsewhere since you feel this is a bad fit for you, right?
It’s been about a year since I wrote to you about negotiating salary for a job offer from a nonprofit. The salary negotiation did not work, and neither did asking for alternative compensation, but I accepted the job because that was always my intention. Now, a year later, it is time for my first formal performance review at this nonprofit, and I need your advice about what I can and cannot ask for. I have had performance reviews at for-profit jobs and negotiated perks and salary successfully, but I do not know what I can ask for from a nonprofit. I have had positive feedback for my entire first year on the job, so I expect this formal review to be similar feedback. Is it even customary to negotiate anything at a nonprofit? The one I work for has a multimillion-dollar budget and about 50 employees, if you find that relevant information.
Absolutely you can negotiate, no differently than at a for-profit. Nonprofits have a wide range of practices regarding raises, bonuses, and other forms of compensation, and a similarly wide range of what they do and don’t put resources toward, but — assuming that you’re not dealing with layoffs or other financial crises — no one is going to look askance at you for asking about a salary increase after a year. You’ve been there a year, you’ve had great feedback, and now it’s time to ask for a raise. Good luck!
How long can my cover letter really be? I’ve heard one page, I’ve heard a page and a half to two, max, etc, etc, etc. I’m a recent graduate, just earned my J.D., and I’ve worked through college and law school. I’ve learned to cut out jobs that aren’t relevant or that are relatively old. Obviously I’m not putting my receptionist job from freshman year on my cover letter. But I have had enough legitimate experience that I’m comfortable writing a page and a half cover letter. Does this sound too long??
I’m a fan of one-page cover letters. I’m skeptical that you can’t say what needs to be said in a page. That said, unless there are application instructions to the contrary, I’m not going to reject an applicant because they wrote a page and a half — or two, for that matter, although when I see two, I’m going to think, “This is oddly long.”
But more importantly: The amount of experience you have has nothing to do with the length of your cover letter … because you should not be using the cover letter to summarize what’s on your resume. You should be using it to talk about what’s not on your resume, like why you want that job and what would make you good at it. And you’d ideally be able to do that in one page.
I currently work for an AmeriCorps program – a year-long service program, where members get contracted out to different nonprofit agencies. Americorps pays my minimal salary, though I spend my days at the nonprofit office and do all my work there. A position just opened up at my office for a program assistant – basically the same job I am doing right now, with a little bit more responsibility. I feel like I would really like to apply for the position, since it is basically the same amount of work with an incredible (I’m talking over $10k) increase in salary, health insurance, etc. However, I am committed to the Americorps program (I am free to quit at any time) but if I were to quit, there would be no one to take over my duties, and they can’t hire someone else since the year has already started. I feel like I could combine the program assistant tasks with my Americorps tasks. Should I apply for the position? How would it look to my boss if I am considering this position, effectively rendering my Americorps position empty until next year?
I don’t know enough about AmeriCorps to really give you a good answer to this (aside from thinking that commitments should be honored). Anyone out there with AmeriCorps experience want to advise on this one?
Is it normal to bring notes with you to an interview? I want to create a document, probably a single page, landscape listing job requirements and my qualifications and common questions and possible responses. How would you view this, as a hiring manager?
Consulting a bulleted list of points that you wanted to be sure to raise at some point in the conversation and/or having a prepared list of questions is fine (the latter is great, in fact). But I wouldn’t recommend consulting notes too extensively during the conversation, because you don’t want your answers to look overly rehearsed or less than genuine. A good interview is really a conversation, and your interviewer will expect you to be able to speak relatively extemporaneously, about, for instance, your strengths or your background.
I do think it’s helpful to write out like questions and your responses when you’re preparing for the interview, and you should give that a final look-over in the parking lot (or even bring it in and consult it during a bathroom break). But don’t bring it in with you. It’s going to come across oddly if you’re consulting notes before answering things like “Why did you leave your last job?”
