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Can I alter the time of a phone interview because I think I can better accomodate the interviewer? This is a very specific situation that I find myself in. I was scheduled for a final round phone interview with a company. The email from the recruiter asked for the times I was available for the following week (she clearly wanted specific details for each day, like "Monday: 11-2, 3-3:30, Tuesday: 3-4... etc". I know she wanted specific details for each day because she gave instructions to do just that, with a table for each day and fields for my available times. In my excitement, I emailed back too hastily, and told her that I was free "Monday-Friday at 2 pm." I didn't give more info than that. She scheduled me for an interview on Thursday, and with the manager of a very large team. This made me assume that this person must be very busy and that the very limited time I provided would hurt this person's schedule and make his/her week more difficult. Obviously I don't want that (especially since I'd like to be hired!) However, I'm torn between becoming an even bigger nuisance by giving more times I'm available (I'd do so in an email tomorrow, which is Monday, the next working day since the interview was scheduled). I have the following pros and cons: Pros: Sending more times would give more flexibility to my interviewer, who manages a large team It might also allow me to interview earlier in the week, which I would prefer (but that's just me) Cons: It'd be annoying! They must already be annoyed by the horribly restrictive time I have (again, I said 2 pm Mon-Fri). And sure, they might be able to pick a better time now, but they already scheduled me, so now it's more work for them. I'm wondering, what do you think? How do I ago about this? I could do nothing and just have the interview, but I feel bad for not following the instructions and possibly making their lives difficult. If I do send times, I'd say something like this: "Hi [Recruiter], Since the times, I provided for you on Friday weren't very flexible, I am additionally available at these times this week: [insert a chart of free times]. The scheduled time works just as well for me, and there is no need to reschedule unless you find it more convenient on your end. Thanks, Bob." That sounds logical and nice, but would it just make them sick and tired and upset at me for being such a nuisance? I mean, it's scheduled already. It's on the calendar. Will sending more times make them super happy that they can make their schedules more convenient, or super annoyed that they might now have to make another change? <Q> Firstly, let me tell you that most of your question is based upon a wrong assumption. <S> This is what the HR managers generally do: <S> Take the time slots from the candidate See where such a slot can be fit into the interviewer's calender <S> And when they find an appropriate slot, they set up the interview. <S> If they can't, then they'll ask you to give an alternate slot <S> So, the HR might be in the above process by now. <S> So, if you send updated slots now , then that'd be a nuisance for him/her. <S> So, I would advise you to let the things go how they are going now. <A> You're waaaay overthinking this. <S> This has now been accomplished; it's really not important whether or not the solution was optimal. <S> It works for both of you <S> and that's good enough. <S> Don't waste any more of your time or energy thinking (or posting) about it! <S> Your priority now is to prepare for the interview itself. <S> What you say, and how you present yourself, will be infinitely more important than how convenient the time slot was for the interviewer. <A> You've got the interview, it's booked in and having it at a different time is unlikely to increase your chances of getting hired. <S> What you're not thinking about it how they are likely to be doing a batch of interviews all in one go, which would probably be on the Thursday, and <S> that's probably why they chose that date. <S> The only person currently feeling inconvenienced is yourself as you would have liked the interview earlier in the week. <S> Stick with the date you have been given, <S> and don't worry about it. <S> Just remember in future when asked when you are available, to give the times when you are available! <A> Unless there is something big, like you forgot you had a doctor appointment on Thursday, don't change. <S> Heck, even in that case, I'd probably reschedule the doc instead of change interview. <S> Work is work, you know the doctor is going to be there either way. <S> For what it's worth, when I was unemployed, I've told HR people that I was free all day and night 7 days a week for interview. <S> Sounds desperate, but HR people just make schedules, not putting any notes about you begging for a job.
| The recruiter's goal was to find a time that's mutually acceptable to the candidate and the interviewer. And if you have any preference (for a valid reason) make it known.
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My office is too cold, how practical is it to ask to telecommute? My office is literally 62 degrees, without a space heater. However, none of the space heaters I've bought have been able to bring it up to above 65 degrees, no joke. My office isn't that big but it's either getting air from the coldest part of the building that is chilling the IT server room or its just getting it from proximity to that room. I literally just started the job and honestly it's already pissing me off. I also live in Texas so I'm not going to dress in layers just to accommodate this one job. My entire job can literally be done from home, with a VPN and internet access; I don't need a physical presence here. Is there some sort of case to be made regarding uncomfortable working conditions in an igloo of an office that's distracting me more throughout the day making me think more about the temperature than my actual work? <Q> Rather than trying to simply make a case to work from home, you should be generally working with your manager (and human resources, if your company has an HR staff) to develop a good solution that works for everyone. <S> I think that you should approach them with the problem and work together to come up with one or more solutions that work for both you and the company. <S> Adding unnecessary constraints (needing to work from home) will only make it harder to solve the underlying problem (you are uncomfortable in your office because it is too cold). <S> Work from home may be an option, but you need to be able to keep other options on the table, as well - perhaps the facility maintenance staff needs to do work to better insulate or adjust the airflow to your office, you could move to another office if one is available, you could keep a spare jacket in your office so you don't need to layout outside. <A> I'm going to supplement Thomas Owens's answer : <S> Call the engineering / janitorial staff, too. <S> I see this play out all too often. <S> I rent an office from another company (since I work in a different city as our company HQ). <S> Recently they hired a new receptionist who was "always cold." <S> I came back from a trip and found my power off. <S> (After first checking to make sure I'd paid my rent) It turns out she had a space heater under her desk that was tripping breakers. <S> This was in late August, and it was 95 F outside. <S> After getting the breaker reset (and the maintenance staff was sick of it, at this point), I took a pencil from her desk, closed the louvers on the lobby's AC vents down by about 60%, and now everyone's happy. <S> I would imagine that your AC airflow could be similarly adjusted if you ask. <S> And remember, wherever you work, ALWAYS make friends with the janitor and the bookkeeper. <S> Life is much easier with them on your side. <A> I live in the tropics and for the sake of my equipment keep my office so cold that I wear a jacket and woollen hat when I'm in it <S> , I don't have any problems concentrating, but if you're not dressing for it, you must really be suffering. <S> Generally not a great idea to be complaining as soon as you start a job, but you have good cause <S> , 62 degrees seems pretty cold even for a server room and isn't suitable for an office. <S> Your best option is go talk to your boss about it and tell him you're uncomfortable, he may not be aware of the problem or there may be some reason you are not aware of <S> that it needs to be that cold. <S> I wouldn't start talking about working from home on the strength of it straight away <S> , that's just going a bit too far for a person who just arrived. <S> And chances are they are several other ways such as moving you to resolve the problem.
| I think that going in with the attitude that you want to work from home because your office environment is uncomfortable will come off as being very demanding, especially since this is a new job. Keeping your options open will help you reach a deal that is good for both you and your company.
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How to enter a degree you are not holding yet into an application platform Nearly all of the companies I'm applying or plan to apply to use some kind of online platform where applications should be uploaded. Typically that means entering most of the information that is contained in your CV into an online form and uploading your cover letter, resume, and copies of certificates. The rationale behind this doubling between resume and the online tool is nicely described in this answer . Also, some of the companies explicitly state that not your resume but the information entered into their online form is used for the initial screening of applicants. My problem is that I'm just about to finish my PhD and unless hell freezes over it is sure that I will get that degree, it's basically only a matter of the grade it will be given. However, in fact I don't have it yet. In my cover letter and resume I can easily deal with that by giving additional explanation like "expected by 'month/year'" or the like. But how should I deal with that when entering my information into such an application platform where I can only enter information like name of the degree, institution, grade but no additional explanation? If I enter it as if I had it already – of course with a corresponding explanation in cover letter and resume– I might be considered (mildly) cheating. If I leave it out, chances are high that I don't even pass the first screening since I seemingly do not provide the required degree. In case that it might make a difference: the positions I'm referring to are based in Germany or at least in German-speaking countries. <Q> If you're required to enter a degree, you can normally specify the period, for example: <S> Degree: Masters Degree in Computer Science <S> University: Oxford University Started: 2011 <S> Finished: 2016 <S> The standard phrase to add to the date is "expected 2016" to make it completely clear that you have yet to receive the degree but are on track to obtain it. <S> If the platform doesn't have any fields for the date, just add "(expected 2016)" to the degree itself: <S> Masters Degree in Computer Science (expected 2016), Oxford University <S> If, for whatever reason, even that is impossible, just mention in your cover letter that you'll be graduating soon. <S> Any interviewer that accuses you of fraud after that is not someone you want to be working for any way. <A> But how should I deal with that when entering my information into such an application platform where I can only enter information like name of the degree, institution, grade but no additional explanation? <S> If I enter it as if I had it already – of course with a corresponding explanation in cover letter and resume– I might be considered (mildly) cheating. <S> If I leave it out, chances are high that I don't even pass the first screening since I seemingly do not provide the required degree. <S> I would simply not enter it if it is asking for completed degrees since as you said you are expecting to get it in the future. <S> If there is no way to enter "expected" or allow for partials <S> then I would simply not enter it. <S> Also try not entering the "complete" date. <S> Instead just put the start date and leave the complete date empty to see if that works. <S> Just remember though unless the application is a background check you can enter any information you feel. <S> Since one application system might allow for pending degrees, it was probably an overlooked feature. <S> You could explain that the system didn't allow pending degrees <S> but you are getting a degree in the near future. <S> Personally I think companies should do away with proprietary applications and just accept resumes for applications. <S> To me I avoid companies that make me have to waste 30-45 minutes to fill out a online application. <S> Most companies I been to first look at my resume, then if I'm hired, I officially fill out the application in their system. <A> What type of positions are you applying to? <S> If the date is in the future or you add something like “expected” somewhere in the description, there is no ambiguity and no reason to be concerned about fraud. <S> But in industry, it's very rare to see a position where people would be filtered out based on their holding a PhD or not. <S> I have been to interviews and finally landed a job where it was an advantage but apart from academic jobs, the requirement is nearly always a master's degree and the PhD is at most a bonus (and quite often a liability <S> : you have to show you are ready to work in industry and avoid projecting a mad scientist or pie-in-the-sky image). <S> Of course, you would mention the PhD on your resume and should be very careful to use that and your cover letter to articulate how this experience is relevant to your future work. <S> But you are unlikely to be automatically filtered out because you have not entered it in the online application system. <S> In practice, a simple solution is therefore to mention your research experience as a “professional experience”. <S> It is what it is, you spent 3-4 years working on a research project, not attending courses and you already have a master's degree (or Diplom ) which is probably all that's needed in terms of formal academic qualification so what you need to look good on a casual glance is to beef up your professional experience, not another diploma.
| In my experience, many systems do allow you to enter a degree you are going to obtain soon, especially for academic jobs where a PhD is a requirement.
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Can I be paid from two businesses? I work for two completely different businesses that share the same office space. The owners of the businesses are married and I am their office manager. When they first hired me, they told me that neither business was busy enough to warrant a full-time person. We agreed that I would be paid four hours of each day from each business. I am, and always have been responsible for, all the duties and responsibilities that transpire during an eight hour workday, for each business. I have worked for them for a few years now, and they have built upon both businesses. To be honest, I now feel like I am working two very busy full-time jobs for the price of one. I am so overwhelmed I am considering changing jobs. I need advice. Is it legal to get paid from two businesses at the same time? <Q> Let them know you're unhappy <S> This situation came from a different climate for both businesses and as time has changed, so have your expectations. <S> You sound like you've done very well in <S> your role(s) <S> and you would like to grow as an employee <S> - you should talk to them and give them a chance to make things right. <S> Let them know you're unhappy and try to present some changes that would benefit both parties. <S> That doesn't mean you can't leave later anyway <S> but you should give your employer some understanding of how you are feeling about the whole situation <S> so they will have an opportunity to make it right. <S> In future - talk with both businesses <S> You asked if it's legal to work for two businesses at once <S> and unfortunately there isn't a generic answer to this one, not even by locale. <S> Whenever you're faced with this situation you need to chat to both companies to work out how they want to structure this. <S> Ideally, from a tax and benefits perspective you would be best suited (in most countries) by receiving your pay by one business and having one reporting line. <A> This is a very muddy situation where proof would have to be provided on either side to show a definitive line in the work you do and that you aren't just truly a FTE. <S> This is a hot item that courts are dealing with now since ACA. <S> See below direct from IRS: <S> "Employer Aggregation Rules Companies with a common owner or that are otherwise related under certain rules of section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code are generally combined and treated as a single employer for determining ALE status. <S> If the combined number of full-time employees and full-time-equivalent employees for the group is large enough to meet the definition of an ALE, then each employer in the group (called an ALE member) is part of an ALE and is subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions, even if separately the employer would not be an ALE. <S> Example 3 – Employers are Aggregated to Determine ALE Status: <S> Corporation X owns 100 percent of all classes of stock of Corporation Y and Corporation Z. <S> Corporation X has no employees at any time in 2015. <S> • For every calendar month in 2015 <S> , Corporation Y has <S> 40 full-time employees and Corporation Z has 60 full-time employees. <S> Neither Corporation Y nor Corporation Z has any full-time equivalent employees. <S> Corporations X, Y, and Z are considered a controlled group of corporations. <S> Because Corporations X, Y and Z have a combined total of 100 full-time employees for each month during 2015, Corporations X, Y, and Z together are an ALE for 2016. <S> Corporation Y and Z are each an ALE member for 2016. <S> Corporation X is not an ALE member for 2016 because it does not have any employees during 2015." <A> The legality of it is irrelevant (and off topic), you want a change. <S> While reporting both employers and having them go out of business/to jail (assuming the behavior is illegal) or being fired as a trouble maker (assuming that the behavior is legal), will result in a change, it'd be easier and more efficient to just quit. <S> It sounds like the heart of the issue is that your responsibilities/work load has increased to such an extent that it is now difficult or impossible to meet the demands. <S> The solution is to talk to both employers about making changes so that you are once again able to do what needs to be done on an ongoing basis. <S> The most obvious change is a promotion/new employee -- add a new employee to help with the workload. <S> If that is not possible, how about shifting some of the workload to the employers? <S> If you can't reduce the workload, you may have no choice but to make a more drastic change. <S> I would look elsewhere and then quit once a new position was found, instead of going to a lawyer/the police.
| While it is perfectly legal for an individual to work two jobs it is not legal for a company to "work the system" in order to not have an FTE employee and they still have to offer benefits (ACA).
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A recruiter wants to see my transcript and marks but they suck, what to do? A received an email from a recruiter at Google, saying they've found me on LinkedIn and that they saw I had a passion for Computer Science and liked my accomplishments. He asked for a recent copy of my resume, a phone number and a unofficial transcript. So we can speak about post graduation plans at Google (I'm soon to graduate from University) My issue is: my marks suck. Throughout the majority of my school career I battled through some adversity in my family life and that affected my school work (namely time I had to work on assignments and study). Anyways my marks are not good (Cs and Bs). However, I do have a decent GitHub profile, solid internships and I do not believe my marks are a fair representation of my skills. At this point is there even a point in replying and sending him my transcript? Is there anyway I pass his initial screen? <Q> Until you've been out in the working world for a while, everyone is going to want to see your school history. <S> Get used to it, and work on finding good explanations for why your grades don't reflect what you're capable of. <S> Your resume is one place to demonstrate that. <A> As seen from the other side, when I am checking someone who we are interested in hiring, I mostly check extracurricular activities, like StackOverflow, GitHub, participation in Open Source etc. <S> The combination of bad marks and high other activity is interesting enough to do some more checking. <S> For example, we use a math-quiz to measure some of the analytical ability. <S> That is not about your effectiveness at getting good marks, but more about general and smart problem solving. <S> Which we rate highly. <A> While your resume should highlight your strong points, this is one case when I think the best thing is to get out in front of the bad news. <S> I recommend addressing the issue when your reply. <S> Something like this: <S> Dear Google Here is my resume and transcript, as requested. <S> You will notice that my grades are mostly B and C. <S> However I do not believe that these grades reflect the work i am truly capable of. <S> During my time at school I [insert explanation here]. <S> I believe [course I took when I wasn't under stress] and my GitHub profile better reflect my capabilities. <S> Yours errorreplicating <S> The worst case is that they don't read it, and you are no worse off. <S> The best case is that they cut you some slack and decide to interview you despite your grades (or that they didn't care about the grades anyway). <A> I had a similar issue when I was searching for work. <S> I don't know your personal situation, but I had a solid explanation for why I had bad grades, and was able to show that after taking some time to address it, I turned that around and had a GPA over 3.5 my last few terms in school. <S> As has been suggested in other answers, use your resume to highlight the other accomplishments that show your grades don't paint the whole picture of your capabilities and accomplishments. <S> If they give you the opportunity to write a cover letter, you might quickly address the poor grades, but don't dwell on them; the cover letter should talk about reasons why they should hire you, not be an argument against the reasons why not. <S> For future applications, I would also leave out your GPA from your resume. <S> Obviously still list your degree and graduation date, but there's no need to put something that you're not proud of right in front of them. <S> If they need it, they'll request it, but at least it won't be the first thing they see about you. <S> Lastly, you lose almost nothing by sending him the transcript and resume. <S> Maybe they're okay with your grades. <S> Maybe not. <S> But if they aren't, all that happens is you don't get the interview or the job. <S> If there's a position you want, go ahead and apply. <S> Let the company tell you they don't want you for it. <S> No one has ever thought "Well, this guy isn't great, but he applied, so I guess we have to hire him."
| So I would not hesitate and just send the grades, accompanied by your resume, which highlights the stuff you did well.
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How to turn down an offer for a position that I asked for Recently I was on a job hunt. I applied for several positions, one of which was at Company A. Simultaneously, I heard through an old coworker that Company B, where I used to work as a consultant (I was well liked there and left on good terms) needs some resources. I contacted my ex-manager at Company B and told him I was currently on the job hunt (and disclosed that I was indeed interviewing at other places), and would be interested in coming back to Company B as a full timer. He said he would be happy to try to open a position for me and extend an offer. After that, I received a great offer from Company A. If the offer from Company B is good, I can handle turning down the offer from Company A without feeling too awkward - it was an open job application and these things happen. However if the offer from Company B isn't that good and I'd rather go with Company A. If this happens I will feel as if I wasted Company B's time and basically spit in the manager's face by making him jump through hoops and still rejecting him. I feel like this would be a burned bridge with him for sure, and I admire him greatly. What's the best way I can turn down Company B in this situation? Issue Update Thanks for all the help - even though I'm only allowed to pick one best answer, all of the answers helped guide me. I had a phone conversation with the Company B boss where I said I appreciated that he made me a generous offer but I received another offer that was too good to refuse. He (of course, being a professional guy) said he understood. <Q> Treat this just like any other application process <S> I feel if you handle this professionally that bridges won't be burnt too badly. <S> They'll be unlikely to create a new role for you again, but it shouldn't hurt you chances of applying to open opportunities they advertise for in the future. <S> This is just like any other job application process and if they are professional about this then I don't think they're expecting you to just settle for whatever terms they present to you. <S> How to reply I would reach out to them with something like Thanks <S> x , I greatly appreciate everything you've done to put this together forme. <S> In my hunt for work I've also been offered a position at y <S> thatI think would benefit me because of list terms and reasons . <S> Do you think you would be able to match this at all? <S> I really enjoyedworking with you in the past <S> and I'd love to do so again if you canmeet this offer. <S> Regards, you <A> Until and unless he actually extends an offer, no harm no foul. <S> If he extends an offer that is not "good enough", you tell him the truth, that Company A made you a great offer, and you feel like you can't turn it down. <S> This gives him a chance to up the ante. <S> He doesn't need to know you already had Company A's offer in your hands when you first called him. <S> He knows you're talking with other companies. <S> He knows he's in an auction. <S> He knows he can lose the auction. <S> This is how the game is played. <A> Compiling an answer from the comments, no there is really no way to do this nicely. <S> You have to decide for yourself what is more important to you: money or burning a bridge with your old boss. <S> There isn't any way to get around that if you reject his offer. <S> You could say something like: <S> I'm sorry, but I had this amazing offer from Company A <S> that was just too good to refuse. <S> I'm really sorry for messing you around, but I just didn't expect them to offer what they did. <S> Yes, it sounds contrite. <S> It is contrite. <S> But really, it's up to the boss at Company B how he'll take it on board. <S> It probably will burn the bridge, but only he knows how he'll react to the rejection of the offer.
| If the offer isn't to your expectations then I would be upfront and honest with them.
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When you are "on the bench", should you take any reasonable job offer that comes along? I work as a Software Developer, and have been with my company for about 7 months. I would describe myself as a Java developer. The company employs around 2000 staff, and has quite a few software products. For the first 5 months, they had me working on a Java project. The lead in time was about a couple of weeks. That project ran out of money, so I had to be moved to a new project. About 2 months ago, I was moved to another Java based project. It took me about a month before I felt I had learnt enough to be productive. Last week, I found that this project too had to let go of staff (as the client had stopped paying us money). I am now "on the bench" and have been told to concentrate on training. I find it quite disruptive to be moved to new projects every few months. It takes me time to get settled and to fully understand the work I'm doing. I've now been approached by an internal manager, asking me to work on a C++ project until Xmas (i.e. about 6 weeks). I've not worked with this language for 7 years, and then only as part of my degree, so (admittedly, without knowing much about the work in question) I suspect it would take me quite a while to get up to speed. My question is, when you are "on the bench", should you take any reasonable job offer that comes along? Some more background. I feel I am socially anxious, and I worry about what is expected of me in certain situations. If an internal manager is "offering" me a role, is he or she really giving me an instruction, or is it reasonable to turn things down. I am a good, mid-level Java developer, and I prefer working on projects where Java is a core component. I usually feel anxious when I join a new project, and I feel there is an expectation on me to be productive from day one, which I realise is unrealistic. I realise that if the company doesn't place me in a new project within a reasonable timescale, that there is a reasonable chance I will be made redundant. I'd prefer that didn't happen right now, but if it happens I could live with it. <Q> I'd say you don't have a choice. <S> The best you can do is make it clear to your manager that you haven't worked with C++ in X years and that it will take a long time to get used to it. <S> Then, it's up to him to decide if you're a good fit for the project. <S> About being on the bench, I very often am on it too. <S> And i receive the same instruction you received. <S> Read stuff until something comes along. <S> If you're already good enough with Java and, if you already didn't know, now you know there are C++ projects in your company. <S> Then why not study C++ (or any other language used in your company)? <S> This way, maybe you won't be put on the bench so often. <A> Most software developers who are "on the bench" without being paid (aka as temporarily unemployed) work their ass off to get as many CVs out as possible, to get as much training as they can do, and to produce code that they can show to people. <S> You are getting paid. <S> You should work your ass off to get as much training as you possibly can to improve your value to your company or to any other company. <S> You should see this short term C++ job as an opportunity to improve your apparently rusty knowledge of the language. <S> Not being willing to work and learn will likely be seen as a huge negative. <A> I am not a doctor and do not intend to play one here. <S> And anxiety is no joke. <S> That said, it seems that controlled exposure could be a way to overcome it. <S> As it has been already suggested, set the reasonable expectation level with your manager. <S> (If you attempt to set it too low, it could backfire.) <S> Then work real hard to exceed it. <S> It will not be comfortable but it won't kill you either. <S> With each experience of branching into unknown territory you will build your confidence and gradually reduce your anxiety level. <A> It is not necessary that you accept just any offer that comes along just because you are on the bench. <S> However you should have a very good reason for not accepting the position. <S> Some acceptable reasons: Will require relocating away from my family. <S> Is a completely different field of work (IE manual labor instead of programming) <S> Introduces an element of physical risk you are unwilling to take (temporary work in a war zone or very dangerous area) <S> Violates some portion of a standing contract, non compete, or other legal restriction. <S> Would require an extended commitment to a project that is outside of my preferred field of study. <S> In your case you have a request to work on a short term assignment for a related field. <S> If you are being paid then this becomes less of a request for you to do this, and more of a we need you to work over here for the next 6 weeks, if you want to continue being paid you will work here. <S> If your reasons for not wanting to accept an assignment are not in the above list, you need to decide if you want to risk being terminated by turning it down. <S> If you have a reason that equates to I would rather be fired than accept this role <S> then you might even ask if you can refuse. <S> They might say yes and still find future work for you.
| If I were a manager in your company, I would view refusing the assignment as saying you do not want to work for the company any more.
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Interview problem - two light bulbs and a 100-story building I was looking at this problem. You have two light bulbs and a 100-story building. You want to find the floor at which the bulbs will break when dropped. Find the floor using the least number of drops. What is the right way to answer this? <Q> The primary goal of this question is to test analytic thinking and problem solving skills. <S> The question itself is fairly trivial, but the path to the solution (if you haven't already seen the question) tells an interviewer much more about the candidate than the actual answer would. <S> First, as an example, all of the comments/answers that involve rhetoric and semantics would immediately get you disqualified from the position. <S> The question is not about semantics. <S> It is a very simple and straight-forward question with a simple premise. <S> Identifying the rules of the system without needing to be "hand-held" would show at least to a degree independence of thinking. <S> If there are assumptions for which you're unsure, asking to clarify is always the best policy, but going overboard with it leads to the second thing. <S> If you try to deconstruct the problem aggressively (what is a floor? <S> how is the bulb dropped? <S> what color are the bulbs?) indicates to the interviewer that you are unable to distinguish between important factors and unimportant factors. <S> You may even be judged to have a tendency to over-complicate problems. <S> If this trivial problem provides you with such complications, what will a real-world business problem do to you? <S> Thirdly, it provides you the forum to show how to "prove" your solution. <S> Whether you're right or wrong, if you show a viable process and a viable method for arriving at it, that is going to be valuable to an interviewer. <S> Finally, if the position calls for mathematical or logical reasoning skills (software, financial analysis, manufacturing planning) then it shows that you can take the core of the problem, reduce it to a set of variables and find a solution given the prime criteria. <S> If you've seen this question before and "know" the answer, you should simply identify that and then walk them through the solution as you understand it. <A> This is a cool question. <S> Clearly you assume the bulbs are identical and drops are identical and they want to find the minimum floor. <S> State that as an assumption. <S> It is a destructive test so you cannot do interval halving. <S> If the first breaks on floor 50 and you half the interval to 25 and the second breaks then all you know is that it breaks some where on 1-24. <S> If you start on floor one you can do it will 1 bulb and 100 drops. <S> I see Dan posted a link to the answer <S> so I won't repeat it. <S> I am a mathematician and software developer <S> and I deal with a lot of analytics. <S> I look at stuff from the two egg/bulb perspective a lot. <S> It took me about 20 minutes to solve that that first time and in an interview would be harder. <S> That is not an interview I would walk away from. <S> They are looking for people that think like me. <S> And I have a software program where I use that algorithm to minimize the number of comparisons I need to make. <A> You have two light bulbs and a 100-story building. <S> You want to find the floor at which the bulbs will break when dropped. <S> Find the floor using the least number of drops. <S> This question sounds silly because how do you drop the bulbs? <S> Out the window or do you simply walk to floor X and drop it to test if gravity is somehow different? <S> This question seems flawed in how one can think of a solution. <S> The way I would have answered it is you start at floor 50 and drop one bulb. <S> If it breaks. <S> go to floor 25 and drop the second. <S> If it breaks you know you don't have to climb more than 25 floors to break the bulb. <S> There is an thought out answer here: https://pointlessprogramming.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/2-light-bulbs-and-a-100-story-building-solution/ <S> However, I agree with others that you should simply get up and walk out from this interview. <S> Main reason is that when you search for google for this question, it pops up. <S> It shows me two things: 1) They can't think of interview questions to ask in order to determine your skill set, and 2) <S> It's probably a bad place if they have to think of clever ways to ask a simple question which is, "How do you determine the best way to solve a basic problem such as [insert our industry's common problem]?" <A> You have two light bulbs and a 100-story building. <S> You want to find the floor at which the bulbs will break when dropped. <S> Notice the details missing in the question and have the conversation to gain the other requirements that are likely here: <S> "The floor" that is likely "the lowest floor" as otherwise we could just use the highest floor and be done with the problem. <S> What kind of proof is wanted to know that a bulb would break if dropped from floor X? <S> If there are trials to do then there are at most 2 drops that could be done unless there are others available. <S> Is the drop just a simple release or could one throw the bulb down into the ground? <S> There are various factors here that could be worth noting. <S> Should we have "Warning: <S> Bulbs being dropped" signs out front when we do test the drops? <S> The question is designed to be a fishing expedition to my mind. <S> What kind of assumptions would one make? <S> How does one phrase the questions on the undisclosed requirements here? <S> I can see the idea of this being similar to someone that has an idea to put an enhancement into a system or application but doesn't quite get what kind of impact could this have on others.
| Find the floor using the least number of drops.
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How to counter colleagues who don't answer questions or blatantly lie? Sometimes I have to deal with people who openly stay silent or blatantly lie.For example, some manager will say A and then do B. When asked why, he/she will either stay silent or produce 'bs'. If I try to be assertive, saying something like "I remember clearly that you said A, and now that you did B this creates a problem for me", the other person can either: lie again stay silent leave the room Moreover, these are often managers at various levels of seniority, and they all work closely together. I think they are also trying to get each other fired.Is there a technique to handle such communication problems? <Q> Remembering is one thing. <S> Evidence is another. <S> Everything spoken can be "remembered" differently. <S> When things get written down, it's easier to remember exactly what was said. <S> If you really are dealing with deceitful people, you should find a better group of people to work for/with. <S> But if this is a communication problem, read on... <S> When verbal decisions are made, or verbal instructions given, it is often helpful to follow up with a confirmation: "Just to make sure I understand, we've agreed on X" . <S> If the other party confirms your understanding, you at least have had a point where you both have clarified with each other. <S> It helps the memory. <S> But, putting it in writing is even better... <S> Follow up with an email, and CC anyone else who may be affected by the decision or instructions: <S> To: Manager From: Me <S> Subject: Confirming instructions about X Manager, <S> Just following up our conversation. <S> We agreed that we would do X. <S> Is there anything else we should consider? <S> Be careful not to get into "show-off" mode. <S> You should be trying to practice good communication skills, not painting your boss (or anyone) into a corner. <S> Also understand that plans, decisions, and instructions can often change. <S> Good communication skills will help these changes go more smoothly. <S> You may have to train your colleagues in this new way of communicating. <S> Good luck! <A> Yes, the technique is called "keeping the minutes". <S> You write down the results of a formal or informal meeting and then send a copy to the participants, so they can comment or update it. <S> If there is a change, you again write it down with the consequences. <S> The purpose of the protocol is not to blame people, but to make decisions and consequences visible and recoverable. <S> So, the first protocol can state: "Decision manager A <S> : We paint the wall blue." <S> The second protocol can state: "The decision to paint the wall blue was changed by manager A to painting the wall red. <S> The expected additional costs of 20 hours repainting the blue wall are accepted." <S> It is also not really your concern why manager A wants to have the wall red now, instead of blue. <S> A manager who changes his/her opinion all the time and causes damage is a problem of his/her superior , not your problem. <A> Is there a technique to handle such communication problems? <S> Creating such protocols works for heavyweight "line-work" processes where multiple departments and money and management collide. <S> If you don't have such controls in place for mission-critical stuff, you should. <S> BUT... the problem is that not everything can be done this way nor are such process controls intended to actually prevent "deceit" (which is what you seem to be complaining about). <S> Regardless of what system you have in place, you're still going to have to deal with people saying they're going to do something and then not following through on it or failing to communicate. <S> What you really need to do first is find out WHY people are behaving as they are. <S> If you don't understand why, you really can't address the root problem and you're left with clumsy process controls to handle it (or you just have to bully them through ham-fisted management channels). <S> That requires empathy on your part and it means you can't start out by putting them on the spot. <S> If someone feels they're going to lose face, they're not going to admit it, they'll literally "walk out" of the interaction. <S> And, in fact, this is precisely what you noticed as a result of being assertive rather than empathetic. <S> Instead of saying "you committed to A and now you're doing B <S> and this is a big problem for me" try to soften your approach. <S> This could be done in MANY ways, the best of which are pro-active. <S> For example, that could mean being aware of what their problems are and communicating with them about what your needs are IN ADVANCE, and being open to changes before things become a crisis. <S> Keep in mind that no one wants to do a bad job "on purpose" or to frustrate you. <S> There are reasons for the behavior you're talking about. <S> If you can find out those reasons, that will put you in a position to solve the problem rather than <S> just "police it" through documentation or indirect attempts at strong-arming accountability.
| As others have said, there are situations where documenting everything with emails, or enforced workflows and signatures (for example like is done with "ECO" processes) will help. The most important ingredient to get someone to openly communicate with you about why they're going back on their word is to create a high level of trust.
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Internship in the United States starting soon, I have some questions about working relationships and working culture in the USA I am going to the US for an internship at a major tech company in January. Since I have been to the US only for tourism, I don't have slightest idea about the work culture in general. A supervisor was assigned to me for the duration of the internship, and I have not been told what I will be working on. I would like to know in advance what the project I have been assigned to is, as well as ask for book recommendations/resources so that I can get acquainted with the topics involved beforehand and get productive ASAP when I arrive. Would it be considered intrusive or impolite if I were to send her an email on this?. Also, are any important things I should know about how to handle relations?. I am thinking along the lines of cultural differences that might hinder my relationship with co-workers. For example, in my country it is common to salute people with a kiss in the cheek, even in formal settings; would it be considered awkward, offensive or unprofessional if I did this in the US?. <Q> Although Latin American countries consider it ok tobe late, it's NOT ok to be late in the US for any meetings or calls. <S> If you are late, make sure to let them know with enough time. <S> Don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand something. <S> It'sbetter to ask someone to repeat themselves than not to. <S> It's notconsidered rude if you need clarification. <S> Handshakes are the appropriate way to greet someone. <S> If you areunsure what to do, just wait for a second and see what the otherperson does to greet you. <S> Don't be surprised if thingsstart earlier than you expect , i.e lunch might be around noon, dinner around 7 pm. <S> Good luck! <A> It's entirely reasonable to ask if there's anything that would be helpful to read before starting, and shows both initiative and enthusiasm. <S> By all means, send that note... <S> the worst that can happen is that you get an answer saying "thanks for asking, but I don't think that's necessary." <S> Americans generally shake hands/clasp hands (the actual shake is optional and seems to be becoming less common) in situations where you might use the kiss. <S> Very close friends may hug, though that's extremely uncommon in a business setting. <S> I don't think the kiss would be considered unprofessional, per se, since we'd recognize the gesture ... <S> but it would be unexpected, perhaps a bit intrusive, and thus awkward. <S> Good question! <S> It's hard to know what else to tell you without knowing what culture you're coming from ... <A> I think asking about the project in advance is fine, and shows you care enough about the position to prepare for it in advance, which is always a plus. <S> I will say this though... <S> I'd like to say all Americans are understanding of cultural differences, but I've worked for and with enough people who not only don't make an effort to understand cultural differences, but actually get turned off by them. <S> I think these people are silly, but they definitely exist, often in large numbers, and learning to navigate them can be part of working in America as a "foreigner". <S> If you want to go the safe route handshakes are pretty much always ok.
| Some tips that might be helpful: Be on time. I think a kiss definitely would be considered unprofessional by some Americans.
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Applying for Google. Should I put a photo of me in the C.V.? As the title says: Should I put a photo of me in the C.V. ? I'm applying for a Google Internship for a Business position. This will include sales/marketing etc. I do look very presentable and smart, I also have a good photo of me in a suit with white background. I'm male. <Q> Who you're applying to is irrelevant; including a photo will do you no good and may do you harm. <S> You aren't applying for a modelling job. <S> What you look like should make absolutely no difference. <S> The picture will be discarded the moment the application reaches HR. <A> it can very well make a good impression on some people who have the first option of binning your resume or passing it on. <S> I don't care what people say about political correctness etc... <S> In my personal experience good looking people have a better chance at many things all else being equal (or even slightly unequal). <S> So since I can't see a reason why a photo would hurt you (unless they are specific about what they require), go for it. <A> Photos do not belong on your CV/resume unless you're applying for a job where looks matter more than intellectual competency. <S> The average resume is scanned for 60 seconds to determine if the candidate meets qualifications. <S> You could your photo on your LinkedIn profile (which you should create as part of your job search process if you haven't already created one). <S> That's where I look for pictures of candidates and new coworkers. <S> If you are considered a qualified candidate, your social media presence will be reviewed. <S> Make sure all your social media is cleaned up. <S> We had a lovely co-op student who lost her position before she started because of the types of pictures on her Facebook account. <S> (Drunk pictures from parties in college, racist comments on her wall posted by friends, etc.) <S> Make sure that if someone Googles your name, they won't find something that you would be embarrassed to explain. <S> (Edited)
| In theory a photo should make no difference, in practice if you happen to be drop dead gorgeous
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Boss in relationship with a direct report who is a good friend of mine as well I could use some feedback on this one. My boss (began about 6 months ago, and I have been in my position for 3 years) is a charismatic guy, and we got along well. A position opened up that my former boss basically hand-picked my friend K, and K eventually got the job in June/July. Then, in late August/early September, they admitted their feelings for one another and have made it clear that they cannot keep it from me and that they have no secrets from me because I am directly involved both as her friend (and co-worker) and as his assistant. They specifically said that this relationship would not affect their ability to do their jobs or would affect their work. Now, however, I have seen significant changes, and when I try to respectfully bring them up/judiciously question him, there is hostility. Recently they had a disagreement and were "breaking off until she decided if she wants this or not" (she has issues with his being divorced), and within the hour he made a comment to me that he said was joking, but basically said we should all attend an emotional intelligence conference and I should because "You're [as in me] more messed up than the others of us." I waited until the next day to address it with him (as he has told me to always do, as we have an open communication line), but he refused to acknowledge that his relationship with K is affecting him. Instead, he turned it around to avoid discussing the possibility and corrected me on something I was doing that he didn't like (which, admittedly was true, but it was an inappropriate time to bring it up). Since then, and because the stress of the job is settling in on him (as I had noted to him that it would), he has been very terse, condescending, and I honestly am receiving the brunt of his sullenness and frustration, as he obviously will not show it to her. He shows his "showman" side to others but my professional and personal concerns are shot down, dismissed, and conversations instead turned around to critique me on something. I have been very mindful lately about how I respond to his ideas (I used to shoot them down right away but we discussed that), and I have kept my outside emotions out of work and not expressed negative emotions in the office in order to ensure professionalism. He and I were fine until a couple of weeks ago, specifically about 10 days ago, and could freely discuss with one another anything that seemed off, and I take his concerns and work on them. Now, however, I see a distinct unwillingness for him to be challenged or questioned at all. I realize that I am his assistant, but I have a position that is akin to an assistant director load, giving me more weight and credibility; now, however, he has changed in the last 10 days. K is aware of this and how it is seriously affecting me, even as I have intentionally been quieter and reserved in order to avoid confrontation (as it has been only dismissed lately anyway). It is now, however, affecting both work relationships and my friendship with K. I should note that my boss is someone who, although an idea person and engaging leader, sees work and friendship as inherently intertwined. There is a high level of growing hypocrisy, too, with him not following the same guidelines he sets for faculty or even the guidelines he suggests for us being professional with our emotions in the office. Also, K and he have said they will not go out or spend time alone together while she figures things out because it makes it more difficult on her, and then they do just that. Additionally, no one else at work knows about their dating (they oscillate between "we're together" and "we're taking a break to figure things out") and they are intentionally keeping it quiet until such time that they are fully moving forward and feel they should tell the faculty. So, all, what am I supposed to do in this situation? <Q> One of the three of you needs to get into a different reporting chain. <S> Preferably one of them, for many good reasons some of which you've illustrated... <S> but if they don't have that much sense I recommend getting yourself out of the fraught environment. <S> You really don't want to be around when this turns into an ethics-and-policy-violation case, if not a full-blown sexual harrassment lawsuit. <S> And I really hope you aren't using your real name here. <A> Should never have let yourself get involved to start with, I see two pragmatic options, the first depends on how much I would want to take on... which in my case would be zero. <S> So:- <S> Option one) tell them straight out <S> you don't want to know about it and just ignore whatever they're up to and ignore any attempts to get you involved in any capacity such as a shoulder to cry on or an Agony Aunt. <S> Option two) <S> Inform someone higher up in the food chain to deal with in a general manner. <A> They specifically said that this relationship would not affect their ability to do their jobs or would affect their work. <S> Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but at this point <S> I think you should have made it very clear that a) You wanted to hear nothing about the relationship, and b) <S> If, at your sole discretion, it was affecting work, you would report the situation to higher ups / HR for everyone's benefit. <S> Getting yourself into a different reporting chain is also good advice (which has been made already), but assuming that's not possible, I'd tackle this point: <S> I should note that my boss is someone who, although an idea person and engaging leader, sees work and friendship as inherently intertwined. <S> Whether your boss sees this is somewhat irrelevant, but I think you need to keep them entirely separate, stay out of the whole relationship situation from now on, and interrupt any personal comments / questions that come your way with something akin to "I'm going to have to stop you there <S> - I'm afraid I don't want to hear about any more personal matters while at work. <S> " This won't work if you do it halfheartedly - you need to take the same, firm, approach every time, regardless of the situation. <S> If, after that, he still acts unprofessionally, you don't really have many other options I can see. <S> You could either talk to HR / higher ups and deal with the potential consequences (boss & K being potentially even more antagonistic), or leave on as good a note as you can and look elsewhere.
| In summary, ask yourself if you want to be involved at all, then choose whichever is best fit for you based on logic rather than friendship, this is unstable and will not end well for someone, make sure that someone isn't you.
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How can HR speed up recruitment and create a contingency plan in a company with severe attrition? I work at a company with a software team of a little more than a hundred people, and the company is seeing at least three to four resignations every month from the software team alone. It takes HR some time to find a replacement, so we recently received an email from the General Manager, requesting employees to give a 3 month notice when resigning, requesting us to understand the time required in hiring. Perhaps as a result of this, managers have been instructed to tell employees that "you have to complete your 90 days notice period" , even though the employment contract says "Your services are terminable with three months' notice or salary in lieu thereof on either side" Employees who feel afraid, end up asking the new company to extend the notice period to three months, but not everyone can do so, and I feel it is not right on the part of management to ask this of employees. Since this appears as a desperate attempt on the part of the management to either scare the existing employees into not resigning or is a genuine attempt at creating enough time for recruitment and training, is there something I can suggest to HR about improving their process, rather than threaten employees? Some ideas of what HR could do: 1. If HR could make it known that anyone who was actively looking to jump ship, could privately inform HR about it, so that HR could start looking for a replacement even before the notice period is served? It would require making an exception to the possibility of getting fired . 2. Since there is no guarantee that HR would find the appropriate replacement even in 3 months, they could ask the employee if after serving a 52 day notice period and joining the new company, they could come back to the old company as a consultant for a few days and train the new hire whom HR managed to recruit only after 3.5 or 4 months? Assuming that the skill of the employee is a niche skill. 3. HR could tell senior management that the approach of forcing employees to serve their 3 month notice period is only going to hurt the company reputation and reduce advocacy. Are any of these ideas actually feasible? Or are there better ideas? This is a very prevalent bad practice, especially in India; as shown in this question . What is it that allows employees to serve just a 2 week notice period, in non-Asian countries? Is HR really able to weed out fake applicants and recruit that quickly? <Q> The answer is no, hiring is not any faster. <S> Instead, companies work to prevent needing to hire so desperately in the first place. <S> In order to prevent attrition, companies usually work hard to keep their employees happy. <S> A company's employees are its most valuable resource, so companies should work hard to find the best and keep them happy. <S> A good company will constantly try to evaluate itself and the happiness of its employees, to make sure it's doing all it can to keep its employees happy, to prevent them from becoming unhappy and leaving. <S> Secondly, it's a good idea to constantly be searching out new talent, hire slightly more than is strictly needed, but no one the company can't afford. <S> That way, when someone does leave, the remaining people can pick up the slack without a problem. <S> The company should generally not rely on this method though, because a less competent person will not be nearly as effective as a skilled person, so it will probably need more employees, or resources to train them, to accomplish the same, and hiring a whole bunch of incompetent people may chase off the skilled ones, resulting in a downward spiral of attrition. <A> Be nicer to candidates that get rejected. <S> Don't just ignore them. <S> In some way, your company should be hiring people faster because they're filling jobs in parallel. <S> Someone should call qualified candidates who don't get the current job and ask to keep them on a short list because new jobs are opening all the time. <S> They contact the person and hopefully they didn't find another job. <S> This isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing. <S> Your company doesn't see any need to address why people are leaving. <S> Programmers are just a part in a machine that just gets replaced by one just like it. <S> They've created a one-way relationship and are relying on contracts and oppressive hiring practices to give them an unfair advantage. <S> It is catching up to them and they don't even know it. <S> You could suggest it's 2015 and not 1915. <A> Your notice period is the notice period in your contract. <S> Your company can ask you to accept a change in your contract, but they obviously can't force you. <S> If you don't accept a change to 90 days notice, they can fire you (probably with the old 52 day notice), which is exactly not what they want anyway. <S> But if you want to leave anyway, that doesn't make any difference to you. <S> An email going around requesting something isn't even attempting to change your contract. <S> Again, the worst thing that can happen if you ignore the email is that you are fired - which is pointless when you are giving notice anyway. <S> However, if the contract that you signed says "90 days notice", then it is 90 days notice. <S> If it says "90 days notice or payment in lieu", then again they can't just change this. <S> They can ask you to accept the change and either fire you if you don't, or live with it. <A> This isn't your problem to fix (unless your role is in HR or senior management, which it doesn't sound like it is). <S> You're leaving - it isn't up to you to try and fix a dysfunctional company which thinks that the solution to a high attrition rate is to try and remove their employees option to shorten their notice period. <S> Move on to your new role with as much good grace as possible and be glad :-)
| Lastly, if a company is suffering from attrition, it may need to loosen is hiring standards to find replacements faster. Good benefits, flexible rules, pleasant culture, generally treating their employees well, are all important to keeping them happy.
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Pros and Cons of overdressing the mentioned interview attire for an interview The interviewer has mentioned the attire for my interview - business casual - which is one notch below business. I am thinking of overdressing to the interview to show them a good first impression that I am serious about the job. However, would the interviewer see this as disrespectful because I am not following their provided 'instructions'? <Q> First of all, it depends a bit on how the hint was given: If it was worded like "Business casual is sufficient", it might be just a nice hint by the interviewer telling you that you don't have to be too concerned about dressing not formal enough. <S> in this case it may be fine to come in full business attire <S> but then you shouldn't be surprised if your counterparts look somewhat underdressed compared to you. <S> If it was more like "Please dress in business casual", this might express that they expect to see you in a certain type of attire. <S> In this case, if you appear blatantly overdressed, then yes, it could be seen as a negative point, since you were obviously not able to dress appropriately and/or maybe do not pay attention to orders given to you. <S> However, all these types of attire have some bandwidth of acceptable clothing, so you have some margin to play with. <S> That means, don't take the lower end of business casual, but go as formal as you can without overdressing. <A> I would over-dress just in case. <S> I always wear a suit and tie to interviews. <S> Nobody is going to say "well he was a great candidate.... <S> but he dressed too nice. <S> Let's keep looking". <S> The conversation could go the other way though <S> "Well he was a great candidate.... <S> but he dressed in shorts and sandals. <S> Bad culture fit!". <A> However, would the interviewer see this as disrespectful because I am not following their provided 'instructions'? <S> On the other hand, you were specifically told what level of formality was expected. <S> There's no advantage to dressing more formally. <S> And it's possible (although probably unlikely) that someone would wonder why you can't follow instructions. <S> When I interviewed candidates, I always made sure to let them know (either directly or through a recruiter) that we were business casual. <S> It made me wonder if I forgot to tell them the "dress code". <S> As long as you don't overdo the formality, you'll likely be okay. <S> But since you were given specific clues as to what was expected, I would follow the instructions and dress in business casual. <A> During an interview, slightly overdressed for the company is perfect. <S> A lot overdressed, or underdressed, is a negative. <S> On the other hand, a reasonable interviewer wouldn't keep quiet and then not give you the job because the way you are dressed. <S> They would tell you, and for example if everyone wears a suit and you came in jeans and t-shirt, you would be given the choice of coming to work in a suit or not starting the job. <S> Or if you really, really like wearing suits and others in the company don't, that's either acceptable or not; and if it is not acceptable you will have a choice.
| It's unlikely your decision not to follow instructions would be seen as "disrespectful". A bit too overdressed, or not overdressed, is fine. For the job I am beginning shortly, I wore a suit and tie and everyone there was in jeans and a t-shirt, and I got the job. If the candidate showed up in a suit, or otherwise overdressed, it didn't improve their first impression at all.
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How to talk to my boss's boss about their refusal to give a firm position title I'm working my first job right out of college and few months ago I started with Position Title A which was then changed so many times in the past six months that I've lost the count. Whenever I go to talk about this matter with my boss, she tells me to sort it with her boss. My boss's boss (who was my direct supervisor when I was at Position A ) refuses to address the issue as well, saying "You should concentrate on growing and not these 'petty' things." Can they do this? How can I firmly bring this to his notice that it's hurting my will to learn. <Q> I recommend you look around the organization and identify the roles and titles that people have there. <S> There are some companies that don't have titles and try to flatten the org as much as possible. <S> Although I don't agree with this approach to talent management, it should be good for you to acknowledge if you are in a place with titles or not! <S> Once you know this, and assuming people around you with similar level of experience and seniority have titles, the something is going on with your relationship with your employer. <S> They are having a different approach with compared to other employees. <S> How many employees do they have? <S> You can also consider your performance might not be up to the level they are seeking and therefore moving you around to find you the right spot. <S> Try to understand if this is the case. <S> Finally, your title can help external people understand what you do at the company. <S> That's another angle you can play if you believe folks outside your organization need to know what you and enhance overall company visibility. <A> Titles are important only within the organization you're working for. <S> For the external world, using a description on your resume or LinkedIn profile that makes sense to the general population is more important. <S> To the outside world, an "experience coach" is meaningless, especially when the work aligns with "customer service. <S> " <S> What's an experience letter, and what do you envision doing with it once you get it? <S> Won't you add the work experience to your resume and describe it the the manner you feel describes the work you've done? <A> Identify the reasoning behind the change <S> You mentioned that this is your first job out of college <S> so I imagine you're going through quite a significant period of growth. <S> It's possible that these title changes have been made to accommodate your movement within the company or changes within the company itself. <S> it's very difficult for them to resolve the matter in a way that satisfies you. <S> You would be best served coming up with an appropriate title that satisfied the majority of your responsibilities and approaching them suggesting that you would be happiest if your title was kept as <S> Position X <S> to accommodate the work that you're doing. <S> Titles DO matter <S> I personally believe that it's a common misconception that title's only matter internally. <S> More and more hiring is being performed through LinkedIn and other networks where an employer will search for or filter candidates by aspects related to their job title. <S> Additionally having "software developer" on a position title sends a totally different message to "software support" - clearly identifying titles will help or hinder you later on.
| Without knowing the titles you've been assigned I can only assume that they're being revised to cater for the various movements that you're making this early into your career or for changes in company structure. Suggest a title you would like to hold If you are approaching a manager stating that you're unhappy with the job titles that you've been cycling through then
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Is there anything I need to be aware of with a relatively late start date? I was offered a position at a firm I interviewed at recently. HR considered me starting at the beginning of December (a little more than two weeks from now), but decided instead that I should start in January. Their reasons for doing so are quite believable (holidays coming up, and they're moving offices in that time). I don't see much downside. I'm not in that much of a hurry to leave my old job. And both the nature of the position and the compensation package are both attractive. Is there anything I need to be aware of with a relatively late start date? The only things I can think of are Don't give notice at my old firm now; wait until two weeks prior tothe start date Occasionally follow up with HR at the new firm to make sure thereare no snags (maybe every two weeks). <Q> Remember that a job / new job is a long-term engagement. <S> If there is a good fit between your interests and what the company has to offer then delaying one month doesn't sound crazy. <S> Moving offices is a process that can hurt the company for a couple of months so one month delay sounds reasonable. <S> I recommend checking in with the company's management prior to giving notice at your current job. <S> This way everyone is aligned. <A> Make sure your offer is in writing Given that your start date is quite a while away first be sure to have it formalized in writing <S> so you have some assurance around it. <S> ... and then potentially consider giving extra notice period <S> A few years ago I made quite a relevant post titled <S> Should I give additional notice period? <S> I believe the answers there will help you quite a lot. <S> Only resign early if you can handle that potential outcome! <S> Depending on the company that you're at now you might be able to leave quite gracefully if you openly let your manager know the situation and your expected finish date. <S> You're giving them extra time to hire somebody (at a really tough time of year to do so) as well as going to be present for training <S> should they decide to have some overlap between you both. <S> Obviously there will be situations where this is a bad idea <S> and it's important to first think on how you expect them to react. <S> However, if you can, I think giving the additional notice period would help to keep a strong relationship with your old employer. <A> The only other downside I can think of is that is a non-articulated issue that might cause the job offer to be rescinded. <S> Waiting to give your notice at your current position is a great idea. <S> Also keep an eye on business news to see if there's market factors that might lead to the offer being revoked.
| Your finish date is quite a while away so even if you give early notice try to make sure that you don't resign too early in case your current company doesn't decide to keep you on beyond the typically notice period.
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Does a customary two week notice period include or exclude holidays like Christmas? I work in the United States and I'm considering giving notice with my current employer shortly before the year-end holidays. Would my customary 2-week notice include or exclude holidays like Christmas? I'm not asking in terms of salary pay-out (though that's an interesting question in its own right). Here I'm simply asking whether "two weeks" means "two weeks, regardless of whether the office is closed due to e.g. Christmas" or "two weeks, only counting days that I actually show up for work." <Q> It also allows time to adjust other employee's schedules to compensate for the change. <S> This rule exists in order to establish a "polite" transition duration for employees that may short-sighted in their career or inexperienced and not realize that quitting impacts an employer that they may wish to maintain a relationship with in the future, even if that seems unnecessary or unlikely at the time of resignation. <S> There are times and circumstances where the 2 weeks are not applicable, where either more time or less is customary. <S> So the rule is "2 weeks notice" - unless you want to be more polite or less polite than that, or you are keenly aware that a different time allocation is appropriate. <S> If holidays are involved, for most professional roles it is likely your employer would appreciate additional time to adjust to your departure. <A> Firstly, bear in mind that over the last 20 years the "social contract" between employer and employee has been dramatically modified, particularly with respect to the "at will" clauses that employers use in defining their(and your) obligations. <S> Basically that means that 2 week notice is indeed ONLY a courtesy, <S> because employers have themselves disclaimed the notion that they owe you anything. <S> As a pragmatic matter though, you might want to extend them the courtesy, if it doesn't create any difficulties for you. <S> One thing to consider: if you don't work any days past the Christmas holiday, you likely won't get paid for the holiday. <S> Check your employer's holiday/time off policy to see if they have anything written about this. <S> It's not unlikely that they will receive your notice, and then say, "ok, very good, thank you... <S> let's make December 23 your last day. <S> Also, do remember that they MAY BE (depending on which state) required by law to pay your accrued vacation time. <S> They may just cut a check for the accrued time, OR they might require you to take the time in lieu of some of your notice. <S> The best answer probably is to go to your manager, and say "I'm giving my notice. <S> Two weeks brings us to the end of Dec. <S> What makes the most sense for you, to wrap up on 31 Dec, or do you need a few days past that? <S> Another consideration: <S> Many HR departments like to cut you off before you work any days into the new month... <S> because often their obligation to pay health insurance and other insurance benefits accrues on the first of the month, regardless of you only working one or two days into the month. <A> No they are not necessarily required to pay accrued vacation time. <S> It has happened to me in two states and I took it up with the state labor board. <S> If there is no stated cash equivalent then there is no cash equivalent. <S> You cannot assume the cash value of a vacation day is your prorated pay. <S> The safe bet is to explicitly use the vacation time. <S> On holiday they typically will not give you credit for the holiday if you don't work after the holiday. <S> The safe bet is to work one day after the holiday.
| The "customary 2 weeks" is to give your employer sufficient time to transition your duties and responsibilities to other employees, if needed.
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If you leave short term jobs off the resume, what about the application disclaimer? I see a lot of advice stating to leave short-term jobs off your resume because you don't want to look like a job hopper. But sometimes it just happens. Whether the money isn't right or you just need something to tide you over. The ideal situation is not always possible. You may move a few times, etc. I've had 6 jobs in two years since moving to a new state. One was a contract job. I'm now ready (after much training) to plant my feet again. But how do I account for these jobs? Also, I was laid off after eight years in 2008 and did child care, which has nothing to do with the medical field. <Q> because you don't want to look like a job hopper. <S> Yes, it is advisable to do so if you have hopped one to two jobs. <S> But, in your case, you can't get away with skipping those jobs from the resume. <S> You are indeed a job hopper. <S> But how do I account for these jobs? <S> So, in this case, prepare nice excuses for your actions. <S> There must be some sincere reasons behind job hopping. <S> If not, then you're in trouble if the company insists on your complete job history in the resume. <A> You had six jobs in two years, you are a job hopper, so you need to minimise this as much as possible in terms of landing your next couple of months work while facing the facts. <S> Best practice would be to leave some of them out if they're not directly related to the job you're seeking. <S> Focus instead on your recent training and if asked about the others say that they were just temporary to finance it. <S> I wouldn't mention any of them that I didn't get a good reference from on the way out, and wouldn't mind a prospective employer contacting. <S> It seems unlikely that you are applying for high level positions in any case, with lower level jobs employers tend to look less at a persons history because they expect an attrition rate. <S> If you are thinking of applying for a high level professional role, then nothing you say is going to realistically mitigate against the fact you've hopped around, so it's best not to mention it. <A> Did you view any of those positions as long-term? <S> Or were they genuinely just to "hold you over"? <S> If none of them are relevant to your career and the majority are more of the "hold you over/temporary" positions, then you may want to simply leave that period out of your résumé completely (or say 2013-2015 temp. <S> worker or some other general label). <S> If an interviewer asks you can always say that you had a series of short-term positions because of X <S> (whatever that reason may be). <S> The question, though, is whether the rest of your résumé can hold up under scrutiny. <S> A two-year gap is not necessarily deadly in most fields, but in a technology field it can torpedo résumés if the applicants cannot show that they've at least managed to keep up with their craft.
| If asked about a complete job history (which is the case amongst most cases), you need to mention them on the resume, and cannot afford to leave them out.
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Sending emails to workers at a company where I just applied? I recently applied for a job. After I applied, a small dialog box popped up on the companies website that said something like 'message the workers in this company, and try making your chance to get the job higher'. So should I send LinkedIn messages to the people who work at this company? What would I say in the message? "Hello, I recently applied for this position, and I'm very interested, here is my portfolio." <Q> A web form that scrapes all of the employees of a company and sends a message to them? <S> I cannot imagine any context where receiving a random message from a random applicant would cause me to have a more favorable opinion of that person. <S> And if everyone at the company got the same message at the same time, it would actually lower your chances because you would be remembered as "the spammer," if anyone remembers you at all. <S> It would also be appropriate to find a phone number for the application processor at the company and call him/her a few days after posting the application to ensure they got it and inquire on its status. <S> Just remember, there's a line somewhere between being proactive and being a pest. <S> A blast email to everyone at the company is way over that line. <A> This is very rare. <S> Or, at least, I haven't seen anything like this before. <S> However, as you say it happened, then make sure that the dialog box is not asking about your personal details like Name, e-mail id, etc. <S> If not, then go ahead and post the message. <S> Otherwise, close the dialog box . <S> It's better to message them on LinkedIn or through a separate mail, rather than trusting a dialog box and possible compromise of privacy. <S> And when HR asks so, be honest and tell him/her that you were concerned about your privacy and thus, did not move ahead with it. <S> They should understand. <A> I think it depends on the full context of the application. <S> Is it a form which you simply submitted a résumé? <S> In that case this may be your opportunity to submit your cover letter, instead of sending an email some other way. <S> If you don't have a cover letter, you may wish to invest time in writing one. <S> Résumés can only go so far and cannot highlight things nearly so well as documents which are written in actual English (most advice on writing résumés actually suggest a bizarre not-quite-grammatical approach).
| It is far more professional to identify specific people at the company who are involved in making the hiring decisions, and send them a cover letter-like message (assuming the application form didn't already contain a place for a cover letter-like message).
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Leave a job early to go back to former employer? Background I worked for Company X for 10 years. They were a large company, I moved around and got to know a lot of people. The last year or so I felt stifled and like I wasn't developing technically, like I'd get stuck doing the same procedural things so I left on good terms giving long notice and starting a new job with the well wishing of former colleagues. I am two months into new job. A colleague I had spoken with about possibly coming back to work for in 2-3 years started getting responsibilities sooner than normal wants me back and is verbally throwing around offers that would be a 20% raise from the current job. Current job is turning out to not be exactly what I thought. It's sort of like I thought I was taking a Systems Administrator job, and that's what my title and pay are, but I do 99% tech support alongside other people who are both Tech Support in job title and Systems Administrator in job title. The whole reason I took this job was technical development. However, I don't believe the hiring manager intentionally misled me, I think I didn't ask enough questions and maybe looked at the situation through rose-colored glasses. The final hiccup is, current job is a career federal position. So the usual advice that your employer wouldn't hesitate to fire you isn't as true, and the amount they had to invest to hire me as well as train me is not insignificant. Personal considerations My commute is worse, my office environment is worse, and of course I miss a lot of the people I worked with for 10 years. The folks here are nice, but the turnover is higher and the comradery not as strong. Quandary Everyone in my personal life, as well as my colleague from former employer, suggest I should take the money and run. Former colleague might be patient, but I don't know how much I want to test that. Also yes I don't have a written offer yet, but I suspect as soon as I say 'yes i'm ready to come back' I'd have one quickly, and don't want to burn former colleague by waiting until then to make the decision. I'm also confident the job would be better than my current job, though it's possible it won't be great, I won't really know until I do it. I'm concerned with the moral/ethical implications of leaving my job so early. Nobody misled me. On the other hand, 20% is a huge pay bump that would likely take me 10+ years here to earn, I don't like my job, and the opportunity may not wait for me. Also this is only my second professional experience in the field. Leaving it on my resume would look bad should I ever decide to leave former employer, but leaving it off will mean I look like I've only ever worked for one shop. <Q> Looks like you have already answered your question. <S> Everything you have said points to you taking the 20% increase in pay as the better option. <S> The sooner you show your interest and get it in writing the better. <S> Until then work well where you are because nothing is definite yet. <S> The only thing I would mention is that you have only been with your present position for two months, you're not really settled in yet. <S> So if you gave it a chance <S> you'd probably get used to it eventually. <S> Having said that... <S> What are you waiting for? <S> Go get that pay increase and keep moving forwards. <A> You moved from X to Y. <S> Now you might get your old job back, getting 20% more money, a better commute, more interesting work... <S> Why are you asking at all? <S> The situation is slightly different from the usual advice that you shouldn't accept a counter offer when you are leaving. <S> In that case you are the lousy employee who wants to run away and is only kept by more money, and who cannot be trusted anymore. <S> In your case you are the good employee who realised that leaving was a mistake and will never think of leaving again. <A> Understanding job satisfaction <S> Job satisfaction is a measure of yourself (your capacity to work, willingness to work and opportunity to work), the work effort have to expel to complete your work and the organisational support behind you. <S> The amount of contribution you will feel happy giving an organisation is strongly linked to the inducements (remuneration, support, training) that the company is providing you. <S> In this case you mentioned that you don't like your job. <S> It doesn't sound like this is a company providing you enough organisational support or training to outweigh <S> you not feeling like you're receiving adequate remuneration for your efforts. <S> In this case, I think you aren't going to find happiness here without a significant change in your role, and I think you should leave. <S> Your work is likely to suffer over time if you continue to feel unhappy with the position and <S> it sounds like the situation isn't likely to change anytime soon without action from your end. <S> Will it affect your resume? <S> Personally, I don't think so. <S> Not every engagement has to be a perfect one and hiring managers completely understand this. <S> Provided you don't have a number of small stints on your resume <S> it's not going to reflect badly on you if you list this one small window of work. <S> That said, if you've only been there two months and have 10 years of work history in Company A, I also don't think it will hurt you if you leave it off. <S> 10 years work experience, even in the same company, is a great amount of experience. <S> I wouldn't be too concerned about this.
| Talk to the old company, and if you get an offer and a signed contract then you give notice at the new company.
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How do I respond questions or "compliments" about my English professionally without misrepresenting myself? I posted this question in the English SE but I guess the discussion got a bit off-topic so someone suggested I post a similar question on this SE. I am originally from the Philippines and I work as an editor for a research center in Germany. I also speak Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, but for all intents and purposes English is my first language. I can honestly say I cannot remember a time when I didn't speak English, and my Filipino is nowhere near as good as my English (I could never write or edit Filipino texts or speak in Filipino without codeswitching). But whenever I meet someone new (and in academia there's a great deal of networking), I always get comments like "wow your English is so good!" Most of the time people drop the topic when I say English is my first language and talk a little about Philippine history. But there are some who say things like "I'm surprised they hired a Filipino for this job" or "But English really isn't your native language, right?" or "But your Filipino is still much better than your English, right?" and that's when things get awkward. Some clients have asked my co-editors to go over my work and would only accept my edits upon verification by my British and American colleagues. Worst case scenario would be explicitly asking my boss not to pass on their draft manuscripts to me. I love editing and would love to stay in this field, but I'm afraid I will never be good enough because of something I have zero control over. How do I handle situations and comments like that without misrepresenting myself? I know people are curious, but it's exhausting having to justify myself constantly and "educate" people. Plus it puts the pressure on me to be perfect all the time, lest it casts any doubt on my "claim" as a native speaker. At the end of the day, I would like my colleagues to accept that English is my first language (irrespective of their views on "native speaker-ness") and that I am perfectly qualified for this job, not simply "good enough" to keep up with my US/UK co-editors. EDIT : By "misrepresenting" I mean having to say that English isn't my first language to conform to their ideas and avoid awkward situations altogether. <Q> There are a couple of things here to note in your question. <S> Firstly: <S> "But English really isn't your native language, right?" <S> or "But your Filipino is still much better than your English, right?" <S> and that's when things get awkward. <S> I would simply reiterate that English is your first language <S> and you know a little Filipino. <S> I doubt a history lesson would help too much, just a simple statement of fact. <S> Some clients have asked my co-editors to go over my work and would only accept my edits upon verification by my British and American colleagues. <S> Worst case scenario would be explicitly asking my boss not to pass on their draft manuscripts to me. <S> This is the crux of the problem, and this is something that you need to address with your boss and your HR department. <S> Your boss needs to reiterate to the clients that English is your first language. <S> Keep repeating it. <S> You are being discriminated against here, based on your nationality and the perception of your language skills. <S> So where you do go from here? <S> You talk to your boss, and you talk to HR. <S> If necessary (and this is perhaps too brave for many organisations), your boss or co-workers could imply that the request to have someone else review your work is discriminatory. <S> I don't know how big your organisation is or your clients, but simply mentioning that it seems to be discriminatory to assume your English is poor may be worthwhile. <S> I'd take this as a last course of action. <S> Mostly, just make sure that your boss and co-workers back you up. <S> If they don't, then I can't see too many other options with this organisation. <A> This is a problem (good) management shouldn't let you face . <S> If you're work's good enough, and I'm assuming it is, then your manager should be refusing these requests from your clients - they don't get to decide who works on a translation, your manager does. <S> Your manager should be prepared to defend the quality of their employees. <S> I'd approach this by having a chat with your manager - make it clear that you're feeling that you're not being judged on the quality of your work, but on who you are. <S> At least initially, I'd wouldn't mention the "race" word, although it does sound very much like you're being judged on your race. <A> You can't help what you look like, if you look like a Filipino then you need to expect this sort of thing. <S> Or any non European group I guess. <S> To mitigate against it (you'll never get rid of it entirely) have a close listen to your accent and do what you can to improve it. <S> I speak English with a New Zealand accent, so people just assume I'm a New Zealander born and bred of some exotic foreign extraction and that English is my first language, whereas in fact it's not. <S> It's only the first impressions hurdle you need to take care of, once people recognise your competence it doesn't matter what you look like or where you were born and raised. <S> I don't even mention where I am originally from unless asked, and I work in a few languages, two of which everyone in those countries probably thinks is my first language if they think about it at all.
| You inform them that you feel you are being discriminated against on the basis of your nationality, and that you need your boss and co-workers to tell clients directly about your high level of capability in English.
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Repeatedly cancelling planned vacation - how would it be perceived? As per the title - how would it be perceived by bosses and/or co-workers to repeatedly (more than 1-2 times in a year, say) voluntarily cancel planned vacation in order to meet business needs (deadlines etc) or provide cover? I mean not where "the boss" has cancelled it due to a business reason. But initiated by the employee. If others insist on taking their planned time off - Would the employee cancelling come off as more committed, more of a doormat or what? <Q> It depends. <S> It's entirely possible that no one will notice or that they'll assume that you're just not much of a vacation person. <S> Most people don't keep track of who has and who has not used their allotted vacation. <S> It is possible that they'll conclude that you're a doormat that doesn't value their own time. <S> If you're cancelling because your manager would otherwise have no choice but to cancel someone's vacation, it's possible that your boss and/or your fellow employees will be grateful. <S> The odds of that happening once a year let alone more than twice, however, are tiny unless you work in either a very unusual or a very poorly managed workplace. <A> Vacation timing - <S> If you are in the type of work where there is a busy season or planned cycles with known deadlines, there could be an expected etiquette. <S> While it is likely not a specific policy, it's a general understanding that the team is burdened more with vacations during the busy times than during the rest of the year. <S> If you are frequently finding that the timing of your vacation is poorly scheduled perhaps that's the reason for the cancellations? <S> Commitment - Rarely is the topic of vacation viewed as commitment. <S> Your company has a vacation policy and that, in conjunction with how employee performance is graded, is what defines commitment. <S> I have seen large companies that use performance metrics as a way to discourage taking vacation and small companies that essentially require their employees to use more of their vacation. <S> Your workplace is going to have it's own culture. <S> A good question to ask yourself: "Is anyone else canceling their vacation to help out the team or cover for another employee? <S> " I suspect the answer is no. <A> If you work for a place that is very rigid then doing something like this may make you seem like a doormat. <S> I mean you would be following a set of rules that are strict - <S> and then you are offering them something for really nothing. <S> On the other hand if there is give and take then doing something like this for your company could allow you other flexibility. <S> I move my vacation days around all the time for my company. <S> I am certainly no doormat and they basically let me make my own schedule and work from home whenever I want. <S> The other case is working for a company that is too small to be without you for a certain amount of time. <S> This is just how it is. <S> You can ask for more pay to offset this or just accept that it is one of the drawbacks about having little to no cover (on the flip side <S> it makes it hard to get fired).
| A few thoughts: Inconvenience to other employees - If your vacation policy requires approvals via your supervisor and HR then constantly canceling and rescheduling the vacation will be seen as an annoyance rather than a benefit. I think this totally depends on your company's atmosphere and current rules.
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How learn company policies relevant to quitting without revealing that I'm leaving? I work in the US. I've accepted a position at another firm. The start date is about six weeks out, in the new calendar year. I have questions for HR about their policies about departing employees, mainly about any payout of paid time off and also year-end bonus eligibility. I can't find good answers to these questions in the employee handbook. Are there typically ways to get this information without HR finding out ahead of my notice period that I'm leaving? <Q> For background context, there are plenty of questions here about employees getting screwed for trying to be nice to their employers. <S> Some of the things that happen when people give their company advance notice: <S> Immediately fired/let go <S> No bonuses <S> No vacation payout Lack of transition planning <S> Having read most of the questions on Workplace, nearly everyone who gives advance notice has negative things happen. <S> Nearly never is it a good idea to plan on giving advance notice. <S> You may come up with good reasons to give advance notice, but most of those reasons transfer all risk to you and all benefit to the employer. <S> My recommendations would be to assume the worst. <S> If you have six weeks until you plan, I would recommend taking as much of your vacation as you can before. <S> If you have friends who have left, or people you trust, you could reach out to them on Linked-In. <S> They may be willing to give you their experiences. <A> The chances are that you will not receive any year end bonus unless it is paid before you give notice. <S> Bonuses are virtually never paid to former employees or ones who are leaving. <S> Payout of time off varies from company to company (and may depend on state laws) but you can at least check with your state's Labor department to see if your state requires that it be paid. <S> If you have nothing in writing that says it will be paid, <S> I would make the assumption that it will not and go from there. <S> You could ask someone you know who has left the company if they got paid for their leave. <S> Some companies don't let you use leave once you give notice. <S> Even previously scheduled leave. <S> Check your personnel manual for this. <S> So you might want to use any vacation time you have before you give notice since you have 6 weeks until you start the new position.. <A> If you are not into giving early notice, then why not give the 2 week notice before your last day at work, then openly ask HR all the questions you have for them? <S> Since you already made the decision to leave and have a firm timeframe, their answer about bonus eligibility shouldn't matter too much. <S> As far as paid time off, I would err on the side of caution, i.e. take any residual vacation that's over 2 weeks (if you have > 2 weeks accumulated) as soon as you can, then give a 4 week notice and ask to take the last 2 weeks off <S> (if you get it, this effectively becomes 2 week notice). <S> Worse case they won't let you and you tough it out for a month and get the vacation paid out. <S> In the event the policy prevents paying out vacation for some reason, convert your 4 week notice to a 2 week notice... With regard to boss pestering to stay, this can be minimized by being firm and consistent with your message about departure. <S> Put it in unequivocal terms, e.g. you already made the decision and there is no turning back for any reason, no matter what. <S> The first time they bug you about it, just ask them to save their time and please not ask you to stay. <S> Say this firmly and clearly once or twice and hopefully the mgr will get the idea. <S> Good luck! <A> The safe best to take the take the time off. <S> In two states I have received $0 for unused vacation days. <S> Unless the contract states an equivalent value for vacation days then it has no value. <S> And they could let you go early <S> so they don't have to pay holidays. <S> Let's say you have 2 weeks of vacation. <S> Tell them you are giving a 2 weeks notice and taking a two week vacation. <S> Tell them if they want to pay you out on the PTO you would actually rather work. <S> Turn in the vacation request first. <S> Worse case scenario is they fire you immediately and claim a PTO has no cash value. <S> You turned in the vacation request before you were fired. <A> The answer to your question is either part of your contract or part of a law and <S> if it is neither, then this is an answer, too, because it means "anything goes", which usually means the company will pick what is best for them. <S> It's safe to assume the worst. <S> In order to find out if it's part of your contract, you need to read the contract. <S> All other options will include a level of uncertainty.
| Expect that if you give notice you will not receive a bonus. In order to find out if it's part of a law, you need to ask a lawyer specialized in employment rights.
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Reason for switching to rival company? Over the summer I worked in a bank in a city A and at the end of my placement I was offered a permanent job. The issue is that I want to live in a city B with my partner and as a result I've been looking for jobs in city B instead. I now have an interview at a bank in city B. If they ask why am I wanting to leave the first bank I worked for and join them would an appropriate answer be because of the location? I know in most cases they want to hear something flattering about why they are better than their competitor but this would be the honest reason. Does this make me look less keen about the bank itself than I should want though? I also don't want it to come across that I am completely inflexible when it comes to location. Does anyone have any advice about how I should approach such a question and whether I should mention/avoid mentioning that my main reason is because of location? <Q> If they ask why am I wanting to leave the first bank I worked for and join them would an appropriate answer be because of the location? <S> This would be completely appropriate. <S> You might say something like:"I <S> really like working for company x. I even asked them about relocating to City B. Unfortunately, they don't have any openings here, so that isn't an option. <S> I've heard great things about your company, and I would really like to work in City B." This way, you aren't saying anything bad about your current company, are demonstrating that you are a loyal employee, and indicating that locating to City B is really important to you. <S> All of these things are perfectly understandable for a hiring manager, in my experience. <A> So long as it is not something which can be seen as a pattern, saying that you are looking to relocate for family reasons generally is good enough. <A> would an appropriate answer be because of the location? <S> The recruiter and/or the company would understand. <S> Does this make me look less keen about the bank itself than I should want though? <S> No , it wouldn't. <S> And it also wouldn't make you look anyway less professional. <S> So, be honest and explain your situation to them, and if you have any negotiations in your mind which might make you stay behind, then go ahead and negotiate with them.
| Yes , be honest and tell them the actual reason.
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I lied during a job interview about my current employment status. What is the best way to fix it in the second interview? In a first interview (with the head and global head of the department) for a senior researcher position in a multinational company, I hesitated and said that I'm currently employed instead of telling the truth: that I was let go 4 months ago. The reason I did this: in the past 5 years, I changed companies 3 times. No specific or performance issues. I did amazingly well at the first conversation. My background is a perfect fit for the position. Now that I was invited for a second interview (Skype, since we are in different continents), with more people (a HR rep., head and global head of the dep't, and another analyst in a correlated area), I feel I should tell the truth. HOW can I do this without drawing attention to the fact that I omitted/lied about it? Would it be a good idea to not tell them the truth? <Q> The fact that you are currently unemployed would probably not be a big deal. <S> The fact that you intentionally lied is a huge one, however. <S> You can bet that they will run background checks on you, especially since they're such a large company. <S> I think your best bet is simply being honest: <S> "Before we start, I'd like to say something. <S> Out of a misguided desire to impress, I said that I am currently employed. <S> I was actually laid off 4 months ago. <S> I apologize about my behavior, and hope we can continue to move forward." <S> I won't lie .. <S> the situation is worse if you ALSO lied on your resume, because that can't be put down to a spontaneous impulse - that would be a premeditated lie. <S> Good luck! <A> Hope they ask you again in the second and answer truthfully. <S> If they call you out that you said different in the first then just say "I am sorry I misspoke". <S> Not a great answer <S> but it might work. <S> But it also might be better to just come out up front and say I misspoke in the first first interview about my current employment status. <S> It is likely they will check your most recent reference (especially if they asked your employment status twice). <A> You're not going to avoid drawing attention to your lie if you try to set the record straight. <S> Make a phone call, right now, to your contact at the company (no easy email for this). <S> Explain to them that you lied (misspoke, etc., whatever the word you use, they'll hear 'lied'). <S> Tell them that you wanted to set the record straight before proceeding any farther, and submit yourself to their decision to proceed, or not. <S> It is best to tell the truth. <S> Next best is to come forward on your own and set the record straight. <S> Worst is lying and being discovered while thinking you're still maintaining the story. <S> You might have made a deal-breaking mistake. <S> If so, learn your lesson and move forward. <S> If they decide to move forward with you, you will be so much more at ease and able to focus on your next interview if you're not dealing with a growing pile of worry in the back of your mind while you're talking with them. <S> And do yourself a favor: Practice your answer to that question so in your next interviews your muscle memory blurts out something favorable instead of something regretful. <A> It will look bad for you to introduce yourself to an additional group of interviewers as someone who lies to get ahead. <S> It would be better if they heard about your situation privately from the HR person, rather than you give a speech at the start of your interview <S> and then they have to put on a good face for the rest of the interview. <S> It is also possible, that even though you admit your mistake to the HR person they may not mention it to everyone anyway <S> - perhaps they already know <S> or they just feel it isn't a big deal. <S> Whether or not it's a good idea, depends on you. <S> If it's not a moral issue for you, then it's not a moral issue for you. <S> If it is, then you should act accordingly. <A> You just don't talk about it anymore. <S> Keep the lie going if you need to. <S> Play dumb if asked a follow up question. <S> They aren't hiring the liar. <S> You might as well just pass over it. <S> Calling them back to tell them the truth is silly. <S> As a manager I would love it because I could not worry about interviewing you. <S> Think that a manager has a certain degree of liability to his company (or loses their job) <S> so if they hire a known liar and liar lies about something that costs company money, then manager is as culpable. <S> You now must lie in the bed you have made - just quit lying in the future. <A> They certainly will validate employment dates with a previous employer. <S> Your only chance of continuing with the company is actually to bring it up, face it boldly and call it what it was: a mistake. <S> Then set the record straight. <S> At issue here is integrity. <S> It is a rare and precious commodity, and you've damaged yours with this company. <S> It may be irreparable, but for something as small as this I doubt it. <S> However, bringing it up, taking ownership of it and not waiting to be "called out" on it will speak volumes more about your integrity. <S> Certainly it would be better if the answer had been honest from the start, but it is not irreparable <S> and you don't want to hide from it. <S> As a word of advice, they are going to quiz you on the topic and the reasoning for your original answer. <S> You should know ahead of time how you will address the topic and what "attitude" you want to present with it. <S> Do not memorize answers or responses to questions you think they will ask. <S> If they ask you something slightly different, your hesitancy will only look like more dishonesty. <S> Do this as soon as you possibly can, even before the Skype call if possible. <S> If they decide this is a deal breaker, it is better for everyone not to waste any more time on the issue. <S> Learn from this, and be honest and deliberate with your answers to all questions in an interview.
| You can explain that you answered out of reflex rather than an intention to deceive (hopefully this is true) and that you'd like to set the record straight before going forward. Lie again if they ask is probably not the way to go. I suggest trying to discuss this with your HR contact at the company, before your second interview, for two reasons: If this is a non-negotiable issue, they may not even want to have the 2nd interview.
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How long should I wait before networking on LinkedIn with coworkers at a new job? I just started a new job and most of my new fellow coworkers are very active on LinkedIn. Is it rude or strange to connect with the ones I've met and worked with so far, or should I wait until I develop closer relationships with them? I'm relatively new to "white-collar" networking of this sort and I don't want to treat it like mere social networking. I certainly don't want to put off supervisors if this kind of behavior would be inappropriate. <Q> Here's the approach I've both used and seen: <S> once you know you're there to stay , go ahead and connect with your immediate coworkers. <S> Then wait; if they're as active on LinkedIn as you say, other coworkers will pick up on this and start sending connection invitations to the new guy. <S> Later (weeks or months) <S> , review and add anybody who got missed who you want to be connected to. <S> Most places don't expect you to be connected to everybody anyway, so no need to obsess over that. <S> When I joined this company I had about a dozen immediate coworkers, another dozen in the next "ring" (worked with sometimes or occasionally), and a couple hundred beyond that. <S> It would have felt and looked weird to find those couple hundred and connect in a big batch; let those grow organically. <S> (I say "looked weird" because LinkedIn publishes connection updates, so your connections will see "250 new connections this week".) <A> I would wait until your probationary period (3 months usually, but I would wait 6 months just to be sure) <S> ends before you do this. <S> Make sure they trust you <S> and they know you are competent, then begin adding people. <S> In my experience, this has caused no issues with anyone. <S> Additionally, make sure you do this after the work day, so people don't think you're screwing around on social media sites during the day. <S> After all, they wouldn't be on LinkedIn if they didn't want to network with people. <S> That's what it's for! <A> Even if it's someone you happened to meet just one time on a training course, even if it's your new boss and you haven't even started the job yet. <S> That just seems to be our corporate culture though. <S> Although I'm UK based, its an large American corporation and our company has a big focus on building your personal network (as in, your general network, not LinkedIn specifically!) <S> Yes, people do tend to connect just for the sake of connecting, but I do think it can be useful for remembering names/faces, and for finding out what people's career and academic backgrounds are, which I find quite useful. <S> e.g. if you're an software Engineer and you're about to give someone a high level overview of a software project, and then you see on LinkedIn <S> they've got an BSc in Engineering and an MSc in Computer Science you might decide to include more technical details than you otherwise would. <S> I've had senior leaders contacting me via LinkedIn to have a chat out of hours! <S> Something that wouldnt' be possible by work email and wouldn't be appropriate by Facebook. <S> It's been a good way to find allies. <S> Some senior leaders DO use LinkedIn to check out their employees and if they like what they see, I do think it can create opportunities for you. <S> But again, it all totally depends on your workplace culture. <A> Yes, wait until you have closer connections with them. <S> Frankly, LinkenIn is pretty useless as a social network except when you're between jobs, and there's no reason why you shouldn't forget about it until then. <S> I tend to connect with colleagues when I've either just left a place, or if I get close to them as part of my work. <S> Adding people just to have a bigger network is no better than people with thousands of facebook friends.
| Where I work, people tend to add connections on LinkedIn immediately upon meeting someone. Just to weigh in with a totally different opinion, I think it depends on the culture at your company, as my experience is totally different from the other answers above.
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How to represent being fired from first two jobs So I got a retail job as soon as I turned 16, and was employed there for over a year and a half. I loved it there but took advantage of the system and stole a few clothing items. While it isn't an excuse, I was young and foolish and certainly wouldn't do that again now that I'm nearing 18 here. Obviously I got fired, but wasn't charged. I applied for another retail job, and did not want them to know about my previous experience (I just wanted to forget it even happened), so when asked, I told them I quit. About a month after getting hired and working constant shifts, my manager told me they found out and that I had to be let go. Now I don't know what to do. I need a job due to my family's financial state, and I am completely embarrassed about my previous actions and am scared I wont get another job because of it. I don't know if I should list those two as a reference or just say I have no work experience and get a non-retail based job. I have other references form babysitting and volunteering but nothing else. <Q> This is a spectre that is going to haunt you for the rest of your days if you don't face it sooner or later. <S> You will never know from day to day when the tap on the shoulder will come, asking you to leave the premises because your past has been discovered. <S> I would strongly suggest being up front and honest about your background. <S> Explain that you understand just how wrong it was, and that it was something you would never do again. <S> Be honest and show just how remorseful you are. <S> Yes, there will be some companies who will not hire you, but they will also be the ones who will fire you as quick as look at you when they do find out. <S> Being honest about it will show a prospective employer that you have matured and accept the consequences of your actions, and that you simply want to move forward. <S> Explain that you were fired from the first job because of it, and the second because you were scared to mention it to employer. <S> You realise now that to hide it was the wrong thing to do, and you wish to be open about your past. <S> Remember, which is worse: Accepting your actions now and remove this monkey from your back forever, or live in fear every day? <A> I would just start over if I was you, forget that episode ever happened. <S> It sounds great, mature and brave and all the rest, admitting to your wrongs and swearing you'd never do it again. <S> But in real life most employers would immediately chuck your resume in the rubbish no more info needed. <S> Unfortunately that sort of thing can follow you around for a long time. <A> Don't use the jobs as references. <S> This has the advantage of giving you a clean slate, and the disadvantages that a common type of job for unskilled workers is no longer available, nor can you claim any experience. <S> This is potentially more dangerous, as many retail jobs won't both listening or believing that you've changed. <S> But if anyone does take the chance on you, that will help clean up your past. <S> Actually, you have a third option: a combination of those two. <S> For jobs that are not retail, you can go with the first option, since your experience probably won't help that much anyway. <S> And you can still apply for retail jobs, being upfront with your past and see if any retail jobs will take a chance on you. <S> You'll need a very convincing (and true) story of how you've changed, what you've learned, and how you will ensure nothing like this happens again.
| Own up to what you've done and be prepared to explain what you have learned and why it will never happen again. No one in their right mind in the retail industry where staff are easy to come by, would hire someone who got fired for stealing. That work experience is basically worthless so best not to mention it. You have two options: Forget the past and start fresh, staying away from retail and forgoing any experience gained in your previous jobs.
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How can I check what my former employer says about me when asked for a reference? I was dismissed from my previous job of one year and eleven months because I was supposedly underperfoming. This is not true, but it was the reason given. I didn't have a performance review or anything an employer should do to make me aware of an issue or help me. I even got good feedback on all of my appraisals. I am afraid that telling employers that I was dismissed will affect my chances of getting a new job. I have tried to get in touch with a company that will call my former employer pretending to be a prospective employer and who can then tell me what my former employer says about me. Then if the reference is very brief (start date, end date and job role). Then I could says that I was made redundant instead of dismissed. Does anybody know of a company in the UK or even have thoughts on this?I would love to be honest to future employers, but getting a new job is more important to me. <Q> Ask them to write you some reference letters, or to generally be your reference contact within the company. <S> (In Canada we provide a contact for them to call, we do not simply say "contact company X".) <S> If the company calls them specifically (for example at their extension in the office, so they know it's legitimate), they will be able to put in a good word for you. <S> If you can't get away with that, then you may have to come clean. <S> Try to spin it in a good light. <S> Saying that the "actual" reason you were fired is because you clashed with management, for example, is not a good idea. <S> Instead I might phrase it like this: I have to tell you that I was fired from my last place of employment. <S> The official reason is that I was under-performing, however the reality is that the motive was political. <S> I would rather not get into the details, as they are personal, however I can try to lay any fears you may have to rest: as you can see, I have, in the past, been successfully employed at companies X, Y, and Z. Furthermore, former co-workers have agreed to provide me with reference letters as to my qualifications. <S> You may want to research some more/better points to mention, but that's a pretty decent starting point. <S> I won't lie, you're probably going to have a difficult time. <S> Good luck! <A> Past emloyers and references will say what they will say. <S> You would be better advised to invest your time in polishing a good explanation of what happened, I think. <S> See past questions here for examples of how you might spin that. <A> Let's say there is a company that really offered that service (ask for a reference). <S> That company would get flagged by legitimate companies. <S> If your prior company had them flagged then things could go bad. <S> On the next call they might say yes he was dismissed for under performing <S> and it appears he hired a fake company to find out what we would say for a reference. <S> If you have a friend that has a real company then maybe. <S> Your best bet here may be honesty.
| I would get in touch with some former co-workers who you used to get along with - it's better if they hold senior positions such as team leader, or manager.
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Refusing Hotel for Out-Of-City Onsite Interview I am a graduate student in city X and am currently interviewing for a company which is renowned for its frugality and its bare-bones approach to employee treatment. So far, I've had 2 telephone interviews which went really well; the job seems very interesting and the pay is awesome. They have invited me to their HQ for a final interview which I accepted. Today, I received an invitation to book my hotel and airfare using a pre-paid voucher. And here's my question: My brother lives right across the street from the hotel and I know that even if they give me a hotel room, I will live with him. Ordinarily, I wouldn't care. I would just get the room (& possibly even invite my brother over). But, given the frugality of the company, would it be in my interest to refuse the hotel and tell them that I'd rather live with my brother? <Q> It has nothing to do with the frugality of the company. <S> They are offering you their hospitality <S> which you can either choose to accept or politely decline. <S> It's very likely that they will have an agreement with the hotel and/or the airline, and the company would have customized options of offering interviewees just the airfare or airfare + hotel stay or just a hotel stay. <S> If they only have vouchers for hotel + airfare, then politely inform them first on phone and then with a short email (to have a written record, in case something goes wrong), that as per the phone conversation, you would not be using the hotel. <S> On the other hand, if the hotel provides a cab service to take you to the company, then that might be applicable only if you stay at the hotel. <S> Whatever the case, you have to speak with the company and ask them the details. <S> I was similarly offered a cab pickup from my residence for an interview, which I politely declined because my home was just a few miles from the company. <S> When I went for the interview, I overheard that candidates were invited from other cities too, and their to and fro air-tickets were booked by the company. <S> These are minor costs for companies. <S> Accepting or refusing these will have no impact/impression on your interview. <S> Your technical skills matter much more. <A> "Refusing" a hotel seems so negative. <S> Just call them and tell them you could live with your brother for the time of the interview and ask how to handle that. <S> If they insist on the hotel (maybe because handling your exception costs them more than the hotel itself) that's cool. <S> Book the room and use it. <S> If they don't, you just saved them money, not bad for a first impression. <S> Make sure you mention your brother during the interview. <S> Maybe during the mall talk when your host asks how your flight was or if you like the hotel. <S> Having family in the town you want to move to is a big plus. <S> Not knowing anyone in the new town is hard and the company can do very little in terms of job satisfaction if you decide you miss your friends and family. <S> If you already have family there that's great. <S> A brother might even mean you get new friends faster (compared to having say... <S> your granny in town). <S> It's a positive point, don't forget to mention it. <A> Book the hotel. <S> You never know when something could go wrong, and even if nothing goes wrong, you might appreciate having a quiet place to go for an hour or three to prepare. <S> It's a sunk cost for the company.
| If staying with your brother is a better option for you, simply let the company know that you are grateful for their offer for a hotel, and your brother/relative stays in the city, and you'd like to stay with him. If the voucher is for a hotel + airfare, you could also ask them if they have a voucher that covers just the airfare.
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Stepping down and staying employed I've been working as a tech lead for the past 10 years with this company that went through a upper management reshuffle recently. Since then, I've been having problems getting along with my new boss. My rating during the last few performance reviews has fallen just below "Meets expectations". I've been given indications that I should be stepping down from the Lead position. I am willing to do that as long as I continue to be employed with this company. I was granted stock options a part of which vests in 6 months and the rest a year from then. I need to be employed here at least till my next vesting period if not more. In the last few weeks, I've started to get ignored at work, not being included in meetings and not getting my feedback heard. It's unclear if this behavior is due to me not stepping down or because of my performance. I've been told several times that I do a good job as a developer but not as a lead. I have meetings with my boss next week to talk about my performance. I feel like I should be forthcoming on letting them know that I am willing to step down and asking her outright that If I step down, will I continue to be employed. Should I be approaching it this way? How should I salvage this situation? <Q> I have gone through 4 major buy-outs/mergers of a large multinational that included major reshuffles afterwards. <S> There is always one company that has the power during the mergers of the company in each area. <S> In some we were bought out for assets and some for tech. <S> In the mergers we had that valued my groups' tech <S> I could have basically had anyone in your position fired or demoted. <S> If this was recently he has no idea if you can perform as a Lead or not. <S> Maybe you don't agree with their long-term strategy, maybe he has a friend lined up for your job, you don't know <S> and I doubt he knows you well. <S> This situation is really no-hold-bars. <S> Anything goes. <S> Management is usually relying on just a few people to make decisions and in some cases these people have no expertise in the area. <S> Anything goes. <S> What do you do? <S> Well your peers are mostly gone. <S> They probably didn't fire you because you were a key person in an area or <S> maybe the peers that are gone might have rioted had you been fired first. <S> Things are dire. <S> I don't want to make this a key part of my answer but let's talk about the elephant in the room. <S> No matter how unlikely you think this is I would like to say I worked for a multibillion dollar company that was worried about 30k becoming vested. <S> Anything goes. <S> Don't admit to any sort of issues or incompetency. <S> Do not step down <S> Your best recourse given you need just 6 months is talk to your boss. <S> but if you think there is a better fit you would be willing to listen. <S> Just make sure that if they send you somewhere that it is lateral in pay/rank. <S> Even if you aren't doing shit don't let them throw you down the ranks. <S> If you accept a demotion you are saying that you didn't do your previous job good enough. <S> I would expect that after your demotion that you are soon terminated and that they use the fact that you accepted the demotion against you. <A> If you want to stay employed, a good tactic is usually to make your superiors happy. <S> They told you they are not happy and that they would be more happy if you stepped down. <S> If there is any way you should spin the story, than in the way that you have (also) realized that it is better for the company that you step down. <S> It is also a good idea to start the performance review by stating this first. <S> Your superior will be in a stressful situation, too, and eliminating the stress will make him feel good about you. <S> Also, the performance review might be about the termination of your contract, too, so it would be bad to wait till it was spoken out, because usually then there is no way to remedy the situation. <S> There does not seem any advantage for you from combining the topic of stepping down with your employment future. <A> I've actually thought a lot about this question over the weekend. <S> At the end of the day, your performance reflects directly on your manager, which means that your manager has a very strong interest in making sure that you succeed. <S> If you can bring your numbers up because of your manager's influence it will look very good on your manager's next performance review. <S> So, what you should probably do: <S> Make sure that you genuinely intend to improve yourself and the organization. <S> Go to your manager. <S> Say that you feel that, based on your past reviews, you could improve. <S> See if you two cannot agree on an action plan to improve on your weak spots. <S> Be ready, willing, and able to take on extra work or responsibilities so that you can accomplish them. <S> At your next review you'll then have a very clear <S> yes or no on whether you've accomplished the above. <S> Even if not, then you will at least be able to say "I have worked hard on X, Y, and Z". <A> Don't Step Down <S> Right <S> Away <S> If the change in management is recent, they'll be patient. <S> Ask them what you can do to improve and ask them for six months or a year to improve. <S> Of course you know in their eyes you won't, but this buys you time for your first stock vesting. <S> If they're asking you to step down but not leave, they're probably just trying to groom a more loyal soldier to the position. <S> Try to appear as loyal and kiss-up as possible from now on. <S> Stepping Down Is Embarrassing but Doesn't Always Mean Getting <S> Fired <S> I've known a lot of folks who were demoted from some supervisory/management position back to non-management. <S> Some important considerations: will your pay remain the same? <S> Are there any additional incentives such as higher bonus or raise you might be missing out on? <S> Normally I wouldn't recommend sticking around at a place after getting demoted, but you have some very specific time goals so if you can't stay another 1.5 years otherwise, it might make sense. <S> What colleagues left will probably be embarrassed for you, people will probably treat you like you are contagious and avoid you, and other folks will wonder why you are being such a fool and sticking around after the fact. <S> But I think if you have a solid plan, and can be somewhat convinced they won't just fire you a couple months later, you should be fine.
| The best thing you can probably do is talk to your manager about what you need to do to get better. Not sure on the size of your company and the details but don't think there is no chance that part of the reason to push you out is because you have options that will be vested soon. Convey that you don't see any issues with you being a Lead
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Should I apologize in this situation? How? I am working as part time remote contractor, developing custom solutions, and integrating various web services. As always, some clients expect that their solutions will be complete in just a few hours, and that I will spend my whole 24 hours day on it. Yesterday I had an university exam, and also worked a shift at my full-time job. Even though I had told my customer that I would be unavailable a day in advance, he is now not replying to my communications. I fear that they may be somehow upset with me. I have done more over than 70 percent of project, I and have about 8 hours left to finish. I don't want this work to go to waste. Should I contact them and apologize? How should I offer such an apology in a professional manner? <Q> There's a whole list of issues to address here: 1. <S> Set deadlines <S> You should NOT get into a project without some kind of deadline, or at least discussing the time-frame involved. <S> Let the customer explain what they want, and then give them your best estimate of how long it's going to take you - multiplied by three. <S> I'm not joking. <S> If you think it's going to take you 1 day, say 3. <S> 2 weeks? <S> Say six. <S> Unexpected things crop up. <S> Don't promise the world, then fail to deliver because then you'll be in situations like this, where you're anxiously wondering how to apologize. <S> 2. <S> Define the scope <S> That way no confusion can arise about the finished products, and also about the time it's going to take you to implement something. <S> If you get to work thinking you need to accomplish X,Y, but the customer then e-mails you and says he also expects Z done , then you have grounds for renegotiation. <S> You can extend the deadline, ask for more money, or both. <S> But if you didn't write anything down, how can you "prove" that you didn't just miss him asking that the first time you discussed the job? <S> You may find yourself backed into a corner, and having to do a lot more work in the same time frame. <S> 3. <S> Set boundaries Communicate important updates to your customer, by all means. <S> But I would hesitate to make myself available to them all the time . <S> If you can't pick up the phone, or don't communicate for a day due to other obligations you should not feel that you need to apologize (unless you promised an update on that particular day). <S> You do this part time, while working another job and going to school. <S> It's unreasonable to place yourself entirely at the customer's pleasure. <S> Make sure they understand that you will always reply to an email/return a call, within the next 24 hrs, for example. <S> That sets an expectation, and doesn't leave the customer wondering if you're avoiding them Good luck! <A> and your client did not request that you are available when you told them that you are not. <S> As far as I can tell, it would only raise the flag that there was a delay, while at the moment it is unclear for the client whether your unavailability (which can mean a lot of different things) had any affect on the project. <S> I would focus on selling your results in a positive way when you are finished. <A> No, don't apologize. <S> But for the future, do learn to spell out in your contract the kind of response time you expect from your own client . <S> In your case, you clearly communicated that you were not going to be available. <S> In the case of your client, he didn't communicate anything to you, so you have no idea if that person took an extended vacation in advance of Thanksgiving, or if that person had a heart attack, or if he's giving you the silent treatment, or if he gave up on you entirely after you reminded him you were going to be unavailable. <S> That is completely unacceptable. <S> Remote contracting is difficult as it is. <S> It needs to have clear rules of communications between both the contractor and the client, that both parties need to abide by. <S> Also, you need to have a contingency plan in place in case a client abandons you midway through a project, or if the client doesn't have the time to talk to you, or changes the project to something else entirely, or if a client doesn't pay you. <S> By the way, it does sound like there is some uncertainty about getting paid for this contract. <S> Having not planned for that contingency, I still think you should finish the work even if you don't hear from him, but that's just my opinion. <S> Ultimately, you know more about the situation than I do. <S> If the work requires his feedback, then you're stuck I suppose. <S> Or if you really believe in your gut that the client has abandoned you and won't be paying you, you might as well pause your project now (assuming it doesn't hurt your chances of suing him and assuming you would be willing to sue if it came to that). <S> But either way, if what you said is accurate, do not apologize. <S> An apology will train your client to treat you unprofessionally anytime he wants and get away with it. <S> Also, an apology may be used against you if you do try to sue for payment, so be careful about what you say to him.
| Always get the customer to agree to the changes you're going to be making in writing . It's unprofessional, and can only lead to trouble down the road. I don't think that it is necessary to apologize. As far as I can tell, you told your client that you will be unavailable, it is part of your contract that you can be unavailable (by the mere fact that you did not agree to be available)
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How do you deal with a boss with no skills? The situation stands as follow: I am the only developer in this company and the degree of my boss has nothing to do with software development, consequently he has high/unrealistic expectations. He dreams about having the results of the competitors at no time or budget. One of the things that frustrates me every day is that he keeps comparing me (a single developer) with other companies (5-20+ developers), making statements such as follows: "X company did the same job in 5 days and it took you 20” (It is also important to note that I work part-time which apparently he never thinks about it, 20 days is not 20x8 hours, it is more about 20x4). In my opinion, the comparison makes no sense at all, and I often tell him so, but that does not stop him from repeating it the next time we discuss about it. Another point is that in terms of budgets he always wants unrealistic results with the lowest budget as possible. For example: “I want the site to load as fast as the company of my competitors (the one that had 5-20 developers working on the same project) using 1/8 of the hardware they are using. This usually keeps me doing the impossible to optimize the code and the server, yet, I am not a magician, and this is another point that we keep discussing: He wants it to be super-fast, but he does not want to get the servers that we need to accomplish that. Also , he makes me feel that I am not doing the job when it is simply not possible. Lastly, another issue that I have with him is that he does not know what he is talking about. One funny episode that we had stands as follows : “Make the database connection using just plain HTML” or “Do not use PHP , use CSS”. What can you reply to that? . Also an additional example : “E-commerce has been in the market for more than 10 years, you should be able to implement it in less than an hour” or “Responsive design is not something new, I want it to be working on all devices fully responsive really quick” or "It does not matter that our internet connection is slow,the site should be fast , look for example how fast google loads" For me , it is always a joke to be working for him , he simply can´t manage me appropriately if he can´t even tell the difference between PHP and CSS. He simply can´t as I could not manage a construction worker. How do you deal with this kind of managers? I try to explain him when he is wrong , but he is the boss , he usually feels that I am wrong or that I am not doing my best. <Q> Your employer obviously lacks the technical skills needed to give you realistic requirements, or lead you. <S> However it is not clear whether or not he can respect your experience and skills, trust you and take your feedback. <S> Have you tried explaining to him that his requirements are unrealistic, and elaborate with him, or are you just saying OK to everything and keeping all this to yourself? <S> In any kind of partnership where you are the one who has the technical skills, you are supposed to handle such incidents by e.g.: <S> Explaining why PHP is not an alternative to CSS, or that you can't make a database connection using HTML. <S> You can give him some wiki links explaining the difference between a server-side language that outputs HTML code, and Cascading Style Sheets. <S> Explaining that your hardware will not do for your site, by estimating your computing/memory/space/bandwidth needs, and your system's limits. <S> After all, if you are absolutely sure it will not work, you should be able to explain why . <S> Have in mind that if you are not capable of proving your point, it is possible you are not absolutely right. <S> Experienced or clever bosses, managers and clients can see when you are not sure, and will not take you seriously. <S> If you think you did your best and it didn't work, you just have to find another job. <S> Handling people with low technical skills, is a personal skill you might need as a Developer, especially if you are working in a small dev team, or speaking with clients etc. <S> Of course, if you just not OK having to explain basic IT concepts every now and then, you should just move on to another job that works with higher standards, better management, give you some quality training and offer you a more focused role. <S> If you had a Software Lead to supervise you, you would not have all this trouble <A> I went through a very similar situation a about a year ago. <S> From my experience, if the boss isn't technically savvy and explaining things to him hasn't changed anything so far, nothing you do will help it. <S> In this particular case, I'd bid farewell and move on. <S> No hard feelings. <S> But if you can't or don't want to quit, you have to prove your point. <S> I noticed that most managers need you to show them why X is like that or why you can't do Y. Showing some charts, tables and comparatives <S> MIGHT <S> (though I doubt it) make him go a little easier on you in the future. <S> Don't just say you can't, prove you can't. <A> In the lines of the answer from @Frisbee an alternative approach that might or might not be relevant to your situation: Your boss might be treating development as an expense / necessary evil. <S> This would result in a "squeeze as much as possible out of every developer" strategy. <S> Following this a pattern of behaviour would be similar to: I am asking him to do the impossible, he stretches himself as much as possible, I get the extra value for my money, and if he leaves I hire someone else to repeat the circle. <S> We can understand that not everybody needs to be technical, or everyone to know everything, many technical people find it very difficult to do sales for example, but it is easy to correlate that if the competition has 20 person teams then one person cannot deliver similar result in the same time frame. <S> Summarizing my suggestion would be to try to see if you are in this category or if it is just ignorance as other answers suggest. <A> What your boss is doing? <S> Since your Boss does not have enough technical skills he can not help in technical perspective <S> and he can not understand more deeply even if you explain. <S> The only thing he can do is managing you and through that he can get the maximum output. <S> For that he is following Negative motivation <S> .Basically <S> Negative motivation should not be taken without proper escapement channels. <S> In your case he can not ask huge optimization in your code with out enough tools/hardware. <S> What do you can do? <S> Get proper requirement. <S> Get time to estimate the work. <S> To estimate the work you can follow methods such as Agile and while estimate the work dont forget to consider this factors . <S> Since you are the only person working in the project tell the importance of Code Review,Testing and Pair Programming . <S> Since your boss comparing with other companies (of Team size 5 -20) tell the importance of parrell work .Since <S> they have more resource they can parallise the work. <S> But your work can not parallelised. <S> If you try to do that you may become victim of Analysis_paralysis . <S> Hope your boss will understand the situation. <S> If your boss is still not understanding the problem then look for better place.
| If your boss is not stubborn and overconfident, he should accept a technically - convincing answer and you should earn his trust really quickly. If he refuses to allot time tell him that it is necessary to quantify the work by both you and me.
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Colleague in two-person team is writing bad code, no standards, and the company is growing fast. What needs to be put in place for good code quality? Over the past year, my company has been growing fast, and we had to recruit another programmer. I am a younger programmer, I have always worked alone, well-read but never been in a team. I prefer an agile coding style and SOLID principles. My colleague, however, despite having worked as a programmer for ~10 years longer than me, has no interest in code standards whatsoever, and it's causing major issues in our line-of-business applications. Our main CRM application (which was built over a number of years and contracted to the company my colleague used to work for), which my colleague was originally brought in to fix, now suffers database crashes several times a day, and the team of people using it are losing lots of productivity. My colleague considers unit testing a waste of time 4000-line long classes, never using interfaces, and procedural style are the norm for them Through my colleague's successive attempts to "speed up" the CRM and solve database issues, the CRM now uses 3 different ORMs throughout. My colleague prefers to roll their own, unconventional approach to common problems. For instance, our CRM loses customer data without trace due to a home-grown caching layer built with stored procedures and temporary tables. Projects set up by this colleague have the bin and obj folders in version control Because we're stretched thin across multiple projects, and I haven't seen alot of what they've written, my colleague has had free reign to write bad code without checks. My boss asked me to ask this question because there need to be some unit tests and code quality checks in place, the business is severely hemorrhaging money from bad code. We need to know, having never managed a software team before: Is writing faulty code like this 'normal'? What do software teams usually have in place to stop bad code being committed like this? I'm looking for techniques that are maybe specific to a two-person team, where one person is unwilling to follow code standards <Q> In addition to Dawny33's answer and Dustybin80's answer, I would add some kind of build system to your workflow. <S> Today there are many systems that are easy to setup and are cloud hosted, some examples are Travis CI , Semaphore , and Bamboo . <S> Learn how to make the build fail with test failures. <S> Enforce as a team that tests failing means that the task is not complete. <S> I would also suggest publishing unit test coverage, which can be easier or harder depending on your workflow, but the general idea would be to look at current test code coverage, and as policy do not let test coverage fall below current coverage, since it sounds like you do write unit tests. <S> What this does, is force some amount of test coverage, and prevents your colleague from @Ignore -ing any test that he breaks. <S> My colleague considers unit testing a waste of time <S> I have encountered this attitude, and I have found that some of the resistance is unfamiliarity with how to write unit tests, and how to write testable code. <S> Usually, the uninitiated write their app code first, test it manually, try to write a unit test, get into dependency hell, and decide that the few hours they just spent trying to write a test would have been better spent writing new app code. <S> A 4000 line method is not easy to write unit tests for, and that is what they currently see. <S> Suggest that the 2 of you pair program, and walk him through writing a simple unit test first <S> and then a more complicated one. <S> Then enforce testing through chain-of command and code review that he follow this, and coach him through training. <A> Is writing faulty code like this 'normal'? <S> What do software teams usually have in place to stop bad code being committed like this? <S> Code Reviews <S> Having code reviewed by some other person in the team or by a senior helps a lot. <S> It would help in identifying bugs which the author might not foresee. <S> What can I personally do to learn common code quality workflows and checks and how to implement them? <S> There are tonnes of resources in the form of tutorials, blog posts, etc from which you can learn best practises. <S> Having them documented down for the team would also go a long way in ensuring the team writes good code. <A> I worked in a two person team and I will tell you what I feel worked very well for nearly two years. <S> Chain of command <S> , I was the junior coder and the other coder was the senior. <S> This gave us a clear point where someone had to 'make the call' if we disagreed. <S> A formal company coding standard, written by us but put in as a company procedure. <S> That meant that anything that didn't follow this was wrong regardless of if it worked. <S> Peer reviews, I looked over his code and he read mine and gave each other feedback. <S> I'm still good friends with the guy I worked with under these rules and any time we disagreed we had a clear framework to resolve the issues. <S> To address your other questions: Bad code/hard to maintain/difficult to read code is fairly endemic either because people are under pressure to produce or they just don't have the skill or motivation to improve it. <S> See Dawny33's answer. <S> I tend to agree with Dawny33's answer <S> but I would say to focus on quality. <S> There are a lot of blogs and tutorials that are out of date, contain errors or flat out contain a bad solution. <S> Don't just take the first search result as gospel. <S> https://codereview.stackexchange.com/
| You might want to try writing code for a problem and submitting it for peer review. Depends on the company, team and the practices followed by the team
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How to deal with a manager who does not respect me? I originally joined my workplace on a verbal agreement to create a website, and carry out admin work at the same time. Now I find myself just doing admin work, point-and-click-paper-pushing, and nothing skilled whatsoever. My manager likes to ask to ask me to drop whatever I'm doing and make tea or coffee for everyone, but at other times goes and makes a beverage for themselves and doesn't offer anyone else. I already feel a complete lack of respect from various incidents. However I feel this is a sure-fire indicator that they don't care about anyone else, and see me as an unskilled subordinate who's here to fulfill their whims. I can't just drop the job, as much as I'd like to, but I am working on setting up a local business to get away from this as soon as possible. In the meantime, how can I command more respect ? How can I indicate that my time is better spent elsewhere? Just FYI: This is the kind of person who answers most honest questions in a tone that implies you're stupid and you should know the answer. <Q> Is it worth raising any issues with them, or should I just keep my mouth shut and move on asap? <S> My advice is to soldier on just until you can get out. <S> I have done demeaning jobs many times just for the money, and if you know you're going to leave <S> , don't let it worry you. <S> Focus on doing the best you can as cheerfully as possible and walking away with a glowing reference. <S> You're not in a position to 'command' respect in this situation, they already have you doing low level work anyone could do, they don't need you. <S> Walk away with the most valuable thing you can get off them, (a good reference) and chalk it up to experience. <S> In a similar situation I told the manager to make his own expletive coffee and made some conjectures on his ancestry, because I had another job lined up, but in retrospect I regret the outburst even though it never hurt me in any way. <S> I did do some good work there and would have liked a reference for my scrapbook. <A> My two cents: If you believe your time is honestly best spent elsewhere, you should at first absolutely excel at what he has you doing in this moment. <S> At that point you can discuss moving into something more interesting. <S> I've known plenty of managerial staff who examine their employees, and out of everyone who does task A through E well enough, from the pool there are workers who do each task slightly better than others. <S> They get assigned to that task constantly, even if it's not in an area they would normally enjoy. <S> From there, two groups of people pop up: (1) people who excel at their assigned role and take on side projects, and (2) people who do average in their assigned role but give more effort on side projects. <S> People from group 1 normally get the better chance of transitioning to something they would prefer doing within the company. <S> People who're giving a mediocre effort at their assigned task aren't going to garner any freedoms, and they're certainly not going to be thrown into a more complex task. <S> Some side projects due to complexity will garner you some reputation with managers, but more often than not I think it would be more beneficial to excel at what they assign you before asking for more. <S> In some cases you will have a genuinely bad boss, too, and I think to some extent what to do about bad bosses has been answered time and again on this site. <S> But, I've also seen people wrongly perceive what are objectively normal interactions between boss and subordinate as disrespect from one or the other. <S> 'll be with a positive reference and another section on your resume. <S> TL;DR Do whatever you're assigned really well, and then go on to ask for something more. <S> I'd also recommend having a rational discussion with this boss about your expectations for your work, what you can do, and what he has you doing as it doesnt seem from your question that you've talked to your boss about this problem. <A> If it was just lack of respect from some coworkers, I'd say the only thing that matters is the opinion of your boss/manager. <S> Unfortunately, it sounds like you have a bad boss. <S> It is not worth the effort to fix - <S> people like this never change their behaviour, and your attempts will appear pathetic. <S> Start looking for a better job. <S> If you do have an exit plan - tough it out.
| If you can't simply drop the job, at the very least be the guy who's always good for what is assigned, and if you eventually leave it
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Is it normal to not hear back from any of the higher hierarchy (CEO, CTO, VP, etc) in a small startup once you've been hired? I've started working at a technology startup remotely as a programmer. The startup is small, around 10 people (including all the higher hierarchy). I've been approached and hired mainly by the CTO of the company. The initial Skype calls looked positive, but once I've agreed to work for them I haven't heard back from anyone except the actual team lead that I work with. So no "is everything fine", "we're happy with your work so far" or any of the like. The only few times that I've been contacted back was regarding payment info and again no "So how are things going, is everything ok?" type of questions, just a plain "Let me know your payment info, bye.". And I'm not even talking about performance feedback which seems non-existent - even the lead never says anything regarding my work - just here's a task, thanks, bye. I've been working for 3 months so far and they're planning to move me to an on-site position, but I'm starting to have doubts and thinking about cancelling the deal. The cold communication approach of the higher hierarchy is sending a really bad signal. Am I being paranoid? <Q> I've been working for 3 months so far and they're planning to move me to an on-site position <S> but I'm starting to have doubts Startups work at a break-neck speed, and you are expected to wear multiple hats. <S> So, in case you are uncomfortable, you should immediately talk with the seniors. <S> And I'm not even talking about performance feedback <S> When you are amongst the first few hires of a startup, you are expected to do your tasks perfectly and gracefully. <S> So, you wouldn't be receiving any feedback unless and until you are not doing your work properly. <S> And why do they not spend time in meetings and appraisals regularly? <S> Because startups are extremely fast-growing and most do not believe in hour-long meetings unless and until something very crucial needs to be discussed and finalized upon. <S> So, it seems like you are indeed being a bit paranoid. <S> But, you might want to interact with the CTO during your free-time for a brief chat, and discuss how your work is going on and how you are feeling at work. <S> So, your team lead is the one who'll communicate with you, and you cannot expect the CTO to ping you for a fun gossip or a casual chat. <A> Probably paranoid. <S> You are hired to do a job. <S> Only the people who tell you directly what to do and check it really need to be involved with you (that would likely be your manager). <S> Your manager's manager doesn't need to know how you personally are doing. <S> He or she will just talk to your manager how your manager's work is doing. <S> That said, it would be nice in a smaller company to have a bit more contact. <A> Usually the upper executives rarely communicate with their "resources" (employees). <S> They usually go in a hierarchy like executive -> manager - <S> > <S> team lead - <S> > resources and each level maintains communication upwards but never over. <S> The CTO hiring people suggests that they don't allow their managers/team lead to do the hiring/firing. <S> That is typical with small shops since it's so much easier to communicate between each other. <S> I would say not hearing from the CTO is a good sign. <S> If he does talk to you, then that is considered pretty serious either because the project is important or something is lacking in the project. <S> I would never go above the team lead/manager though as that is generally viewed negatively. <A> Every startup I ever worked for, I had plenty of personal contact with the CEO. <S> I saw or heard from the CEO at least every other day. <S> But these were very outgoing guys who wanted to be involved, and wanted to get to know the people who worked for them. <S> As a team, we got invited out to their houses a couple of times. <S> At my last startup, I was a remote employee. <S> But I still had a good relationship with the CEO, because I was a very early hire. <S> The CEO knew me, and always welcomed me warmly when I went to the office, which was maybe every six weeks or so. <S> You haven't mentioned if you have made any visits to the office. <S> If you haven't, you should scheduled one immediately. <S> As a remote employee, if no one ever sees you, then you will cease to exist. <S> So go the office for a few days. <S> Meet everyone. <S> Try to socialize with some of them after work. <S> Become a person to them. <S> Hopefully it will change your whole relationship with the company. <A> The fact that you are not receiving constructive feedback is a problem, and you should probably bring it up with your superiors. <S> Even a "how am I doing" conversation is a good thing to have. <S> There is actually a serious section of Managing the Professional Services Firm dedicated to the fact that feedback is essential. <S> As to contact with the higher-ups, is that a requirement? <S> Yes, it would be nice to have direct involvement with the CEO, but that is sometimes not available based on scheduling and client demands. <S> It does not mean that you're falling behind or not doing well, it simply means that the management is trusting that the processes in place will help you and be sufficient. <S> If they are not, then you should bring this up with your manager. <S> As a general rule, people need to have high availability to their direct reports an the people they are directly reporting to. <S> It is generally advisable to have some availability to the people two tiers below, but by the time you get to three tiers of leadership, that availability dries up quickly. <S> But I think, again, that the key word here is "process". <S> If there is a process in place where you have all of your needs met, then involvement by the upper management is not nearly as important. <S> All of that said, if there are only 10 people in a company, it does seem strange that there is not greater transparency in the organization. <S> It also seems a bit odd that they already have three levels of hierarchy in the organization. <S> None of this is necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely is not something I would expect. <S> I suppose I would say that it is understandable to have feelings of awkwardness about it, but I wouldn't say that it is a real red flag – again, so long as there is a process in place to meet your needs, then you should not have to worry.
| So, in your case, there's nothing to be worried about. At a larger corporation, you'll rarely deal/hear from anyone above your direct manager/team lead and he also does the hiring and probably leave the firing to HR.
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How to politely decline unproductive jobs assigned by my manager? I'm working on contract basis with an IT giant. Since I have good experience on the project which I'm working now my manager asks me to train the new recruits whenever they join. Giving knowledge transfer (KT) to more than one person is consuming ample amount of my working hours and most of the time I end up working extra hours to compensate the time consumed in KT. Also I never add these working hours ( KT hours ) in my timsheet. Now, as days goes by my work load is piling up and I'm not able to give my fullest in the project due to these non productive activities. Somebody please tell me a way to work around this situation so that I can politely say or hint my manager that I'm not comfortable on these jobs? <Q> Unfortunately, you don't get to decide what activities are productive and unproductive - the manager does. <S> The manager thought you would be good for this role and allocated resources (you) according to business need. <S> The idea is that you would be effectively doing the task you were given. <S> With regard to timesheet, to second the comments to OP, the hours spent on KT should be logged on the timesheet and there should be no need to compensate with overtime to catch up on tasks displaced by KT. <S> With regard to giving your fullest: if this means taking longer or lower quality for tasks with a rigid timeframe, I would suggest to bring this up to the manager in your next status check: <S> "Hi ___, I feel like I am starting to struggle with balancing KT and my regular project tasks, in a way that allows me to maintain the same level of productivity and pace on those tasks as before. <S> The KT work I am doing averages X hrs/week, which extends my timeframe for completing the other projects by that amount. <S> Otherwise, I would need to work overtime to make up for that. <S> Just wanted you to be aware of this and see if you had any suggestions on how to proceed." <S> This should get the conversation going and hopefully produce some changes or will at least adjust expectations all around. <S> Good luck! <A> Friend, you have shot yourself in the foot. <S> "Unproductive"? <S> To whom? <S> Once upon a time, someone had to train you . <S> Now you're the trainer <S> -- so was the training you received unproductive? <S> You have painted yourself in a corner by not billing those hours, and now that it has become the expectation, <S> you have a problem with a situation that you helped to create. <A> First, you should be accurately reporting the hours you work. <S> Depending on where you work, falsifying a timesheet (even if you're underreporting) could be illegal, and if nothing else you're currently not giving the company an accurate picture of what you spend your day doing. <S> You shouldn't go to your manager and just say you don't like this work. <S> Everyone has to do some stuff they don't like doing, and the response will probably be "Too bad." <S> What you should do is tell him that you're concerned about your ability to give your best effort towards productive work on the project when you're spending so much time training new people. <S> If you start accurately reporting your hours, even if you're salaried exempt, you can point to these reports and say "I spent X hours per week doing training over this time period, which lead me to do Y hours of overtime. <S> I appreciate the trust you've shown in me with this added responsibility, but I'm concerned about how these extra tasks are affecting my productivity on the project. <S> Is it possible to get someone else to help out with training new recruits?" <S> However, if your timesheet shows that you're getting all your work done in the normal number of hours, your manager will probably ask why the timesheet says one thing <S> and you're telling him another. <S> Also, this is based off the assumption that you're okay with doing the work, but it's just taking up too much time. <S> If you're actually just uncomfortable with training people period, that's a different discussion that needs to be had, but it will probably have implications for your future and advancement within the company if you're unwilling to take on this kind of added responsibility. <A> Given that you've been under reporting the hours worked the path forward is pretty clear. <S> Come clean to your boss that you've been under reporting. <S> If you don't want the overtime back pay be up front about that, they may be required to give it to you or other arrangement may be possible. <S> Next advise that your under reporting is at an end, if they do not want you to go beyond 43.5 hours per week some load balancing is required (less KT or less project work). <S> This is the most professional way forward. <A> I think you should discuss with your manager about the KRA and KPI set for your at the beginning of the assessment cycle. <S> Look back and check how much was the weightage for KT and Project tasks. <S> Using that as a background please discuss as commented by Aymor above. <S> HTH.
| You may have to lose your pride and tell your manager what you've been doing in order for the expectation to change. If you are not allowed to work overtime and are expected to fill out the timesheet accurately, then do not work overtime, and/or fill out the timesheet to reflect actual hours worked.
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Overtime as the only hourly worker on team I'm a new hire (4 months ago) at a company, working as a developer. I am hired as an hourly worker, and my contract states that I am eligible for overtime if I work more than 40 hours/week. The issue is that all of my coworkers are salaried, and there is a culture of "work the job, not the hours." This sometimes means working a few more than 40 hours per week, and no one ever asks to be compensated for their overtime. Although I don't have concrete evidence, I believe that on the average week, my coworkers work less than 40 hours. I'm struggling to fit in between the culture and my contract. I almost never work less than my 40 hours, and often end up working a few hours extra. I would like to either not have to work overtime without fear of appearing lazy, or to be compensated for my overtime. I brought the subject of overtime up with my manager once before, and the answer was pretty much "yes, you'll work more than 40 hours most weeks, but that's what is required from the job." There is also an overarching view from management that if the developers can't handle their responsibilities, they need to find a different job. I am planning to approach my manager again, but am unsure of how to present my side effectively while not looking like a bad employee. I feel like I am asking to be a special snowflake and be treated different from my teammates, but I don't think the current situation is legal. I also don't want to make enemies of my managers by proposing "either I work less or get paid overtime," because I think that makes me an easy target for someone who needs to find a new job. How can I manage my current situation? How can I approach these topics in conversation without potentially putting my employment in danger? UPDATE I met with my manager today to discuss the above (minus others working < 40 hours). She was very understanding, and noted that she initially had some difficulty with the hours issue due to me being her first hourly worker. She asked what was creating the extra work for me, and gave me the advice to be careful about burning out. She also wholeheartedly agreed that I should bill the time I was owed, and said she'd cover for me if she got any push-back from payroll. All-in-all, the meeting took 10 minutes and went incredibly well. Thanks to all of you for the advice and confidence! I highly recommend this approach to anyone else in a similar situation. <Q> You already approached the manager about the overtime and your contract is structured that way. <S> I have had jobs like this and never thought twice about it. <S> Work your hours, report them, get paid. <S> You are not salaried. <S> You won't get any bonuses that the salaried folks might get, you also don't get paid vacation, health insurance benefits, 401k match or a host of other benefits afforded the salaried. <S> If someone complains, it is their problem. <S> As long as reporting overtime is allowed, accurate, <S> and you are getting paid, bank it. <S> When the holidays come and everyone goes home at noon, you won't get paid and will need the extra banked money. <A> Charge for every hour you work. <S> This is a basic principle. <S> (it's not company culture, it's just what salary is all about). <S> But not on wages. <S> There are legal implications with not reporting all your hours as well. <S> There is nothing exotic about being on wages, your management already know what is required in terms of payment and there should be no problems claiming the hours. <A> Caring for the company culture is good, but here, you are losing out on hard-earned money. <S> So, you should and need to talk to your manager about that. <S> And as you are the one at loss here, you need to make sure that the management understands your problem. <S> The case of salaried workers is different from yours, and your employer needs to understand that clearly. <S> So, don't sound harsh or very demanding. <S> Just keep a pleasant sounding request. <S> Explain to them that you are open to putting in the extra efforts and also respect the company culture, but according to the contract you are entitled for overtime. <S> And before you make the request, make sure that the 40 hrs of work you are doing is productive, so that you don't want yourself to be on the defending side. <A> I also don't want to make enemies of my managers by proposing "either I work less or get paid overtime," because I think that makes me an easy target for someone who needs to find a new job. <S> You should work and get paid according to your contract. <S> Your contract says that you are paid by the hour. <S> The payment is really none of the business of your manager, you just go to whoever is responsible for the payroll and tell them how much you are working. <S> When you do that there are several possibilities: <S> One: They just pay. <S> Two: They just pay, but tell your manager's manager that you are working overtime which they didn't expect, who will then ask your manager why you as an hourly employee do expensive overtime; your manager will then either justify his decision to make you work overtime, or stop it. <S> Three: They tell you that you need something signed by your manager that he allowed you to do the overtime, and he signs that paper, and you get paid. <S> (Same followup as (two)). <S> Four: Between payroll and your manager they refuse to pay. <S> And THAT would be absolutely illegal. <S> If you are an hourly worker, and you work, they MUST pay you for every hour you work. <S> "Either I work less or get paid overtime" is not a proposal that you should make. <S> You should go to payroll, and if necessary you'll walk to your manager and ask him to sign that you worked the hours that you worked. <S> If you refuses, he is in breach of the law.
| Work to the job, not the hours is fine if you're on salary
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Significance of Blood Relation & Relatives working in an organization I want to know why, when applying to some companies, they ask if we have any person of blood relation or any relatives in their organization. Why does it matter? Would an uncle count as a blood relation or simply family? Update - There's one more question: They also ask if I have any relatives or blood relation working for the government. Again, is this normal? A person's extended family can be large, and it might be difficult to know the profession/place of employment of each relative. <Q> In human resource management there is an anti-pattern called nepotism . <S> It means that people in leadership positions prefer to fill positions below them with people from their own family instead of strangers who are objectively more qualified. <S> People who practice this are often accused of putting the interests of their family above the interests of their organization and making sub-optimal personnel decisions. <S> For that reason, larger organizations try to actively avoid nepotism. <S> A common practice is by prohibiting people from being involved in career decisions which involve their relatives. <S> Whether or not your uncle working for the same company matters depends on the policy of the company. <S> Maybe they would only care when he would be your future boss, maybe him having any leadership position could be a problem. <S> Should he have a non-leadership position without authority (and you are also hired for a non-leadership position) <S> All of that depends on the company. <S> The question about your relatives working for the government might also be related to any local anti-corruption laws aiming to fight nepotism of government officials. <S> These laws might aim to prevent government-officials from giving government contracts to companies where their relatives work instead of other companies which would do better work for less tax-payer money. <S> Such laws can often be worked around if the company and the government institution are aware of any family ties. <S> In that situation there are often steps which can be taken to acknowledge the possible conflict of interest and document how the decision was made (details vary depending on jurisdiction). <S> So a relative of you working for the government might not be a deal-breaker, but something the company needs to be aware of. <S> Before you provide any information about names, professions and employers of your relatives, you might want to check your local employment and privacy laws. <S> Depending on where in the world you work, these questions might be anywhere between required by law or illegal to protect your relatives privacy and protect you from discrimination. <S> If such questions are legal in your jurisdiction, not answering them truthfully might be considered reason for immediate termination. <A> There are several reasons, but none of the answers so far list the most important: legal obligations and disclosures. <S> For large companies (and sometimes medium or even small companies) with government contracts, public shares, contests or legal disclosure requirements to other companies (partners, clients, etc.) <S> your blood relations - and their places of employment - can have a legal impact on the contracts, contests, disclosures, etc. <S> For example, if you have an uncle that works in the aerospace industry and you get a job with a government contractor. <S> During your employment, your employer may ask you if you are available to work on a contract that you then tell your uncle about during a holiday family event. <S> Harmless as it may have been intended, for all you know you just gave away significant information to a potential competitor for the contract, which can be illegal. <S> You could even end up in jail for something you did not know was illegal (how often have people "claimed" that they didn't know??). <S> Or you are trying to get work on a the distribution line of a new tech product, and your aunt just "happens" to be the purchasing manager for the public company that your company will be supplying. <S> Get the point? <S> There are other reasons (such as nepotism or general interest), but it is very unlikely the company is trying to determine your actual genealogy or actually cares if you have family members "helping" you get the job or whatever else you might imagine. <S> If you are unsure of what they consider a "relative" then ask them. <S> If you do not disclose it to them (because it's "too hard to know" or you thought it didn't matter) and it later becomes a problem, you could end up in very hot water... not limited to just losing your job. <A> I think the answer is that "blood is thicker than water" I.e. between people that are related might impose a conflict of interest with respect to decisions with people that are not related.
| it might not matter, but they might still not want to put you and your uncle into positions where you have a lot of interaction, because your family relation might bleed into your work relation. They are most likely just trying to cover their legal requirements.
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Employer's opinion on participating in professional network platforms like careers 2.0 while not actively looking for a job I'm curious about how it might look to my employer if they notice I'm actively presenting information about my current business and qualifications on a platform such as Careers 2.0, even if I'm not actively looking for a job. Is this in generally accepted? One could assume that I'm open to new options, which, in a way I always am. However, in the business world these profiles are very public and your actual employer might notice that your experience, etc. is up to date. My question is: Do employers generally feel "threatened" by their employee's updated profiles, and by their participation on professional networking sites? <Q> The short answer is It depends on the employer . <S> I would suggest this is what the majority would err toward, but that's an opinion <S> While yet others may assume you are actively looking to leave. <S> There's no way to know, but I can almost guarantee that there will be some employers in each of those categories. <S> Personally, I prefer to keep LinkedIn and similar up to date at all times: that way I can legitimately point out (whether job hunting or not) <S> that it is simply my standard practice. <S> I update it as soon as I join a new company and regularly in the meantime: any employer can see that I'm relatively active and haven't yet left, for example. <S> That said, you always run the risk that your employer may assume you're leaving and act in a negative manner. <S> The other alternative is possibly to specifically state on your profile that you are not currently looking for a chance of position - but naturally if your employer notices this and subsequently sees it disappear, that opens up a whole different bag of issues. <A> Do employers generally feel "threatened" by their employee's updated profiles, and by their participation on professional networking sites? <S> Sometimes Yes , some employers go to the extents of disallowing the employees to have any such profiles on job portals either throughout their employment or for some initial time (maybe two years). <S> They are okay with it. <S> My employer even like my profile updates on LinkedIn. <S> So, it depends on the employer. <S> However. <S> it is good to confirm with the HR about such policies or regulations, just in case you don't want to fall into trouble. <A> Employment is a financial and time relationship between an employee and an employer. <S> Just like other relationships that involve money and time, participating in activities that could impact or even end your current relationship need clarity on expectations and relationship longevity. <S> If you are in a relationship with someone you may want them to always look their best regardless of how that may attract others to them. <S> If you expect them to only look good in private, that arrangement may also work. <S> But if your "special someone" goes out "for a night on the town" without you frequently, maybe you should have different expectations than someone that doesn't, if for no other reason than the exposure to opportunities. <S> So, if your employer expects complete loyalty from you (for whatever reason), then you should not participate in these activities. <S> If your employer doesn't mind that you "show off your talent" or even encourages it, then other things are clearly more important than loyalty and relationship longevity. <S> Some employment relationships imply loyalty, like being a significant shareholder of the company, "key person" or founder. <S> Additionally, remember that managers that advertise and participate in "employment seeking" activities should expect their subordinates to do the same. <S> It sends a clear message that their time is well spent looking for better places to work. <S> It should be well understood that relationship longevity and expectations should be impacted. <S> Employers will have a varied tolerances and responses to your behavior, but you can't expect the "really good ones" to not care. <S> But then again if you worked for one, you probably wouldn't spend time "keeping your options open" because you'd be dedicated to your current employer, just like any really good relationship worth keeping. <S> (I'm assuming career guidance, the job market, etc. are not in your line of work, of course.)
| And, some employers do not really care. Some will see it as entirely normal Others may be slightly wary/concerned but make no response unless you announce you are leaving Some of those remaining may start making some contingency plans just in case you leave, but will not directly respond.
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Concerned I was too loud/criticizing as an intern I've just joined a company as an intern making Widgets as one of few foreigners. As part of this, I read some training material used in courses that customers buy for the company's products and discovered that substantial parts of it were written in very poor English. I'm not native but I found mistakes all over the place and cringed at the bad structure. I passed by the higher boss who oversees my team as well as the training department. I offered to correct it ; he appreciated the gesture. The training department didn't seem too interested or helpful but were like 'oh sure, go ahead'. Now I'm concerned I've embarrassed the department in question having sent in the corrections: I involved the higher boss in trying to tread carefully with people who I didn't know. He now knows that I think it's bad and might follow up on the matter. I also somewhat inappropriately ranted/complained to a few of my close colleagues that the English was bad (they laughed at the mistakes) though I don't think any of that got out. However, knowledge of the matter has spread. All edits have to be formally approved. I might have caused them a fair bit of unappreciated extra work. I think they might have known about the problem but just ignored it. I've realized that they probably didn't overly appreciate getting corrected by the new intern. Should I do anything to seem helpful rather than just obtrusive and superior? I suspect that I might have to do more work with the department in question. I could stop by and ask them if my edits were useful and if they need more help. I could also just leave the matter. I'm not in the position to direct people, but I think that this stuff was unacceptable and feel a bit of personal interest of maintaining the company's professional image. Industry: Engineering, Europe Addition: I've been respectful/soft in all communication. Footnote: When customers fork out substantial amount of money for training courses, they should be able to expect that materials are free of for instance elementary spelling errors (e.g. it's vs its). Nobody in the department are native speakers but I think it's unacceptable in the safety-critical industry in question. <Q> Your question is buried in the mass of text; I suggest you edit it to stand out (bold it, for example). <S> As far as what you should do, it's simple: Just be civil and polite to them in the future. <S> Sure, you rocked the boat, but you had good intentions, and a pretty good reason to point out the issues (you could be more diplomatic in the future). <S> There's no point apologizing for your actions, because you'll only bring more attention to having handled the situation a little poorly. <S> Definitely stop talking about it with other people. <S> Just translate and send it to the department in question. <S> Most people appreciate getting help, however they prefer it come from someone who is (or at least acts) like they're genuinely trying to help them improve, not who is feeding their sense of self importance by feeding you the correct answer. <S> You want to avoid coming across like that. <S> Example: <S> Condescending: Boss, I noticed ANOTHER mistake on pamphlet X. <S> It's not "abc", it should be "def". <S> I can't believe those guys didn't catch that, it's basic English ! <S> Versus: <S> Helpful: <S> Hey boss, I think there might be a few more areas in which our documentation could be improved. <S> With your permission I'd like to suggest some improvements to the text which will help our company come across as more professional. <S> Be equally polite to the department in question: <S> Hello, guys. <S> I couldn't help but notice that there's a few ways in which our documentation could be improved. <S> I have some suggestions which I think could be really beneficial.(if <S> you're there with your manager's blessing as well as being polite <S> you should have no issues) <A> You are an intern working at a foreign company. <S> Own your cultural differences and be yourself. <S> If they wanted the exact same thing they could have hired a worker's daughter/son. <S> If you find more issues do the common sense thing to you. <S> I am not saying go off on poor work or bad employees but bring up glaring mistakes or anything that you think is relevant. <S> You have already made changes to their culture and made them follow up on things that they have pushed off too long. <S> Either the bosses love this attitude or hate it. <S> There really isn't an in between. <S> I would continue on your quest to make them a better company. <S> Either you will move on to your next job/internship or they will be looking to have you fill a strategic role. <S> Having a mediocre attitude is just blah. <A> I translate manuals as part of my services, in a similar situation I would certainly bring the corrections needed to the bosses notice, but I wouldn't make a big thing of it. <S> Carry on suggesting fixes, but just be aware of other peoples feelings (which I think you now are anyway). <S> Your little rant on bad English will soon fade into the past. <S> The biggest risk you face right now is not correcting it, but the quality of the corrections being commented on which could easily backfire your rant back at you. <S> So when doing so take especial care with the grammar and spelling. <S> I once had a manager correct my English <S> (just on an email he was supposed to approve before I could send it) and due to my English being better than his, I wasn't happy about it and told him so. <S> At the end of the day, if they're not in your face complaining, then don't worry about it, it's probably not a big thing unless you make it one. <S> Just another foreigner showing off (no offence intended). <A> For the cases you've already reported, I recommend dropping it. <S> Don't go ask them if your edits were helpful; that runs too much risk of rubbing their noses in it. <S> If answering that question isn't likely to improve matters, don't ask it. <S> Before you find yourself in this situation again, find out what the preferred channel is for bug reports. <S> A complaint that went up to your boss and down through somebody else's boss to the person who has to fix it (and get it approved) <S> sounds like it was a messy escalation even if it wasn't. <S> Is there a bug-tracking system? <S> A feedback form on the online docs? <S> Something else? <S> Report issues the same way other people do and that allows the people responsible to triage, prioritize, and group the work. <S> (For example, it makes sense to make all changes in a certain part of the documentation at the same time, even if that means the typo you found is going to sit there for a week or two while the other work gets done.) <S> Also ask about granularity and grouping <S> -- do they want one bug report with 50 corrections, one per, or something in between? <S> (I'm betting on something in between.) <S> There's no shame in people finding bugs. <S> Everybody, including you, is going to make mistakes that will be caught by coworkers; be professional about it (as you say you've been) and carry on. <S> If you've been talking at lunch about those doozies you found in the docs, it's time to stop that. <S> Focus on getting the information to the right people in the usual way. <S> (This answer is based on many years' experience in the US software industry as creator, finder, and fixer of bugs ranging from the trivial to the "yikes how did we miss that?".)
| In the future, if you notice any more mistakes, simply tell your boss you noticed a few more things that could be improved. Don't lord it over anyone, don't even mention it to your team-mates.
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How good do I have to be to be a contractor? Firstly, I am a programmer. I am currently working in a company building a .NET web app. I have 4.5 years of programming experience in companies but I have been programming website applications for 10 years now. I am a full-stack programmer capable of creating proper relational databases in MySQL / SQL, I can write SQL stored procedures which are extremely complicated but efficient, I can program with PHP / C#, I have a high level of HTML/CSS/jQuery, I know how to use photoshop / illustrator. In summary, I can build a web application from design to delivery on my own if necessary. If not on my own, I can easily work with a team to achieve those goals, focussing on specific areas. When I look at contractor jobs in the UK I see incredible salaries ranging from £200 - £400 a day for a contractor. How good do you actually have to be for these roles? How can I determine if I am capable of actually getting these jobs? I imagine them paying this much money for some incredible genius who arrives and solves all their problems? Am I just creating an image and it's not like this? <Q> As both a hiring manager and a contractor hopefully I can answer this: The day rates you say are OK, good roles can pay 600+. <S> They are paying for your flexibility, your skills and for their convenience. <S> I've had contracts where I've been expected to relocate ( or travel and stay mon-fri) at a days notice. <S> I've had 6 month contracts that give notice after a few weeks due to budget changes. <S> The money reflects this, plus the fact you may finish up and take months to secure the next gig. <S> How good do you actually have to be for these roles? <S> No easing in as a contractor, you'll be expected to be productive within a few days with little training. <S> How can I determine if I am capable of actually getting these jobs? <S> Go for them, the interviews tend to be simpler/quicker as it's easier to push you out than as a permanent staff member. <S> I imagine them paying this much money for some incredible genius who arrives and solves all their problems? <S> Am I just creating an image <S> and it's not like this? <S> You don't need to be a genius, but a skillful, driven and quick worker. <S> You also need to decide how you want to do this. <S> You can get paid via an umbrella company, tax is taken care of, but you'll come out with salary like a permie once they take their cut. <S> Alternative is your own company, much more money, but you are running a business, so you need to deal with tax, accounts etc. <S> You'll also need to pay for indemnity and liability insurance. <S> It's not for everyone, but good fun if it fits. <A> It is a fallacy that contractors know everything and that this is reflected in the rates that are paid. <S> I have worked with contractors who ARE exceptionally good <S> and I've worked with ones where it was apparent <S> they knew little. <S> This is also true of permanent staff. <S> The rates being offered and paid reflect the flexibility the company gets and the saving on overheads such as pension, healthcare, holidays that are associated with permanent staff <S> Obviously, interviews for contractors within some companies can be as thorough as those for permanent positions whereas other companies will literally take the first body they are offered as they know they can get rid of them after x weeks/months. <S> The way to think about being a contractor versus a permanent employee when it comes to skill levels is that your renewal is effectively your performance review. <S> If you are doing a good job and the project/budget is still there, you will be renewed, otherwise you will not. <S> The only way to determine if you are capable of getting these jobs is to go for an interview and see if you are offered the role. <S> To answer your final question directly, YES, you are creating an image and it is NOT like this! <A> In the united states the rate your boss charges a customer for your time would be twice your salary. <S> That covers all your benefits, taxes, insurance, vacation, sick leave, retirement, the overhead of running the company and business development. <S> So the rule of thumb for £400 a day contracting rate would be £50 an hour contracting; which would translate into a salary of £50,000 a year. <S> That flexibility you give them is what they are paying for. <S> If they need to cut your hour they can do so. <S> They can terminate your efforts based only on the terms of the contract. <S> The ones who excel in that life as a independent contractor are those whose cost of living is less than what that rate would imply. <S> In the US that tends to be people who have another source of the benefits or their retirement pay is covered. <S> That means that they can survive on a dry spell. <S> It is also done by people who are using the role as a contractor a the first step to starting a contacting business. <S> As for finding work. <S> It isn't the normal type of interview. <S> In the US you would have to bid for a contract. <S> They will want more information on past performance. <S> They will have already decided to go the route of hiring a contractor. <S> In some cases they want a very specific skill set, in other cases they are looking for a more broad set of skills. <S> Gigs can last days or weeks, or years depending on the situation.
| You need to be up on current trends/practices and skills and be able to hit the ground running.
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Should I provide my photo ID to a recruiter? A third-party recruiter reached out to me for a job at a tech company. After receiving my resume, the recruiter said that the company (which he named) has requested my photo ID. The company seems to be fairly well-known, but I've never heard of this particular recruiter before. In either case I'm not comfortable e-mailing my photo ID, especially at this point. What are the chances that a reputable company would really want my photo ID at this stage? (The related question asked about references and IDs, and the comments mostly did not address IDs.) <Q> I would say this is not common and that I would be concerned about this being fraudulent in order to facilitate identity theft . <S> Unless I had approached the recruiter and not the other way around, I would be carefully checking out the contact details and emails to make sure this wasn't fraud. <S> If it is a reputable recruiter that you approached, I would ask if it can be delayed until a later stage in the process -- while you will probably need to provide ID to the employer at some point, that point is not necessarily now. <A> I don't swallow this, however. <S> (the following reasoning is based simply on my own opinion, I have no sources to back this up) <S> Copy of your ID <S> In Canada, for example, it's illegal to discriminate against a possible candidate based on age, race, skin color, gender, religion, etc. <S> Sometimes you can tell "who you're dealing with" simply by looking at the name on the resume - but that's tricky in such a multicultural society as Canada - and the US - have become. <S> So instead, they may ask you for a copy of your ID to "help with the background check". <S> It has your picture, birthday, etc. ... <S> personally I think that's information which could be used to discriminate against you without your knowledge. <S> I would flat out refuse: <S> I'm sorry, but I have never provided an employer with a copy of my personal ID, and I'm not about to do so now. <S> I have had companies conduct background checks without this information, and I see no reason why it would be needed in this case either. <S> (If he pushes you simply state that's <S> it's a matter of personal privacy, and it's non-negotiable) <S> Note: <S> you risk being rejected by the recruiter for refusing. <S> References <S> You've already read up on how recruiters will sometimes use your references to try and expand their list of contacts. <S> Good luck! <A> What are the chances that a reputable company would really want my photo ID at this stage? <S> Pretty small. <S> I've <S> never been asked for a photo ID by a recruiter. <S> Unless your a model or actor, I cannot think of a reason any recruiter would ever need a photo ID. <S> If you are interested in working with the company, ask why they need a photo ID. <S> If they don't give you a reasonable answers, then go your separate ways. <A> This sounds remarkably dodgy to me. <S> I have had to give photo ID before to a recruiter, but it was for a security-restricted role <S> and I had met the (reputable) recruiter in their inner city offices. <S> You don't state if you've met the recruiter in person in their offices, but I would be cautious of giving over this information if you doubt the legitimacy of the recruiter. <S> What I would suggest is: <S> Ask the recruiter for the contact name and email address (an internal company email address for the person who has requested the ID. <S> Ring the company on their public line, and ask to speak to the person. <S> If they say they don't work there, then you have your first red flag. <S> If you can talk to the person, ask about the request your received from the recruiter. <S> Verify they asked for it. <S> If this person has verified that yes, they asked for it, you can email it directly to them. <S> Notify <S> the recruiter you have passed on the required information. <S> If the recruiter refuses to give this information, then I would be very, very cautious about proceeding.
| I would refuse to provide those until you've touched base with someone from the company and know for a fact that you're a contender for the position. I've heard some people argue that providing a copy of your ID is in order to help them with their background checks.
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Dealing with aggression where contacting HR is discouraged A female friend of mine has been a victim of verbal abuse and yelling in the workplace today. The aggressor is the partner of my friend in a 2-men software development team. While I don't have the exact details of start of incident (nor do I think it would effect the outcome), I do know that first aggressive behavior came from him and he started yelling loudly and even invited her to outside of company premises in an attitude like bar-brawling (I also don't think he would physically harm a 5'1" female but nonetheless it was a frightening scene and she started to cry out of fear afterwards) The thing is; company policy requires you to contact your supervisor first before going to HR. Although it is not written in anywhere, when you contact the HR, they simply redirect you to your supervisor first. Now her direct supervisor is on sick leave and she can't contact him until Monday. Past incidents like this resolved by supervisor in direct meetings where both parties are present where they kinda forced to apologize and not to make it a big deal (It's common in middle eastern cultures to handle conflicts like a 'man')And I'm not sure she could arrange a meeting with the boss of her supervisor. What actions should she take, should she start out with email exchange with HR and supervisor in order to have documents afterwards? Also she fears this may come up negatively on her next job interview and she simply wants to quit this job. Note: The company is one of the biggest banks of my country which employs 20k+ employees. While I can not give out my country name I can safely say it is located in Middle East. <Q> She has (and should have) serious concerns about this person's behavior. <S> Unfortunately, management doesn't seem to have done anything about this in the past, and thus it's unlikely that any real fallout will affect this bully now. <S> There's 2 things that could be done: 1. <S> Confrontation <S> If she really does want to try taking action this is how it might be done: <S> Email the manager and very strongly/clearly state that this person has gone way too far. <S> That she feels threatened, and that she demands immediate HR action against this person. <S> She must put her foot down and demand action or the whole thing is simply going to be swept under the rug again. <S> CC-ing the HR manager might be a good way to attract attention, although that basically constitutes a declaration of war. <S> Unfortunately this is one of those situations where you can't have your cake and eat it too. <S> In other words, you can't act against this person, however not make political waves, or avoid any risk of consequences against yourself. <S> She has to be ready to rock the boat and stand up for herself, which, from what you've told us, hasn't really happened in the past. <S> 2. <S> Abandon Ship <S> She can choose to hold her tongue, and not make any complaint whatsoever. <S> At that point she can start looking for a new job, and hopefully get a decent reference from her boss. <S> Parting with the company on amicable terms may suit her better in the long run than rocking the boat. <S> I don't know if she could request a transfer to a different office/branch, but she could potentially try that as well. <S> Unfortunately this is one of those situations where you either stand up for yourself and make a ruckus, or you bow your head and make your way to the exit. <S> Good luck to her! <A> My country is much the same in that complaints are usually dealt with by sitting both parties down together and forcing them to apologise to each other. <S> Even escalating is often a wasted effort. <S> Particularly when it is a women against a man scenario. <S> So I'm going to answer from that perspective although I know I'll get a lot of downvotes, it does work. <S> There are two ways to deal with this One <S> is to escalate immediately and go through the whole HR, make a fuss routine and perhaps get something more than an apology accomplished. <S> Secondly, explain what happened to a male relative and <S> let them deal with it. <S> I'm unsure on the Middle East, but in my culture this is an acceptable way of dealing with the issue and we have a traditional formal apology system that has to be gone through to mean anything, rather than just a insincere verbal one in a supervisors office. <S> Failure to apologise 'properly' justifies pretty much anything short of homicide. <S> The sort of men who do this are cowards at heart, the mere mention of a husband or brother at the front desk asking to see them will usually ensure it never happens again. <A> The problem of your friend is not the bully. <S> The problem of your friend are the supervisors. <S> I would wait till Monday and complain about my direct supervisor that he seems to be unable to create a stable peaceful working environment which the latest incident merely proves.
| Put the focus on your direct supervisor and his duty as supervisor and man to protect you. Putting the focus on the bully will not solve the problem.
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Should I list a company on my resume after they bullied me out? I have been working for this medical practice as a receptionist for the past 3.5 years. They aren't exactly lawful in their operation and let's just say a few past employees had to go to Industrial Relations for compensation, such as a permanent full time employee's hours getting cut, leave accumulation "disappears" etc. I became pregnant, and I was treated horribly, bullied, hours cut even though I am permanent part time, demoted to lower positions because they were trying to "help", basically being punished for becoming pregnant. I had a lot of leave accumulated, because I never take holidays and my payslips were showing I had next to none, how can this be? So when I investigated it with my mother-in-law through all my payslips going back to when I became permanent, we found I had a lot of leave, and it was suddenly gone. So when I tried to take this up with my employer, I was sent nasty emails, personal matters I discussed with my CEO was discussed in these emails from managers to an accountant (and who else knows). Basically I became a pain in the arse for them, even though I was doing what I was legally entitled to. I am currently looking for another job and was wondering should I put the actual name of where I worked on my resume or not? I would appreciate any help. <Q> I'm sorry you had to go through that situation. <S> I'd include the working experience and the name of the company in your CV. <S> Otherwise, it will look either like a 3.5 years gap or that you are trying to hide something. <S> They are going to ask you the name of your previous employer straight away, and why you haven't included it. <S> As suggested by Joe Strazzere, do not include the reference for your last position. <S> If they request a refrence, explain what happened with honesty and provide them with, according to you, the best person to contact (i.e. someone who will most likely provide good feedback). <A> I am currently looking for another job and was wondering should I put the actual name of where I worked on my resume or not? <S> Yes. <S> You can't leave it off - that would leave a gap in your resume. <S> Obviously, you cannot lie and give a different company name. <S> You usually don't need to have a reference from every company where you have worked. <S> In my locale at least, it's common to exclude a reference from your current company - since you don't want to let folks there know you are thinking of leaving. <S> Just come up with a handful of references from prior companies or other sources you can use when asked for references. <A> If your work relations was good with someone in that company, you can always put that on the resume. <S> When asked for reference, put his/her name, who can vouch for you and also convince potential recruiters that you are a good prospective employee.
| You should include the name of your current company on your resume. And you can't just leave a vague reference to an unnamed company - that would just raise suspicions.
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Is this workplace conflict too deep for an intern to get involved in? Background: Engineering, Europe, Intern Through personal contacts I got hired into a company as an intern. That initial contact is now my boss. On good terms with all my colleagues. Boss pushes through the purchase of a software package "everybody uses in this industry" for product management (five-figure price). Everybody hates it. With that commitment, if he backed out he'd lose face and somebody suggested he might even be fired by higher management if it turns out all of this was lost money. Nobody knows how he marketed it to higher management. Fellow colleagues are (properly) pissed off. One of them today said that he had lost all confidence in him. Emotions run deep. I've been tinkering with the idea to reprogram it, since I have too little to do. The developments in the last two points have me concerned that I'd be getting too deep into company politics. I can see three options: Pretend I don't know the seriousness since I'm new and bring wireframes to his office Monday. Might not lose face but is it enough to push for change? I can play the unknowledgeable intern card without much risk. Join meeting with my colleagues they were having next week with him and throw the idea in. Too much involvement? Drop the idea of involving myself with it. I still have to use the crappy program in question for another two months and will have to sit around bored and unchallenged. If I'm unclear with anything, please leave a comment before writing extensive answers :) <Q> I'd recommend you go with your 3rd option: <S> • <S> Drop the idea of involving myself with it. <S> I still have to use the crappy program in question for another two months and will have to sit around bored and unchallenged. <S> The other two options seem based on the idea that you as an intern can crank out commercial grade software that's better than the current stuff and feature complete in only two months. <S> Two months is a very short time and your software would not only have to perform the required tasks, it would also have to handle errors correctly, validate user input, be well documented, etc. <S> Software developers (all of us, not just interns) are notorious for underestimating how long it takes to write software. <S> If you want to dabble with a toy implementation in your spare time that's one thing, but please recognize that the time it takes to go from "working prototype" to "full implementation" can easily be many times the time required to go from "back of envelope" to "working prototype". <S> You run a very serious risk of over promising and under delivering. <S> This can be very bad for you. <S> Don't worry about your boss. <S> That's his job. <A> This is a good lesson for an intern. <S> The problem your team faces right now is not about software, it is about management: getting feedback and buy-in from users before forcing new software on them. <S> If your team does not know how the software package was presented to upper management, then they were left out of the loop on it's purpose, why it replaced whatever was in place before it and why they "must" support it. <S> All of us, at times, have to use software that we hate because it serves a purpose we must respect. <S> Hating new software that you have to use is nothing new. <S> You are not well-informed enough to "help" the situation. <S> And, your "fellow colleagues are (properly) pissed off" not because the software is bad, but because they weren't included in the decision. <S> If you try to "fix" the problem by fixing the software, you will do exactly what your friend did by not including the team in the fix. <S> The only "fix" is for the boss to understand his mistake. <S> As a "boss" his management will not fire him for managing a bad situation, even if he created it. <S> However they will fire him for not recognizing his responsibility to manage, communicate and help your team understand how to solve this problem. <S> (He may even be able to negotiate a refund, if the core issue is about money and given the problems you describe.) <S> If your boss thinks of things like this, management will want to keep him, of course. <S> It isn't the first time, or the last time, a decision will turn out to be a bad one; it's how he handles it that matters. <S> As an intern, unless you are close enough to your boss to help him recognize their role in the problem, you have no real role in this situation. <S> Keep quiet and see what you can learn from your more experienced colleagues. <A> Option 4: <S> Contact the support of the software company and ask them how to achieve what you want. <S> I would be genuinely surprised if the problem is actually the software and you get past step 1. <S> Software is rarely the problem, the associated changes are, like:"Why do I have to write something down <S> I didn't have to write down before?" <A> Newly implemented software systems often mean: <S> Employees are getting another added job responsibility. <S> Employees have to invest time / effort in learning the new system. <S> Employees have to contend with bugs and loss of efficiency while the new system is optimized. <S> They don't get a raise (or typically any reward) for having to contend with the new system. <S> Unless the system somehow makes their lives much better, it is reasonable to believe they are not going to be happy with the new system and may state they hate it. <S> If you want to help think about how to make the implementation of the new system go more smoothly. <S> Maybe talk to your boss about writing a easy to follow getting started guide? <S> Maybe set up a spreadsheet for all the complaints about the system so that changes can be made to improve the system and so that management is made aware of any shortcomings or bugs the system may have.
| From a social engineering standpoint, any action you take risks looking like an over-zealous, uninformed intern, which can suppress your advancement. Write down exactly what the problem with the software is, how it behaves and what you expected it to do instead.
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What if a company uses an operating system or software I have no experience? I have used Linux the whole of my studying life. But now there seems to be a workplace to apply which suits perfectly to my skills except it uses Microsoft's products. Should I apply it or study another operating system or convince the employer that I can do the work by other software than the rest of the company? <Q> It never hurts to apply. <S> The worst that can happen is that they decline to hire you, which is exactly the same thing that happens if you don't apply. <S> Be open to learning new tools and techniques. <S> It is an important job skill, particularly in software. <S> If you are welded to a single platform or language in this industry you run the very real risk of becoming obsolete very quickly. <S> Also, don't try to do the work on non-standard (to that company) tools. <S> If you're working in a Microsoft shop, use Microsoft tools. <S> By using different tools you are creating a division between you and them - rarely a good idea. <A> This would depend on what role are you looking at? <S> This would make a big difference. <S> If it's a generic sort of Office work role, then no problem, Windows GUI is not that different. <S> Microsoft Office rather than Libre Office isn't that much of a difference either. <S> If it involves network engineering or systems administration or any sort of support role then that's a whole other story. <S> For the second part of the question, I very much doubt they would allow a linux box in a MS domain, too much messing around setting up security and stuff, most of these would have group policy settings etc,. <S> and would not want to make an exception for a new hire. <S> My advice is, don't even ask, it will just act against you. <A> How open are you to learning the Microsoft products? <S> How deeply would you have to know the products and <S> what level of work are you starting here? <S> Alternatively, how big is the company to try to expect them to turn around and use Linux and tools you know? <S> These could be useful questions to ponder here. <S> When I first started working in 1998, all of the tools and operating system <S> I used <S> I hadn't known before: <S> Windows NT 4.0, Visual Studio, Internet Information Server, etc. <S> These were all new to me but since this was my first job this could be accepted easily that way. <S> Since then, I've gotten rather used to more than a few Microsoft products and am used to using them though not all of my employers have had them <S> and so I've learned other tools like Subversion, Git, etc. <S> in addition to the Microsoft equivalents. <S> Thus, I learned the Microsoft tools and have been quite happy with my career for the past 17 years and going. <S> Of course, your mileage may vary here but who knows what new stuff will come along and change the tools we use. <A> You should make it clear to your employer during interview that you haven't had contact or don't know X product or technology. <S> Then it's up to the employer to hire you and wait a little time for you to get up to speed, or just don't hire you. <S> If they happen to hire you and you didn't warn them about this during the interview, it might be very bad to you, because you ommited very important information. <S> Anyway, you have experience with Unix <S> , it won't be very hard for you to gain some knowledge in Windows. <S> Most things are easier to do on it than on Unix. <S> Unless you are apllying for a SysAdmin role, then I suggest you study a lot before hand instead of trying to learn on the go. <A> This may belong on programming rather than workplace ... <S> There wil certainly be a learning curve. <S> But just as when learning a new programming language, most of the difference is syntactic; the basic functionality is largely the same. <S> Windows versions of many Unix/Linux tools exist; the Cygwin package bundlles many of them including versions of the Unix command-line shells. <S> Windows is mostly Posix-compliant as far as the under the covers so you'll recognize many of the system calls. <S> Having said that, the gui environment is significantly different, as is the security model, and so on. <S> Windows is Unix-influenced but not Unix-derived. <S> How much the differences matter depends on what you'd be doing. <S> (I'm supporting code that runs on both; Java does help hide many differences.) <S> How long it takes to adjust to them depends on how good you are at mapping one set of reflexes to another. <S> The only way to learn is to try. <S> The only way to learn if the employer will understand that you'll need time to come up to speed is to ask them. <S> Worst they can do is reject your application ...
| If you're serious about this specific opportunity, you might consider starting to learn Windows "on spec", on your own time. If working in a Linux shop, use Linux tools. From your question I get the impression that you're looking at a non tech role, in which case I would go ahead and apply, many people walking in to general office roles are not very familiar with computers at all apart from surfing and composing documents, that is why companies have support.
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What are the professional boundaries of the relationship with your line manager? I am in a positive relationship with my manager, however I wonder what the boundaries should be.What topics should be discussed? Holidays? Family? Or just work?And how much trust should be allowed? My manager will always have his own best interest, first, no matter how like he/she likes me. I am trying to understand how to build a positive relationship with my manager, without backfiring or worse. <Q> This is not really down to it being you and your line manager. <S> It is down to how you two work together and have a personal relationship together. <S> I have worked in teams where on a Friday night we'd all go out partying and end up on someone's floor (including the boss) <S> and I have worked in other environments where mixing between ranks was explicitly prohibited. <S> In my current job, if I take the team out, it's pretty non-heirarchical, but I'll pay for drinks and food. <S> Aside from that, we pretty much treat things as equals. <S> I'd suggest a good manager <S> should at least know their team's spouses' and kids' names, and their hobbies. <S> Any more than that is good if you have a close knit team, but could be seen as weird in more conservative organisations. <S> As for your preconception, in many companies, managers get rated on the performance of their team, so their best interest may well align with yours. <S> Just try and be personable, honest and open, and take your lead from your manager as to how much sharing is appropriate. <A> What topics should be discussed? <S> Holidays? <S> Family? <S> Or just work? <S> And how much trust should be allowed? <S> Every situation is different. <S> Every manager's personality is different. <S> Everyone's level of trust is different. <S> I tend to get very friendly with the people who work for me - particularly those who have been with me for a while. <S> For me, socializing at work, with people who work for me, and with people I work for, is an important part of what makes work rewarding. <S> I would be much less happy going to work every day, if I couldn't discuss life with my work friends. <S> Regarding people who work for me, I know their families, they know mine. <S> I've been to weddings, parties, and ceremonies with folks on my team. <S> I've exchanged cards, I've exchanged gifts. <S> I have long-lasting friendships with some. <S> When I talk with them in our weekly one-on-one meetings, I always ask how things are going in general, including outside the office. <S> I ask about their spouses and children. <S> I ask what they are doing for the weekend. <S> I want to know about what is important to them. <S> When I hire someone new, I try to get a sense of how open they want to be with their lives outside of work. <S> Only on a few occasions have I hired folks who aren't interested in talking about their lives, or hearing about mine. <S> In those cases, I respect their desire for privacy. <S> While I'm an introvert by nature, I try to be as friendly as I can at work. <S> With most of my bosses, I've felt free to be open and honest about almost everything. <S> In just a few cases, I could tell they weren't comfortable or weren't interested, and so didn't share with them. <S> Only you can tell how much you trust your manager. <S> Only you can sense what you are willing to share, and how much your manager wants to receive. <S> Every manager-employee relationship is different. <A> Keep your work and personal life as separate as possible is the safest I have found. <S> I have pictures of my wife and kids on my desk, and they bring me lunch from time to time, but I don't talk about them much. <S> Firstly there is no need for my colleagues to know about my personal life in a more than cursory fashion. <S> Secondly, not all my extended family are 'housetrained' and suitable for public consumption. <S> Thirdly I have no real interest in my workmates histories and private life, and I find it uncomfortable if they push details on me a lot <S> so I keep quiet about mine. <S> One way of having a positive relationship with your manager is to do good work and NEVER or RARELY have personal issues that impact on your work. <A> I've had managers who mostly treated their direct-reports as peers, except when they had to actively manage the individual. <S> I've had managers whom I never really got to know personally, but who did a stellar job at protecting the department from administrative nuiscances. <S> I've had managers whose hobbies I've known, or whom I knew grew up helping to run a bakery... <S> and others who were entirely business. <S> As with any other coworker, this really sets itself over time, as you or they volunteer information about yourselves and decide whether or not to reciprocate. <S> Don't overthink it. <S> Don't ask prying questions unless you are invited to do so, don't try to rush it, and let the business relationship develop into whatever level of detail both of you find comfortable
| With my managers, I try to get a sense of how much I like and trust them, and then open up about my life outside of work with them.
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Junior/mid-level asking for senior role salary? I found a position advertised via a meetup mailing list and I applied on Monday, had an interview on Tuesday, got an email on Wednesday saying they are interested in making an offer and asked for references. Friday they asked me about my current salary. My problem: The advertised position (which I found after the interview) is Senior System Developer for £35,000-47,000 My last work was 1 year internship at a famous company for £20,000 and later contract work for 2-3 months for £80,000 Since everything went so fast, I would think that they really want me (since also they had other candidates the same day I was interviewed). Is this a good time to ask for more money than I would normally expect? Questions Should I give them the salaries I had at the internship and contract work or just tell them a range that I look for in the next job? What should that range be? Even if I am a junior/mid-level, could I ask for something like £40,000-45,000 or should I stick to something low? Will I come out as greedy? What's the worst thing happening if they see that I ask for too much? I do not have much industrial experience but I have some nice open-source projects that shine and I think I just got lucky at the interview of showing off those things. I am not senior, but a rather hard-working junior/mid-level developer. I am really confused on what to do. <Q> You have three questions, this is my take on them. <S> 1) <S> No, just give them the range you want 2) <S> Moving ahead is what life is all about, leave it open to negotiation, but by all means ask for the range you think you are worth. <S> 3) <S> If they think you're asking for too much, one of two things will happen, firstly you have priced yourself out of their range, or, secondly they will negotiate. <S> Normally the second would apply, and a high bidding rate means that you have more leeway during the negotiations. <S> Asking too low makes you look naive or desperate for work. <A> First, honesty is important. <S> Just tell them what you are making (intern and contract) and tell them what you expect to make, even if there is a large gap. <S> As an intern, they expect you to have a lower wage. <S> As a contractor, your pay should greatly exceed your salary. <S> They are aware of your level of experience from your resume. <S> It would be inappropriate to ask for a title of "senior" but they may give it to you anyway. <S> If they are eager to have you (which it sounds like they are) then tell them what you want for compensation to keep you happy. <S> Remember, the more you ask for, the higher their expectations of your performance also. <S> So if you get onboard and fail to perform as expected, you will have trouble. <S> However, you may meet or exceed even their highest expectations. <S> Now is the time in your career to explore these possibilities. <S> If this is the case and they are smart, they will not extend an offer at all. <S> So you could lose this opportunity entirely if you "ask for too much." <S> However, if it really is too low you are better off not taking accepting it. <S> If you are sincerely unsure of what will satisfy you in terms of compensation, tell them that also. <S> You don't have enough life experience to know if £35,000 is enough or if you really "need" £45,000, <S> right? <S> Just tell them what you do know - that you are trying to get the most that you can so you can focus on doing a good job once the negotiation is done. <S> So, be honest about what you want for compensation, be happy you are so fortunate with this situation (as stressful as it is), make sure you are qualified to do the work and try to confirm that you will like what you are expected to do. <S> Then the real fun begins!! <A> This depends on: What you will get out of the job? <S> Does the company have a good reputation in the industry and train well? <S> What will be your options in 1-2 years? <S> How much do you need an income right now? <S> Can you go on interviews for 3 months if you price yourself out fo this? <S> How overqualified you really are vs. the other candidates they get or their senior people? <S> If their senior people are a lot better than you than they won't pay you like them. <S> If you are just a little better than what else they can get, that probably means nothing to them. <S> I would just make sure you have the low end worked out. <S> If it is 50k then ask for 55k. <S> If they don't counter or continue talks then the job wasn't for you. <S> Also in my opinion your salary as a contractor means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. <S> If you were worth 80k the contracting company or the company that you were doing work for would still have you employed. <S> So as a hiring manager all I know is you weren't worth 80k to someone else. <S> I am not sure if less than 80k means 79k or 2k. <S> So I would simply go by your resume, your last job, and what I can gather from your abilities. <S> Just from the info you gave this is somewhere between 20k-35k. <S> (I know that good companies don't let young cheap talent leave easily so I am guessing they didn't think you were worth what you wanted or you weren't talented enough yet. <S> Lucking into a contract job that overpays is typical and lucky and not because of merit.)
| The worst that could happen if you ask for too much is they will feel like a low offer will not satisfy you, and you will quickly seek higher pay elsewhere which is probably true.
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Ethical to add a newspaper article that does not include my name to my CV I recently worked on a product that got my company some really beefy profits. I was part of the 12 member team which created it and I exclusively had about 30% of the influence on the project. Now since the product is gaining popularity, it is also featured in the local newspapers distributed across my city. Although, my name isn't mentioned in any of the articles, would it be ethical to add a link of the article to my resume? I am afraid that if I ask my manager, he would say no. Could it get me into legal trouble? <Q> If you aren't lying than it is completely ethical. <S> When I see names around new products I would expect to see the originator and maybe some company owners/higher-ups. <S> Your name being omitted is unfortunate but really a fact of life - you did not have enough weight at your company to get your name included. <S> Really the only way this is even a little fishy <S> is if an article gave a comprehensive list of people developing the product and your name was off - then anyone would have a hard time buying that you did 30%. <S> But as it stands you worked on it. <S> You can tell exactly what you did on the project and reference any article. <S> If I am hiring a tech person who worked on a big product like this I would expect them to be looking for a job if they did that much work and weren't even mentioned. <S> Really it is the norm in our industry and is a bit sad but often project managers get more credit than the people doing the real innovation. <S> Put the full truth on your CV and just be willing to back it up. <A> Ethical, yes. <S> Effective? <S> Not so sure. <S> A brief description of the project's context and importance ("leading veeblefetzer; won Frob Award") and a good description of what you did to make it a success would probably impress me more. <S> As it is, I'd suggest that you come to the interview prepared to talk about the project's significance and what you did for it that illustrates what you can bring to this next job. <S> I can always look up the product. <S> I can't look you up (usually), and I definitely can't look up what you contributed to that effort, and those are what you're trying to sell. <S> Caveat: I'm an engineer. <S> My ideas of what would impress a manager may be incorrect. <S> ;-) <A> would it be ethical to add a link of the article to my resume? <S> As you say you had done a significant part of the project, you very well can. <S> But, how can you prove yourself? <S> Write about your role in it, clearly. <S> As blankip said, Put the full truth on your CV and just be willing to back it up <S> A suggestion: <S> Sometimes, companies really don't like(or prefer) <S> such practices. <S> So, have a word with your manager who was in-charge when you were working on the project. <S> A tip: <S> Start by praising the project and how it really deserved <S> it's worthy acclaim in the news article, and <S> how his leadership helped achieve that. <S> This would help you earn brownie points, and then make the actual request. <S> < <S> This is just a tip, you may or may not use it. <S> >
| Write how and what work you did in that project. If you'd been cited as a leading member of the team, or if you'd said something particularly articulate about it, that might be more worthwhile.
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How to deal with a nagging co-worker who incessantly texts? After my first internship got over, I moved onto a new one. Since I am slightly more experienced than the other two interns, boss made me the "project manager" for a proof-of-concept he wants to test. So, now I am a programmer and a "manager". One of the interns just wants to finish the work without paying attention to what the boss said. He's more focused about a dot in the resume. Boss wants a working prototype that he can hand over to the potential clients and see how they react. Mr. Intern just wants to flex his coding muscles and make a dummy. So now I am bombarded with text messages by Mr. Intern asking me to get started with making a dummy and assign some tasks to him. I do not intend to be rude with this intern but I need to ensure that the work gets done as planned and not as what Mr. Intern thinks it is. What's the best way to explain this to him? <Q> Email him. <S> First texting co-workers is a last resort. <S> This would be expected out of kids playing not people trying to accomplish real work. <S> You texting your fellow interns about work and arguing makes me think you are in junior high. <S> Second as a project manager you are not his manager but managing the project. <S> So when speaking with the other interns don't speak as their boss but just the boss of the project. <S> It is not your concern that they have bad habits or are overall annoying or whatever. <S> Make sure you have an adequate buffer so that if they are late the project can still maintain. <S> In each of those tasks have certain check-in points and things that should be done at those points. <S> Fourth, follow up with them once a day or two on the tasks. <S> Inform the real manager that they are behind or you think they are behind. <S> Fifth, don't let bad attitudes make you have a bad attitude towards them. <S> I would actually recommend a one hour meeting every two weeks at least with all interns, the boss, and yourself to make sure that everyone is on the same page and on task. <S> During these meetings the boss can take care of interns not working or their bad habits. <A> First, sit down with your boss and make sure you are clear on exactly what the deliverable is. <S> Then make sure to put that in writing , get the boss to sign off on it and have a team meeting to go over the requirements with the team and do the initial task assignments. <S> When the intern brings up what he wants to do instead of what you are tasked to do, then you tell him that is out of scope and move on. <S> Start having daily (yes daily) meetings on the project to discuss what was done the day before, what roadblocks they ran into and what was planned for today. <S> I agile this is referred to as the daily stand-up meeting and should take only about five minutes per person on the team. <S> If there are problems that need to be resolved with one or more team members, get with them outside the daily meeting. <S> If he brings up his disagreement in the daily meetings, catch him immediately after the first one where he does this and tell him that is unacceptable professional behavior. <S> The next time, don't wait until the end of the meeting, tell him directly that the subject is closed and that he is not to bring it up again. <S> In those meetings, you can make sure tasks are assigned when people are done the previous tasks and that progress on the assigned tasks is being made. <S> Set up a system of code reviews where all completed work is reviewed by someone else <S> and they check that work against the requirements. <S> This will help prevent the intern from going off on his own direction unnoticed. <S> You might make sure to do the first couple of code reviews of his work to make sure he is following directions. <S> If he continues to text you about it after you have clearly and unambiguously told him that it is out of scope, point out to him that the decision is made and you expect him to stop texting you about it. <A> Just tell the problematic person that it is not your call to make and to stop texting you about it. <S> Tell them to text the boss. <S> I have no idea why you're taking their texts in the first place, at the very least they should be emailing not texting. <S> So I would explain that as well, and then block their texts if they didn't stop because it would then be obvious that they're playing with you. <A> First meet with the boss and other interns and clearly define working prototype. <S> To some people dummy data is a working prototype. <S> I don't agree with no error handling. <S> My experience is you spend more time with un-handled errors than it would take to just handle them in the first place. <S> Is the data design complete? <S> Then define the classes. <S> If you define the interfaces (classes) to the server what is the harm with some mock ups that return dummy data and let him start on the UI? <S> Later you return and get real data. <S> Take charge of the project. <S> This intern should have assigned project tasks. <S> Once you define scope / structure then it is easy to reply task <S> X is out of scope.
| If he still continues or if he decides to ignore you and do what he wants anyway, discuss the issue with the person who is his official boss for guidance on how to handle. Make sure the project is going as you want it to or involve the boss and the other interns on a couple meetings to get everyone on the same page. Third, make sure that you clearly outline the tasks that you need each of them to do for the projects.
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Should I ask for more money when salary requirements were met? I just received my job offer letter and when I looked at the salary being offered to me, it is for what I stated during my pre-screen call. $85K. When I talked to the recruiter I honestly wasn't thinking about the job since I did not expect a phone call back so quickly. I really like the job because it is going to allow me to grow some technical skills that I do not currently have. The benefits at the company is incredible. I am truly happy about it, but my wife think I should ask for more. The one problem is I will have to drive an 1hr and 30 minutes to work every day. I was thinking about asking for $90K. Would this look bad if I go back and ask for more money? I do not want to come off as greedy since I really do want this job. In addition, I do not want to come off as I do not know my value either. Lastly, the recruiter told me that they have been looking for a candidate for a year now. Maybe this can help me get the job at $90k. <Q> This is a little tricky, as they gave you the amount you requested . <S> You most likely low-balled yourself, and they jumped to offer you a lower figure than they were expecting to pay out. <S> Now here's the deal: a company will always seek to pay as little as possible for an employee - it's just good business. <S> You've already made a big mistake by showing your hand. <S> They know what you were "hoping for", and have offered it to you. <S> When you go back to the negotiating table to ask for more they'll probably be thinking this: Ethical Kid got what he wanted, and now he's trying to shake us up for more. <S> Just refuse him <S> , you know he's gonna take it anyway. <S> In the future always ask for more than you're expecting to receive, that way you'll be able to compromise on a lower figure without actually accepting less than you'd like. <S> Back to your current predicament, I'm sorry to say your chances aren't good. <S> There's two approaches you can take: 1. <S> Be aggressive <S> If they really want you, you have a much higher chance of getting what you want by being prepared to walk away, and showing it . <S> Here's what you'd write back: I was very happy to receive your offer. <S> Unfortunately, however, I cannot accept it as it currently stands. <S> I feel that based on the market average, as well as my own qualifications a salary of at least 90K would be more than fair. <S> Now keep in mind .. <S> this is written off the top of my head. <S> You'll want to refine it and get it to feel both like you're ready to walk away, but also not overly pushy. <S> 2. <S> Be polite and hope for the best <S> If you really want the job regardless of that extra 5K then you want to be polite about requesting more money, because you're not willing to walk away. <S> Thank you very much for your offer. <S> I was very glad to receive it, however, I would like to inquire as to whether you would be willing to increase the salary to 90K. <S> I look forward to your reply. <S> The worst thing that can happen is that they refuse, at which point you have to decide whether to take it or leave it. <S> Good luck! <A> If the recruiter is not an employee of the company, he or she is likely receives compensation that is a percentage of your starting salary. <S> Even though they are working for the company, it's in their best interest for your pay to be higher. <S> This is just one of many such conflicts of interest you will encounter in life (real estate, insurance agent, etc.). <S> A good employer understands the high cost of turnover, and wants its employees to stick around long term. <S> This means paying market prices, not low-balling people for short term benefit. <S> Can you substantiate that the position (and factoring your experience) is worth $90k? <S> Maybe use a current job posting for something similar, or a good salary survey if you can find one. <S> I agree that the position being open for so long (and apparently not located near prospective employees) should work in your favor. <S> I suggest talking to the recruiter and sharing your thoughts on the market value of the position. <S> Bring some solid data on the market value to the discussion - this will be more powerful than "I think I should make more". <S> A higher starting salary may make the long commute more tolerable. <S> Let the recruiter earn that commission by being the go-between with the employer. <A> If it were me, I'd call back and ask to discuss the job offer. <S> There are various components: work environment, potential for advancement, salary, hiring bonus, annual raises, annual bonuses, benefits package, commute time, working hours, etc. <S> In the call, say that you are looking forward to working for them, that you are confident you will be a good contributor to them, but that you are hesitant because of the commute distance. <S> See if they will sweeten the deal for you, and mention an extra $5/year, a hiring bonus, shifted work hours (when traffic is lighter), etc.
| It sounds like the company is eager to hire you, so that gives you some advantages, even though they exactly met your salary (I would have expected them to offer you slightly more if they are eager to hire you.)
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Should I tell my manager that I'm having (more) personal issues? My question is similar to this: Should I tell my manager that I'm having personal issues? I'd like some advice based on my situation. I'm a younger engineer. I was hired straight out of college and have been with the company for about 18 months. I'd say that I'm an extremely productive employee - to where I get a lot of praises from my manager and coworkers. Three months ago, my dad became terminal and he's currently at the end of his life. I was/ am devastated. I told my manager what's going on and without thinking twice, he allowed me to work from home until things conclude. After a few weeks of being at home, my girlfriend of nearly four years broke up with me. I'm ashamed to admit this, but the breakup is affecting me more than what's going on with my dad. And the combination of both has spread me very thin emotionally and psychologically. I set the bar high for myself and was very efficient and quick with my work. As of late, I can feel my productivity going down. I'm extremely depressed and find it hard to focus. Should I tell my boss about the break up? I understand it's petty, and I've been trying to push forward as best as I can. But my mental state isn't improving. EDIT - By working at home, I mean that I'm with my parents at their home. <Q> I'm very sorry about your father, and I also understand about how breaking up with your girlfriend has affected you. <S> Unfortunately however, the breakup will not stand up as a good excuse for lack of productivity. <S> I think the other question answers your own quite well on that account - I would definitely not mention it to your boss. <S> If you find that you simply can't deal with work at the moment, simply tell your boss that you're finding it increasingly difficult to focus, and that you need actual time off for a little while. <S> Hopefully he will understand, and the company will accommodate you. <S> Keep in mind, however, that they can only do so much before they decide that they need someone to just get the work done. <S> If things don't go quite the way you'd like, please remember one thing: this is only a job. <S> You are going to have many more of those over the years. <S> If you are away from your family during this difficult time you may regret it later. <S> Good luck, and all the best to you. <A> Terrible situation to be in, but from your bosses point of view they have already bent over backwards to accommodate you. <S> I would meet them halfway and deal with any other personal issues without getting them involved focusing instead on my work. <S> It's easy when the chips are down to let yourself get overwhelmed and push your troubles onto others, to some extent this is a good thing as it spreads the load, but one measure of a strong character is not letting this happen. <S> And also bear in mind others around you, it's not good if your father is drawn in to your problems either. <S> He may well feel partially or wholly responsible for your work problems. <S> And your mother probably doesn't need any extra worries right now either. <S> I hope I don't come across as callous, because I'm not, but this is one of those points in life when you need to man up and be a support for others not an additional worry. <A> My view on this is that unless you expect the lowered productivity from the breakup to last longer than the issue with your father (which would include some time after his death as well), I would not bring it up. <S> They know your father is dying, they will attribute any productivity loss to that. <S> While I realize that breaking up with a girlfriend is a negative event and it is painful, it should not be affecting productivity as much as you describe and likely is because it is the last straw after a series of personal shocks. <S> But most managers are not going to be terribly sympathetic to it. <S> In terms of seriousness of the personal issue to management, it comes well below: being diagnosed with a serious illness, death of a child. <S> death of a spouse, death of another family member, serious illness of a family member, and to a lesser extent, divorce. <S> If you were not under the stress of the family illness, few employers would expect a break up to affect productivity for longer than 1-2 days, at most a week. <S> In all my years in the workforce, I have never seen anyone who took longer than a couple of days to get to the point where it was not affecting their work after a breakup. <S> And probably more than 90% of the people I have worked with who went through break ups and divorces never had a noticeable impact on work productivity at all. <S> If you are taking longer than that you need to get some help to learn how to compartmentalize. <S> Taking a few days off may be all you need to regain your center and be able to work effectively. <S> You might also consider if you need to have some sort of counseling, these are all difficult things to go through, you need some tools to help you get through them without a productivity loss.
| However, if the added stress means that you are more negatively impacted in terms of productivity, you might want to consider telling your boss that the stress is starting to affect you enough that you need a few days off.
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How to make the other party say the first number in salary negotiations I'm about to start doing free-lance contracting work, and wondered the best way to negotiate my hourly rate with my client. I'd like to agree on an hourly rate, then provide cost estimates based on that. I've taken advice from other questions such as ( Does the first person to mention a number in a salary negotiation lose? ), which suggest making the other person give a number first and work from there. I feel like saying "What can you pay me?" is probably not the best opener for this. What are some better ways to approach this kind of negotiation? <Q> If you're going to freelance, you're going to be selling a product-- you. <S> Part of selling a product is setting a price. <S> I wouldn't suggest trying to get the person trying to hire you to give a number first. <S> Think of any other situation where you're trying to hire someone to do work for you. <S> If you call up a plumber, they're happy to quote you a rate. <S> If you want to hire a string quartet to perform at a function, they'll quote you a rate. <S> These folks don't ask you what your budget is or ask you to name a price and negotiate. <S> Just imagine how unpleasant life would be if every service was negotiated like a used car-- everyone would end up feeling like they probably paid too much because they didn't negotiate hard enough. <S> What you can do is to set a relatively high rate and then offer discounts to clients who do things that make life easy for you or surcharges if clients have particularly painful demands. <S> If your "list rate" is x, for example, you might offer 10% off if the client agrees to use at least 10 hours a week for the next couple months. <S> If a client needs you to do 60 hours of work a week for the next 3 months to hit a deadline, you might add a 20% surcharge. <S> This is no different than the plumber that charges you extra to come out after hours on a holiday or that negotiates a lower hourly rate to do all the plumbing for a new house than he quotes for one-off repair projects. <A> I find it very dependent on the client, if he/she is used to work with freelancers I would ask the question <S> What is your budget for this project? <S> or The range at least that we can discuss because that will give you a shortcut on where the client has his limits, it could be a very fast conversation before you discover that they are not at all fit for the kind of work you are offering. <S> or that the number you had in mind is way higher than his budget. <S> On the other hand, new clients to the freelance world are better be offered a number, so it works both for the best of the service provider and also for the client that can do his research depending on you as a reference. <S> Of course a number should be accompanied with a detailed explanation of the expenses in both cases. <A> If another party is dead set against giving a number first, there's no way to make it happen. <S> I've tried, it doesn't work. <S> You need to know and believe those two numbers going in to negotiation. <S> That doesn't mean you need to lead off with your rate -- it's much better to put off rate/budget discussion as long as possible. <S> Spend your up-front time understanding the client's problems, needs, and possible solutions. <S> Only bring up cost at the appropriate time, either when the client requests, or when you think your rate and the client's budget are not compatible. <S> Also discuss payment model such as time and materials versus fixed bid. <A> I looked at what the going rate is from the big companies, and charge the same or higher if I feel I can do a better job. <S> This has two affects, it means I get less work because I'm not in a bidding war. <S> But it also means I get paid more for what I do which (so far) has been by far the better end of the deal for me. <S> I don't have the overheads a bigger company has, so it's much more profit for me. <S> Once you build a reputation as a freelancer (assuming you know your stuff) <S> your rate for work gets around, if it's low then it's harder to raise it, if it's high, it's easier to give a client a special rate if you want to. <A> Assuming you know what the job in hand entails, I'd forget about negotiating and set about putting a definite value on what you can offer. <S> Pick a rate somewhere between the minimum you'll accept and what you'd think would be a great rate. <S> It can be tempting to pitch at the extremes but pitch too low and your enthusiasm will be sorely tested if it isn't a simple job. <S> Pitch too high and the client may make all kinds of outlandish demands. <S> If you're being negotiated down, make sure you too get more bang for your buck. <S> What exactly this would be is entirely down to your industry. <S> It might be shorter hours, part time, materials or some other kind of kickback or benefit. <S> Do your homework - get a feel for what other freelancers are charging - and also what their USPs are. <S> Once you've done your first job, revise your rate accordingly depending on the work. <S> You might charge a cheaper rate for jobs you could do with your eyes closed whereas there may be expertise you have <S> but you don't enjoy, in which case you can hike up your rates.
| A much better approach is to know exactly what you want to charge (based on your expenses, the market, your experience, etc), say that number first, and have a "walk-away" number that is the lowest you will accept. I have never asked a client to suggest a rate.
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Forgot to Ask About Hourly Pay in Interview & Got Disappointed I just accepted a job offer as a room attendant from a hotel near my place. During the interview, I forgot to ask about the hourly pay rate. Even though I am supposed to start working after 12 December 2015, I went in to get some simple training last Sunday and ended up working for 5.50 hours. I was paid for my time, and was disappointed to see that my hourly pay is AUS $14.90. I have no experience and all, but I expected more than that, especially as I worked on a Sunday. I want to ask my employer why my rate is so low, but I'm not sure how. Is $14.90 an acceptable rate because I'm inexperienced? I know that my co-worker makes $21.00 per hour, and on some websites they say I should be getting at least $18.00 or $19.00 per hour. <Q> One of two things has happened. <S> Either you are being paid under the minimum wage which is illegal. <S> Or more likely you are being paid the minimum wage and the 14.90 is what it comes to after tax etc,. has been taken out. <S> In which case minimum wage for the job you're doing + the fact that you have no experience seems perfectly reasonable to me. <A> There's a few factors you have to take into account: <S> Your co-worker may have been there a lot longer than you, and may have a higher hourly wage for that reason. <S> Maybe, as an unqualified laborer, you fall in a lower pay-grade than your co-worker Maybe, because you're still in training you were paid at a lower rate than what your normal hourly wage will be when you start the actual job. <S> Clearly, a lot of different scenarios could apply. <S> The only surefire way of dispelling doubt is to ask your employer . <S> Hello, I wanted to once again thank you for this employment opportunity. <S> I'm very happy to starting in this new position <S> come December 12. <S> I simply wish to verify what the hourly wage I will be paid is, and whether there is any opportunity for over-time, or increased rates during weekends, or holidays. <S> Regards, user44532 <S> Showing a little bit of curiosity is perfectly normal, and innocent, as long as you're polite about it. <S> The tricky part comes if you get a reply you don't like, such as <S> "Hi, user 44532, your hourly rate is $14, and you can never get overtime! " <S> At that point you have to be careful how you handle the situation, as I'm assuming you don't want to either get fired, or walk away from the position. <S> Furthermore, you already accepted the position, and I'm sorry to say this, but as an unskilled laborer you have very little bargaining power. <S> The best thing to do is to start the job, be absolutely brilliant at it for the first 4 months or so, and then speak again to your boss, and ask for a small raise: <S> Boss <S> , I know I'm still new here, but I've been working very hard, and I believe I've shown great improvement. <S> Would you be willing to consider a small raise? <S> I really need the money. <S> Unfortunately, you shouldn't expect any miracles. <S> The service industry is not well known for its generosity to the little guy, nor for its big salaries. <S> Your best bet would be to pick up some skills on the side, and buck for a promotion within the company. <S> Good luck! <A> Short answer: <S> You are quite possibly being underpaid, but this is dependent on a few factors! <S> I'm Australian too, and I went looking at the Fair Work Australia website, and found this: The national minimum wage is currently $17.29 per hour or $656.90 per 38 hour week (before tax). <S> Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 25 per cent casual loading. <S> So, if you are casual then you could be entitled to more than that, given the high likelihood that you are below the tax-free threshold. <A> As you have already accepted the offer, an increase in pay. <S> However, you can have a soft talk with your employer. <S> It can go something like this: <S> Boss, Thank you for the wonderful job. <S> It is a pleasure working under your supervision. <S> I would like to know whether it would be possible for me to get a salary hike for around $____, as it is becoming difficult for me to carve out a living. <S> However, it is just a request. <S> I would totally respect your decision either way. <S> regards, XYZ <S> This would neatly put forward your request without appearing to be threatening, and also give your boss the time and space to think.
| Call, or better yet, e-mail your boss, and casually ask what your hourly wage is:
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Quitting after one month because I don't like the project I've been put into I know that the question "is it okay to resign after one month" has been asked before (like here ), but in the questions I've read people left mostly because of a bad working environment and that's not my case. This is my story: I'm in software development, I don't like the project I've been put into, and I don't know whether I should wait a bit to see if I even understand it / like it, or just leave. It's related to a field I'm not interested in, and the UI is so dull it annoys me. I don't feel motivated to improve it, and I get a sense that because of the sheer size of the project I won't have many opportunities to suggest changes to the system. Also, some coding practices are questionable. So why did I join this place you ask? In the interview I was told that this was a big project where I could learn a lot, full-stack stuff, etc. I like to learn so that bought me in. But here's the thing: they also told me what the project was about, and I still accepted it. Now, a few weeks in, I feel like this isn't the project for me. I received all sorts of training on basic stuff but I expected training on the business model and got none. How can I ever code for a system whose rules I don't know? I asked my colleagues and they told me that this was expected, that they didn't get trained either. I even talked to one guy who worked there for a couple of years and he said he didn't understand half of the system, but that there's a reason many people stay here for so long. He said I should wait it out, that it gets better. So to wrap up: it had never happened to me before, but I don't feel motivated to go to work every day, I keep staring at the clock, and it's driving me mad. I think part of this is also because I haven't been assigned many tasks yet, but I don't know how to keep myself entertained during the ramp up period. There isn't much documentation to read. tl;dr: the title really. Is it okay to quit after 1 month just because you don't like the project you've been assigned to? (A long-running project with no prospects of finishing soon). If it is, how do I phrase that in an exit interview in a way that doesn't make me look like I can't deal with challenges? <Q> When you accept an offer, you only know a few things about the company and the projects. <S> The same goes for the company: they barely know things about you, other than what they could see in a couple of interviews. <S> That's why there are probation periods. <S> Don't forget they are trying to sell you the company and the projects and you are trying to sell them your skills. <S> This similar situation happened to me not long ago. <S> I joined a company and I was assigned to two awful projects, and I wanted to quit. <S> I talked to my manager. <S> I then got transferred to a better project. <S> A few months later, not only I don't want to quit, but I have been recently promoted. <S> Anyway, if you feel the company is not a good fit for you, don't be afraid of quitting and looking for something else. <S> I hope this helps, and good luck! <A> It's not really "okay" -- you wasted some of the company's money and may have kept someone else from getting a job a job they needed. <S> But if you're going to run screaming, better to do it before they waste - more money on you. <S> Don't expect to get references; you might not even want to put this one on your resume. <S> However. <S> It is unclear that you will be given a project you like better elsewhere, especially since insisting upon short projects may make you an unattractive candidate for anything much above sysop/code-monkey level. <S> It sounds like you are expecting too much, too soon, too perfectly. <S> The real world isn't academia; it has to deal with legacy code and partitioned responsibilities. <S> I do wish you luck finding your ideal job. <S> You now have a new set of questions to ask -- carefully -- when being interviewed. <A> If the situation appears very grim and when your work enthusiasm has absolutely been dead, I don't see a reason why you should stay there. <S> (Quitting is always better than getting fired.) <S> However, I would advise you to talk with your manager first, and discuss your problems. <S> He might have a solution which can work for you and the company too. <S> Else, you can also ask for an internal transfer to a team which you think you'd be an ideal fit. <S> [Edited to accomodate a nice comment from Lilienthal] <S> In case you are inclined towards quitting, make sure you have enough financial backup for that. <S> Else, an even better step would be to search for a nice alternate opportunity before calling it quits.
| So, it is okay to call quits before you waste more of your time being unproductive and run the risks of getting fired. Unlike the other answers, my opinion is that you should talk to your manager about this, and ask him about the possibility of being switched to a different project.
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Salary expectations with plenty of experience but no credentials I'll try to keep this as simple as possible. I work for a company that provides services to other companies within a specific industry. I've been working for the same customer for over 10 years and in that time have amassed enormous amounts of priceless experience for that specific customer, along the lines of, I'm one of perhaps 3 that really understands what's going on. I'm planning on leaving my current employer and gave the customer first chance at extending an offer of employment; they're desperate to retain me and have already offered employment. I know what my salary expectation floor is, but I've no idea how high the ceiling is. I know some millwright stuff for fixing mechanical issues, but I'm not a millwright. I know some IT stuff for checking the database or auditing software, but I have no computer science degree. They have payscales for all of these jobs, but I have just enough experience in each of them to exactly fit the line of business but can't claim to be a master of any. Where does one start trying to figure this? <Q> they need me more than I need them <S> and they've been getting me at bargain barrel prices for years <S> I used to think this about all my employers, its rarely true. <S> Company's first priority is continuity through staff losses. <S> They'll get someone else in there <S> and they will, after a while, fill your shoes. <A> One key problem about having a very good breadth of experience in an organisation, but not a professional level of depth in any given individual area, is that there might not be one single individual manager or department who finds you indispensable. <S> You can be indispensable without being seen as indispensable. <S> As has been mentioned, the way to get increased reward for your breadth is to get a professional-depth in one specific area, which is then supplemented by your strong breadth of knowledge in many other areas. <A> Where does one start trying to figure this? <S> They already know you <S> , they know you have the skills to do the job <S> and they want you full time. <S> Therefore you are qualified for the position. <S> I would take the high end of their payscale in whichever pays the most as a starting point for negotiation. <S> They're not just getting a competent employee, they're getting one who will hit the ground running and is already intimately familiar with their needs and all the rest. <S> Always aim high <S> is my policy <S> , you can always let them negotiate you down, but often you will find that they negotiate down to a higher figure then you would have accepted anyway. <A> I would echo with Jane's comment here . <S> It does happen. <S> For example, when data science was growing as a domain, no one knew what the salary range would be, and how much to bargain for. <S> So, you need to ask them about the figure and then start negotiating with them, depending on the cost of living at the place and the figure you have in mind.
| Take the job and set yourself on a career path that involves training / certifications / career development.
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How do short-term temp assignments affect my resume and career path? I am looking for work and registered with some consultancies. They called me for two week jobs, but when I met them, I told them that I am looking for permanent or temporary work for more than three months' duration. I'd like to put these assignments on my CV. I always tell them I am not interested when they call with short assignments. I want to know whether it is good taking short jobs, and how it affects my CV and my career. Why do employers offer such short-term employment? How can gaps on the CV be explained to a potential employer? <Q> Taking a two-week job doesn't harm your resume and puts two weeks of wages in your pocket. <S> On the other hand, it might be enough to make you no longer eligible for unemployment insurance or similar programs; we can't answer that untill you tell us where you are. <A> I want to know whether it is good taking short jobs, and how it effects my CV and my career. <S> What if in taking the short-term job, you then have access to the internal job postings that can be applied as you are a temporary employee of the company? <S> What if you could see the jobs that don't have dozens of applicants as it is intended to be filled internally? <S> Just something to consider for a potential positive here. <S> Why employers take such a short term employees? <S> Because if the receptionist is away for a few days, someone may be called in to take over for that time period. <S> Do you have a solution for what a company should do when the receptionist wants to take her week long vacation and everyone else is already busy with projects? <S> Note <S> that receptionist here is just a specific example. <S> There can be others where temporary workers may be used on short-term placements because something has to get done that may not last more than a few weeks. <S> How gap can be explain on CV or to the potential employer when asked? <S> If the person is using this as a way to get some experience, they may well list months or years on their resume so that a gap isn't necessarily that apparent for one point. <S> Secondly, who is to say that the gap has to be brought up at all? <S> Some employers may not focus too much on gaps if they need people for shifts to keep things running and don't want the bosses to be the ones coming in to do the work. <A> I want to know whether it is good taking short jobs, and how it affects my CV and my career. <S> The effect of temp work on a career depends heavily on the role and the type of positions as well as their length. <S> It's different for every industry and profile. <S> Very short-term work is usually reserved for positions with less experience required and less glamorous work: admin work, receptionist duties and secretarial and clerical work. <S> Such positions often don't have the same career progression as other office work but as an advantage their experience counts in full on your resume. <S> One downside is that once you establish a history of temp work it can be easy to get pigeon-holed into that type of work by recruiters and you'll want to make an effort to confirm that you're looking for full-time work. <S> Why do employers offer such short-term employment? <S> To cover short-term absences and other types of leave. <S> Temp workers with renewable contracts are also much cheaper and easier to replace, though this is a much greater concern in countries with very long notice periods. <S> How can gaps on the CV be explained to a potential employer? <S> By grouping all short-term work in one header and summarising it: Management Assistant (2015-02 - Current) Company X (2015-02), Company Y (2015-03 - 2015-04), Company Z (2015-04), ... It'd be best to check with someone at an employment agency in your area to find out what the conventions are. <S> You might give a single date range for instance and drop the dates for individual companies (especially for very short-term assignments). <S> You might list the temp agency as your employer instead. <S> The one caveat here is that you want to avoid padding out your resume: if you were fully unemployed over the summer, you probably can't list temp work as " <S> May 2015 - Current" <S> but if you've worked in these types of positions for multiple years and been mostly employed during that time it would be fine. <S> Have someone with experience hiring check your resume to figure out what the best format would be and to avoid misrepresenting yourself. <A> I am assuming this is not a long term strategy and considering it is xmas. <S> I assume you are not in employment. <S> So the money will help. <S> You do not have to put it on your cv. <S> You get some feelers out as well <A> Temporary work often leads to longer term employment. <S> A temporary worker that stands out by working hard, showing up on time and getting along well with others will be noticed. <S> Pursuing temporary work between longer term jobs shows motivation and energy.
| I don't think temporary work hurts a resume either, although it probably won't make sense to list every temp job you had.
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Sending out my resignation letter while being on leave overseas I'm in quite of a bind here. Although this is unintentional, I've found myself in an awkward situation where I've been offered a job that I'm interested in while being on annual leave, and I'm not coming back for 1 more week. I'm currently overseas where coming back isn't an option unless I wait for my return flight which comes in a week. I don't exactly have the luxury of time to wait until next week to personally hand in my resignation letter, so I'm looking to do it by email. Is there anything I should be aware of? Anything ethics related, or when the notice period starts, and things I could do to smoothen the process? Thanks! <Q> It is very common to give notice immediately before or after a vacation period. <S> It is not ideal as it can cause coverage shortages, but it is far from uncommon. <S> Ideally, you should at least call your manager or, barring that, HR. <S> Discussions will need to be had over what next steps will be needed including off-boarding interviews, etc. <S> If you do not have the ability to resolve these questions by phone, then an email should include your willingness to follow the steps above. <S> That should minimize ill-effects mentioned by other posters. <S> From a legal perspective you should check your company's policies which should be in an employee handbook. <S> While I cannot speak to your particular case, it is not possible to legally force people to work in the US under most circumstances. <S> All of that said – it should be noted that if they can arrange coverage for you when you are on vacation, then it is unlikely that they can't find a way to cover after your departure. <A> Why do you have to tell them now, rather than after you get back? <S> You should be able to delay the start of the new job a few weeks, to allow a respectful notice period in which to transfef knowledge before you depart. <A> Anything ethics related, or when the notice period starts, and things I could do to smoothen the process? <S> There is nothing smooth about resigning by email. <S> It's totally unprofessional and would put you in a terrible light with your former employers. <S> I would only do this if I was in a toxic work environment where I couldn't care less about them or about getting a reference. <A> Unless you wan't to burn bridges, don't. <S> In short, unless you never want to work for your current employer again, don't. <A> Your notice period starts when your company receives your notice, or when your company didn't receive your notice through their own fault (for example if you write a letter <S> and they don't open their letter box for a month <S> then they have legally received your notice when it arrived in their letter box, not four weeks later when they opened it). <S> In case there is an argument, you might have to prove that date. <S> If your company has a fax machine, sending a fax might give you the evidence. <S> Otherwise, a registered letter but that might be a bit difficult when you are abroad but only for a short time.
| You should do your best to comply with reasonable requests from your soon-to-be-former company unless you want to burn bridges. Your hiring company will probably be willing to wait so that you can comply. Resigning via email while on your annual leave is unprofessional and has the potential to completly blindside/sabotage knowledge transfer efforts of the company. At the very least I would send my resignation in writing by normal mail and a phone call if it's totally impossible to do it in person.
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How to reply to "what is your career goal" when your career goal is not in the same industry? After obtaining my master's degree, I am applying to doctoral programs; my career goal is to work in academia.However, during these months I have to save more money for my future possible studies by applying to various kinds of jobs. I will hear back from the schools that I am applying to after March 2016; if I am admitted, then I must quit my job (if any) on August 2016, say; if not, then I will continue to work for one more year and apply to doctoral programs again next year. From time to time I was asked questions such as "what is your career goal" or "what do you want". Given that I just want to get a job to save more money, that I know that if I tell them I am applying to doctoral programs and want to work in academia then I would have no chance to get the job, and that I do not want to lie, I wonder what a wise way to response such a question is. <Q> In general it is not required to reveal your entire career plan when you are appearing for a job interview. <S> Questions like "What are your career goals?" are generally asked to check how aspiring and motivated the candidate is. <S> I am not very certain if it has real meaning to ask, as career directions and plans could be very dynamic and adaptive. <S> It also depends on the position you are applying for. <S> If you are appearing for a position in a research department or internship in your field of interest. <S> Then mentioning academic interest would help as they may encourage you to pursue. <S> If you are looking for corporate jobs who focus on impact to business only, it may hinder your chances. <S> Alternatively you may want to say you want to pursue a direction of continuous learning which would not raise a red flag to interviewers and you would not be lying :) <A> I think you're going to need to be on the discreet side with this. <S> It kind of varies based on industry, company, position, etc., <S> but I tend to think 2 years is an OK amount of time at a company and planning to leave in just a year might lead to you being passed up. <S> So, talk about something that isn't planning on being in academia in the near future. <A> This is a very lazy but common question where the interviewer is demonstrating their lack of experience in effective interview techniques. <S> They probably haven't read your CV/resume very carefully and so are resorting to asking generic questions. <S> It is asked often enough that it's good to have the answer ready before each interview <S> , I would guess I am asked this, or some variation of it, at about a third of the interviews I have attended. <S> Don't reply by saying that you want the interviewer's job either! <S> I wouldn't mention your academic aspirations if you want to be successful at interviews where you just need to earn money. <S> You don't need to lie but to be a little creative with your storytelling! <S> I would be tempted to answer along the lines of that I am looking to progress my career within the company, but make sure you know enough about the company and the position you are applying for. <S> Most people don't really know what their "career goal" is anyway <S> and it changes frequently during your lifetime for a variety of reasons, some out of your control. <S> Use this question as another chance to sell some of your qualities, such as determination, hard-work ethic etc and also show off that you know a bit about the company and the role. <S> Good luck!
| What the interviewer is looking for is an answer that demonstrates you will fit into the role you've applied for, will carry out the role for a reasonable period of time, ie long enough so they don't need to find a replacement for you in a few weeks or month etc.
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Who is at fault if drink on desktop ruins electronics? My colleague came to me and, while we were talking about a project, he accidentally spilt my 1.5l mineral water directly on my two personal cell phones and some papers. Not a big deal, I jokingly say that if they broke he could buy me new ones. And that's made him mad. Like: it's your fault, you're not allowed to leave open bottles on desk, next time take a bit more care... etc. This took place in Germany. It's my first job in this country and I'm not sure if I should raise it with my manager or leave as it is? By the way, this colleague is my mentor; from this point of view I don't want to break our relationship. However, I do feel a little oppressed. <Q> I have offices in Frankfurt. <S> There are no "extra special" rules that I know of in Germany. <S> We are tech and have open cups laying everywhere with water, soda, and whatever. <S> If a coworker spills something on your phone this is a tricky subject no matter if they are a superior or not. <S> You have to take the following into account: <S> what was the liquid in. <S> If it was in something that could spill easily and was tall that really make it more of your fault. <S> where was the liquid. <S> If it was right by the keyboard and someone is helpinng you, again that is more your fault. <S> where were the electronics. <S> If the phone is right next to the drink, again stupid. <S> what was the action of the coworker. <S> If the coworker were throwing a ball and knocked it over this is much different from him hitting it with his elbow as he tries to show you something. <S> So there are degrees of fault with things like this. <S> If it is even close to 50% it is really best for you to take full responsibility in a work environment. <S> Your coworker response could have been warranted if you had a really easy situation for your electronics to get damaged and you looked at him like a dufus after he hit your drink. <S> Update: <S> As a good comment remarks the degree of fault will probably come down to your word against your mentor's. <S> Unless this incident was captured via video I wouldn't touch it. <S> Who would your HR believe even if you were completely telling the truth and right - the new guy or the mentor? <S> Moral of the story here. <S> Take care of your own crap. <S> Put your personal electronics away. <A> You're not in position of force, there. <S> he's above you, kind of. <S> So if he's wrong, he's right anyways. <S> you were not cautious by leaving an open bottle next to brittle electronic parts. <S> Allowed or not. <S> I took the risk. <S> And if someone else had spilled my own tea over my keyboard, I still would have been guilty. <S> If there is no risk, there is no accident. <S> It's even worse in Germany, they are rather touchy about safety at work. <S> But everywhere in the world, I'd expect you to assume the risks you've taken. <A> In Germany, this is simple really. <S> He broke it, he pays for it. <S> End of discussion. <S> Details: <S> It's very inexpensive. <S> So what really happens is you both sit together and fill out his insurance's form for such matters. <S> Then the insurance pays for your damages. <S> He will not lose a single cent over this. <S> Workplace regulations do not play into this for everyday life. <S> The insurance will not care. <S> After all, it could have been their precious equipment that got damaged, instead of your phones. <S> But that's an independent case. <S> You could have gotten in trouble for it even if the spill missed your phones by a mile. <S> You may want to remind him of these matters, maybe he does not know either. <S> He probably has an insurance <S> , he just does not know it works this way. <S> He does not. <S> Chances are, his insurance covers it and there is no reason to get mad at all.
| He probably got mad at the thought of having to pay hundreds of euros just because of a clumsy split-second move. The insurance will not even raise it's rates over a single common incident like this. Everybody in Germany has an insurance called "Haftpflichtversicherung" that pays for anything you accidentally damaged. I killed a keyboard by spilling tea over it - fortunately, it was not a laptop's keyboard, but still. Assume responsibility for accidents that you encouraged. If it is company electronics make sure they don't have eat at desk rules. However, you could still get into trouble with your company.
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Who are the most suitable people to be chosen as job references in résumé? I am in the process of searching a new job. If I would be asked about references who I know, whose name should I include in the résumé/job application form etc. Please help me choose the best reference. 1. Current project Manager2. Team leader(from different teams also)3. Team member(Development team member)4. Other colleague from same company5. Family and Friends thanks. <Q> Of your list, the only people who would not make a suitable professional reference would be family and friends. <S> If you needed personal or character references, then you can turn to these people. <S> However, most companies want professional references, which are the people that you work with. <S> The people that you work closest with would be the best references - your immediate supervisor, your team lead, other members of your team, or your reports (if you're in a management position). <S> Anyone who can speak to your work ethic, your skills and abilities, and your personality would be the best references. <S> One rule to follow, though, is to ask the person before you give their name and contact information on an application. <S> You want to make sure that they are willing to be a good reference for you and that you won't be surprised by what they tell a company. <A> Managers and Clients <S> These people have direct knowledge of your work, time management and workplace interactions . <S> They can speak directly to your performance and the value you bring to a project. <S> They are ideal references . <S> Generally, these are the only references a hiring manager will be interested in! <S> Accordingly, you should try to ensure that all references you provide are from managers or clients as all others will have little or no value. <S> Colleagues and Coworkers References from coworkers generally have much less value and many hiring managers won't consider them much, if at all . <S> They are offered in cases where managers are not able or willing to give a strong reference. <S> You'll want to disclose the reason you're providing colleagues instead of managers as a reference as this is a potential red flag for a candidate. <S> Giving colleagues you never worked with as reference will have negative value: they can't speak to your work at all and they might not even remember you. <S> Family, Friends and Significant Others <S> These are assumed to be biased and you should disclose the kind of relationship you had if you provide them as a reference. <S> Because of the bias their reference is much less valuable. <S> Only provide these if they managed you directly and you have no alternative manager to list. <S> Personal references are useless unless specifically asked for or in certain fields like childcare. <S> Value over Time <S> In most cases, the older a reference is, the less value it has . <S> Potential employers are interested in your current work ethic, not what you did 10 years ago. <S> In most countries, you won't list references from your current job to avoid disclosing your job search. <S> There are some exceptions of course. <S> If you've changed industries and are moving back to a job in your previous field then older references have more value. <S> References from high-profile companies can also have more value than more recent ones from less important companies. <A> I think there is really more info we would need to answer this right. <S> You cannot give away managers as references if those managers are not good with you leaving. <S> I would be very strategic in making sure that you have a very good personal relationship with those you are giving references and make sure they understand you are looking - and friends can mess up sometimes <S> so this has its dangers. <S> Also clients could also be put in a very weird bind in that they would answer questions for one company knowing you are looking. <S> Depending on your job clients may not be happy that they are losing a key person at their vendor. <S> A client may ask why you are leaving to your managers. <S> Giving clients as references could get you fired on the spot. <S> As it stands clients have the most clout as references and then managers and then coworkers. <S> You often have to give these references from your previous job or previous clients or managers who are not affiliated with your current company.
| You may end up out of a job if you just give away coworkers as references from current job.
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How to not talk about a previous job in an interview I had worked for a company which turned out to be family business . Because I did not want any part in certain business activities , I quit - and surprisingly was even allowed to do so, but of course under obligation to never talk about it . While I had jobs before and afterwards, this is my only "regular", full-time employment so far and the only employment where I got a certificate of employment (which does not say anything, of course). I probably cannot leave the time span blank in my CV (can I?), but what do I say when I am asked in an job interview what the firm did and what I did there (without getting shoes or time )? <Q> It is really simple. <A> You cannot not talk about it; not if you want to be hired. <S> A blank space means one of two things to an interviewer (if you even get that far): <S> You were unemployed <S> You were in prison <S> So unless —as some of the comments are suggesting— you did work in organised crime <S> , I'd seriously question the enforceability of this exit NDA. <S> Trying to gag somebody after they've started is pretty stupid. <S> That's why most companies have you sign them before they show you the secret stuff. <S> Objectively speaking, leaving this NDA hanging over your head unresolved is probably going to affect your future employment. <S> It's a question-mark on your record. <S> A candidate without a dubious employment history is probably going to get your job. <S> So try to get rid of it. <S> Talk to your past employer and come to an agreement. <S> Don't sign anything else though. <S> If they want you to sign more rubbish, talk to an employment lawyer first. <S> Failing that describe what you did, the skills you used, how you developed, etc... <S> But expect to answer questions on it and expect to discuss this non-disclosure settlement you've slipped into. <A> I don't see why you can't just put a very bland face on it. <S> It's not a feather in your cap of course, and likely can't be used to promote your skills, but there's no reason it has to be a big hole or even all that mysterious. <S> Select some of the elements of your work that were harmless, and make them the whole job. <S> You had to have done, at least a few times, simple things, or things that can have a good face put on them. <S> You were an office assistant. <S> A driver. <S> You sent faxes. <S> You delivered communications to clients. <S> You were a personal attendant. <S> And so on. <S> The business name can be very bland, too. <S> Something like "Private Construction Company" or "Family Business". <S> You can be honest that it was a family business <S> and they're peculiar about the details of their exact identity not being broadcast. <S> There are many such kinds of operations that are perfectly legitimate. <S> I once worked legitimately for a company for 18 months or so, where half the employees (3 or 4 of them) reported for work daily to the CEO's own apartment, and sat at desks in her living room! <S> For someone with as little experience as you, this will not be such a bad thing.
| If they don't want to drop it, at least come to an agreement about what you can say. You tell anyone in your interviews that you agreed to a full non-disclosure with your last company and cannot provide any details about what you did although you can go into detail about your skills (one huge one right off the bat - being able to keep a secret well). Just discuss it in general terms, as honestly as you can, and don't let on that there was anything unusual about it.
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Listing "Outside" business (ebay etc) on CV and sites like LinkedIn Is it appropriate to list an "extracurricular" business (selling crafty stuff on eBay or Etsy for example) on CVs, LinkedIn etc if they are unrelated to my "career" activities ? Lets say I'm a Embedded Widget Programmer by day and sell Customised Cat Car Decals by night? If my current company doesn't know about this would it change the situation? Edited to add: an extracurricular business is run just by myself and shows more of the whole "spectrum" of business I.e. planning, buying, sales, admin, accounting, customer service.......than a specialised role as Widget Wrangler does. I don't get involved with buying, budgets, accounting etc at WidgetCo as they have dedicated people for that.edit2: Do employers only want the people who fit narrowly to the printed requirements..? <Q> If it doesn't relate to the job you are doing, leave it out. <S> However, if you feel it may upset your employer then I would mention it passing - over lunch , to see how they feel about it. <S> In bigger firms, there are legal requirements so you may very well need to divulge it <A> If you made/customised your own store platform and are applying for a web development position and the site speaks to the quality of your work <S> then I'd list it. <S> When and how a particular activity meets the bar for inclusion is highly dependent on the context and your level of experience. <S> On LinkedIn I'd include this kind of activity under interests. <S> Please don't list yourself as the CEO/Owner of your own business unless it's a significant source of income rather than a hobby. <S> If my current company doesn't know about this would it change the situation? <S> Depends on your contract. <S> Some no-compete clauses rule out all commercial activity and that could become an issue. <S> That kind of question is largely off-topic on this site, you'd have to check your contract or company policy and potentially discuss it with a laywer. <S> In most industries you could just ask your manager or HR instead if you think it's a problem. <S> Only dysfunctional companies will object to employees running an online crafts store as a hobby. <A> When I recruit I always look for what extra-curricular activities people have on their CV. <S> It helps me get a view on wider aspects of their activities and their interests. <S> I far prefer to hire people who can do a lot of things at once, and evidence of success from other jobs, volunteer roles etc is a big plus from me. <S> If your other job directly conflicted, then I'd also want to know about it as that wouldn't be good to suddenly discover later on after I'd hired you! <A> It is really simple. <S> Leave it out. <S> Who cares? <S> It makes me think you aren't giving work 100%. <S> It makes me think you don't think you earn enough with your job and will looking to make extra money in different areas. <S> Moonlighting is a tricky business. <S> It is really tricky when it is stuff like ebay and etsy. <S> I have had workers use both and this always spilled into 9-5.
| If you should list it on your resume depends on which skills, if any, transfer from the extracurricular activity to the position you're applying for. Crafts and e-retailing are not things that I would list as a programmer.
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Coworker not taking a hint to stop stupid recurring email joke Quick background: I'm relatively new at my workplace (a few months in). I was recently chatting with a coworker when I found out that I may be asked to present something to the team later this month. My initial reaction was one of slight anxiety and I expressed that to my coworker, who basically laughed at me. Once I had conquered the initial anxiety, he joked that he would remind me of the inevitable presentation so that I "don't forget it". I've since gotten over my anxiety but he's sticking to his word and every day has sent me a message or an email saying "don't forget!" I understand that to him this is all a joke but A) it's a little off-putting that this is his reaction to something that clearly stressed me out and B) how do I politely let him know this game of his isn't funny and I'm over it? I'm not asking to be coddled at all, I can handle my own anxiety and stress factors well enough. They don't affect my performance or my work and I was simply expressing initial gut reaction to him. I find his behavior childish. Neither of us are in a superior position over the other but he has been here longer than me and I don't want to come across as the "b-tchy newbie". He's also not being malicious about it, he clearly means it as a harmless joke, but at this point it's severely annoying. I'm currently the only one he is doing this to (that I know of) so it's not like a group of us can lodge a complaint. Is there a recommended protocol for dealing with annoying one-on-one coworker behavior? <Q> Hints make for poor professional relationships. <S> If you want something you are best off asking directly. <S> In comments Stephan Kolassa gave an excellent example. <S> I would say "Got it in my calendar and am fully prepared. <S> These reminders are getting to be a distraction from my work <S> so let's let it be. <S> Have a good day." <A> There's two possible situations here, as far as I can see it. <S> 1) <S> In that case, I would find a curt response like Myles suggested to be incredibly stand-off-ish. <S> If you're brave enough, you could open up to your co-worker. <S> Next time he brings it up, say something to the effect of, "You know, I actually am starting to get really anxious about this. <S> What am I going to do?" <S> You're now (implicitly) asking for his help, which means he'll either drop it and start a conversation with you or... 2) ... <S> He'll continue to do it, which means he's actually bullying you. <S> In that case, it's a serious issue. <S> He may not realize he's bullying, in which case asking him to stop or letting him know <S> he's adding extra stress is probably the best course of action, as it allows him to rectify the behaviour before escalating it. <S> That can be hard to do if you don't like confrontation ( <S> if that's the case, you should know that confrontation is almost always worse the way you imagine it than the way it actually winds up playing out). <S> If he still continues, then you have to think about bringing it to your manager or HR, since it is bullying and even if you're willing to put up with it <S> (and you shouldn't be), bringing it to the attention of management or human resources <S> prevents him from doing it to the next co-worker. <A> It seems harmless, you can psychoanalyse his motivations all you want, or you can just ignore the two words and delete the email and forget it. <S> I fail to see the big deal... <S> no offense. <S> Personally I would just ignore it <S> , it's not a big enough issue to impact on me. <S> You can get defensive about everything or you can just take them in the spirit they're intended. <S> It's up to you which road you take, one leads to conflict over trivialities, the other is less likely to.
| He's joking around with you, in which case he's trying to establish a friendly working relationship with you.
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Is it appropriate to e-mail a former boss directly about being rehired after working somewhere else for a year? I had an internship for about 6 months, was asked to interview at another company and I decided to do it to see if I was interested and was offered an internship at the other company. Around this time I was offered a job at the first company once I graduated but I declined due to finding another internship that I wanted to take to explore my opportunities. An HR representative at the initial company told me to contact her if I was still interested in working for them after the 6 months when my new internship was supposed to end was up. I ended up getting a different internship within the same company that extended another 6 months, but it's ending now and I'm interested in going back to the initial company. I emailed the HR rep and her automatic email response said to email someone else. I emailed them and they didn't respond. I'm assuming the first HR rep does not work there anymore and the second HR rep didn't notice or take my interest seriously. Is it inappropriate to e-mail my former boss directly? Should I go through the online process of applying and just rely on the fact that they normally ask if anyone who's applying has worked there before? I'm not sure how much that sets me apart from other applicants. I just want to take advantage of the fact that they have already offered me a job and that I've already worked there for 6 months so I can increase my chances of getting rehired. <Q> Is it inappropriate to e-mail my former boss directly? <S> Not at all. <S> I would strongly recommend that you occasionally (every year or so) reach out to old bosses and peers to see how they are going and keep those connections alive. <S> You never know when an old boss or peer may have a job you are interested in or otherwise help. <S> Should I go through the online process of applying and just rely on the fact that they normally ask if anyone who's applying has worked there before? <S> I would ask your previous boss this question. <S> Likely you will need to go through some or all of the process. <S> However, your boss may chat to HR or otherwise short circuit some parts of the process. <S> For example, if you already worked there, you may already exist in the system. <S> If your boss is unavailable or unable to answer the question, go through the online process. <S> If there is a comments field (or similar), state that you have worked there before as an intern. <S> If you had an employee or staff number, include that. <S> Otherwise, reach out to HR and let them know. <A> Never rely on online processes or HR to get to the right people. <S> If you know someone I would email them and leave your contact information. <S> I would just make it really simple. <S> Say that you really liked working for him <S> , you wouldn't mind another job at that company, and ask him to call or email you when he gets a few minutes. <A> Employers don't take things personally, even if we think they might. <S> If anything, having broad experience will make them more happy to hire you.
| Contact your former boss, contact HR, fill out an online form; contact anyone you can until you receive a personal reply.
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Possible intellectual property theft issue for a web application About a year ago, I started working for a company (I'll call them Company A) and helped develop a web application for them. Eventually, my manager asked me to make changes to the application for another company, Company B, who was using the code I helped develop. I didn't find out until some time later that Company B did not have a relationship with Company A, although I continued to help Company B after finding this out. My manager also told me that he was looking to leave Company A and join Company B, and bring me along with him. At first, I didn't have a problem with this, but lately I've been thinking about it and wondering if working on Company A's code for Company B is the right thing. I checked my company's employee manual about intellectual property theft for software and it looks like what I did might get me and my manager in trouble. I've also been concerned by the suspicious nature of my manager (for example, asking me not to store information about Company B on my laptop, and asking me to put Company B's code in a separate directory on Company A's server in case it needed to be deleted). I'm asking if I should report this to my company. I'm worried about doing so because a) I don't want to get my manager in trouble unless I'm sure what he's doing is a violation of our company's rules, and b) I'm afraid if I report this and my complicity in this that I would lose my job or, worse, face legal action. Update I spoke to Company A's President/COO and told him what was going on. He said he would discuss the matter with some people at the company, including someone from the legal department. He also told me my job should be OK because I came forward on this myself. We'll see how everything goes. By the way, one thing I didn't mention was that in order to give Company B the code, my manager had to clone one of Company A's servers with the code on it. So whatever information was on that server (files, login accounts, the application database, etc.) was potentially given to Company B, so it may be a lot worse than just sharing code. <Q> Without more information, it certainly seems like your manager is up to no good. <S> Your best option is to protect yourself in every way possible, because I can practically guarantee that if things go bad, your manager will leave you in it without a moments hesitation if it makes it easier for him/her. <S> So gather all documentation that you do have, get a copy of what is on the server if possible and cover yourself by taking it as high up the food chain as you can. <S> Collusion looks a lot worse if you can't say you didn't realise it was suspicious and were just following orders. <S> I can't tell you what the outcome will be, but if you do get caught out <S> it's the sort of thing that could follow you around forever in the industry. <S> So it's a lesser risk letting Company A know. <S> Relying on a crook for your future job is not a great idea. <A> This is obvious by looking at your manager's attitude and behavior. <S> Your main focus (according to me) should be to get out of the mess and continue with good old life. <S> What I recommend <S> : Strike a deal with your manager... <S> Tell him that (i) <S> You know that what he did and make you do was wrong, (ii) that you will not do any work for Company B and don't want it to be mentioned ever again and <S> (iii) <S> that only then will you forget this ever happened. <S> If he tries to argue, tell him that you will report his actions and that he will face serious legal charges. <S> He should realize that he is in a dangerous position and will probably agree. <S> NOTE: <S> DO NOT be meek. <S> Make him realize that you mean business. <S> Courage is your weapon here. <A> If it was / is theft is a legal question We can definitely call it questionable. <S> When you first engaged you did not know it was questionable <S> but you continued after you realized it was questionable. <S> So it is down to a risk analysis of: Come forward <S> now There will be consequences but this will minimizeyour penalty. <S> You would likely not lose your job. <S> Hopefully youhave evidence you were doing what was instructed by your boss. <S> If the work is totally legitimate then you still lost ground with your boss. <S> Anonymous whistle blower Not good as it will come back to you. <S> If you are going to report then report it directly. <S> Don't come forward but refuse to work on Company B <S> This is not really good as then your boss has lead and may try and dump it on you. <S> Continue to work on Company B stuff <S> You might not ever get caught <S> but if you do then likely negative consequences. <S> Continue to work on Company B stuff and go with your manager to B <S> You might not ever get caught <S> but if you do you are fully complicit <S> Wait for your manager to leave and then report it What is good about this as it is clear that your manager was the lead. <S> Your manager is no longer at your current company so cannot directly impact you. <S> Play dumb. <S> I was surprised he left for B and be aware he had me working on stuff for B. Don't collect evidence on your manager as it will indicate you suspected the activity you participated in was wrong. <A> This type of theft is not often prosecuted, but when it is the employee may face a jail sentence and the receiving company may be sued for a lot of money. <S> It depends how big the companies are and how valuable the source code is. <S> If you are transferring completely generic code, like, say a sorting algorithm, then it is OK, because that is considered "tools of the trade" which are your own property. <S> But if there is anything that is specific, then it belongs 100% to company A <S> and it is crime to transfer it elsewhere or reveal it to a third party.
| What you did was wrong. Transferring code from A to B is theft of trade secrets if the code is of a proprietary nature, which is a criminal offense.
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Self-assessment on "largest project" In the course of applying for positions in software development, I have been asked to indicate the team size and number of lines of code of the largets project I have worked on. Unforunately, while I have been in software development for roughly 10 years, I feel unable to answer this question accurately: Team size: I can make a vague guess here. However, the larger the project, the less I ever got in touch with the whole team. Especially the larger projects I was a part of had quite a bit of hierarchical organization, in which I only ever got in touch with representatives of other branches of the project, each of whom spoke for a whole team of developers, whose size I never became aware of. On top of that, I hardly ever witnessed a project from its first day till its last day. Therefore, I usually do not know how many people contributed to the project in previous or later phases. Lines of code (LoC): For similar reasons as above, I simply have no idea how large the projects were I worked on in terms of LoC. Especially in the larger projects, there usually was a clear distribution of responsibilities, in such a way that I usually wouldn't look into code of modules I did not interface with and hence I even have no idea whether most of the other modules were larger or smaller than the modules I was responsible for. Moreover, given that LoC are quite a meaningless metric unless the actual measurement method is well-defined, I never bothered to find out even for the code I wrote myself. So, how do I answer the question for the largest project in terms of team size and LoC I was involved in? Describe the dimensions of a smaller project? I can tell with absolute certainty that for some of my own open source projects, team size = 1 and LoC = around 50,000 is true. This information would be definitely truthful, but might misrepresent my experience in working on larger projects. Pick an arbitrary, smaller project? This might allow me to make a somewhat accurate guess, but is certainly not answering the question for the largest project. Say I do not know, like in this question. The self-assessment question (on a form ...) does not expect such a long answer. Also, stating briefly "I do not know." might come across as more disinterested in the projects than what I think I am (frankly, I do not see lack of knowledge about team size of LoC any more as a sign of disinterest in a project than lack of knowledge about an author's birth date and age indicates disinterest in their novels) ... or maybe that is just a paranoid fear? <Q> I would describe the sections of the project that you actually worked on and state that it was part of a larger project, giving estimates of LoC. <S> If they are familiar with large projects they will find this reasonable. <S> So for instance I worked on X project for a year in a team of ten on the Y section and contributed roughly 50,000 LoC. <S> It's not reasonable to expect you to know the exact numbers of staff involved outside your own portion. <S> So give a rough estimate if you have one and stipulate that it is an estimate only. <A> Make an estimate. <S> How would they know any different? <S> Whatever answer seems reasonable to you, that is your answer. <S> The bigger issue here is that if you do not know the answers to these questions, then it would call into question your ability to answer similar questions along the same lines. <S> Sure, you can guestimate your way past a total size of project question, but once you start guestimating your way through the whole interview, the other party may start to get the idea you have no idea what you are doing. <A> I have no idea <S> how many LOC there are in the projects I'm responsible for, but still get asked by interviewees and internal stakeholders. <S> it becomes almost impossible to <S> know . <S> I use the number of bytes in the repo as a proxy for LOC in this extremely clever formula... <S> Number of bytes in repo / <S> (Maximum line length in standards / 2) <S> Alternatively, you could just write a bit of code to scan your repo and then wait a day while it counts the number of EOLs in there... <A> They ask the team size question to gauge if you worked in a large team or small team. <S> They also gauge if you worked by yourself or with someone else. <S> So you can answer the question appropriately, "I worked with a small team with at least 5 individuals, sometimes more but never over 10. <S> We each get assigned a single ticket for a project each week and we each update our status each morning." <S> As for LOC, I never got asked that.
| I think it's fine to guesstimate, once past a certain complexity I would answer it similar to above, "I contributed roughly 50-1000 lines of code per ticket per week."
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Staying in touch after a rejection: an invitation to reapply? Sometimes I apply to jobs, and sometimes I get rejected. I've noticed a few times that a rejection e-mail (from staff at the company) may include a line like: I'd like to stay in touch as we continue to create new opportunities here at Evil Goose Corporation. Would you be open to reconnecting in a few months if you are on the market at that time? What, if anything, does this mean? Are they inviting me to re-apply for a similar or different role a few months further down the line? Is this phrase simply a detail of etiquette/politeness? <Q> With these kinds of responses, what they mean depends on how impersonal the response is and how far along you got in the hiring process. <S> If they didn't even an interview you <S> and it looks like a generic form letter rejection <S> , it's just a pleasantry and doesn't mean anything. <S> Some companies might reach out again if they have a position matching your profile, some might not. <S> However, the more personalised the response is and the further you got in the hiring process <S> (think multiple interviews), the more genuine this is. <S> At that point, you've already impressed the interviewers with your experience, profile or cultural fit. <S> Just because they had a better candidate or didn't think you a perfect match for the position they were hiring for, doesn't mean that they wouldn't like to hire you in another position if one opens up. <S> Take this as the compliment that it is and reply that you're always open to talking about positions that match your skills and interests. <A> Is this phrase simply a detail of etiquette/politeness? <S> Yes, it is simply for appearing polite and make the rejection seem less hurting. <S> When it comes to re-applying policy, some companies wouldn't accept applications from candidates who had been recently rejected. <S> Generally, it is around 6 months, but it is upto the company and their recruitment policies and practices. <A> I would say to some extent it depends on the size of the company. <S> A smaller one has a limited number of positions and must pick the best applicant. <S> A larger company can hire people for many positions and will pick canidates of a certain caliber. <S> can't hurt to respond yes though. <A> The best possible meaning would be this: You applied, you were interviewed, they thought you were excellent for the job, and someone even better appeared. <S> The responsible manager might have said "if I had the budget for two new employees, I would have hired them both". <S> I would interpret this as "we believe that you were good enough to be hired, but at this point we found someone even better. <S> We would gladly consider you if we have more job openings".
| They've identified you as a good potential hire so it's in their own interests to talk to you again if a position opens up for someone with your profile .
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Working for free for a great sound designer? So a quite well-known and great sound designer has reached out so I would work without compensation on one small project, but with said promise of something else coming soon with "some" budget. He/She stormed in with very quick and vague information and I got a not so nice answer when I proposed some assurance such as a contract, or how he/she would do in these situations. If it would have been anyone else, I would be laughing about it and already forgotten, but being this person in particular bugs me a little. Fortunately I have work constantly and make a decent living out of audio work, sometimes in really good national productions, other times not as exciting - but I am lucky that I haven´t had to take other jobs in recent times, and find no big reason to work for free. Would I like to do that work and work for that person? Absolutely. But the feeling that he/she regards me as a free asset almost hurts me a little.Does the fact that the person has a fantastic IMDB page makes it a reason all in itself for me to go in? Or does it become even more of a serious ethic issue when it comes from a nice place in the chain? Is the argument that "the only way to know one´s work is to work for free" acceptable? <Q> There are very good answers in the comments. <S> I would try to negotiate with the sound designer. <S> You are no amateur (as I have understood), so your time is valuable. <S> It's no nice hobby for your spare time, it's business. <S> Try to be as professional as possible when you speak to him. <S> Tell him something along the lines of "I would really like to work with you, as I am an admirer of your work. <S> But because I am also an professional, I need some perspective." <S> If you are not dependent on the money, you may can get something else out of that project (some reference, or a new customer, I am not familiar with your field of business, so I don't know). <S> In general my advice would be that you shouldn't sell yourself below value. <S> This can fire back at you. <A> Many people work for "free" - but usually because there's some other form of compensation for your time. <S> That may be the promise of future work, skills transfer, or just the marketing capabilities of being associated with someone/something, or sometimes just the altruistic warm feeling of having done something useful (eg charity work). <S> The question isn't a case of how much value you will get from this relationship - as it sounds like its not so much work for enough value to you to do it. <S> The problem seems whether you are being "used". <S> Chances are, you are! <S> Many high-profile artists don't think in terms of money, its all about their creative abilities and <S> when things get in the way of that (eg not having enough money to pay you) <S> they can get a bit defensive. <S> They also tend not to have the best people skills and come across as very authoritarian and fractious. <S> So you have to understand him, and what he's asking for. <S> If its a small job, and you can do it, and want to do it, then go for it. <S> You'll learn a lot about him and his work. <S> You'll be able to add it to your portfolio. <S> You might even find that he's not so bad as you think once you get to know him.. or you might find he is a tyrant after all. <S> Either way, you get some value from it, even if no future work comes directly your way from this. <S> I would try to get more information from him about the project. " <S> Quick and vague" doesn't sound right, <S> if he thought you were ready to work with him, you might find he opens up a lot more about it. <S> It might be best to judge the work on this, and also best put a time limit on whatever involvement you have with him. <A> No job should be done for free. <S> Even if it happens for you to learn a lot, your time and your efforts should be rewarded (unless you are volunteering for an higher cause or you're doing a big favor to a friend, which doesn't seem the case), <S> and no one should ask you to work for free because it's kind of disrespectful for your knowledge and experience. <S> As a musician i would add that doing work for free in this field is like not giving any value to what you do. <S> If she is a great sound designer, does she really want not to encourage you by paying your work?If <S> she is a great sound designer, does whe really want to giving no value to a world she should love? <S> Your time is precious, and so are your skills. <S> And there's no big thing out there that is more important of what you do. <S> Your work deserve respect, no matter who's asking you, this come first. <A> Work is generally an exchange of labour and generally people exchange their labour for money but that isn't always the case. <S> If essentially he wants to put together a proposal and needs you on the understanding that if it attracts a backer you'll be used for the full project, he is offering something in exchange for your effort. <S> If he's saying there is no promise but you'll have something great on your CV and my name carries weight, then equally you need to judge the value of this. <S> My point is essentially that you need to work out what value doing this work might have to your career and then weigh that value against what you would be earning doing regular work. <S> If you come to the conclusion that what he is offering has very little value to you <S> and he'll gain a lot from your high quality work <S> then politely thank them for the offer and move on. <A> So a quite well-known and great sound designer has a little project and no cash to pay for it, so he or she tries to use their name to bamboozle you into working for them for free. <S> I don't care how well-known and great they are if they don't have the cash to pay for your work. <S> They probably try to tell you how great it would be for your reputation if you could say "I worked for this great sound designer". <S> Now think how great it would be for your reputation if you could say "I worked for this great sound designer, and I got paid for my work!" <S> What's worse, there is probably plenty of cash to pay for you, but that sound designer has found mugs who work for free in the past; his reaction to your requests clearly show that this is not a person you want to work with.
| I would add that you will want him to put any commitments down in writing, especially if they are connected to money, further work or what he can use your work for.
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Is it appropriate to ask to arrange relocation after Christmas/holidays even though company is suggesting before? I've been working full-time remotely for a company in US for +2 months and they've been working on getting a work permit for me and it might be ready a week or two before Christmas holidays. So far the company has been saying that I'll relocate as soon as the work permit is ready. The company will close it's operations from Dec 24 to Jan 4. If the permit is ready a week or two before Dec 24 it leaves me in a rather awkward situation where I leave my relatives and family on a short notice just before Christmas and the company won't be working during holidays anyway. Would it be appropriate to ask to move the relocation date? Edit: please note that I'm currently located in Europe and relocation will cost a huge fortune. So it's not an option to relocate and move back for holidays. <Q> It is appropriate to ask, as spending time with family is a valid reason. <S> However, as mikeazo has pointed out, they might not say "yes" due to tax issues, and also as they are mid-way through the process and wouldn't prefer stalling the process. <S> Having said that, it is completely appropriate to ask. <S> The worst thing that can happen is a soft rejection. <A> You can always ask for anything. <S> If it turns out that relocating after Christmas is better for you, that person will be only to happy to change the date, and would actually be upset if they found out the date was inconvenient for you <S> and you didn't open your mouth. <S> Worst case, they will say "sorry, we cannot change that date", and you haven't lost anything. <S> If a company holds asking for something against you, then look for another company. <A> Edit: please note that I'm currently located in Europe and relocation will cost a huge fortune. <S> So it's not an option to relocate and move back for holidays. <S> These statements seem somewhat contradictory. <S> If relocating will cost a "huge fortune" that suggests that you have a complex life that can't be moved on a whim. <S> Lots of possentions to move, a home to deal with etc. <S> Compared to the cost of these things the cost of moving your body across the atlantic more than once may not be a deal breaker. <S> I would try and talk to your employer about the details of how they plan to handle the relocation and what the timescales are likely to be after you get permission. <A> Consider that if you broke your leg, got sick, or a family member died, delaying your move by a month would be a given on all but the most short-term high-priority jobs. <S> They're not going to stick a pneumonia case on a 5-hour flight at Christmas. <S> But you want to contact them about it NOW , preferably yesterday. <S> The sooner you contact. <S> Ask to speak to your relocation manager (e.g. whoever's managing the relocation), and explain the situation as politely as possible, couching it in terms of setup cost for them as well (e.g. it means that they can focus on work right up to the holiday instead of inducting someone). <S> Some companies can be very weird about this stuff due to rules and regulations, but that weirdness can be worked around. <S> As an extreme example, they may be willing to pay for your flight back for the holidays.
| So, go ahead and make a request. There's a possibility that someone in the company thought it would be nicer for you to relocate before Christmas and was suggesting it for that reason - to keep you happy. It should always be possible to delay a move.
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Should I bring a portfolio of past school papers? I am looking for entry-level jobs, possibly on-campus. As I've begun searching for jobs, I've started to build a resume and portfolio. With no work experience, the only thing I have to go off on are personal projects. However, one of my strong suits are school papers - I've always done very well on them. My writing professor has suggested a couple of times that I use the papers I've written for interviews. However, I'm not sure of the best way to approach this. Should I print them out, put them in some kind of binder, and bring them to interviews? How do I broach the subject (i.e., "Would you like to look at some things I've written?") Would the interviewer even care? I'm not applying for a writing position or anything like that; the projects I've mentioned are web-based and can be found in an online portfolio, the link being on my resume. I've tried to emphasize how I've gained communication, organization and other types of skills through them. But I'm not exactly sure how to fit school papers I've written into the picture. <Q> For entry level, non-writing jobs, you've put in all of the effort necessary. <S> A link on your resume. <S> A link on your resume to your LinkedIn account. <S> A link on your LinkedIn account to your writing portfolio. <S> At entry level, the only thing that's going to gum up the works is trying too hard. <S> Like showing up in a tux for a movie theater gig (learned that one the hard way). <A> In general, there are very few positions where bringing a portfolio is expected of candidates. <S> In the majority of other positions, bringing one will come across as strange or out-of-touch with the industry. <S> If you're in an industry where portfolios are common, you'd already know to bring one. <S> In the few industries where they're uncommon but can be useful, the golden rule is: if you bring it, it had better be amazing. <S> Not just good. <S> Not decent. <S> Amazing. <S> You want to counter the strangeness of having a portfolio by making sure that it truly speaks to your skills. <S> A half-assed portfolio, one with unimpressive work or one that contains blatant errors is a detriment to your candidacy. <S> With that intro out of the way, let's look at your position. <S> You're interviewing for part-time student jobs and the tasks and requirements for those can be all over the place. <S> I would say, don't bring or submit a portfolio unless the job is specifically related : newspaper or writing jobs for your newspaper articles, or IT/web/support jobs for the websites you built. <S> If your portfolio would be good but not great, even considering your inexperience, I would suggest not submitting it unless you're specifically asked for it. <S> Instead have it available online either in published or downloadable form, at a URL you can remember/write down. <S> Do include this experience on your resume! <S> It shows commitment and experience at office-related work. <S> Be prepared to talk about what you did, what you learned from it, what you (dis)liked and more . <S> Only rarely will you be asked for the actual material: a conversation about your experience will usually suffice for most hiring managers. <A> Should I print them out, put them in some kind of binder, and bring them to interviews? <S> Yes, though you may want to see if there are snippets to pull out that may be more useful if the papers are long, e.g. pulling out a few key paragraphs out of a 20 page paper could be helpful. <S> How do I broach the subject (i.e., "Would you like to look at some things I've written?") <S> Would the interviewer even care? <S> If the topic of the paper could be relevant to the work then it could be part of, " <S> This is what I did in college that shows I know a little about XYZ. <S> " would be how I'd frame it assuming the papers have some technical component and the job you apply is somewhat technical possibly as a researcher or lab assistant. <S> The key is to have something that distinguishes you in a positive light here. <S> Being prepared for the interview by having some material that can show off some skills could be handy. <S> At the same time, ever consider being a tutor to help people with their English? <S> That could be another option to earn some money. <A> I'm having trouble understanding what type of job you're looking for. <S> It sounds like a coding job <S> so I'll go with that. <S> It's not unheard of to show sample websites you worked on for a IT related job. <S> I don't think you need to print it out. <S> A simple mentioning of it on a resume is normally enough. <S> Just put a link onto the website on the resume in case they want to look. <S> I would say visually speaking printing a webpage tells a person nothing. <S> You have to discuss what technologies you used, if you did it yourself or in a team, etc, etc, etc. <S> Those points are made on a resume, not with a print out portfolio. <S> Edit: I was in the same boat as you in college. <S> I wanted a student job with a professor. <S> It was me, and about 5 other people all going for the same job. <S> The professor wanted a paragraph explaining why I wanted the job and having me solve a problem he had. <S> I did both and got the job. <S> In such a case, I would only write stuff at the request of the professor. <S> If your professor is telling you to write something, that is a good sign.
| A well done, relevant portfolio can make you a top candidate.
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How to handle rejection when you really want to get in and they won't reconsider you? Just interviewed in one of the coolest startups, and it might be one of a kind. It's software, so I had to go through 3 code challenges. Verdict came, and I wasn't able to perform at a level they'll accept. From what I've heard they won't consider any reapplication within a year of this rejection. I think I have the skills and experience to be there. What should I do? Try to find some company that touches the same problems where I could grow more, and reapply someday with more experience (but might still be rejected because code challenges are not really day-to-day in any company)? <Q> What you don't seem to be understanding is that while the job seemed perfect to you, you did not seem perfect to them. <S> Other people did a better job than you did and thus were selected. <S> Hiring is a competition, you did not place first. <S> Since word is you need to wait a year, then that is what you do. <S> You don't bug them every two weeks in the meantime either. <S> You spend a year getting more proficient at the type of programming they do. <S> You spend the year practicing coding tests so that you can do better on them <S> and you spend the year making network contacts in various user groups in the hope that you will connect with some of their employees who will get to know you through your work in helping set up the XYZ conference. <S> In the meantime, stop mooning over what might have been. <S> That ship has sailed. <S> Get a different job and give it your all. <A> Instead of crying after a company that doesn't want you, seriously focus on finding one that wants you. <S> There are plenty of companies out there. <S> If one doesn't want you, that's normal - consider that they wanted to hire one person, and if ten applied, then nine get rejected. <S> That's why you apply at ten places, so for one of them you are the one. <S> One thing <S> : You don't practice for code challenges. <S> You write code and get good at it. <S> Once you are good enough, there are no code "challenges" any more. <A> What can I do to prove I am capable?" <S> In any event, never think that you're not good enough for someone else. <S> Instead, always think it is their loss that they could not have you. <S> Otherwise I'm not really sure how to answer this question. <S> It's more of opinion rather than hard, actionable items.
| At the rejection phase, it honestly never hurts to ask, "I really want this job and would like to prove it.
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How to request a meeting with someone I don't know? In my organisation there is 4 ways of communicating with other employees: Email, Microsoft Lync (IM application) Going to their desk. Schedule a meeting in outlook and it will send them an invite via email. You can put in a description/agenda here. I want to schedule a few 1 on 1 meetings with other people in the organisation to get information out of those people. The other people are not in the same team as me and some of them are line managers whereas I'm not. What is good meeting scheduling etiquette? Do I just create the meeting and invite the other person or do I ask them if they would be able to spare 30 minutes to go over something first? <Q> If some random person I did not know scheduled a one-on-one meeting with me, I would be very confused, and I would assume it was a mistake. <S> I would probably ignore it at first, hoping the sender would correct their mistake. <S> After a certain amount of time, if it didn't go away, I would decline the meeting without comment. <S> Maybe I'm in the minority, but this has only ever happened to me on very rare occasions. <S> People always introduce themselves first, which avoids any confusion. <S> That's really the best thing you can do. <S> Send an email saying you would like to schedule a meeting, and make sure you say why. <S> If you have the ability to view their schedule, suggest a time. <S> The best course is to avoid confusion and don't make any assumptions. <A> I'm often at the receiving end of these types of invites. <S> "Hi, I'm Bob <S> and I'm the new intern in the xyz department. <S> My manager thought it would be a good idea to meet with you to learn more about department abc. <S> I'd appreciate it of you could take half an hour for a quick meet and greet and some introductions about your world. <S> If this time doesn't work, I'll be happy to reschedule". <S> That makes it fastest and easiest for me: I understand quickly what this is about <S> and if it's all good, I can just hit "accept" or otherwise do a quick reply for decline or adjustment. <S> If possible I would avoid something that requires multiple communications. <S> If you can get in done in message, get it done in one message. <A> This will vary a lot based on culture. <S> For example, as an American, I don't mind just creating a meeting with someone I've never met. <S> I don't really care if others do it to me (as long as I have context for why they are doing so). <S> This is fairly common in direct cultures. <S> However, my boss is not from a Western country. <S> He really feels uncomfortable when people randomly create meetings with him, because it is very impersonal and blunt/abrupt. <S> He would feel much more comfortable with an introductory email first asking for setting up a meeting. <S> Or if someone was introduced to them in person, first. <S> Generalizing, Western culture is direct and values business first, relationship second. <S> People from this background likely won't care if you randomly schedule a meeting (as long as you don't waste their time). <S> People from less direct and more relational cultures will care a lot more about how you do this. <S> The relationship matters to them. <S> Basically, it's going to depend a lot on culture. <S> Both of your company as well as some influence from the backgrounds of everyone involved. <S> Your best answer is going to be to ask your boss. <S> They should have a good feel for your internal company culture, may know the people, and can provide a more context specific answer. <S> What I would (and do) approach this: <S> Send introduction email, saying "my boss suggested I reach out to you regarding X. <S> Can I setup 30 minutes on our calendar to talk about this?" <S> After getting response, send meeting notice If you want to send a meeting without the intro email make sure to include clear context that 1) <S> your boss suggested it and 2) why you are meeting. <A> No matter what communication technology you employ, you want to convince the person that the meeting will be worthwhile. <S> You should think about what value the meeting has. <S> Does it help them do their job? <S> Probably not. <S> You want to show them that it will help the organization and that you have been respectful of their time. <S> You should prepare your questions so the meeting will give you the answers you are seeking. <S> It would be helpful to show that you have done that. <S> If you do so, many people will be happy to help you. <S> A story that shows what I am talking about. <S> I got a phone call from a very junior engineer. <S> She was asking about how we had solved certain problems on my program so she could apply that to her program. <S> She had studied the drawings carefully and had a list of specific questions prepared. <S> I answered the ones I could and directed her to people who could answer the others. <S> We spent 20 minutes on the phone. <S> I was left feeling happy that I had helped her and our company deal with her problems. <S> Her preparation had made the call very productive. <A> I would try within Outlook and see if you can view their schedule so that in booking a meeting there isn't something already there. <S> If that doesn't work, then I'd likely suggest going to their desk so that they could look up their availability quickly assuming these meetings are to be had soon. <S> If you're OK waiting a long time then I may go to e-mail which may be the lowest priority way to go. <S> This can also convey the importance of the meeting as e-mail may get ignored in some places, at least from what I've seen in my years of working. <S> IM makes sense only if the people are known for using it and is a way to get a hold of someone. <S> If a manager is in meeting 90% of the time, then it may be that an IM would be better than usual e-mail. <S> Otherwise, it may not do much.
| From my perspective, what works best is an outlook invite that includes an introduction, goals, and agenda for the meeting (which all invites should have already anyway!), Something like:
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Is a "boob mug" an appropriate Secret Santa gift? I work for a small company, less than 25 employees so I have a good idea of what everyone is like (been working there 1.5yrs). I got a boob mug for the lad I have for my secret santa which I feel will be funny, or at least I hope so...but I am slightly worried I could get in trouble. I think I'm over-thinking it but what are your thoughts on it? <Q> Not appropriate for sure. <S> How would your female colleagues feel about that?Even if everyone was male and you are 100% sure everyone will get the humor and nobody will be offended, it's still a bad idea. <S> Would you like to have a boob mug on your desk? <S> What if you have a client in your office? <S> It's a company, not a frat. <A> In almost every office around the world, this would be a wildly inappropriate gift. <S> In many offices this would get you ostracised very quickly and might even result in tense conversations with management or HR. <S> In some offices you'd be trying to talk your way out of sexual harassment charges but those kinds of knee-jerk reactions are hopefully a minority. <S> So no, this isn't really an appropriate gift. <S> I'm not even going to tackle the more serious issue of how mugs like this or with the c-word( ! ) <S> on it are demeaning and objectifying and proof of how society still has a long way to go. <S> but personally, I'd prefer a less-crude gift that doesn't perpetuate such a crappy office culture. <S> Keep in mind that just because your office doesn't consider such gag gifts a problem, that doesn't mean that your colleague won't be mortified/ <S> disgusted/disappointed/horrified at receiving such a gift . <S> A gift should be something safe and innocuous, it shouldn't have to come with a trigger warning. <S> Thrash the mug and buy something safer. <A> What you're proposing isn't legal, even if your boss / management does nothing in response. <S> By doing nothing, they would increase their risk of a successful sexual harassment lawsuit. <S> The Equality Act of 2010 defines harassment as "unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual's dignity or creating and intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual." <S> Harassment is illegal when it is connected with "a protected characteristic of the employee, such as his or her age, race, national origin, sex, religion or disability." <S> The existence and permission of mugs utilizing sexual words, such as "cunt," along with your gift, can contribute to the definition of a "pervasive" environment that constitutes violation of the law. <S> The law regards sexual context even when actions do not specifically target a person , and includes when actions pertain to women in general. <S> Where "cunt" could marginally be argued in the UK to have meanings other than a woman's genitals, adding a boobs-related example would likely create a compounding effect.
| I don't think anyone who considers themselves professional would do that. You know your own office culture best and apparently this would be considered tame for your office
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How to talk to my manager about my rewards and recognition? We have this monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual rewards and recognition program in our company. It is awarded based on performance, merit and value brought to the project/customer/company. Despite performing consistently (and better than some of my peers), self-learning a bunch of UI frameworks, implementing a few Process Simplification tools that I wholly designed and developed, conducting 4-5 training sessions every quarter, I don't seem to have made an impact. I feel I am being left out in the Rewards & Recognition program. While other team managers regularly recognize their team members, my team manager seems to avoid awards completely, which is frustrating. People who have joined the company much later have already won more than 2-3 awards on an average for their contributions that (in my opinion) weigh much lesser than mine(or my team's). Therefore, how do I talk to my manager about this situation? P.S : So far, I haven't initiated any sort of discussions with my manager because I feel rewards & recognition are something that should come automatically and not by asking for them explicitly. I am looking for suggestions that would relieve me of my dilemma(Whether to ask or not to ask?) Edit : This question has been identified as possible duplicate of another question which asks about the importance of gaining visibility . However, my problem is that even though I have enough visibility (even at client level), I don't seem to be picked for monthly/quarterly rewards and recognition and how to talk to my manager about it. hopefully this explains <Q> Nothing comes automatically, usually. <S> If it is important for you, make it know to the decider. <S> He might think that as you're asking nothing, you're not expecting anything. <S> Either your manager thinks awards are awkwards, like Joel Spolsky , or he didn't think about it. <S> Either way, as long as you don't ask, you won't know. <S> If he thinks it's a bad thing, and then sees his best performer complain about it, he might change his mind, and if he just didn't think about it, a simple reminder could do a lot. <S> And be sure to meditate DA's advice <S> : is there any underlying value to this awards, besides prestige? <S> Money, or career advance, or something valuable like that? <A> Whether to ask or not to ask? <S> Ask, if you feel you and your team deserve it then by all means give your manager a nudge. <S> It sounds like you have a manager who isn't very interested in team morale, this needs to change for obvious reasons. <S> But if you don't ask, you'll get nothing except a bitter taste in your mouth every time others quite rightly and proudly brag about their rewards. <S> At the very least it will start the manager thinking about it. <S> The positives outweigh any possible negatives (I can't actually think of any). <S> You're not asking for anything out of the ordinary, the company already has a reward system in place. <S> You and the team should be benefiting from it. <S> How to ask? <S> , ask him/ <S> her straight out <S> politely why you and your team never get any rewards like others do. <S> Is it because those rewards don't apply to your team? <S> Is your team underperforming? <S> Stuff like that. <S> Don't be confrontational, pose the questions as if you're asking for guidance to improve performance. <A> Asking would be the right thing to do. <S> Because rewards are not just "Rewards", they are your motivation for next contribution. <S> The best way to have your work recognized is by discussing your results. <S> And by making sure your boss knows how you like to be recognized. <S> Being more interactive among the team is also one of the way of letting your Employer know that you are performing well. <S> Perhaps, the below link that I came across, might help you. https://www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=diversity&source_page=tory_johnson&article_id=article_1185307382302
| Put the onus on the manager politely to explain why. I'd just be straight up about it when I get a chance
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Simultaneously Introduce Yourself and Light a Fire in Email to Supplier I just took over management of our software product releases. Now I am tasked with sending an email to a supplier of ours to try and light a fire under them for some updated documentation. But they don't really know who I am, so I basically need to introduce myself at the same time. What is the best way to simultaneously introduce yourself and explain why you are the one sending this email, and try to light a fire in getting what we need to finish this next release? A few details that might help: This is a supplier of equipment that we sell. We also create and sell software that interfaces with this equipment. We can't really get any further on the software until we have their updated documentation. <Q> As this is a matter of urgency, introducing yourself as the head of releases would add in weight(of importance) to your mail, rather than just sending them a plain mail asking them to update documentation. <S> Something like this, should do: <S> Dear XYZ, I am _____. <S> I have recently taken charge as the head of releases, and is a pleasure to meet you. <S> We have been having some problems due to the documentation, which has to be updated in order to clear the roadblock for the next release. <S> ......... <S> Some more text explanation ............. <S> regards, XXX <A> Clearly you need to introduce yourself. <S> They need to know you are a person of authority and this is your role. <S> In addition to the content the to and cc is equally important. <S> Make <S> sure is it directed to the appropriate parties at the supplier (not just support). <S> Find out who the sales rep is and CC them - they need to understand this is potential sales problem down the line (or already). <S> CC your manager and any other appropriate parties on your side. <S> Tell them why you need it State when you need it <S> If this is already critical path on your project then state that "At this point lack of this updated documentation is delaying release of the software" <S> In a nice way tell them you needed it yesterday if that is the case <S> Ask them when you can expect that information <A> Email is a poor tool for what you are aiming to do. <S> I would suggest that either meeting your sales <S> rep face to face or calling them would be a much better option. <S> That way you can get a commitment for a specific time frame in that conversation, begin to build the relationship that you need from them, and have confirmation that they know who you are. <S> Once that has been established, sending an email requesting confirmation on what was agreed on for content delivery and time frame catches everything you need in writing.
| Introduce yourself and your role State very specifically what information you need
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Material omissions by manager during interview process I interviewed for a job that offered less money but also a lot less travel than my previous position. It's a sales job, with a smallish base salary with most income coming by way of commissions. The hiring manager went on at length during the interview process about how a lot of new systems had just been implemented to make the company's product very competitive, and how I was coming in at the "perfect time" to take advantage of these new systems. I told the manager what I needed in my first year in terms of salary + commission, and he said that number was quite attainable - not easy, but not impossible, either. It all sounded good. I took the job, but after doing so, and getting the "inside scoop" from other employees, I don't think I was given a truthful story by the manager. The "systems" he touted were NOT in place. In fact, they had already been delayed a year and were probably not going to be fully implemented for another year. I talked with other salespeople in roles similar to mine, and the mood is not great. Management claims that the systems were not promised for 2015, but that they would be rolled out throughout 2015 and 2016. The employees tell a different story - that the systems were promised in early 2015, but management kept making excuses for a long string of delays. When I told other salespeople what I was told regarding my first-year compensation expectations, some actually laughed. None of them thought it was a realistic number given the state of things. Given that these systems won't be fully implemented for another year, and that this job is mostly commission-based, it is going to take me FAR longer than expected to get my sales ramped up to a point where my income is acceptable. Hindsight is 20/20, but I'm pretty certain I would not have taken this job had I known then what I know now. It's a good company, a large company, not some rinky-dink fly-by night operation. The manager has treated me very well in terms of personal interaction. But they just don't seem like they have their shit together on this project. They are at least a year behind what I was told during the interview process, and have no firm target date, so this could be pushed out to 2017 before everything is in place. I would not mind sticking with this and help move things in a positive direction, but NOT at the smallish salary they are paying me. Were they to double the salary, if only for a year, that would keep me hungry but not starving. However, there is no way I would go to my new manager with that request because a.) I highly doubt he can or would help, b.) my request implicitly suggests that he - at best - oversold me during the interview, if not outright misled me, and c.) he'd probably kick me to the curb in short order if he knew I was not happy with the comp. So, I'm trying to figure out which way to go here. If renegotiating my comp is not feasible, I can hang on for a while while I look for something better, but I worry about what to tell an interviewer about why I am leaving after a couple of months. I want to keep my responses positive, and I don't want to burn any bridges. However, I also don't want to come off as flaky or a quitter, so I am not sure how to put lipstick on this pig. Suggestions, guidance and advice would be much appreciated. <Q> This company does indeed sound like it treated you dishonestly. <S> If you simply can't afford to live on the wages they're offering, then you may very well start looking for something else. <S> As you yourself have said, it's unlikely that they would double your base salary. <S> Asking is probably a bad idea, although I'm not sure whether they would fire you (if other people have been quitting they may just need you, but you will definitely paint a target on your back) <S> I would handle it like so: <S> Step 1: <S> Look for a new job <S> Don't be too worried about quitting a company after only a few months. <S> You took a job that sounded awesome, but found that the company had misrepresented itself. <S> When asked simply answer along these lines: I have no complaints about the company, I simply found that they were not a good fit for me. <S> (if pressed, maybe add) <S> While the environment is not negative, I simply find that it's simply not one that I felt comfortable. <S> I would maybe Google a more refined answer, but, basically, stuff happens. <S> You took a job that you didn't end up liking. <S> People will understand. <S> Step 2: Accepting an offer <S> /Negotiating When you do find a good job you'll have a range of options available. <S> If the job is simply phenomenal, then just give 2 week's notice and jump ship. <S> If the pay is better, but you feel that your current job has better long term prospects, you could now try negotiating with your boss. <S> Go to him and initiate a conversation/negotiation. <S> Explain that the compensation is insufficient, and that you will take the offer unless more is offered. <S> Good luck! <A> You either are in a company which does not fulfill its promises or does not communicate its intentions to its employees. <S> Both of these are very bad things especially since employment should be a relationship of trust. <S> Your first step is to make sure you have all of your cards in order so that if you have to leave, you can. <S> This is advice which is generally good for all employees, but especially true for situations where the employee is in a bad situation. <S> If this does go south, then you'll at least be more ready. <S> You need to have a frank conversation with your manager about what this means. <S> My bet is that you will not get what you are looking for in terms of a raise – <S> if a company does not have a culture which values being strait-forward and honest, then it is unlikely that the company will be willing to make such an effort. <S> For an interview, I've generally found: A one-to-two month gap in a job history isn't something which most will hold against you. <S> Even 6 months can be justified. <S> If pressed you can answer, "I was told that certain tools would be available to me, but it turned out that very much was not the case." <S> Better still if you could explain which tools and how they were important. <A> Uh, that is not an omission that is a lie. <S> If he said the system were implemented (at length) but they are not that is a lie. <S> I don't think you are going to get very far with this person to renegotiate. <S> Someone that lied in the interview did not even negotiate in good faith the first time. <S> That said it seems like you have to give it a try. <S> "Based on what I have seen with the current state of systems <S> I just don't see how I can make what I expected to make when I signed up for this salary / commission structure. <S> " <S> If he does not react in a positive manner then just shut the conversation down. <S> Look for another job. <S> Don't push it as you might get pushed to the curb. <S> As for leaving - 2 months is probably better than 12. <S> At 2 months it was not a good fit and at 12 you could not make it fit. <S> If this is a big company the word is probably out with a lot of other hiring managers. <S> If they ask I would consider being honest.
| Allowing your manager an "out" (such as "maybe I misunderstood") would probably be a good idea as it's unlikely that he will want to admit to misleading you.
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Does bad HR mean a bad company? It has happened multiple times for me: Someone in the company refers me or I apply for a job, technical interview goes very well and technical team/person seems very interested and excited. Then a HR person contacts me or interviews me, she/he looks not interested from the beginning and has socially and professionally unacceptable behavior (generally I have high tolerance and regardless of the situation I try to be professional especially with people who I don't know). Eventually I don't hear back from her, she rejects me or I just walk away even if there is still a chance to continue. I always assume a bad HR means a bad company and don't mind that it didn't work. Is my assumption true? If no, what's your advice? <Q> I always assume a bad HR means a bad company and don't mind that it didn't work. <S> Is my assumption true? <S> No, that's not a valid assumption. <S> Bad HR means bad HR. <S> You cannot generalize about an entire company based on a few individuals, or even a bad department. <S> While it would be far better if the company had tighter control over HR, as they are the face of the company for some, the position you apply for may be in a terrific department. <S> You could be losing out on a terrific opportunity by branding the company as "bad". <S> I worked for a terrific company that had a lousy HR rep. <S> They let her go a year after I joined and replaced her with someone far more competent. <S> Fortunately for me, I didn't let my assessment of her cloud my assessment of the company itself. <S> Conversely, I know some terrible companies that had great HR reps. <S> My interviews with the HR person went so well (compared to my impressions of the remainder of interviews), I wondered why they would even work for such a poor company. <S> If no, what's your advice? <S> Don't judge a book by its cover. <S> Look past HR and judge for yourself. <A> To add on to the above answers with one more thing to consider: As companies grow, some departments lag behind others. <S> HR can certainly be(but does not have to be) one of them. <S> If they are understaffed then can take way longer than they should to reply to candidates and their stress of being asked to do too much without sufficient process, can lead to a sub optimal experience. <S> And there can always be a single negative person/experience in even the best process/company. <S> But I would also not ignore it. <S> Treat it as data . <S> Your whole experience with interviewing and your own research provides you data on what sort of place it would be to work at. <S> Great companies eventually get the HR hiring/on-boarding right. <S> But almost never right away. <A> Joe's answer is excellent. <S> To put some spin on it to offer up a slightly different POV, though... <S> You can probably judge a company fairly from dealing with one or two departments, but you can't judge all departments from dealing with one or two departments. <S> Point being, even in the most inept of large corporate behemoths, there can be some great departments to work for. <S> And yes, they likely have bad HR departments.
| Unless you are applying for an HR job, a poor HR group isn't fatal to an otherwise great company.
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Dealing with collegue who tries to steal projects I am working in a team that supports operation. The team is awesome but when I get a project a guy wants it and start digging nose into it until he makes it his through contacts with vendor and stakeholders as he was working with them earlier than me. He takes one project and then another but does not get full knowledge of it. I think he is taking them in order to impress manager and show his work. Is there any way to handle this and get involved in work without his nose in it? <Q> Firstly, who assigns your projects to you? <S> Your manager? <S> In that case, talk to your colleague first and state that you find his current behaviour problematic and that it makes you uncomfortable. <S> Try not to come off as hostile and try to have a productive dialogue. <S> If this fails, try to talk to your manager about it. <S> Your manager will then have to put his foot down eventually. <S> Failing that, you can try and escalate to HR or higher management, but beware, your manager might resent you for that. <A> Some good answers already, but I want to add an additional viewpoint and resolution. <S> There may be another reason that he/she is getting involved. <S> Someone may be tasking your colleague to oversee what you are doing as they are more experienced. <S> To the bosses it doesn't matter so much who does the job as that it is being done well. <S> I have been put in this position many times to keep an eye on less experienced colleagues. <S> Eventually if they don't shape up and prove themselves they've been let go. <S> Or this may be the impression your colleague is making about you to management, that your competence is questionable. <S> Either way you need to combat it. <S> Make sure there are no flaws that someone could pounce on. <S> In other words work like a professional. <S> Eventually you'll earn your laurels. <S> Complaining about it would be my last resort only if I thought the colleague was maliciously elbowing me aside. <S> If I went down that track I wouldn't bother speaking to them. <S> Then move forwards dependent on their answer. <S> It's always preferable to make the manager question his/her own reasoning and motivations rather than to be confrontational about things, if possible. <A> There is pretty much only one thing you can do. <S> Ask him not to interfere with your projects, as it is making you very uncomfortable. <S> If he continues to do it, you have to escalate it to your management, as it is affecting your productivity and <S> maybe his' too, as he is multi-tasking.
| I would ask management politely why I'm being taken off such and such a project after putting so much effort into it, ask them if there is some area I need to improve on and basically put the onus on them to explain why it is happening while pointing out how much you would value a chance to prove yourself by completing a project. A good strategy would be to be very organised about how you approach projects, keep good clean pertinent records and do everything by the book.
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Is it good to overdress more than the first day of work? The day of the job interview I went in a suit. The recruiter (whom is the boss there) complimented me on my professional look, but said that generally they dress casual at the office, and that they would suit-up only when meeting clients or going to conferences, big meetings, etc. Tomorrow I'm gonna start my first day: from what I read online, it's a good idea to go a bit overdressed (I will probably ditch the tie, but still wearing a suit). Some of these websites advised to keep this overdressed look even for 2 months. In my opinion this would harm me more than do good. It would give the impression that I'm not trying to blend in, that I do not care about fitting or even that I think they are not professional enough. The way I see it, the first day is more than enough. Do you agree? <Q> and you think the occasion of meeting everyone at the office warrants this. <S> Your boss will probably joke/comment that you are again looking well <S> (too well?) dressed. <S> In which case you can tell the truth: it's a big day for you since you are meeting everyone for the first time, so you wanted to dress professionally. <S> This should make sense to any boss and they should secretly feel fine about your over-dressing since it indicates you are not taking this job for granted. <S> Starting day two, you probably should dress casual, same as everyone else. <S> It should be enough to make sure <S> your shirt/pants are freshly washed and ironed and look neat overall. <S> This will set a tone for your personal dress from this point forward. <S> Generally, find the dress style that works best for you and is still within the 'casual' bounds of the office, and go with it consistently. <S> Everyone does their thing: some go with jeans and polos, some with slacks and silk polos, some with khakis and short-sleeved or long-sleeved <S> (in my case) dress shirts... <S> And there will always be that one guy who wears baggy jeans and a t-shirt <S> no matter what. <S> Do what feels right, convenient, and non-embarrassing to you when you look in the mirror before heading to work in the morning, and you'll have it made. <S> Good luck! <A> Depends on your industry. <S> I, as a software developer, have never cared about over/under dressing. <S> In all of them it was casual. <S> I always go to work with jeans trousers and a T-shirt. <S> But in all interviews I keep the jeans trousers and change the tee for a polo. <S> I noticed that anytime someone overdresses, people make light jokes about that. <S> But, if you work for a bank, for example, you might have to wear a suit and tie. <A> If your boss said come in casual, come in casual. <S> There is really nothing wrong with following the eqiquette you've been told. <S> If you're unsure, just ask your boss. <S> Coming in overdressed after he told you not to will do more harm then good. <A> but said that generally they dress casual at the office, and that they would suit-up only when meeting clients or going to conferences, big meetings, etc. <S> In that case you are an exception to that rule since you're going to have a "big meeting" which is meeting everyone at the office and going around. <S> So wearing casual sounds like a good second day idea. <S> See what others are wearing and then go with that. <S> Go with your gut feeling on this.
| But, since your boss said they dress casual, I'd say that wearing a suit will do no harm nor good. If you feel you should dress, I recommend doing that. I would suggest to dress to your first day as formally as you did to the interview, if that makes you feel confident I've worked in start-ups, small companies(50~150 people) and big companies (2000+) and in none of them someone said anything about the way I dress.
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Is it appropriate to warn my coworker of our boss's dissatisfaction? I work as a software engineer and during a recent meeting my boss mentioned offhand that if one of my coworkers (not present) didn't start making some progress on the project we are working on, that he would need to have a 'talk' with her. I don't believe that her job is in jeopardy, but I can remember when I was new, and a friendly heads-up from a coworker that my boss was dissatisfied with my performance would have been nice. She is still very new, and she is having some trouble getting up to speed. I would like to advise her that all our boss is looking for is that she should make more of an effort to at least try to make some progress despite not knowing exactly how to proceed, instead of just doing training all day everyday. My boss is also her boss. Would it be appropriate to tell her this? <Q> Yes, I'd see this as appropriate to pass along. <S> I would suggest focusing more on results than time here as the boss is likely looking more for results than just time spent on something. <S> Some tasks could be done in 2 hours or 200 hours depending on how nit picky one wants to get <S> and thus I'd look more on progress and checking things off of a to do list here. <A> I know you want to be helpful, but be careful that you don't get caught in the middle. <S> If you bring up her lack of performance, and then the boss "talks" to her about it, she may think you were the one who complained. <S> However, if you absolutely feel like you want to help, you might ask her to sit down with you to discuss how the project is going, and gently guide her toward what you know of the boss's expectations. <S> Try to use neutral language <S> (instead of "you should do this" explain that "Normally, what the bosses like to see is...") <S> Since you are both working on the same project, help her to see that you want to help your teammates succeed, because it is a win for both of you. <A> First, it is your manager's job to manage - so be careful that you are not crossing that line. <S> If you think being direct with your colleague is acceptable and will lead to a productive, "how can I do better at my job? <S> " <S> type conversation, then you might mention it. <S> Your boss may have mentioned it casually, but also maybe is interested in seeing if your team can work as a team when someone is struggling. <S> Just be cautious in your approach - suggesting better training materials, asking about progress on related work or sharing tips with her may help without distracting her with increased anxiety. <S> Conversely, some people spend all day doing training because they really don't know what to do. <S> They are best suited for another job and/or with another company and you are wasting your time with a person like that. <S> While someone commented that spending time on training materials allowed them to grow out of their job rapidly, that is not beneficial to the employer or the team, however much it may have helped the individual. <S> That is also not likely to benefit you much. <A> It's not your problem, and it's not your place to lecture your colleague on performance. <S> So don't. <S> Simple as that. <A> The fact that your boss said this in front of you could be seen as an implicit indication for you to pass this info along to your coworker, particularly since you have more experience and could potentially provide some mentoring in this area. <S> What to do next will depend in large part upon your working relationship with this female coworker. <S> If you and she have a good working relationship, that's a good sign. <S> If you are a Tech Lead or even informally mentor this coworker, that's an even better sign. <S> However, only you know best how she would respond to any information you brought to her. <S> I have worked with people over the years whom I would NEVER bring up this information with them because they would not react or respond well to it. <S> Have an informal one on one conversation with her. <S> Tell her what the boss said and try to give some context. <S> You don't want her to panic, and this kind of news can make people panicky. <S> I would suggest if you're willing to bring this up to her, then you should be prepared to help if at all possible. <S> A little guidance and a few answered questions might be all that's needed.
| A "friendly heads-up" that a boss is about to "talk" to a stressed and anxious co-worker is likely not going to be productive. If you feel that you are in a position to bring this up to her, and that she would react positively to it, then yes I think you should bring it to her attention.
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How to send an extra motivation letter awaiting second job interview? I've had an interview at company X. It went good, I got a coding assignment and did okay. The company is going to let me know if they want to see me again for a second interview, with CEO. I feel they're going to see quite some other candidates who either could have better technical background or more stable school carrier (it took me longer to finish my studies and they already implied it could be an issue). Which, I'm afraid, might make them decide not to see me again. Is it a bad idea to send them an extra motivation letter? I really feel like it could be a good thing to express 'unmatched motivation'. Or will it just be experienced as obtrusive? I would greatly appreciate any help in formulating my letter : Dear sir Y, Awaiting a possible invitation for a second interview, this is really on my mind. I'm impressed by company name and I'm looking forward to a second interview. My thoughts are with the other candidates who might have a better technical background, or completed their school carriers on normal term. However, I am convinced that my motivation and soft skills are unmatched. During my schoolcarrier I didn't fount what I was looking for, I was missing a challenge. Now that I was able to taste of professional life with an internship, I notice that there's nothing that I want more than to work on a high level in a professional environment like Company Name . I would therefore greatly appreciate an invitation to a second interview. Is this a good idea to do? What could I improve? <Q> Firstly, if you are planning on sending your letter in English then please get someone to proofread it before you send it. <S> It is clear English is not your first language and it does not come across well. <S> Secondly, if I were an employer and I received a letter like this from a candidate during an unfinished interview process, at best I would ignore it. <S> But I would probably feel that the candidate was a little desperate and it would red-flag the candidate and cause me to look again very closely at their resume and reconsider my assessment of their interview in the light of their possible desperation. <S> Your interview is the place to showcase yourself and your skills in the best possible light. <S> It is assumed by the employer that you did so and that you gave it your best shot. <S> Therefore they will compare their assessment of you against their assessments of all the other candidates and make a decision based on their own internal criteria. <S> An attempt by a candidate to second-guess their motives and try and place themselves higher than they might otherwise achieve through their interview standing will not be well received in my opinion. <S> The only exception to this would be where a candidate, through nerves or some other issue made a complete mess of an interview and knew it . <S> Then, if I received a letter where they honestly explain the causes of their failure on that day and asked for a second chance to show the worth <S> they know they can bring to the job, then I might allow a re-interview if I thought I could see any potential within them. <S> But if I had not seen anything noteworthy then I would not re-interview <S> no matter how pleading the letter or the nature of the issue (with one exception, a serious medical emergency or death of a close relative as no-one would be able to interview well under those circumstances) <A> Personally, I think that this sounds both quite arrogant and also comes across as a bit desperate. <S> Regardless of how desperate you actually are, it's never a good idea to look it. <S> I think sending a letter like this is more likely to harm your chances with the company than to improve them. <S> If your interview went well, then they're already considering you for the second interview and this letter is unlikely to tell them anything new <S> that's positive. <A> Here is your "motivation letter" and the only appropriate thing to do: send them a message after a reasonable time has passed to be sure that you did not miss a communication from them. <S> Lost emails or missed calls can happen. <S> During your interview, as you exit, you should always ask what the expectation is for reaching back out to you. <S> If they say 3 days or 3 weeks - either way is fine, but then you have a professional, well-defined reason to remind them of your interest in the job. <S> Beyond that, you can guess at what "reasonable" is, but likely you will not time it correctly. <S> The interview process exists to draw in candidates and weed out those that do not qualify. <S> During that process, how candidates conduct themselves is under very intense scrutiny. <S> Your ability to understand the culture, expectations and needs of the company are the critical aspects of your performance during this time. <S> If you do not know these things, then you should try to ask about them. <S> A letter that includes self-assessment statements like, "I feel/think I am the best candidate" implies that somehow you are aware of who they are interviewing, their qualifications, etc. <S> Inappropriate in general. <S> Also, if you are the best candidate then there is no risk in allowing them to take their time to reach that conclusion. <S> If there are other candidates that they interview that are better qualified, you are wasting your time trying to convince them otherwise. <S> Last, actions you take to appear eager can backfire - these actions may project you as driven, but also that perhaps you are trying to rush a decision in the hopes that the reviewers will overlook deficiencies and miss interviewing better candidates. <S> In your case, that sounds exactly like what you are trying to do. <S> Fight the urge - don't take that approach. <S> Don't try to trick them into being a better candidate. <S> If this doesn't work out, continue to work on yourself until you are the better candidate.
| If the interview went badly, then unfortunately the interviewer will assume you did your best but aren't a good fit for the role and this letter isn't going to make them change their mind.
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Do I need to sign an NDA? I applied for a job, worked there for one day and left again. I did not sign a contract yet and I'm not getting paid for my one day of work. Now they are asking me to sign an NDA. Am I legally forced to sign this or can I say no as well? They are obviously pushing me into signing this but I do not agree with certain terms that are in the NDA and they do not want to change these terms. <Q> Do not sign it. <S> Employers use NDAs to retain intellectual property, but the time to sign is during the on-boarding process. <S> As you no longer work there, regardless of it was a day or a year, signing this gets you nothing and can only increase your liability. <S> You say you disagree with terms. <S> Absolutely decline. <A> To answer the question clearly Am I legally forced to sign this or can I say no as well? <S> No, you are never forced to sign an NDA. <S> This should have been done before you began work. <S> This means that if you did not sign the NDA you would typically not be able to begin work. <S> BUT always state that if you ever need to do the same or similar work for them again they are within their right to require an NDA. <S> Delving deeper into the subject of NDAs <S> Most aren't intended to be harmful or malicious to individuals. <S> They just don't want you directly telling another company their trade secrets, which could run them out of business. <S> That's it. <S> There are much worse things to sign such as an NCC, which can very much stop you from going on to another job in the same industry. <A> You have no reason to sign this. <S> Any consequences of signing can only be negative for you. <S> Nobody can force you to sign - if you saw something highly confidential and didn't sign an NDA, that's their problem, not yours. <S> Actually, if you saw something that was supposed to be a trade secret, without signing an NDA, then because of their carelessness that trade secret is not a trade secret anymore. <S> There would be a simple question to ask, which is: "Why should I sign this"? <S> Any answer along the lines "because you have to", "because we will sue you", "because it is professional", is nonsense. <S> An answer that involves hard cash might be acceptable. <S> They messed up by letting you come in without signing the NDA. <S> Read the NDA carefully before you sign. <A> I think whether you should sign it has several related questions: <S> Is there a possibility that you will need to work with these people in the future? <S> Would you be willing to sign it if you were staying on the job? <S> Can they explain what things you saw which they did not want shared with the outside world? <S> (And can they justify their reasoning?) <S> If the answer to any of them is "no", then don't sign. <A> Here's an interesting way to gauge just how serious they are about getting you to sign, and how far they're willing to push the issue: Ask them to pay for your lawyer to review the documents (and figure out if it is in your best interests to sign them) <S> You're not committing to signing anything, you're simply putting the onus on them to initiate the process. <S> If they do pay then you'll know they're pretty serious about it, but you'll also have professional advice on how to deal with the situation.
| If they ever try to say that you "MUST" sign it you should decline and refuse. So with that being said be careful of refusing the NDA as you will likely not be receiving work from that company again unless they absolutely need you again and will then require you to sign another NDA form. Unless there is another contract in place which we don't know about, they are not able to make you do anything anymore.
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How can I tactfully/respectfully decline a job offer due to depression? Here's the context: I'm a Software Engineer at one of the most elite companies in the world, I've been in the industry for five years, having worked on numerous projects, ranging from small to very large in scope. I've had the chance to dabble into some really new and exciting, bleeding edge technologies. On paper, my resume looks great! I have five years experience, worked with lots of different technologies and languages, and I graduated from a respected university. Recruiters from prestigious companies, large and small always contact me. I'm on top of the world, and living the American dream! Or so I thought I would be...when I was much younger and naive. The sad dark truth is: I've been dealing with severe depression for the majority of my life. I smile, I laugh, I feel great around people, but at the end of the day, deep in my core, I'm not happy. Here's the problem I'm facing now: The last company I had worked for, I got along really well with my coworkers. A great group of people. Gregarious, easy going, and generally very fun to work with. However, I moved on for other purposes, in order to explore new opportunities to grow my career. I've been recently reconnected with a previous boss of mine, who I really respect and enjoyed work with him in the past. We've got along well, and he's always had a good impression of me. He's been asking me to join his start up for some time now. But now, he's really pressing for it becuase he needs me. Logically thinking, I would join him right now at the blink of an eye, but my depression has gotten a whole lot worse. If I were to join him, I wouldn't be able to perform to the standard that he has of me. I've been given multiple offers from other companies, but frankly, I'm not emotionally stable to join any other company even though it's the best for me career wise. I've put his offer off for too long now, and I don't want to tarnish this relationship with my past boss, I just don't really know how to effectively communicate this to him without seeming or appearing weak or disrespectful. I always had mentioned that I'd like to continue working at my current company for X amount of time to think things through. But I've delayed this for too long. What can I do? <Q> Hi [name], <S> Although it sounds like a fantastic opportunity, I'm really not at a place in my life that I can join your company right now. <S> I would like to revisit this with you later on. <S> -apcspd7 <A> Why mention you depression? <S> He does not need to know. <S> Just write an email saying that you appreciate the offer but at this current time I cannot join you company. <S> Add a bit of praise that he has considered you and wish him well in the future. <S> Also add to please stay in contact. <S> Perhaps email him six months down the line when (hopefully) things might be better <A> I agree with the others that you don't need to mention your depression when you decline the offer. <S> But before you reject the offer, consider if it might possibly be a blessing in disguise. <S> This person already has a high opinion of you, so if you joined the company you wouldn't have that awkward phase of trying to prove yourself. <S> Of course, all of this depends on how bad your depression is, whether or not you're getting treatment and getting it under control. <S> You might even ask if you could work part-time. <A> You don't have to say what the issue is, and if he asks about it out of concern, you can say "I'd prefer not to talk about it," and if he presses any further he's being rude. <S> Obviously, you don't owe him that information, but that little clue, that it's medical, will tell him it's nothing personal and nothing you have control over. <S> If he isn't understanding and supportive after that, he's nobody you want to work with. <S> Both people might be happy you helped them team up.
| If you feel you owe him a little more of an explanation, as a friend or as a business acquaintance, you might tell him that you're not able to work for him right now because you're dealing with some personal medical issues, because depression definitely qualifies. In addition, maybe you can introduce him to someone you know from work that has the skills he's looking for.
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Inform brand new employer about another offer? So I just formally accepted a position with a new company (Company A). I haven't begun work with them yet. I informed another company that I was in talks with (Company B) that I had accepted the position. Company B hadn't made an offer yet, but decided to counter-offer once they learned of Company A's offer. I feel like Company A is the better fit for me at this point, but Company B's compensation is a little bit better. Also, it doesn't seem right to re-open negotiations immediately after I formally accepted an offer. So all in all, I'm pretty committed to Company A. My question is, should I at least inform Company A of the counter offer? Just to say "Hey, these guys are submitting a slightly better package." Any advice? <Q> If you do, the perception is going to be that you're asking for a counter-offer. <S> I would normally say that it's a perfectly acceptable negotiation technique, however, you've already signed with them. <S> If you do decide to leave no one can stop you, but bringing up the money some other company is currently offering you is not going to gain you any sympathy. <A> Also, it doesn't seem right to re-open negotiations <S> Listen to that inner voice <S> - it's correct. <S> You negotiated in good faith with Company A and accepted a position with them. <S> Since Company A seems a good fit, just let the compensation difference pass (unless it's huge, like double). <S> If you go back to Company A and say, "B just offered me x% more", you're going to appear petty - as if money is the only reason to be there. <S> You run the risk of A saying "we won't stop you - go with B - we rescind our offer / go away" <A> As the other comments have said, it's best to not mention it to Company A. <S> You have already accepted a position, which is the end of negotiations. <S> Consider how you would react if, after having negotiated and both parties agreed, Company A then tried to renegotiate with you for a lower salary. <S> However, also ask them if it is an open offer. <S> Remember that your probationary period with Company A (assuming there is one) is a two-way agreement - it also means you're judging whether you want to continue working for them. <S> If Company B extends an open offer and you feel Company A is not a good fit for you, you now have the ability to return to Company B and, assuming the offer is still on the table, sign with them.
| One thing I would do is reiterate to Company B that you have already accepted an offer and that you feel it would be in bad faith to accept a different position now. Don't "inform" them simply for the sake of being polite.
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How to manage an employee who talks too much? I manage a team of engineers. For the most part everyone is self-motivated and doesn't need much management. There is one engineer in particular, though, that is very difficult to work with. He has very strong ideas about how things should be done, yet is terrible about understanding the needs of the business or other departments. He feels insecure about his job yet doesn't do much to change his work style. We're pretty sure he produces poor documentation with the intent of improving his job security. He also talks a lot. I don't mind people talking with each other, but to a point where it doesn't take away from your work. When he talks with me, I'm happy to hear what's going on for him but then when I start to give signals that I need to get back to work, he's very slow to get it. And in particular, he seems to talk with one other sympathetic engineer a lot. The other engineer otherwise works pretty hard but I've seen their conversations go on for 20-30 minutes at a time. I think he feels the need to talk because of insecurities about his job and about his personal life, but this is a workplace and while he's here I need him to focus. What can I do about this? <Q> It doesn't sound like you're managing your employees too well. <S> I don't mean to sound rude, but you're their manager, not their friend. <S> Short term solution <S> If he's taking up your time with trivial conversations then instead of dropping hints simply say: I'm sorry Joe, but I have some things I need to finish. <S> (and turn away) <S> Similarly, if you see this person taking up other people's time step in: <S> Hey guys, I can see that you're talking about something really interesting, but it's eating up a lot of company time. <S> You should continue your conversation over lunch/after work, ok? <S> If this person's attitude continues then have a chat with them in private: <S> Joe, I understand that you enjoy talking with your fellow developers, but I'm afraid that this is a work environment. <S> We have to keep our interactions professional, and get out jobs done. <S> If you want to discuss personal issues please do so outside of work. <S> Similarly, tell your team to stop indulging him! <S> This won't be gaining you any friends, but it will solve your immediate problem. <S> Long term solution <S> For a more long term solution you may consider helping your employee actually become a better developer. <S> A lot of managers seem to ignore that part of their role is also helping their employees grow . <S> You can set up a meeting with him and perform a code review. <S> Explain to him that you need better quality documentation, and pick a few methods to work on together so that he understands what the expectations are. <S> This way <S> , if he fails to improve at least you know there's really no hope for him <S> and you can fire him with a clear conscience. <A> When the subtle cues don't work, you need to be more direct. <S> It’s probably best to address these issues separately. <S> Business strategy: <S> Assuming you have clearly communicated the vision of your company and how your team fits into the big picture, you may need to take this person aside and explain exactly what is off base about the specific ideas being articulated. <S> Being specific is key to turning it into a good teachable moment. <S> Time spent chatting: Best to just be very direct with this conversation. <S> “I enjoy catching up with you from time to time on personal stuff, but it’s starting to get in the way of work. <S> We have a lot to do here, and we need to stay on task as much as possible to ensure we are meeting our obligations and hitting our deadlines. <S> Let’s try to limit the longer conversations with colleagues to lunch time, breaks and after work.” <S> Documentation: <S> If you don’t have formal standards you can still provide examples of what you consider to be “good” documentation, and explain clearly WHY they are good. <S> Similarly, if this person is not producing what you want, go through some samples of his work with him and explain in detail what is specifically that is lacking. <S> Then explain your expectations for improvements. <S> Don’t worry and fret about this for too long – best to just get it done and move on. <S> You’ll feel better knowing you have made your best effort to communicate your expectations as manager, and if improvements are not forthcoming, it’s 100% on the employee. <A> By doing this you achieve two things: Get a more balanced view of the situation. <S> By listening to the employees you will show them that you value their opinion. <A> Give them more work to do. <S> I have had many of these types. <S> When they start up a story give them a spreadsheet to do, some menial task that needs to be done by your group. <S> Do it right in the middle of them talking, just ask them to your office and assign it. <S> If the Pavlov's dog response doesn't kick in <S> then you get all these tasks done. <S> If your employee mentions that they are overworked, simply say, "I hear you guys talking a lot <S> so I figured you were all caught up."
| It’s important to make sure the person understands you are taking the time to explain because you value them as an employee and want them to succeed . Listening to his life problems is not what you're there to do, and you should inform him of this ASAP. Please don't forget to talk about this with other team members.
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How to handle inappropriate behaviour of your manager I've been working in a small IT company (about 20 employees) for a few months. Last night (Friday) we had the Christmas company dinner, all employees together. After the dinner the manager and some senior employees wanted to go drink and party more, while me and a couple others junior employees wanted to call it a night and get some sleep since we have to leave early to reach family/girlfriend/wife that are far from the workplace city. So we politely refused and left. However, our manager knows that we live together in a shared flat, so he started calling us on our mobile. They were all a bit drunk, so at first we just tried to be polite but firm answering "no please we need to sleep now", "we're sorry but we cannot join you but you have fun" and so on. Then they came to our place and kept ringing the doorbell for a while, so in the end we went downstairs and told them to leave us alone and shut the door, and we were quite upset. In the end they left, but now I'm wondering how should we have handled this situation and how to approach our manager next Monday, since he seemed offended by our reaction. Did we respond in the best way? Small addendum: Probably it was not clear from the original post, but the shared flat is not far from the workplace and the dinner location. It's our families or wifes or girlfriends that live far away (hence the shared flat), and we usually reach them on Friday evenings. We made an exception for the dinner, but we had planned flights or trains early on Saturday and we warned everybody from the start that we couldn't stay out all night, just the dinner. <Q> It's your manager who owes you an apology, and not the other way around. <S> They should have respected your wishes. <S> We've all (possibly) drunk dialed someone on a Saturday night, then apologized on a Monday. <S> So I wouldn't be surprised if you get an apology on the Monday. <S> As for how you think you behaved, I'll be honest <S> I'm surprised you didn't call the police. <S> Or thrown a bucket of cold water on their head, so well done for not doing that :-) <A> Don't approach them. <S> Let them approach you. <S> Accept their apology. <S> If they don't apologize then you have a problem. <S> I have done much dumber stuff drunk <S> and when I sobered up I knew it. <S> Hopefully they are embarrassed. <S> But forgive them - even managers get stupid. <A> Without history I would just chalk it up as a good story to tell. <S> Sure the manager was inappropriate. <S> But it sounds like the manager was treating you as a friend <S> and he was the drunk friend trying to call you out for going home early. <S> Does he need to apologize? <S> Naaah. <S> Friends don't apologize they just do dumb things while drunk <S> and then you make fun of them after. <S> I think you took the situation a little too serious. <S> He acted a little dumb, well a lot dumb. <S> No use holding a grudge or behing uncomfortable about one event and one stupid night. <S> Making a joke about it or just going over and saying "hi" breaks the ice a bit. <S> If you are waiting for an apology - well maybe he owes one to the Serious Steve - but don't be Serious Steve. <S> Laugh it off. <S> He didn't do anything but act dumb. <S> You act like nothing happened and he will trust you more and maybe look the other way when you make a mistake at work. <A> Generally, there is not a defined professional response to unprofessional behavior. <S> They did not break the law (from your description), they were annoying to you, and it's possible they don't remember the events in the same way that you (and your flatmates) do. <S> They may apologize for being aggressive - following you to a place "far from the workplace city" sounds like a significant effort on their part. <S> Impaired judgment aside, they were eager to continue to include you in their festivities. <S> You had other priorities and plans. <S> This happens in social settings, and expecting an apology or providing one is polite from either and both sides. <S> To prevent this from happening, next time it is important to ask about and communicate expectations in advance. <S> Business events (even "social" ones) should include a planned start and end time. <S> Without knowing their expectations, it is easy to miscommunicate. <S> So before committing to a business function such as this, it is completely appropriate to ask when is starts and also when it ends. <S> If an end time is not specified, then respond in advance with when you expect to leave, if you already have expectations. <S> Otherwise, it is not clear to others your motivation for leaving "early". <S> You will be expected to stay as long as it seems like everyone is having fun... or some other soft measure. <S> Alternatively, if you did not specify an end time and need to leave but your host/boss is not receptive, feign illness or express an urgent personal matter that requires you / your party to exit. <S> Saying you need to "leave" and <S> your boss/manager says, "Oh please stay!" <S> - you can politely explain the "details" of your need to leave. <S> Matters that involve medicine, wash rooms and/or a change of clothing typically end the evening quickly for those afflicted. <S> However, fake illness is really a last resort, as most people exhibit symptoms or if you use it often, it will be obvious that you are faking it, but not obvious why you are doing it.
| While you did not appreciate or welcome the behavior of the manager, the best response is to behave as if their behavior was appropriate.
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Feeling threatened with new coworker joining team who is better than me I have been working with a team for 2 years now. When I joined I made good improvements in processes and came up with few good ideas that helped us. There is a new team member who will be joining our team and I know him from a previous project. He is better in terms of knowledge, and communication as compared to myself. I am really feeling threatened that this person will come and steal the show. I really look forward to learning from him but I am feeling threatened that my thunder will not persist after he joins us. How do I deal with this? <Q> Your question boils down to self-confidence and being a team player. <S> If you have contributed good ideas and efforts to the team, then continue to do so. <S> Don't try to out-shine the other person. <S> Your manager and co-workers will be much happier with you if you work to integrate the person into the team instead of trying to keep whatever thunder you believe you have, and they will notice either way. <S> If you spend time trying to show that you know as much as or more than someone else, your team members will find it irritating and unprofessional, and that will hurt your professional growth more than whatever the new team member might do better than you. <S> Welcome the person, help them learn the ropes, treat him or her the way you would like to be treated, and everyone will benefit. <S> Cultivating that team-building attitude will do much for your career. <A> I get this all the time. <S> When I started programming there was no Internet or Stack Overflow to help me, there was no option for me but to read big thick manuals. <S> It can be threatening when someone waaay more capable than you joins the team, but you have two approaches. <S> You can feel threatened, or make the most of it. <S> For example, I work for a company who hires extremely smart people, and frankly they make me look like a doofus sometimes. <S> However, I relish the chance to work with these guys. <S> Mainly because there's a LOT <S> I can learn from them. <S> The field of software engineering is so vast these days that it's impossible to keep up with all of it. <S> So the other day, a colleague of mine gave me an awesome demo of what he's been working on using the new Spring Cloud, and it was great. <S> I learned something new. <S> And that's what I love about working with really capable younger programmers. <S> They have no fear, they're willing to try something <S> and so what if it doesn't work? <S> And that's starting to rub off on me. <S> Now the flip side of this, is that I have something the new guys don't. <S> And that's experience, and excellent communication and presentation skills. <S> (I worked as an assistant pastor for a small church for a while and had to preach, so that's where I learned that skill.) <S> So they'll often pop over and ask me how to present something to a group of directors, or just bounce ideas off me <S> so they can explain something really technical to folks who aren't that technical. <S> It's a two way street if you approach it right. <S> So don't worry, you've got nothing to prove, just keep updating your skills, and make the most of the learning chance you've been given :-) <S> And enjoy it <A> There are some things which you need to keep in mind here: <S> Don't let your self-confidence hit low: <S> The presence of another person, whom you feel is more talented than you; should be a challenge for you, rather than a threat. <S> Managers and leads love to have such kind of self-inspired people in the team. <S> So, learn hard and try to be better at what you already do. <S> Letting your confidence hit low only worsen things. <S> And it is very dangerous when it comes to your professional career. <S> Compliment the skill sets: If he knows something you don't, and you know something <S> he/ <S> she don't, then compliment both the skill sets to achieve things together. <S> This would be well appreciated as excellent teamwork. <S> So, instead of making it look like a competition, make it look like a game. <S> Making it look like a competition is, in fact, harmful for both of you, and the team. <S> Help him/her. <S> Help a lot: <S> Make sure they get up to speed quickly. <S> By doing so, you not only have a very good impression, but you wouldn't lose your thunder, as that person would be very thankful for your help and would compliment you as much as possible. <S> And keep in mind to do so, yourself too. <S> This takes the dirty competitive spirit and helps both of you to learn from each other and improve yourselves. <S> Your teammates would love it, and both of you would be great assets for the team. <A> Don't worry about it, you have two years seniority already and you have proved yourself. <S> Just keep up the good work without stressing yourself over how well someone else performs. <S> Your place is already made. <S> It actually sounds like your team will now be a stronger more efficient one. <S> This is actually a good thing. <S> Also, two years is a long time, people's skillset can change drastically over two years. <S> People I was learning from 2 years ago I have left far behind in several areas. <A> You deal with it by taking advantage of the opportunity to work with a good teammate to achieve excellent results for the company. <S> This is, or should be, a positive-sum game; more than one person can win and you're most likely to win by a joint effort.
| So, instead of trying to be competitive and trying to get one-up over him every time, try to help him and compliment his skill set with yours. Make the new person feel welcome in the team. It's easy to feel threatened, but at the end of the day, there's ALWAYS going to be a better programmer than you somewhere, and they'll be younger too.
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I am taking over all of a coworkers projects, but nothing is communicated to me officially I work at medium sized (say 50-100 employees) software industry company for about 2.5 years now, in Germany.We do not have a strict company hierarchy, so technically everyone can just go to anyone in the company and talk about projects/problems with everyone. We do have regular department meetings and I report our progress to our departments 'representative'. About a year ago, my department leader told me that a colleague would soon stop working for the company and I shall take over his projects. Everything was clearly communicated, the transition went very smooth and professionally for everyone involved. I quickly learnt about the project very well and was able to make any requested changes easily. I did not leak the classified information that he would stop working for the company - I was just not surprised when it was communicated to everyone. Now I am 99.9% sure that the same thing his happening again, this time with a different coworker, lets call him Bob. There is project X, which was Bob's project and I joined it about 6 months ago. It was made clear about 2 months ago, that I would now be managing project X, which means keeping track of the progress, but still also contributing code to the project. I realize that I am slowly and unofficially taking over project X, because Bob is leaving or (will be) terminated (soon). There are several small indications of what is going on. The major indication is that it was recently discussed, that our project is behind schedule, which I could not understand, as progress was great and we clearly were far ahead of the schedule. I was puzzled by this, but then I realized, they must have had additional information, which they were referring to. It was that soon Bob will not be available for the project anymore. They already included Bob leaving the company (or being terminated) in their time schedule for project X. This proved to be true, because I accidentally found a file referring to Project X (publicly accessible within company network), in which I read that it was discussed in a meeting without me, that project X should be finished, while Bob is still with the company. This explains the tighter schedule, of which I had no idea. This file belongs to the person telling me that the project is late. I have no hard feelings, I am just puzzled about this situation. I understand that it might be a good idea to keep secret the information about people (begin forced to be) leaving the company (for whatever reasons).However, why would I not be told to take over Bob's duties with a clear deadline, just as it happened before with the other coworker a year ago. For me, each day could be the day at which Bob does not show up to work anymore. How should I manage project X if I am not told about the 'real' deadline and the reasons for it? I want to clarify this situation and deal with it professionally. Would it be more appropriate to talk about this with my team lead first? Or talk to Bob first (what if he doesn't know / realize what is going on? Talk to the guy who told me project X is behind in schedule and who left this file, indication that Bob soon will be gone? Talk to the CEO first (it would also be easy to talk to him directly)? The CEO must have given the order to everyone, not to talk about it.Or is the answer: The other people did not tell me for a reason - so do nothing, just go on as if I didn't know it. Update I rephrased all parts where I told that Bob resigned into something more generic: maybe he resigned, maybe he is being terminated (soon). Everything would make more sense to me, if Bob is not leaving, but is being terminated or that it is planned to terminate him soon. <Q> Realistically it's not your problem. <S> The reasons why you have not been told a deadline can be anything. <S> It may be that you're colleague is going to be tasked with something else that may or may not eventuate because it is dependent on an outside contract, so management is unclear on what is happening themselves, but trying to prepare as best they can. <S> Or your colleague may be under investigation for something and <S> they're waiting for findings one way or the other. <S> The other scenarios, termination or quitting you don't know, but again, it's managements problem to prepare for them, so either you will get informed when it is appropriate or not <S> , it's a management call. <S> You don't need to stress yourself over it, just keep doing your job and don't jump to conclusions or over analyse the situation, because there isn't much you can do. <A> I would say that your first port of call should be to chat to the project manager. <S> It's clear that there's been discussions when you've not been present, and if you're taking on someone else's work, then they need to make you aware. <S> As to how to approach your PM, next time you have a meeting I'd ask " <S> I've noticed that the schedule has changed dramatically lately. <S> Is this due to Bob leaving? <S> " It gives the PM a chance to explain why the schedule has changed, and it'll confirm what you know to be true "officially". <S> Then you can ask the PM what they expect your responsibilities to be in light of this. <S> The one thing I would make CERTAIN I do, is get Bob to do an information handover. <S> Where I work, a colleague left a while ago, and he was the only one who knew how a certain component of a system worked. <S> So I'd say get all the info you can from Bob. <S> Your bosses sounds like they're not giving you the full information, and you should call them on that, but do it in a non-confrontational way if you can. <S> If they still won't give you a straight answer, then I'd escalate beyond your PM as a last resort. <A> Why do you think you need to talk to someone about it? <S> Yes you have indications Bob is leaving and it is clear they are not sharing that with you. <S> If they wanted to share that information with you they would have. <S> Until someone officially tells the project schedule is different it is not different. <S> You can do your job on Monday without knowing when or if Bob is leaving.
| The only thing that you can do is ask management point blank if you will be taking over all his duties on the project and see what information they volunteer.
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Company still interviewing people three weeks after my interview I interviewed for a job three weeks ago, and thought that it went pretty well. I was told that they'd have decision in three weeks. I contacted the main interviewer Friday, and he told me that they were still interviewing people and that he expected a decision by the end of this coming week. I was surprised and disappointed that they are still interviewing people three weeks after speaking with me. On the one hand, to me, that means they're having serious doubts about hiring me, or else they would have foregone the other interviews. On the other, I am a local candidate for the position and perhaps other candidates had to be flown in and arrangements made. Perhaps this is why the interview process has been stretched out the way it has. Additionally, one has to consider the week of Thanksgiving as a sort of dead week for interviews. I'm obviously overthinking all of this. Does anyone have any thoughts, or similar experiences past or currently ongoing? EDIT: Thanks for all of the responses so far. I just wanted to say that I plan on updating with whether I was offered the position or not once I receive word. UPDATE: On 12/23, I received an automated email stating that I wasn't being considered for the position anymore. I guess the email didn't go a as well as I thought. <Q> As a hiring manager a number of scenarios come to mind: <S> A strong candidate has said something like "I'm away on holiday for the next 2 weeks" and they've already agreed to wait <S> The hiring manager needs sign off from HIS boss before he can offer, but he is having to wait Interviews have moved too fast, and the requisition for a hire hasn't been approved yet (happens all the time) <S> The role is dependent on a project/contract coming in, and that's been delayed/is waiting for sign off <S> There is <S> /may be a hiring freeze incoming so they need to wait <S> It's almost end of their financial year, so they need to hit next years budget to do the hire (again they thought it would take longer) <S> Maybe they like you, but aren't so knocked out that they don't want to wait "just in case" <S> someone who has 110% of your skills but wanting 50% of your money comes along (hey they can dream!) <S> They are just testing the market to see if someone fantastic comes along, but are really just jerking you along and don't intend to really hire anyone (again, surprisingly common) <S> As per your update, they know their ATS will send an automated email to all remaining candidates when they close the role down after hiring, so they won't bother pressing the button on your application and keep you dangling (again happens far too often). <S> Why they can't tell you this, in some cases it's obvious, in others <S> The best strategy, treat every job as not won, until you have a contract to sign, and keep pushing on. <S> If it comes in you might get a nice surprise, or maybe something EVEN BETTER may appear. <S> Also the best way to get them to move and get the offer is to have another one, you immediately become more attractive if someone else wants you (but don't BS, you need to be able to show your hand, but any offer can be enough, even if you wouldn't actually take it). <A> The usual process is this Get a bunch of CVs <S> Create a short list of those to interview Arrange for interviews <S> /tests <S> Interview them over a period 1, 2 or 3 weeks <S> Make a decision as to those to either employ or for a second interview <S> You are over thinking this. <S> But attend other interviews/keep applying for jobs. <S> Do not put all your eggs into the one basket. <A> The whole point of interviewing multiple people for a position is so that you have multiple choices. <S> No matter how good you are as one of the first individuals interviewed, does it not seem entirely reasonable and logical to see the process through to its end before making a decision? <S> You'd have to have been absolutely groundbreakingly stellar to be worth cancelling the entire set of first-round interviews and immediately moving forward with just you. <S> And all of this supposes that they only have one position to fill during this round. <A> It's quite likely that they just had multiple candidates that they considered to possibly be a good fit and just want to talk to all of them before deciding on one. <S> I've been on the hiring side of that situation a few times before. <S> Sometimes it just takes a while to get everyone you want to talk to in, especially those traveling long distances. <S> and/or if some of the people who need to be there travel frequently for work. <S> Larger organizations will probably be able to just schedule other people to conduct the interviews more easily, but smaller organizations may have a group of at least a few people who really all need to be there, especially in highly technical fields. <S> If they already have a few other candidates with interviews scheduled (or with whom they've already conducted phone interviews and are planning to conduct on-site interviews soon,) they're probably not just going to cancel all of the other interviews and make you an offer on the spot unless you're an extremely exceptional candidate for the position. <S> So, yes, I do think you're probably just overthinking this. <S> On the flip side, you should really be doing the same thing. <S> Just as you're not the only candidate they're interviewing, they shouldn't be the only organization you're interviewing with. <S> As other answers have said, continue looking into and interviewing for other opportunities and don't turn down other offers just to wait to see if you get one from them. <S> If you do get another offer with a short deadline for response, though, certainly feel free to tell them (politely) that you have another offer waiting and you need to know whether they intend to make you an offer by x date. <S> If they already think they're likely to make you an offer, they may go ahead and do so. <S> The worst they can say is no. <A> Firstly, you are not given a confirmation yet, so you should not keep a lot of hopes in the prospect, and continue looking out for opportunities. <S> Secondly, the company might have committed to the interviews, and they would go forward with them as scheduled with hopes of maybe finding someone better than your profile.
| sometimes they are afraid you'll jump for another role if you think there's a possibility it won't happen, so just keep you dangling hoping you'll be desperate enough to wait. I do believe you're massively over-thinking this. Sometimes interview schedules can also be delayed by one or more of the people who are actually conducting the interviews being away, especially around the holidays
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How best to handle issues within a team that I'm a member, but not manager of? I'm part of a small team (<10) that's only been together for 6 months. Most of the relationships within the team are very good, but we have a contractor who very blatantly spends in the region of half his day browsing the internet - reading Facebook, forums related to his hobby and browsing gadget and tech reviews. He often turns up after our daily standup (10am). The only person that doesn't appear to be aware of this is his manager. I, and others that have commented on his work ethic, would be happy to see him either working at 100% (he can do good work, but chooses not to) or removed from the team. Knowing he's being paid 200% to do 50% is proving very demotivating for everyone else. I'm going to try dropping some hints ("If you're short of something to do,..." etc.), but I think it will need someone with more authority to make a difference. One detail to be aware of is that the manager received an 18 month driving ban about a week before the contractor's initial 3 month period ended. The contractor was renewed for 12 months. They both live about an hour from the office, but only 5 minutes apart. I have reservations about the manager too, for other reasons. He's very chaotic and despite doing plenty of hours, his actual presence and availability is very intermittent. When asked why he's just signed a P.O. for a new build server nobody was asking for, the reply was "because the money needed spending" rather than "to make the builds faster". It cost £12k. What would be an effective way of improving the situation? I know a couple of people are already seriously considering leaving the team. <Q> Contractor not performing: first make sure he isn't wsiting for compiles/tests or otherwise blocked, in which case killing time may (or may not) be justified. <S> Also, be aware that some folks do their best work in "background processing" -- <S> if his productivity is bad that's a problem, but if he's delivering value for pay how he gets there doesn't matter. <S> (I have found that I work best if I allow myself a bit of slack rather than staring at the code 100% of the time.) <S> Then, after you're sure there really is something that needs to be addressed, take that to the manager who has the power to cancel the contract and thus the authority to demand productivity. <A> The contractor is not working hard enough, and the manager is chaotic. <S> I would say you're spending too much time analysing others performance instead of making this an opportunity to enhance your own. <S> This isn't your problem unless you make it your problem which is bound to have repercussions. <S> Unless you're above the contractor you can't realistically do anything off your own authority, and definitely not towards your manager. <S> At this point I would be busy proving my competence and eyeing up the managers job, because if he's really that bad, he will eventually be removed in a good company. <S> It's up to management to decide whether the contractor is underperforming, given that they extended him for another 12 months, complaining about that is basically telling them they're idiots. <S> If it's that he's getting paid more than you that is the problem, then that is a whole other issue. <A> Ultimately, as irritating as it might be, your problem is not that the contractor finds time for their hobbies in work time, it's what they're failing to do as a result. <S> Only if you hear it being claimed "the contractor can't do that they're overworked" are the other activities going to seem relevant to the manager, in which case have a short measured response prepared indicating you've noticed the amount of time they spend on other things should suffice. <S> Take each concern you have (e.g. rarely attends stand-up) and identify clearly the impact it has on the project. <S> Give examples (e.g. because Contractor doesn't typically attend stand-ups, we spent all a day working around a blocker that we didn't know had been resolved). <S> Then order them most severe to least severe effect on the business. <S> Then cull the ones at the bottom because you're going to need to have a concise message. <S> Make clear what your expectations are. <S> Focus on the important ones that your manager will remember. <S> When you meet with the manager to discuss it, you don't want them coming away thinking " <S> Gosh, AC seems really annoyed with Contractor", you want them thinking "Gosh, AC is annoyed that X, Y, and Z isn't happening, I need to talk to Contractor". <S> Finally, you may want to let your own manager know you're planning to do this.
| Managing this guy is the manager's job, not yours, unless you are explicitly instructed to handle it.
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My old boss wants me back but 2 employees may not welcome me I've been at my new job for 4 months but honestly with my skills l feel like I can be more productive at a fast pace setting. I left my old job because I felt overworked; I was drowning and the site director would not listen to me. When I gave my resignation the Director offered me a raise, a new title, more help ,but at this time it didn't matter as I was ready to go. I had been there for 7 years. I stated looking for a new job not too long ago, my old boss found out and would like to meet to see if I'd like to return. He said things will be different, but there are 2 employees that dislike me and are still there. Should l worried about them if I decide to go back with better pay and a promotion? <Q> Never worry about other employees, you can always deal with those issues as they come up. <S> Your primary concern is getting better pay and promotion. <S> All internal issues are secondary at best. <S> It's not a beauty pageant. <S> I have cheerfully worked with people I absolutely detested both above me and below. <S> But never let it impact on my work which is what I'm being paid for. <A> I think the close votes are because there really is no way to tell what is right for you. <S> However, you should not believe that things "will be different" just because the director said so. <S> Organizations don't change easily, and the atmosphere is never dictated by one person but rather by the team as a whole and the business situation. <S> You will be going back to the same people and deal with the same problems as before. <S> Only you can decide if going back for the promotion is worth it. <S> There is nothing anyone can say about the two people who "dislike" you-- that could mean anything or nothing at all, only you know why and what that really means for you. <A> I'll say the same than Kilisi, but another way : the important thing is how you build your career. <S> The question for you to know is : do those people have enough influence to screw your resume? <S> If they are just unpleasant people, well, let them be unpleasant, and forget about them. <S> And I guess they don't have that much power, as they seem not to be able to prevent you from coming back. <S> Wherever you'll go, there will always be people who dislike you, sooner or later. <S> Coming back to an old job is not common, but it happens, and usually, both sides know why the employee is back. <S> I have never see it happening too bad.
| In my opinion, if the promotion is only incremental you're probably better off moving on to another opportunity.
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Should I mention my future immigration status on my resume? I am at final stage of obtaining my US permanent residency (Green Card), hopefully within the next month or so. My current employment contract will end in less than two months, and therefore, I need to apply for new jobs as soon as possible. Due to the nature of my field, the GC is required to be considered for many jobs. My question is whether it is fine (legal-wise) to mention that I will be a permanent resident (for example June 2016) on my resume. The GC case is still in process, so it's neither approved nor rejected as of now. Thank you for your help. <Q> No. <S> Don't include it. <S> I am a native US citizen, and I have never felt the need to specify this on my resume. <S> If you live in the US and are expected to be eligible to work, then I would not mention it until later in the interview process. <S> A resume is designed to get you in the door - mentioning that you could possibly not have a green card in time is just a red flag that would put you below other candidates. <S> You should certainly bring it up once there is an offer and before any background checks, but it doesn't need to be on the resume. <S> The only exception to this is if you are applying for a job in a country other than the one you live in. <S> For example, if you live in India but are applying to jobs in the US, stating that you are already eligible (or soon will be) to work in the US would be beneficial. <A> Are you accounting for the fact that this month ends with a few holidays like Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's? <S> Where I live in Canada, more than a few offices will be closed for a few days around that time of year and so anything to be processed may take longer because of those days. <S> While you could put that you are awaiting approval of your Green Card, this may be a bit of a yellow flag for some employers that may not want to have to go through the hassle of either transferring your visa or applying for a new one. <S> I'd be more tempted to discuss this in interviews or once an offer is about to be presented rather than mention it early and be discarded right away as someone that may be "more trouble" in a sense. <S> When I did work in the US, I had my visa all the time that I was working and made sure the paperwork was properly done. <S> As you have adjusted your status, this would likely mean that it isn't worth discussing until the offer stage where you may have your card by that point in time. <A> There is a fine line here. <S> On the one hand, you don't want to lie or tell them that there might be a problem with your work permission. <S> On the other hand, work authorization is one of the very first things many employers will look at on your resume. <S> From what I understand, you are currently working legally in the US. <S> Why don't you include something like "Work authorization: eligible for working in the US". <S> If they contacted you again or invited you for an interview, you will have a chance to explain your situation in more details.
| Not having it, specially if your name sounds non-American might cause your resume to be rejected in the first screening process.
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Working in an agency, can I put in our clients' company on my LinkedIn profile? I am a Web Developer and I work in agency where they give us clients from other agencies/companies to work with. Can I put in our clients' company on my LinkedIn profile? If not, can I put it as a Project instead? Scenario: I was adding a colleague from another Web Development agency that I'm working with, and I'd like to add him as colleague but LinkedIn is asking which company did we work together on. Since basically they are our clients I thought of putting their company's name in the field but I'm not sure whether it'd be cool for both agencies. <Q> If the company doesn't have any problem with that, then you can add the project. <S> They wouldn't really have a problem with you listing them in the summary as worked with as client. <S> However, you need to take permission before putting the projects, as some of them might be stealth or internal projects, which they might not be ready to release or are being developed as a one-up against their competitors. <S> So, in that case, you'd be letting them down if you make that project public. <A> The first question is NDA. <S> In my current company, I'm only allowed to list about half of the clients I've worked with from a legal perspective. <S> Next, you should make sure that your company handbook does not directly or indirectly prohibit you from posting to LinkedIn about your work with the client – it may be against your own firms rules. <S> So, for example: Parse3 Communications (2012) Created the Nair product selection tool for Church and Dwight <S> The reason I generally prefer this format is because while I did do work for Church and Dwight, I did not answer up their hierarchy and my performance was not evaluated by their company. <S> You also don't want anything on LinkedIn which can be considered misleading. <S> An HR person might ask questions, or might have even formerly worked at the company. <S> Saying, "well, technically I didn't work for them" does not come across well. <A> I have dealt with this in the past. <S> When LinkedIn asks how you know them, use the colleague option and select your employer. <S> This is the truth, you are their colleague and it is through your current employer. <S> Also, as far as I know, this process is just a safeguard to keep people from adding people they don't know and shouldn't affect your connection on LinkedIn.
| When it comes to my résumé as well as LinkedIn, I generally put the name of the company I work for, and then include the client in the description of one or more of the tasks I worked on.
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How to address situation where company buy-out has moved my salary review back? As it stands the small tech company I currently work for is being bought out by a large multinational company with the finalisations to be made tomorrow. It has been in the pipeline for a fair few months but I was told about this within the last two months. I started this job just over a year ago and had my 6 month appraisal which, from what I gather, is not really an opportunity to negotiate salary and so it was not discussed. My yearly review has come up but as my boss has been so busy with the take over it hasn't been possible to organise. As far as I am aware this has been the same for everyone within the business and has not been raised as an issue by any of them. This didn't seem a problem to me until I realised we will be signing new contracts with our new parent company. In these contracts it states that pretty much everything will remain the same, however the date for salary renewal on my new contract is Jan 2017. This would then be 2 and a quarter years after first starting the role and I feel that it is a little unfair that I at least do not have a chance at entering contract negotiations. I would certainly like to have the opportunity to discuss my salary prior to this. How can I make sure that I get an opportunity to address this without being locked into my starting wage for an unreasonable period? To add a bit more understanding to the situation one of my previous colleagues left a similar role to mine mid-takeover. This was before he knew of the takeover. The company has now had interviews for more people in his role and I am also have the knowledge that the interviews are being encouraged to hire at least one of the applicants. This is because the business is very much expected to grow over the coming years. The Outcome - I think it is useful to tell people of my outcome should they be put in a situation like this. Prior to the buy-out I spoke to my manager and highlighted my problem with the new contract. It turns out that the contract is a standard contract for the company and so only one or two section are ever changed - and not the one containing renewals. However, into my Letter of Employment there was written a part saying that due to the immediate pressures on HR and resources there would be a one off salary review within the first 6 months of joining. This seems like a fair compromise and also gives me time to show the parent company my true worth. <Q> My yearly review has come up but as my boss has been so busy with the take over it hasn't been possible to organise. <S> As far as I am aware this has been the same for everyone within the business and has not been raised as an issue by any of them. <S> How can I make sure that I get an opportunity to address this without being locked into my starting wage for an unreasonable period? <S> You can press your boss to address your review now, rather than waiting until the buy out occurs. <S> This may or may not be successful. <S> That would not be unusual. <S> That way you'll know with a bit more certainty. <S> At worst, you'll be able to decide if you want to stick around and wait for a raise, or move on. <S> Acquisitions change everything. <S> Unfortunately, while your situation may feel unfair, it isn't that unusual. <A> You could go to your new HR department and tell them that you won't accept this new contract because it postpones your date for salary renewal too back than acceptable for you. <S> Say you either want to negotiate a new wage before signing this new contract or want an earlier date for salary renewal in your contract than standard. <S> However, keep in mind that: A company takeover means trendemous workload and chaos for the HR department, so they might simply not have the resources to negotiate any special requests right now. <S> So they might simply ignore your concern and expect you to either sign the new contract or don't. <S> Company takeovers often involve layoffs. <S> And when you appear to have issues with the takeover and your position has redundancies, that might put you on the list. <S> However, if you are important for the new company, then they might also just give you what you want <S> so you stop bothering them. <S> You are not asking for much, after all. <S> Just for having a meeting for a salary negotiation where they can still say no to your salary demands. <A> There are a variety of situational possibilities here, depending on why your company is being acquired, and what you manager is doing. <S> During acquisitions and mergers, it could be that the new company will: <S> want to keep you. <S> want to get rid of you for some reason. <S> doesn't care one way or the other. <S> (In the interest of space I won't elaborate.) <S> Which situation applies to you is something you probably can't do much about, although understanding which you are in will help you decide how to proceed and how much leverage you might have. <S> From what you've said, it seems they probably want to keep you. <S> Also, it could be that your manager: <S> has your situation on a to do list, but hasn't gotten to it yet (or just hasn't talked to you about it yet). <S> has been told no raises are to be given out. <S> has forgotten your situation. <S> Regardless of those circustances, I think the best thing to do now is to have a discussion with him/her. <S> There's no reason to get confrontational, just stay calm and present the facts. <S> In the conversation I recommend reminding your manager that you've already been there over a year without a raise. <S> Point out that if you don't get one now and sign the contract as written, then it will be over 2 years that you'll go without a raise. <S> The response may be that things are already in place for you to get a raise, or something like <S> "Sorry, this had slipped my mind, I'll take care of it." <S> Otherwise, and assuming the company wants to keep you, I think it's likely <S> he <S> /she will try to do something for you if possible; after all, unless the company is trying to get rid of people, part of a manager's job in this situation is to keep valued employees through the acquisition so that the combined company will be stronger. <S> If you're lucky, he/ <S> she will try to help you even if raises aren't supposed to be given out. <S> If there's nothing that can be done, hopefully he/she will be honest about that.
| It's quite possible that the buy-out process requires a stop to all reviews and raises, and your manager might not have any power to change that. If you discuss this with your manager, and point out how you view this as unfair, you'll likely get a response that at least clarifies what he can and cannot do at this time.
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Does passing a certification mean I should get a raise? A small background on me: I was a desktop guy for the past 6 years and I jumped upon a chance to enter windows administration (Wintel Administrator).I was working as a Wintel admin for one and a half years. I recently completed a certification pertaining to my career advancement. Due to my versatility, I am now handling 4 other agencies. Moreover, appraisal is coming soon. Is it wise to ask for a pay raise? If yes, how do I go about it? <Q> Yes it is wise to ask. <S> Take your certification when you ask and show the manager. <S> Many employers reward employees who get extra certifications with a raise. <S> Some will actually pay for the exams. <S> It's beneficial for the company. <S> how do I go about it? <S> Just ask straight up at the appraisal if the company rewards things like that. <S> They may have a set rate, or they may have none at all. <S> It's unlikely to be negotiable unless it's a much higher cert than that though. <A> I used to manage a group of 40 Windows/Cisco/Nortel techs. <S> Your certification is worth about as much money as the paper it was printed on. <S> I would seriously laugh out loud if someone wanted a raise because they just passed a standardized test. <S> I once had a network admin with 11 different certifications (well known) including 5 of the Cisco variety. <S> My new hires helped him solve basic problems. <S> Yes he knew the command to change something <S> but you can also google that. <S> He passed his tests by cramming for them and retaking them as much as he could until he passed them. <S> On the Cisco ones he averaged passing on the 5th one (he told me all of this on his exit review). <S> Why did he leave? <S> Because I refused to give him a dime more after he passed 4 more certifications. <S> Literally I had a 10 second conversation in my head and there was no f'ing way he was going to get more. <S> You want to make more than show more value to your team, do better work, fix things that others can't, be faster. <S> If certification helps then that is awesome. <S> To me certification can be a learning mechanism, however nothing beats doing it every day. <S> When we are configuring WAN routers and connecting Juniper devices to Cisco - guess what? <S> This isn't supported by Juniper cert or Cisco cert (at least at that time). <S> They would have never learned about it even though it was are common configuration. <S> There were complex procedures in setting up the routing tables and if they would have followed their certification knowledge they would take down our network. <S> Work knowledge/performance = raise at current job <S> So ask for the raise if you deserve it. <S> If you have a non-tech manager <S> then fine throw out the new certification. <S> A tech manager won't care though and you mentioning your wanting a raise solely due to certification seems almost like a tactical threat of leaving because you are worth more on the market. <S> In my opinion with a tech manager I would just stick to the facts about your work performance and knowledge at what your group does or wants to do. <A> It shall be part of an overall strategy. <S> You have to prove that your performance today is beyond you current pay level. <S> The thing to negociate there(unless pay scale is carved in stone depending on your certification), is to say "my current pay level was defined against my old level of performance. <S> my new level of performance is better, for the following reasons - blabla based on certification & a few real life examples, like your extended responsabilities". <S> a certification alone, in itself, is nothing in my book. <S> Some even think it's negative . <S> But this is alone. <S> If it's a part of a global strategy to get better, you can sell it as a part of a package that means you took a bigger dimension recently. <A> I would strongly suggest you not rely purely on the certification as justification to ask for a pay raise - but definitely do include it as part of the discussion! <S> I would suggest something along these lines (adjusted to fit your personal tone and culture): <S> For the first six years I worked here <S> I was just a desktop guy. <S> A year and a half ago I took the opportunity to become a Wintel administrator, and things have been going really well! <S> [Giving a concrete, short, example or two would be great.] <S> I've even taken the initiative to get certified as a [technical certification name here]. <S> In my new role I've been able to offer a much greater value to the company than in my own position, and I think my salary should be changed to reflect that. <S> Remember: a salary increase is not a gift, reward, or payment for a certification. <S> Companies pay the job you do , not you as a person. <S> Your certification, experience, and new position - and hopefully positive opinion of the work you've been doing - together make the case that your old salary is no longer appropriate. <S> The job you are doing will always be worth more than any piece of paper or credential. <S> The right papers sure can help you get closer to what you are worth, though!
| Certification = raise at next job
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How to deal with "paranoid redundancy syndrome"? (Especially in a time of change in the workplace) what are ways of dealing with the 'paranoia' of being made redundant, that every meeting in the boss' office "must be" about people being fired / restructured out, this upcoming department meeting is definitely going to be the announcement of the end, etc...? It's not exactly the "impostor" reflex, more a worry/perception that management will not recognise the potential or capabilities of people and just make the "easy" decision to get rid of people instead. Edited to add:I'm not really concerned about performance as I am one of the best people! I don't have a neat job description or place in the org chart though due to being involved in so much different stuff. Is it easier to say "this one doesn't fit" and throw it out when you restructure? What's happened: Merged with another company. Org charts being re-drawn and so on.. It's a conflict between what gets the job done and what fits neatly on an "organogram" (!) Additional edit: I have moved on before (prematurely) due to a similar worry. <Q> Recognize that the cost of replacing an employee is higher than you think. <S> When an employee leaves, a great deal of personal or tribal knowledge disappears. <S> Then the process of hiring a new employee is difficult as well <S> -- there's the investment of time in interviewing candidates, and the lengthy process of bringing new employees just to the level of productivity of the old employees. <S> There's also the risk of a bad hire, the person who looks great on paper and gives a good interview, but ultimately can't do the work. <S> Then you have to go back through the hiring process again... <S> So there are many good reasons why an employer has a vested interest in keeping people who are doing their jobs. <A> I work for a large multinational and we own restructuring and making people redundant. <S> I have been a manager a good amount of my stay at the company. <S> I have found there are three reasons employees are made redundant: <S> Employee not liked by management. <S> Employee underperforming. <S> Group's responsibilities were cut or moved. <S> Employee makes too much money. <S> Employee's role does not provide enough bang for buck. <S> (but usually this is due to point #2. <S> What can you do? <S> Understand that worrying only hurts you in points #1 and #2 above. <S> Understand that these things are TOTALLY out of your control. <S> Work for a smaller company that wouldn't have redundancies. <S> Look at your performance reviews. <S> If they are poor, you should understand that you are in the first group that will get cut. <S> Talk to your manager. <S> During most restructures and cuts your direct manager has a lot of power. <S> They might not be calling the shots but they can often save people. <S> I think mcknz's answer is very logical. <S> However I don't think there is any logic when you are at a large company. <S> The cuts include political battles, different levels of secrecy and some of the most irrational things I have ever seen. <S> There was a case years back when a person I worked with underperformed so badly that we knew she was going. <S> She was just your all around nightmare employee that not only didn't do anything but wasted everyone's time. <S> Manager put her on the block... <S> Some upper manager in a different department knew her husband... Saved her. <S> But manager wouldn't take her. <S> So she got a promotion in the other department! <S> You cannot live your life thinking about such randomness. <S> If it haunts you everyday just make sure you are doing the best at your job you can, come in on time, and meet deadlines. <A> No job is secure enough to where you can sit back and relax. <S> Luckily for me thus far I haven't experienced a lay off but my previous employer let go a bulk of their employees <S> but since I was part of the future direction, I didn't suffer. <S> but you should be pro-active about it. <S> Just think what you can do to minimize in the event if you do get laid off? <S> Don't stress about feelings of worthlessness but instead what you can do to move forward <S> and if you can't think of anything right now, then don't stress it. <S> The best idea is to always keep your resume up to date, and make sure you keep good contact with not only your co-workers but also departing co-workers. <S> If you do get let go of, you never know if one of those people you kept in contact with might have a job for you and your lay off will be short. <S> I think by having some safety net you'll feel better and not stress.
| And keep your resume updated and really if you are thinking about it that much it might be an indicator that you need to see what else is out there. Something else that might help ease your mind is to periodically check in with your managers and supervisors, to get their opinion on how you are doing and ways you might improve. You shouldn't worry about it
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How to help my employees to find their value added Some of my team members starts to ask themselves and me as their manager: "What's my value in this job?". Although I know their value as individual and as a team in the organization, I think just listing those values to them would not be effective enough. Do you know and tried some activities/exercises that let them discover their values by themselves? <Q> This is a legitimate concern for many. <S> One does her job, one thinks I'm doing a good job, and only when the layoffs hit or during an annual review is one hit with one's deficiencies. <S> While I'm not an advocate for meetings, I do think regular one on one meetings between a Supervisor or Manager and her or his Direct Reports is extremely valuable. <S> Here are some questions you might try, but use what works for you and fits you. <S> Over time, it is desired that more natural, instinctive, and casual conversation will ensue during these meetings, but in the beginning you will likely have to take the lead to make it happen. <S> How are things?What are the challenges that we aren't <S> addressing?What concerns <S> do you have about the project, the business unit, etc.? <S> I see a rare quality in you that you recognize the value in people, both individually and collectively. <S> You are, in my view, correct to be guarded about singling people out for their strengths and accomplishments. <S> In saying, "Bob, you did a great job on Project X", there is this unspoken criticism of everyone else involved in Project X. <S> Most would agree that Bob could not have accomplished Project X all by himself, and there are probably more than a few people who contributed to Project X. <S> There is a great read, in my view, on this subject called "Peopleware" by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister. <S> Pick up a copy, read it, and see if it speaks to you. <S> If it does, buy a copy for everyone on the team and ask them to read it. <S> Go through a couple chapters a week, and meet as a team to discuss it. <S> Watch "Greatness" on Youtube. <S> It's a presentation by retired US Navy Captain David Marquet. <S> https://youtu.be/OqmdLcyES_Q <A> Some of my team members starts to ask themselves and me as their manager: "What's my value in this job?". <S> Although I know their value as individual and as a team in the organization, I think just listing those values to them would not be effective enough. <S> There are a couple of parts to this in my mind: <S> Results - What are the results from their work as the business sees it? <S> Did they help raise revenue? <S> Are they helping to cut costs? <S> What are they doing that is impacting the bottom line that could be used to help someone have a sense of accomplishment in their job? <S> This is rather useful though I'm not sure if you understand this point here. <S> The story around that result. <S> While some project may have made $x for the company, there can be something to be said for how one frames the story and what all was done to make it happen. <S> This is where things go beyond a simple list. <S> Do you know and tried some activities/exercises that let them discover their values by themselves? <S> Gallup's Q12 would be my reference suggestion here noting that all 12 questions are somewhat simple in being able to ask but would your team members be able to answer yes honestly to all 12 questions? <S> If not, then consider which are the ones that they could have a hard time and address those. <A> Ask them if they think they're being paid too much. <S> They will soon learn how to value themselves or at least keep quiet, which is a valuable skill in itself.
| If it speaks to you, show it to your team as a group and elicit their thoughts. Tell them their value is what they're being paid.
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When to request a "delayed" start date I have been recruited by another company and requested to come in for an interview. I am considering going in for the interview however I have no intention of leaving my current job for at least 3 months due to Bonus payouts. Should I mention this fact prior to coming in for an interview or wait until they actually offer me a position. <Q> If the interview process doesn't put your current job or bonus at risk and you are genuinely interested in this new position, you should proceed. <S> This is a point of negotiation when you are trying to reach terms of employment. <S> While it is very unusual in the US for a 3 month delay in start date, it is not unusual in other places. <S> Also, some companies have broader concerns or needs than "immediate start date" although often they want a start date that is as soon as possible. <S> You might find that, after the interview, you are not interested or they are not interested. <S> Alternatively, you may find out that the opportunity is worth giving up your bonus. <S> You seem pretty resolute on staying until you receive it. <S> However, consider that it's also possible that your new employer is very eager to fill the position and could offer a "signing bonus" or something else to either offset or fully cover your expected bonus. <A> The only possible exception has been in the case of students who are still in school. <S> It's completely unreasonable for you to ask, and I don't think you will get the job if you do mention it. <A> It depends on the time sensitivity of filling the open position and how bad they want you. <S> If the are looking fill an empty position on a manufacturing floor then they pretty much need it filled now. <S> If is an analyst doing strategic planning then wait a few months for the right person they want is not a big deal. <S> If they got budget to fill or add 10 slots for the same position then spreading is no big deal. <S> I would tell them straight up you are waiting on a bonus. <S> I know people that have had their bonus bought out to come on board now. <S> If they recruited you then they want you. <S> I don't think you need to tell them prior to coming to the interview. <S> But in that interview if it feels like they might give you an offer and you might want to accept the offer then you should tell them. <A> I would wait until the offer, otherwise why complicate things for no good reason. <S> You can usually negotiate a start date within 2-4 weeks from the time of offer. <S> Assuming the recruitment process lasts a couple months, this puts you pretty close to your 3+ months preferred timeframe. <S> If they ask you back when you are ready to start, don't tell about the 3 month constraint. <S> The idea is not to make your timing constraint become a point of contention and provide reason for doubt on their end. <S> Rather, say that you have some ongoing projects you would need to wrap up but generally do not anticipate any delays or issues with starting within the expected timeframe. <S> Don't give the impression that you are struggling with this point - just give a simple concise answer and move on. <S> Good luck! <A> The time to bring up start dates is after there's a mutual agreement on you being the candidate they'd like to hire. <S> At the point, that's just part of the whole on-boarding negotiation process (start date, salary, benefits, etc.)
| However, you can ask in the interview what timeframe they have in mind for bringing someone on board, in terms of the length of the selection process and start. I have never heard of a company delaying the start date by 3 months - if they're hiring it's because they need to fill a position now . For sure tell them before it get to them extending a verbal offer.
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Is it acceptable to ask if a phone call will be a technical interview? I got an email from a company asking me if I'm available some time for a phone call (~30 min). Is it appropriate to ask if that phone interview will be a technical one? <Q> Yes. <S> You should know whether to prepare for one, even as simply as having pen and paper ready. <S> Do ask what resources you will need - computer, simple calculator, etc. <S> Don't complicate this one. <A> Perhaps more broad than your question, when scheduling a call with someone or a company you do not know, it is always appropriate to ask, "What is the purpose of the call? <S> How best can I prepare?" <S> In your case you may want to word it as, "I can be available. <S> Can you please tell me what to expect during this call so that I am prepared? <S> " It is respectful and helps everyone use their time effectively. <A> By that you will be able to know that what type of questions will be asked on phone call. <S> Sometime it happens that phone call is by HR only to get overview about you , Sometime it is by technical lead who ask about all technical things. <S> So for you better is ask in advance about phone call so you can be ready according to that before call. <A> If you are a very senior person , the interview will not likely be technical as an other senior person will likely talk to you regarding your profile and then schedule future interviews based on their impression. <S> If you are a junior person , the interview will most likely be technical by a panel of one or more. <S> But again , you should be prepared for anything as you have begun the job search and should be ready at all times for anything from a coding test to a technical interview to a presentation to a general HR interview. <A> In a word, yes. <S> I always ask. <S> If asked why I'm asking I say it's <S> so I can be properly prepared. <S> This, IMO, demonstrates professional behaviour. <S> Look at it this way, you wouldn't go into an exam (even if it was only 30 minutes long) without adequate revision or preparation. <S> Why should you treat a phone call that may lead to a job or contract offer with any more levity? <S> I concur with @Learner_101's assertions on the type of interview <S> you may face, but this is really up to the interviewer. <S> If you ask your question, phrased correctly, then you should be able to elicit this information too though. <A> Yes, you must ask who will perform the interview so that you can prepare accordingly. <S> If the interviewer is HR then they will ask basic questions. <S> If the interviewer is a technical expert then they will ask more complicated things, and expect more in depth answers. <S> You would prepare differently for each of these situations.
| Yes it is fair to ask.
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