“is it okay to write someone’s cover letter for them, a mysterious fragrance, and more” plus 3 more Ask a Manager
“is it okay to write someone’s cover letter for them, a mysterious fragrance, and more” plus 3 more Ask a Manager |
- is it okay to write someone’s cover letter for them, a mysterious fragrance, and more
- how much do I need to alter my own schedule for a job interview?
- should I use a job offer to get a raise at my current job?
- my child-free coworkers constantly complain about people with children
is it okay to write someone’s cover letter for them, a mysterious fragrance, and more Posted: 17 Jul 2018 09:03 PM PDT It's five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it okay for me to write other people's cover letters for them? I do a fair bit of writing and editing for my job, and sometimes friends or family members will ask me for help with their own writing projects — especially cover letters. I am curious about what degree of help is ethical and appropriate for me to provide. For example: I am currently helping a friend who is an engineer with her application for a role does not seem to involve writing at all. She is a great engineer, but not a great cover letter writer, and so the final product is starting to resemble a ghostwriting project I might do at work — she gave me great content to include and I worked to capture her voice, but I feel like I have done most of the work in creating the letter. Will it reflect badly on her if she gets the job, and doesn’t write this way in emails, memos, and other written communications that are part of a non-writing job? Or do hiring managers understand that candidates may get a lot of help on their cover letters, especially if they are weak writers? And if the former is true, how can a candidate who is good at their profession but bad at writing increase their chances of getting an interview? I kind of feel like I’m helping her cheat, but then I think about what a common practice ghostwriting is for people and organizations with sterling reputations, so I am waffling on this question! I'm sure some people will disagree with me, but if I found out a candidate had someone else write their cover letter, I wouldn’t think too well of them. I get that it's tough for people who aren't great writers, when they're in a system that relies on a decent cover letter to get in the door. But if she's applying for positions that don't require great writing, then her cover letter doesn't need to show great writing either. For a non-writing-based job, she just needs to show that she communicates reasonably competently in writing, not that she's Hemingway. And yes, if she's going to need to write emails, memos, etc. on the job, the hiring manager may indeed assume her cover letter reflects the level of skill she'll bring to doing that. To be clear, a savvy hiring manager would give her a writing exercise to test that as part of the hiring process if that's something they’re going to put a lot of weight on (because they'd know that there's no way to know how much help she might have had with the letter) — but meanwhile, she's still presenting work as her own that isn't her own, and that's misleading. It's one thing to help someone edit a cover letter that they wrote themselves, or to give feedback and guidance on what the letter should contain. But you shouldn't be writing it for them. 2. A mysterious fragrance in cubeville There is someone on my floor who is using some sort of scented product several times through the day (maybe a lotion or air freshener). I'm sensitive to smells in general, but this particular one I can taste in the back of my throat as soon as it's released, and it has triggered headaches and nausea. Problem is, I can't pinpoint who or what is the source. I've mentioned it to everyone on my team, and they don't know where it's coming from either. Some have also noticed it, but no one else is affected to the extent I am, thankfully. I'm pretty sure they aren't the source, since I've noticed it at times when they've all been away from their desks. That leaves another (completely unrelated) department which is also located on our floor. We all have cubes, and there's nowhere open/away from the smell for me to move my desk to. I've taken to just getting up and going away from my desk for a while, and waiting for it to dissipate. I've tried chewing gum, but it doesn't mask the taste. I feel like I need to let my manager know what's going on. I have no clue who the source is, let alone the names of most of the people in that department, so I haven't addressed it with anyone directly. Short of sniffing virtual strangers as they go about their work, I don’t think I’ll be able to locate the offender. I know my manager has noticed the times I'm away from my desk, although it hasn't impacted my productivity, so I'd like to make sure she knows the reason. I'd also really like it if the smell went away. What should I say? This isn't just "I don't enjoy this scent." It's "this scent is giving me headaches and nausea." You absolutely can go to your manager and say, "I wanted to let you know someone on our floor is using a scented product several times a day that I seem to be sensitive to; it’s been giving me headaches and nausea. I haven't been able to figure out where it's coming from, but I'm pretty sure it's not our team since I've noticed it when they've been away from their desks. I've taken to working away from my desk when it happens, waiting for it to dissipate. At a minimum, I wanted to let you know that so you don't wonder where I am. But also, I'd love it if we could figure out where it's coming from and hopefully ask for a change so that I'm not having this daily physical reaction." 3. My boss laid me off but wants me to work four hours a week without immediate pay I was laid off last week and I already filed unemployment (I'm in Rhode Island). Today my boss/owner of the company told me that it was due to “lack of work” and we have a return-to-work date of eight weeks from now. However, since there are only three employees working for this company and she laid all of us off, she put herself in a situation in which there is no one to operate her business. Of course her business needs to function, so she asked us if we can continue working four hours a week without pay. We would receive compensation for our services upon our return-to-work date, eight weeks from now. Can I tell her no, I don’t want to work at all while I am collecting unemployment? Does she have the right to make me work those hours? And to wait to receive pay? If she does force me to work those hours, does that mean I need to report it to unemployment? I believe that my situation is case of a boss taking advantage of loyal, hardworking employees, but I don’t want to lose my job over four hours. She can require you to work those hours in order to have a job later, but she can’t require you to wait to be paid. In fact, Rhode Island requires that you be paid on your regularly scheduled paydays, and within nine days of the end of the pay period. So one possibility is for you to say, "I can do the four hours a week if we're able to stick to our regular paydays during this period, but state law says that we would need to be paid within nine days of the end of the pay period. If that's not feasible to do, we'd need to hold off any work until can be paid, so that we don't run afoul of the law." You could add, "Since I'm collecting unemployment, I think they'll be scrutinizing how this works, so I need to be really careful about doing this legally." Also, you should be actively job searching in the interim. She may intend to bring you back in eight weeks, but there's no guarantee that will definitely happen (and even if it does, this is a pretty big danger sign about the long-term stability of your job there). 4. How can I back out of an interview with a staffing agency? I recently applied for an office management position at a local staffing firm — at one, not through one, at a posting that I found on their website and LinkedIn page. It became clear in the initial phone interview that they were looking to shop me out as a candidate to some of their clients. I quickly clarified their intentions, and let them know that while this changes the tone of the interview for me, I was willing to discuss the job opportunity they had in mind. But truthfully, I’m not interested in using a staffing agency to find work, and I’m feeling rather naive and a little tricked! Needless to say, they could not produce a job description for me to review; instead they asked to set up an in-person meeting, which I agreed to, because I was so surprised in the moment that I didn’t know what else to say. This company has a good reputation in my city, and I don’t want to burn bridges. How do I back out of this professionally? There's a very good chance that the position you applied for doesn't actually exist. Staffing firms are notorious for advertising fake positions in order to get candidates who they can then shop to other employers. You can back out by saying something like, "Thanks so much for talking with me the other day. After thinking over our conversation, I'm going to withdraw my application from consideration, and thus need to cancel our interview on Friday, but wish you the best of luck in your search." If they question you, it's fine to say, "I had the impression from the ad I responded to that I was applying for an in-house position. I understand now that that's not the case, and I prefer to apply to employers directly." 5. Should I conduct exit interviews? My assistant is leaving at the end of the month. I’ve always heard you should lead an exit interview with anyone who quits. Is an exit interview still the norm if the employee was part-time? He was at our organization 20 hours a week for one year. If I should lead an exit interview, can you please let me know what types of questions should be included? It's really up to you. Some employers do them, and some don't. There's no point in doing them unless you're genuinely interested in the information you'll receive and open to acting on it in some way; don't do it just to go through the motions because that will create cynicism in your other employees. And of course, exit interviews shouldn’t take the place of checking in with people regularly while they're still employees (and if you're only going to do one or the other, do that!), but sometimes you get more candor from people when they're leaving. Rather than doing it yourself, it can make sense to have your own boss or HR do it, since people might not feel as comfortable sharing feedback directly with you (especially if the feedback is about you). Good questions to ask: What could we do to make this job work even better? What should your manager do differently? How comfortable were you approaching your manager with a concern? What do you wish you knew when you first started working here? What do you wish you could tell the next person in this role? What could we have done to convince you to stay? is it okay to write someone’s cover letter for them, a mysterious fragrance, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. |
how much do I need to alter my own schedule for a job interview? Posted: 17 Jul 2018 10:59 AM PDT A reader writes: I have been applying for other jobs and have had some success (thanks to your helpful tips for cover letters!) I had a phone interview with a company last week and we are trying to schedule a time for me to come in to meet with several members of the hiring team in person. My question is how much do I have to maneuver my own schedule to meet their needs? I am excited about the role and would like to get in for an interview as soon as I can. But the availability I gave (five full days over about a week and a half) didn't work for most of the people I'd need to meet with. They asked me for my availability the following week, which is just not good at all. It's a very busy time at my current job. I have several meetings with some higher-ups that are just very difficult to reschedule I'm unsure about what to do here. If I give open availability to the interviewers, I risk needing to reschedule these meetings which would definitely raise a red flag to my current manager. But if I only give availability that works around my schedule, it leaves the new company with few options to meet the needs of their hiring team. I certainly don't want to risk them rescinding the interview because I'm too difficult to schedule with! But I also think my current position is the one that's paying me and the interview is no guarantee of a job, so why should I risk alerting my manager to my job search? Maybe I'm overthinking all this too and it's not a huge deal one way or the other. Any advice would be helpful! Ideally, interviewing scheduling allows for some back and forth. You say "I'm open on XYZ days," they say "those won't work for us, could you do ABC instead," you say "I'm scheduled to teach an uncancellable class those days, are there any other options that would work," and somehow in there you find a time that works for everyone. The reality, though, is that sometimes schedules just don't match up and someone will have to compromise. Sometimes that's just because everyone involved has a packed calendar, sometimes it's because the employer is being overly rigid about dates (like only offering one or two and refusing to consider others), and sometimes it's because there's a reason for that rigidity (like some interviewers are coming in from out of town and so all interviews have to be done in a three-day period). A good employer will try to be flexible for a really strong candidate, but they're going to be subject to the kind of restrictions I just mentioned. A bad employer won't even try to be flexible and will just announce a single date they expect you to show up, take it or leave it. A good employer may get a little frustrated if they throw out a bunch of options and you don't seem like you're trying to make any of them work. They'll reasonably expect that if it's proving tough to get schedules to line up, you'll give a little on your side to try to help that (just as they should on their side if they can). So what does that mean for your situation? In your shoes, I'd give them a list of dates over the next three weeks that you absolutely cannot do and offer to make yourself available for anything outside of those, even if it means having to move things around. (And be judicious in composing that list; if you say you're unavailable 75% of that time, you're making it pretty hard for them.) And it's fine to give some context, saying something like, "It's an unusually busy time at my current job and I'm locked into quite a few commitments there, but as long as we can avoid these dates, I can find a way to make it work." If they come back and say, "sorry, we can only do (date you can't do)," then at that point you have to decide if you're willing to agree to that or not. But with a decent employer, it's reasonable to explain your restrictions and ask if there's a way to work around them. how much do I need to alter my own schedule for a job interview? was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. |
should I use a job offer to get a raise at my current job? Posted: 17 Jul 2018 09:30 AM PDT A reader writes: I’ve worked in development at a significant cultural institution for over a decade. I’m frequently told I’m an essential member of the team and that things would fall apart without me. Two years in a row now I've been told to expect a promotion, and then asked to wait until the following year for both a promotion and a raise. This past fiscal year, I was told to pass on the promotion for budgeting reasons; they said I should push it off a year in order to get a raise commensurate with what I deserve. Recently, I was told the same thing is true for this coming fiscal year– that I should wait until next year for my promotion and raise. I assist in creating our budget, and I know that we’re having a rough couple of years and significant difficulties trying to hit the goals given to us. We’ll likely come in under our goals by about 10% this year, and everyone has had to tighten up our spending across the board. They're even talking about not giving raises this year. But I feel like I’m being taken advantage of right now, that they think that because I’ve been in the department longer than almost anyone else, that they can count on me to continue working here indefinitely. I believe that if I had a job offer somewhere else, they’d find the money to keep me in our multimillion dollar budget. I feel like the fact that I haven’t gone out and found another job offer is allowing them to take advantage of me. A job just opened up across town in a significant cultural institution whose mission I agree with, within walking distance of my house, but also at an organization I know can be more dysfunctional than the organization I work for. I think I could get that job, but what I really want is for my interest in that job to give my current organization the incentive to fight for me and not take advantage of me anymore. I don't know if this is even a valid hope. You can read my answer to this letter at New York Magazine today. Head over there to read it. should I use a job offer to get a raise at my current job? was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. |
my child-free coworkers constantly complain about people with children Posted: 17 Jul 2018 07:59 AM PDT A reader writes: I recently started a new job in an office. Overall the work environment is great — everyone is expected to work hard, but we are treated like adults and our individual methods and moment-to-moment doings aren’t policed much at all. I share a work-space with a coworker, V, which also houses the printer and the mailboxes for the department. Thus, many other employees pass through our space, often stopping to say hello or chat for a minute. This is mostly fine, and doesn’t impede my concentration. However, there is one coworker, M, who comes in about 8-12 times a day and usually stays several minutes to chat with V. They engage in venting which is clearly therapeutic for them, and while the negativity can be exhausting to listen to at times, usually I can tune it out. The chats never go on too terribly long, just a bit longer than the office norm. However, fairly often lately the thing V wants to vent about is receiving baby shower invites from relatives, and that always segues into both of them just talking really poisonous vitriol about people with children and about children themselves, how annoying it is when they cry at restaurants, etc. They are both committedly child-free dog parents and seem to have a lot of resentment about how society relegates their relationships with their pets to second class status, and on a basic level I very much agree: as someone who worked closely with parents and children in a previous incarnation of my career, I feel very strongly that the way parenthood is pushed on people as The Only Way To Experience Real Fulfillment is major bullshit and hurts children as well as adults. Nobody should be pressured into having kids if they don’t really, really want to. Having a dog is a much saner and more eco-friendly choice! The office is full of Pet People, and overall I love that. That being said … as well as being a Pet Person myself, I do really, really want to have kids, and a big factor in my choice of employer and leaving my old field was this particular company’s parent-friendly benefits policy. Hearing them speak so scathingly of “breeders” and “brats” makes me quite uncomfortable, as it’s easy to then imagine what they’ll think of me when I (eventually) have a child (although I’m hoping not to still be in my same position by then as it’s quite entry level, I’d be happy to stay in this department as I really like my boss, who is child-free too but would NEVER say things like this, so it’s entirely possible that I’ll still be working with both of them). However much their scorn of parenthood irks me, though, what really makes me go all cold and shaky is their scorn of children themselves. They really say some nasty things, and while I realize many adults don’t, I remember my own childhood and what it was like to BE a child extremely vividly. As I said, I support 100% people’s right to choose not to have children, but when people actively HATE children, I just want to scream “HOW CAN YOU, A FORMER KID, THINK KIDS AREN’T PEOPLE??!” When they say nasty things about children, they’re saying them about me, and about themselves, and it’s very hard for me to understand how they don’t realize how messed up that is. Do they think they sprang fully formed from the head of Zeus? How can I engage with this without accusing them of being delusional? On principle, I am glad our office culture permits the level of socializing they’re engaging in, and I don’t want to ruin what they clearly experience as a safe space to vent about their experiences, especially since I’m a newcomer. But listening to them spew this kind of hate about parents and children makes me just so uncomfortable, and I can’t just put in headphones as I need to be able to hear the phone. I’d rather address this directly with them than involve anyone higher up, as I don’t want to rock the boat and end up causing some sort of ban on non-work-related conversations. Is there a way to ask them not to say these horrible things without making them hate me, either as a future producer of “brats” or as That Bitch who took away their only joy in life by stopping them from venting at work? Or should I just wait it out, hope that V’s friends will soon get the hint about her wish to attend baby showers, and cross the “will I become a pariah when I have a child” bridge when I come to it? There's no way to guarantee that they won’t hate you if you ask them to stop, but unless they're truly ridiculous and unreasonable, your chances are pretty good. I know you might be thinking "well, clearly they're ridiculous and unreasonable, as evidenced by this line of conversation" … but sometimes people get caught in a weird echo chamber about things like this but still do realize that they should rein it in around others once it's politely pointed out to them, and do realize that plenty of people they like don't share their views. I'd try saying this: "Hey, I agree that it's BS the way parenthood is pushed on people, but there are kids and parents in my life who I love. Can you lay off the anti-kid talk around me?" Hell, you could add, "I'm going to have kids at some point, so I'm definitely not the right audience here.” I'm torn on whether you should say this to V by herself, or to both V and M the next time it's happening. I'm leaning toward saying it to both of them in the moment next time, because that way they'll both hear it and V won't need to have a separate conversation to relay it to M, which could easily turn into snarking about it in a way that isn't quite as likely if you just deliver the message to both of them on the spot. They may still snark about it because they're apparently snarky people, but so be it. I don't think it will be hateful outrage, though, because the message you're delivering just isn't that inflammatory. If it is hateful outrage, then they’re truly unreasonable and you were going to trigger that response from them over something else sooner or later anyway … but your chances are good that this will take care of it. my child-free coworkers constantly complain about people with children was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. |
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