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Canadian applying to US, should I state on resume that I'm a Green Card holder, and is my CA phone number undesirable? I'm a student at a Canadian university. I am planning on moving to the US. I'm looking for part-time and full-time jobs right now in the US. My question is, is it okay for me to use a Canadian cell phone number (I have a US address) as my phone number on my resume? Or is it best if I get a US number and put a US number on my resume (which may be a bit of an inconvenience for me right now)? Edit: My main issue was that it will be a long distance call for HR to contact me and HR might think that since I have a Canadian number (and the university I attend is a Canadian University) then I might require a sponsorship to work for the company (which isn't true as I have a Green Card, but HR might think otherwise). <Q> is it okay for me to use a Canadian cell phone number (I have a US address) as my phone number on my resume? <S> It's perfectly okay to use a Canadian cell phone number. <S> Calling Canada from the US is not at all out of the ordinary. <S> You might wish to mention in your cover letter than you plan to move to the US, although it's unlikely to be asked, since you indicate you already use a US address. <A> People often move around for jobs in the U.S and many have national mobile carriers, so they can end up living/working in an area where their phone number's area code might be different or "foreign. <S> " <S> Most people won't care or actually bother to look up where that number if from as long as you're reachable... <S> (i.e calling your Canadian phone is not "long distance" for that company/person) <S> I would add, though, that if I were you, (or if you wanna blend in with the local phone numbers...) I'd just sign up for a free google voice number with a US area code to forward calls to your Canadian one <S> See Update <S> I actually use a google voice number on my resume because even in the event that I am not reachable due to being outside the US, google voice can take a voicemail, transcribe it, and notify me that someone tried to call me. <S> And I can even return the call using that number, via VOIP, from abroad. <S> For me, it's a good way to never miss an important call IMO. <S> Update: Apparently Google Voice does not forward to Canadian numbers. <S> It only lets you VOIP to Canada. <A> I agree it's no big deal to call Canada especially in the bordering states. <S> One thing I'd like to add is that perhaps you should articulate that you're already in the USA. <S> This way the employer will know right away you're actually in the USA and not looking to relocate. <S> When they see the number they might not see that you're already in the US. <S> They might think you're looking for relocation help as well. <A> The phone number on the resume is jut one way to contact you. <S> In many cases the key information, other than a phone interview, will be done via email. <S> My main issue was that it will be a long distance call for HR to contact me and HR might think that since I have a Canadian number (and the university I attend is a Canadian University) <S> then I might require a sponsorship to work for the company (which isn't true as I have a Green Card, but HR might think otherwise). <S> The issue for many employers in your situation will be the mixed info on the resume: <S> Canadian Phone number Currently residing in Canada (at a Canadian University) United States address. <S> But you don't make clear on your resume <S> /cover letter your citizenship, or your status regarding a work visa. <S> You must make it clear what your status is. <S> If the company is not prepared to hire a foreigner because of the paperwork issues, then they will disregard your resume even before contacting you. <S> Which is a pity because the issue can be easily avoided. <S> A non-US number isn't an issue. <S> US citizens do go out of the country for school. <S> Other US citizens do reside for a variety of reasons outside the Unites States. <S> The purpose of the resume is to convince the company that you meet their qualifications for the job. <S> When they are done reading it they shouldn't wonder if you are even eligible to work.
| There's no need to get a new number for your job search, unless you don't want people to know your cell number (for some reason). Yes, it's OK for you to use a Canadian phone number, like Mr. Strazzere said in his answer.
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Is it bad to switch jobs many times in a short period? I'm a 23 years old developer living in Brazil. I got my first job back in 2012, where I stayed for two years. After that, I got another one. Due to some disagreements with the boss, I left after only two months. And then, I worked at this third company up to May/2015 (one year, one month) and then left it too, because of salary, too much overtime, lack of career perspective. I've been working at my current company for almost two months, and now I'm thinking about switching jobs again. Even though I like the place, people and salary, the commute isn't nice. I take about 1h20m by bus, one way (almost 3 hours a day, depending on traffic). In this new place, it'll be 10 minutes on foot. What I want to know is: What do recruiters think about people who hop from one job to another on such a short time? When asked about it during interviews, how to put it in a way that recruiters don't see such moves as some sort of flaw on the candidate? <Q> A couple years back, I worked at a company's communications department. <S> From time to time, I would help alphabetize the giant stack of resumes we had accumulated. <S> A few of these were from applicants who had switched jobs several times in less than a year. <S> These resumes had a note on them that said, in a nutshell, not to call those applicants because they switched jobs too often. <S> My guess is that, given the large overhead in hiring and training someone, companies would rather not have it all go to waste before the new hire is even productive, not to mention having to go through the process of finding yet another replacement for this position. <S> That said, being at one job for a couple months, then another for over a year <S> , then another job for a couple months isn't anything close to that level of unreliability. <S> If you get an interview and the interviewer asks why you left those jobs after only a couple months (and they will ask), be honest. <S> For your current job, it's even easier: everyone will understand that spending three hours a day on a commute leaves time for little else. <A> What do recruiters think about people who hop from one job to another on such a short time? <S> In general, they worry. <S> They worry that you will accept their job and leave after a short period of time. <S> They worry that you might never be satisfied. <S> They worry that you might be a high-maintenance type. <S> They worry that they will invest time, money, effort, and training in you, and will never recoup their investment, because you won't be around long enough. <S> When asked about it during interviews, how to put it in a way that recruiters don't see such moves as some sort of flaw on the candidate? <S> Explain to them why it wasn't your flaws that caused you to jump through four jobs in four years. <S> Your question doesn't explain that very well. <S> Explain to them why you will stick around in your next job. <S> Most importantly, research the companies and hiring managers you apply to more thoroughly. <S> While it might not be completely possible to forecast disagreements with the boss, you can certainly discern salary, overtime, lack of career perspective, and commute during the interview process. <S> That way you can convince the hiring manager that the issues that caused your job hopping in the past, won't apply this time. <A> In general, yes. <S> It is bad to frequently switch jobs. <S> I, a frequent job switcher, however, have learned some tricks to help turn this, in some situations, from a disadvantage to an advantage. <S> First, if you can, stick to contract work. <S> If you keep switching between full time permanent positions, that will reflect extremely badly on you. <S> If your work was on the surface just a contract, however, questions are not asked about why it was only a month long, even if it was supposed to be 3-6 months long. <S> Second, your experience gives you diversity. <S> You do good work, that's how you have found so many jobs. <S> If you can successfully keep attention off of the short terms and many positions, you can capitalize on the fact that you are not deeply rooted in one companies dogma, or the responsibilities of the single job you've had for 10 years. <S> You are a jack of all trades and highly adaptive with a wide scope of knowledge and practical experience. <S> 10 years into a LOT of job hopping caused by recessions and bad matches, never getting more than 3 years in the same position, I can find work with much more ease, and usually at a higher pay rate, than peers who have been dutifully at the same job since high school.
| Don't badmouth the boss who made you leave that first job, but say something about your difficulty fitting in with the company's culture and work environment so that the interviewer will get the picture.
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Should I list my boss as an emergency contact for college? I checked around the site and didn't find an answer to this (apologies if there's an answer I missed). Here's the situation: I attend one college as a student while working in academic support at another college. I work with students who depend on me to be present for regularly scheduled sessions throughout the semester. It'd mess them up pretty bad if something kept me from showing up for work. Every year, the college I attend makes us update our emergency contact (ICE) info. I have a long commute and I had a close call recently, so I've started thinking seriously about who needs to know if something happened to me. Needless to say, I'd want my boss to know ASAP, for her sake and for my students'. Up to now I've just filled in the ICE form with my parents' contact info, but I'm not sure I could count on them to remember to contact my boss, even if I write it down somewhere. Would it be weird to list my boss as an ICE contact with the college I attend so they can notify her if something happens to me? I feel like it's a sensible thing to do, but inexperience makes me wonder if I've overlooked some reason that it's a bad idea. Of course I'd let her know beforehand and double-check which phone number/etc. she'd prefer I give them. If it would be weird, what can I do instead to make sure someone contacts her if I'm incapacitated? <Q> Emergency contacts are normally people who are very close friends or relatives who can come collect you, bring clothes or personal items to hospital if needed, or notify other people. <S> Unless your boss is someone who fits this category, I would probably not list them as an emergency contact as it will probably make her very uncomfortable. <S> Use friends or family who can notify your boss if something happens. <A> No you shouldn't. <S> It's not a list of people to contact <S> should you fall ill. <S> Should anything happen that requires the university to use your In Case of Emergency (ICE) info, they will almost certainly stop after reaching the first person in the list who is available to help, rightly assuming that that person will contact other people or family members as necessary. <S> If you are worried about your ICE contacts not notifying your employer, you should draft your own ICE document . <S> That document should contain a brief medical history (allergies, known averse reactions to medications, blood type, ...), insurance info, family doctor, a list of people to contact should you be incapacitated and unable to reach out yourself, donor consent/refusal and location of your will if you're feeling fatalistic, and anything else you deem relevant. <S> Provide that document to all your ICE contacts <S> so they have everything they need <S> should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself in the hospital. <S> You may get some comments about being Crazy Prepared but if anything should ever happen you and your ICE contact will both be glad that you had this information available in one place. <A> Emergency contacts are usually wanted so the proper people can get in touch with those who would be helpful to you in case an unfortunate event were to happen to you. <S> I'm thinking stuff like you're unconscious in the hospital <S> and you need someone to make decisions. <S> Listing your boss, because she (and others) would be inconvenienced due to an emergency situation befalling you, seems to sort of be missing the point of why colleges ask for an emergency contacts list. <S> It'd probably annoy (or worse <S> : delay) <S> whomever was trying to get in touch with your next of kin during an emergency. <S> That being said, I think it's fine, and not weird if both parties agree.
| Emergency contacts should be reserved for family and close friends who will drop everything to help you out if something serious were to happen to you. You can ask your boss about it, and if you both feel that would be appropriate then all is good.
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What should a job-seeker know about job non-descriptions? I completed a phone screen that sounded somewhere between front-end web developer and "code monkey"; core competencies listed include HTML, CSS, jQuery, and some responsive design. (Note to those not particularly connected to web development: these are pretty much technologies expected of almost anyone doing that kind of work. "Our shop's preferred specialties" technologies tend to be more like you can see showcased at TodoMVC.com ) This may just be a sign the role was junior, but two subsequent paragraphs of the job description were: RESPONSIBILITIES: Accountable for developing software code and associated life cycle deliverables for PC and Mainframe applications. Interprets process, data modules, and business requirements into software code. Analyzes, designs, develops, implements and maintains moderate to complex computer programs and subsystems. Performs all of the steps required to design, test, and code such programs. Develops procedures and operating instructions, and successfully moves programs into production. Provides production support through problems analysis and resolution to correct deficiencies. Performs assignments under direct supervision. COMPETENCIES: Analyze problem or new request; design problem or new request resolution; familiar with SDLC methodologies; develop program specifications; design testing requirements; code modules according to specifications and client standards; prepare test plan and test modules; develop program and system documentation; conduct program and system implementation; maintain application production environment; respond and resolve production problems; and respond and resolve user inquiries. I have difficulty reading much more in this beyond "the decision was made to copy and paste boilerplate copy." Is there anything more to take besides this being a junior position and they don't have enough invested in it to consider it particularly important to write a useful job description? <Q> I have difficulty reading much more in this beyond "the decision was made to copy and paste boilerplate copy. <S> " <S> Is there anything more to take besides this being a junior position and they don't have enough invested in it to consider it particularly important to write a useful job description? <S> It's possible that they simply copied another job description and didn't tailor it adequately. <S> It's possible they didn't put much effort into the job description because this is just a junior position. <S> But for me, even junior positions are worth creating relevant descriptions. <S> It's more likely that they just aren't very good at creating written job descriptions. <S> Many hiring managers aren't good at that task. <S> And for some reason, few companies do a great job of training their hiring managers in the process of writing job descriptions, interviewing, negotiating, and writing job offers. <S> I don't really understand why, since these are rather important tasks. <A> I'd likely look at this the other way. <S> Some places can be very specific about what a developer will do where other tasks may be taken by different departments, e.g. there may be business analysts to gather requirements, system administrators to deploy solutions, quality assurance analysts to check for defects, where in the position you describe this could all be done by the same person which can be an important distinction. <S> Some people may want to be a generalist that handles everything from figuring out what to build, to building it, to testing it, to maintaining it. <S> Others may just want to do a specific piece of the overall puzzle. <A> Is there anything more to take besides this being a junior position <S> and they don't have enough invested in it to consider it particularly important to write a useful job description? <S> I would read it more as indicating that the people you will be working with have not been part of the process so far. <S> Hopefully the company is in the process of hiring a whole new team (and possibly their first ever team) so your co-workers and leaders don't exist yet. <S> Or they could simply be doing very generic work (viz, using a standard set of technologies across the company, and your team works for whoever has a need next). <S> Another optimistic possibility is that they're filling a number of vacancies across broadly similar roles and will pick a position for you once they see your CV (I have done this once, but it resulted in an even larger number of low-quality applications than usual). <S> A likely possibility is that they expect a deluge of applications for any junior position so they process is to grab the first 10 or so plausible-looking CVs from the stack, a couple of people discuss them and pick three to interview. <S> It's close to "we don't hire unlucky people", but it's a reasonable way to select a junior since you're not going to learn much from the CV or interview anyway. <S> What you want is someone who's not awful and has promise, then you see how they perform. <S> The negative options are many, so I'm not going to list them. <S> Unless the interview is going to be very difficult to get to, I don't see any harm in applying for the job. <A> Most job descriptions are not useful beyond the point of giving you a list of what technologies you'll be using and that they want you to be able to communicate. <S> During your interviews you have to find out what they're building, how they manage these projects and the role of the position you're applying. <S> Whether you like Scrum or not (as an example) you don't want to hear "we kind of use Scrum" or "we'd like to do more unit testing, but just don't have the time" or some other statements indicating they don't have their act together. <S> Get into whether or not their projects are on time. <S> How much mentoring you'll get as a junior developer or is everyone too busy putting out fires to offer any help. <S> In the most hectic shops, some people won't even be able to complete your interview without interruption <S> (Yes, I've had people do work during my interview "sorry, but we have an emergency" type stuff). <S> Find out what it is really like to work there. <S> Ideally, you get part of your interview where you can privately meet with someone close to your level. <S> You don't want them sitting next to their manager telling you how great everything is. <S> Ask you manager how you'll be evaluated and the frequency of feedback. <S> A good supervisor can be your savior even when working on an awful project for a terrible company.
| Go along to the interview with a list of questions written down and see if you can get answers.
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Got caught tweeting negatively about my company My company had a little team party about a month ago that was boring and horrible and I tweeted something bad about it. Later I was frustrated with a project and tweeted more bad stuff about the company. My mistake was that I included the company name in the one of the tweets. Today I got a message from my team lead who is also the CTO. He had seen my tweets and was asking what the issue was and that I should have discussed it in person with him or HR. I told him that my tweets might have been sent in frustration and I meant no harm towards the company. I immediately took the comments down and have made my profile private for now. I feel I am in trouble now, how to get around this situation? <Q> You apologize, you assure your lead that it won't happen again, and then you make sure it doesn't happen again. <S> And, as suggested by MattP, your apology should make it clear that you have removed the negative tweets <S> If there were going to be any direct and immediate consequences (e.g. if you were going to be fired for these negative tweets), it probably would have happened already. <S> So you're probably safe on that front. <S> You may well have damaged your lead's perception of you. <S> That's unfortunate, and if it is the case, all you can do is try to improve that perception over time by doing quality work. <S> And going forward, never forget, don't post stuff on the internet that you wouldn't be happy saying directly to someone's face. <A> I feel I am in trouble now, how to get around this situation? <S> You apologize (in person), indicate that you have learned a lesson, indicate that the offending tweets have already been taken down, and that you won't do it again. <S> In the future, you talk to the CTO or HR when you have an issue, rather than commenting publicly. <S> Everyone makes mistakes. <S> If this is the first one, and if you don't have a habit of repeating your mistakes it will likely blow over. <A> As far as how to deal with the negative exposure you gave to the company and whether that was warranted or not, I guess everything has already been said in other comments/answers. <S> What I read between your lines, though, is that you might have also gone a bit too far into a defensive stance. <S> You write: I was called by the HR <S> and she asked what made you tweet this. <S> (1) <S> Apparently the CTO has copied the tweets and sent to her and two of my supervisors. <S> I told her it was miscommunication among my supervisors and how I am the scapegoat when things go wrong for them. <S> (2) <S> As to (1):The way you put it, your HR department made an effort to understand what the issue was that made you tweet what you did. <S> This is (was?) <S> a chance for you to confront your company with what you felt would need improvement and for your company to act on it (you mentioned HR seeking "solutions"). <S> As to (2):This sounds like a total retreat on your part with blame going in all other directions but yourself in reaction to any confrontation. <S> Now you could argue that that was a very reasonable reaction to any circumstance that made you act the way you did, but if you refuse to explain what that circumstance is, then there is no way of settling this except for everyone walking away and realizing there is an unresolved dispute, is there? <S> Now in all of the above, I have no understanding of how different parts of your organization have communicated with you and what they gave you to understand. <S> Depending on what type of blame they have put on you, that might of course change the picture slghtly. <S> Still, I personally believe, as with any other problem, if a boat is filling up with water, you should not resort to discussing who stole the buckets, but rather find and patch the hole. <A> The best way to get around the situation is to find another job you might enjoy, because you don't seem to like this one, and you made sure everyone knows it. <S> Long term, you have likely destroyed your prospects at this company, so it's probably not a bad idea to move on. <S> On the other hand, if you clean up your mess, apologize, accept full responsibility for it (all blame is yours and yours alone), start acting in a more professional manner, and demonstrate that you have learned from this experience, you may be able to survive. <S> A lot depends on how valuable you are to the company. <S> The company must value you in some way, because you still have a job. <S> For now, just do your job and do it well. <S> Be professional in everything you do. <S> And keep your opinions to yourself. <S> If you feel compelled to share an opinion, make sure you do it to the right person in the right forum.
| I agree with the other posters that you might have done something that you maybe should not have done and that the blame clearly lies with you. Don't do anything controversial.
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What to do if refusing recruiters bluntly doesn't work anymore I have currently a job that I, for the first time of my employment history, really enjoy and I will probably be staying here for some year. I got this job through an online job search website. Upon being hired, I changed the settings of that account so that possible recruiters will know that I am now not actively looking for a job. Then one of my regular working days, a female recruiter phoned me and asking if I am willing to have a phone interview. I asked where they got my contact information, and they said that they got it from that website. I politely said that I am not looking for a job (like what is stated on my account) and politely declined her offer, but she insisted the interview. Since I'm on my break, I allow it, just to test if I can still manage to do a decent interview. Things on the interview gets random sometimes, and the I always point out to her that I am not looking for a job. After some 15 minutes, they asked me when is the date I can start to work. Wow, just wow. That is when I became angry and tell her that I AM NOT LOOKING FOR A JOB AT THE MOMENT . Then I ended the call. A day after, the same number called but a different caller. The caller asked for apologies his fellow recruiter done yesterday, and I said, it's alright, apology accepted, and I explained my side. And after a while he insisted if I want to work to their company and it goes on and on like the previous day. After I blocked that number, they managed to use another number to recruit me. My coworkers are now making this as a laughing matter and even my superiors, instead of being threatened to the fact some company wants to recruit one of their [precious] employee, found me shouting to my phone, hilarious. I found this annoying and serious to the point [ that after one week and this continues, ] I will report this to the authorities. This is the 4th incident. Edit: I forgot to mention they also keep sending messages on my personal email. <Q> Step two <S> : Remove your phone info from the resumes you post on all the other job search sites. <S> That limits all the future contacts to only using email. <S> Also don't include your phone number on your profile Step three: <S> Never respond to emails when you are not even thinking about looking for a job. <S> Step <S> Four: <S> When they call again. <S> Politely tell them to stop calling and to take you off their list. <S> Then hang up. <S> Step Five <S> : If they continue to call, remind them you have asked to be removed from the list. <S> And that at this point you will be recommending that coworkers and friends never work with the firm. <S> Don't let them talk you into talking longer. <S> They cold called you and got you to stay on the phone for 15 minutes. <S> When the call should have lasted 15 seconds. <S> Reporting them to the authorities may be more difficult. <S> In the US they may be able to argue that they have a business relationship with you. <S> They spent 15 minutes recruiting you for a job <S> and you almost took it. <S> The next day you did it again. <A> It's unlikely you can have any success reporting them to any authority. <S> You initially decided to interview with them, so it's not unreasonable for them to think that they might be able to convince you if they try hard enough. <S> Instead, keep blocking all calls from this company, and block their emails as well. <S> Once they stop getting responses from you, they'll move on to other more likely candidates (recruiters don't like to waste their time). <S> In the future, you might wish to refrain from cooperating with a recruiter when you don't actually want to be recruited. <A> The next time they call, be super friendly. <S> Tell them that you don't want to change jobs. <S> If they want to talk to you after that, ask them for their billing information to send them an invoice for the time they need talking to you. <S> Be adamant to not talk to them any further without that information. <S> At least for various types of marketeers, that normally ends the conversation quick and decisively. <A> I would like to add that I put my resume up on a site about 10 years ago, and even though it is "off" my old home phone numbers still "out there. <S> " I get calls like once in a blue moon from a recruiter and it still surprises me. <S> So just note, that once you get on those websites, your email and number goes out into the world. <S> When I posted on job sites, I made certain not to include my phone on any outward visible resume and only submitted a resume with my phone that can be directly given to companies. <S> Personally I dislike recruiters. <S> I'm still not sure how others get luck from them or if them calling is actually anything good at all. <S> All I know is each time I was contacted by them, they never follow through. <S> I don't politely ask them to not send email. <S> I simply ignore any email that starts with, "I'm a recruiter from..."
| Step one: Remove your info from that one particular job search site.
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Reference by previous employer I was recently made redundant and at the formal redundancy meeting, I was told that my previous employer would be happy to give me a reference. I have recently been offered a job in a company which is in competition with my previous employer and when my ex employer was asked for a reference for me, she refused to give one. My new position is now under threat. Am I able to do anything about this? <Q> when my ex employer was asked for a reference for me, she refused to give one. <S> My new position is now under threat. <S> Am I able to do anything about this? <S> You aren't able to force an ex-employer (or anyone for that matter) to provide a reference for you in my part of the world (US). <S> And it's not completely unreasonable to me that an ex-employer would not want to refer someone to a competitor <S> - it would be awkward to talk to them. <S> Perhaps a co-worker who was also made redundant, or an earlier employer would suffice. <S> Talk to your potential hiring manager, explain the situation and offer the alternative(s). <A> Your new position should not be under threat. <S> It's very uncommon for hiring managers to contact your current employer <S> so people who are searching for a job while still employed at their first one out of college routinely lack useful references. <S> Since you are not currently employed it's normal for them to ask for references <S> but the fact that your manager is refusing to give one says more about him and/or your former company than about you. <S> In your situation you have a few options: <S> Talk to your former manager and try to get him to reconsider . <S> Especially given that you were laid off it's very unreasonable for him to refuse a reference just because you're going to be working for a competitor. <S> Keep things neutral and professional and try to appeal to some basic human decency. <S> Preferably do this in person. <S> If your former company has a policy prohibiting giving references to competitors this won't work. <S> Get a reference from former colleagues . <S> Talk to people you worked with closely and ask them if they're comfortable giving you a strong reference. <S> Be prepared to hear no. <S> Again, a company policy might prevent them from giving a reference as long as they're employed there. <S> Note that these have less weight than a reference from a manager but they're better than nothing. <S> Find references outside your former company . <S> If you're active in volunteer work your contact there might be able to offer useful input. <S> Note that you should ask for a work reference, not a character reference. <S> The company is interested in your work ethic and behaviour in workplace-like environment, not what a generous person you are. <S> Explain the situation to your prospective employer and demonstrate your competence in other ways : performance reviews, significant raises or bonuses you received, proof of employment, ... <S> Also offer to talk more in-depth about your roles and work history. <S> Sadly, the effectiveness of this fall-back strategy will largely depend on whether you interview well . <S> Now, it's possible that this won't help and your new company is not willing to proceed without a reference as a matter of policy or because you're unable to convince them of your strength as a candidate. <S> That plain sucks <S> but there isn't much you can do about it if it comes to that. <A> It seems unreasonable to me that your potential new employer would expect a reference from one of their competitors. <S> Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about your former employer's attitude. <S> Explain to the recruiter that you did not expect this reaction, and try to find another reference. <S> It doesn't have to be an employer, it could be anyone you've worked with for a longer period of time. <S> What matters is that they have a certain level of credibility. <A> There is more than one kind of reference: <S> Does the new company require a 'reference' in terms of a personal and professional recommendation? <S> I can understand why your boss feels uncomfortable providing this reference, and there is likely little you can do other than discuss it with your boss and see if you can get to the cause of the issue or some kind of compromise. <S> Or do they simply require confirmation that you held the position you claimed, for the time you have stated? <S> Most companies only require the latter, and your boss may be willing do give you this type of reference. <S> This type of reference is much more formal, does not act as a recommendation, and is really just a way for companies to ensure their candidates are not lying on their application. <S> Check with both companies, and once you have that clearer position you can take it from there. <S> Generally, though, I would expect both companies to be able to compromise on the latter option.
| What you should do is provide an alternate reference in place of your ex-employer .
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How to deal with no evidence of skill in CV I majored in Visual Arts last year and I'm trying to get into a Master degree course. In the meantime I would like to get a job in the IT field (I may drop the master course if I find a good job, not the other way around) I'm self-taught with 4~5 years in Python and along the way I learned a bit of C# and C (not much). I'm very familiar with the language and that I can get into most frameworks that use it pretty fast (like Qt, Pandas, Django). I don't have any hard evidence of my competence. I mostly make programs to my personal use and to learn more about the language. I haven't learned any major framework (like Django) since I haven't found any personal use for them. I haven't done any course in IT or had any previous job in the field. I recently found a company ad here on StackOverflow Careers which doesn't have too many requirements and I would like to send my CV to them. If was to be interviewed I could show that I have some knowledge. But if I send my CV with no proof I know that it will be dished instantly. I'm not looking for a Senior or any highly skilled position. Just something basic that could bootstrap my way up. So I have two related questions, 1) in this imminent future (the company ad), how can I craft my CV to at least give me an attempt in the interview? and 2) for future attempts, what can I do in the meantime to increase my chances? A side question, would it be reasonable to email the company and explain my situation and try to work a way to show my experience? EDIT: Hilmar wrote. tailor your CV and your cover letter so that it clearly shows how you meet the requirements So, let me be more specific about this Ad I found. Most of the requirements are soft-skills, or hard to prove. Passion about coding Keen to work collaboratively Experience – or at least latent knowledge – with agile methodologies Good communication Development and delivery experience with Java, C#, Pyhton and/or Ruby. You'll have the chance to show us what you know in our hiring process; Analysis, design, coding and implementation of large-scale custom-built OO applications From those, only the last one I don't meet, since my projects are always small-scale. They also have some other skills that would be good to have (but not required). Good knowledge of design patterns, refactoring and unit testing; Experience working with Agile methods, including Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum and/or Kanban; Experience with picking and applying good software practices like test driven development (TDD), continuous integration and continuous delivery; Participation in the professional community as a speaker, author or online contributor. Those I mostly don't meet any, I know a bit about design patterns, I do a lot of refactoring and recently started unit testing.I have no experience on Agile methods, but I know what they are and I really would like to work on those.I kind new to TDD, I did a few projects with it, and never done any continuous integrationMy participation in the field is mostly on StackOverflow, I try to help as much as I can. Never done any presentation or authored anything. <Q> The major problem I see here is that you are studying Visual Arts, but you are seeking a job in the software development field. <S> I recently found a company ad here on StackOverflow Careers which doesn't have too many requirements and I would like to send my CV to them. <S> This looks like a junior role. <S> The "problem" with juniors is that we want them to grow, so we don't bet on them, we invest on them. <S> Therefore, the question I'd ask you is: if I invest on you, are you going to give back, or are you going to leave for another job in the Visual Arts field? <A> Create a Web site to showcase three projects - source code and documentation. <S> Put that on cv as portfolio. <S> Customise cv with job and outline in cover letter <S> the overlap between project and role <A> Firstly, find some specific job openings to actually apply for. <S> Each job description will list a set of requirements. <S> Assess carefully what requirements are and check if you meet them or not. <S> Doesn't need to be 100% but less than 75% or missing a key requirement is probably a problem. <S> Then apply, tailor your CV and your cover letter so that it clearly shows how you meet the requirements (or not as the case may be). <S> You can put it on a website and link to it. <S> So each job comes with requirements, and you either meet them or you don't. <S> As long as you can show that you meet them, you should be good to go. <S> If you don't, there is no point in applying.
| Plow through job search web sites and study the websites of companies that you are interested in and that may have use for your skills. If you can, include examples or some proof of your work.
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Should I correct my coworkers' language mistakes? I'm not a native English speaker, but I still notice some basic mistakes in grammar, pronunciation and wordings when my colleagues are talking to customers. But when I try to correct them, they rudely tell me not to do so. Their argument is that they don't need to speak perfect English, it just needs to be good enough for the customer to understand them. Admittedly, I'm just an intern who will quit this job when school starts up again, so my opinion probably doesn't matter to them. Should I keep pressing the matter or ignore it? <Q> If it isn't broken, don't fix it. <S> Your colleagues have been working with the customer longer than you have, and if the customers are okay with the imperfect English, then you shouldn't meddle with it too much. <S> You have shared your knowledge with them, let them decide if they want to consider your feedback or not. <S> Be aware that every person has their own priorities, and improving English might not be your colleague's highest priority. <S> You also need to assess the benefits of the so-called improvement against the efforts required to achieve it. <S> Would the improved English significantly benefit the customer, your company or your colleagues? <S> The answer is probably no. <S> Focus your time and energy on something else which benefits them. <A> But when I try to correct them, they rudely tell me not to do so. <S> That settles it. <S> Their argument is that they don't need to speak perfect English, it just needs to be good enough for the customer to understand them. <S> You're not their manager. <S> You're the intern. <S> It doesn't matter (even if you're right). <S> Most likely, you're a student, and you'll probably be moving to a higher paying job once you graduate, and those colleagues will probably be at that company long after you're gone. <S> Even if you tattle on them to management, in a misguided attempt to feel important, the owner/manager of the company will side with the long-term employees. <S> Most likely, management already knows how your colleagues speak to customers, and they've already decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting. <S> Let your colleagues be. <S> Knowing when to shut up is very important (even if you happen to be right). <S> Not that I know if you're right or not, I don't know that. <S> I'm just assuming that you're right for the sake of argument. <S> If management has decided not to micromanage them, then it's not your place to micromanage any of them either. <S> If you continue trying to prove your case, to any of them or to management, those colleagues will just end up mistreating you and bullying you. <A> What seem to you to be mistakes may be common usages that you are not familiar with. <S> For example, in colloquial spoken American English, adjectives may be used to modify verbs in place of adverbs: " <S> He wrote it good." <S> rather than "He wrote it well.".
| In addition to the existing answer, consider the possibility that your colleagues may be better speakers of the local dialect of spoken English than you are. It doesn't matter.
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How do I express to my interviewer that I'm looking for mentorship? It is difficult for me to articulate the benefits I've received by simply asking a senior developer for advice with regards to a specific aspect of my craft. More than just telling me the "correct way to do things," often times, they fill this essential gap that can't be filled by looking through tutorials or articles: that we don't know what we don't know, and how can we search for a feautere/language/technique/idiom/pattern to learn more about it when we don't know it exists or the problem it solves? Also, I found it particularly useful to learn how to be more pragmatic than theoretical at my job as a developer, and I enjoy it a lot more because of this. As a consequence of this, I consider it absolutely essential that I have a mentor (I'm still a junior dev) at any potential job I get in the near future, at least. How do I express to my potential employer that I am looking for mentorship from their more senior team members, without sounding like my skills are lacking or that I'm not independent? <Q> Meetings, meetings, meetings <S> If you have any concerns about your workplace, always vocalize your issues to HR or your manager. <S> If you would like more help from a senior developer, definitely make meetings with them to help you as opposed to just dropping by their office. <S> It is important for them to get to know to understand what they can help you with. <S> If your supervisor does not have time or does not want to, again, talk to HR. <S> They can point you in the direction of someone who does have time or they will talk to management about a mentor for you. <S> Becoming friends <S> A senior developer will be more inclined to help you if they like you! <S> Hopefully they love what they do and should be happy to talk to you about it. <S> They've been in the same position that you are in and have also needed a mentor/teacher in the past. <S> Don't explicitly say that you want a mentor <S> but if you feel comfortable, spend one on one time with them and ask any questions that you might have. <A> How do I express to my potential employer that I am looking for mentorship from their more senior team members, without sounding like my skills are lacking or that I'm not independent? <S> Mentorship directly may get lip service that I'd likely suggest backing up a bit and asking about the environment. <S> How many developers are in the team? <S> How much interaction do they have? <S> Does the company use pair programming? <S> There are some areas where in getting the number or <S> a yes <S> and no answer could be useful. <S> If you are talking with a developer in the company, then I'd ask about mentors to see if they are walking the talk here as those already in the company could be a useful gauge where you may want to pay more attention to how things are said rather than what is said. <S> Thus, I'd be inclined to do some work in writing out what work environment you prefer and then work with recruiters that could help provide that situation rather than trying to do it all alone. <A> Leah gives some great advice. <S> These are great steps to take once your inside the company. <S> If you don't have an offer yet, then the best thing to do is stay quiet. <S> Interviewing has two stages, the interview process and the offer process. <S> During the interview process the company is completely in control. <S> They are looking for a reason as to why you are not a good fit. <S> During this time you need to focus on answering their questions and your questions should be focused on reinforcing your fit (things like asking how your role will help the interviewer, what are major technical challenges you would be working on, etc.) <S> If you get to the offer stage, then they've decided they want you. <S> This is the point where you can ask about benefits. <S> That would include asking about formal or informal mentorship programs.
| Try to hang out with him during lunch and perhaps weave some coding conversations in there.
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Disengaging from non-constructive conversations Lots of people in my office seem to like giving me advice but sometimes not on productive matters. For example, someone spent 30 minutes telling me about why I need to be more general when it comes to programming and learn a particular package. How do you get someone like this off your case? I try to say as little as possible and agree but sometimes I'm stuck in a conversation for 30+ minutes. How do you convey the topic isn't productive? In this case the person focused on a detail instead of looking at the broader picture. Plus, it's unlikely that my employer is going to give me time off work to learn the suggested skill. <Q> I need to be more general when it comes to programming and learn GIS <S> I find this advise from your co-worker to be a bit contradictory, if not confusing. <S> GIS is kind of a pretty specific branch of Information Systems. <S> It requires some pretty specific technical knowledge and terminology. <S> Unless your company is a GIS company, or related to it, I don't understand why he would suggest this to you. <S> Or is this just a hobby or passion of his, that he's trying to "evangelize" others onto? <S> Depending on your niche in the software industry and the type of company that you work for, GIS can be pretty important or completely irrelevant. <S> I know very smart and experienced senior devs who have probably never had to learn anything about GIS, not because it's not an interesting field but because it just hasn't been a skill they've needed to do their jobs or projects (whether personal or not). <S> If you're ever stuck on a long conversation with this person about GIS, just say that "You have X thing you have to get back to work for." <S> Just be polite but firm about it. <A> Them: <S> You should do X because A, B, C... <S> You: <S> OK, well right now I need to do Y, so I'm going to get back to that, but good to know you're the person to talk to about X. <S> Or, if you haven't got something quite as urgent, Them: You should do X because A, B, C... <S> You: <S> Thanks for your advice on X <S> , I'll make a note of it. <S> Do you mind if I look that up / try that out and get back to you? <S> Them: <S> OK, but <S> what you need to know is... <S> You: <S> I think I'll need to a look for myself, then I'll be able to follow what you're saying. <S> [Go back you your desk, and write down X, then resume work.] <S> Or, if you can't look it up on your own, Them: <S> You should do X because A, B, C... <S> You: <S> Thanks for your advice on X, if we ever get more time, we might look into it. <S> Them: X will save you time because... <S> You: <S> OK, well, I'd still need to run that past my boss, but I'll write that down. <S> Or, if you already know enough Them: You should do X because A, B, C... <S> You: <S> Thanks for the tip, in our case though, we've already concluded that X isn't an option. <A> To end a conversation that has grown unproductive, it is best to make sure <S> the person(s) know that you've heard what they have to say and will consider it. <S> Assuming you've let them know your initial thoughts on the subject, it is completely reasonable to say, "I hear you John, and I'll give it some thought. <S> For now, I've got to get back to work on Project X." <S> Then, most importantly, actually think about it/do some research. <S> It is always possible that you'll learn something new. <S> At worse, you will be able to tell the person that you did the research, but don't think their idea will work in your situation. <A> There are several methods for cutting unwanted conversations short. <S> Here is one i find quite effective: <S> This invites anyone to get comfortable and talk at length about whatever their heart desires. <S> Second, stand up when someone starts one of these conversations. <S> This is a cue to the other person and they often won't realize that you are cutting them short. <S> Lastly, walk out of your office to go get some coffee/water. <S> Usually if you do this then they will be done talking by the time you get back. <S> If they stick around don't sit down until they leave. <S> I go as far as standing in the doorway to my office so they can't come in and get comfortable. <S> This method works and the person talking is usually oblivious to your motive. <S> I like it because it is completely nonconfrontational
| In my experience, people will respect that you took their input seriously (even if you decided to not use it), and once in a while you'll find your own views changing based on suggestions which initially appeared unproductive. First off, if you have an extra chair in your office, remove it.
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Can an employer cut an employee's pay on a whim? Is it ever appropriate for an employer to force an employee to take a pay cut for performance-related reasons in a technical field, even if the employer relies on subjective evaluations and refuses to implement more objective employee performance benchmarks? <Q> On the one hand, 85% of my salary is still enough to survive, but on the other hand, the market rate for my position is about 120% of my original salary. <S> Plus, this whole fiasco raises serious questions about the company's trustworthiness and ethical outlook. <S> What should I do? <S> If it were me, I'd do the following: <S> Start looking for a new job <S> immediately Delay my response to the supervisor and partners as long as possible Resist taking a pay cut as long as I thought I could <S> If it seems inevitable, negotiate a lesser pay cut When forced to do so, accept the cut in salary Resign the moment I found another job that I liked and that met my market rate <S> If your understanding of the supervisor and partner motivation is correct, and your assessment about your market value is correct <S> , I agree with the questions raised by this sort of action. <S> At a minimum, the company doesn't know how to hire good people at the relevant prices. <S> At worst, there is something else going on here that they aren't divulging. <S> It's not the kind of place I'd want to be, so I'd remain on their payroll only as long as it took me to find a better job. <A> The easiest way to counter this, what i consider to be very disrespectful and unprofessional behavior, is to ask what criteria your performance is being judged on, why it is considered not productive enough, e.g. what deadlines or performance goals you are missing and for a formal review in writing. <S> Either they have performance metrics they can/are measuring you on <S> or they do not, based on your original question I would guess they do not and are just taking their chances. <S> But what ever you do, start looking for another job immediately. <A> Tell your supervisor that you thought about it, and it would be a much tougher decision if he takes a 20% paycut himself. <S> That should impress his management a lot more. <S> If he doesn't like the idea, keep insisting on an explanation what would be bad about that idea. <S> What you should do <S> : Start looking for another job immediately, because you and your supervisor cannot both stay at that company. <S> By the way, put your work efforts down to normal. <S> Your supervisor doesn't appreciate it, and you are only killing yourself. <S> Your goal shouldn't be to make enough to survive. <S> Once in my long history a potential employer asked me how much I would need to survive. <S> I gave him an honest answer, added that I would want twice as much to work for him, and he accepted. <S> So if you accept the fact that you and your supervisor are not both staying at that place, tell the partner that you had enough of that nonsense, and you want either a 10% rise or you'll be finding a better job elsewhere. <S> Look, the fact that you even consider working for less indicates to that partner that your supervisor is telling the truth. <S> Asking for 10% more makes it blatantly clear that your supervisor is clueless. <A> Going straight to a pay cut with no performance discussion is just odd. <S> A pay cut in general is just odd. <S> If you were hired into one position and did not perform and they offered another lower level position and told you the pay for new position is lower then maybe. <S> You are doing the job your were hired into and they have not given any performance issues other than not productive enough. <S> You know your performance has increase but your supervisor still suggested you have not improved. <S> They should be telling you specific expectations of the position you are not performing and help you improve. <S> Not fair but not much <S> you can do about it. <S> Stay calm and find a new job. <A> Yes, you should be looking for a new job if that's how they're treating you. <S> In the meantime, there are two people you need to speak to. <S> Your Union Rep. <S> They should be able to explain to you your legal rights in this situation - and whether they can offer any assistance. <S> The HR department. <S> Talk to them about the company's policy on pay and performance. <S> It is entirely reasonable for them to say that your pay is related to performance - but it has to be contractual and legal. <S> While looking for a new job, find an employment lawyer (your union can help with this) and look at whether this constitutes Constructive Dismissal . <S> All that said, <S> if you don't want to look for a new job - ask your boss to put down in writing <S> exactly what performance goals the company expects of you. <S> E.g. answering all customer queries within 30 minutes, receiving no negative feedback from suppliers etc. <S> Only when you know what they want, can you understand if you truly are underperforming. <A> Do not take a pay cut. <S> Your are only 12 weeks into the job. <S> They should tell you what to improve on and give you an opportunity to do that. <S> This is unfair and I would suggest get that CV to other companies.
| The only way I would actually take a pay cut is if they actually had a formal performance review and could show me that i wasn't actually performing at a high enough standard based on productivity metrics.
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Pay rise at current role after new employer matched salary - should I ask for it to be matched again? I've just recently signed my contract for my new position. The new position is with a government agency (UK) and works on a specified salary banding system. My current pay is higher than the lowest pay point on the band for the new position, so I asked for the new employer to match my salary (moving me slightly up the pay band). They agreed to this - as per their policy - and I sent them my pay slip, then signed the contract stating that figure. A couple of weeks later, and my current company had given all employees a not insignificant (~5%) pay increase, which would have matched me at least one pay point higher with the new employer. While I understand that I've signed the contract, so the new employer has no obligation to match the new salary, I'm wondering whether to bring it up anyway. I don't want to be seen as a money grabber, but at the same time a 5% increase is a significant sum for me (6 years off my mortgage, for example, if I used it to over pay). Obviously I wouldn't mention the personal reasons, but I'm wondering about how reasonable it is to inquire about matching against the new salary. What are some potential implications of asking for an increase at this time? Am I likely to find any success, or am I simply running the risk of upsetting my new manager? I made it clear to my new manager when initially asking for the salary match that I was willing to accept the position without it, and there's no threat of me turning down the new role if they do not agree: even if I hadn't signed a new contract. My only concern is souring the relationship or giving my manager worries that I'll be willing to jump ship for more money in the near future (I very emphatically am not) As a final point, when I gave my salary originally on the application, the amount stated was for the current higher salary, not the one they originally matched. Or in short: would it be considered reasonable or unprofessional to return to the subject of salary due to a raise at my current position? Note: this is very specifically different to a typical salary negotiation during recruitment. The company does NOT negotiate on salary in the traditional sense. A position has a set pay band and a new hire starts at the bottom of the band. However there is a specific stated policy to match a recruit's salary. This is why I ask the question, as it is very different from the typical interview-offer-negotiate-contract cycle I'm used to, where previous salary is not relevant. The question is perhaps really better described as: Does the usual 'don't return to the negotiating table' form still apply to these circumstances? <Q> would it be considered reasonable or unprofessional to return to the subject of salary due to a raise at my current position? <S> [major edit based on your new information] <S> I've never heard of a company who decided initial salary based solely on the new employee's prior salary. <S> Very odd in my experience. <S> Based on this, I would go back to your new company with your new information. <S> Let them know of your recent pay raise and ask if they would revise their offer accordingly. <S> Don't treat it like a renegotiation (it isn't), but rather as new information you think they'd like to know. <S> You never know, there may be a clause in their policy that deals with this situation. <S> Or they may feel it is equitable to give you more. <S> Worst case you'll just end up where you are. <A> You already negotiated and the new employer accepted. <S> The time for negotiations is over. <S> If you come back asking for more money again at this point, you are showing them that your agreement doesn't mean much and will put your trustworthiness in question. <S> Additionally, they might change their mind about the contract and cancel it all together because of this. <S> Chalk this up to bad timing. <S> Work hard at the new employer and come raise time (or contract renewal) you should be able to negotiate more money based on solid performance instead of what you could have been making at your old employer. <A> I could imagine such a scenario with government agencies here. <S> They have a fixed pay for a position based on number of years with them and pay-grade for the position. <S> What they do to match your pay and get the talent is give you bonus-years to you get further up in the pay-scale. <S> In such a scenario your contact usually does not care what you get in the end, because the organisation pays for it. <S> He just needs a justified reason to raise the number, so an new payslip may just be that reason and you could be lucky. <S> This is not a negotiate then, but a technicality and it is usually ok to ask about those. <S> Side note: <S> In any traditional sense of a salary negotiation, you´d come across as as playing out the position against each other. <S> Normally you want to project the image that you do it for the interesting opportunity and the money is just the fair remuneration the market usually pays for this. <S> In that case I would have advised against renegotiating. <A> So, maybe you take a role at a prestigious company, or doing something that will help you earn more money in a year or two (or help with a career change, i suppose). <S> i suppose you can take a pay cut for the reasons above in 1, but that's really more for a career change, or to get experience in something that really makes bank. <S> So i don't have a clue why you've taken a new job. <S> But you have. <S> And now you're earning less. <S> You're probably going to get ticked off by this, so I would think about looking for new roles immediately. <S> As to actually asking for more money - this is where things get tricky. <S> The best advice is to always have another job lined up when you go to ask for more money - there is actually a competitive pressure then. <S> You can try now, but there is a risk they'll renege on the contract. <S> I don't think it is a realistic risk, but it is there. <S> More likely, unless you are prepared to walk away for this 5% pay-rise, there isn't any reason for them to give it to you . <S> This is a call you have to make, of course. <S> Asking for more money is a good way to get respect, actually. <S> A realistic, sane manager might even appreciate a staff member who is hungry for more money, but this depends on the industry. <S> What matters is you've got a 5% pay-rise. <S> Look for other jobs now, use that as leverage to get more money this time, and leave these bozos off your CV if you get a job fast enough!
| don't ever take a role that doesn't increase your salary, unless the role itself increases future salary.
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How to appear confident while still being modest? I have been accomplishing quite a bit in my role and moving up the ranks quickly. I love my job and am proud of the work I do. Sometimes my boss and my boss's boss make comments about my performance in casual conversation and I don't know how to acknowledge the fact that I'm a high contributor while still coming off as modest. Do I change the subject? Just say thank you and move on? <Q> I find simply saying "Thank You! <S> I love what I do. <S> " goes a long way toward being modest. <S> It also shows them you are happy and engaged, which will make any boss happy. <A> I agree with Brian - accepting a complement is fine if you gracefully say thank you. <S> Outside of that, I tend to use 'we' a lot, even when I really mean 'I'. <S> It might not be great in an interview, but I think responding to a request with 'Oh yes, we can get that sorted for you' sounds confident without sounding cocky - it also makes you a team player. <S> 90% of the time the relevant people know who is doing what anyway. <A> Wonderful question, and my answer will depend on your culture. <S> If by "modest" you mean "not immodest" then good. <S> (Beware that excessive modesty can undermine your career.) <S> In American culture the following physical behaviors can signal confidence, according to The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression (a resource I use when teaching Emotional Intelligence to engineers) - this is an abbreviated list, partly paraphrased: <S> Strong posture (shoulders back, chest out, chin high) Walking with wide steps <S> Strong hygiene and personal grooming Direct eye contact <S> An easy smile Appearing relaxed <S> A strong handshake <S> Obviously you will want to behave in ways that convey confidence in your culture. <S> While the other advice here is excellent -- saying "thank you" is always good -- I would also suggest you consider where you want to go in your career. <S> You seem proud of advancing quickly. <S> and I love growing and pushing myself to higher levels, and you've really supported me by giving me stretch assignments. <S> I'm hoping you'll continue." <S> (Or whatever feels truthful to you.) <S> When you connect your success with the fact that they've given you increasing responsibility, you're inviting them to continue to increase their trust in you. <S> And THAT shows confidence. <S> ;-)
| You might consider thanking your boss and your boss's boss, AND adding: "I've done well because I have great teammates
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Why do some companies not allow part time second jobs? I would like to take up a part time second job as a tutor, but our company policy says we are not allowed to do so even on days off or after work hours. I would like to know why companies wouldn't allow part time second jobs, after work hours. Is it common for companies to have such a policy? (from a comment below) I just started 2 weeks ago. I do not like their policies and very strict rules, not being able to access the internet in the office and no grace period even just one minute of tardiness. It pays below minimum too and the job is unbearably boring. I can be hard-working and very focused when the job is interesting and pays better. Guess I have to let go of this company and find better company with better and more flexible polices. <Q> In other threads about (unreasonable demands of employers for long) weekly working time I have replied that a 40 hour working week is the most effective way of working. <S> It has been proven that people working 60 hours a week actually produce less in results than others working only 40 hours. <S> So if your own company gave you a 20 hour job on the side after your 40 hour job, they would actually pay more to get less done. <S> If they force employers to do unpaid overtime, they still get less done but they don't care because it doesn't cost them money, that's why it happens. <S> If you do a 20 hour job on the side elsewhere, then you will get likely a lot less done in the 40 hours of your main job. <S> I wouldn't be happy with that as an employer. <A> just to be clear these are not necessarily my thoughts <S> but I can provide some answers from the company point of view for you. <S> The first reason is that a company may expect you to work beyond the minimum hours or effort. <S> If you have other projects or duties, there will likely come a time where your performance at one or both will be affected by time or mental strain. <S> The second major reason is conflict of interest. <S> While it's not always the case, most people who have a side job will be using similar skills to their main occupation. <S> Whether that is coding, SEO, IT support, trading or painting houses... <S> So what happens if you come across a client that could be serviced by job A OR job B? <S> Also you should be mindful that some employers or colleagues may take it as a sign that you do not enjoy or value your main work. <S> If you are keen to do extra then I would think about your reasons why and also any questions or objections that your main employer may have. <S> Be ready to address them when you have the discussion, but be fully prepared to accept that most companies might not allow it for any of the reasons above or others. <S> Hope <S> this helps you understand from the other side. <A> There can be lots of specific reasons (many company specific <S> so I voted to close), but here is one reason why from my own experience. <S> I had a full time employee who had an extracurricular job doing slimming classes a couple of nights a week. <S> We worked 9-5, her job rarely involved overtime etc <S> so <S> no issue right? <S> I noticed her productivity went down (and wasn't too hot to start with), ĺots of time on calls (to users you would think), lots of work from home requests. <S> When I looked into it, although the club was a couple of hours twice a week, that was the tip of the iceberg: <S> Constant emails from her own email to prospective clients, venues, the club management etc calls were to clients as follow up work from home to facilitate club related activities <S> But the main thing was, the part time role was THE FOCUS of her interests, not the main job, so primary interest was there, and the main job just paid the bills (she was 10years+ into the main job, so hard to shift without lots of documented proof of poor performance which had never been kept prior to me taking over). <S> So you don't need to be a conflict of interest, or working lots of hours, doing a second job can still be detrimental.
| It does also depend quite a bit on what your primary and secondary work is...
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Deciding on a career path in IT I'm in a situation I find pretty typical for a lot of my friends right after they graduate and work for a year or two. I'm a junior developer and for the most part I like my job a lot. However, I have a lot of interests outside of just software engineering, and before I commit to being a career developer I would like to try other roles like system administrator, network engineer, security analyst, or solutions architect. Given though that salary is based on years experience it seems silly that I would basically spend 6 or 7 years in entry level positions in each of these fields until I decide on which one to pursue. So my question is, what are some good ways to get acquainted with other parts of IT professionally? Should I seek certifications in these fields while still employed as a dev to get a flavor for the work? Is freelancing or working a second job a good idea? Do I need to just try each job one at time and take the pay cut? Or are there more options? <Q> Your best bet is probably working for a very small company. <S> If the IT dept is only one or two people, a Jack of All Trades Master of None, type person is exactly who they'll be looking for. <S> If you're employed in a more conventional role, doing IT for a charity on evenings/weekends is another option to get your feet wet in other areas. <A> However, I have a lot of interests outside of just software engineering, and before I commit to being a career developer I would like to try other roles like system administrator, network engineer, security analyst, or solutions architect. <S> Are you sure that as a developer you won't do any system administration, network configuration, security work troubleshooting issues or project planning? <S> In small companies, a developer may well have to where almost all the IT hats one can wear in my experience and some of the more high up formal roles like architect may well require some experience as a developer to know the SDLC well. <S> So my question is, what are some good ways to get acquainted with other parts of IT professionally? <S> Should I seek certifications in these fields while still employed as a dev to get a flavor for the work? <S> Is freelancing or working a second job a good idea? <S> Do I need to <S> just try each job one at time and take the pay cut? <S> Or are there more options? <S> In smaller companies, developers may well do some of the work of the other roles you noted in my experience. <S> If you work in bigger companies where roles are more siloed, then I'd suggest asking co-workers if they could describe their work and if you could shadow their work to some extent. <S> I do think at times if you expect that developers don't do testing or network configuration you may well be in for a rude shock at some point though I've been a software developer for 17 years and done pretty much any role within IT with the exception of CIO. <A> Are you a recent university graduate? <S> Try googling for "Graduate Programs" to see the options that are out there. <S> It's worth noting that job scopes in corporate environments can have a very focused scope, however, so don't assume that a sysadmin role in a small company would be the same as a similar role in a corporate environment, or vice versa. <S> I find working as a developer in smaller companies to be highly stimulating, but working as a dev in a larger company was one of the most boring experiences I've ever had. <S> Others loved it, so it's all down to personalities.
| In the UK, and possibly other places, larger corporate companies have graduate employee programs where you sign on for a longer period of time, e.g. two years, but them do one job for a certain amount of time, before switching to another, allowing you to try out several of the different career paths.
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How to deal with a lying customer? I'm a freelancer and deal mostly with web, a client of mine has hired me to deal with a monthly newsletter: improve the deliverability and the message itself, I signed up for a popular online service (don't know if I can say the name) made a template for them to use with it, imported the mailing list they had and showed them how to use the service, deliveries and opens skyrocketed and the cost lowered over 50%, the client was so happy with the results we signed a contract with a monthly fee to manage this service and do other jobs related to web development and consulting. All fine and good until this one guy who works at this company, I believe he was the one who hired the previous service, began complaining about not receiving the mails. So I logged into the management software and there it was - the guy had reported the message as SPAM, the first time I removed his email from the spam list - resend and when I asked him if the message were getting through he told me it went into the spam folder, ok... the second time , again he complained about the message, but this time he opened the message just to send it to spam again, I hate to assume the worst of people, but now I'm sure he's doing it on purpose, because the software uses the images in the email to register when a user opens the message. It's obvious that he's lying, but I don't want to create a conflict inside the client - he appears to be a good accountant , what is the best way to gracefully deal with such a situation. <Q> It's obvious that he's lying, but I don't want to create a conflict inside the client - he appears to be a good accountant , what is the best way to gracefully deal with such a situation. <S> Talk with whoever is your direct contact ("boss") within the client. <S> Presumably this is someone with more technical knowledge than the problem accountant. <S> Explain that there must be some confusion, but that one accountant seems to be having problems handling spam correctly. <S> Offer to help your boss work with the accountant to explain how to properly handle the emails. <S> Perhaps if your boss would walk over to the accountant's desk, the accountant could show your boss what he was doing while you were on the phone, and together you could all correct the issues. <S> That could avoid a conflict, and would be a graceful way to handle it. <A> This is a question on how to deal with lies. <S> But you've asked the wrong question. <S> It should be a question on how to deal with your belief that a client is lying. <S> In fact, you are metaphysically incapable of telling the difference (in this example) between him being profoundly confused vs. deliberately deceitful. <S> You might be EXTREMELY CONFIDENT <S> you are right, but this is still a red herring. <S> How should any of us handle it when we believe someone is lying to us? <S> There is exactly one answer that works every time: assume positive intent. <S> Assume positive intent. <S> WHY THIS WORKS <S> This works brilliantly for three reasons. <S> If he's actually merely stupid, you've NOT falsely accused him. <S> You can move on to solve the technical problem. <S> You've avoided creating a new and very dangerous problem. <S> An honest stupid person can become VERY upset with your false accusation and cause you a lot of trouble. <S> If he's actually a liar, he'll pretend not to be. <S> You're still free to move on to solve the technical problem. <S> By not outing him, you avoid his need to hide his dishonesty by pretending to be an honest stupid person, fake being upset, and cause you a lot of trouble. <S> You come off as super nice and reasonable to bystanders. <S> (If you start "gathering evidence to prove he's a liar" you start to smell toxic to others.) <S> HOW TO DO IT <S> In this case, screen share. <S> Have him share his screen with you as you send him an email, and watch (and record) <S> him opening and handling the email. <S> Odds are excellent <S> he's hitting the spam button by mistake. <S> Oh, and get your actual client to agree that since 99% of recipients are getting their emails just fine, this guy's problem is not your problem. <S> WHY ASSUME POSITIVE INTENT? <S> When choosing between assuming honest error and malice, bystanders are VERY upset to see anyone assume malice. <S> They fear being treated the same way. <S> And 99% of the time, it really is honest error. <S> Einstein is supposed to have said that even the universe is finite -- only stupidity is infinite. <A> It's not obvious to me that he's lying, and it's irrelevant if he is. <S> Follow professional protocols and either remote in somehow and try and sort it out, or get the clients IT to work with you if you can't go there yourself. <S> It's not actually your problem at the end of the day, if you can verify that the mail is being sent correctly. <S> The onus is on the other side to find out why they're not receiving it. <S> I can't think of anything worse than getting into a personal conflict and accusing anyone over something so easy to verify. <S> It's not productive nor is it professional.
| Basically, make it sound like "it must just be an honest mistake" rather than a lie or stupidity on the part of the accountant. You get him to cooperate by asking him to help you "debug his spam filter."
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After a phone interview, is it okay to ask HR what the technical questions I was asked during the phone interview were? I recently finished a phone interview and was requested to come in for a second interview on Tuesday. I just finished scheduling the second interview for Tuesday. I was asked 4 technical questions during the phone interview. I remember the 1st and 4th question but the 2nd and 3rd question was regarding a software whose name I cannot find on Google (I took note of the software name which I was not familiar with, but after I got home and researched about the software, I didn't find anything so I'm assuming I heard the name incorrectly). With that said, is it okay for me to email HR right now (the person who interviewed me) and ask them what the questions were? Edited for clarification. <Q> No this is not appropriate and will make you look bad. <S> If I was a hiring manager and HR forwarded this on to me I would not be impressed. <S> By asking you are telling me that your communication skills are lacking because you left a meeting (our interview) without all the information you needed. <S> You should have taken notes during your interview if this was important. <S> Good note taking is an important business skill as well <S> , there is no way you will remember everything from a meeting. <S> Also, don't be pecking away on a keyboard for these notes either. <S> It's distracting in a face to face meeting and on a phone screen it will sound like you are googling up the answers. <A> is it okay for me to email HR right now (the person who interviewed me) and ask them what the questions were? <S> Likely, the interviewer doesn't even remember the specific questions that were asked. <S> Additionally, you are basically telling the interviewer "I can't remember four questions for a day. <S> I wasn't on top of things enough to jot them down during my phone interview earlier today. <S> And I don't want to go through the work of doing some research online to see if it jogs my memory." <S> While the interviewer might be willing and able to give you the questions that were asked, I don't think the negative impression that you might leave by asking would be worth the risk. <A> A slightly different answer. <S> With that said, is it okay for me to email HR right now? <S> No, don't do this! <S> The other option would be for me to search online what the name of the software was <S> Don't do this either. <S> If you are really that curious, just bring it up in your second interview. <S> You clearly gave enough correct answers that they want to interview you again. <S> If you were giving those answers of the top of your head, it isn't that surprising that you wouldn't remember what the questions actually were. <S> If somebody asked you where a particular street was on your way to work this morning, and you instantly knew the answer, you would be hard pressed a day or so later to remember that street. <S> I think the same principle applies here. <S> If, in the course of an interview, you are asked about something which you know <S> really well, it's not unreasonable to think that you will go into autopilot and not really think about your answer, but still give the correct answer, and it wouldn't be a memorable event later on.
| It's certainly okay to ask , but I wouldn't expect a great outcome if you do.
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Is it ethical to leave right on time to catch a bus? So I have been at my current job for just over three months now and am loving where I work. Just recently I have had to start taking the bus in to the office both in the morning and at night. This bus ride is about an hour each way. When I take the bus in the morning, the one that will get me to the office on time gets me there at 8:00am. The normal start time for the company is 8:30am. I begin work right once I get in the office. At night the buses that I must take work on a tightly wound schedule to each other. One comes at 5:02pm and would make sure I catch the 5:40 bus at home and I will be home by 6. Now if I miss that one I won't get one the first bus until 5:20 causing me to get to the other stop at 6 and the transfer bus doesn't come back until 6:30 and I am not home until almost 7. My company gets off work at 5pm so the hours are 8:30 - 5. Is it ethical for me to start packing my stuff up at 4:55 to ensure I can leave right at 5 and catch the bus home? Is there a better way I could handle this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. <Q> The only thing to do if you want to vary from regular working hours is talk with your manager. <S> They are going to be the only one who will be able to say if logic trumps regulations. <A> It really depends on company culture. <S> Some companies are pretty lax about the hours you work as long as everybody is happy with your performance while others are strict about you arriving or leaving at a certain time. <A> I have had this problem myself - the bus routes to and from work that come to our building come at an inconvenient time, making a 9-to-5 shift unreasonable. <S> The solution was simple - ask to shift my hours slightly, so that I still cover the same length of time in a day, but can catch a bus that gets me to work on-time, and another that gets me home at a reasonable hour - <S> this sounds like what you want. <S> Now, this is up to your manager - whether or not this shift in work hours is acceptable - but if it's a relatively small shift, and a shift made entirely to get you to work on time, it's unlikely they'll have a serious problem with it. <S> Regardless of that <S> though, get permission . <S> Don't be afraid to ask them, and ask them as soon as possible to make it clear that you need this change. <A> Does everyone pile for the door at 5pm? <S> Do people stay until 5:02pm sometimes and so work <S> two extra minutes unpaid? <S> If you have a physical (or digital - as it might be) clocking in system where you are paid for the hours you log then maybe I would be concerned. <S> If your colleague received an email questioning their two minutes of missed work then - besides perhaps realigning your view of the company as a whole - contact your manager and state that you arrive early anyway. <S> The problem in my mind would be whether such a trivial request (Hi can I pack up at 4:58pm) would be at best a slight amusement to my immediate superior. <S> It depends on your company atmosphere. <A> If the working time at your office is 8:30am to 5:00pm, then it is perfectly fine, ethical and everything to leave exactly at 5:00pm. <S> If you need to clean up things before leaving, then there is no reason to start doing that at 5:00pm. <S> The cleaning up is work. <S> Work ends at 5:00pm. <S> If cleaning up takes five minutes, it's perfectly fine to start at 4:55pm. <S> Obviously a good idea to talk to your manager. <S> Any decent manager will be happy that you leave at 5:00pm to avoid wasting an hour until you are home, especially since you are actually starting work half an hour early. <S> If they insist that you can't leave work at 5:00pm, then you advice them that from tomorrow your working time will start at 8:30am.
| Assuming you're performing at a level that everybody is happy with and there's no official (or unofficial) company policy preventing your from leaving right on time or even a little bit early to catch the bus you should be okay. If in doubt ask your manager.
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How should I handle a recruiter who seems to confuse two distinctly different skills? I'd like feedback for something on handling a recruiter and whether to pursue further interaction after seeing a red flag. I was told, "Java is the core skill," I answered, "I know JavaScript, not Java", and then JavaScript morphed into being the central skill. JavaScript and Java are two separate computer languages. It's kind of like the quote about the difference between the right word and the almost-right word being the difference between "lightning" and "lightning-bug." I'll leave people to decide which is which; my intent is not to slam Java, which allows the production of monumental works, nor is it to claim that JavaScript is perfect when some of the language's leading advocates warn you about its many minefields. However, I work really well with JavaScript, and not well with mainstream use of Java. I was called about a position that sounded like it would have some front-end aspect (HTML and CSS were mentioned; JavaScript would be implied), but would be back-end centric with a Java back end, and specified XYZ proficiency with one Java development technology. Over the call it morphed into a basically JavaScript position, "definitely worth submitting" category, when my first response was to establish that I am not proficient with the first technology that was mentioned in explaining it to me. The other bit to this conversation is that they appear to have a scant job description, if any. I was told there was very little and large companies sometimes give copied and boilerplate job descriptions, which is true, but when I asked to see the job description was not given the little the recruiter I allegedly had. The basic advice I can see from this is "Save yourself the trouble and work with recruiters who show fewer red flags," but I wanted to check in. --UPDATE-- After I declined submission and refused to provide my resume, the recruiter shocked me by announcing an interview request from the client, having submitted me against my will and fabricated my resume. I decided to receive the call, and told the client's head HR manager that I had been submitted after refusing and had not provided my resume. I also complained to the recruiter's CEO and said some apology would be appropriate, and training employees not to keep pushing when a prospective employee is simply not interested in a position. This is the first time in my career that I've been submitted after saying in writing, "I think I'll pass this time." <Q> There's a huge new industry of so-called "recruiters" who have no actual relationship with the company posting the job, they just troll for resumes and submit them helter-skelter to any job whatever. <S> The idea, I think, is that if you every actually get submitted by a REAL agency that you'd like to work for, your resume pops up as being already in the system, and you get rejected. <S> It's a bad deal. <S> Walk away. <A> Your time is finite, unlike the number of recruiters. <S> You have to focus on the few that understand your experience, understand the market, and have a specific position that sounds like a good fit. <S> This guy is trying to shoehorn you into a position that doesn't match your experience. <S> Don't let your good name be associated with bad recruiters. <A> I've actually encountered very similar situations with recruiters. <S> It can be very difficult to turn down what could potentially be a great fit simply based on a lack of information. <S> My suggestion would be to lay out very clearly what your expectations are. <S> If you are willing to learn the required technology either on or ramping up to the job, then you can spell that out with them as well. <S> Recruiters are often simply trying to get the "right" people into interviews and are willing to pick up a few candidates who don't meet the exact specifications because it's worth the risk of missing that one perfect candidate. <S> In short, I would say that you should only worry about wasting your time, not the company's. <S> If you feel like it's not a position you would fit or would want to fit, then simply tell the recruiter that you're not interested at this time. <S> You can always proceed with an interview or two and bow out at any point in time prior to taking the offer should your alarm bells not cease. <A> Don't worry about it, they spam everyone after they do a search on "java" in indeed or linkedin. <S> No need to "handle" it <S> , they will not get hurt if you just ignore them. <S> I got an email yesterday from a recruiter saying "We're looking for someone just like you in the major banking industry... <S> title: <S> Senior UI Developer with iOS experience... " <S> the email goes on to how she thinks i'll be the perfect fit and how perfect the team is. <S> Hello? <S> I'm a UX Designer. <S> It's very tempting to reply and say "seriously! <S> Know the difference between ui and ux and designer and developer", save time, they're not going to stop their "spamming habit" hoping to catch a fish because of your one email -- most likely people before you have already replied with similar content. <S> I must note that not all recruiters are like this. <S> I have worked with VERY good recruiters who will spot candidate's skills spot on and how they will fit in specific team, but they are more the exception in that business than the norm. <A> I dunno. <S> There's obviously a lot of irritation at recruiters - and with good reason too - visible in the answers here. <S> One thing to bear in mind - a junior programmer will see typically rubbish work. <S> On the flip side, rubbish work? <S> Will see a junior programmer. <S> When you're seeing a lot of rubbish recruiters wasting your time , its time to think how much you're charging, and what sort of rates you're after, and how hard you want to work on your career. <S> As you get better, a lot of the rubbish recruiters melt away. <S> I'm not some high flier, but the quality of recruiters I get bothered by (they will always bother you) has markedly improved since I started asking for more money. <S> So, if you're working with rubbish recruiters, be aware that you might want to see this as a warning sign about your career trajectory. <S> Also, rubbish jobs will typically attract rubbish recruiters - better roles will have better people vetting them. <S> So, if you ever think a recruiter is sketchy, then consider that the role is, most likely, to be Not A Great Role. <S> That said, I think it's always a good idea to take as many interviews and the like as you can. <S> You don't really have much to lose at this stage - this recruiter puts you forward, and then if the company likes the look of you they arrange a phone interview. <S> The most time you will waste is about an hour (the phone screen). <S> It's not a bad risk/reward ratio. <S> So, don't get your hopes up that this is your dream job - but don't ever ignore a chance to network around. <S> Maybe the company are just looking for a java guy, but maybe in a month they will need a javascript guy? <S> Well, you're that guy they talked to, so they might just turn to you first.
| If you are unwilling to learn the required technology (which is totally allowed), then you can ask them to reconsider you for a different position.
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Struggling to save family traditional business We are wood logging and saw timber company, already running this business for 59 years. At present, we are still doing it the traditional style without any help from electronic devices. Sales and Accounts department using hand written invoices and recording (paper work). Throughout the years, the economy, price, and usage of wood has been hurting us really bad. On top of that, the employees are stubborn, the other old (age 70+) shareholders are even worst. Reluctant to learn new knowledge and technology which leads to unable to follow/predict market trend. I did not study Business nor Economic but I am pretty sure these factors are really bad for a business. I have held a meeting with the shareholders by giving out some ideas like marketing, advertising, and use system to provide sales chart, costing, reporting etc that might help in management decision making rather than solely depending on the employee to provide the information. With all these issues and headache, I am not sure what are the approach I can take to tackle every each of them? What are the basic strategy to strengthen the business? <Q> If you can't resolve profitability, the other problems aren't going to matter. <S> So let's start with that. <S> I did not study Business nor Economic <S> but I am pretty sure these factors are really bad for a business <S> What you will need to do is to quantify how you plan to increase sales and decrease costs. <S> Make it about the bottom line. <S> I've seen it happen. <S> On top of that, the employees are stubborn Again, if you want to get buy in from the shareholders. <S> They need to give the authority to deal with recalcitrant staff. <S> ... <S> other old ( <S> age 70+) shareholders are even worst <S> The shareholders need to understand that by increasing profitability, you are increasing the amount of money they'll make from it. <S> Given they are at retirement age, you would think there is some interest in getting something to retire with . <S> But in the end, if you cannot convince the shareholders to take proactive measures to save the business, then there is very little you can do to prevent the decline. <A> Call the Business School of your local state university and see if they work with businesses like yours as a MBA class project. <A> Based on what you said, it sounds like <S> lack of technology isn't the problem here. <S> The problem is more with the lack of interest in your industry in general. <S> Unless you're saying that by using technology, such as online services, it can increase your market? <S> For me personally, as a customer, I dealt with custom shops online <S> that's halfway between new and old style with the "new style" being mostly on the internet with a page. <S> I find these shops better since most of the time you can speak to the actual owner and they can do things just the way you like. <S> They still do the old style "over the phone and paperwork" system by you calling a number on the website. <S> The website looks straight out of 1998. <S> Reputation is everything though in these smaller sectors. <S> On the site mentioned above, it was mostly by word of mouth that's shared on forums and other areas. <S> I believe since wood working is so niche industry, people are looking for specific services and if you can build that reputation, people will catch on and start going to your site for service. <S> Who will you appeal to? <S> The mom & pop furniture shop that does custom building and need timber from you? <S> And they might be half way across the country <S> and they're just looking for someone like you to delivery a product that they need at a good price.
| A good financial person can turn unprofitable busiesses around. If you don't have the business skills, hire them in.
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Resources to prepare for safety-critical software (medical) interview? Has anyone found interview preparation resources specific to safety-critical design? In this case for medical applications? I have an interview coming up and it's clear from their communication that they will make it technical within the scope of safety-critical. I thought about reviewing the MISRA-C standards but other then that can't really think of nothing else. Previous experience in automotive just for context. <Q> I myself have gone through an interview process to a medical oriented company too. <S> I was not a senior position candidate at all - I had knowledge of the topics from my academical research/classes but other than that my experience was leaning more into general software development. <S> What I did was researching their white papers/published books on topics they may ask during the interviews. <S> Not only I've learned many things along the way, but it also helped me during the dialogue with them because I could refer to some of their findings, which assured them that I did my homework. <S> It's okay if you make a mistake during interview <S> and it's okay to admit it. <S> Just don't make stuff up if you get lost... <S> One thing you could also do is asking your HR contact for advice. <A> The best preparation for a technical interview is to actually possess the necessary technical knowledge and experience. <S> Trying to cheat your way through it by just trying to learn what you need for the interview is not going to end well. <S> In the best case, the interviewer asks questions you can not find in the book and realizes you are a phony. <S> But in the worst case you will get a job you are underqualified for and cause lots of damage to the company, by extension to your career and in this special case even endanger lifes. <S> So the question you should be asking is not "how do I learn just enough to pass an interview" but rather "what do I need to learn to become a competent professional". <S> And this is a question you should ask to a specialized audience and not a general audience like workplace stackexchange. <A> I think it's about quality assurance: proving that the design implements the requirements, proving that the code implements the design, proving that the tests are testing, etc. <S> I think it's not easy to pretend to have experience with medical software QA, but you can (should) at least brush up on (or review or be prepared to talk about in an interview) <S> your previous experience of software QA in general.
| Some big companies even give out some materials or pointers to where to get them from.
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How do I distance myself from a clique that's constantly mocking my colleagues? There is a small group of people in the office who have formed a clique of sorts. They go out to eat together, constantly talk to or IM each other, have inside jokes, all sorts of fun stuff. When I started working here around 5 months ago, it seemed like they wanted to initiate me into the group. I have no idea why but I have now been getting IMs from a couple of them during meetings. Perhaps my being polite was mistaken as intent to be non-professional friends? These IMs range anywhere from idle chitchat to making fun of our coworkers for various things (and usually things that the coworker cannot help, like being nearly deaf and speaking loudly, or a coworker that has a stutter). I'm talking impressions, mocking, and downright trash talking our colleagues. I feel like it goes well beyond harmless joking. I feel absolutely awful about the things they are saying, and I refuse to take any part in it. How can I distance myself from these people while maintaining professionalism? Please note I have no desire to reprimand them for their behavior, if that is avoidable. I feel this would only stir up more drama, and make them refocus their ire on me. I am only here to do my job, not judge others for their decisions. <Q> "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." <S> Step up and support your coworkers; don't just sit back and say "I'm alright, it's not happening to me." <A> First, you should pull yourself out of the IM group as soon as possible . <S> You do not want your name to be associated with the group if things are found out and start to be dealt with. <S> Second, when the "Come on, man, why'd you leave?" <S> questions arise from your group, you simply tell them, without any drama tone in your voice, that the conversation wasn't something you want to be involved in . <S> You could say something like, "Sorry, man, I didn't realize the group rolled that way. <S> It's not for me. <S> So-and-so is actually a cool person." <S> Will leaving the clique cause them to focus their ire toward you? <S> Probably. <S> So what? <S> If their clique expands to creating a hostile environment where people are targeted directly, or career opportunities are limited by the clique, then there is more you can do to address it, like talking to HR about it, if you have an HR department. <S> If any of the members of the clique are in management, you owe it to the company to mention the problem to HR. <S> Management should never be involved in such an activity. <S> Edit: <S> @Frisbee makes a good point in the comment below. <S> If the OP is not part of an IM group chat, then it becomes very important to respond to each IM with the "I'd rather not talk about so-and-so like that. <S> They're actually pretty cool. <S> " If there is any sort of memory in the IM system (saved conversation history), OP will want to have a record of having objected to such messages. <A> When a coworker happens to make a joke in a similar vein I usually look at them, or elsewhere, until they stop chuckling and realize they're being stupid. <S> My body language basically tells them "that wasn't funny". <S> I think women are much better at it (the stare ). <S> It probably won't work on a group though. <S> If these messages are exchanged via IM, you could point out that this is easy to get misinterpreted if someone sensitive became aware of it. <S> You know what I mean, all that PC stuff that everyone keeps going on about. <S> Do you really want a record of yourself saying this stuff ? <S> Same thing with the jokes made verbally : <S> Imagine if someone walks by and overhears you. <S> People are sensitive these days. <S> I know you're joking, but every time you do you're taking a risk. <S> What I'm doing here is pointing out the penalties to the co-workers without making myself involved, or presenting me ( <S> well, you) as the offended party. <A> It sounds like you're in proximity to a somewhat toxic situation, you're pretty low on the totem pole, and your boss(es) <S> don't particularly care about this problem. <S> You also say you don't want drama. <S> How can I distance myself from these people while maintaining professionalism? <S> You don't have to. <S> They probably already know all about the obnoxious behavior. <S> As long as you don't join in their conversations or go to lunch with them, they won't see you as part of that subculture. <S> Even if, you started associating with them throughout some portion of your first 5 months but have since stopped , your adult, professional coworkers won't hold it against you. <S> They understand that you were still figuring things out. <S> You don't have to give anyone an obvious cold shoulder nor any other elaborate theatrics. <S> If a clique member sends you a nasty IM or makes a rude comment, simply respond noncommittally and don't pursue the conversation further. <S> The clique members will stop making overtures, meanwhile no one who's watching will care.
| If you're not happy directly confronting this kind of behaviour, which is understandable, then bring it to the attention of management, anonymously if you need to. Your other coworkers aren't going to automatically lump you in with the clique.
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What steps do I have to take if I believe my pay should be higher after working at a company for 6 months? I'm in the second round of interviews and my salary expectation going into the job is $XX,000 as an entry-level software developer. I am aware that most of the other workers in the company who have very similar roles as me are getting paid $XX,000 + ~$23,000 (I checked on Glassdoor.) I'm not too worried about starting off low, my goal right now is to get into a software development company. I also don't want to end up not getting hired because I requested a high pay (I'd rather get the job for a low starting pay than risk not getting the job at all). With that said, the worst case scenario is that I come into work and after 6 months, realize that I am valued more than how much I am getting paid, but I am stuck getting paid significantly lower because of the contract I signed. What are my options in this worst case scenario? Note: I didn't sign any contract yet, I'm still in the second round of the interview. But I'm certain one of the main reasons the company wants me right now is because have a decent skill set and good potential and want a low pay. If I increase my salary expectation right now then I'm afraid I'm going to risk not getting the job at all. Edit: I calculated how much I need to earn in order to get through for the next few months, and I found that I can get through with earning $XX,000 / year (which is how much I said I expect). In most companies (and in the current one), a software developer or similar earns more than how much I said I expect. <Q> With that said, the worst case scenario is that I come into work and after 6 months, <S> realize that I am valued more than how much I am getting paid, but I am stuck getting paid significantly lower because of the contract I signed. <S> What are my options in this worst case scenario? <S> That's your worst case scenario? <S> I guess I could imagine a few that were far worse, but let's go with your assumption. <S> If that's truly the worst case that you want to avoid, then don't accept this job even if offered. <S> who wants a low pay ". <S> Selling yourself as a "cheap hire" is almost certain to bring about your worst case. <S> Work hard to find another job, and this time don't tell them that you are okay with $35/hour. <S> Only accept an offer you are willing to live with for at least a year. <S> (In the US most employers have annual raises. <S> Many lump them all together and do reviews and raises for everyone at the same time.) <S> Then work really hard and show the company how much you are worth. <S> Stop trusting self-reporting sites like glassdoor as an indication of what you should be making (now or after 6 months). <S> They aren't accurate, and have no real relevance for your specific situation. <S> Stop measuring yourself against how much you suspect others are being paid. <S> Get a salary that works for you - without regard to what works (or doesn't work) for others. <S> These steps will go a long way toward avoiding what you view as a worst case scenario. <A> You could ask for a salary review at six months as part of your initial contract. <S> Be aware though that pay raises after joining a company are often much smaller that what they would pay a new person from outside the company with similar levels of experience. <S> Expect that the raise in six months might not be more than 2-3% range. <S> To get to your targeted salary, you may need to leave after you gain some good experience. <S> Yes, even if they are paying others that much at that company. <S> So when you start low at a company, you tend to remain in the lower salaries for the rest of the time you spent there and possibly for a good part of your career. <S> I realize you need a job, but low-balling your starting salary is a tactic that tends to harm you in the long run. <A> With that said, the worst case scenario is that I come into work, work very hard (this is expected) <S> , realize I'm working just as much as everyone else and have the same skill set as the other developers / designers after 6 months, but I am stuck getting paid significantly lower than them because of the contract I signed. <S> What are my options in this worst case scenario? <S> In my opinion the question is based on a false premise. <S> Salaries are based on a number of things, and skills are an important one of those things, but it is not the only thing. <S> Good judgement, knowing how to give a good presentation, knowing how to work with problematic team mates, etc., are also a big part of what makes you valuable to the company. <S> And some of those things take time to develop, especially good judgement. <S> Given that, if you absolutely kick butt during the first 6 months I would think about asking for a raise. <S> Otherwise I would wait for your annual review and go in loaded for bear with lots of evidence of the awesome stuff that you have done for the company. <S> Keep in mind that if you do well they may decide to give you an early raise on their own. <S> This happened to me a couple of times early on in my career. <A> Your salary is not based on your skill set, it is based on your value to the company. <S> The best skill sets in the world aren't valuable unless you apply them correctly. <S> For this company, that will depend on a combination of experience, business domain knowledge and inter-personal skills. <S> Your co-workers already likely have more experience and domain knowledge, and you aren't likely to catch them in 6 months. <S> Measuring yourself by skill set and hours worked is not likely to lead you to a successful career, financially or in your role. <S> Learn to provide value to your employer, then career and financial growth will come looking for you.
| Ask about the company's annual salary review policy to determine when you might be eligible for an increase, if you deserve one. Don't accept a job from a company you believe is hiring you because you are "a new grad with a decent skill set and good potential
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Should I answer bulk recruiting emails? I recently completed my bachelor and in a few days I am going to start my master degree. I received an email from a company saying they were interested in my profile, but it is clear that they are just sending those to a bunch of recently graduated people. At the moment I have no interest in working there as I am focusing on my academic career (and to be honest I don't envision myself working for them in the future) but nonetheless, do you think I should send a short reply (thanking them for their interest and such) or would that be a total waste of time? <Q> I work to fairly simple rules with recruiters mailings: Bulk and not relevant - ignore Bulk and relevant - respond if interested, otherwise ignore Targeted and not relevant - respond if I think I may want to work with recruiter in future, even if only to say "this isn't for me, but I might be interested in something like...", otherwise ignore Targeted and relevant - respond (well d'uh) <S> When I say relevant, I mean what I'm looking for at the time, if I'm not on the market it's not relevant. <S> These people have a hide like a rhino, if you don't respond they won't take it personally, so don't sweat it. <A> In general recruiters or companies sending non-personalised recruitment mails don't expect you to respond unless you're interested in the position they're hiring for . <S> They will usually welcome a reply from you if you express interest in being notified of future positions as most companies keep potentially useful resumes on file. <S> No one at that company will remember you a week from now if you're just replying to decline. <S> You won't lose anything more than a few minutes of your time if you reply <S> but there's nothing to gain either. <A> As with any bulk email, the HR department understands that a number of messages will not be returned, whether by inboxes that aren't checked/don't exist, or entering the spam box, or otherwise. <S> If the email is truly a bulk email, it should be safe to ignore. <A> do you think I should send a short reply (thanking them for their interest and such) or would that be a total waste of time? <S> It's most likely a (minor) waste of your time. <S> Bulk emails to new graduates almost certainly won't amount to anything down the road. <S> You name would quickly be dropped once you indicate that you aren't looking for a job now, due to your masters degree plans. <S> The thanks might reach someone who would remember you favorably at some point in the future. <S> That's unlikely but you never know.
| If you don't see yourself ever applying to the company or the position they're hiring for is wildly outside your interests or expertise, just ignore it. It wouldn't hurt anything to be polite.
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Can I refuse to be on standby as an hourly employee? I work for a small IT consulting company that is privately owned. I am a software developer on a team of 7 people. Right now I am working typically between 9am and 6pm, just like everyone else on my team. Recently my manager has come up with the idea of having a rotating on call schedule comprised of 3 to 4 of us on the team, including me. Being a small company we don’t have a dedicated support staff, or help desk. Recently we have taken on the role of hosting and administering some applications as well, just not development. Essentially my manager wants us to be available to take calls and work to resolve issues reported by clients. I completely understand the view of my company that they need extended support beyond 9am and 6pm. Clients want to feel that their systems are being taken care of and someone is there to fix it when something goes wrong. I understand that, and I wouldn’t be complaining if it was as simple as I need to have my phone and take calls. What to me is unreasonable is the expectation that we are going to be able to address the issue on the spot. Essentially that is restricting what I can do on my off time, because I would have to have quick access to a computer, internet, and VPN. I couldn’t take a weekend trip, or really stray far from my house during my on call period. I am usually very active during the Spring, Summer, and early fall months, going on short weekend trips, etc because its cold as hell in Ohio during the Winter. What they are really asking is not being on call, they are asking to be on standby. I did some research and the general consensus seems to be it’s a big gray area but if you are just on call and the only inconvenience is you have to have your cell phone and answer calls then you are not entitled to compensation. However if there are restrictions put against you in your free time you could be entitled to compensation. Since we are not being compensating to be on standby I’m wondering if I have a ground to say no? If you are an hourly employee , such as I am, in my opinion your free time is your free time to do whatever you want, of course being legal. In the past if I have been available I’ve always logged in and helped do whatever needed to be done. I used to work late nights, weekends, almost anything they asked. Then they began to take advantage of that, and basically doubled up my work knowing I would do it, instead of hiring additional resources. It went on until I developed an anxiety disordered and told them I couldn’t do it any longer, then they finally hired two new employees. I am partly afraid to be taken advantage of again because our company is cheap. FYI, I am an hourly employee and have been with the company for 4.5 years, I’m actually the most senior person on my teamTo summarize my questions are: Can an hourly employee be forced to be on standby without compensation? If asked to be on standby does the company have to provide compensation? Can I refuse to do the work from home, and instead drive into the office to work, making the company have to compensate for travel, and whatever time is spent at the office? <Q> Having been on teams doing out-of-hours support and managing them, I would expect there to be both a rota (sounds like it will have as you mention "if" you're on call), but also some kind of financial arrangement over callouts. <S> When I did it, there was a payment for being on-call, an additional amount if you actually got a call (and the amount depends on when the call happens, so Saturday afternoon is one thing, but 3am Sunday is something else) <S> , I would also expect to be paid at an agreed hourly rate during any callout (again some rate for a daytime weekend, much more for 3am Christmas day). <S> If that isn't the plan (you should clarify this), then you need to decide what the ramifications are of saying no. <S> Some people on your team may be able to refuse due to family issues or commitments, but if you're a single person the pressure is likely to be more, and could be a career defining issue (if they fire you for refusing). <S> Also just re-read <S> and you say you're not being compensated, in this situation you would expect time off in lieu, so if you aren't being offered that then you need to think long and hard about it. <A> Having just moved away from Columbus a couple of months ago (note: I am not a lawyer, just a software engineer no longer working in Columbus), here are some answers specific to your area: <S> If you exceed your 40 hour week, your employer must also pay you overtime in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 4111.03. <S> You can refuse to do work from home and drive into the office. <S> This travel is not compensated under any regulation and can't be claimed as a deduction under itemized taxes. <S> Salaried employees are considered exempt and can both be compelled to perform the after hours work and not receive additional pay for it unless covered by the Ohio "White Collar" overtime exemption rules. <S> I am not familiar with these rules, consult a legal professional to understand them. <S> Typically (in Columbus), employers who require an on-call shift, regardless of hourly or salaried status, will provide an offset to normal duties to prevent overtime from occurring. <S> Hourly employers don't like paying overtime, and most salary employers in Columbus are attempting to maintain a positive work environment to stay competitive as employers (with a couple of notable exceptions). <S> If they refuse to pay you overtime for those hours you should be prepared to go to the labor board with your complaints. <S> In any case, Columbus is a very good market for software developers in the Internet space, it would not hurt to be prepared to look elsewhere as well. <A> To get a proper answer you'll need to check the employment law for your state. <S> That said, as an hourly employee you can not be compelled to work without pay. <S> So while your employer can require you to work on-call hours, they must pay you for it. <S> If you were a salaried employee it could be included as part of your work duties, though even then there are limits to the amount of hours your employer can force you to work. <S> You should be able to find a local resource for employees rights to check this <S> and I recommend that. <A> Be prepared for blowback, but this isn't on call, this is after hours help desk. <S> Your employer is getting some level of revenue whether it be in the form of sales or support contracts that support this level. <S> It would be one thing <S> if you were just escalation since that is generally infrequent, however, if you are being asked to be tied to your computer you could reasonable ask to be compensated for working what is essentially "Help Desk". <S> Your employer may decide that you have to work these on calls or leave, so be prepared for that. <S> Also, if it's "on call" get in writing what that means in terms of response time. <S> The shorter that time inform him that this puts limits on what you are doing "off the clock" and you should be compensated if he is looking for say 1 hour response time, vs say 12 hour response time. <S> Lastly get in writing that if you are out and you have to leave, you will start the "clock" as soon as the call arrives. <S> If this means a 1h drive home from the mountains, then that means you get paid for that, and the time to return. <S> You should also be compensated, within reason, for any interrupted activity. <S> You can discuss with him wether this level of support is in the sales contracts and if not <S> or it's ambiguous, it should either be clarified, or he needs better support infrastructure. <A> Do I have a grounds to say no, this is my free time, outside my designated schedule, and you are not compensating me for this time? <S> You can always say no. <S> But if that's a good thing for your continued employment depends on your employer, your local labor laws, and your potential willingness to sue your employer.
| If you are hourly, you must be paid for any time you work. If you refuse, you should be prepared to be let go. Yes, your company can compel you to be on-call.
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Is it unprofessional to quit in the middle of a month? It was the 7th of September when I decided to quit and told my boss. The company was a good place to work in and so we have decided to part on friendly terms. The contract we have has a clause for 1 month lease time, which we both agree on — as a developer, I would want to tie any loose ends before I leave. However, my contract starts at the beginning of the month and my boss told me that it would be better to extend the lease time so my employment ends at the end of October — in over 1.5 months. The reason for this, as he put it, is that my future employers and particularly HR departments would consider it a very bad sign that the contract ended in the middle of a month, implying that we have parted on very bad terms. I understand that the company would benefit from me staying a little longer, and would agree the general case, however: I believe one month is fair and enough to finish what is left of my work and enough to find a replacement. The company is currently not in a state of crisis. Due to visa and residence issues, I will need to take action after leaving a job as soon as possible and longer delay would increase the risks for me and my family. So, I don't want to stay longer than the legal lease period. But is my (soon to be former) boss correct? Will quitting in the middle of a month be a stain on my résumé in the future? We are located in Spain, if that makes a difference. <Q> He is playing you. <S> But it is your contractual obligation to give a month's notice and as long as you kept that <S> , then no other employer is going to see it as odd. <S> And honestly, my resume only has the year and month info on it, how would they even know the exact date you left? <S> It could however cost you the new job if you lengthen the notice, so do not agree to this without consulting your new employer. <A> No future employer will know that your particular contract started on the first day of the month, and if they do they won't care . <S> There's no reason whatsoever to assume that you and your former employer ended on bad terms based on the timing of your final day. <S> Many resumes even omit specifying the day in the work history as it offers no value. <S> If you don't have another job lined up to start shortly after you've resigned your current position, it is very likely that they will ask why you left without having a new job, as that is a potential red flag for an involuntary end to your contract and they could suspect that you were fired or let go. <S> However, at that point you simply give whatever reason you had for leaving (as long as it's a good one) and that will be the end of it. <S> So to summarise, no, the reason your manager gave is not a valid one for prolonging your notice period . <S> "I'm sorry, I'm commited to ensuring a smooth transition <S> but I need my final day to be on the Xth." <A> As an Spanish national the answer is no. <S> Nobody cares about the start or ending date of the contract. <S> HR will look for gaps in your career, but big month gaps, not a few weeks gap. <S> Anyway you will see that a huge porcentage of the contract ending dates are focused on the last day of the month. <S> The reason is that in Spain we have monthly salary payments and usually all the paperwork is done in these days. <S> Another important thing <S> , you have holidays (21-23 days per year) <S> so if you have remaining days you have to make sure that they are included in the last salary (the spanish term is "finiquito") <A> As someone who does hiring, I can say that for myself, I usually look only at the start and end dates relative to each other, and never on their own. <S> I would not care if your employment stopped on the 15th of August. <S> I would care if your employment stopped on the 15th of August and didn't have a "new job" until the 1st of June the following year. <S> Even in that case, it's more about the number of months than any actual day you quit on. <S> To make matters even less important, it would only result in a question during the interview, i.e., "Why were you out of employment so long?" <S> The point is <S> it's not about when you leave, it's that in your leaving you flowed to a new job in a reasonable amount of time to reduce any skills "rust" and to show that you planned ahead for the transition and didn't just "go off the deep end". <S> The manner in which you leave (with or without notice, how much notice, and did you leave the company in a lurch) would be addressed when calling your references. <S> It's not important at all what day you leave on. <S> Nine times out of ten I wouldn't even know. <S> Usually (around here anyway) <S> people schedule their notice to coincide with payroll, to reduce the hassle of "the last pay check". <S> This results in all kinds of "end dates". <A> Disclaimer: this is a perspective from a different EU country <S> Check what your contract really says - in some countries, <S> for example in the Czech Republic there is a law that when you resign (I suppose you and your boss came to a mutual agreement to end the contract and thus it's not an official "resignation"), the period of lease time begins on the first day of next month . <S> So usually what happens is that people resign on the 29th/30th and take all the remaining days of their vacation off counting from the end of the lease period (so they go to work only for couple weeks usually). <S> Is that unprofessional? <S> I don't know, but it happens very often. <S> I don't think it's unprofessional from your side what you're describing. <S> I just wanted to share this with you and for anyone interested in the future. <A> But is my (soon to be former) boss correct? <S> Will quitting in the middle of a month be a stain on my resumé in the future? <S> Potentially yes. <S> But realistically it is only going to potentially matter to your next few employers. <S> If you build a history of solid employment even if they notice a blip here it is unlikely to create any issues. <S> After all most people have been fired at some point in their career. <S> It is a learning opportunity and most employers are more concerned with recent history than your early career. <S> What is a bigger concern for employers could be that you quit with out having a new job to go to. <S> This is seen by many(appropriately or not) as irresponsible. <S> I personally would take the extra time to find a new position. <S> If you find one quickly great you can start at first of that month. <S> If not then you have a jump on finding that next position and an extra few weeks of pay in your bank.
| If your next company requires you to start by a certain day or if you have personal reasons for not extending your notice period, even if it's just to take a much-needed vacation between jobs, then just hold firm: It is not unprofessional at all. No one else is going to care when you quit.
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Will employers accept students on academic leave or with deferred admission for internships? In many cases, employers specify that interns need to be currently enrolled in a university program. I am currently in between my M.S. and Ph.D.. I have been admitted to a university and have deferred my admission for a year. Since I deferred admission, I am matriculated in the university but not enrolled. I have a few questions about how I am effected by the employer's requirement: Does the employer have a legal obligation to hire enrolled studentsonly? (In the United States) Does the definition of enrolled students extend to students onacademic leave or with deferred admission? Does the interpretation of such a requirement vary from employer to employer? <Q> I did an internship between degrees. <S> I was technically not a student at that point. <S> So it's definitely possible. <S> Make sure you figure out (if needed) insurance, etc. <S> That was the main complicating factor for me, I didn't have any insurance anymore for that period of time. <S> Does the employer have a legal obligation to hire enrolled students only? <S> (In the United States) Employers can hire whoever they want. <S> People will frequently do "internships" even after graduation (or without a degree). <S> In general, "internship" means more "shorter term duration work for early experienced employees." <S> Some places seem to use "internship" to underpay people otherwise doing FT work. <S> Occasionally they are unpaid . <S> As stannius points out, this may be complicated if you are in the USA on a student visa (and not an American citizen). <S> Does the interpretation of such a requirement vary from employer to employer? <S> Most employers will not care about this. <S> Their primary concern is if you say, "I am going to do degree X" that you are actually doing it. <S> Unless you run into an incredibly pedantic HR department, most will not care if you are doing that program in the future or currently. <S> You may get questions about why you deferred enrollment and <S> the answer to that might matter. <S> It probably will matter more than the nuances of whether you are "currently" a student or "in the future." <A> The rules regarding the hiring of interns vary greatly from company to company. <S> In the case of unpaid internships most employers will require proof of being registered in a class that will award credits for the internship. <S> They expect that the university will send them paperwork that they need to comply with regarding scope of duties and number of hours. <S> For a paid internship there is a great variety of rules. <S> Some will take students between high school and college. <S> Others will make them complete the first year. <S> I know of one government internship that makes it clear that they don't want you if you will have already graduated, they ask that you apply for a full time position if you will no longer be an undergraduate. <S> The unpaid internships have the credit requirements to make sure that they aren't using slave labor, the student is getting credit for their work. <S> They are deciding the type of program they want, and what types of students they want to use. <S> In some cases a university may have some say in the requirements if they setup an arrangement with a local employer. <A> Consider looking into an internship "agency" or organization. <S> I did a lot of work with AIESEC in college. <S> Their only rule is that you have been in school sometime in the last 2 years. <S> This applies globally to their internships. <S> Perhaps unfortunately, they can only provide you opportunities in countries other than your own, as they operate on an "exchange" mentality. <S> Run a google search to see if there's a chapter in a university near you, they could be worth a conversation.
| For the paid internships it is strictly up to the employer regarding the rules they want to establish for the program.
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How do I clear my part when I am blamed for my team member's fault? I work with a junior colleague in a pair. The junior had no idea about something in the project and went ahead & discussed about it with client on his own. Although my reputation was fine with the client, but the client has now escalated his concerns about the team. What should I do? <Q> Since you are interested in protecting your reputation, it's important to ask yourself what will earn you the most respect from your colleagues and managers - placing blame on a junior team-member, or taking responsibility for your team's mistake? <S> I can recall several instances where team respect went up significantly for a manager who took responsibility towards upper management for one of our own failings. <S> It's also important to remember that, realistically, a manager/senior is in some ways responsible for the actions of their team, or juniors. <S> While ideally your junior would know what is acceptable to communicate to a client, you were aware that he is a junior and didn't clarify (presumably) <S> what is acceptable to communicate, or if you did communicate this, it wasn't in a way that is clear to his learning style. <S> In either case, fault can be shared in this mistake, so I advise you to, while not taking total responsibility for the mistake, don't "throw your colleague under the bus," as it were. <S> This won't win you points with him nor your managers. <S> Your best bet would be to think hard on where the failure point was, what could have prevented the mistake from happening, how you can adjust going forward to ensure the mistake doesn't happen again, and <S> what sort of damage control you've implemented/plant to implement. <S> If you're explaining why the client expressed concerns about the team, you could say something along the lines of "(colleague) and I are aware of the client's concerns. <S> The issue came from a miscommunication between (colleague) and myself about the points of contact with the client. <S> We've worked it out that I would be the sole point of contact going forward, and have already discussed this with the client, who seem happy with the solution." <A> You are the senior member. <S> Use it as a teachable moment for your partner. <S> The problem with many people isn't that they don't know anything, it's that they know things that aren't true. <S> This is the mistake your inexperienced partner made and you can benefit both of you if you help prevent this type of thing in the future. <S> The client and your boss will be much happier if you fix it instead of just avoiding the blame. <A> You should act as a team and take collective responsibility. <S> Use it as a mechanism to learn. <S> Who is to say that you did not make mistakes and could have prevented it happening? <S> Being a part of a team is sharing trumps and failures.
| Involve yourself in the solution as much as possible.
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Information in a cover letter for an online application? The traditional guidance I've found regarding cover letters says that one should include: Biographical information Which position I'm applying for However, if I'm applying for a job online, through a platform that asks specifically for biographical information in a separate form and has the job information in the page title, is this still necessary? It seems like the reader will probably have this information at hand; will it make me look oblivious to redundantly include it? <Q> is this still necessary? <S> It seems like the reader will probably have this information at hand <S> ; will it make me look oblivious to redundantly include it? <S> It's not absolutely necessary, but it would be smart to treat the cover letter as if you were supplying it in the complete absence of the website. <S> You never know what the reader will look at, or have access to. <S> In some cases, information is printed, and the printouts are handed over to the hiring manager (I know, this sounds silly, but I have seen it happen with my own eyes.) <A> A cover letter should be a taster for the CV/resume. <S> Should try to link the role to your experiences and encourage the reader to read the CV. <S> I should be <S> quite should say three or maybe four paragraphs and read in under two minutes. <A> I always have a habit of including a cover letter with my CV/resume. <S> A cover letter serves as an introduction to the resume. <S> Resumes in general aren’t sent without one. <S> It demonstrates the person’s interest in the organization, draws attention to the CV/resume and motivates the prospective employer to interview the candidate. <S> A neat and clean, well written, and concise cover letter can make the prospective employer read your resume with great interest and can improve your chances of getting the job.
| If you write a great cover letter, with information about you, about the position you are seeking, how well you fit, and how excited you are to talk to the company about it - it will never be looked upon poorly.
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How can I appear interested and attentive without taking things personally? I need to maintain cordial work relationships with people who may talk harshly. They're not necessarily rude. They just speak their mind and expect that I can handle things professionally - fair enough. But I do easily get stressed out or upset over what someone (especially a superior) says to me. The prevailing advice is "don't take things personally". But when I try to use this mentality, it quickly shows in my outward demeanour. I appear arrogant or aloof. Basically, I try to think "what you're saying doesn't affect me emotionally" but my brain interprets it as "I don't give a [expletive] what you're saying". That is obviously harmful to my image. If I feign interest, I start to believe the lie and actually become interested - hence feeling hurt when they say something grating. How can I appear interested and pay attention to what someone is saying while keeping a healthy emotional distance throughout? <Q> "Take criticism seriously, but not personally. <S> If there is truth of merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. <S> Otherwise, let it roll right off you." <S> - Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History <S> When we take things personally we are giving the other person more power over us than they deserve or should ever be allowed to have. <S> Here are some tips that might help you: 1) Give the benefit of doubt. <S> Don't assume someone is directing some form of ag-gression towards you, when they could be just joking or having a bad day. <S> Your in-stinct may be to react emotionally, but pause for a second. <S> 2) Refocus your attention. <S> When you take things personally, you shift your attention from what someone said or did to how you feel. <S> Unless you move on, you'll ruminate on the negative feeling and amplify it. <S> 3) <S> Remind yourself that you don't need anyone's approval. <S> If someone isn't happy with you, it doesn't mean you've done something wrong. <S> 4) Speak up. <S> Let the person know how you feel. <S> They might not realize how hurtful or aggressive they seem and how it is affecting you. <S> 5) <S> If you base your self-worth on how often people compliment you, then you're allowing others to decide how you feel about yourself. <S> (Source of above points) <A> At my most recent employer, I have experienced quite a few instances in which my coworkers gave me feedback for which I disagree or expressed sentiments about the way I work in a blunt, brusque manner. <S> My work was in IT audit, and I when have to discuss with coworkers about an observation as part of peer QA / review, I tend to be straight, and not mince words, in exact the same manner as your coworkers. <S> What I have found works for me is the following: <S> Feedback / criticism is valid <S> In this instance, I first remain calm. <S> Rushing to respond in a defensive manner is not fruitful and will hurt my reputation. <S> Next I try to validate what they are saying: "Thank you for the feedback, what you said is helpful <S> and I will try to incorporate your suggestions into my work going forward." <S> Feedback is invalid, not helpful or irrelevant <S> In this instance, I would still them thank them for their feedback. <S> However, I would point out why their suggestion is not applicable, such as This internal control deviance might not seem material but still needs to be documented, because not doing so risks us an unfavorable audit finding. <S> You can still be diligent about your work, but view the feedback as an opportunity to improve your work, rather than a personal attack about how you work. <S> Separating the messenger from message itself is an important skill, particularly when the message may be distasteful, as I surmise in this instance. <A> This isn't the time to ignore them, correct them or take offense. <S> Take some time to think about the interaction. <S> If there is any valid feedback, try to work on that. <S> If you feel the person was getting too personal and was making you uncomfortable, schedule some time much after they've calmed down to discuss. <S> Determine if they have a problem with you personally or were they just agitated because something went wrong. <S> Make a request for them to just ask you if they need something <S> and you'll work on it to the best of your ability. <S> This can be difficult with a supervisor. <S> Focus on making sure they're not under the impression that you're under performing.
| Show you care and are concerned about doing your job well, but that you prefer to not be yelled at. Focus on listening to what the person is saying and respond appropriately taking into consideration they may be in an emotional state. Stop taking compliments personally, too. Different people have different styles to working that works for them and reasonable colleagues should be able to understand.
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How to introduce programming to non-IT personnel I work in semi-large corporate company as a software developer. Recently, few of my colleagues from non-IT department (sales, marketing...) shown interest in learning basics of software development to better understand capabilities of IT department. I would be more than happy to introduce them to the subject, but I am not sure how to begin and where to go. I guess some introduction to what algorithms are about and why some tasks seam easy but in fact can be incredibly complicated is in order, but apart from that, I am lost. What could be some good topics to discuss with them? P.S. if this is not something suited for workplace.SE, please let me know if there is some better SE site to discuss this topic. <Q> Don't teach them computer programming. <S> That's too much of an undertaking. <S> If you want them to understand the process of software development, then refer them to books like CODE by Charles Petzold, The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas, The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks, or <S> Peopleware by Tom DeMarco <S> The higher level knowledge they may learn from these books will be more valuable to them than just the rudimentary ABCs of programming. <S> If you want to hang out with those folks during your personal time because you simply enjoy their company, then I'd recommend poker, hiking, dancing, or cooking, but do not pretend that these activities are going to be work-related. <A> In some ways, you have answered your own question: ...learning basics of software development to better understand capabilities of IT department <S> If this is purely something you are trying to gain a professional outcome, then like all tasks, you need to focus it towards that goal. <S> Note that this does not imply you actually need to teach them how to code :) <S> What could be some good topics to discuss with them? <S> Well, what are your pain points for them? <S> Possibly start with: Scope, design, implementation, testing, maintenance. <S> The software development lifecycle Resourcing Unexpected complexity of coding Tracking bugs Technology choices <S> Now, tie these back to the sorts of challenges <S> a development team need to deal with on a day to day basis: <S> Impact of changing the scope Impact of changing timeframes Impact of that tricky bug <S> How testing feeds back into the development and release cycle Limitations and difficulties with a particular tool or technology Without offering a single line of code, you can give a considerable amount of information as to how the capabilities of the IT department impact and are impacted by external sources, such as the people you are trying to educate. <S> I think you will find far more professional value in this approach than simply trying to get them to write a "Hello, world" application :) <A> I would simply introduce your internal process for how you do things. <S> I would include many examples of why certain things worked well, why some things didn't work, and how you go through new releases and bugs. <S> They won't. <S> And you have wasted everyone's time and this time could be educating them on your process. <S> I would not recommend giving them a "lecture" or course on programming or methodology. <S> You will put them to sleep. <S> I would not recommend giving them books to read. <S> First they won't read the books. <S> Second, even if they did read the book they would misunderstand the meaning of half the things without any prior context. <S> And then misapply these things to your workplace. <S> My marketing guys would giggle if I suggested a book to them. <S> It is really easy. <S> Know your audience. <S> When you call out "Mark's" name and say Mark you asked us to do this <S> and this is what we did, people will listen because it is something they can relate to and might affect them in the future.
| I would not recommend that they learn programming. If you can give a specific lecture to your marketing team show them how their interactions affected the programming cycles, whether it be a client recommendation, a new feature to win a sale, a bug, an enhancement changed mid-stream, whatever.
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Job ad requiring a lot of qualifications Although I've posted a similar question in the past this is slightly different. A year and a half ago, I learned about a job, which the job post was requiring (minimum) a Bachelor/Master Degree, with a grade above 7 (10 is the highest), at least 2 years hands on experience in a relevant position, and a lot of expertises very difficult for a young developer to have acquire. At that time I wasn't a graduate, with a 6-12 months work experience. Despite this fact I decided to apply since I was aware of (from an acquaint of mine) that the recruitment/assessment process was very technical, which from my perspective I was strong enough. After passing the tests, accepted an offer and start working, I realised that a huge amount of employees are not graduates and most of them (with me included) don't fit in the profile that the advertise was depicting. Even I had applied for a specific job role, I end up needing irrelevant skills in order to be able to accomplish my tasks. Why is this happening? I can't think that they just made a mistake and they post extra-requirements stuff in it. That makes me concern, I see a lot of job posts that interests me asking a lot of things like many years of experience, should I ignore them or apply to them nevertheless? <Q> I can't think that they just made a mistake <S> and they post extra-requirements stuff in it. <S> There's one thing you should realize when it comes to job postings: most of them suck . <S> Leaving aside the fact that while they are marketing documents, they often fail to actually sell the position , it's very common for the list of required qualifications to be incomplete, incorrect or overly long . <S> In general this can be attributed to one of two factors, as described by Alison Green : <S> The person who created the job posting doesn’t know what they’re doing: They’re not clear on what skills and traits they really need, and therefore the posting isn’t either. <S> This often results in postings that require, say, experience in a specific software even though what the employer really needs is someone who can learn that software quickly. <S> The person who created the job posting did know what they’re doing, but there’s some flexibility to the requirements <S> so they just listed the most important things. <S> There might be 10 things they’d love to find, but only 3 are essential and the necessity of the others will vary depending on the candidate’s overall package. <S> In your case you can probably assume that the list of qualifications you saw consisted mostly of nice-to-haves instead of absolute requirements . <S> This is very common for positions with low experience requirements. <S> If the requirements are truly outrageous or unrelated then assume Reason 1 is in play and the person who created the posting just screwed up, they're only human after all. <S> Note that Alison's article approached this from the other side: <S> job postings that don't list all the qualifications they're looking for. <S> That can be due to a third reason, namely that new qualifications are discovered after the job was already posted. <A> Employers and recruiters tend to want to employ the best, even if they don't need the best. <S> (Note: Don't confuse paying more for getting more) <S> The only way you can judge how harsh the job is going to be is by the pay. <S> High pay means you have skills they need, low pay (and even with a crazy list of required skills ) <S> means they just want the best of whoever can take that pay. <S> I accepted a role I thought <S> was well above my scope <S> , I asked for the lower end of the bracket when taking the job because I was completely new and it was my first job, the usual. <S> Brings us to now: <S> I'm resigning from that job because a monkey could do it and I am simply doing nothing. <S> It's not what I want to do. <S> Even though my interview process was gruelling, the job was boring, easy and didn't challenge me one bit. <S> But in the end, my pay reflected this more than the recruitment stage. <A> I don't know about European/USA practices, but in Russia the most of available vacancies for juniors are like this one. <S> 1-3 years of work experience, long list of requirements. <S> Personally, I think it's wrong way to find an applicant, but the employers and recruiters think, that this way they can get both experienced and graduates for the same position to choose from. <S> They want to assemble as many of them as they can to select the best. <S> That doesn't necessarily imply you'll encounter all of it at work. <S> It's common for mid-sized or micro companies and usually means you will be wearing many hats. <S> Therefore you shouldn't look at requirements at all. <S> Just send your CV. <S> But, again, it really upsets young job-seekers like you (and me not so long ago). <A> The mismatch between what a potential employer wants and what they actually need is thoroughly discussed in Why Good People Can't Get Jobs by Peter Cappelli. <S> It's a short read; you can do it in an evening. <S> The book stems from an article he wrote in the NYT entitled <S> If There’s a Skills Gap, Blame It on the Employer . <S> The short version is that potential employers have the apparent luxury of looking for "unicorns," or those individuals who are perfectly matched to a given (often unrealistic) job description, but don't exist. <S> This is often reflected in just about every job ad you see: an exhaustive list of requirements and attributes that make little sense and overall have no bearing to the said opening. <S> What's depressing is the sense of power and arrogance attached to these things. <S> A typical job ad is characterized by poor grammar, incoherency, spelling errors, irrelevancy, and even hostility. <S> So, they know perfectly well what they're doing in listing the extra requirements that you mentioned. <S> The flood of applicants comes in, they filter them by computer (also discussed in the book), and you're never even considered by an actual human being. <S> The author of the book makes an argument as to how this and other factors is sloppy at best and damaging at worst. <A> I will have a covering letter where I will expound on why I think the role would be interesting and a good fit for me, never mentioning the exact technologies or whatever I am missing. <S> Do not get too invested in these opportunities, it could be they really do need 3 years at skill X and your 2 years 3 months will see you on the discard pile immediately.
| For myself if the job description looks interesting but I am missing some of skills they are asking for I will often send a CV in and let them decide if the missing skills are important.
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Should I put a past or new/limited software skills on my CV as an engineering intern? I'm a bit stuck if I should put some software listings on my CV under the skills subheading. For instance: Adobe Suite I can probably doodle up a half-decent brochure or leaflet in Adobe Illustrator, but haven't used it in at least two years so there might be a few hours before I get up to full speed. SQL Have set up databases and tables in the past integrated with Python and PHP backends. I have a fair grip on the fundamentals, but by no means high-end or professional. How much do I need to know to put it on the CV? Should I list the stuff for the sake of demonstrating flexibility and versatility, even though it won't be high-level work at least for the first hours or days? I could add 'disclaimers', like (60%) or (3/5) next to each one, but that seems tedious and somewhat unrepresentative perhaps, especially comparing what I could do in the first 10 minutes or if I got a week to get up to speed again. Also seems a bit negative. Most projects done with these are informal, so I can't really elaborate greatly and/or link to GitHub repos or something. Background: Central/ Western Europe, Intern, Engineering. <Q> How much do I need to know to put it on the CV? <S> Should I list the stuff for the sake of demonstrating flexibility and versatility, even though it won't be high-level work at least for the first hours or days? <S> To me, your current knowledge level is sufficient to include these skills on your CV. <S> Quite often, interns aren't expected to be experts in many skills. <S> And certainly the first few hours of an internship aren't expected to be full-production time. <S> I could add 'disclaimers', like (60%) or (3/5) next to each one, but that seems tedious and somewhat unrepresentative perhaps, especially comparing what I could do in the first 10 minutes <S> or if I got a week to get up to speed again. <S> Also seems a bit negative. <S> While some suggest indicating a level of expertise next to each skill ( <S> Novice, Expert, etc), I find that unnecessary. <S> You do need to be ready to explain the depth of your knowledge of the skills you have listed when asked. <S> And if the particular position demands depth in one of these skills you may be asked to demonstrate them (sometimes through answering questions, sometimes on a whiteboard, etc). <S> When asked, don't lie or exaggerate. <S> But prepare ahead of time as best you can. <S> Think of it as "cramming for a test" so that you can show yourself in your best light. <A> Don't go into too much detail on your skill level (5/10 for example) <S> - It's too subjective and complicates things <S> That's it, nothing complicated. <S> Your experience in the workplace (or lack of it) should be clear on your CV, and any competent recruiter will be able to decipher that: eg if you state Illustrator on your CV <S> they will assume you can use it, but won't expect you to be an expert unless you have several roles on your CV which mention it, adding up to a few years experience. <S> If they're in doubt they'll likely ask you about it at interview. <S> In short, if you're generally at a junior, inexperienced level, they will expect any skills to be at roughly that level. <S> And don't worry about a few hours - we all get rusty. <S> If it takes you a morning or even a day or two to start getting back up to speed, that happens. <S> Even taking a week or two to get into something more complex can be fine... <S> The point is that you can do it and will just be getting back into old habits (and learning those aspects which have changed recent) <A> This works well: Comfortable languages/environments: ... , Other languages/environments I enjoy: ... <S> Make sure you can answer 90% of the questions about the comfortable bracket and 30-50% of the enjoyable ones. <S> Also gives definition to the ones you are learning and why you're learning them, whilst providing a solid view that you know your comfortable areas. <S> I.e. <S> if you want a job in C++, but also have experience with Java. <S> C++ is comfortable, Java is enjoyable.
| Add something to your CV if you are confident that you can talk about it in interview and do a job involving that skill.
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Is it advisable to negotiate salary during job offer even after answering the salary expectation question? During my first interview (phone screen) I was asked how much I expect to get paid. I said $XX,000 (this salary is pretty low for someone in my field, and mentioning this low salary was a mistake. You can see the edit on this post as to why I mentioned the low salary: What steps do I have to take if I believe my pay should be higher after working at a company for 6 months? ). With that said, I moved on to a technical interview. Now I'm called in for an in-person 2 hour interview. There is now a possibility that I might get a job offer soon, and I'm not sure whether or not I should negotiate the pay (after receiving an offer). I did some research and found this article: http://www.quintcareers.com/salary_negotiation_mistakes.html which mentions that the #-1 mistake is to settle / not negotiate. The pay for this position is generally a lot more than how much I originally mentioned ($XX,000) but I don't want to come across as someone who said a low salary, did all the interviews and then asked for a significant increase (I'm pretty sure one of the main reasons I got this far into the interview process is because I didn't require a very high pay). My question is, after I read the article which mentioned that settling / not negotiating salary is a mistake, given my situation, would you advise that I do or do not negotiate salary? Edit: I believe this is not a duplicate of Does the first person to mention a number in a salary negotiation lose? . I already know I made a mistake and "lost". I mentioned a salary first (a low one too) during a simple phone screen. This isn't about if I lost or not, I'm just wondering if, given my current situation, it is advisable for me to negotiate salary after I get an offer even after mentioning a low pay during the phone screen. <Q> You are not asking for an increase. <S> During the interviews, you have realized that the job requirements and expectations from the company are higher than you first estimated, and that, although you are convinced that you will have no problem to satisfy these, your first mentioned salary expectation is slightly off and that a proper compensation would be around $XX,000 + X. <A> given my current situation, it is advisable for me to negotiate salary after I get an offer even after mentioning a low pay during the phone screen. <S> Only you can decide if this is an advisable strategy or not <S> You need to decide how much salary you need <S> You need to decide how much risk is involved in asking for more now, when you said you expected less <S> just a short while ago You need to decide for yourself if you are willing to take that risk (basically, the risk that they pull the offer completely) or not <S> You seem to believe that one of the primary reasons you have gotten this far is that you quoted a salary that is "cheap". <S> So trying to negotiate now will negate this reason, I assume. <S> Only you can sense if you think that is still the prime reason for their interest, or if your great interviews have made you seem much more valuable to this company. <S> Don't play games with a job you really want if they meet the salary that you stated, assuming what you stated is reasonable. <S> It would be a shame to lose out on a job just because you read somewhere that you should negotiate. <S> On the other hand, if the figure you quoted before isn't reasonable for you to live on, then you have nothing to lose by trying to get more. <S> Since you cannot live on what you asked for, then ask for more. <S> Either way, you should currently be looking for other jobs and not stating a salary that you cannot live with. <A> In general its better to agree on salary verbally before a formal offer is made. <S> From the hiring manager and HR point of view its a fair bit of work to get an offer fully drafted, reviewed, approved and formally written up with all the bells and whistles. <S> So ideally this only happens once a basic agreement has already been reached. <S> This conversation can happen at any point during your interview process. <S> Since you already have thrown out a number, everyone on the other side is under the assumption that things will be okay if they can meet or exceed this number. <S> If that's not the case you should let them know as early as possible. <S> There is clearly a risk associated with this: You said "A" yesterday <S> but you are saying "B" today. <S> Regardless of the money, that's a potential concern about your decision making and commitment abilities. <S> The best way to deal with this is open and honest: "I'm really excited about this job <S> and so I stated my salary requirements really low to keep the conversation going. <S> However on further reflection I realized that this wouldn't work in the long term <S> so I need to adjust this. <S> Can we talk about this please ?" <S> The other risk is that you will out-price yourself out of the job and ask for something that is beyond their limit. <S> If that's the case, there is nothing you can do about it. <S> It's a non-starter and the earlier you find out, the better it is for everyone involved.
| You need to decide how much salary you require in order to live with it for a while (rather than expecting to ask for a raise after 6 months)
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As a manager, how important is depth in specific technical skills? Background: I have a very strong web technology background. I worked my way up from Jr Web Dev to Lead then to Scrum Master and then now IT manager. Questions: Since I am a new IT manager and I recently got overwhelmed by the things assigned to me by my boss, such as asking me to setup the company network, security (firewall), etc. Although I have strong knowledge on web tech, I have zero knowledge on network/infrastructure. How important is it for a new manager to have in-depth knowledge on specific technologies from the larger field (for example, as an IT manager knowing about networking)? <Q> There is a common mistake made that management is a career path, and often people who are good technically move up into more management roles and crash and burn as the skills are different. <S> It can be useful to be technical as a manager, be it Scrum Master, Project Manager or IT Manager, but is it required, no. <S> One of the best PMs I worked with came from a cookie factory, one of the best SMs was a school teacher (french), best IT Manager had been a retail manager before. <S> It's about managing people and resources at this level, tech skills help you understand the issues, but as you've seen can get you embroiled in the nitty gritty of implementation which you need to avoid. <S> When you were assigned the network job, your task was to find someone internal or external who could provide the tech leadership required. <S> Your job was to ensure the project met expectations on budget/delivery etc, and had the right people allocated, nothing more. <S> If you were anywhere near the firewalls <S> you were too involved. <A> Short answer: <S> It is not normally the function of an IT manager to have a deep technical expertise in every facet of the department that she manages. <S> When you reach a management level, you are expected to be able to delegate certain tasks to domain experts that you manage. <S> So rather than having that in depth knowledge, you know which person you manage does have it, so you can direct any specific questions to them through you. <S> Having said that, an IT manager needs to have a very clear high level understanding of each of the facets that she manages and to be able to understand what your staff are saying in regard to any risks that may impact either your team or the business. <A> You have fallen into the trap of just looking at a job title. <S> In IT in particular, the specific job responsibilities for a role vary widely. <S> An IT Manager (or in some cases, even a director or VP title) may have no or few subordinates and be expected to do technical work. <S> I am a senior person with a lot of management experience, and I've learned to ask close questions about the exact responsibilities of a job. " <S> VP of Engineering!" <S> "Oh really, how much of this role's time do you expect to be coding?" <S> "60%!" <S> -> <S> (Either a startup, or just a place with bad managers.) <S> Some things I can't do, other things I could <S> but I'm not interested in individual-contributor technical roles any more. <S> "IT Manager" at many places, especially small shops, is "the one person who knows everything about the network, PCs, phone system, etc etc. <S> " <S> At some places, it is a pure management role with largely personnel management/project management/financial responsibilities. <S> There is no "right answer" to what an IT manager is and thinking that way will lead you into a lot of problems. <S> You don't know unless you ask very specific questions about what the role does. <A> How important is it for a new manager to have in-depth knowledge on specific technologies from the larger field (for example, as an IT manager knowing about networking)? <S> It varies from company to company, and role to role. <S> In some shops the IT Manager does almost everything him/herself and delegates little (if any). <S> Sometimes the "IT Manager" doesn't even manage anyone. <S> In other shops the IT Manager manages a large enough and well-trained enough team that the manager does very little hands-on work. <S> You almost always need to know enough about the technologies to understand the work requests, and to find a way to get the work done. <S> For a manager, that usually means knowing enough to effectively communicate, prioritize, understand potential issues, hire, sometimes bring in contractors, etc. <S> But for a manager, the real in-depth knowledge often comes from folks working on your team. <S> You usually don't need to be the super-technical-know-it-all. <S> You do need to know enough to delegate the work properly.
| A good question is "what does the average day look like," "what hands on technical tasks will this person be doing..." Then match your abilities and interests with those responsibilities.
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I initially planned to accept a job but I let my ego get hurt and now I'm not so sure I applied for a position at an institution that's basically the same as the one I currently hold at my job now and they offered me the job today. They low balled me and then when I said I'd need the weekend to consider they called me back and just matched what I was currently making instead of offering me more. At the initial point in time when I applied I was confident that I would take the position anyway for the same amount of money just because it has some slight perks but I was really sure that I would get offered 50k, which is the top of the range for the position. I currently earn 48k and was offered 45k. I was a little surprised to have been offered less than what I currently make because my would-be supervisor was telling me she would need to contact my current boss to get some general information like my current salary so HR could offer something competitive. And now, I think since I was expecting to get offered 50k so confidently (I mean hell it's only 2k more than what I currently make, surely HR departments base their salaries on what someone currently makes?) that it hurt my ego a bitand now im not as sure about taking the job, even though, it has some other incentives. For example they go to a 4 day work week for around 3 months out of the year, during the summer. And i'd have my own office finally. And my boss would actually be someone who values my opinions and inputs instead of brushing me off because I am young. And the last benefit I was considering isn't really a guarantee but there's the possibility of actually getting to work more closely with the IT department at the new employer, and helping them or even doing side projects with them, to get me actual experience for a "real" IT job. But that's just what they said when i interviewed, it could turn out to be quite the opposite. Time is not exactly on either side for the employer or for me. Since they waited until the last minute to do everything I have until 9 AM tomorrow to have a decision because the position needs to be put to the board(it's a community college)so they can approve it and they don't meet but maybe 4 times a year. I was hoping to use this to my advantage. My would-be boss is someone that I very lightly know from a past conference and because she participates in a listserv that I'm a member of. I was thinking of calling her and telling her that HR is pushing a hard bargain and that, while I would really like to work for her, I really need a slightly higher monetary incentive to justify the switch. I'm just not really sure what the best way to approach this whole ordeal is because I am inexperienced with salary negotiations as I have only had 2 professional jobs so far(I am 24). I would like to work at the job I have applied for but it is hard to justify the lateral move in my mind because I expected to be more appropriately compensated for my experience since they really need someone(literally the HR person who called me today said that they called with the "counter" because "Well, we need you. ". The other issue with this is if I ask my would-be boss to "bat for me", and, she is declined, and I decline the position, I end back up in an awkward position with my current supervisor who was in contact with this other employer as aforementioned. The other week my boss told me about how if my job description changed drastically because I took on more responsibilities that she could go ask for more money for me. Well, usually my boss is just blowing smoke out her ass so I place too high of a value on that statement. I mean, it's a nice gesture, but, those aren't the things you plan on in life, you know? You don't make plans around empty promises people make. So I'm afraid that if I don't get the salary I want, and I decline the job, that my boss will be cold towards me. Thank you for any insight you can offer. <Q> ... <S> but I was really sure that I would get offered 50k, which is the top of the range for the position. <S> I currently earn 48k and was offered 45k. <S> I was a little surprised to have been offered less than what I currently make because my would-be supervisor was telling me she would need to contact my current boss to get some general information like my current salary so HR could offer something competitive. <S> And now, I think since I was expecting to get offered 50k <S> so confidently <S> (I mean hell <S> it's only 2k more than what I currently make, surely HR departments base their salaries on what someone currently makes?) <S> that it hurt my ego a bit and now im not as sure about taking the job, even though, it has some other incentives. <S> Your error was applying for a position with a top of the range of 50K, and expecting that you would get the top of the range. <S> In fact even expecting to make your current salary of 48K was also a mistake. <S> The biggest issue for them is they have a range of salaries they will pay somebody to do that function. <S> Once a person reaches the top of that range their ability to be given a raise disappears unless they can be promoted into another position. <S> In this environment they also have a maximum they will offer a new employee to do that job. <S> They don't want to start them at the top of the range because that limits their raises to only those that correspond with the movement of the range. <S> As for checking with your current company. <S> Not all companies provide current salary information unless it is so you can get a loan. <S> They will generally only confirm dates of employment. <S> But if they did get current salary information, they may have been concerned that your salary needs would price you out of the open position. <A> The question is - are the extra perks worth the cut in pay? <S> Yes, ideally we'd all like to move for more money <S> but if you've had enough of your current job and the new one seems better then the extra money might not matter so much. <S> Consider also that the salary bracket is there to attract applicants. <S> I've heard of many people who went for interviews only to be told the top end salary was several thousand less than that advertised. <S> If it really bothers you, ask for more - or build something in whereby the salary is reviewed at a certain point in time in the future. <A> The answer is pretty simple, and it depends on whether you are OK with risking not getting the new job at all or not. <S> You contact them and say "I don't feel like I can take a job that is a cut in salary. <S> I am excited about this new opportunity, but given that I am making $48k right now, I would need a salary of $50k to make the change." <S> This is a completely reasonable request. <S> Now, they may say "no sorry $45k is all we can do, take it or leave it" ( <S> semi likely) or "never mind <S> , now we hate you and rescind the offer" (very unlikely but possible), or probably they'll come back with a counteroffer of $48k or something. <S> Salary isn't everything, and you need to guide your career based on the whole package, but changing jobs to less money is generally understood in the HR world to be a non-starter. <S> Of course, not every HR person pays a lot of attention to their job, so they may not have known/ <S> remembered what you're making now, or they may be saving a lot of money every year on lowballing techies who are too much like Marty McFly to "dare ask" for a higher offer. <S> As a hiring manager, sometimes you have to give lower offers than you'd like because of money pressure, and sometimes you need the leverage internally that "hey we have a great candidate <S> and he's willing to accept but he needs more than this $45k... <S> " Everyone has someone above them trying to squeeze money and that kind of lowballing may be a deliberate tactic. <S> By pushing back you might be helping someone justify giving you more themselves.
| You have to decide if the benefits are enough to make the position worthwhile, even though there is little or no room for salary growth.
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how to react when getting blamed in office? In my workplace, one of my senior from another team, blaming me saying i am not providing proper input for his work. Even if i tried my level best to explain what he need, he acts like still i missed something. He is complaining in front of others that i didn't give proper data for him, so delaying/delivering less quality product. I afraid to react since he have good hold on management ,so used to keep quiet always. I am sure no one can satisfy him since even i gave all the needed data he is blaming me that the data is not sufficient. How to handle this? <Q> Two things going on here. <S> First: Are you getting clear instructions on what is expected from you? <S> If no, send an email to the guy and CC your boss, asking for guidance or even a checklist. <S> Be civil - make it like you're asking for the help "please help me to ensure I provide what is required". <S> If you do get instructions - make sure you fulfil them 100% each time. <S> Second: <S> It's not on that your colleague is publicly berating you. <S> Email him to politely ask that he emails any issues he has with your work and to refrain from bringing it up in front of others. <A> Ah yes, we have one of those in our office. <S> Super annoying isn't it? <S> If I were you, I'd just put it all back on them. <S> Explain that you thought you'd provided them with everything they needed, and if it was wrong, they needed to tell you there and then - not when the project was in danger of being delivered late. <S> Furthermore, they need to be much clearer next time. <S> Whether you wish to reciprocate by telling them all this openly in the office is your call, but in my experience, this needs to be nipped in the bud by making it clear that there are two sides to the story otherwise this negative behaviour becomes the norm. <A> Exactly as Robbie says; if something feels the need to attack you in front of others, they you should most definitely defend yourself in public. <S> Saying nothing is the worst that you can do. <S> For example: "You were working on this for three months, and now when you are not meeting your deadline, it is the first time that you tell me that I supposedly didn't give you the right data. <S> Three months. <S> You could have asked at any time during these three months. <S> If there was anything wrong with my data. <S> It looks to me that you can't do your job and try to blame others". <S> Edit: <S> Blaming you in public is deeply unprofessional. <S> Blaming you in his office, or blaming you in your bosses office with you, him and the boss present, that is one thing, but blaming you in public is something that you don't need to accept from anyone . <S> So even if all his accusations were correct, you can say, in front of everyone (since he started it), that you find it unacceptable that he is accusing you like that in front of everyone. <S> That's something that your boss will agree with because it's impossible to disagree. <S> And you have changed the discussion to something where everyone agrees you are right and he is wrong. <S> If he wants to change the subject back, you don't let him. <S> Say "what you are saying is something that should never be discussed in front of my colleagues. <S> Do you agree with that? "
| If he continues, say to your boss that you aren't happy with the public admonishment (regardless of if you earn it or not). So if he ever again says in public that you haven't delivered the proper data, then you need to strike back. If your boss refuses to do anything about it, freshen up your resume and look for a new job where you will get better treatment.
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Give notice or resign before starting? I have signed a contract with a company and am due to start next week. However, recent events made me reconsider starting this new role. The contract mentions that I need to give a week's notice to quit. Can I resign or give notice before I start at the new role? <Q> Short answer: <S> It's always better to inform them before you commence, rather than afterwards. <S> Think about the processes involved in onboarding: <S> Set up user accounts and access Building/safety induction <S> Walk through/induction of code Introduction to staff ... <S> These all cost the organisation time and money. <S> More than anything, they take people away from their normal duties to make sure you are properly set up and ready to start. <S> By turning up and then <S> quitting, you have wasted lots of people's time. <S> One other very good reason is that if there was another strong candidate, if you notify them as soon as possible of your intention to break the contract, they have half a chance of getting their next best person in to fill the role without having to go through the whole expense and time of advertising, shortlist, interviewing and selecting. <S> If you've decided to not proceed, you need to let them know now . <A> You are going to piss them off anyway <S> and it is better to get that out of the way fast, <S> so they can get on re-recruiting the role and you can do whatever it is you have decided without having to work for a week at a new place which will benefit no one. <A> Yes, you can. <S> The contract comes into effect as soon as its signed and exchanged. <S> Therefore you can resign to a job you have signed the contract for but have not yet started. <S> However, its highly unlikely that they would ask you to come in and serve the notice period unless they are really desperate. <A> Look at your contract. <S> It all depends on the contract, local laws, provincial laws, and federal laws. <S> We can't say whether you can "resign or give notice before you start at the new role", only a lawyer can. <S> Honesty is probably best, literally explain the circumstance as best as your comfortable with <S> (I assume life circumstances caused this sudden change). <S> Most important: unless you have a killer story........ <S> you're probably not going to be working in that area if you quit ever again. <S> Your reputation will go down the drain. <S> Especially if this was for a small or start-up company.
| I would tell them as soon as possible. Your contract or provincial laws or federal laws may have a No Fault or a Probation clause where either employees or employers are legally allowed to spontaneous breaking the contract without reason and without liability (or limited liability) for the first N days/weeks/months, excluding discrimination against protected persons.
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When being acquired, does an employee have very much bargaining power with the acquiring company? I have been working remotely for several years now. I have found it to be a good experience as I don't have to commute anywhere, and I get to spend a lot more time with the fam. The company that I am working for is being courted for acquisition by a large company. They do not allow remote working. The pay increase would be great, and having some experience working for this company would be a big help later ofn when I decide to move on. The problem is, I live in Hawaii. The company in question does not have a location here (on any of the islands). I am loath to relocate permanently as I just bought a home here. Let us assume that I cannot sway the company to let me continue working remotely. They will not budge. Do I have any bargaining power (when it comes time for the acquisition I will essentially be interviewing for a job) to do some kind of weekly commute (fly to San Francisco, stay in an extended stay for the week, fly back on Friday) or something like that? I would love to have this job, heck I would beat someone to death with one of their own limbs to get the job, but I cannot move. If I could bargain my way into some slight concessions on their part, that would be great, but I don't even know if I will have that power. If they are courting us for acquisition, are they obligated to give me some grace period to fall into their paradigm? I doubt that I will be making enough money to keep the house here and get something in Silicon Valley. Those properties are really expensive, and I can't see having a permanent residence in CA anyhow. How much can I bargain with? Am I in any kind of position of power? <Q> Often, when a company is acquired, key employees have a tendency to leave. <S> To counteract this, the acquiring company will often give key employees retention bonuses. <S> I once received a retention bonus of $11,000 if I stayed for six weeks after the merger. <S> I wasn't planning on leaving, so it was just free money to me! <S> Are you a key employee? <S> Would your manager say you were? <S> If so, then the company will want to retain you, and that gives you some amount of bargaining power. <S> Hopefully it is enough to get what you want. <S> If you aren't a key employee, then you should try to become one. <S> Otherwise, you have nothing. <A> Although they may have a no remote policy for employees, you could see if they would hire you as a contractor/consultant. <S> There are times during acquisitions that the new company gets rid of redundancies, but when there are staff with key skill sets, you'd be surprised at what they're willing to do. <S> You could also ask for a trial period. <S> I've worked for companies that didn't have any remote employees, but when I relocated, they gave it a shot <S> (Did this 3 times.). <A> When being acquired, does an employee have very much bargaining power with the acquiring company? <S> Unless you have a contract mentioning what should happen in the event of an acquisition, or you are a C-level executive or founder, or you are a key member of a small company - you have very, very little bargaining power individually. <S> That said, acquiring companies often want an acquisition to go smoothly, and at least initially want to make as many people happy as possible. <S> You should get clear in your own head what you would like to happen, and present it to the acquiring company. <S> You have little to lose by asking (they can only say "No".) <S> and everything to gain. <S> They might agree to whatever you want, or they might compromise. <S> You might also have more success if many others are seeking the type of concessions that you are (if many folks want to stay in Hawaii or want to continue working remotely, for example). <S> So, for me, I would never expect any concessions to last. <S> Your mileage may vary.
| In my experience, you can often get some nice concessions initially, but inevitably you are eventually expected to conform to the acquiring company's norms - you are assimilated.
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Should raises be announced publicly? Under what circumstances should raises given to employees be announced publicly or communicated in private? There seem to be two conflicting schools of thought: Give them in private in order to not demotivate those employees who did not get a raise. Announce them publicly so that other employees can see what kind of performance and behavior is rewarded. By "publicly" I mean giving the raise in a way that every team member knows about it. It does not have to be a big celebration. I'm thinking more about sharing a few, brief words in a meeting announcing the raise and explaining the reasons behind it. Salaries can be assumed to be private information and the amount of the raise does not have to be public information either. What are the pros and cons for each approach? Are there specific situations in which one is clearly better than the other? <Q> Salaries are private information. <S> While there are arguments to be made for disclosing them (pay transparency is a big one), in Western workplace cultures it's up to the employee to disclose his salary if he so chooses 1 and up to the employer to not spread the information around. <S> Employees in those culture have the reasonable expectation that their employer will not publish their salary info without consent. <S> The employer-employee is a business transaction like any other and the salary they negotiate is of no concern to a third party. <S> With that in mind, is it a good idea to announce raises publicly? <S> No, it's not. <S> The only perceived benefit I can see would be recognising high performers and incentivising others to similarly perform at a high level. <S> This can be accomplished perfectly during regular performance evaluations or other one-on-one meetings between employee and manager. <S> Meanwhile, the possible downsides or averse reactions vastly outweigh any benefit they might have, from upsetting people who didn't get a raise to animosity between coworkers when someone receives a higher raise. <S> Even worse, people generally have a very incomplete picture of how coworkers spend their time and how well they are really performing. <S> Because of that, instead of having the intended effect, it's vastly more likely that disclosing raises would result in one of the following: <S> I worked so much overtime on my project while Jim just puts in his 9-to-5 <S> and yet he got a much larger raise. <S> Clearly performance isn't being rewarded here. <S> The only way to combat this would be to provide arguments for every raise and that is even more likely to cause problems. <S> It's likely to have a much more positive effect. <S> Note that companies that have made salary information public are an exception here. <S> But even there it's better to acknowledge people directly and not tie it to raises as it's unlikely that people will link the two as you might want them to. <S> 1 <S> In fact, that right is usually protected. <A> I don't think it's ever appropriate to make salary details public <S> (even the fact they received a raise even if you don't mention how much) as this is the private information of the employee. <S> However a company I used to work for had a sort of a bonus scheme they called the "Pat On The Back" for performing really well, going above & beyond, etc. <S> Silly naming notwithstanding <S> , it sort of did the job that you are trying to do, where it was publicly announced that an employee received the bonus <S> and they were congratulated for being great either in a meeting or by group email as part of general announcements. <S> I believe it was a fixed amount <S> so everyone knew what they were getting <S> but it didn't reveal anything about their actual salary. <A> Let me answer the question with a provocative counter question: <S> Why should two people who do the same job get a different salary? <S> Let's say Joe can craft 300 Gorgels in 6 hours. <S> Bob can craft 200 Gorgels in 6 hours. <S> Both do their very best though. <S> Now Joe decides to work 4 hours and chill 2 hours. <S> Should Joe be paid for 6 hours, because he gets as much finished as Bob or should Joe be paid 4 hours only, because he only works at 66%? <S> And finally - who do you praise? <S> Joe, for getting in 4 hours the job done or Bob for working at 100%? <S> There is no satisfying solution that involves a public performance review. <S> When you praise Joe, Bob will be unsatisfied because even 100% is not enough for you. <S> When you praise Bob, Joe will be unsatisfied because his output is higher than Bob. <S> The solution to the problem is to praise Bob in private for his dedication and to find ways together to improve his output; and to praise Joe in private for his superior output and to find ways together to improve his dedication. <S> And all this already starts from the premise that you are actually able to properly and accurately judge the overall performance of Joe and Bob. <S> Now imagine you don't know that Joe spends 2 hours slacking off, nobody told you. <S> And then you start praising his dedication for the company in front of everyone.
| To summarise: disclosing raises is a potential minefield for workplace morale with little to no benefit. If you want to acknowledge or publicly recognize people for putting in amazing work, do so in a status meeting, a work event or a project debriefing.
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Can I quit after 2 days due to allergy? So I just landed my first proper job at a cafe yesterday, I was ecstatic. My job involved clean hands, so I had to wash them again every time my hands basically touched anything but food. But today nearing the end of the day, my hands were beginning to redden. When I came home from work, the skin on the back of my hands started feeling tight and the redness was even more prominent. As I have almost grown out of my eczema, I am worried that in the long term, this necessity to sanitise hands will bring back my eczema or make it worse. I want to quit tomorrow when I'm supposed to begin another work day. As my hands as they are now, are uncomfortable and redden all over again when under water. Is my reason ok to quit after the 2nd day? Please advice. <Q> A progressive answer: <S> Are there gloves available that minimize/eliminate the problem? <S> If not, do you know of any you can buy? <S> Will youre employer pay for them if you truly need them? <S> I'm not suggesting you make a scene, but rather you seek out a means to do your job without adverse effects to your personal health. <S> A box of 100 "powdered" medical gloves is about $3.00. <S> If you can get those, and they don't affect your job (ie: hope you're not kneading pizza dough, as that'd taste gross), and you're all set. <S> Let us know more about your situation. <S> Best of luck! <S> PS: You can quit whenever you want, but you aren't entitled to a reference beyond proof that you worked at a company for however many days, which is provided in the form of a record of employment (ROE). <S> The only possible exception might be if you were working for some clandestine military agency. <S> Edit : You can quit whenever you want, but you would still be expected to provide your 2 weeks' notice, unless you have an at-will employment or probation period term in your employment agreement. <A> This is perfectly understandable. <S> Any coffee shop owner/manager would understand. <S> What causes a hand rash? <S> A hand rash, also called hand dermatitis orhand eczema, may be caused by many things. <S> Hand rashes are extremelycommon. <S> Many people start with dry, chapped hands that later becomepatchy, red, scaly, and inflamed. <S> Numerous items can irritate skin. <S> These include overexposure to water, too much dry air, soaps,detergents, solvents, cleaning agents, chemicals, rubber gloves, andeven ingredients in skin and personal care products. <S> Once skin becomesred and dry, even so-called "harmless" things like water and babyproducts can irritate the rash, making it worse. <S> Your doctor will tryto find out what substance in your everyday routine could be causingor contributing to the problem. <S> Often your skin will get better bychanging products or avoiding an ingredient completely. <S> A tendency toget skin reactions is often inherited. <S> People with these tendenciesmay have a history of hay fever and/or asthma. <S> They may also have foodallergies and a skin condition called atopic dermatitis or eczema. <S> Their skin can turn red, and itch, indicating an allergy, aftercontact with many substances that might not bother other people'sskin. <S> Finding the Culprit <S> Could it beirritation? <S> Could it be an allergy? <S> Like a detective, yourdermatologist will ask many questions. <S> [...] <S> http://www.dermconsultants.com/general-dermatology/hand-eczema <A> Yes, that's definitely a good reason to quit. <S> That's the reason, why its called 'quit' also without giving prior notice. <S> Just understand that it wouldn't be a great idea to add this particular job to your resume, considering you only been there for 2 days. <S> Good luck.
| And you would never need permission to quit a job. Yes, unless that coffee shop is Starbucks and provides a Medical plan for you to see a dermatologist, you may want to quit now. Your dermatologist will work with you touncover and identify the possible causes of a hand rash.
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How to react to the new manager wants to change all work processes the software team used to? I'm a member of a software team as a developer for almost 3 years. Recently, the company hired a new manager who wants to do all things in his way which is understandable but means changing everything. By everything I mean programming languages and platforms we used to and have some level of expertise, source control software, reporting structure etc. For example He wants to go on with java and I see myself as a .NET developer result of three years of experience and my preferences for improving myself that way. Also everyone on the team has similar backgrounds. His boss knows what's going on and I would say he supports it. But he tends to underestimate the time and effort needed. I suspect that boss didn't know the manager's plan at first and now he feel obligated to support him because he already hired him. And as a developer I have no impact on business plans So, I feel myself inadequate and insecure about this sudden changes. But I don't know what to do. Should I try to get used to this changes? What are the chances if I opposed to it and how could I express myself properly in this situation? <Q> This is patently absurd. <S> rath's answer is an excellent approach for trying to get the manager to rethink the approach, but I think misses the point a little bit. <S> Your manager dictating how to do your job is the definition of micromanagement. <S> Coming into a team of programmers skilled with .NET and saying "you shall now use Java" isn't exactly setting you up for success. <S> And coming into a company with an established .NET codebase and saying "hey, let's rewrite all of this!" <S> (even in .NET) without a compelling reason is just burning the company's money. <S> Yes, there is abundant change in software development and you should be open to it. <S> Yes, there will be some change as a new manager tries to implement process changes to help the team succeed. <S> But this smells of rank incompetency, and I think that you should plan on raising up the chain of command. <S> But more than likely, you're going to get garbage answers and this person needs to be fired, ASAP. <A> Such a radical change needs a convincing business case to back it up. <S> You could argue that retraining our team to use the new software/procedures/tools/language will result in X weeks of reduced productivity, resulting in N thousands Imperial Credits lost. <S> His case must show that the sacrifice is worth it, but, unfortunately, he doesn't have to make his case to you. <S> In any event if that document exists you may want to read it, maybe you'll become a convert yourself. <S> You could ask that the proposed changes are introduced slowly so that the team gets a chance to catch up with the changes. <S> You also want to prioritise items in terms of how easy they are to replace, ie. start with changing source control and leave Java for the end. <S> If everything gets dumped in your lap from week 1, there's gonna be a sharp peak in mistakes and frustration. <S> No matter what happens in the end, this is the situation you should be actively working against. <A> The first thing I see here is one gaping hole in your post: <S> WHY is the change being made? <S> There are a lot of good qualities about each platform (notwithstanding the bickering platform-sniping in the comments on your post). <S> There may be a compelling business reason for this change. <S> The manager may have, in fact, been brought in to make this change. <S> Has the new manager communicated why this change is occurring? <S> Is it a business directive? <S> Is it to be more in-line with other business units of the company? <S> Or is it only change for change's sake? <S> .NET <S> vs. Java is just like Chevy vs. Ford. <S> You can argue strengths and weaknesses of design and performance all day long, but at the end of the day, you can drive both to the grocery store. <S> Were I you <S> , I'd be more concerned with the "Why" than the "What." <S> If this is a business directive from on-high, I'd be concerned that your manager didn't communicate that. <S> If this is just his own personal little platform war being waged, then you've got a bigger problem (this manager) than learning a new toolset. <A> He wants to go on with java <S> and I see myself as a .NET developer <S> result of three years of experience and my preferences for improving myself that way. <S> Personally identifying yourself as solely tied in with a single technology is not a good idea in a rapidly-changing field like software development. <S> It limits you too much, and eventually you will be left behind. <S> So, I feel myself inadequate and insecure about this sudden changes. <S> But I don't know what to do. <S> Should I try to get used to this changes? <S> Yes. <S> In this business, change is continual and relatively rapid. <S> If you want to continue in software you must get used to change, learn to accept it, and learn how to continually adapt. <S> Otherwise, you'll be left behind. <S> What are the chances if I opposed to it <S> and how could I express myself properly in this situation? <S> There is almost no chance that opposing change being driven by a new manager will end well for you. <S> You company brought in a new manager and gave him the authority to make sweeping changes for a reason. <S> And I suspect they didn't poll the developer group before this hiring to see if everyone wanted such change. <S> Trying to oppose your manager now will put your company in a manager-versus-employee conflict. <S> You won't win that one. <S> Instead, try to understand the reasons behind the changes. <S> Try to keep an open mind. <S> And try your best to get on board. <S> If you can't do all that, or if you want to ride your .NET expertise for a while longer, you may need to seek a position elsewhere. <A> Firstly, discuss your personal opinions with him politely in private, don't bring others into it unless they all feel the same way and are willing to participate. <S> Any manager worth his salt, particularly a new one will listen and take heed. <S> Explain that your experience is in dot net <S> and you feel there is a learning curve to overcome before you're as efficient in another language. <S> And productivity would suffer. <S> How he structures the rest is really up to him, changing your field of expertise affects your entire future career, so from what I have read, that's the important part. <S> Has anyone actually spoken to him about these issues? <S> It sounds like someone definitely needs to step up. <S> That's your first recourse anyway. <S> After that talk you will know better which direction to take.
| First, talk with your manager and learn why these changes are taking place - maybe provide feedback that not knowing why makes it hard for the team to buy-in to them. You should approach those with an open mind. If your manager provides great objective reasons for the change that make up for the clear downsides, then make do.
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How to get two colleagues with strong personalities and opinions to work together? At my work I have two colleagues with very strong opinions on how something must be done (software), and their opinions are very different. One is very actively aggressive in his communication, the other is more passive aggressive. They don't get along and don't want to work together. As as result, they tend to make their own solutions that are 'wrong' in the others' eyes, so the result is that code ends up being one style or the other which complicates re-use. Now I ended up in a situation where I need something generic do be done in both their projects. I would prefer to end up with one generic solution instead of two. How should I approach this? I could ask one of them to write up a solution and ignore the other, but I would like to get something that they both support. <Q> Since you don't have authority, you need to go to someone who does. <S> These sorts of issues (how do we do X in both parts of the system <S> so it's consistent and maintainable) typically fall to an architect, not a project manager or leader of people. <S> If you have an architect, go and ask what to do. <S> The architect will be able to make a good choice and enforce it. <S> Do not tell your "people manager" your own diagnosis of the personality types of your coworkers. <S> Simply say that in the past, they've each implemented things differently, and they rarely agree. <S> Explain why you feel it's important they agree in this case. <S> And then ask your manager for something : probably in this case, it's permission to be the architect on this issue and choose a solution they both must implement. <S> Your "people manager" can then direct both of them to understand the situation as it applies to their system, and design an approach to be delivered to you. <S> There can then be a meeting between you, both of them, and the "people manager" in which a choice is made and the "people manager" directs them to implement it. <S> If you do this well, you may end up the architect. <S> If you let it bog down in pointless arguing with each of them implementing their own incompatible thing, with the result being a permanent pain point and impedance mismatch in the project, it could be a blot on your record at the firm. <S> So make sure this really is your battle to fight before you wade in to force them to be consistent and play nice. <S> A third option is to go to your manager and use this situation as an example of why you need an architect. <S> There are even freelance architects available who will come in and "whip things into shape" for a while, then be available for quick questions and problem-settling later as required. <S> It's something I do from time to time <S> and I've seen the enormous difference it can make. <S> The majority of managers will reject this option because architects are expensive, but perhaps yours will be willing to consider it. <A> I would call a meeting and discuss what I need and hash it out. <S> Listen politely for a while to both arguments then just tell them what I want. <S> I guess it really depends on the projects. <S> I can usually structure the task requirements to get the desired result. <S> At the end of the day whoever is in charge dictates requirements, not the developer. <S> I'd rather have them agreeing that I don't know what I'm on about and working together to appease the taskmaster, than for an inefficient situation to continue. <S> This is assuming you actually have that authority of course. <A> Working with different personalities isn’t always easy. <S> You can’t change how someone behaves but you can use some strategies to overcome these issues. <S> Asking one of them to write up a solution and ignoring the other isn’t going to help either in my opinion. <S> You could involve someone from higher up the hierarchy like a “manager” that has some authority. <S> If you want to handle this on your own the following points might help you devise a shared solution. <S> Step 1 . <S> Keep emotions in check. <S> Remind yourself you only need the employee's professional skills so you don't respond to his strong-headed behavior in an emotional way. <S> For example, if he insists there is only one way to complete a project, do not yell at him or behave rudely if he is wrong. <S> Negative behavior on your part will make reaching a compromise more difficult. <S> Step 2 . <S> Write down tasks you need completed in specific words. <S> Deliver the instructions before meeting with the employee to discuss the project. <S> Step 3. <S> Listen to the employee's ideas objectively. <S> He may insist there is only one "right" way to do something, and while that may not be true, he might have valid points in his argument. <S> Go over his points and calmly explain what you agree with and what you don't. <S> Give solid reasons for your position so he does not feel ignored. <S> Step 4. <S> Talk to stubborn employees in private and in person if a problem arises. <S> Do not use telephone or email, as both are impersonal and less private, and he may misunderstand. <S> Step 5. <S> State points once. <S> Repeating yourself is likely to make you emotional, and a strong-willed employee is unlikely to listen no matter <S> how many times you say the same thing. <S> (Source of above points)
| Giving the employee instructions in writing before speaking to him limits prolonged contact and sets clear expectations for both sides. Assuming that you don't have an architect on your team, you need to go to the people manager and explain your situation.
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Job Description with contradictions Can someone help interpret this IT manager job description please as I can't read how much experience they actually want 3-4 years overall work experience max Significant client facing and PM experience I don't understand how someone would get significant i.e. a few years as a PM if they had only been in IT for 3 years? <Q> Welcome to the magical world of job descriptions - where often the bullets are all made up and the preconditions just don't matter. <S> Now is a good time to let you know that you can send your CV even to jobs where you don't meet all of the requirements and that the people who publish job listings are often not the people you'll be working with directly - so they're often not the most versed in technical terms. <A> Can someone help interpret this IT manager job description please as I can't read how much experience they actually want <S> 3-4 years overall work experience <S> max Significant client facing and PM experience <S> I don't understand how someone would get significant i.e. a few years as a PM if they had only been in IT for 3 years? <S> They want 4 years of work experience max . <S> Within those 4 years, some significant portion of it must be "client facing and PM". <S> So (assuming these are the only 2 requirements), if you have been in a client facing PM position for 3 or 4 years - you are qualified. <S> If you have worked for 5 years at anything - you are not qualified. <S> There's no way to tell for sure without asking them. <S> Terrible job description... doesn't sound promising. <A> Are these contradictory? <S> 3-4 years overall work experience <S> max Significant client facing and PM experience <S> I find it useful to read the parts of a whole as if they do not contradict. <S> If there really is a contradiction in the intentions, but you feel up for this sort of job, feel free to apply. <S> Job openings frequently cannot find people who fit the precise descriptions, and so instead they will take the best approximate fit. <S> If you don't apply, you definitely won't get it, though. <S> Good luck!
| So I think the best interpretation of what they're asking for is that the client-facing and PM experience be a significant part of the 3-4 years of work experience. They may have odd definitions of "client facing", "PM", and "significant".
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Can I ask if other people are being monitored as well? I've been working from home once a week for about a year now. Just this week, my supervisor asked me to send in a progress report on the days that I work from home. The only two people consistently working from home are my direct supervisor and I. Am I able to ask if this is now a new company practice? I'm specifically concerned if they think I'm slacking off during my work-from-home days. Should I confront them with that instead? Resolution : I followed everyone's advice and asked my direct supervisor about it. Apparently, it really was just nothing. For the past year, my work from home was actually "unofficial". My team leader/boss allowed me to do so, but since I was a contractor, I didn't have to go through the usual paperwork. A month ago, I've been made permanent, so in order to go through with my work from home days, I had to do the paperwork. Basically, the progress reports are part of the requirement of the "official" work from home days in our company. Thanks everyone! <Q> They may or may not answer, but you can and probably should ask. <S> It isn't reasonable to try to find out exactly who else they are or are not investigating. <S> That would be invasion of privacy, and frankly it's irrelevant; what you need to know is how to handle their interest in you. <S> Of course if you want to privately announce the situation to some of your co-workers, and see if they have opinions, you're free to do so, though Manglement would probably prefer you didn't and they may get on your case for sabotaging the mood of the department. <S> Calculated gamble; be careful and choose wisely. <A> Am I able to ask if this is now a new company practice? <S> Certainly. <S> I'm specifically concerned if they think I'm slacking off during my work-from-home days. <S> Should I confront them with that instead? <S> Yes. <S> You should address your real concerns head-on. <S> If you suspect that they do indeed think you are slacking off, talk privately to your boss about it. <S> Something like "Hey boss. <S> I'm concerned that this request for daily progress reports means that you don't think I'm working hard enough remotely. <S> Can we talk about that?" <S> Before the discussion, think hard about why they might come to this conclusion. <S> Are you working as hard from home as you are when in the office? <S> Are you attending all the required meetings remotely? <S> Are you answering inquiries promptly? <S> etc, etc. <S> If this just happened after a year of working remotely without incident, what changed recently? <S> It's probably nothing. <S> But a quick discussion should help you get to the bottom of it, and to correct any misunderstanding if necessary. <A> I would suggest that there may be less sinister reasons for the interest in time tracking. <S> Perhaps they are checking productivity on those days to see if there is value in you or other staff working more hours remotely. <S> As far as tracking your tasks during those days, I don't have any issue with my manager wanting to check my progress on any day. <S> If you are in the office, the manager can just wander over to your desk and ask how you are progressing. <S> Besides, writing a brief report is no different to me from having a daily standup to discuss what you did, what you will do and any roadblocks. <S> But really, if you're more (or less) productive at home, then it will become apparent pretty quickly how effective it is as a productivity model :)
| It's reasonable to ask whether this is a general policy or if they have a specific concern about your work. Everyone needs to understand changes to company practices , so it's reasonable to ask if you are seeing one.
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How can i politely ask a superior to follow up on an email i sent a day earlier? I sent an email to a senior developer to ask him to make a change to a web service that i require to continue on with my work. He is the only one in the office that has the skills to do what i require. Trouble is, one and a half days have passed and i havent received a response. I know he is busy and has a whole lot on his plate. The only thing is, i cannot continue with my work until this change is made. I dont want to come across as hassling. I only occasionally email him every week. How should i get him to follow up on my email? <Q> Were it me <S> , I'd start by physically walking over to the developer and asking for an estimate on when she'll be able to make the change. <S> She may be working on a number of other projects and your task may not be a high priority for her. <S> If you're not in the same physical location, I'd call or IM or use whatever other technology you have for higher priority conversations. <S> I assume that you've alerted your project manager/ line manager/ whoever oversees your time that you are blocked waiting for this change. <S> If the other developer isn't responding or the estimate she provides causes you problems, escalate the issue to her. <S> Your manager/ project manager/ whatever exists to remove obstacles and to deal with getting tasks prioritized. <S> If your request is a lower priority that can't be done immediately, that's fine as long as everyone understands how this impacts your timelines. <S> Of course, different organizations and structures deal with things differently. <S> Some expect developers to route all these requests through the project manager rather than going to other developers directly. <S> Others expect developers to do more project management and negotiate priorities more independently. <A> I would recommend the following: Show personal interest. <S> If it's really important to you, then it's worth a phone call, a visit, or something else that makes that fact self-evident. <S> A lot of urgency and importance can be politely communicated by a show of personal dedication. <S> Give the benefit of the doubt. <S> Often when my superiors haven't responded to my email <S> it's because they're busy and haven't gotten to it yet. <S> Usually they have received the email and already have a solution in mind. <S> Approach the recipient of your email with a smile, be friendly, and ask them if they saw your message. <S> Chances are they have and they can talk to you about it. <S> Explain the importance of the situation. <S> If they decide it's not a high priority <S> and they assume responsibility for it, then don't worry about it. <S> Be patient. <S> If you aren't getting the results you want, find something else productive to do. <S> There are always opportunities available. <S> Take advantage of the time you have to make a difference. <S> Doing the right thing in times of difficulty will set you apart from other employees and prepare you for future problems. <A> Other answers have already explained how to try to get more attention from the senior developer. <S> However, one thing you should do is to check with your supervisor and make sure there really isn't anything else for you to work on while you wait for the web service to be updated. <A> Being road-blocked on an issue is not something you need to be concerned about having to follow up on, especially if the person is the only contact you have for it (and you have managerial approval to contact them). <S> He should be well aware that he is in a critical position and will likely be contacted about issues on his area of expertise. <S> You can approach him in one of several ways: <S> Send another email <S> Call him on the phone directly; or Wander over to his desk if he is local to you. <S> Whichever medium you use, ask if he has had a chance to look at your question yet and stress that you are sorry to bother him, but you really need the answer to be able to proceed.
| I would strongly recommend the phone call or personal visit because this adds the immediacy of your need and is a little harder to ignore than an email. If the situation really is urgent, calmly give the recipient important details that they might not know yet so they can effectively prioritize and implement their solution. Depends on the organization and the developer.
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What should I do if my colleagues ignore my fear of cats? I work for a European start-up with around 20 to 30 employees without an HR department. We have an office on the ground floor and there are a lot of cats around. I am afraid of cats and I don't feel comfortable around them. Several of my coworkers like to feed and pet these cats which keeps them coming back to our office and they constantly try to get in from doors or windows if they find any that are open. This distracts me. I told my coworkers that I don't like the situation but they ignored me and placed more cat food outside the office. I suggested that they could feed them away from the office so they don't try to get in. The manager also likes cats, and he thinks I am overreacting and that there is nothing to be disturbed about. What should I do about this? <Q> You have unfortunately a phobia for something which people consider as beautiful, cuddly or nice which makes it much harder to be accepted. <S> If we go for the list of phobias , there are phobias of flowers, happiness, sun, wood and dolls. <S> If you are otherwise content with your work and have a good social standing, you need to establish first that it is a real condition. <S> Ailurophobia is a known phobia, so visit a psychologist which can give testimonial that your condition is real. <S> Sometimes they offer a therapy so you can suppress or heal the condition by exposition. <S> With that you can talk with your manager in private, show him the testimonial and hint that you know people like cats <S> so you understand it is hard to be taken seriously. <S> You are simply not responsible for your fear. <S> From that on it should be possible to work on solutions like feeding the cats out of your view and hold the doors closed. <S> Unfortunately it means people know that it is your achilles heel. <S> So it really depends on the social standing how good the solutions are. <A> What should I do about this? <S> Your choices seem to be some combination of the following: <S> Talk more with your manager, and to those above him in hopes that they will do something. <S> Explain how distracting this is and how it impacts your productivity. <S> Sometimes we can overcome our fears ourselves. <S> Some times we need help from healthcare professionals Find a job that isn't cat-infested, then quit this one What you "should do" isn't really something this forum can answer. <S> That will depend on your tolerance, patience, the importance of this particular job to you financially, local laws, and the willingness of folks at your company to do something about your issue. <S> Based on how your describe your aversion to cats, and the seeming cat-friendly environment, I'd just find another job, then quit. <S> But your mileage may vary. <A> Perhaps if the general consensus is pro cats you're better off addressing your own phobia rather than projecting it on others. <S> To mitigate against the issue I suggest you keep your door and windows closed. <S> And talk again to the manager. <S> If that fails you can escalate it but you run the risk of making yourself seem unreasonable. <S> If you had an actual allergy to cats that would be a different story.
| In some locales you might be able to make a case that you need an individual accommodation due to your fear of cats Personally make sure the doors and windows are closed so that the cats can't get in Learn to tolerate the cat-happy environment. Attempt to convince them that your fear is real, and more than just an over-reaction. But I think in a normal working environment it should be possible to be courteous if you know someone has a problem which must be addressed.
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How can I differentiate between a junior employee and a senior employee at work? In an attempt to navigate the workplace, I am looking to see if there are definable attributes between a Junior employee and Senior employees. I am trying to use this information to navigate a workforce without titles. So I will be on the look out for attributes, behaviour & responsibilities. <Q> I am looking to see if there are definable attributes between a Junior employee and Senior employees. <S> I am trying to use this information to navigate a workforce without titles. <S> If there are no titles, then there are no "Junior" or "Senior" employees. <S> But you could use any or all of the attributes to arbitrarily divide folks for your personal needs years of experience in your industry years of experience in your company your assessment of their level of knowledge their "political connectedness" within the company <S> how others (such as your peers) treat them the nature of the projects they are assigned the nature of the role they fill <A> Perhaps you define this by the complexity of the work they do within their professional specialty and the level of responsibility for results they have. <S> A big difference between Junior and Senior also tends to happen in the level of supervisory/technical oversight they have. <S> Seniors are allowed more responsibility for making final technical decisions and overall design of products, policies, software, etc. <S> Perhaps this answer in another forum would help you see what I am talking about. <S> (The link is specific to software dev, but there are similar progressions in other professions) https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/14914/whats-the-difference-between-entry-level-jr-sr-developers/14972#14972 <A> Generally speaking, senior employees will have more tenure, which implies more experience and knowledge. <S> That is what a "senior" title is supposed to indicate. <S> The best way to tell the difference?
| If you find yourself going to other employees to ask questions about stuff, then consider them to be senior, and consider yourself junior.
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How can I convincingly show my amateur knowledge will translate well to a professional role? I've spotted a job vacancy for a photographic assistant at a large online retailer - so basically, product photography in a studio. I have all but one of the 'desirables' on the listing, namely photographic studio experience. I've been taking photographs for ten years, mainly landscapes, but I have some experience in just about every genre going. I currently work as a kind of marketing/web dev/general office drone: I have 12 years experience in 'business', and I am a quick study. So basically, what I'm trying to say is I know photography, I have a lot of general work experience, and I'm not an idiot, so I know I can almost certainly do the job. My question is, how can I convey that in my application/resume/cover letter; basically, that my professional experience is broad but not strictly relevant to photography, and that my photographic experience is likewise broad but non-professional. How can I 'spin' it to give me the best chance of getting an interview? Or am I just kidding myself? The position isn't brilliantly well paid - in fact I would be taking a pay cut, slightly offset by reduced travel costs. So I get the impression that it is very much an entry-level position. However, since there is no chance of progression at my current job because reasons, I figure it's better being at the bottom of a ladder I want to climb rather than halfway up one that leads nowhere. Thanks in advance. <Q> Especially SHOW. <S> Everyone wants work experience these days--whether it's actually realistic or not-- <S> so in lieu of that I think it would be great to create a simple webpage that the potential employer can view that will demonstrate your abilities. <S> I've done the same thing with my coding side-interest . <S> Code is one thing, but with your profession being so visual, this is critical. <S> You should put the link to your webpage at the top of your résumé and mentioned in your cover letter. <A> I think you should just make the case, as you've done here, and hope for the best. <S> Just demonstrate that you have photography skills, and that you have business skills, and you're really passionate about becoming a photographer full-time. <S> Working in a studio, you'll likely need to show that you are able to manage time effectively, because studios bill by the hour. <S> It's also possible that you might not qualify for more than an internship, since you'll be learning basics. <S> Maybe just state that you're eager and enthusiastic, and willing to keep your options open. <S> The one thing you'll have to prove is that you want to stay working in a photography studio and not go back to "marketing/web dev/general office drone" jobs. <S> It should be clear that you're passionate about making photography your profession and you're not just doing this just on a whim. <A> When applying for a job in the arts, you need to demonstrate that you have talent. <S> If you were an actor or a musician, you would perform at auditions. <S> For the visual arts, you need a portfolio. <S> You need to show that you have a good eye, and that you understand the "rules" and the technical aspects of photography. <S> In your situation, skill is less important than talent. <S> That's the hard part of being a good photographer. <S> If they like that, they will train you how to do studio work. <S> Protect your work with watermarks and copyrights. <S> It's not only a wise thing to do, but also an extra professional touch. <S> Plenty of artists have other jobs, and no one really cares what they are. <S> Anyone looking to hire you as a photographer won't really care if you are currently a waiter or an office drone.
| The most important thing is to show you know your way around a camera, and you have a good eye for content. The simplest thing for you is to set up a website with your work, and provide a URL, both in your cover letter, and on your resume. To get past the cover-letter/résumé phase, I think the best advice is to not only tell but to show .
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Is it a common practice to sign an employment-agreement with life-long obligations? At my current workplace I am being offered to sign an employment-agreement which has a life-long consequences. Specifically it says that even after the termination from the workplace I will still have some obligations to the company. And I am not quite comfortable with it. I expect to have no obligations to the company after the termination plus some limited time (e.g. 12 months). Specifically the agreement says: Facilitation of Agreement. Consultant agrees to execute promptly, both during and after the end of the Relationship, any proper oath, and to verify any proper document, required to carry out the terms of this Agreement, upon the Company’s written request to do so. I'm not quite comfortable with the and after the end of the Relationship part. I don't want them calling me after 5 years and claiming anything. I haven't signed any employment-agreements with such phrasings before in my life so the question is: is it (a life-long obligation) a common practice or something extraordinary? If it's something extraordinary I can try to negotiate the removal of this phrasing. Update: the company is located in the State of Delaware U.S.A. though I live in Russia and I'm going to work remotely. <Q> First, yes, many companies have open ended forever clauses in their contracts. <S> Courts don't always enforce the forever part, and companies don't often try to either. <S> If you're telling people my 20-year-old secrets, what do I care that the NDA is still technically enforceable? <S> Second, you can always try to have your contract amended. <S> But if I'm just about to hire someone and they suddenly object to a clause dozens of other people have accepted, I may just move on to the next candidate. <S> Third, if your concern is putting in a lot of unpaid time, then put in something about being paid for any time needed past one hour or something. <S> In all likelihood this is literally about the time to sign something that says "I wrote/invented that thing <S> and I agree that the company owns it. <S> " This is not making you write something. <S> Just read it and sign or execute it. <S> I've had clients come back to me years later and ask me to sign such a thing and of course I did. <S> It's the right and helpful thing to do and it takes only minutes. <A> is it (a life-long obligation) a common practice or something extraordinary? <S> If it's something extraordinary I can try to negotiate the removal of this phrasing. <S> For example, I can't see this being a common thing for fast food restaurant employees. <S> But a clause like this in a contract can greatly help a company protect itself. <S> For example, if you are working for a drug manufacturer inventing a new drug to cure some very widespread disease, they need to protect themselves in case you leave and they need you to come back to review and sign patent documentation. <S> Another example might be to provide testimony in the event that the employer gets sued by a client you worked directly with during your time at the company. <S> So I can definitely see why a company might do this. <S> I don't know if the life-long obligation is common. <S> I could see certain companies (in certain fields, job positions) putting this into contracts to protect themselves. <S> Enforceability is another issue as mentioned by Masked Man . <S> This is definitely something you can try to negotiate, however. <S> Ask for some sort of limiting period (12 or 18 months). <S> Also tell them that a compensation strategy should be clearly defined in the agreement so as to protect you and them. <S> Vagueness in something like this is not a good thing for either party. <A> The important part is the "required to carry out the terms of this Agreement". <S> What does this mean? <S> Example: <S> You create a product. <S> The company files a patent for your work. <S> Your contract then terminates. <S> The company can't get the patent without your support, if you don't provide further patent details. <S> But getting the patent was point of the employment agreement. <S> So you are required to review the patent documentation and to make the oath required, as the product was created during your employment and the patenting process was part of your job, the task just got delayed. <S> Is such a clause common practice? <S> No, most people will likely not have this in their contract. <S> The clause is only required if there is a fair chance you create something during your employment, but the company can't reap the benefits immediately due to external constraints, f.e. <S> the time it takes for a patent to become a patent. <S> You should check if this is the case for your kind of employment. <A> Welch's contracts with GE were subsequently investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). <S> The retention package, worth $2.5 million, agreed upon by Welch and GE <S> in 1996 promised him continued access after his retirement to benefits he received as CEO including an apartment in New York, baseball tickets, and use of a private jet and chauffeured car.
| It is not common, but if an employee can sign an employment agreement with life long benefits , reciprocity would seem to suggest an employee could sign an employment agreement with life long obligations. Whether or not this is common probably varies greatly from field to field.
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Employer asked me to remove work-related content on my personal blog. How to respond? I wrote a blog post on my personal blog discussing my life and how I joined this company and the things we are working on. However, I quoted (and linked to) a tweet by a competitor of ours. I felt this was necessary as I had only written the post after seeing the tweet, and it was just me giving credit to the person/company. It's just secondary that the poster works for a competitor of ours. Today, I got a stern notice asking me to remove the reference to the tweet (and the competitor) from my blog post. Its "not up for discussion", and that "If I don't, it won't be good for you". I'd assumed that any content on my personal blog post won't be under this purview. At no point in the blog post did I write anything against either of the companies. Should I take it up to HR? Assuming I'd want to fight this, how should I proceed? <Q> Should I take it up to HR? <S> Assuming I'd want to fight this, how should I proceed? <S> This is very much up to you. <S> Since they already told you Its "not up for discussion", and that "If I don't, it won't be good for you". <S> however, I'm not sure what you should expect (you don't work for the mafia do you?). <S> The best place I see this going is that you ask them to formalize a policy on personal, social media posts. <S> That way everything is in writing and clear going forward. <S> I'd take it from an approach of "let's help <S> each other make sure this doesn't happen again". <S> That way it is the two of you working together on something positive as opposed to working against each other on something negative. <A> The response might be reasonable, it might not be, but even if it is unreasonable, if your job is more important than your blog, I would not pursue the issue any further, and in the future refrain from talking about your job on the internet under any name that could be connected to your company. <S> It's just not worth it. <A> the things we are working on. <S> This is already a bad idea. <S> I'd assumed that any content on my personal blog post won't be under this purview. <S> Uhm, no. <S> This is not how real life works. <S> If you write on your personal blog how you hate cats and if your boss loves cats, he might decide to renew the contract of the co-worker who loves cats, instead of yours. <S> Even if HR would call your manager off, which is a pretty big IF, HR can't do anything if your manager says in a year that you under-perform and therefore there is no need to keep you. <A> Your username here currently is "anon-blogger", but you forgot the "anon" part when you actually wrote your blog. <S> If you really want to write a honest blog about your work, it has to be really anonymous. <S> This is the sole and only way you'll get no interference. <S> Lesson learned: censor your post, close ( <S> but do not delete ) <S> your blog, and open a new anonymous one. <S> Really anonymous. <S> Yes you'll lose your current readers. <S> Too bad: if the content is great, new readers will come. <S> Better do it this way than being subject to mobbing and censorship and risk being fired… <A> Immediately remove the tweet. <S> Consider removing the entire article a) if the tweet was integral to the article, b) <S> in case the request could possibly have been misunderstood and they were really asking you to take down the whole thing and not just the tweet reference, and c) <S> if they don't want the bad, they don't deserve the good. <S> Immediately send a polite note in response indicating that the request has been completed, exactly how you've completed the request, requesting that they review and confirm that nothing further needs to be done, and asking for the company's blogging/social networking policy so this doesn't happen again. <S> I can understand from your perspective that they shouldn't have reacted this way. <S> However, they did, and it's better to comply and seek first to understand, then to be understood if you intend to 1) <S> keep your job, 2) <S> change their policy. <S> If you come across as reluctant, defiant, or want to have a discussion before you act, they will get stuck in a defensive position and you may find the environment stifling. <S> Assuming that they are acting in good faith, and that you merely want to understand and are a "team player" immediately will give you better leverage to understand and to possibly affect policy. <S> Asking the question here and thinking about it for a long time before acting probably isn't going to help your case, though, so I'd suggest swallowing your pride, and finding out what they want before you act in opposition to their request. <A> People need to think long and hard about whether they're comfortable blogging about work in an unprotected way. <S> When you start a blog, you have to assume you're going to be found out and monitored in some way or another. <S> I would be hard-pressed to find a law that would prevent the employer from firing a worker in that situation. <S> There is a great article on EFF.org on this, check it out. <A> Only you really know the person who told you to take it down. <S> I would consider "not up for discussion" to mean they don't want to argue, debate or hear any kind of defense for keeping it up. <S> Apologize and ask for clarification to help prevent posting anything like this in the future. <S> You take pride in what you do and want to share your professional experiences but not at the detriment to the company.
| My advice would be to just remove the reference and not make a big deal out of it, and if anything simply reply stating that you apologise, that you meant no harm, and ask what about the reference was not acceptable so as to prevent such a thing from occurring again.
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Should employer pay for an extra night abroad for Sabbath observance? I work in Israel for a large American company and will be traveling abroad to a conference for work. The conference finishes on Friday, so most people will fly home on Saturday; but as an observant Jew, I will have to fly Sunday morning, requiring an extra night in the hotel. As the extra expense will be incurred due to my religious observance, should I expect to cover that cost, or is it usual that the employer do so? I want to attend the conference, so I'm prepared to pay for the extra night if that's what's appropriate. <Q> I have been in a similar situation. <S> My employer was sending me to a conference that began Sunday morning; no Sunday-morning flight would get me there in time for the start and no Saturday-night flight left late enough after the end of Shabbat. <S> I explained the difficulty to my manager and asked to travel on Friday afternoon. <S> (They'd assumed I would travel on Saturday, so <S> the issue was one extra hotel night, same as for you.) <S> I said I was willing to stay in a less-expensive hotel nearby, which I think demonstrated that I was willing to do some work or accept some inconvenience. <S> (I did not offer to pay for it.) <S> The expense was approved and my manager said not to bother changing hotels. <S> So my recommendation to you is: <S> Know what your backup plan is if the answer is no. <S> (Mine was to travel Sunday morning and miss the opening of the conference.) <S> Explain the problem to your manager, who is presumably unaware of the problem. <S> Even if he knows you observe Shabbat, he might not understand what that means -- that it has strict time limits and that its restrictions include travel. <S> Ask if, given the circumstances, the company will pay for an extra room night. <S> If you can offer any mitigation (different hotel, finding a cheaper flight to compensate, etc), do that. <S> Make it clear that it's a request , not an expectation . <S> If the answer is no, proceed with your backup plan. <S> It doesn't hurt to ask. <S> In case you're wondering, I went to a university Hillel for services, found local hospitality for meals, made suitable donations later, and didn't expense that. <A> Ask your manager (or whoever coordinates travel for your company). <S> This isn't really a question of appropriateness. <S> It will depend on your company's policies and may well depend on either American or Israeli employment laws. <S> I would wager that a multinational company that employs people in Israel would be pretty accustomed to accommodating this sort of religious requirement for employees that travel. <S> I would expect that the company would probably have no problem covering the extra day (particularly when Sunday return flights tend to be less expensive than Saturday return flights). <S> But that's not to say that your company's policies are less friendly. <A> Often times, flights that include a weekend turn out to be cheaper than others. <S> Look it up and offer to take the cheaper flight in return for some extra nights in the hotel. <S> Other than that <S> , it does not hurt to ask. <S> For local law in Israel, you need somebody from home to answer you. <S> Obviously, the US does not know such a law. <S> A belated Shanah tova. <A> One problem here: you asked for "should". <S> So definitely, he should pay for the flight, and it is definitely a reasonable move to be flexible in booking another flight - unless the costs are prohibitively high. <S> In most companies where i worked it was not problem to ask for a later flight for personal business or even tourism on a weekend. <S> About paying the hotel: <S> For me a religious reason is a personal reason, and you should bear that cost. <S> I hope that your employer did not ask you about your religion when hiring you. <S> This makes the whole question very much dependent if you clearly stated during the hiring/negotiation process that you are not available for travel during certain times, and if that was noted down. <S> The manager would have to decide if the religion in question is worthy of making exceptions for (think about pastafaris) <S> It would demoralize employees who are not religious. <S> In my eyes the reason "I want to party on Friday and Saturday night in that city" is as valid as Sabbath, so if an employee asks for getting the hotel paid to party, it would have to be granted. <A> Just an additional argument: You say you are working in Israel, so you are likely to work with many people who respect Sabbath, and they are likely to know that you are Jewish, and they would likely be offended if they knew that you, a Jewish person, is travelling home on Sabbath (while they wouldn't be offended at all if a Christian or Muslim or Hindu travelled home on the same day). <S> That would damage your company's reputation in this particular place, so it is in their interest that you don't travel home on this particular day, so they should pay for your hotel.
| Your company almost certainly doesn't have to provide this accommodation -- but they value you enough to employ you and send you to this conference and they may well see the small cost of a hotel-night as just part of the cost of doing business. The employer should pay for costs which were caused by your job. So unless some special exception to what normally should be expected was written down for you - or that this is an completely expected behavior (as far as i get it, even in Israel it is not), I think it would set a bad example for the employer to pay the hotel, for several reasons: It would require the employer to know about the employees religion
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Is there an etiquette for who goes in "CC" and who goes in "To" for emails? I've noticed some of my colleagues seem to deliberately split up email recipients — some are in the "To" field and some are in the "CC" field. Is this a social cue whereby those CC'd aren't necessarily expected to reply? <Q> To: The To field is for people that the message directly affects , and that you require action from. <S> Cc: <S> The Cc (or carbon copy) <S> field is for people you want to know about the message, but are not directly involved . <S> It's mainly for people that do not need to act or reply to the message, but to keep them informed. <S> Bcc: <S> Finally, the Bcc field (Blind Carbon Copy) is used when you want other people to receive the message, <S> but you don't want the other recipients to know they got it. <S> So, when people get an e-mail, they'll also see all the people in the To and Cc <S> lines - but not Bcc . <S> (Source) <A> I would like to add one additional idea: anybody you mention in the email goes into the CC field. <S> For example, say your boss asks you to find something out, and you did so by talking to a colleague. <S> If you write "Jim told me that...", you should CC Jim, so he isn't surprised when your boss contacts him with follow-up questions. <S> This is <S> a follow-on to the rule "don't talk behind someone's back". <A> Whoever is expected to take action on the email is in "To", for whoever the email is just information is in "CC". <S> "BCC" hides the recipients from the view of others (to be used with care). <A> Outside of the "social cues" already mentioned, the usage may also depend on the email client or mail system. <S> And, as mentioned in the comments by Andrew Leach : "Some email systems place a limit on the number of recipients who can be listed in each field, so if there are too many for <S> To , they may be forced to spill over into CC ." <A> BCC is helpful if you're emailing a large group of people and don't want the recipients to start using reply-all, because this can get annoying, or you want to respect people's privacy by not sharing email addresses. <S> In this case, you'd put your email address in the To field, and everyone else in the BCC - so basically it looks like you're emailing yourself.
| In some email clients, if you use Reply all , it will use To: for the person who originally sent you the email message , and automatically fill the CC: fields with all the other users who received that original email (whether or not they started as To or CC ). If you expecting someone to do something, they should be in the To field.
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'No timewasters!' and 'Serious inquiries only' - Slogans in job adverts. Do they achieve anything? Thankfully I am retired and don't have to worry about this any more. When googling on a different subject I came across the following Animal Vacancies - 14 urgent openings. No timewasters! The link is no longer operative but it is a very common phrase used in small-ads. Why do employers use this phrase? Do timewasters know that they are timewasters? Or, if they are deliberate timewasters surely they will not be deterred. Has anyone here ever used that phrase? Did it achieve anything? Update: 18 Sep 2015 - in response to the following comment It sounds like an impolite version of "serious inquiries only" – Dan Pichelman I'd like to ask about this as well. Does this 'polite' version achieve anything useful? Does the phrase stop frivolous or unsuitable applications? <Q> I can't imagine that it would achieve anything. <S> After all, who goes to a job interview with the idea that they are completely unsuitable <S> but they just were bored and they want to mess with you? <S> (unless you are @Studoko, in which case the phrase would be counterproductive :) <S> Most timewasters happen when people are not good at self evaluation, and those people wouldn't even realize the phrase applied to them . <S> Or when the job requirements are not clearly enough defined. <S> Far better to be more specific on what factors would cause them to be timewasters (like "no red heads" "no bald guys" "no people who can't read", etc) <S> If you haven't got the space to actually explain what you want, resign time to being wasted (yours and theirs). <A> By suggesting that they are expecting to be flooded with responses from people who aren't prepared to take the process seriously or put in the effort required to land the job, they make the job sound more alluring. <S> Oooh, you are supposed to think, what is this mysterious animal vacancy that is hard to land and that everyone will want to vaguely try for in a non serious timewasting way? <S> Maybe I want it too! <S> There's a good chance that there is in fact <S> no job, just an application process that somehow makes money for the placer of the small ad. <S> You might need to pay some sort of application fee, or get photos taken that the ad-placer can co-ordinate for $100 or so, or work a free day doing deliveries or other odd jobs as a test, and these are the things that the ad is actually trying to solicit. <S> People who balk at them will be called time wasters or reminded that only serious enquiries were requested. <S> Your smart move is to snort with laughter and move on. <A> If you're a scammer, this is the type of person you can fleece. <S> Most people have gotten wise to job scams, so if you write up a professional looking job posting, you're likely to get professionals applying. <S> A professional is going to hang up the moment they have to pay a $100 application fee or some other non-sense. <S> The scammer doesn't want professionals who have heard of this one before, he needs naive and desperate people who don't have the experience to know not to pay to get hired. <S> The scammer could make his application look really unprofessional, but that would cause problems when he tries to sell the business as legitimate to his marks. <S> So the scammer takes the stance of every caller must prove (by paying an application fee or buying a do-hicky) <S> they are worth the scammers time. <S> NOTE: <S> I'm focusing on the scam angle due to the number of times <S> I've seen these words following "Secret Shopper" jobs. <A> Asking for "serious inquiries only" is a waste of time. <S> I helped with the hiring process at my previous job. <S> We regularly received resumes along the lines of "I've been a salesman all my life, but I've always wanted to be a rocket scientist." <S> (My employer was a company of rocket scientists.) <S> A couple of people had to waste their time filtering out those non-serious inquiries. <S> Asking for serious inquiries didn't help; those salesmen who had always wanted to be rocket scientists were quite serious in their minds when they asked us to give them a job. <S> Every once in a while those filterers would send the best of the best (or worst of the worst) such applications around, for laughs. <A> The only time I believe anything along the lines of "serious inquiries only" applies is for sale of high end items. <S> For example, a Ferrari salesman would certainly not want to deal with people who not only couldn't afford to buy the car but honestly wouldn't even try. <S> You know, those people that just wanted to sit in a Ferrari because they thought that would be a fun way to spend a few hours on a Saturday. <S> In regards to job hunting, I don't see that it has a useful place. <S> The statement attempts to say "we're serious about hiring people right now so you should be too!" <S> in order to underscore the previous adjective of "urgent". <S> On the other hand filling low (or no) skilled jobs is often a difficult task. <S> People schedule interviews, then no show. <S> People show up to the interviews, are offered a job, then no show. <S> Sometimes they even make it to the first week and simply stop coming in. <S> At some point a hiring manager might feel the need to say "listen, if you aren't serious about a job please move along" - unfortunately, it's just the nature of the business of hiring people.
| Both "no timewasters" and "serious inquiries only" essentially say If you contact me, I'm gonna assume your not worth my time unless you prove it. I suspect these phrases are a kind of trick, a bit like "limited time offers" that seem to have been available for years.
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How to handle absences caused by elusive medical condition? At a new position, I began missing work due to frequent bouts of what I thought were colds. The condition began a few months after starting, and caused me to miss far too much work - sometimes missing a day every other week, sometimes even once a week. I'm paid hourly, so I'm not getting paid when I'm not here, but it's quite possibly costing in productivity at times. I've been to the doctor several times, and two different physicians agree that it seems to be allergies, most likely to something in or around the building. However, to track down WHAT I'm allergic to would require several months of testing, possibly up to two years, and it would be fairly expensive. My manager has been extremely supportive. This is an office job and I don't deal with clients or anyone outside our medium-sized company, but face-to-face collaboration is important and working remotely is frowned upon for that reason. That said, the absences have been going on for months now and I'm afraid it might hurt my future at the company. Due to the elusive nature of the condition, any kind of medical exemption is out of the question. This isn't something where I can get documentation showing a debilitating medical reason for the absences. And so far the only OTC meds that have helped much are the ones that knock me out, so taking them at work isn't an option. What are the options in a scenario like this? <Q> I have allergies too, so I'm going to suggest something you haven't even considered yet. <S> Look for another job. <S> I know. <S> I know. <S> You don't want to do that. <S> But really, I think you shouldn't rule out that possible option. <S> Just like you, I hate antihistamines, they make me drowsy, and the other kind of non-drowsy allergy medicine doesn't work for me. <S> Escaping that environment, even if you absolutely love the company, should be something you consider. <S> The second option is to find the direct cause of the allergies, even if it costs you an arm and a leg to find out. <S> And the next thing you should consider is filling out a very detailed day-to-day journal of your activities and to the way you're feeling. <S> Do not rely on your own memory to find correlations. <S> Write things down. <S> Make sure the allergen isn't food, isn't tied to a season, and/or isn't tied to a particular colleague of yours who may be carrying the allergen on him/her. <S> Try to take a look a the state of the filters in the heating and air conditioning systems. <S> And consider making a deal with the janitor that he shouldn't clean certain things in your office, and that you will clean those things with your own cleaning products. <S> For instance, people with gum disease are known to have more allergic flares up simply because their body is already constantly fighting gingivitis. <A> I have an employee who has some kind of medical condition where this person is out around once every two weeks. <S> They are paid salary, but make up the time missed on the days they are fine. <S> Because I'm aware that this person needs to be out of the office at times, I give quite a bit of latitude for the issue. <S> I have never asked what the specific problem is as I don't feel that's really any of my business <S> and I've never actually docked vacation time for it. <S> In all other aspects this person is a rock solid employee and this particular item has not figured into any pay raises. <S> My advice would be to just talk to your manager, explain the situation and you two should be able to come up with a good solution. <S> It will be worth it. <A> Your best option is to find another job, your health is more important than anything else. <S> Especially if you cannot pinpoint the problem and it's serious enough to keep you off work regularly. <S> Taking any chances with my health would not be acceptable to me. <S> That's assuming you can not get moved to another section in another building or otherwise get yourself away from what you think is making you sick.
| Also, as someone who has lived with pretty severe allergies, I would highly encourage you to get tested no matter the cost/time frame. If you have your own office, consider getting an HEPA filter. Regarding documentation, turn in doctor's notes just so they have a paper trail. And do everything you can to make sure your immune system is not acting up to begin with.
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Is it appropriate to ask for double salary? I work as a software engineer, making 120K annually. Recently I discovered that I'm contributing 3-4x compared to everybody else on my team, but we're all paid the same. Is it appropriate to ask for double my current salary on these grounds? Btw, not a duplicate, that guy is making much less than me. <Q> Is it appropriate to ask for double my current salary on these grounds? <S> If You can quantifiably show that you contribute 3-4 times the value to the company compared to everyone else You have been working at this company for at least a few years <S> You believe your company (and in particular your boss) cares significantly about your additional contributions <S> Your company has a history of giving good raises <S> In your locale, very large raises wouldn't be completely exceptional <S> Your company (and your boss' budget) can afford such a raise <S> then <S> Yes, it's appropriate, and you should ask for double (or perhaps triple or even more) your current salary. <S> Of course, that doesn't mean you'll get it, as some of your assumptions may be incorrect, your boss and/or company may not want to set a precedent, or they may have other reasons for denying you. <S> Also ask yourself why you would continue working for a company that pays all of it's software engineers $120k, when you are worth $240k. <S> In my part of the world, I've never known anyone to ask for and receive such an increase, no matter how good they were. <S> But there's always a first time. <A> Is it appropriate to ask for double my current salary on these grounds? <S> Double your salary? <S> Probably not. <S> In fact, almost certainly not. <S> Software engineering, like most of engineering, is rather egalitarian. <S> In almost every field in engineering, the top outperform the bottom by a lot more than your factor of three or four. <S> Pay is not commensurate with that huge variation in performance. <S> People who can't program their way out of a wet paper bag are paid almost as much as you. <S> People who can program even better than you are paid only a bit more than you are. <S> That's life. <S> To make twice your already nice salary of $120K/year, you need to do something beyond programming. <S> If you stay where you are, you might eventually see that 100% pay raise, but only over the course of many years. <S> Another option is to climb the ladder and become a manager. <S> An even more lucrative (but much more risky) option is to become an entrepreneur and start your own business. <S> A third option <S> : Look for something other than money in your job. <S> If you're as good as you think you are, look for and ask for the most challenging assignments. <S> You'll be paid more than your mindless cohorts (but not double), you'll work harder than your mindless cohorts, but your mindless cohorts will be doing mindless work. <S> Your work will be fun and challenging. <S> Even better, find ways to create your own work. <S> You might get nice bonuses for that. <A> There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to get what you're worth out of an employer. <S> I'm not familiar with the USA. <S> But I have asked for double and got it when my leverage was solid. <S> The worst that can happen is they'll say no <S> and you can plan from there. <S> More likely if they recognise your contribution you will be offered a raise and can start negotiating. <S> If you let it slide, you'll never know. <S> I've also quit a job that wouldn't give me a raise, started my own business and had half their clients follow me because they couldn't handle their work properly. <S> It's all about getting ahead in life, if you're worth top dollar and feel you're being taken advantage of, go get top dollar.
| If you're sure your contribution is that much more than the rest, then by all means ask for a raise in my opinion.
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How to evaluate the legitimacy of an outside recruiter I have since accepted a great full time position related to my field of studies that I love since asking this question . Thinking back, before I decided to work with this company, I did some research online about them and from what I found out, the company was local (US based), with a operating history of > 10 years and specializes in IT recruiting . Client ratings were satisfactory. In the initial phone conversation, the recruiter asked questions such as my requested salary range, preferred job location, preferred industry, and details about related work on my resume. I appreciated the recruiter taking the time to find out about my needs in a job. The recruiter appeared competent and nothing stood out as troubling so I went forward with a face to face meeting. I was given the chance to ask questions regarding the above listed areas, answers to which I found acceptable. I had an unfortunate experience as I detailed in my linked question. I eliminated any possibility about working with this company in the future. My goal would be learn about the red flags that I must have missed. The particular recruiter I worked with was young, not more than 5 years removed from college, for which this event could be due to inexperience. How can I evaluate the legitimacy of a outside recruiter if I decide to work with one in the future? <Q> You don't. <S> Instead, you don't waste a lot of time on them. <S> Is the lunch meeting somewhere close? <S> If it takes you an hour to get there and back, tell them it's too far to travel without a concrete job opportunity lined up, but that you wouldn't mind a phone / Skype interview. <S> It probably takes you half an hour to thoroughly research the recruiter. <S> Instead spend the half hour to go to the lunch interview and if the recruiter doesn't show up, consider that to have been the half hour of research and enjoy your lunch. <A> I look for the recruiter to go above simply job searching for me, look for. <S> The recruiter to send you info about the types of questions I'll likely be asked in the interview. <S> The salary range you should ask for from companies. <S> Working with your to schedule interviews <S> so they are conveniet for you. <S> The recruiter meets you for a face-to-face in a place that is convenient for you. <S> On the flip side, these are red flags that will generally end a relationship with a recruiter (if there was one to begin with). <S> The recruiter is in a different geographical location, but sending me jobs for my home city. <S> The first jobs the recruiter finds for me are either outside my commute range, or in and industry <S> I don't want to work for. <S> The recruiter schedules interviews without asking you about it first. <S> The interviews scheduled are ones you cannot make it to - forcing you to cancel the interview. <S> The recruiter cannot be punctual about meeting - calls or face-to-face, emailed research, etc. <A> You do what I do. <S> Look them up on LinkedIn . <S> Every recruiter I know has an active LinkedIn profile. <S> If they don't, then there is a huge red flag right there. <S> It almost always gives their background, experience and qualifications. <S> While recruiters will use your LinkedIn profile to place you, don't be shy in looking at theirs to see what level of experience they have. <S> While the number of links they have is not really indicative, you can look to see what level of person has accepted connections with this person. <S> From my experience, the better recruiters are more like to get their LinkedIn requests accepted by solid people. <S> Lastly, go with your gut ! <S> If a recruiter makes you feel confident in their capabilities and they appear competent, then I trust that instinct. <S> It's served me pretty well over the years, and only rarely did I find a recruiter who didn't match my initial impressions. <S> Good luck :)
| Other than that the only clear red flag is if the job descriptions they send you make it very clear that they haven't even read your Linkedin profile.
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A new officemate is badmouthing an employee on-training for not doing the tasks she thinks she has given him - What to do? A relatively new officemate (about a month or so) has been badmouthing one of our employees for not doing the task she has given him. She knows, as I've mentioned to her multiple times, that the guy is currently on training so he won't be able to do the task until he comes back. Yet she continues to badmouth him for not doing it earlier. By badmouth, I mean something like : "I told ___ to do this, why hasn't he done it? We are going to losethis project because of him." in an aggressive tone (for me, and for other employees as well, as she exclaimed this in public) She sent a request to said employee to do task A, and the employee has indeed finished the task according to specifications. I read the request, and I confirmed that he did the job. The root of the issue, she said, is that he didn't do what she asked him to do exactly, basically, miscommunication. In an IT person's head, the job was done. I read it and interpreted it as such where he actually did the job correctly, when she actually meant something else. She has no IT experience (makes me wonder how she became a project manager in the first place, but that's for another topic), so she can't communicate very well with IT staff. What is the problem here, and what should I do? Is it the miscommunication? Her lack of IT knowledge? Or the badmouthing? Should I talk to my supervisor about this, and if so, how should I approach this? <Q> What is the problem here, and what should I do? <S> There's no way for anyone here to know the real problem. <S> The badmouther could be a poor communicator, could be very insecure, or could be a jerk. <S> The mechanism for detailing the requirements may be lacking. <S> Or you may be completely misunderstanding the situation. <S> Is it the miscommunication? <S> Her lack of IT knowledge? <S> Or the badmouthing? <S> Should I talk to my supervisor about this, and if so, <S> how should I approach this? <S> If the badmouther wants something different done, she will go to your supervisor. <S> Do your job , and let your supervisor do her job. <A> This likely classifies as an attempt at mobbing. <S> She preemptively assigns the blame to the new guy in case the project is late, and she does so publicly. <S> Mobbing doesn't require intent, so there's no point in discussing if she's doing it intentionally or out of habit. <S> An employer that allows mobbing in the workplace is not an employer you want to work for. <S> So let your employer fix it. <S> It's then the responsibility of your line manager to contact her line manager or HR. <S> They will take appropriate action which may be as simple as documenting it in a file, which will only become relevant if such events happen repeatedly. <A> tl;dr version: <S> You should not ignore these issues, because these problems could one day affect you, too. <S> But you don't deal with one person badmouthing another person, that's not your prerogative - you focus on how to improve the workplace <S> so there is no reason to complain about your department. <S> As far as I see the situation, there are two distinct issues. <S> a) <S> Tasks not being finished in time, because the person is actually not available. <S> b) Result passing formal verification (result does what specification says), but failing the validation (result does not meet expectation of the requester) For a), you could talk with your superior about the task handling during absence. <S> Not specifically related to this incident, but overall. <S> You can bring up the issue that tasks are assigned to persons who are not available and use that incident as neutral example. <S> There needs to be a process to handle this situation. <S> For b), the solution is more complex. <S> Results not satisfying the expectations is one of the common problems all the time. <S> Whole development methods were invented just to reduce the effects of this problem. <S> A specification should also contain a use-case. <S> If you understand the intent of a change, it's much easier to validate that your change meets the intention of the change, not just follows a technical specification. <S> So you could propose that a change request always also includes a use-case and is denied otherwise. <S> Again, you can use the incident as example, when you talk to your superior, but the incident or one of the persons is not the problem and should not be portrayed that way. <A> , eg., volunteer to do the task in the interests of keeping the project rolling. <S> Or at the very least a suggestion of how it could be accomplished and a clear way forwards. <S> That is the only way I can see getting involved leading to anything beneficial.
| I think it's a bad idea to get involved unless you have an actual solution This is a line management issue and the proper channel is to tell your line manager privately what happened and why it bothers you. It is not your role to do anything about this, nor is this your problem.
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5 Jobs in 4.5 Years I am an Application Developer applying to jobs. Would you throw my resume out if you saw that I had 5 jobs in the last 4.5 years with the longest being 1.5 yrs? The back story on this is that I moved a lot because these jobs were while I was in college. I was able to move up very quickly by changing jobs. However, I do not want a recruiter to be thinking about this because these were all full-time jobs (back to back) and perfectly legitimate experience. However, by listing them, I'm afraid my resume will get tossed because they will think I just hop jobs every year. My only saving grace is that I am not looking to leave my current job because I don't like it. I am trying to move out of state. I stated in my summary that I am looking to relocate. My hope is that most people are not too shocked by this because it seems fairly common in IT. <Q> Would you throw my resume out if you saw that I had 5 jobs in the last 4.5 years with the longest being 1.5 yrs? <S> Quote possibly. <S> As a hiring manager, I always want to hire folks who will be around for a while. <S> This is important, since I invest a lot of time and money in people on my team - in salary, in benefits, and (particularly for new folks) in training. <S> I'd like to think that these people will be around long enough that they come up to speed and thus pay back the investment. <S> If these were professional jobs (rather than just part-time or summer jobs while you were in college full-time) <S> your background unfortunately shows a pattern that would make such an investment a waste of my time and money. <S> Given that, I might well throw out your resume, unless your positives far outweighed this negative. <S> That said, there are always exceptional circumstances. <S> And certainly the specific needs of the hiring manager may outweigh the job-hooping your resume shows. <S> Often, you can address just this point in a really good cover letter. <S> Show the hiring manager how great a fit you are, and indicate how you want your next job to be one that is a keeper. <S> Be prepared to address this issue during the interview process and explain how this time it will be different. <S> And make sure you find a great fit before you accept a job, so that it will truly be different this time. <A> I would say that if these jobs overlap your education you certainly have nothing to worry about. <S> Additionally given the way startups ramp up and then flame out, having this many jobs in a short period of time is not an issue. <S> The places you will have the most difficulty getting in the door are older stodgier places looking for people that don't want to ever leave. <S> You don't really want to work in one of these places anyway. <A> At your age, and with being a college student, nobody expects you to have much of a job history. <S> Don't worry about it. <S> Some people work while in college, and some people don't. <S> If you work, and you work in your chosen industry, that should give you a big advantage in a job search. <S> So I would consider your situation to be mostly positive. <S> Frankly, I would consider that you have had any full-time jobs in the last 5 years to be the most shocking thing. <S> You say you're 21, so you've been working full-time jobs since you were 16? <S> There is an interesting story there, and I would definitely ask you about it. <A> Yes. <S> Some people will throw your resume out based on that. <S> But you know what? <S> Some people will ignore your resume because of the wrong font, if you have too many pages, too few pages, and where you went to school. <S> That's why it's important to gain perspective. <S> You're not going to a prospective employer like Oliver Twist asking for "more". <S> The employment relationship is two way and too many people forget that. <S> Regardless of who initiates the prospective relationship, they're being evaluated for suitability as much as you are and that can't be stressed enough. <S> The point I'm making is that you don't want to work for someone who dismisses candidates on such a superficial criteria. <S> When prospects do that, thank them in your mind and move on because they've just saved you from interviewing at a place that's too disinterested in the actual candidate to be of interest to you. <S> Acquiring employment is often a game of numbers. <S> You have to keep trying until you find something. <S> Just remember that the employer needs to suit you as well, not just the other way around and their hiring and talent acquisition practices can be a clue as to whether you would even want to work there. <S> Bottom Line: I don't want to work for someone who doesn't really want me <S> and I'd rather know as soon as possible, including having my resume filed away permanently.
| It only takes one manager who gives you a great job, to get you off the the many-jobs-in-a-few-years path.
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Would it be inappropriate to go around a recruiter and directly contact an employer with questions before a face-to-face interview? The situation: I have been looking for a new job and have realized I'm going to need to re-locate, as there aren't many jobs in the small town in which I live. A recruiter contacted me, looking to fill a position with a company in another city that I would not mind living in. That city is far enough away that I'd need a travel day to get to the interview and overnight accomodations. The recruiter says there is no travel budget for interviewees, so I'd have to pay my own way to get to the interview. Fortunately, I can drive to the city and I have friends there who are willing to provide me a place to stay, so an interview was set up. A couple days before I was supposed to travel for the interview the recruiter called me to say it had been canceled, as the employer (thought they) hired another candidate on the spot during an earlier interview. However, that candidate changed their mind and now the company wants to re-schedule an interview with me. Unfortunately, the recruiter has told me some things about the job that he says are non-negotiable and which I find unacceptable (e.g. the start date is sooner than I can accept; also, there would be no time off for several months, even though I have a once in a lifetime family event to attend in my hometown in that period). I've made it clear that these terms are not acceptable, but he says the company will not modify them. Nevertheless, he's telling me the company is desperate to fill the job and he is pushing me to interview - even though I would have to take (unpaid) time off from my current job and travel at my own expense. It seems to me it would be good to talk to the company directly to explain my situation and see if these issues are truly non-negotiable. However, the recruiter is telling me that would be inappropriate. I do have the name of the employer, so I could look up their contact information and try to explain my situation and discuss things with the hiring manager. The recruiter has made it clear that he won't work with me in the future if I don't interview with this company. Not having contacts in this city, I'm reluctant to burn bridges, but I feel I'm between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Would it truly be inappropriate for me to bypass the recruiter and contact the hiring company? (Yes, I suppose I could be burning the bridge with the recruiter that way also.) Are there other options I'm not thinking of? Note: Yes, I'm aware there are other questions about bypassing recruiters, but those questions don't address a situation such as this. <Q> I'd just tell the recruiter you're no longer interested in working with him, and you aren't interested in that position. <S> I think it's pretty likely those points really are non negotiable. <S> It's obvious that the company really is pushing to get help immediately. <S> Those types usually really do want someone immediately, to rush in and get it done. <S> Also, even if it weren't so and they are actually more flexible, that's a pretty huge investment they're pushing you to make on something that's pretty far from sure. <S> Meanwhile, on the other side of things, unless your employment situation is extremely dire, why on earth would you want to continue to work with a recruiter who threatened you? <S> At the very least, if he knew how to do his job, he'd be interested in not completely burning bridges with you so he could have you apply to other positions. <S> He's just wasting time and money by trying to send his clients candidates that simply don't fit. <S> Possibly even more so than refusing to interview, especially since the recruiter already told you to not do that. <S> Thus, I think your best option is to wash your hands of the recruiter and the job and look elsewhere. <A> The recruiter has made it clear that he won't work with me in the future if I don't interview with this company. <S> This is inappropriate. <S> If a recruiter has to force you into anything, I'd be hesitant. <S> Especially when he isn't willing to give you some sort of accommodation for your efforts. <S> Think about the situation he is putting you in. <S> You have to take a hit from your paycheck for the days off. <S> You have to pay for travel / hotel. <S> For an interview that might not lead to a job. <S> You should at the very least be able to demand that he asks the company on your behalf if they are flexible with a few days time off for a well qualified and interested candidate. <S> If he still refuses tell him your intention to go above him and explain the volatile situation he has put you in. <S> If he still refuses, follow through and go above him. <S> You have nothing to lose at that point. <A> I think you can contact the employer outside of the recruiter, but bear this in mind: the recruiter is paid by placing you, and he won't be throwing these blocks in your way unless they are non-negotiable. <S> He is still trying to get you to interview despite them <S> so he's trying to get you interested enough you see past them. <S> Having said that, the points are contractual rather than financial, so I don't think you'll cause issues by talking directly, in fact you may improve the situation for the recruiter. <S> If it involved money, the recruiter may feel they were losing out (as they have an interest in salary for their percentage etc), but I think this is acceptable as a direct topic. <A> Unfortunately, you may not have a choice. <S> If the recruiter submitted you to the company, then he essentially "owns" your rights at this company. <S> If you are hired, the company is contractually obligated to compensate the recruiter, because he "found" you. <S> So you could go around him, but this will almost certainly exclude you from any position with the company, because they won't want the complications that will result. <S> If you wanted to "fire" the recruiter and deal with the company directly, there may be a waiting period that has to expire before your rights with the recruiter lapse. <S> It could be six months or a year. <S> Is the job still going to be around then? <S> If you want this job, you don't have much choice but to deal with this guy. <S> I would not get too caught up in what he tells you about the non-negotiable stuff. <S> He is not the one hiring you, and he doesn't get to make those decisions. <S> I would clearly instruct him to present your issues with start date and so forth. <S> If the company chooses to hire you, mention your issues directly with the hiring manager. <S> If the manager asks why you didn't bring them up earlier, explain that you had been very clear with the recruiter about your requirements, and you are surprised that he didn't pass them along. <S> If you do decide to look elsewhere, I would formally notify the recruiter that you no longer want to work with him just to avoid any future problems. <A> Yes the recruiter's behavior is completely unacceptable, and everything looks unprofessional... <S> But I believe you have a chance here: Why not go there and discuss the terms yourself? <S> The boss may set these terms strictly with the recruiter first, but you haven't met him yet. <S> And he already changed his mind about seeing you once. <S> And you are not asking for quadruple salary anyway, only for a leave for a once in a lifetime event. <S> Maybe you and him will get along with each other and he will give you what you want in the end? <S> It doesn't sound like something cannot be talked out of. <S> The recruiter and HR are people you will be dealing with once. <S> If you believe the job worth it, ignore all threats, etc. <S> and go to the interview.
| And, yes, it is very frowned on to go around the recruiter to talk to the company, as that puts the recruiter at risk of being cut out of the loop and his pay, and puts you at risk of earning bad reputation with the company and the recruiter.
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Company not prepared for interview I was recently invited to a phone interview at a company who seemed to have interesting projects. This is for a permanent senior developer role. I was told it would be an hour long session with two company staff. At the appointed time I did not receive a call. After 15 minutes I contacted the recruiter to check if he had passed the correct contact details. He seemed surprised and called me back in a couple of minutes to say they had in 'incident' and had forgotten to call me and would call me now. I spoke to the hiring manager who explained that due to an unexpected meeting everyone was busy and he would do a quick 10 minute session. I was later invited for a face-to-face session. I was told I would meet a few team members and have a technical session. I took a day off and went there arriving on time. At the reception I asked for the name I was provided and was told the person who I named I wanted to meet was working from home! I then explained I was there for an interview, I was asked to wait. One developer met me and explained that due to an important meeting no one was available and he would conduct the interview. To me it seemed he had just been handed the job. He seemed pretty smart and we discussed some stuff in the lounge area. I was not invited inside the main office. Back home I told the agent I felt the company had handled the interview unprofessionally, I would rather they rescheduled if they were going to be very busy. He got back to me saying that they had an audit but were very keen to have me. They suggested another interview where I could get a chance to see their office etc. Now I am wondering if I should bother. I am very interested in the technology they say they are using, but I feel I can no longer trust them. They didn't seem very organised. Should I simply turn them down or give them yet another chance? <Q> In chaos, there is opportunity. <S> However, it has to match your personality type. <S> If you like the idea of going in somewhere <S> that is so "up in the air" that you can easily carve out your own role, and gain some authority <S> , there is probably a great deal of opportunity here, depending on their financial condition. <S> If you like a more buttoned-down environment where things are predictable and planned thoroughly, this may not be the environment for you. <S> I, myself, would like the challenge. <S> My concern is that they are financially stable enough to keep the team going. <S> I would get frustrated at a "day-in, day-out" job where everything was nailed down. <S> However, that's something in my personality. <S> You have to decide if it's what YOU want. <S> It's exciting, and can be very rewarding, but it's not for everybody. <S> After all, some people choose to be race car drivers, and some people choose to be actuaries. <A> Should I simply turn them down or give them yet another chance? <S> As always - it depends. <S> If you think this indicates a pervasively disorganized company, and if you don't want to work for such a company, and if you don't need this job badly - then turn them down. <S> Otherwise, take another shot at it, and look for signs that the company and people are too disorganized for your tastes. <S> Whenever you interview, the hiring company is looking to see if you are a good fit for their position. <S> You should be looking to see if the company is a good fit for you. <A> It sounds like you already have a stable job and looking for another job. <S> That should afford you the ability to "shop around" and look at your possibly positions more closely. <S> With that said, the way I see <S> it is that it sounds like a chaotic environment. <S> That may or may not be ideal for you especially if you like consistency. <S> Try to go in for another interview, and ask about what happened in the last two scheduled interviews. <S> Make a joke or something to see how they react to your question. <S> If they get upset or sounds like they actually forgot, then that might be the norm there <S> and I would just pass.
| Fact: it doesn't hurt to show up for the follow up interview.
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Expressing you want to become an entrepreneur down the line in interviews? How do HRs and management react if they know that you have a zeal to become an entrepreneur. In my opinion there are several advantages for the organization hiring those kind of candidates - to start with, they do not need to be motivated and will never hesitate to take an extra mile. With that said they can also get offended or consider others with same profile who haven't express that thought. <Q> How do HRs and management react <S> if they know that you have a zeal to become an entrepreneur. <S> If by "zeal to become an entrepreneur" you basically mean "I don't really want to work for you <S> , I want to work for myself as soon as I am able", then they would likely react negatively. <S> (The exception would be a job that might lead to some sort of entrepreneurship within the corporation, such as a franchised chain of locations, for example.) <S> Hiring managers (and the HR folks who assist them) are in the business of filling roles in their company, not helping you get your entrepreneurship off the ground. <S> While overall "zeal" is probably a good thing, "zeal to work for myself" doesn't do much to help them. <S> Most likely they would wonder how long you would stick around and if you would be more motivated to work on building your own business rather than excelling in theirs. <S> In your resume, cover letter, and during interviews, I'd suggest avoiding a discussion of a desire to be your own boss, and focus instead on why you'd be a great employee while filling the open position at hand. <A> It depends on the company. <S> Some companies will view that as "I'm going to leave in a few years, and may be distracted by my personal projects". <S> Some companies will view that as "I'm hard to manage" (since I want to be my own boss). <S> It's hard to say without knowing what companies you're applying to and how you talk about the subject. <A> I honestly think the bigger issue is that "want to become an entrepreneur someday" is trying to get them to hire on you on things you haven't done for credentials you don't have. <S> An architect doesn't get hired for wanting to put a building on the New York skyline. <S> A mathematician doesn't get hired for thinking about proving the Riemann hypothesis some day. <S> So: negatively, because you're talking about qualities you don't have, not qualities you do have. <A> What sort of question do you anticipate being asked where you would answer it with what you said? <S> Me personally I would not recommend telling a potential employer that you're planning to leave, even though it is for "noble" reasons. <S> However, it is difficult to gauge how one might take this in. <S> A professional tip is that if you are in doubt, simply go with your guts. <S> Is your gut telling you that it would be viewed badly? <S> Then it probably will be.
| Some companies have a culture where internal entrepreneurialism is valued, and would be thrilled to find a candidate who was looking to learn and practice that sort of risk taking. I would say it depends on the context of how you mention this.
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Options regarding in-house programming position with no education I'm in a sort of predicament at my place of employment, but first the background. Currently, I'm working as a computer specialist making about $29k a year at a local school district in the tri-state area. My jobs include managing the phone system, a few servers, two schools with about 70 teachers, and programming small applications. Recently, I took the initiative to create an application drawn from the districts desire for a specific piece of software. My initial work on this application took place during my spare time at work and at home. About a year later, I presented my unfinished project to the key people at the district. Needless to say, they were very enthusiastic about the application I was creating and wanted me to continue my work full-time. Things went fairly quickly after my initial presentation. The wheels got moving to fill my technology specialist position temporarily in order for me to work full-time. I met with the Director of the Business Office and my boss regarding how things would work moving forward. The Director basically asked me to give him a number of what I wanted to be paid. I talked to a few of my buddies and figured out what I feel I should be paid initially. I felt that based on what the application entailed that $80k would be a reasonable amount per-year (plus benefits). Once I gave the Director my number, he expressed to me that once the application was fully-functional, then he would be able to present my new position proposal to the board. It felt kind of odd, but I was okay with it since I was excited to program every day. I assumed he took this route because of how I expressed my vision for the application. The vision I expressed entailed a "never-done" approach, by adding features incrementally, the work would continue way after the applications initial release. Since then, I've been pulled in and out of my old position as a technology specialist because of the temporary hires. Thus giving me a huge whiplash of playing catch up with the technology department and figuring out where I was at in my programming. Here is my main question for the community: Am I being too passive about this whole deal? I feel like I should be paid at my requested rate (if not somewhere close to there) if I'm creating the application. I'm mainly being passive right now because I know it's a public school district and not a business. Some quick background: I only have a 1-year of college under my belt and a high school diploma I've created a few other applications for the district The superintendent and a few other educational administrators are very interested in what I'm creating The solution I'm creating is very unique to the district; there isn't any off-the-shelf equivalent at the moment Any helpful advice would be appreciated! Thanks, <Q> I think it's pretty likely they aren't actually prepared to pay you $80k. <S> I feel like $80k <S> may even possibly be a bit high, but of course pay rates are highly dependent on location. <S> But also, $80k is nearing the median salary of a school principal (~$88k <S> according to Google) and much higher than the median teacher's salary. <S> I don't recommend doing work way outside the scope of your current position only for promises of a promotion. <S> People deserve to be fairly compensated for their work, and it's all too easy for promises to fall through, only then people will have the expectation that you'll do dev work for an unfairly cheap price. <S> I'd insist on getting proper compensation for any additional work it takes to finish, and if they refuse, start looking for reasonably compensated dev jobs. <A> I don't want to be pessimistic, but a company pays a developer 80k, because they can sell the software for 240k. <S> A school is not in the software-selling business though. <S> Your 80k income means whatever your application does, it must generate at least 120k revenue or be able to replace 5-6 full-time jobs - annually! <S> The end result will be an offer to purchase your fully-functional software ("It's better than nothing after all the time you've invested for the software, isn't it?"), with a small raise for maintaining it. <S> Sorry. <A> Government pays less than private sector <S> Not much to say here, it's just true. <S> (Edit: though keep in mind benefits which are often higher with government jobs.) <S> So if 80K is what private firms pay programmers with degrees in your area, you won't be able to negotiate for that much. <S> Another consideration is that even if you can provide a certain level of skill or value, the school may not have the budget or need for that level of output. <S> My recommendation: Negotiate for a modest increase in salary. <S> Developing custom software that is used in production by end users for moderate to important tasks certainly has value and should be compensated more than system administration of COTS software for a similar number of users. <S> Alternatively, ask if you can develop software for them on a contract/consultant basis in addition to your normal duties. <S> When you have several years of experience developing and maintaining production quality software, you can apply for development jobs and use these applications as your portfolio. <S> See if you can create a demo and code samples of the software you've written for prospective employers (making sure that you don't violate your contract with your current employer, or their copyrights or compromise confidential information). <S> If you already have such experience you may be ready to leave this job. <S> Also consider talking to developers in your area to see if your estimate of your own skill level is accurate. <A> Something that may be more appropriate in your case is to negotiate with the district now, that even though they are going to pay you to develop this, you want to retain ownership and copyrights. <S> This will allow you to take the code with you when you leave and even sell it to other districts for personal profit. <S> This is a tricky concept and may not fly, but it's very unlikely you will get paid reasonably for this, given all the arguments others have given. <S> So it's worth a shot. <S> This way when you finish it up, you can leave for a better job and take this app with you and sell it to others or negotiate support contracts with the district. <S> They may be far more likely to pay a nice hourly support rate compared to a full time salary. <A> I hate to burst your bubble, but your enthusiasm and dreams of a big paycheck might have clouded your judgement. <S> First off, it is highly doubtful <S> you will get $80K a year. <S> The average 1st year programmer who graduated with a programming degree is $50K right now. <S> One has to have a lot of years and experience to make $80K annually, which you dont have. <S> The following is a huge red flag for me: <S> he expressed to me that once the application was fully-functional, then he would be able to present my new position proposal to the board. <S> This basically says, we will take your work and there is no guarantee you will get any compensation. <S> What if the board rejects the proposal? <S> To make matters worse, it seems like you have already agreed to do the work for them, with no provisions. <S> You might have already given away your legal rights to this software. <S> A this point you need to decide how you want to pursue this. <S> You might even want to consult a lawyer.
| Your salary expectations should take into account: Your lack of degree Unfortunately, regardless of your skills, unless you have a convincing track record, the lack of a Computer Science or Software Engineering degree means your market rate will be lower than that of those who do.
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I got a job offer, but I lied about a few months on my current work history So I just received a job offer from a small-to-mid sized company. I signed the acceptance letter and accepted the background check, but checked a "No" for may we contact your current employer. I lied a few months, adding 4 months to my current job and removing 4 months from my previous job (I pushed back my start date at my current employer by 4 months) Will this be a big issue? I worked for about 1 year and 10 mos at my previous employer but only 5 months at my present employer, which raises flags if I'm leaving so early. It's just not a great job, but with the little experience at the current job I probably would have been passed up. Will this be a huge deal? Will they find out? Please advise, thanks! (I checked "No" for contacting current employer, but they can still contact my previous employer and see the difference in employment history. <Q> At this stage, if you want to minimise the damage, you need to come clean now . <S> The discrepancy will almost certainly be uncovered during the external service doing the background check, and if it comes through from them rather than directly from you then the chances of your retaining your offer sits at zero. <S> As a hiring manager, I would be immediately wondering what else you are hiding. <S> For example, do you really have the qualifications your claim? <S> Contact the organisation now. <S> This very minute. <S> Explain the discrepancy, apologise and hope. <S> I would say that you have virtually no chance of keeping your offer, but it's still higher than if your prospective employer finds it out second hand. <A> Simple fact: explaining why you are leaving a job after only five months is easier than explaining why you lied about how long you were at your previous jobs. <S> (I'm also not sure that 1yr6mth + 9mth is any better than 1yr10mth + 5mth). <S> They will find out - when they talk to your previous employer and find out you worked there four months longer than you said you did (you only told them they couldn't talk to your current employer). <S> And as Jane points out in her comment - once they find out about that discrepancy they will start to wondering what else you misrepresented. <S> Make sure you learn from it, and remember to always be honest in the future. <A> Whether they find out or not will depend on whether the background check involves verifying prior employment. <S> If they do a basic check of your prior employment, they'll notice the discrepancy. <S> If that happens, it will be a much bigger deal than a 5 month vs. a 9 month stay at your current job. <S> Hiring managers generally consider it a very big deal when a candidate lies to them. <S> Lots of them would immediately revoke an offer if they believe the candidate lied-- if they can't trust your resume, they can't trust any explanation you'd offer. <S> Those that don't revoke the offer will assume that you are trying to cover up something really substantial. <S> It's really silly to lie about this because it means so little. <S> I am hard pressed to imagine many situation where a candidate whose last two jobs lasted 22 months and 5 months would be at a serious disadvantage to one whose last two jobs lasted 18 months and 9 months. <S> If anything, I'd tend to expect the first to be slightly advantageous-- everyone can sympathize with a new job that just didn't work out like you had hoped. <S> The latter makes it look much more like you're a job hopper that isn't going to stick around much past a year. <A> Apply for other jobs, and tell the truth, lying is both unprofessional and dangerous. <S> Any company that would take a liar on board is not worth working for. <S> Purely my opinion though, since others are talking about damage control, while I believe it's just throwing mud over something worse. <A> Continue to lie. <S> Cross your fingers and hope you haven't messed up your life too badly. <S> Any organisation that would keep you on after this is not somewhere <S> you would want to work. <S> If you confess, your chance of keeping this job offer is 0%, if you keep lying, you probably have a 1% chance of getting to start the job. <S> Of course, chances are it will come up later, and you will be fired in your first year at this job once it is found out, but hey, if that happens you can just lie about it on your resume for your next job <S> so it's no big deal. <A> As explained by others, you messed up when you lied about your employment dates. <S> This is going to come up in the background check. <S> So, like what Jane S wrote , you need to come clean. <S> You might be able to save face by, as suggested by RedSonja in the comments to the question, call them up and explain that you made an honest mistake. <S> It's better if they think that you made an honest copy-and-paste or similar error, than that they think that you deliberately tried to pass off something that wasn't true. <S> And of course, if they come across this question, chances are they will be able to put two and two together and figure out exactly who you are. <S> Which only strengthens the case for whichever way you do it, you need to take action now , before they ask questions.
| Again, your best chance is to come clean before they complete their checks - but I think you may have already muddied your reputation with this prospective employer. A white lie isn't ideal, and the company may or may not rescind their offer, but contacting them yourself and pointing out an error is a lot less damaging than them finding out and then starting to ask questions about it.
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How to make it clear on my resume that I no longer attend a university? I used to live in Canada and used to attend a university in Canada. I moved to US recently without completing my degree. I decided to apply to full-time jobs in US so that I can settle down and pay for rent, food etc. On my resume, I currently have: University of MyUniversity City, ProvinceCandidate, Honors Bachelor of ScienceMajor: myMajor However, I feel that what I have above gives off the impression that I am still planning on continuing university in Canada (which is not good because I no longer live in Canada and am trying to get a full-time job in US). I obviously cannot completely remove the word "candidate" because then HR will think I graduated. How do I make it clear to HR that I am no longer in the Canadian university but I also don't have my degree? <Q> Quite simply, just indicate it after the degree name. <S> if you don't intend to go back to finish it. <A> I was in your exact situation long ago. <S> I can say from personal experience, that there is no need to clarify your situation. <S> I attended a university, but didnt graduate, nor did I get a degree. <S> On my resume, I listed my school, major, and my academic awards, all of which were factual. <S> I made no claims <S> I finished school or received a diploma. <S> Early on in my career, a few interviewers asked me about my education and I answered honestly. <S> As long as you dont make any false claims, you have nothing to worry about. <A> To my eye, at least, including "Candidate, Honors Bachelor of Science" implies that you are still pursuing your degree. <S> Similarly, including "Major: myMajor" implies completion of a degree in that major (assuming you aren't still in school), unless you make it explicit that you didn't finish. <S> Usually if you complete a degree you only show the completion date, something like: University of MyUniversity City, ProvinceBachelor of Science, 2015Major: myMajor <S> By listing dates without a degree it is implied that you didn't finish a degree. <S> Thus the simplest thing to do would be to just list the school and the dates you attended: University of MyUniversity City, Province2014-2015 <S> This should be fine for situations in which your coursework wouldn't help you get the job, such as if you only got through general studies courses, or if your major wasn't relevant to the job you're trying to get. <S> Of course, there can be times when showing your major could help get your targeted job. <S> myMajor <S> If you want to show you completed specific courses, you could show them something like: University of MyUniversity City, Province2014-2015, 42 credits earnedRelated courses: Underwater Basketweaving, Navel Gazing, Advanced Navel Gazing <A> How do I make it clear to HR that I am no longer in the Canadian university <S> but I also don't have my degree? <S> The way I have seen it done is to indicate the University and major, and include the dates attended. <S> Leave off the degree (since you didn't get one), the word "Candidate" (since you aren't one) and any mention of honors that you didn't attain. <S> Thus: University of MyUniversity City, Province Major: <S> myMajor 20xx - 20yy <S> It's completely honest, and expresses what you did achieve without emphasizing what you didn't . <A> Another way would be to put the dates of which you did attend the university, June 2014 <S> - March 2015 at least shows you didn't drop out after the first week.
| In a case such as that, I'd suggest showing it with a statement of how many credits you completed, something like: University of MyUniversity City, Province2014-2015, 42 credits earnedMajor: You could put: Honors Bachelor of Science (incomplete) or Honors Bachelor of Science (discontinued) Since it seems you are no longer pursuing that degree, I recommend deleting that statement from the resume.
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Incomplete Degree - How to phrase this on resume or cover letter? I have two unfinished undergraduate degrees from two different universities, one in Math, and one in Computer Science. I also have a completed college diploma in computer programming, and a few years of experience in my field at a couple of different companies. When applying for jobs, what's the most positive way to phrase the fact that I have most of a degree in a relevant field? I've used the terms ' Unfinished Degree ' and ' Incomplete Degree ' on resumes before, but I feel that neither term conveys what I'm trying to get across, which would be more like, " Most of a Degree, with no immediate plans to finish it, but don't worry, I'm not a complete idiot ". I'd like to address this in my cover letter, but I also don't want to spend too much time talking about it, and drawing extra attention to the fact that I twice enrolled in university studies, did most of the required work, but didn't bother to finish it. In one recent cover letter that I sent out I had something along the lines of this: " I've got a college diploma in programming, the better part of a computer science degree, and a few years of experience working as a developer. " <Q> I think the key point here is explain why you didn't finish them, seeing indication of only one unfinished degree on a resume would cause me to wonder why. <S> Two might make me worry about your ability to complete your commitments. <S> The why goes on your cover letter and you can tailor it, on the resume I'd say: Collage Diploma in Programming X years study at University 1 in Maths (including courses on ... ) <S> Y years study at University 2 in Computer Science (including courses on ... ) and put in towards the end of the resume. <S> Your recent experience counts for more so put that up front, be clear what you did and what your responsibilities are. <S> In the cover letter you can explain why you didn't finish the degree, be honest but don't feel the need to give too many details. <S> You say "didn't bother to finish" which makes me think that it wasn't something like financial or medical reasons, in which case go with something like: " <S> My studies at universities 1 and 2 where as part of degree courses. <S> In the end I decided that Maths was not for me and instead decided to pursue Computer Science. <S> However I discovered that I prefer working on projects that have more practical applications <S> and I found that I'm more productive in industry than academia. <S> Therefore I decided to pursue a career without completing the degree and started working at Company Z where I ... " and then complete that by emphasizing anything you did at that company that's going to make you useful to the company you're applying for. <S> You can tweak this depending on the real reasons, and be prepared to be convincing about this at an interview. <S> In cases like these references from your previous companies may carry more weight, so make sure you have good ones ready. <S> Finally, I'd consider not mentioning the Math degree at all, with a few years experience <S> it's not really that important (unless it's a math heavy job you're applying for). <S> It may leave a bit of a hole in a timeline on the resume but resumes don't need to list absolutely everything you've done so if the timing of the other parts are fine you can just start from the Computer Science degree (or the college diploma, whichever you did first). <A> Credits are a neutral way of saying - I have this amount of quantifiable knowledge in the topic. <S> (hence why you've noted it on the resume). <A> When applying for jobs, what's the most positive way to phrase the fact that I have most of a degree in a relevant field? <S> None. <S> There is no positive way to phrase that. <S> Do not include this information. <S> It will only reflect negatively upon your qualifications, and there's no way to spin it otherwise. <S> what I'm trying to get across, which would be more like, <S> "Most of a Degree, with no immediate plans to finish it, but don't worry, I'm not a complete idiot ". <S> Unfinished degree programs do not convey this message.
| I had this exact problem and the solution I used was to list the number of credits I received towards the degree. Don't put down any reason why the degree wasn't finished and if they ask just tell them the degree didn't fit in with your career goals - but the knowledge gained is directly applicable to the position
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Will requesting a Skype or phone interview rather than an in person one significantly hurt my chances of getting the job? I live in Canada but am in the process of moving to NY, USA. My rent in Canada ends in a month, and that's when I will be moving to NY. I recently got a phone interview followed by a Skype interview at a company in NY, which went well. I was then called in for an in-person interview. Because I was so far into the hiring process, I decided to go all the way to NY and rent a hotel there for two days simply to do the interview. I didn't end up getting that job. I'm back in Canada now, and I just got another in-person interview request from a different NY company. Will it significantly hurt my chances if I tell them: "I'm currently in Canada and will be back in US in a month. Is it okay if the first round of interviews is a phone or Skype interview? If we get further into the hiring process, I will have no problem coming in for an in-person interview." Note: The company is looking for local candidates, so them paying for travel expenses is unfortunately not an option here. On my resume, I put down the NY address which I will be moving to next month. I want to make it clear that I have no issue renting a hotel and coming for an in-person interview if they are a bit more serious about hiring me (if I get past the first round / technical interview). With that said, will it significantly hurt my chances of getting the job if I say what I mentioned above? <Q> Will it significantly hurt my chances if I tell them: <S> "I'm currently in Canada and will be back in US in a month. <S> Is it <S> okay <S> if the first round of interviews is a phone or Skype interview? <S> If we get further into the hiring process, I will have no problem coming in for an in-person interview. <S> " <S> Note: <S> The company is looking for local candidates, so them paying for travel expenses <S> is unfortunately not an option here. <S> On my resume, I put down the NY address which I will be moving to next month. <S> So it wouldn't be a problem to me from that point of view. <S> But you indicate that this company is looking only for local candidates, and while you put a local address on your resume, you actually aren't quite local yet. <S> So from that point of view, asking for a phone/Skype interview because you currently live in Canada could easily be a negative. <S> It's possible that they could conclude you are a non-local, or unlikely as it might be they could even suspect you were being deceptive. <S> If you want to be very safe, and view this job as a significant opportunity, then go to New York and attend the interview in person. <S> And prepare to do the same for subsequent interviews at this company. <S> If you are willing to risk it, ask for the concession, or ask if you can do the in-person portion of the interview process next month. <A> "Will it significantly hurt my chances of getting the job if I say what I mentioned above?" <S> A job interview is a sales pitch where you sell yourself. <S> If your competition is able to sell themselves in a physical meeting, and you're not, you're adding an unnecessary potential challenge to overcome. <S> If you sense there are a lot of local candidates (which seems to be the case based on your comments), you have an opportunity to demonstrate how much you want the position by being the only candidate to fly in for the interview. <S> Also, even though this may not apply in your particular case, if other candidates are flying in to interview, you will appear to not want the job as much as they do if you don't fly in. <S> In the end, the biggest risk is not getting a job you really want. <S> I think it's worth the investment of time and money if you seriously want to work with this firm for a while. <S> If I were earnest to make a sale, I'd be anxious to physically get in front of the decision maker as soon as possible. <A> You set yourself up by putting the NY address. <S> Potential employers are already assuming you are in NY and hence don't need to pay to have you come in for an interview, nor pay relocation. <S> So at this point you are on your own to pay for travel expenses to travel for the interview unfortunately. <S> You can ask, and I don't think it will hurt to ask for reimbursement for travel to and from the interview, but when you do be sure to offer that you have no problem paying your own way. <A> Well, first off, at most places I've worked <S> it's been on the company doing the interview to foot the bill for travel expenses. <S> Beyond that, I think it depends. <S> I've certainly been on teams where we hired people without ever meeting face-to-face (only phone/skype interviews). <S> On the hiring side, it's really something you want to avoid: day-to-day, you will generally be interacting with co-workers in person, <S> so it's much easier to get a sense of what the working interaction will be like in person. <S> I can imagine for some positions this is not the case though - they will want an in-person interview. <S> From your perspective though, there are benefits in meeting people in person. <S> Mannerisms and non-verbal communication are different in person, you can get a better sense of what the work environment is like (are people relatively calm? <S> does it sound like people are talking about interesting problems? <S> or is there screaming and confusion outside the interview room?). <S> The interview process is a two-way evaluation. <A> Will it significantly hurt my chances if I tell them: <S> "I'm currently in Canada and will be back in US in a month. <S> Is it <S> okay <S> if the first round of interviews is a phone or Skype interview? <S> If we get further into the hiring process, I will have no problem coming in for an in-person interview." <S> If I were the hiring manager, it would not be an issue to conduct the first round of interviews via phone or video call. <S> Nevertheless, none of us posting here know the exact circumstances, which means there remains a risk of their saying "no". <S> In future, I would suggest you briefly mention your situation on your cover letter and reiterate the fact you would be happy to fly in as required. <S> Stating the facts upfront spares you the need to explain anything subsequently.
| Ask yourself whether you would prefer to take the financial hit of flying in multiple times for interview or prefer to risk the company backing out at this stage, then make your decision accordingly. There's no way to know for sure unless you ask. As a hiring manager, I always conduct the first round over the phone. As other commenters have mentioned, it could be viewed as dishonest that you are putting an NY address on your resume whilst living abroad.
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Are my worries rational about accepting this job offer? I am a software developer, recent bachelor graduate in the field. I have 1 year experience in mobile development from an internship during my studies. Besides that, in the past 6 months I've been doing some freelancing work as mobile developer. For 2 months now since graduation, I've been looking for a full-time job as software developer. In the last 2 weeks, I had a phone interview, completed a coding assignment and a face-to-face interview with the same company. They offered me the job and the salary & other benefits seem great. The thing is that I feel that it was too easy. I didn't really put much effort into getting the job and I have very very limited experience in the area of web development, in which I would have to work. What I'm worried about is that it won't be the most challenging environment because: The coding assignment I did had poor code architecture. (I know this because I showed it to one of my friends who has experience in the area) They didn't mention anything bad about it, instead said that it was very good. I'd be part of a ~5 people IT department in a non-IT company. Previously, I worked in an IT company with ~50 people. The interviewers (project leader and a developer that I would work with) didn't strike me as people that I would learn a lot from (professionally). I feel that I wouldn't have much guidance from them. That kind of guidance that you get from a person that really knows his stuff from a lot of experience (senior developer). At my previous company, I was stunned daily by how good were my colleagues and learned a lot from them. Unfortunately, I didn't get this impression about my interviewers in the 1 hour interview. But then it's possible that I'm all wrong, since I'm quite new at this. There's only 1 internal product that I would be working on, compared to developing software for clients at my previous job. From what I understood, the product requirements change quite all the time and they didn't seem to be much into using the best practices. What is true though is that I could make a big impact in such a small team. I am willing to learn on my own, but I feel that I won't know if I'm going the right direction without proper feedback from a senior developer. Is this worrying rational? Of course, it's also possible that I'm underestimating them. Everything is great related to this job offer, except this impression I've been left with after the face-to-face interview. Also, would it be ethical to take the job just to try it out and then quit if I don't feel that I'm growing fast enough professionally? (first 3 months are trial period) I could keep applying for jobs and attend interviews meanwhile, but currently I have nothing else lined up. My goal is to learn fast how to perform my job the right way and make sure I go in the right direction professionally. <Q> Is this worrying rational? <S> Worry is human. <S> When something seems a bit off, we worry. <S> When the interview doesn't go the way we expected (even when it's better than expected), we worry. <S> Normal stuff. <S> Also, would it be ethical to take the job just to try it out and then quit if I don't feel that I'm growing fast enough professionally? <S> (first 3 months are trial period) <S> That's what trial periods are for. <S> Both you and the company get to decide if this is a good fit or not. <S> If you conclude during the trial period that your worry was well-founded, then just quit and move on. <S> Three months should be more than enough time to figure things out one way or the other. <A> Is this worrying rational? <S> The worrying is normal, but if I were feeling it, I would not consider it rational. <S> Would it be ethical to take the job just to try it out and then quit if I don't feel that I'm growing fast enough professionally? <S> (first 3 months are trial period) <S> I could keep applying for jobs and attend interviews meanwhile, but currently I have nothing else lined up. <S> Lots of employers get 'wounded' when employees do this, but it is completely allowed. <S> I've been working for 11 years. <S> For 11 years I send out at least 5 resumes a week. <S> Just to keep a pulse on what's out there and <S> to keep my options open. <S> Honestly, this sounds like an amazing early-career opportunity. <S> An easy assignment where you can step back from the structured world of education and internships and learn to stand on your own two feet. <A> If they are offering you good money + benefits to learn a new skill set, jump at it (especially if you have nothing in the pipeline; body's gotta eat, right?). <S> Having web dev on your resume along with mobile dev is like having another arrow in your quiver when the next opportunity shows up. <S> If no one is there to teach you web dev, you teach yourself. <S> Their expectations will likely be different than if you sold yourself as an experienced web developer. <S> Just keep the boss apprised of what and how you're doing. <S> If you don't see a "mentor" there waiting for you, join the club. <S> Having a senior person at a company who will look out for you and guide you is very rare. <S> And if you decide you don't like web dev <S> , it's expected you would bail out. <S> Don't burn any bridges (2 weeks notice minimum, help to hire your replacement, orderly handover of work, etc), but don't expect the company to look out for you beyond what you can produce for them. <S> Companies get bought, buy other companies, go under, move, change all the time, regardless of what they promise you. <S> Good luck.
| If you are hoping it might work out, and as long as you decide within or at the end of the trial period, it's completely ethical. Yes, it is rational to worry that you will fail at something or disappoint someone who you value.
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Company rebranded and then sold the area I worked in. How to put that in my resume? I started working at a company that made products for 3 different business areas, let's call it as company A. After a little more than a year after I started, the company rebranded (not sure if this is the right term) the area I worked in, changed all the logos to the new brand and told every employer on that area to update their linkedIns to reflect the new brand, as if it was a different company, let's call this as company B. About three months later, company B was sold to another company, company C, which killed the brand "company B". During all those transitions, nothing changed about my work. I still work with the same team, developing the same products, with the same processes. However, given the small time frame between the changes (1 year, 3 months) I don't know how to put this on my resume. I'm afraid I might look like a job hopper at first glance if I put as 3 separate companies and saying i just worked for company C the whole time isn't quite right either. <Q> Just put the current name in your CV, and then the old names following. <S> eg: <S> Company C (formerly Company A, Company B) <S> That will get rid of the job hopping perception and accurately portray the name changes. <A> This looks perfectly fine to me: 2014-2015 <S> Company A, renamed company B (2015), Sold to Company C (2015) ... <S> description of your work Leave out the intermediate dates if you want to. <S> If it was all one job/role there's no need to break it out as 3 line items. <A> People care more about what you did rather than <S> where you did it <S> (unless you were at Google or Facebook, there's a good chance that nobody even knows who TechBusinessLocal is). <S> For the particular case of merging and renaming: <S> Job title - Jan 2014 to July 2015 Current business name (formerly previous business name, formerly original business name) Worked with xyz software to achieve abc outcome <S> If they want to get references, then they have to talk to the current business since the previous ones are no longer there. <S> It also covers the situation where they could say "but <S> 'current business name'" didn't do that until six months ago, so <S> how could you have been there doing that?
| First, list all your experience with the particular role/title highlighted for each position, then list the company name(s) under the title, and then list responsibilities and skills/projects.
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Using a Post-it note instead of an accompanying letter when sending documents I received a job offer on relative short term notice. Everything was settled by phone, but obviously I had to sign a contract and send it back to the company. Instead of writing and printing a full cover letter, I simply stuck a small note (post-it) on top of the document-folder, saying something like 'Dear Mrs. X, as discussed on phone I'll hand in document Y later. Thanks, ...'. Was this rude? When is it appropriate to use post-its instead of cover letters? If it matters: country was Germany, the company quite large, the communication was with my future contact person in HR. We had contact via mail and phone about the contracting process beforehand. <Q> When is it appropriate to use post-its instead of cover letters? <S> They are also, generally, not intended to be permanent. <S> Was this rude? <S> This is really a personal preference thing. <S> Some people will see it as informal and find it annoying. <S> But other people will not even consider this as a "rude or not rude" thing. <S> Also, I wouldn't worry about this. <S> It's almost assuredly not a big deal to the person who received the mail. <A> In fact the only half way reliable way to check if it was considered rude is if you ask directly. <S> As a general rule Germans and especially larger companies tend to be more formal, especially if you have not met in person yet. <A> If they hire people by mail and phone and you didn't have to hand in a formal application, then this should be okay. <S> The deal is done, you are one of them now and people use <S> post-its there likely, too.
| I really don't think this can be answered in a general way, as it always depends on how the receiving person perceives it. A post-it conveys, "FYI, this is not super important but wanted to remind you!" A more formal letter conveys, "this is important."
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Advice on mixing union and non-union workers We have had an incident where union workers in a trade were supposedly advised by their union hall to not converse with the only non-union guy from that is from their trade on the same shift. Our HR policy is that systematic exclusion is a form of bullying and so some action must be taken. I've talked to my boss and we are switching the excluded guy to a shift with others from the same contractor but are not taking action against the excluders because in the end it is a he said/she said situation. We have reached a resolution in this situation but I'm wondering how to avoid it in the future. We had a situation where people are being needlessly cruel to someone for being a non-member of their group. In this circumstance we did not have enough evidence to take action against his antagonists. In your opinion how can I prevent situations of this nature from recurring in the future? Was it an error mixing union and non-union workers to begin with? When in a mixed union/non-union shop what are some strategies to prevent friction between the groups? <Q> Mixed. <S> A lot of it is the attitude of the union. <S> Unions are territorial. <S> I worked in a refinery as staff and we interacted with union all the time. <S> When it came time for union to re-negotiate a contract we would just keep a polite distance. <S> As staff if they went out on strike we would be their replacement. <S> Even good friends of mine would not address me at work. <S> HR should meet with the union rep. <S> Tell them <S> straight don't know if it is true or not <S> but it is considered bullying. <S> Telling union people how to behave is problematic. <S> But, you can educate the non-union. <S> Tell them it could be a hostile environment. <S> Bring any issue to management. <S> Management should notify the union rep. <S> The union rep needs to be informed good or bad - they hate surprises. <S> It was not an error mixing but you should have seen this coming. <S> One guy? <S> Pick two or more and pick some of your better people. <S> If there is an altercation you need a non-union witness as you are likely to get one story from the union. <S> In this case I would not inform the union rep as you don't need their permission. <A> In your opinion how can I prevent situations of this nature from recurring in the future? <S> Was it an error mixing union and non-union workers to begin with? <S> When in a mixed union/non-union shop what are some strategies to prevent friction between the groups? <S> Don't play politics and don't second-guess people. <S> Depending on where you work, assigning people into groups based on their membership of a union (or non-membership) may not be legal and could lay you open to claims from either group. <S> Even keeping track of other people's union membership can land you in serious legal trouble. <S> Assign people based on the job, their skills and ensuring everyone has the opportunities to develop. <S> It sounds like there is probably a deeper issue than just an overzealous union branch or a combative or oversensitive non-member. <S> We can't tell you what, though. <S> I am assuming from the way you write you are a senior manager and not yourself a union member. <S> Consider: How is your relationship with the union? <S> Do you regularly consult with the reps? <S> Do you keep them informed? <S> Do you listen to them? <S> Can you go to them with problems? <S> Remember that this relationship, like any other, needs time and work to build trust. <S> Approach them with a view to learn and to reach agreement, not to tell the union off or tell them what to do. <S> Remember that reps are servants of the members, not managers; they may need to go back to their members to sound them out further on ideas or questions. <S> Maintaining that channel of communication will help you respond to potential problems before they become real ones. <S> There is no shortcut to good industrial relations. <A> I'll just offer this suggestion, but with the caveat that I don't know much about unions... <S> To me, this is an issue of reiterating your company policy against discrimination and bullying, and doing it clearly and often. <S> I would expect that if something like this happened at my office, we would get emails and have mandatory "townhall" meetings, and/or have additional training we'd need to complete. <S> It might also be a good idea to speak with the union rep, and make sure that they understand your policy and that compliance is non-negotiable (if that's possible), and that they need to implement certain training as well. <S> You cannot stop people from disliking others based on characteristics that are somewhat uncontrollable - meaning, people will continue to do stupid things. <S> But, you can make it clear that there are serious negative consequences for stupid behavior, and that's basically my advice.
| Don't engage the union in a negative manner even if they start it. If you want to know what to do in future, start by having a conversation with the union reps . Be open that you're concerned about bullying and want assurances. Have management around the first few days. It's perfectly possible for workplaces with both union members and non-union members to get on fine.
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Salary Questions Before Interview In email correspondence I was asked a few questions that I am to answer before my interview. One of those questions was: "What are your salary requirements?" How can I approach this question when I haven't even been interviewed yet? I know what similar jobs pay in the area... but I don't even know all of the position responsibilities yet ...24hr on-call, weekends, time off, travel, ect. I don't want to just say an amount and have them hold that over me if I think it is too little for the work I want... but I also don't want to go too high and cut my chances of even getting interviewed. What is the best way to respond this? <Q> I recently went through this. <S> I was called by a recruiter working for a company I was interested in. <S> Asked me questions about my experience, why I wanted to work there, etc. <S> Then the dreaded "what are your salary requirements?" <S> My answer was "I'd rather hold off on the salary discussion until I have a chance to see what my responsibilities are, in addition to seeing how my skills can help your company." <S> He accepted that answer, but told me that this discussion will have to happen at some point. <S> I told him I agreed, but that point was not at this time. <S> Companies say they do this because "we don't want to waste time interviewing someone who is over/under our range". <S> But in my experience, that's total bs. <S> If they are worried about things like that, they don't pay enough. <S> They ask that question to get a leg up over the negotiation process early on. <S> If the recruiter didn't take that answer well, I would have asked for a range they were thinking for the position, and asked for the upper end of that. <S> Remember, whoever gives a number first in a negotiation loses and in the pre-interview stage, you have less power than the company does. <S> After the interview, however, your power increases greatly because the company has invested a lot of time in you at this point. <S> So taking this into account, it is better to wait until you have the interview to discuss numbers. <S> I have had instances where the recruiter didn't share the range, and said that if I didn't give a salary requirement then there was no point of further discussion. <S> I told them have a nice day and good luck. <S> That is a hardball tactic that is played way too early in the process, and tells me the company is looking to pay the lowest amounts possible for people. <A> If you have no idea, then you have no idea. <S> In which case it's best to leave it open and reply that you're salary requirements are dependent on information <S> you do not have yet. <S> Then a short list of the criteria you need to judge. <S> Best not to tie yourself to anything in writing until you have a solid idea. <S> Because you have no way of knowing the companies motivation, whether they're looking for someone cheap, or even just fishing for someone desperate enough to engage in an auction for their job. <A> I'm assuming that there was an advert for the position you are applying for, and that there were details on what skills/responsibilities they expect from someone in that position. <S> They might also have posted salary range in the advert - if your expectation is already above that range, then be prepared to not get the job - they've already told you what they're prepared to pay. <S> By package, I mean to include all leave allowances and extras (for example, here in South Australia, you should include the expectation that company will pay the standard employer contribution to you superannuation fund) that you want to be considered with the salary. <S> If you do not answer - they could mark you down as "difficult", when everyone else has happily answered. <S> They might even insist you answer before interviewing. <S> They are trying to save themselves time by using expectations as a screen. <S> If you answer lower than you'd really be happy with - then you lose the negotiations right off. <S> You will not be able to raise salary until some time later (typically, at least a year), and the amount you'd be able to raise it will likely be limited. <S> If you answer honestly what your expectation is, and get an interview, then you'd be likely to get an offer that is reasonably in line with that (probably with 5%). <S> If you don't get an interview after asking honestly, then take that as a sign - you probably wouldn't have been happy doing that job for less than you think it would be worth. <S> If you get an offer way below your expectation (more than 10%) - also take that as a sign. <S> They have wasted yours and their time. <S> You will almost certainly not be able to shift them up enough to be close to your expectations. <S> In the end - it doesn't matter when salary expectations are introduced in the conversation, the outcomes are going to be about the same.
| Now, reply to their query with an honest salary and package that you think that particular job rates, and that you would be happy with.
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What are your thoughts on doing a video/Skype interview in the car? I have a skype interview coming up, however I do not have a proper place do be doing it. I don't have time to run home and prepare, so I'm thinking of doing it in my car. Is that frowned upon or should I just be up front with the employer and tell them I did not have the allotted time to go home and do the interview. <Q> What are your thoughts on doing a video/Skype interview in the car? <S> Perhaps you could duck into a coffee shop or something? <S> Perhaps not. <S> If your car is really the best you can do, then just go with it. <S> (Telling them that you "did not have the allotted time to go home <S> " when you accepted this time frame is basically saying that you didn't think this whole thing through very well. <S> That's not a good impression to convey during an interview.) <S> Make sure to minimize any external noises to avoid distractions. <S> Make sure you have sufficient power. <S> And make sure the lighting and background are good. <S> At least drive to a quiet spot that lets you do all this. <S> If the question "are you in your car?" comes up during the interview, laugh, tell them that there wasn't a good place at your current employer to do this, and indicate how this interview was so important to you that you felt compelled to conduct it anyway, even if that meant it was necessary to do so in this less-than-optimal location. <S> And for future interviews, don't do this - too many possible distractions and things that could go wrong. <A> I wouldn't see interviewing from your car as a big deal, were I interviewing you, but there are some things to take seriously: Visuals and acoustics will "color" everything you say in a video interview. <S> Take them seriously. <S> You'll need to borrow a few tricks from my old video production bag to make this work well: <S> Get an earpiece with a microphone, and test it. <S> Don't get a headset that makes you look like a Cyberman from Doctor <S> Who. <S> Get a one-ear unit that has a microphone that comes very close to your mouth, and not just by your jaw. <S> This frustration will "attach" to you in their minds like an odor. <S> Position the camera at eye level, not on the dash or in your lap. <S> No one wants to be looking up your nasal cavity for the whole interview. <S> Eye level, or even just a touch higher, will make you appear much better. <S> Ensure you park <S> somewhere quiet, where you won't have people walking up to your car or driving by. <S> A park is good, a restaurant parking lot is not. <S> Lighting. <S> Remember - weather and time of day will have a big impact on this. <S> If you can, park in the shade (so you don't squint) with a dark background behind you, and good indirect light in front of you. <S> It is well worth your time to ask a friend to critique your setup over Skype before your interview. <A> This assumes you're not just talking about the initial phone screening interview... <S> No. <S> Don't do it. <S> It will be weird. <S> Hollywood may glamorize such out-of-the-box antics, but real life doesn't appreciate it. <S> For starters, you'll be the first person the interviewer has ever seen do it. <S> After you don't get the job, you'll be the joke they all bring up from time to time. <S> "Remember that car interview?" <S> Next, remote interviews are used in lieu of paying travel expenses, which is a convenience to the interviewing company. <S> You're still expected to put some effort into the interview. <S> Which leads the third point... <S> You want the job, don't you? <S> Don't you owe it to yourself to present yourself at your best? <S> Don't you want to be completely focused on the interview? <S> Without that, you're at a disadvantage. <S> Depending on on the type of job, you may be expected to share a screen or look something up. <S> How would you do that? <S> Essentially, it would be awkward for everyone. <S> Even if you're stationary, your attention will be divided. <S> And your interviewers will likely be left thinking, "What the heck?" <S> And they might even wonder if you're actually unemployed and homeless. <S> Do yourself a favor and make a time and place for the interview. <S> No reasonable interviewer will balk at your scheduling an interview a day or two out. <S> If the company expects you to drop everything when they call, you probably don't really want to work there. <S> If you did schedule the interview in advance, but you didn't plan well, that's on you.
| Think it through and schedule your interview properly. If you sound muffled, or you use your PC / tablet / phone mic and pick up all the echo of your car's cab, it will make it difficult to understand you, which will frustrate the other participant. If it's a convenience to you, that's just a bonus, but not a goal they have. Make sure you have some light on your face, and don't let the camera auto-level see a big bright background out your rear window and leave you as a silhouette. Indicate that you hope they understand and that you would be happy to reschedule if this isn't working out for them. Make sure you give crisp, clear, and direct audio to them. A visual interview is intended to allow them to see your non-verbals, your facial expressions and body language.
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HR Department that keeps track of my profile updates on job portals? My company's HR department crawls leading job sites for profile updates from current employees. Now I don't know if companies usually indulge in this sort of snooping but I am really shocked and frankly don't know how to react to this. Please advise on how to go forward with this. <Q> While I am surprised that they have the time and money to do that, it isn't surprising that some are doing this. <S> Companies are always interested in knowing if there will be either a mass exodus or a small exodus of key people. <S> They conduct surveys of current employees to see where there are pockets of discontent. <S> I have seen sales pitches regarding tools that will scan the access records for the internal message board to see who is reading and posting negative or positive messages. <S> They look for the types of messages that go viral. <S> They can also look to identify which people are key to making changes, and which ones are thought leaders. <S> If they did track the number of changes to resumes, that could also be a sign that somebody was thinking of leaving. <S> I have heard for years that if a co-worker suddenly starts making tons of link requests they are either looking, or they have already found a job and want to make those last few link before walking out the door. <S> Remember HR works for management. <S> Any information they can provide to management could save the company money. <A> Welcome to the Internet age. <S> You did the equivalent of buying a want-ad. <S> You shouldn't be shocked or disappointed that HR reads the newspaper, especially when the point of the ad is to be visible to other companies' HR departments. <S> They probably weren't even looking for you, just investigating who might be available with skills similar to yours. <S> Anything you do on a public Internet site is just that, public. <S> The good news is that, unless you were saying something you shouldn't have been, this isn't going to make much difference. <S> If you were announcing that you were actively looking, or saying uncomplimentary things about your current employer, you really do have only yourself to blame. <S> Call it a learning experience, remember this for future reference, and move on. <A> Yes, that is a reality and even used by Fortune 500 companies. <S> On a professional networking site like LinkedIn, make regular updates so that you don't flag a job hunt <S> - your company will know you make regular updates and will be less likely to worry about them. <S> For job hunt sites either don't post or post and try and hide from search engines / crawlers. <S> For job hunt sites, search engines are used to find current employer or by your name or email. <S> Try to use a different name or email, or use tricks to disguise them (like spam does). <S> Don't list your current employer - state "please contact for current employer. <S> " <S> Don't use your actual title or the actual name of any project. <S> In general make it hard on the search engine. <S> On the other side if you want to send a warning message and you think you are underpaid and feel pretty confident you can find a better job, then post your resume as a warning message (like 30 days) before your next review.
| If there is anyone who shouldn't see it -- your boss, your spouse, your competitor, your customer, the authorities, anyone -- don't post it there, and preferably don't post it anywhere.
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How can I ask to switch teams? The company I'm working for is restructuring and new teams has been built.Now after I received information to which team I will belong, I feel there is another team, where my skills will be more in use and I simply have more interest in the subject this other team is handling. Who should I approach this? How can I ask to switch teams professionally? <Q> In my experience, for shifting teams within the company, on has to prove themselves that he/she is best suited to the new team and adds better value to the company working in that team, rather than the current team. <S> When, the data science team at my company is being set up. <S> There was a guy who was a Linux admin. <S> ; who have contributed really well, giving his ideas about setting up the architecture and practises; so we felt his need is much needed in the current team (as the data science team is being set up for identifying churn, insights in MRR, etc), owing to his knowledge and experience, rather than the team which he is working on. <A> The easiest thing is to talk to the person who would be your new manager and tell him that you feel you would be better positioned in the other team. <S> Having some reasons ready why that is so is helpful. <S> Very often there hasn't been too much thought given to who is in which team. <S> Say they had ten employees and want two teams of five each, then it may be almost random which team you are assigned to, and that manager will be only too happy to send someone to the team he wants to be in. <S> On the other hand, there might have been a well thought-through plan behind the teams. <S> In which your manager will say "No", and hopefully tell you what that plan was (a good manager would do that so you feel happy in the team you go to). <S> In that case there may be nothing you can do, but no harm should be done by asking. <A> You can always ask, but usually if you are being assigned to one team there is a reason. <S> You may feel the other team would be more interesting because it's doing something different, while management may feel that because you are so good at what you're doing that they need you as a core member of the first team. <S> So keep that in mind, it could be a kickoff to more responsibility. <S> One thing to watch out for is being passed over and left in a rut because you're too good at what you do that they don't want to advance you. <S> You would be the best judge of that. <S> If you feel that the other team is a much more advantageous position for you personally in terms of job satisfaction and future prospects. <S> Then now is the time to step forward and make it known, don't leave it too late. <S> Assemble your thoughts on the matter, use what leverage you can think of and be proactive, it's your future. <S> Start with your manager, and work your way up. <S> Once they recognise you won't be happy, they'll either accommodate you or not, and you can move forwards from there.
| So, get identified by giving ideas and contributing towards the setup, or have a talk with your senior or the one in charge about your interests, and how the shift is going to help the company and you personally, or if you cannot reach him; pass on the information via the HR.
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Told to wait for letter of appointment later in the day, I am still waiting a week later I received an email a week ago telling me that I was successful in the position I had been interviewed for and the person who notified me that said they would be sending a letter later in the day. Unfortunately I have been waiting for a full week since then. the company is not big and the decision making organs are not that many. What should I do? <Q> Unfortunately I have been waiting for a full week since then. <S> the company is not big and the decision making organs are not that many. <S> What should I do? <S> Call, talk to the appropriate person (HR or hiring manager), and ask if there has been a hangup. <A> If it is being sent by post and normal post takes longer than a week, wait. <S> If not, contact them and ask politely for an update. <A> By you using email and letter, I can only assume when you said "letter" you meant a physical mail? <S> If so, are you certain you gave them the right mailing address on your resume/application? <S> They may have sent it to the wrong address. <S> I like the advice of everyone else to call them up.
| A full week is a reasonable amount of time to wait, unless you were told it would take longer.
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How to communicate to recruiter GPA does not reflect my abilities I am graduating with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from a target school (top 5) and am having the amazing opportunity to interview with some companies that I am extremely interested in working for. I never listed my GPA on my resume because I am afraid of being pigeon-holed without the recruiter giving my previous internship experience and side projects any weight in the decision. I've never failed a class, but my cumulative GPA is a 3.1 and my major GPA is lower than a 3.0. The worst part is that when viewing my transcript: my grades get worse as time goes along. I feel like to a recruiter this is a red flag and will have my application tossed. I struggled with some health issues in college, socially isolated myself and didn't build a support network. My grades are a product of that behavior, and I didn't realize for a very long time that I was making my life very difficult by being afraid of my professors and peers around me. However, I truly enjoy and am passionate about what I have studied here. I can talk in depth about algorithms and data structures and complexity and memory management and C++, etc. I have side projects, and internships where I've received offers and made wonderful connections. I've done well in every technical and character interview I've participated in. I've been invited to several on-site interviews. I feel confident in my field, and not as though I've been slacking for the past three years. I just know that the question will pop up, and I will be asked to send in my transcript riddled with C's and B's. If I am asked to explain it I run a risk of telling a story about unfinished personal development or making excuses for poor behavior with a 'promise' of doing better in the workplace. I know that I am capable and knowledgeable and ready to take on challenging work, and I want to be fully prepared to display that to an interviewer. How do I go about this? <Q> I was mostly questioned about my projects and research. <S> And as my math grades are exceptionally poor, and I was applying for a data scientist opening, I did face this question: <S> Why are your math grades so low? <S> And this is how I responded: <S> I did have a poor record in math during my freshman years, because I mostly liked practical/applied knowledge rather, and all those theoretical classes haven't really taught me their practical applications in real world problems. <S> I, however, managed to cover it up by taking various online courses(MOOC) and also have done several side-projects and research projects where I used my math skills for solving real-world problems. <S> In that way, I have managed to learn the concepts better. <S> I did convert those interviews into offers. <S> So, if you have valid reasons for your poor grades, you can share them in the interview. <S> And companies would love to have problem solvers, or the ones who have valid and nice reasons for covering up their bad grades. <S> So, include your CGPA. <S> Be honest. <S> And do flaunt your projects and internships. <S> Those are the ones which really matter to a nice interviewer. <S> So, include 3-4 bullet points about each. <S> Write about all the technologies you've learnt from the projects and your takeaways and learnings from them. <A> How to communicate to recruiter GPA does not reflect my abilities <S> You talk to them. <S> If asked, you explain just as you have here, your feelings about your grades. <S> You also explain your passion for the field, your side projects, etc. <S> You emphasize what you have done well, and your strong abilities, rather than dwelling on what hasn't gone as well. <S> You talk about what you have learned over the last few years, and you point to your dramatic improvement in your senior year (hint, hint) as evidence of how you understand yourself better and will excel going forward. <S> GPA is only one factor. <S> Potential to succeed on the job is the most important factor. <S> These things happen. <S> They can be overcome. <A> Be honest. <S> If your low GPA really shouldn't be a deciding factor for real reasons, you know what these are you can communicate them to potential employers. <S> Buffer it with other qualifications. <S> You want your interviewer to ask (perhaps rhetorically) " <S> You seem like an outstanding candidate in every way except your GPA. <S> Why on earth is it lower than I expected? <S> " <S> Find your strengths and advertise them. <S> Judiciously not including your GPA could be helpful, especially if you studied at a prestigious school (then again, potential employers may be somewhat understanding about low GPAs and such schools). <S> Don't dwell on it. <S> If you are asked this question, answer it briefly and concisely (but don't rush). <S> Once you've explained your basic reasoning, talk about the things you did to overcome that problem and your goals for the future (including continual learning). <S> Show that you personally won't let your GPA affect you more than it should. <A> When I was in the final year of my undergraduate course work, I started to add many CEO's and HR people both on my Facebook and LinkedIn. <S> I got a call from an Human Resource (HR) person from a company that they are interested to interviewing me. <S> She also mentioned they don't care about my GPA. <S> Since than which ever companies I applied to, I never mentioned my poor GPA. <S> My projects were what excited them the most. <S> If you have good projects on your resume, you can build stuff, they would likely hire you.
| Make it obvious that you're passionate about the work you do and focus on extracurricular activities and projects. Don't make too many excuses; rather accept the GPA for what it is and focus on self-improvement. In my experience of facing interviewers for a job interview, I was seldom questioned about my poor grades.
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Accidental insult over the phone Background: We submitted an engineering product to the client, who then has a team review our submission and provide comments which we must resolve. One particular reviewer, Andy (not his/her real name), has been very difficult, and even combative about resolving his comments. He's earned a reputation around the office. Today I had to call Andy to ask a clarifying question. I anticipated he would be very difficult so I asked the Office Manager (OM) to tag along just in case, so I was on speaker phone. Andy was actually very calm and reasonable, and everything was resolved quickly. I put the receiver down, and proceeded to press the "call end" button, however, between putting the receiver down and terminating the call, my OM started to say "He's a pussycat, I don't know what your problem is" with a joking and jovial tone. I am terrified the call ended before "cat" and that Andy heard it! Is there a recommended practice for handling this? As soon as it happened I mentioned that the line was still live when the OM made his comments, but he didn't seem worried, so I'm not sure he fully grasped the issue. Reasons I'm worried, even though I didn't say it: It was my call, I was the primary talker, so I could be attributed Andy is not the type of person who will just laugh this off, he's shown himself to be spiteful on several occasions Our project team is small enough that if this comes back around it will impact everyone <Q> I am terrified the call ended before "cat" and that Andy heard it! <S> Is there a recommended practice for handling this? <S> I recommend not worrying about this until you know it's actually a problem. <S> Most likely Andy didn't hear exactly what you worry that he/she heard. <S> Most likely the call didn't end on exactly that syllable. <S> Even if he/she did, it may not have been interpreted the way you fear. <S> Worst case, if Andy did hear and interpret the phrase the way that concerns you, you can enlist the Office Manger's help (or even Andy's manager's help) in conveying the entirety of the sentence, and in apologizing if necessary. <S> Don't be terrified. <S> Accidents happen. <S> Most likely, you are over-thinking this issue. <A> First, you need to take steps to ensure the Office Manager knows that it is a poor practice to make remarks such as this if the phone is still live. <S> Even the entire phrase was way out of bounds for Andy to hear. <S> Not only that the Office manager owes you an apology for possibly making your relationship with a difficult person even more strained. <S> Next, you will likely hear from Andy officially if he was insulted or your next interaction will appear strained. <S> In the first case, then you need to make sure the Office Manager is the one to explain what was said and apologize. <S> If things appear strained the next time you have a contact, you can ask directly if he has a problem with you that he would like to discuss. <S> If he mentions this, point out that you did not say it and that the person who did was immediately talked to about the inappropriateness of what he or she said. <S> Then apologize for your organization and ask if he would like an apology from the person who made the statement. <A> 2.Andy is not the type of person who will just laugh this off, he's shown himself to be spiteful on several occasions <S> Andy's picture that you have painted clearly makes me believe that if Andy had heard that conversation, you would not be sitting here guessing whether he did. <S> You would have received a call back right there. <S> So, don't worry :) <S> And that is the recommended practice at least in our culture, cross the bridge when it arrives. <A> The question you're asking is how do you remove yourself from what the OM said? <S> With that said, it's impossible to know if Andy heard it. <S> By your own description, Andy is very vocal and loud about issues and with that said, surely by now you or your OM would have heard it. <S> My advice is to relax. <S> If your quote is exactly what your OM said, I don't think you have much to worry about as it doesn't sound bad at all.
| What you can't do is directly bring up the subject unless he brings it up first because he may not have heard any of the statement and you don't want to turn him form not insulted to insulted.
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How to take advantage of a job offer if I already have a good job I’m a programmer (software engineer) in a Russian branch of a big multinational IT company. The company itself comes from US, and its corporate culture is US-based too. I am quite happy with my current job, and was not specifically looking for a new one. But some time ago I gave a talk at a local forum, and after this I was independently approached by two small local IT companies, who offered to talk about my possible move to them. The companies are local, but they try to follow US-like corporate culture too. Now, I had several interviews at both of that companies, which looks rather successful, so I hope that I will get at least one job offer soon, or maybe two. I hope that the offer(s) will come with a higher compensation (all bonuses etc included) than the one I have at my current position; I hope for at least 30-50% rise (at least I will not agree to a smaller value, and I have mentioned this several times to HRs at the two new companies). As I’ve said, I like my current job, but also I think I will like the both possible new jobs too. I expect minor disadvantages (say I think that working for a big company would be a plus if at one day I will decide to relocate away from Russia), but overall I think that the compensation rise definitely will outweigh them. So I would like to take advantage of having a job offer (or two) while having a good job too. I might, for example, come to my current manager and say that I have a job offer and try to negotiate a matching pay rise. I think that this might work, as I feel that I am valued at my current position (my manager has several times expressed his satisfaction on my performance, I am constantly given more-that-average pay rise on a more-or-less regular pay rise events, etc). However, I am afraid that the manager might consider me at least overpaid and will start requiring much stronger performance, or will deny further regular pay rises (the latters average to about 10-15% per year), or will even silently start to look for a replacement for me, being afraid that I will eventually leave. So, what is the best tactics to take advantage of such a position without having much drawbacks? Also, if I get two offers, how should I handle this to get better conditions without much drawbacks on my future job? <Q> I would check out this question -- When does accepting an offer to stay with my current firm make sense? -- for advice on negotiating with your current employer after receiving a job offer. <S> The problem with using an outside job offer to negotiate a raise is that your employer may agree to the raise, but immediately start looking for your replacement. <S> After all, what's to prevent you from doing the same thing six months from now? <S> Or leaving after 2 more months. <S> Using multiple job offers as a negotiating tactic between the two other companies makes perfect sense -- once you have a number from one company, you have nothing to lose in asking for more from the other company. <S> Of course you risk being perceived as caring more about pay than the position, which is why there's a limit to the number of times you can realistically pit one against the other. <S> So either stay or go, but generally, when you start thinking about other places to work, it means something is lacking in your current job, or you see an opportunity to advance your career in a new position and environment. <A> It looks like you value pay over position, nothing wrong with that at all. <S> I would focus on the two potential employers and discount trying to negotiate with the original entirely. <S> The reasoning is that your original employer might feel slighted that you are applying for jobs at all because it's indicative of the fact that you're quite prepared to leave them, or that you're trying to gain leverage for a raise when you already get compensated over the usual amount. <S> So while they may give you a raise if they need you enough, in all likelihood they will seriously start looking at replacing you and your job security is therefore in some danger. <S> Playing the two potential employers against each other is reasonably easy, you're basically running an auction. <S> You could get away with doing this once per employer hopefully. <S> Any more than that <S> and you run the risk of pricing yourself out of both jobs. <S> And if word got back to your original employer things could become uncomfortable. <A> Look at it this way. <S> Wouldn't it be fair to your current employer to at least have the option of making you a counter-offer if they wanted to? <S> You may tell them you're leaving and they'll congratulate you and wish you well on your new venture. <S> They may ask why you're leaving. <S> Significant increases in salary is a very good reason. <S> No one should begrudge someone for improving their livelihood. <S> Another perspective would be if you hypothetically weren't currently employed and were getting two job offers. <S> If one made me a higher offer, I would ask the lesser offer for more money. <S> We're assuming everything else is equal. <S> In business, people need to be professional and at least adult about these matters. <S> If you're a manger that doesn't like getting into salary negotiations, find another position. <S> You need to know what you're worth and not accept anything less. <S> I'm going to stop perpetuating these myths about asking for more money. <S> Don't be afraid to ask for a raise. <S> Any company that holds asking for more money against someone doesn't deserve talented people. <A> I expect minor disadvantages (say I think that working for a big company would be a plus if at one day I will decide to relocate away from Russia), but overall I think that the compensation rise definitely will outweigh them. <S> Something in regard to this that was not mentioned by previous responses. <S> You might want to rethink the "definitely" part. <S> If you move from a US company to a Russian company, and then try to relocate (e.g. to the US, or anywhere else), this career move might be misinterpreted by HR in the US to mean that you actually preferred working for a Russian company rather than a foreign employer, possibly for cultural reasons. <S> The question might be, "What is preventing this guy from working here for a year and then going back to his home country, if he happens to be lured by some other Russian company? <S> " If you did it before (while on the home turf) the answer would be, "Nothing. <S> " <S> This makes you a riskier bet compared to someone with a history of employment that is more 'loyal' to foreign firms. <S> I suspect in the world of international hiring, there is a bit of "us" and "them" mentality - <S> either you are working with a foreign employer (which in particular is secondary), or you are with your home country's employer. <S> I realize this sounds binary/simplistic, but in the US especially, there is a tendency to think about the world as "America" and "everything else." <S> So, even though you mention a longer-term possibility of a move, your thinking about the particular choices you are facing now appears to be more short-term. <S> Therefore I would suggest to think more in terms of long-term consequences of the short-term decisions you are considering. <S> What is more important: short-term financial gain, or greater possibility of a successful transition abroad? <S> These things are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but I have tried to outline one potential trade-off. <S> The rest is up to you to decide. <S> Good luck!
| If you don't like the highest offer for any reason, tell the other employer you would be very interested in working for them if they could see their way to offering more.
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Why can I not get ahold of HR to followup on an internship application status? I have tried on multiple occasions to call the Human Resources department regarding my internship applications, only to be continuously (total of three phone calls over two days) turned down at the first person I speak to (receptionist, never get through to HR). I only seem to have some success when I have names and I don't mention it's about an internship. The entire HR department happens to be at a meeting. The is nobody available right now, call back in 30 minutes. They have already gone home for the day (at 15:45). (Repeatedly and in that sequence) Is there some 'thing' here I am missing? I'm being lead around in circles as opposed to getting a 'no, we don't do phone calls unless scheduled'. Most internship materials suggest you follow up after two weeks to show your interest, but I can't get past the reception - why might this be the case? I know no one can know specifically, but it seems strange to me. Today I managed to talk sufficiently long to the receptionist that I should call at 08:00 in the morning. As much as I know that NASA called astronaut candidates with random questions at 04:00 to see if they were 'helpful' as opposed to 'annoyed and grumpy', is what I am seeing some test in persistence and interest towards the employer, or do they just not take these cold calls throughout the day to be able to work? Field: Engineering, Europe. <Q> No there's not a plot. <S> Reasons <S> it's not likely to receive results <S> is: <S> It's annoying. <S> HR has a defined application process and you are trying to bypass it. <S> At best you get a "we'll get back to you when we process your application" and at worst you annoy people. <S> You've already tried "multiple times" - this is going to annoy anyone who receives your calls! <S> Internships are not that important . <S> Everyone has a lot more important things to do almost assuredly. <S> Super important to you, not at all important to them. <S> HR lives in meetings. <S> When I have viewed HR calendars at my work, they are filled with meetings. <S> It's not surprising to me they would be in meetings Bypassing a process normally doesn't work . <S> Unless you know someone who can move the process along internally, all you do is annoy people. <S> Your application probably included how they would get back to you as an auto-reply email (or something similar). <S> They probably have dozens of applications. <S> The more desirable the company the more people who likely applied. <S> They may want to interview other candidates first, but not reject you immediately. <S> If they have lots of good candidates they may not want to immediately reject someone. <S> If their top candidates don't succeed in the interview and/or accept offers, they may want to follow up with someone. <S> Also, the reality is, many times when you don't get a job you don't get any notification at all. <S> Annoying HR almost assuredly won't change a rejection. <S> But it might annoy someone enough to drop your chances if you were in the process. <S> Also some anecdotal stories - I've not heard back regarding internships for months before getting a "hey are you still available?" call a week before I started a different internship. <S> In some cases I've received auto-generated rejection emails years later for jobs <S> I didn't remember applying to! <A> These people are what is known as gatekeepers. <S> It's very easy to tell them not to forward calls from people <S> we don't want to talk to. <S> Right now, your internship is probably the number one thing on your mind and it is about 1000th on an HR departments. <S> There's no shortage of candidates. <S> They don't make the company any money. <S> And you're not around long enough to cause any major harm if you're a bad hire. <S> You're going to be on the other end some day. <S> I hope you have the time to take calls from job/internship candidates, but don't count on it. <A> Because they don't want you to contact them <S> The answer to the literal question of "Why can I not get ahold of HR to followup on an internship application status?" is that they have explicitly taken steps to prevent you from getting ahold of them to followup on an internship application status. <S> Companies who have a small number of applicants may choose to treat each application individually. <S> For example, for a vacancy with 100 or 300 applicants (common in some industries), you would generally want to spend any meaningful time on only a limited amount of them - you'd have a first stage screening process that would leave you with a manageable amount of candidates (10-20) and take something like a minute per application. <S> 5 minutes per application times 100-300 applications would mean 8-24 working hours for just an initial screening - so that's generally not aceptable. <S> Throwing out good candidates for random reasons at this stage is okay (because there are more than 10-20 good candidates, and even a perfect screening process will have to eliminate many good candidates w/o consideration); wasting time on individual phone followup is not resonable - they will spend time on the candidates they selected, the rest will get an automated response if the system allows to do that in an efficient way (i.e., no personalized responses or explanations). <S> This applies for advertised vacancies <S> - cold calling / cold mailing for internship opportunities may often deliberately mean no response at all, ever, and an automatic forward to the trash bin. <S> They're likely not interested in applications, and even less interested in spending time to discuss them.
| Cold calling is bound to be annoying to them and not likely to receive results. Companies who have a large amount of applicants may (and often do) choose to implement a process that minimizes time spent on each individual application. You're likely getting such responses from receptionists because they're doing their job in protecting other employees from undesired contact attempts - you may think of them as a 'meatspace spam filter'.
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How professional/ethical is it to accept a job but want to continue job search? I have been offered a job at a company I interviewed with today. They want me to start next week. As I am on unemployment, I have no right to decline the job because of the conditions of unemployment benefit. If I did not accept then I lose the benefits and if I attempted to hide the offer it would be breaking the law. So have verbally consented to starting. (And of course, any job is better than unemployment.) While this should mean the end of my job search. I am not convinced about working for this company having learnt more about the "package" on offer today. The offer is an open ended temporary position with a salary right at the bottom of my requirements. In addition, the shift pattern is quite demanding, unsocial and different to what the recruitment agency who put me forward told me to expect. The role itself is what I was looking to do which right now seems the only positive beyond getting off unemployment. In the meantime, earlier this week, I met with a different recruitment agency - one that I have worked for previously and had a positive experience with. They have put me forward for a job which I have an interview for on Friday. Out of the two positions, it is a clear favourite. It is a permanent position, more favourable hours and salary and clear job progression and development programs. If I'm fortunate to be offered a position with them then I feel it would be foolish to turn it down as the only downside is that the position does not start for 6 weeks. And yet, I've accepted a job offer today. So ethically speaking, it seems wrong to interview and take a slot which they could use for someone else and also wrong to start a job on Monday only to potentially leave for another offer. With the damage I've already done to my career through my last job, I cannot afford to damage it further but I'm really conflicted at present as to my best route forward. Update - 02/10 Today I interviewed with Position B. It is exactly what I hoped it would be. I'm in the final pool of candidates having passed all their tests and will hear on Monday if I was successful. I am hoping so. In the meantime, Position A has been dragging its feet confirming my start date and now I do not believe I will be starting on Monday after all. They are treating me very unprofessionally and yet I'm powerless to withdraw from the role because of my unemployment benefits. <Q> It's a bit of an underhanded move, but your situation doesn't really give you a better alternative. <S> When a company offers you a job, this means they are also sending away other possible candidates. <S> They've likely invested time in this, and decided you're the best available option for them. <S> It is not entirely unbelievable that you are a good candidate because you have no current employment. <S> This makes you less expensive, since you don't really have a position for negotiation. <S> If you feel this is the case, your soon-to-be employer should be well aware of how one sided this offer is, and should not be too surprised if you leave relatively soon. <A> There is nothing unethical about getting a better job. <S> What you are doing is exactly what any rational person would do in your position. <S> The law was poorly written to encourage this type of behavior - <S> thats not your fault. <S> All you need do is offer to continue to serve out a notice period once you get your new job. <S> Doing this will likely mean you will never work with that company or recruiter again. <S> If the loss of those professional contacts is acceptable, then take the better job. <A> That is, if you end up working in your new position, give them the proper courtesy, work as you would in a job you actually want, and give them a proper two weeks notice. <S> It's an unfortunate situation, with pretty much no good solution. <A> Frankly, if job A wanted you to work for them permanently, they should be offering a full-time, permanent position. <S> But, you've said they're offering an open-ended temporary job - meaning it seems like they know people might want to leave eventually for something permanent <S> and/or they don't want people on their payroll long-term. <S> If/when you do get a job that suits you better, you can simply say that you decided to leave because you wanted a job that was permanent and not temporary. <S> And you're sorry about the timing. <S> Ethically, if you were comparing two permanent jobs, I'd say it would be a little unprofessional. <S> But since you're comparing a temporary job to a permanent position, the comparison isn't the same if ultimately you're looking for the latter and not the former.
| Given your position, I don't see it as unprofessional or unethical to accept the position, provided you continue to act in professional manner around the situation. Yes, it will possibly cause a loss of time and resources for the company, but I think anyone would understand that it's not an option for you to lose your unemployment benefits, and also it's completely illogical to be loyal to a company you've worked very little for, passing up an objectively better position, just because you feel bad that they spent time and money on you.
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Remotely working on a personal computer from a work machine (off hours) I was recently given a new office laptop which has been quite explicit about enforcing certain employer-employee agreements. Because of this I've been reflecting on the ownership rights regarding the use of this computer for any work and/or services I might be tempted to do if I were in a tight situation. While I don't assume that anything I do on this computer is owned by me, I was wondering if these bounds extend to off-work hours when I am ssh ing into a personal computer. Do I own any of the work that I provide in this situation? Is there a difference if I am providing services, or writing documentation/code on a personal project? (edit) Would there be a difference if I am in the office or not? <Q> If you are using work resources (your work computer, at work, using their electricity and their internet connection) then yes you can expect that they might be able to monitor, track, and hold you responsible for any actions you take on that personal computer remotely in that violate company policy. <S> As for the work product it could be that your company has a claim to that work. <S> What it will probably come down to is would your company have a realistic expectation that the item you were working on would be their product. <S> If you work for a bank and create a banking app that interfaces with the systems of the bank you work for then your company is going to have a pretty strong argument that it is theirs. <S> On the other hand if you work for a newspaper as a writer and completely on your spare time you create a banking app that interfaces with a bank api <S> then you have a better claim. <S> You may still be in violation of company policy for using company resources for your personal project though. <A> You are conflating two things: <S> you don't have any privacy, we might monitor you, we might look at the files you have stored and so on - a claim that originates with "we provided this computer to you" we own what you create while you work for us - a claim that originates with your employment <S> This second claim has been asserted towards intellectual property created with pencil and paper, or with a computer the business doesn't own, so the "I was remoted to my own machine" defense may be as meaningless as "I was sitting at my own machine after hours. <S> " The claim is a very strong one and covers everything you think up or create while employed. <S> Not all employers make this claim; not all who do succeed in getting things proven to be theirs. <S> As for the first thing, if their monitoring consists of looking at your company email, reading files on the hard drive, and so on, then they are unlikely to see what you're doing on your own machine. <S> If it includes a keylogger then at least in theory they could ssh to your machine, log in, and have a peek around, though whether they would be allowed to do that, or whether it would be ok for them to do that, is a different question. <S> I find it unlikely they would pry like that, but they might forbid you to use their machine for any personal purpose, whether that's scrolling through Facebook or ssh-ing to your home machine. <S> They can then use their hypothetical keylogger to see whether you are complying or not. <A> Consult an attorney but if you are using company resource or company time then the compnay is likely to claim that as company property (if they want to). <S> So you have a company laptop at a coffee shop and your ssh into you personal computer. <S> Yes that is using a company resource <S> but they would have to have to use a keystroke logger and then evaluate your key strokes. <S> You are probably safe. <S> For grins if you do plan to use that laptop for ssh then you should burn this SE account and don't post your picture if you are going to ask questions that could be used against you in a court of law. <A> That seems to be the policy, and from what you say it seems to be both clear and strict. <S> You can't use the machine for your own activity. <S> You seem to be confusing what counts as personal activity, however... you're talking about "Can I SSH onto my own machine and do work on my home machine?" <S> SSH'ing into your machine counts as a personal activity <S> It doesn't matter which machine is doing the processing <S> , it doesn't matter where the files are being saved: the simple fact is that you are using this work laptop for your own personal activities/hobbies/etc. <S> You've agreed not to do this (or possibly that anything done with their machine is theirs). <S> You are using the SSH software, without permission, for your own activity. <S> The fact that your own activity is accessing your own machine changes nothing. <S> Using an SSH application, or using whatever it is you want to use on your home machine, both are still things you are choosing to use for yourself. <S> You're still using their hardware, their battery cycles, their keyboard, their wear and tear. <S> You're still doing your activities on their property which they have paid for and you have agreed not to do your activities on. <S> While I understand your point that these policies are typically put in place to prevent viruses, stop people using the machine during work hours for their own use, etc, that doesn't change the agreement or their right to tell you how you may use their property. <S> Quite simply, don't do it.
| Since the work was actually done using your personal computer you also have a claim to that work. You cannot use this machine for personal activities
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Should I list a position on my resume that has little to do with the field I'm entering? I'm getting my degree in computer science and want a job in software development. In addition, I enjoy creating electronic music as my hobby. As a result, I work part-time (about 5-20 hours a month) with a local video game company, producing the soundtrack for their game in my spare time. I have enough internship and research experience to fill out my resume without listing this other position. I'm wondering whether or not I should include it in my resume. On one hand, it is a professional, skilled position I hold and shows that I have a diverse skill set and work hard. In addition, it might be dishonest not to discuss it. On the other hand, it doesn't show that I'd make a better software developer and might suggest that I'd rather work on these side projects than give my best to companies I apply to. Should I include positions, like this music position, that don't relate directly to the field I'm entering on my resume? Does it matter much one way or the other? <Q> I would include it. <S> Diversity and adaptability as an employee are highly valuable and sought after characteristics. <S> While you're right that depending on the recruiter, it could backfire and make it appear as if you wouldn't dedicate 110% to this position, odds are <S> it will actually come across as motivation and competence. <S> I mean, the primary focus of my work experience is QA, but having retail, telesales, and academic research experience on my resume has always been received well for me. <A> I think if the relevant parts of the resume are already long/detailed (which seems like it is the case), you should leave off jobs that are not relevant. <S> Depending on the size and structure of the company you are applying to, they may be looking at tons of resumes. <S> You want to make it as easy as possible for the person reading the resume to see the relevant work, so they will know why you are a good fit. <S> If you do include your current position, definitely list your relevant experience first, even if its not chronological. <S> Also, nothing wrong with having a list of hobbies or special interests at the end of your resume. <S> If I see a resume with work experience completely unrelated to the job I posted, it makes me wonder why the candidate would even want this job <S> and if they'd be happy with the work, since their current work is so different. <S> It all depends on who is making the decisions (and how clear your cover letter is). <A> I think one big thing <S> the answerers here forgot is that the OP is a recent college grad. <S> It would be expected that such a person would have limited relevant job(s) in the field they are applying. <S> The only negative thing going for the OP is that the job market today is looking for people with experience and recent college grads are having trouble securing a entry level job. <S> Personally I think you should show the music gig that you did. <S> You worked in videogames which in itself is related to computer science and as such, I think such a position is relevant.
| Another thought: your resume could include a link to your LinkedIn or AboutMe page, where the full details of all your work experience could be listed.
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Position on Offer Letter is different I went through 3 phases of interview. During my last technical interview prior to the HR interview, the head of the department told me that he will be assigning me position X in the company if selected. Once, I cleared my HR interview, HR sent me a mail stating my salary and my position. The position mentioned there was Y(lower) than X which was told to me by the department head. I had a day to accept the mail so I accepted with a note stating that I was told that I will be getting position X. Today I got the final offer letter which mentions Y as my position which is lower. I have been given a weeks time to accept it. I can't afford to miss this job. Please advice on how should I proceed and how can I get my initially awarded position X back. I am into pool of confusions on whether it will be unprofessional of me, whether it will affect them and they disqualify me. (I am 3+ Years Experienced professional) Thanks. UPDATE Called up the HR and they said, according to the number of years of experience, the position granted will be Y. I didn't investigated any further. Accepted and moved on! Thanks all. <Q> Please advice on how should I proceed and how can I get my initially awarded position X back. <S> You made a mistake "accepting" the earlier mail, even with adding your noew. <S> Now is your only chance to correct that mistake. <S> Immediately call whoever sent the offer letter. <S> Explain that you are confused, since you thought this was for position X, but the current offer letter mentions <S> only position Y. Then listen. <S> You'll find out quickly which position they are actually offering you, whether they made a mistake in their offers, or not. <S> And then be ready to either accept whatever is being offered or decline and move on. <A> The position mentioned there was Y(lower) than X which was told to me by the department head. <S> Be extremely weary when a formal offer and the non-binding verbal offer are significantly different. <S> You've verbally agreed to a certain position at a certain salary, and now the company isn't honoring their promise. <S> If they are treating you this way, they are also likely treating all their other employees and customers this way. <S> If you take this position, this will likely be the first in a long line of broken promises. <A> Is the salary lower, or just the title? <S> The same salary and a lower title could be to your advantage: Now you can get promoted from lower-job to higher-job, which should then come with a pay raise. <S> If the salary is lower, or if the issue is not a title but rather the nature of the job -- like you were expecting "sales manager" and instead they're now offering "salt mine worker" -- before you take any further steps you should decide in your own mind, If the lower title is all they are prepared to offer me, is that good enough or will I turn them down? <S> Don't call them until you have made this decision, because if they say, "no, this is it, will you take this job or not", you don't want to be in a position where you have to make a snap decision. <S> Following up on Sevensevens answer: You should consider whether this is a mistake, a technicality, or some sort of trick. <S> If the interviewer told me they were prepared to offer me a position as Widget Maker Level 12 and then the HR department says no, the position is Widget Maker Level 11, it might well be that the interviewer was confused about details. <S> But if I was sold on a job as Regional Manager and given big promises about how I'd be running the entire region with big pay and bonuses and all, and then they came back and said, oh, we meant that you'd be the junior deputy assistant to the regional manager, with the possibility that maybe someday you could become regional manager, I'd be concerned. <S> Even if the job offered was acceptable, were they lying to me? <S> And if they lied about this, what else are they lying about, and what else will they lie to me about in the future if I take the job? <A> Make sure you have a private meeting with the head of the department and discuss this situation. <S> Get an objective plan on how you can achieve that position as soon as possible. <S> Under the circumstances, it would be more genuine of acknowledging the mistake and possibly provide a faster track for promotion. <S> Accidents and miscommunication can happen, but I feel this company should have honored their word and offered you something if they couldn't give you the position you applied for. <S> Otherwise, this smells like a "bait and switch" tactic. <S> If they're not able to show you they can keep their word, start looking for a new job as soon as possible. <S> You're young, one quick job hop isn't going to kill your career, but you need to make sure <S> the next job is one worth keeping.
| This could be a bait-and-switch tactic used by an unscrupulous company to get people to work for less money.
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Leaving a new job to relocate for personal reasons? I've gotten myself in a weird situation and I wanted to know what you smart folks thought . . . I moved to my current city a few years ago. After getting out as much as I can, trying to make friends, moving across town a couple times, I've come to realize that this town just isn't a good fit for me and I don't really have a future here. Unfortunately, I didn't finally, fully realize this until about a month after starting a new job here. The job itself is pretty good. I've been welcomed enthusiastically and the company clearly cares about its employees, which makes me feel even worse about wanting to leave. I don't think working remotely is feasible. They seem very opposed to having remote workers philosophically, and the tax/cost of living situations between this state and the one I want to move to would make staying really financially disadvantageous for me. As for my work history, I've only been out of school for just over 4 years so it's pretty short. I stayed at my first job for 2.5 years and had a one-year contract. I did have one FTE job that I left after six months because it was a bad situation and was making me miserable. Otherwise it's just this new job. So, my questions: 1) How do I spin this relocation to the current workplace and new workplaces? It's not technically for family or anything which I know sounds a bit better. Can I just say it's for "personal reasons" and leave it at that? 2) I know it'd be ideal to stay at least a year, but I just can't see myself wasting another year here for the sake of work. When can I realistically start applying to jobs in the new city? I was thinking about trying to wait a few months until the new year starts, but will that matter or be important? 3) How do I deal with my current employer? Should I tell them ASAP that I want to leave, or should I wait until I've got a job offer in hand? <Q> Firstly, never tell your current employer you want to leave until you have something else lined up and in writing. <S> It's a sure fire way to get yourself labelled as a "flight risk", and they'll start planning for your departure and replacement whether you have left or not. <S> When telling anyone for the reasons why you wish to relocate to a particular location, you can simply tell the truth that you thought that the climate/atmosphere/culture was a better fit for you personally. <S> Most organisations probably don't really care that much, so I would not broach it unless asked. <S> Beyond that, concentrate on making sure that you are the best candidate you can be. <S> Some companies offer relocation assistance, some don't. <S> Asking for it may make you less attractive to an employer if they don't do it automatically. <S> So basically look for a new job in your desired location, answer honestly when asked for your reasons for relocating, and don't tell your current employer you are intending to leave until you have a written contract! <A> How do I spin this relocation to the current workplace and new workplaces? <S> It's not technically for family or anything which I know sounds a bit better. <S> Can I just say it's for "personal reasons" and leave it at that? <S> No spin about the relocation is necessary. <S> If asked, the answer is simply "I've decided to move to [the new state]". <S> I know it'd be ideal to stay at least a year, <S> but I just can't see myself wasting another year here for the sake of work. <S> When can I realistically start applying to jobs in the new city? <S> I was thinking about trying to wait a few months until the new year starts, but will that matter or be important? <S> Start applying now. <S> Finding a new job in a new locale can take time. <S> Leave your current job only after you get a new job. <S> How do I deal with my current employer? <S> Should I tell them ASAP that I want to leave, or should I wait until I've got a job offer in hand? <S> You don't know how long it will take to land your next gig. <S> And you don't have a long history at your current job. <S> Telling your current employer now runs the risk that they will let you go sooner than you would like. <S> And being under financial pressure might mean that choosing your next job must be done hastily, leading to a less than optimal choice. <S> Stay on the payroll here until you land the next one. <A> 1) <S> How do I spin this relocation to the current workplace and new workplaces? <S> It's not technically for family or anything which I know sounds a bit better. <S> Can I just say it's for "personal reasons" and leave it at that? <S> Always keep your cards close to your chest. <S> To the current workplace, just submit your 2 weeks. <S> If they ask why, "I'm relocating". <S> They shouldn't ask why. <S> If they do, you can choose how honest you want to be. <S> Shouldn't impact anything, its not like they will be able to share the info in a reference and you aren't banking on a future rehire. <S> To the new workplace, my answer to "Why did you leave your last workplace/relocate?" would be "I needed a change in pace." <S> The end. <S> 2) <S> I know it'd be ideal to stay at least a year, but I just can't see myself wasting another year here for the sake of work. <S> When can I realistically start applying to jobs in the new city? <S> I was thinking about trying to wait a few months until the new year starts, but will that matter or be important? <S> Start sending out resumes, start seeing what bites. <S> Just because you get a callback doesn't mean you need to interview. <S> Just because you interview doesn't mean you need to accept an offer. <S> Do some catch and release fishing to see what the job climate is in your destination and to get a feel for what it will take to get back to work. <S> 3) <S> How do I deal with my current employer? <S> Should I tell them ASAP that I want to leave, or should I wait until I've got a job offer in hand? <S> It's always best to hold out until you have a job offer. <S> If you can hold out or not, submit your 2 weeks notice. <S> I wouldn't get any further ahead of myself than that. <S> You don't want to give a vague <S> "I'm quitting eventually" heads up. <S> If anything, that could just backfire and lead them to terminate you before you're ready.
| Wait until you have a formal offer and acceptance at your new job before giving your notice at your current job. It's often more difficult to get hired when you need to relocate.
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How to handle communication with client who cannot convey requirements well? I recently changed manager. The old manager is now one of many people requesting my help. However, he's still trying to take away projects for himself. The problem is, he is more ambitious than experienced, and he is not able to be specific in his requirements, e.g. "I want an excel file showing the comparison between two different softwares". There is no information about what details he wants. Other colleagues are much clearer, and results are notably better. My question is: how can I professionally handle communication with a client who requires technical support with no basic understanding of what he's saying? <Q> You ask questions. <S> You don't start the work until you understand what the work is, and you find that out by asking questions. <S> If you are given the assignment in person, don't end the meeting until you have asked enough questions. <S> If you are given the assignment in email, reply with your questions or with an email asking for a phone call or meeting to ask questions. <S> Yes, it's frustrating to have to interview requirements out of people. <S> We have a saying in my company: some clients really need consultants. <S> If they knew precisely what they wanted we would just be typing, right? <S> So, in your case "I want an excel file showing the comparison between two different softwares" <S> you might ask <S> have you chosen the two software packages or is my first step to research and find what packages to consider? <S> is this spreadsheet going to be one column for each software package, and then rows with the price, features, and so on? <S> [I would expect a yes here, but it doesn't hurt to ask.] <S> have you made a list already of the features you care about, or should I research what the features are? <S> when do you need this by? <S> if I can't find out some of the information, should I give you the partial spreadsheet, or let you know it will be late? <S> As time goes by, you may need to ask less questions because you may realize that your boss wants you to figure out how to do these things. <S> Or you may ask less questions because your boss realizes that it's important to give you more detailed instructions. <S> But in the short term, the only fix for incomplete requirements is to ask short, crisp questions (not "I don't understand, can you give me more details" or <S> "I need more requirements than that") until you have the requirements you need. <A> I would propose an explanation along the path of: "a well defined requirement will give you a more precise result". <S> You could use an analogy if he does not understand. <S> For instance: "If you experience that your car doesn't stop when you hit the brake, and just say to the mechanic "my car doesn't work" - he may just top off the oil, or start looking at the motor/starter, and never get to the brakes. <S> If you expect a specific result you have to be able to define your requirements. <S> The hard part is to ask the requester to be more specific, especially when it is a manager doing the asking. <S> Also: you have to remember that the higher you go in the management hierarchy, the more of a bird's eye perspective they tend to have, especially if their background is purely managerial, and no hands-on experience. <S> The connection between a detailed report and a quick overview pie chart or other isn't always obvious to them. <A> Your question is regarding a client who does not communicate well, therefore time is spent unnecessarily clarifying and tweaking things. <S> I don't see whats wrong here, surely the hours spent solving the clients problems are billable? <S> Just bill them for it, and in your bill itemise things like that which could have been avoided. <S> Either they have so much money they don't care (which is fine)Or <S> they'll have a hard look at the info they're giving you to save some $$ next time. <S> In any case usually they wouldn't be giving you work direct, it should go through your manager first. <S> So any issues you have should be taken up with your own manager. <A> You will never get perfect specs. <S> One technique I've used is to do a very small sample of a project and send it to the client. <S> They usually have a better idea of what they want when they have something in their hands and can say, "I like this <S> , I don't like that and add some other thing." <S> Also, this all needs to be done in the context of when they want it finished. <S> Everyone needs to have an understanding of how much time and energy they can put into something. <S> If the specs are vague and the time is short, they're just going to have to accept my professional judgement and doing the best I can.
| If you have specific questions and the time for the client to answer them, just ask.
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How to ask for a job referral from a person you don't know? I work in the software engineering industry. I want to work for company X. This company is a big company, and receives many CVs per day. Looking online, it seems that it would be better to ask for a referral instead of applying directly, otherwise chances are there that nobody will read my application. Personally, I do not really know anyone working at company X. However, some months ago, I wrote some highly technical blog posts, and a VP working for company X asked to connect with me on LinkedIn saying that she enjoyed what I wrote. Now I'd like to send a message through LinkedIn to her, asking for a referral. More or less, here's what I had in mind: Dear ..., I'm the author of "...", do you remember me? As I concluded the contract with my current company, I'm exploring opportunities at company X. I'm wondering if do you feel you could give me a referral? Clear, concise, direct... perhaps too direct (and perhaps too colloquial). Should I rephrase the question? Also, I have a doubt: is it appropriate for me to ask her for a referral, given that we don't know each other (neither personally, nor professionally)? <Q> Should I rephrase the question? <S> Also, I have a doubt: is it appropriate for me to ask her for a referral, given that we don't know each other (neither personally, nor professionally)? <S> It's perfectly appropriate and reasonable to ask for a referral from someone who read your writings, liked them, and asked to connect with you on LinkedIn. <S> And your phrasing is fine. <S> I know of many folks who got their first introduction to a company that eventually hired them, based on their blog. <S> While it won't hurt to ask, be prepared to be turned down. <S> Some folks would never refer an unknown person for a job at their company. <S> I probably wouldn't recommend someone I didn't actually know for a job with my company - even if I really liked their blog posts. <S> I might be willing to pass along their resume with a note saying "I can't vouch for this person, as I don't know him. <S> I have read and liked his blog though." <A> There's an alternate tactic to take instead of asking for a referral, which is to ask for advice in applying to Company X, or if this person feels that you would be a good fit, or if there is a good team/position to apply for etc.... <S> If you start a dialog with this VP, they may end up offering a referral or another contact which can help distinguish your CV from the rest of the pile. <S> If the person doesn't really respond, then its unlikely they would have offered a referral anyway. <A> If by "referral" you mean "recommendation": Not appropriate. <S> Why would anyone you don't know be a good person to ask for a referral? <S> The best they can say is "Mike wrote a few good posts", which isn't going to do you much good. <S> Diluting your strong referrals with a weak one would not be a good idea. <S> And they'll probably decline the request , since they really can't vouch for you. ..... <S> However , if you're just looking for someone to pass your resume to HR with a note saying "chatted briefly with this guy on line <S> and he seems fairly savvy; worth investigating further" -- that is a completely appropriate request. <S> In fact you might even be doing them a favor, since their employer may offer a few bonus dollars to people who bring in good candidates. <S> As to whether coming in via that route will help you: <S> Depends on who your contact is. <S> If you've been chatting with, say, the Director of Research (or a VP!), anything that comes down from their office is likely to be looked at more carefully since there's the slight chance that s <S> /he might ask "hey, what happened with..." and HR will want to have a solid answer ready. <S> If you're a good candidate, that can help you past the layers of people who can only say no. <S> On the other hand, if your contact is someone like me -- many years with the company but not a major figure by any means -- this might skip one layer of filtering, which helps but won't be make-or-break; nobody would feel uncomfortable telling me "I don't remember, and besides that's confidential <S> so you shouldn't ask."
| Net-net: If you're really asking about referral, go for it; nobody will be offended, and while it might not help it can't hurt.
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Gap of 4-5 months in my resume after graduating, due to health reasons. How do I deal with that? I graduated from Computer Science this summer and so far I've been unemployed for two months due to a health issue that prevents me from performing properly as a programmer. I even had secured a job and in the end I couldn't take it because of this. I mentioned 4-5 in the title because I honestly think it could take that long in the worst case scenario. Consider that I'm a CompSci new grad. Is my career screwed? And how do I make up for this? <Q> Partial answer: <S> One option is to work aggressively towards a certification. <S> Another is to volunteer part-time for a non-profit and do meaningful work directly related to your field, so you have hands-on experience. <S> A third option is to start teaching others what you know, perhaps via high-quality video tutorials, showcasing your knowledge and communication skills. <S> All of these help fill-in your post-school resume with useful experience, and move the gap you're concerned about further and further behind you. <S> Otherwise, I'm not qualified to say how you ought to respond if someone specifically asks about the gap you currently have, other than to say lies have a way of being discovered, so it's best to avoid them. <S> Good luck! <A> You'll be fine. <S> Over the course of the next 10-30 years, 4-5 months is nothing. <A> First priority should be to get well again. <S> Everything else is only secondary. <S> A year from now, do you think anybody will say "with a five month career gap I would have accepted him, but that 6 month gap is really one month too many"? <S> That will not happen. <S> However, if you don't recover properly, you will have problems for much longer, maybe even the rest of your life. <S> So relax. <S> You cannot change it anyway. <S> Concentrate on a recovery. <S> Not on a quick recovery, but on a good recovery. <S> If you cannot use your CS skills right now, but you do have time to waste, maybe brush up totally unrelated skills. <S> CS is seldom used on it's own. <S> We always work for some industry. <S> Maybe you can get some skills in an industry <S> you'd like to work in. <S> Financial? <S> Business Administration? <S> Project Management? <S> Heck, if you want to go into that industry, even Chemistry or Biology might be helpful. <S> But remember: that is secondary. <S> It can wait. <S> Do not let this get in the way of your recovery. <S> Being healthy and happy is a key skill that will outshine any "month" or "skill" in your personal life. <S> And employers like to have happy and healthy people, too. <A> I really don't think you are going to have to worry. <S> The answer I would give a perspective employer is the truth. <S> Tell them you had some health issues (hopefully all resolved now) and that you were unable to work at the time. <S> Remember that not telling them the truth will get any job offer revoked and if employed is grounds for termination in almost all companies. <S> Today with social media and the interwebs its painfully easy to find out whatever you want to know about someone.
| Once you're healthy enough, immediately start actively learning or enhancing an important skill. A fourth option is to take-on a few paid short-term consulting projects (if they're remote and you're up for it, consider traveling somewhere while working, which creates an easy-to-understand reason for not immediately securing full-time employment after school). It wouldn't/shouldn't really be an issue, for whatever reason, unless you were in jail or in recovery for substance addiction, or something else like that.
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Can my employer refuse to pay me for my notice period after I have given notice? I've been working for a company for a year and a half and am pretty good at what I do. I have been consistently been told I am going above and beyond expectations and have been a huge part in turning around one of the stores and making it profitable when the previous years weren't. A competitor company offered me a job when they were new to town with the same job title, but for about the same money. I politely refused and informed my employer. Almost a year later, the competitor company came after me again for a position I didn't apply for. I received a letter of offer, and as the offer was for a higher job title then the one I currently had, and was significantly more money, I went to my employer and told him about it. I told him I would prefer to stay with the company I was familiar with, but I needed the money and asked him if there was any way they could give me the same job title and anything even close to the money. They refused and I was forced to give my two weeks notice, of which I was not allowed to work due to it being a conflict of interest. I was under the impression that when this sort of thing happens, the company you are employed by is required to pay you for your two weeks since it is them refusing to allow you to work, but my boss told me I wouldn't be getting paid for the last two weeks. My question is: if they are required to pay me out or not, and if they are, what should I do about it? <Q> To answer this (I'm assuming you are in the US) <S> we would have to know the location and have access to your employment contract, employee handbook etc. <S> The reason is, the laws vary by state and company policy. <S> Here is an article <S> you should find very helpful, including links to important resources. <S> Below is some relevant information from the article (emphasis added). <S> For example, if an employee gives two weeks notice of resignation, but the employer terminates the employee's employment on the same day that the employee gave notice, then the employer typically will not owe the resigning employee for the two-week notice period . <S> It's not unusual or generally unlawful for employers to send employees packing on the same day that they hand over their letters of resignation. <S> It's to help prevent watercooler rumors, theft and last-minute retaliation. <S> Some employers voluntarily issue resignation notice pay anyway, some don't. <S> Only a few states require employers to pay through the advanced notice period if they send employees packing before it expires, but only if the employers require employees to give advanced notice of resignation in the first place . <S> Resigning employees are, however, entitled to any pay they've already earned, including commissions and accrued vacation <S> pay if appropriate. <S> Under the laws for most states, final paychecks for resigning employees are due on their last day of work or shortly thereafter. <S> If you happen to live in a state that would require this, you can hire a lawyer to draft up a letter informing the employer of their legal obligations. <S> That would be the first (and most cost effective) step to take. <A> If you are in the UK, your employer is required by law to pay you your notice period. <S> Obviously, if you decide not to work for them the time of the notice period, you won't be paid and probably end up being sued. <S> If they terminate with you immidiately then they are still required to pay you the full duration of the notice period (it's called Garden Leave): <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_leave <S> The Garden Leave is usually well explained in your contract - in case it is not mentioned, I can't say if your employer can effectively terminate with you immidiately in the first place, but would guess so. <S> As the notice period in the UK usually range from one to three months, I must say your two weeks notice are quite surprisingly short! <A> Unless you have a contract, your employer does not have to "allow you to work". <S> If they are "not paying" consider yourself fired as of right now. <S> Sometimes if an employee "gives notice", the company will simply fire them. <S> That is what has happened to you. <A> However, it is possible that they are not required to pay you for the two weeks, especially if they have the right to immediately terminate your employment at any time. <S> It's common for employers to require employees to give them two weeks' notice so the employer isn't suddenly and surprisingly short-staffed when they have time-sensitive obligations to fulfill. <S> The employer doesn't have to use this 'benefit' if they don't want to ; here it appears they don't. <S> You, apparently, had the option of continuing to work at the first firm indefinitely but gave that up voluntarily because you apparently don't want that benefit of continuing the employment. <S> Call the second firm and ask about moving up your start date; you might be able to get started earning at the higher salary sooner. <A> As others have noted, your legal rights here depend on the contract that you signed, if any, and the laws of the place where you live. <S> If the new company that you are going to really is a conflict of interest, and you signed a "no compete" contract saying you would not take a job with a competing company for some period of time, then you are in breach of contract, and losing two weeks pay may be getting off lightly. <S> I'd check into any no-compete promises you may have made before threatening lawsuits, etc. <S> Otherwise, I'd consider how much it's worth fighting about. <S> It's too late to threaten to quit over it. <S> Your only recourse is to sue them in civil court or perhaps if they're violating labor laws you could get some appropriate government agency to take action. <S> I don't know how much you get paid in two weeks, but if you have to go to court, what would it cost to get a lawyer? <S> You might want to check with a lawyer to see what they say about your chances on such a case -- around here such an initial consultation with a lawyer costs somewhere between zero and maybe a hundred bucks.
| Most likely, however, they do not have to pay you and can terminate you upon resignation notice. In short, it depends on your contract and the laws governing your jurisdiction (which is not specified as of when this answer is posted). If they refuse, at that point you would have to take them to court.
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Questions that you shouldn't forget to ask in a HR interview I will be having an interview with HR after the technical interview. Basically what kind of valid questions should I want to ask from them? <Q> Short answer: <S> What's important to you? <S> It could be anything like: <S> Working hours <S> Amenities <S> Annual Leave Flexible arrangements <S> Working conditions <S> What are the is important to you that would make you accept or reject a role? <S> These are the questions you should be asking :) <A> As Jane answered, it depends on what you want to know in order to convince yourself to accept the offer. <S> I would ask for the following: <S> Office Culture (Dress Code, Habits, etc come into this) <S> Leave Structure <A> In addition to the above pension. <S> If you are a cyclist perhaps are there showers at work.
| You should preferably ask what you would like to know :) Leadership Hierarchy Career ladder in my domain of work(or simply department) Appraisal policy Amenities
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Capitalization of Programming Languages on Resume While currently working on my resume, I have confused myself about the capitalization of programming languages. I seem to recall that most times I see c++ mentioned, it is spelled with a lowercase c. I followed the convention of keeping languages lowercase but am now questioning this. The languages in question are java, javascript, c++. <Q> I don't know any language where names would be spelled lower case. <S> Just look it up: Java JavaScript <S> C C++ <S> Spelling them differently would be a spelling mistake. <S> Not the best thing to have in your application. <A> For any given language, follow the standard for the language. <S> For example, https://isocpp.org/std/the-standard <S> says "The current ISO C++ standard is officially known as ISO International Standard ISO/IEC 14882:2014(E) – Programming Language C++.". <S> The "C" in "C++" should be a capital letter. <S> The standard for COBOL, see ISO/IEC 1989:2014 , has title "Information technology -- Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces -- Programming language COBOL" <S> so it is all capitals. <S> The J3-Fortran page says "J3 developed the Fortran 66, Fortran 77, Fortran 90, Fortran 95, Fortran 2003, and Fortran 2008 standards." <S> so capitalize only the first letter of "Fortran". <A> While another answer has the correct capitalization for a few example languages (C, C++, JavaScript, Java), there is something very important that you must understand about programming languages if you are to speak about them like <S> you know what you're talking about. <S> Some programming languages have stated capitalization preferences that are easy to find online, and have a set of rules more complex than one would think. <S> For example, Python is spelled with a capital P when speaking about the language itself (such as on a resume), BUT you write python in your IDE. <S> Additionally, some language names have special forms in special cases. <S> For example, we can debate whether or not this code is pythonic. <S> Also, one of the comments on the question above makes a very good point that I will take a step further in giving you some job-seeking advice: If you don't know the proper capitalization of the programming language you are thinking about adding to your resume, it does not belong on your resume.
| Spell them like they should be spelled.
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Appropriate to ask about other applicants? I'm drawing near the end of a contract position I am not wanting to extend (although it hasn't been completely ruled out). I have an interview lined up, and I am curious to know how much competition I am up against (it's a great company, but my city is not Software Development location so there may not too many other's trying). Is it ever appropriate to ask at the interview how many other applicants they are interviewing? Also, semi-related, but at previous interviews I have been asked about whether or not I have received any offers or interest from other companies. I always answer honestly, but I've been wondering if this is asked to determine if I will accept a lower salary due to having no other offers on the table. Is this normally what that question is about? If I say that I've been talking to other companies would I be helping myself or shooting myself in the foot. <Q> It is entirely reasonable to ask, but they may not give you an answer. <S> While it's an understandable thing for you to want to know, letting you know that they weren't interviewing many people, or didn't have many candidates, would give you a significant advantage in any salary negotiations. <S> So while they may give you a vague statement you are probably not going to get details. <A> Ask away, you'll either get some useful information or you won't. <S> That's a much better chance than not asking at all. <S> As far as shooting yourself in the foot goes, it doesn't seem likely. <S> Honesty is always a good policy. <S> Second guessing the interviewers is ok up to a point, but straightforward honesty is a big plus in any interview situation. <A> There is no strategic advantage as far as salary in knowing how many are on the leit (Scottish phrase). <S> All you can learn is how serious they are about you as a candidate. <S> The practicalities are as follows: <S> At an early stage, it lets you know if they have actually put together a short list, or are just interviewing everyone/ anyone as their details get past across. <S> At a later stages, you get an idea of how serious they are about ANY hire, if there is still a cast of thousands they are likely time wasters, or don't know what they want. <S> If it's the final stage, any more than 2 or 3 is a red flag, but conversely being the only one ISN'T normally an advantage, it just means they are interested in you for the role. <S> It is still possible for you to lose to NO-ONE if you blow it. <S> The last point can be untrue in the public sector, I know of some sectors (like education in the UK) where a short list is drawn up, and the best candidate on the day will be chosen, no matter how bad they actually performed. <S> Part of this though is they will have regulated salary, no negotiation involved. <S> As regards salary, this is a fallacy <S> it's to your advantage. <S> The hiring manager will have a budget, and you will need to fit that. <S> They won't really pony up <S> if you are the only gig in town, the likelihood is they'll more likely think they can hold off and get someone better no matter how much they liked you. <S> In a multi-person scenario they are more likely to choose one over the other.
| Yes you can ask, but they may not give you an answer, but there is really no advantage in them not doing so.
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Can I disclose my company's financial troubles when applying for new jobs (UK)? My new company of 3 months is having trouble servicing its debts, including payroll, and I am actively looking for a new job. When asked by potential employers as to why I am moving on so soon, am I ethically and legally allowed to say the company is heading for insolvency? <Q> Honesty isn't always the best policy <S> At least, not when talking about previous employers. <S> I can see your point here, you're being asked "Why are you leaving your job?" and the honest answer is (at least partially) "Because the company is in trouble and I want to know my job is secure". <S> Saying this can be bad in a few ways though: <S> Although understandable as a reason to leave, it marks you as someone who may jump ship at the start of any problems. <S> I'm not saying you are, and neither are the recruiters, but without context we have no idea if "Financial trouble" is "No bonus this year", "Going bust next week" or somewhere in between. <S> Avoid anything negative in the same way you'd avoid "My manager is an idiot and only lets me have 2 cups of coffee a day", and keep things positive. <S> You don't want to be marked down as a negative person, or a flight risk, before you've even started! <S> You may be breaching confidentiality/anti-competition etc agreements, or a clause in your contract forbidding you from giving sensitive information regarding the company (which financial information almost certainly is). <S> It's just not worth the risk of someone noticing, even if they have better things to be doing right now. <S> That said, if you've only been with the new company for 3 months, I wouldn't be surprised to find that "Because I'd like to further my career" invited further questioning along the lines of "Well yes, but why are you moving after only 3 months?". <S> At this point you have to make a judgement call (based on your own contract) as to whether you feel comfortable with a statement along the lines of "We've been made aware of some risk to the future of the company. <S> I'm not in a position to give out further details as I'm not aware of the full situation, but what I've heard is enough to make me concerned for my job security" <A> When asked by potential employers as to why I am moving on so soon, am <S> I ethically and legally allowed to say the company is heading for insolvency? <S> That depends on the company, and your role in it. <S> For example, if this is a publicly traded company, and you are an insider with material knowledge of the company's finances, you are not allowed to expose insider knowledge. <S> Most likely, you aren't in that position though. <S> You probably aren't in a position to conclude that they are definitely "heading for insolvency" since many things could happen to change that potential outcome. <S> Hiring companies will understand. <A> Despite what others here are saying, you need to be realistic about why you are moving, otherwise you will look like a flight risk/or about to be fired. <S> You don't need to be explicit of the details, and can use the short term part of your time as part of the answer. <S> For example: I have only been at the company for three months, but given what I have seen I have deep concerns for their long term viability, and given I'm only just in <S> I felt it is better to move now when I can take my time to find the right opportunity rather than wait until I may have to find a new role quickly.
| You could say that you are worried about the company financially and that you are worried about your job stability. Don't get into specifics, since they aren't really important.
|
How to best prepare myself for a promotion with a VERY low-ball offer I started working for a new call center a couple months back and have moved my way into creating metrics and productivity tools for our supervisors, providing reports to our client, and overall just making easy ways to look through our metrics data to try and discover trends and work-avoidance behavior and the like. The company already knows they pay very low wages (~20%-30% lower than national averages for almost all call center positions). I have created a niche for myself and the company wants to put me into a position where I can work full-time on developing tools and reports for our client and company. The issue is, I'm going to be offered a $1 raise, to go from a low $10.50/h for a team lead to $11.50/h for a Workforce Analyst/Quality Analyst. It's almost insulting, but I like this place, and enjoy almost everyone and everything there except the wage. How can I best prepare myself to go into the meeting and push for a far more acceptable wage? National averages put that position at ~$20-$25/h with the very low end of the spectrum being $15-$18/h. <Q> How can I best prepare myself to go into the meeting and push for a far more acceptable wage? <S> If the company has a culture of paying very low wages, and you don't see any exceptions occurring already, and you somehow know that you will be offered a $1 raise, then it's unlikely you can just go into a meeting with facts and figures and expect them to change their minds. <S> They already know any facts you can bring to the table. <S> However, if you go in with an offer from another company, it's possible (although still very unlikely) that they will make an exception in your case, and put you in a job that will give you more money. <S> Look around. <S> Find some other companies that would hire someone like you with your background, education and experience at the rate you desire. <S> Apply, and get at least one offer. <S> Then bring those offers to your meeting. <S> Explain the additional value you bring to the company, how it benefits them, and why you are worth what you are asking. <S> Explain to you boss that you would like to stay if they can match the other offer(s), but be prepared to leave. <S> It's still very unlikely that a company with the pay scale that you indicate will keep you around at 50-100% more than they wanted to pay. <S> But you'll only know by trying and by having the ability to decline their offer and leave as your leverage. <A> As the company is already aware of the fact that they are paying low wages, the hike seems improbable to me. <S> Th current salary structure might be a part of the company's policies and structure, so they might not want to part/alter with it. <S> Tell them: <S> I am currently having x job offers, with a salary package of $____. <S> However, I love this place and culture, so I would very much like to consider my promotion and future at this place, in light of a better salary package (< Expected salary >). <S> If you don't have offers in hand, then it isn't really easy convincing a company which have already accepted and adopted the current practices and policies. <A> The pay is dependent upon your area as oppose to what the national average is. <S> Sure it may be lower but other factors such as tax, cost of living, similar companies, etc, etc play into your rate. <S> Just because one area pays $25 an hour for a similar position it may in fact be lesser than your position once you factor in tax and cost of living in that particular area. <S> Now as far as your position goes, I would say it doesn't hurt to ask for more raise. <S> Instead I would say that you feel you deserve <S> X amount an hour. <S> The worst thing they'll say is no. <A> Basically you need to quantify the additional benefit you are bringing and offer a sensible counter offer. <S> Work out in time/money what your metrics and tools have already benefited (and will benefit) the employer along with the industry stats on pay you have to show what is fair. <S> Use that to show that given you are saving/earning them an extra x per year, a bump to y (which is what you could get elsewhere) <S> would keep you happy, especially as you enjoy your job and position. <S> If you do that <S> and they don't bite, you need to then decide your next move, but you need to weigh up how far you are willing to push it. <A> Salary mentality at a given company is something that comes with the territory. <S> You cannot change it. <S> For example, imagine they acceded to all your demands and paid you $25 per hour. <S> What would happen when other people in the company at the same level found out you were making more than double their wage? <S> It's just a hypothetical question, but the executives at your company will have thoughts like these at the forefront of their mind. <S> What a given employer offers in terms of salary depends on all kinds of factors, many of which you may have no knowledge of. <S> Maybe the company has a huge, secret debt, or the CEO has a gambling habit; you have no way of knowing what considerations go into salary decisions. <S> Without that knowledge it is difficult to bargain effectively outside of the company norms. <S> When you accept a company, you are implicitly accepting their pay scales. <S> If you want to get paid more your main option is to work for a different company. <A> This looks like a hard line company, you're not going to get more than they offer you. <S> You have created a niche, but it's not an indispensable one. <S> If you want to continue working there then bite the bullet and put it down to experience, you might be able to negotiate a little bit, but not from 11.50 to 15 - 18. <S> If the money is more important than be prepared to leave and give them a minimum you will accept. <S> If they try and steamroll you which they probably wil, then leave. <S> It's really down to whether you can afford to give them an ultimatum or not, because call centres have very high turnover <S> , it's something they already factor in to their equations. <S> If it was me I'd have been looking for a new job a long time ago.
| However, if you have counter-offers with a better salary package, then you can show them and ask for a hike, as you love the current place and a slight hike would do the job. I wouldn't bring up what other companies are doing as that may backfire on you.
|
Remove significant coursework from CV I'm a programmer with about 2.5 years experience. Right now my CV is two pages long. There is a part where I mention some significant coursework during my studies ("big" exercises). I believe this part gives a better understanding on what knowledge I have on some technologies that I haven't had the chance to practice in a working environment. Should I remove it? The size of this part is 120 words out of 700. <Q> There is a part where I mention some significant coursework during my studies ("big" exercises). <S> Should I remove it? <S> Yes, remove it. <S> After 2.5 years of work experience, few employers care about any courses you took in school. <A> As Jon Story says in his comment, it is important to customize your resume for each job you apply to. <S> So you should definitely include the technologies that you learned in school - if they are significant for the job. <S> Joe's suggestion with the bullet list sounds good. <S> In addition to that, mention them in your cover letter. <S> In this answer <S> I have explained my reasoning: If they are looking for a candidate who can do "foo" and you've spend the last couple of years doing "bar" <S> then you should make it clear in your application why you consider yourself a good match for a position doing "foo" or else your application will wander to the bottom of the pile or even the trash. <S> Source: <S> Own experience. <S> After two years in a different technology, I applied to a position where I only had school experience in the main technology, although there was some overlap in the secondary requirements. <S> I got the job. <A> Two pages? <S> Leave it alone. <S> You want to show some breadth of experience, and right now you probably don't have enough in work experience to substantiate a whole lot. <S> Contrary to another comment here <S> , I gave up on customizing resumes job-for-job long, long ago. <S> If you're not a fit (because your resume doesn't reflect the skills required), no amount of customization is going to help. <S> Customize the cover letter.
| You can include a bullet list of technologies you know, but in general courses you took about topics that you haven't actually experienced on the job don't add much value.
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Should I add a new job (1 week) onto my resume? I was brought aboard to a new web project last week. So far, all I have done is think about design and implementation, but I have a good idea of what to expect in the future since I've worked in web development before. My question is, should I add this new job to my resume now, even though all I can really put on it is that I've done some software design/planning for this project? On one hand, it seems like there's nothing of substance to add, but on the other hand, I'd like to include it just to have a complete and up to date resume. I will also be applying to internships very soon, so if adding a new job looks bad, I will just omit it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. <Q> I always recommend updating your resume the day you start a new job. <S> You may never give anyone that resume before it is next updated, but on your first day you know the dates, the company name, your job title and so on, and what better time to capture them than now? <S> (It's also the perfect time to adjust the description of the job you just left - putting things into the past tense if they were present tense, for example, and making sure your job title and duties are complete.) <S> A year or two from now you may not remember if you started in September or October, or other details that are easy now. <S> Your resume is a living document - put what you can on it now, and adjust it regularly as your job duties shift. <S> That way there's never a big ugly update <S> my resume task that's blocking you from looking for a new job <S> should you want to. <S> For the specific resume you send to apply for a job that will start 8 months from now, include the job with start and end dates, the end date being in the future, and use the future tense along with verbs like "expect" or "plan". <S> For example: Sept-Dec 2015, Web Developer, BigCorp. <S> Designed software for XYZ. <S> Duties for the remainder of the term will include A, B, and C. <S> We expect to deliver D and E. <S> I would not think it "looked bad" if your application for a temporary internship at my firm included a different temporary internship or project position that you started 8 months before my start date. <S> I would think it looked bad if you were applying for an internship that started right now, since you'd be saying "I'll totally ditch these guys for you if you offer me something good." <S> But that's not the situation you're in. <A> Go forward and add it, if you think you think <S> the work/project you have done during that time adds value to the resume. <S> It might go like this: Jun '15 - Aug '15 <S> < Location <S> ><Role > at < Company <S> >< <S> Project Name(if any) <S> > <S> From here include bullet points explaining what you have done in the project. <S> Bullet Points should include the project explanation, your role in it, the technologies/methods used, and finally(and ofter the most important) <S> your learning from the project. <S> If there is nothing done in the project except planning and laying the outline, include it like this: Designed the roadmap for the < project name > which aims to < include the aim and end goals of the project <S> > <S> If you've done some work on it, then it deserves a place in your resume. <S> As simple as that. <A> In general, I recommend waiting at least a month or so. <S> Or, until you know that you want to stay for a significant amount of time, that they will keep you on, <S> and/or if not doing so would create an unexplainable gap (like 6+ months). <S> If it's an internship, and you know you want to stay for the entire internship, put it on your resume. <S> If it's a temp job that you knew you'd only have for 2-3 months, put it on your resume. <S> For full-time jobs, or jobs where there's a waiting period, you want to avoid putting a job on your resume, having it not work out, and then removing the job. <S> My personal experience is that I once took a FT job, but quit about 5 weeks later because it was just not for me. <S> I don't even list it on my resume because it looks bad to leave a FT job really quickly. <S> Eventually this part-time jobs will give way to a full-time position. <S> You can always talk about the details of your work experience in a cover letter.
| So, Yes you can include the project in your resume even if the time period is short. I would personally wait until I knew what I was going to be doing, in your case - or just give it a full week.
|
How do I work with my supervisor when they may know that I've complained to the CEO about them? I was in a meeting with our CEO and he was taking feedback for my supervisor. One thing lead to another and I mentioned something that I believe I shouldn't have. He wanted to fire my supervisor and replace him. That didn't happen however my supervisor knows about our conversation and I believe there's a chance he might have seen some text we exchanged between us. What should I do? <Q> You stabbed someone in the back <S> and now you're worried they may retaliate. <S> Your best bet would probably be to just pretend it didn't happen and avoid a potential confrontation. <S> Unless you were lying I see no need to apologise. <S> Quite possibly the manager is more scared of you complaining again then you're worried about them. <S> The chances are that they got a good telling off from the CEO and will be tiptoeing around for a while. <A> Firstly, why shouldn't you have mentioned it? <S> If the feedback was negative but fair then I wouldn't be too concerned. <S> Assuming you had a one on one discussion with the CEO that was for the purpose of collecting feedback then I wouldn't expect that the CEO reflected the comments directly to your supervisor as being from anybody specific. <S> He likely knows that somebody(s) in his team have made a complaint, but it's unlikely that he knows the who or specific details about it. <S> I would carry on as per normal but expect that he's likely going to be looking to redeem himself, potentially at the expense of his team so keep all conduct as professional as possible. <S> If however the case is that you were unprofessional in your complaint and you feel it's not something that should have been mentioned <S> then I would defer to @Kilisi's advice and potentially consider retracting the comments with the CEO (depending on the seriousness of them). <A> Your supervisor did something that is a fireable offence <S> and you think you shouldn't have told anyone when you were in a meeting for that purpose <S> and now you're wondering how to apologize to your supervisor? <S> Long ago, one of my children cheated on a quiz at school and came and told me. <S> I told her to tell the teacher what she had done, but she didn't want to because then the other girl would get in trouble. <S> (It was a "pass your papers to the left and the other can mark them" quiz: <S> by prior arrangement she left some blank and the other girl filled in correct answers for her as the teacher called them out, thus confessing would uniquely identify the other culprit.) <S> I told her, and I'm telling you: <S> If she gets in trouble, it's because of what she did, not what you said. <S> You were asked about your supervisor. <S> You chose not to keep a secret for your supervisor. <S> Why? <S> Because you have a lot of honor and integrity and put the company first? <S> If so, be proud of that. <S> Because you were scared of the CEO and he stared at you with piercing CEO eyes and scared the secret out of you? <S> If so, own that too - perhaps you have a chance to learn something here. <S> Because you hadn't thought about the consequences of telling anyone whatever you told? <S> Well own that too <S> and this is definitely a learning experience.
| This person will never trust you again in all likelihood, be careful and professional around them.
|
Alternatives to seeking a new job? Me I'm having a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning and going to work. When I started, I would show up 15-20 minutes early and be really excited. When I had my midyear review, they told me I was a "superstar". This really concerned me because I'm of the mindset that you should be challenged by other people on your team. Our team has been together for about a year and I'm finding that many of the people who started with me are quitting and getting new jobs for more money, etc. The Company There's been a few strange things that have happened. A new manager was hired and he selected one of our peers as the mini-manager. This is kind of an unusual relationship because neither of them are able to directly manage me due to a preexisting agreement with our client. There was a period of about 2 1/2 months where no one from the company included me in any meetings. I work with the client in their office (different location from everyone else), it's a contracted position. The Client The client, this is an academic research setting, has continued to try and persuade me to get a PhD in things that I find irrelevant to data science such as public policy. The clients work environment is stressful for me because I find that we're continually trying to solve problems that have generally well established solutions. We are then forced to try and implement these solutions from scratch, it's in a secure environment, in things like Visual Basic using Microsoft Excel. This reality has made me question my life choices. Burnout and Change Today I took the day off from work because I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed this morning. Last night, I went directly to bed too. My burnout is becoming evident to my coworkers so it looks like a discussion needs to happen. I've switched jobs about once a year since I left school (3 years ago). I really don't want to get into another situation where I feel burnt out. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! <Q> I know this isn't answering your question, or rather it's answering it in a way you specifically asked us not to answer... <S> but have you considered a new job? <S> I know, I know, you said without looking for a new job - and it does have inherent risks if you're switching jobs too often, but it sounds like you're switching between jobs you don't really care about, doing things you're not really interested in. <S> Perhaps start looking for a job you actually enjoy , have an interest in, and can take some value from yourself. <S> Don't rush it, don't set a deadline, but look out for something you actually want to do. <S> Work stops feeling as much like work if you roll out of bed, drive 5 minutes to a job nearby, do something fulfilling, then go home on time <S> ... I've literally just made this change, and it's much more enjoyable, even though there was nothing particularly wrong with the old job. <S> In the meantime, talk to your manager - carefully. <S> Explain (calmly and objectively) what your problems are. <S> Make sure you understand beforehand exactly what your problems are and what you'd like to happen. <S> It's a slightly tricky conversation to have, as you'll want to avoid coming across as a flight risk, but in general it's better to have an open discussion. <S> Perhaps you want to work flexible hours, work from home occasionally, be extracted from your current embedded assignment with the client, or just have some time on other projects doing more interesting things. <S> The important thing is not to let it remain an issue: the last thing you want is to hang on with the situation getting worse and worse, missing time off work and risking disciplinary issues. <S> Losing a job after 15 months is worse than voluntarily leaving one after 12! <S> Especially if it gives you a negative reputation in your industry. <S> That's not necessarily a big deal, but sometimes it helps to work out whether work is affecting your personal life, or your personal life is affecting work. <A> If you are burned out on a third job in three years, something else is wrong. <S> Above all else you need to find out what it is and fix it because you are on the cusp of being considered a job hopper and that will limit your future prospects. <S> First, get immediately to a doctor as what you describe sounds a good deal like depression instead of burnout. <S> If you a having trouble with feeling burned out, then drop the studying as well. <S> You should be working (including studying) no more than the normal 40 hours until you recover. <S> You need to do something with your off time that is in no way related to work. <S> Try exercise as well. <S> Feeling better physically will make it easier to keep going at work. <S> Next, you need to give some thought as to exactly what you expect out of the work world. <S> Having picked 3 bad jobs in a row says a lot about your judgement and by now you should have learned to do a better job at picking a company that has what you want. <S> Next, you need to learn how to live in the work world where everything is not exciting or interesting every single day. <S> That should not be stressing you out. <S> It is ordinary and expected. <S> This is not to say that there shouldn't be interesting work but that no job sustains that level day in and day out. <S> All jobs have irritating and uninteresting things that need to be done. <S> As far as implementing solutions that already have been solved, well honestly in the business world, most things have already been solved in a basic form, it is the nuances that differ from place to place. <S> Using old tech is something that should not have been a surprise to you if you asked the right questions in the interview. <S> But really in data science, the tech is almost irrelevant, what is important is the mindset of understanding the underlying meaning behind the data. <S> It's like a novelist and a typewriter. <S> Sure the typewriter is necessary but is is the imagination of the writer that is the critical factor. <S> So stop stressing over the unimportant and start looking for the positive. <A> Watch out that you don't get too caught up in your own expertise. <S> Understanding business needs is a very important aspect to the work of a data scientist. <S> What are you modeling for and why, which business expectations generally arise in your market and how do you best confirm or deny them. <S> If you know the general assumptions, it's easier to find the right emphasis in the things you want to share. <S> I would strongly suggest you take up the suggested course, and try to make the best of it. <S> It will prove to be valuable and might give you a chance to clear your head. <S> The last thing you need right now is a fourth company and a corresponding burnout.
| Also consider taking a vacation and getting completely away from studying and work. You may also want to consider some counselling, as it sounds like you're feeling isolated and perhaps a little depressed.
|
What's a concise way to handle "wrong number" phone calls from inside the workplace? Office phone rings and I pick up: Me : say my name and/or branch Person : Oh, I'm sorry, I think I called the wrong phone number. What's a good response to end this concisely and professionally? No problem. click Oh, you reached the the specify where she actually called office. Were you looking to get somewhere else? You reached last four of phone number . Something else? On my personal phone I go with #1, but in extreme circumstances I have an awkward 15 second conversation at work determining that yes, they did indeed call the wrong number. Is there a standard way of handling this to concisely get off the phone without being unprofessional? More information as requested : This phone can be reached from the outside world, but I can distinguish external calls when the phone is ringing. Thus, my question only pertains to people calling from inside (although they are complete strangers to me 99.9% of the time). I am willing, able and expected to answer calls coming from outside, but again I can distinguish when a call is coming from inside the phone network. My question regards only people calling from inside the workplace. <Q> Number one is all you need if you don't know the person <S> and it's definitely an internal call. <S> The user has almost always just mis-dialed and as soon as they realise, is keen to hang up and dial the right number. <S> I perhaps wouldn't be quite as abrupt, but "No problem, have a great afternoon!" <S> (or something fitting with your style of speech) would usually be appropriate. <S> If they dial the same number again, 3 may be appropriate: <S> No problem, you've reached 0123 or similar lets them know instantly whether they've dialed the wrong number, or whether they have the wrong number written down/memorised . <S> Just to help them avoid doing it a third time. <S> The exception would be if you work for some kind of helpdesk or similar-ish department to the one they're looking for: eg if they're looking for Paul Smith and you're Terry Jones, you probably don't need to worry about it... <S> but if you're the IT <S> Help Desk <S> and they're looking for Network Services, you may want to take a moment to redirect them. <A> What number were you trying to reach? <S> " <S> This gives me the opportunity to help them figure out where they went wrong, and is brief without being too abrupt. <S> Most of the time it was just a mistake, but sometimes they have an outdated number and can correct their source which prevents future misdials. <A> I usually just say "You have the wrong number" and leave it at that. <S> If your company has an automated phone system for the main line where you "spell" the name of the person you are looking for, this kind of thing tends to happen. <S> It was obvious to me that some callers had called me randomly because they didn't know the extension and were too lazy to use the "spell" thing. <S> Or they were trying to access someone who was not normally accessible, and were hoping some sucker would take the bait and bypass the controls. <S> Either way, I would refer them back to the main line. <S> If they wanted me to look up the number, I just said I wasn't able to give out that information. <S> If they asked me to transfer them, I would say that I had no idea how to do that, which was actually true. <S> (The one time I tried, I disconnected the call.) <S> I could have figured it out pretty easily, but not knowing gave me a legitimate reason to decline the request. <A> This depends on the expectations the other side has. <S> When I worked for my school's help desk, I would offer to route them to another department if it was within the university. <S> For example, they wanted to call campus police and called us instead. <S> You can also query them if you sense they're still on the line, "is there anything else I may help you with?" <S> Generally, wait and see what the other side needs. <S> But "no problem" works Ok (though I personally prefer "have a nice day", but that's extra sugar I guess). <A> If the caller responds "Oh, I'm sorry, I think I called the wrong phone number. <S> ", as you stated, then I'd say that answering "No problem" and ending the call is just fine. <S> However, my experience shows that an equally likely reaction is "Oh, I'm sorry, I was trying to reach [not me]". <S> Depending on your phone system, you have to decide which is more helpful: Do people typically dial the actual number, then giving your number is helpful. <S> In my last institution, the phones had actual keyboards and people usually "dialled by name" - often, giving your extension wouldn't help them because they didn't know the correct extension
| Usually, you can end with a simple pleasantry. My stock response is "I think you have the wrong number (if they haven't already figured it out). One thing I stopped doing was offering to give out the correct extension or to transfer the person to the correct extension. In such a case, I try help them figure out what went wrong.
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