how to give advice to coworkers without being annoying

Have you ever looked at another area of your company and thought, "They'd get better results if they did it this way instead?" If so, have you ever been tempted to tell them?

This is a sticky area. Even when your input is fantastic, if you don't present it in the right way, you can make people defensive and irritated.

Some people handle this by never making suggestions to others at all, sacrificing the possibility of giving input that might really be appreciated. Others handle it by plunging right in, repeatedly, and over time end up alienating their colleagues. But there's a way to give input that won't make people want to tell you to mind your own business.

Over at U.S. News & World Report today, I explain how. Please check it out...

job searching from afar, paying for interview travel, and how long you can wait before starting the new job

A reader writes:

I'm planning on conducting a job search in anticipation of a move to a location 2000 miles from my current home. I've never before conducted a job search remotely, and I have some questions as to how to go about this.

I'm assuming I should explain in the cover letter why I'm looking for a job in California while living in Chicago, and that I should state my definitive plans to move once I find the right job. But what is the best way to phrase this or make this point?

To the extent that this might be relevant to your input, I'm a case manager at a non-profit NGO social service agency (6 yrs at the same agency) and will be looking for position in a similar or related field. Given this, I don't make the kind of money where I can fly back and forth multiple times for interviews.

I'm hoping there's a way to handle this by scheduling more than one interview within a close time frame. If that isn't possible, is there a professional way to express that I'd like a phone interview first, and/or (if they want to interview me) that I'm extremely interested in a job, but want to know if they're truly considering me for the position -- i.e. if they're planning to probably hire from the inside but are interviewing as a formality. Should I say in the cover letter that I'm willing to travel for an interview, or should I not address the topic at all until I know they're interested in me?

Lastly, if I'm made an offer, what is a reasonable amount of time to expect they will give me before starting a position? I'm required to give 3 weeks notice at my current job in order to get my vacation pay-out, but I'd actually feel uncomfortable giving less than 4 weeks. Comfortably, I'd want a 6-week window. Is this realistic?

Yes, definitely state in your cover letter that you're planning to move to the area soon (and possibly explain why, if your reasons are ones you're willing to share, as that can make employers more comfortable moving forward with an out-of-state applicant). For instance, you might say, "I am in the process of planning a relocation to California to join my partner" or whatever your reason is.

Additionally, in case they're just skimming your cover letter and miss it, do this too: On your resume, directly under your address, include a parenthetical note that you're soon relocating to __ (fill in their city). I just saw an applicant do that and thought it was really smart -- because cover letters get removed from resumes or read once and specifics forgotten, etc.

Regarding traveling for interviews, this can get tricky. In general, most employers expect to pay for travel when they invite out-of-town candidates to interview. However, you have two things that may complicate this in your case: (1) Some nonprofits are less likely to do this than for-profits (but not always), and (2) Some employers won't consider out-of-town candidates for jobs for which they have many strong local candidates, unless the candidate is in the process of moving there -- and if you are, they may decide you should pay your own way since they wouldn't be considering you otherwise.

Now, this may be a non-issue because they may end up covering your expenses, but if they don't, it could end up being difficult to schedule all your interviews in the same time frame -- because employers move at different speeds, and it can be challenging to coordinate it. However, once you get an initial expression of interest from employers, you can definitely let them know that you'll be in their area from out of town during such-and-such dates and ask if it would be possible to interview then. But be prepared for them to say no -- I've had to say no to candidates in that situation who I'm interested in, simply because their timeline clashed with mine in some way: I wasn't going to be ready to conduct final interviews by then, or one of the people who would need to interview them would be out of town then, or whatever. So you can and should give it a try, but be prepared that it might not come together.

If you do end up in a situation where you have to cover your own travel expenses and can't do everything in one trip, it's completely legitimate and reasonable to say something like, "I'm happy to cover my own expenses, but would it be possible for us to conduct a phone interview first to make sure that I'm a strong match?" It's also reasonable to say, "I'm extremely interested in this job and more than happy to pay my own way out there if you think I'm likely to be a strong match. However, given that money is tight for everyone right now, could you give me an idea of how strong a candidate you think I am?" I've had candidates ask this before -- people definitely do it, and any good employer will know that's reasonable (especially since they're probably feeling slight guilt about sticking you with the travel expenses).

By the way, no need to get into any of this travel stuff in the cover letter; it's assumed that you'll be willing to travel for an interview should it come to that, and you don't want to explicitly volunteer to cover your own travel expenses before they've asked you to, as you might end up preempting an offer from them to pay.

Regarding your last question, about whether you can ask for a start date six weeks out: You can ask for six weeks, and plenty of employers will give it to you. But plenty others won't want to push it beyond a month, so be prepared for that. It depends on the job and the employer, and there's a lot of variation there. There's nothing wrong with asking though, as long as you're prepared to hear that they don't want to go beyond four weeks. (Some employers will prefer even less, but with a move in the mix, most will agree that four weeks is reasonable.)

Good luck!

should you call when a job posting says "no calls"?

In a comment on a recent post, Abby wrote:

How do you feel about a job posting that specifically states "no phone calls"? Does it show blatant disregard if a candidate calls or is that person one step ahead of the rest because he/she is the only one calling?

I feel it's important to follow the guidelines given on a job posting because it shows attention to detail, but I've read blog posts where people argue that you should call anyway.

Ugh, personally I hate it. If I say "no calls," I mean no calls. I'm not just testing applicants to see who will take the initiative to call anyway.

But on the other hand, there are employers where calling actually can help move your application forward, and candidates have no way of knowing from the outside which type of employer they're dealing with.

I don't want any phone calls because:

1. Being interrupted by an unnecessary phone call annoys me. I never want job applicants to contact me by phone; I much prefer email, as it allows me to respond when it's convenient, rather than having to stop whatever I'm doing to take a call.

2. I'm organized. I don't need to be reminded of your application because it's not going to slip through the cracks, and I don't need to be asked for a status update because I keep candidates posted about their status.

3. I mean what I say. If I clearly say "no calls," I'm going to wonder why you didn't think it applied to you.

But, on the other hand, many employers are unorganized, don't necessarily mean what they say, and are more likely to answer their phone than return an email. (Of course, you could argue that those employers might suck and therefore following instructions is a good way to screen out employers who don't have their act together -- but that's a hard argument to make when you really need a job.)

I've heard from plenty of people who called an employer to follow up on their application and had an interview scheduled on the spot. These employers are reinforcing bad behavior and ruining it for the rest of us, and I wish we could fine them or something, but it doesn't change the fact that it happens.

So I'm hesitant to tell people that they shouldn't do this just because it annoys me. The best I can say is to pay attention to all the signals you're getting about how this employer operates and make your decision accordingly.

What do others think?

sure, ignore those job application instructions, we love that here

When job postings give you specific instructions, they really mean it. So, for instance, if my job posting requests a "one-page cover letter," what I want from you is a one-page cover letter.

So it's a bad idea to send me this:

"I apologize in advance. I simply could not reduce the length of my cover letter to one page."

Really, you simply could not? If you really couldn't, that signals a real communication problem that makes you an unappealing candidate. But far more likely is that you just preferred not to and decided that therefore the instructions could be ignored.

Uncontrollable verbosity and a disregard for specific instructions are not ways you want to introduce your candidacy.

the post in which I accuse everyone of incompetence

A reader writes:

Why are recruiters idiots, he asks in absolute frustration?

I talked to a recruiter today that didn't let me continue the application process or talk to me after learning I didn't have a specific experience on my resume. I'm a programmer, and this is experience that A) is not coding and B) is similar to other experience on my resume. It would be like me putting WordPress on my resume and the recruiter saying, "Well, I don't see MovableType on here so, I'm sorry, but..."

Granted this all means I'm glad I don't work there. Still, how does it get to this? Why do recruiters insist on falling back to cookie cutter molds for the people they are looking for?

People looking for a job are people. They have different experiences, knowledge sets, ways of learning. I have never understood why one specific thing should make or break an application process. Find out what the person is like from the resume and by talking to them, not by a word search.

Well, you're talking about some recruiters, not all. And yes, some aren't good at their jobs, just like you'll find people who aren't good at their jobs in every profession.

This is why I think it's good to talk to the hiring manager whenever possible; HR people and recruiters don't always fully understand what the hiring manager is looking for. The good ones do -- but again, they're not all good. (The hiring managers aren't always good either, of course -- but at least then you're cutting out the middle man.)

You can try to educate the person by explaining that the experience she's looking for has the same foundation as your experience in ___, and it's possible that might work. But it's also possible that she might be the kind of person who won't or can't think outside the checklist she's working off of.

On the other hand, it's also possible that they really do have a good reason for requiring some very specific skill or experience that you can't see from the outside.

But really, think about how much incompetence you see in daily life. It's everywhere. I suspect the rate of incompetence among recruiters is no more or no less than in any other profession. It's just more frustrating when the person in question is someone who has your career in their hands (understandably).

I'm sure that cheered you up.

listing yourself as a job reference

I need to call your immediate attention to this comment from M. left on a recent post:

In the last year, many (candidates) have been listing their mothers as references, and I even had one student last week list HERSELF as a reference. Has anyone else ever seen this?

Listing yourself as a reference is the funniest thing I've heard all week. I could not love this more. (Not in a you-should-do-it way.) I would love to get a reference call for myself! Who better to speak glowingly of me?

And while we're on the subject of things you should not be doing that I've seen done this week, you also should not write in your cover letter that your competence can be seen "in the twinkle in my eyes." (Real quote seen yesterday.)

career counselor is advising me to lie

A reader writes:

I was told by a career counselor that if asked in an interview why I left my previous job I should answer that I was laid off. I was actually fired, but the company did not dispute my claim for unemployment so I am now collecting. I feel to tell an interviewer that I was laid off is misleading, but this career counselor stated that in the eyes of the government since I am collecting it is ok to say I was laid off, since technically you cannot collect if you are fired.

That career counselor, unfortunately, is an idiot. I hope you weren't paying this person.

First of all, you can indeed collect unemployment if you were fired, at least in most states -- as long as you weren't fired for gross or deliberate misconduct. If you were fired for mere incompetence, bad fit, etc., you can get unemployment.

Second, prospective employers don't care if the government has deemed you eligible to collect unemployment or not. You can't lie and say you were laid off when you weren't. What's going to happen when they call your employer to check references and are told you were fired? When they come back to you to ask about the disparity (if they even bother), are you going to say, "Well, they didn't challenge my unemployment so I've decided to call it a lay-off"?

This "career counselor" is giving you wrong facts and really bad advice. Run.