Mary Ellen Slayter
The Washington Post columnist
Monday, December 5, 2005
2:00 PM
The Washington area is a magnet for smart, ambitious young workers. Post columnist Mary Ellen Slayter writes a regular column for these professionals who are establishing their careers locally, and offers advice online as well.
The transcript follows below.
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Mary Ellen Slayter: Good afternoon!
My most recent column was a review of "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Boss?" by Marilyn Haight. I'm hoping to have her on as a guest for the next chat, on Dec. 19.
Meanwhile, let's talk about what's on your mind. Good bosses? Bad ones? Asking for raises. Asking to leave early to miss the snow that we're getting this evening ...
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Washington, D.C.: Mary Ellen -- After years of working in the private sector, I figure if you are going to live in the D.C. area, you might as well take advantage of the location and become a federal employee. My question is, where is the best place to look to find open federal positions? My federal neighbors are at home when I go to work and are at home when I return and they still manage to get over 5 weeks off in flextime. (I don't get that much time off all year) Two day meetings with government paid travel to CONUS/OCONUS locations become 2 week vacations. They get paid time off for all holidays, vacation, sick leave, when it rains or snows, or whenever there is a national crisis or even a funeral. (Heck, I thought they had part-time jobs not full-time federal positions!) Plus taxpayers pay for federal retirement benefits that nobody in the commercial world will ever see. I'm trying to make a "profit" for my business, a concept that is unknown to government workers. The average fed in D.C. makes over 75,000 while the median family income in the U.S. is only $45,000. So PLEASE tell us where to find federal job openings?
Mary Ellen Slayter: Are you actually interested in getting a federal job? Or just mocking the people who have them? Dissing government workers is a pet peeve of mine.
Working for the government has its advantages, for sure -- good vacations, civilized leave policies, humane work weeks. I would say it's pretty similar to working for a large corporation in this country. And given the education levels and experience of federal workers in this area, I don't think it's quite accurate to compare their salaries to all U.S. workers. The truth is, most of these people are working for far less than they could get with their same skill set in the private sector, in exchange for more flexible work hours and the sense of satisfaction they get from serving their country.
Also, while it is true that their goal isn't to make a "profit," federal workers are expected to serve the taxpayers that pay their bills and they must do it within budget constraints.
As you can guess, federal jobs are very competitive. USAJobs is one place to start your search.
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Washington, D.C.: After many months of waiting and wading through bureaucracy, I finally signed a salary offer letter with a fed govt. agency over two weeks ago. I was told at that time that someone else would be contacting shortly for information on benefits and the timing for the next steps in the hiring process. Well, no one has contacted me yet, despite a few unreturned voice mails and e-mails to the benefits person. (I know the person was actually in the office last week because on more than one occasion I got the, "so-and-so is on the phone" message on her voice mail). I really have some questions and I have not submitted a resignation letter to my current position because I do not know the timing of the next steps.
Any advice on handling this person and getting her to respond to me?
Mary Ellen Slayter: Clearly someone is dropping the ball. Just keep calling. Maybe try to talk to the person who is going to be your supervisor at the agency? Your story is, sadly, a very common one at big employers. Definitely don't resign from your other job until you have a real offer and an official start date for the new job. Who knows how long it's going to take to get this sorted out.
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Washington, D.C.: So ... there's a great job that would be perfect for my fiance. The catch? It's at my own 35-person organization. As a result, we'd decided he shouldn't apply for it, but the more I've heard about the position, the more I'm convinced that it would be a great fit. What would you do? Is it ever OK for a couple to work for the same organization, given its small size? And would it be out of line for him to even apply? Incidentally, we wouldn't work together at all. Thanks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mary Ellen Slayter: If you wouldn't work together, why not? At least let him apply. Let the employer make the decision about whether it makes sense.
The only thing that would concern me, honestly, is that you'll have all your financial eggs in one basket. What if the organization goes under?
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Phoenix, Ariz.: I want to apply for a position with the federal public defender's office in my city, as an interpreter. The ad says "Five years experience." I have a master's degree in this field and over one year of experience. Should I even bother applying? How do I address this in my cover letter? How can I (tactfully) point out the advantages of a combination of education/training and experience over experience alone?
Thanks and Happy Monday!
Mary Ellen Slayter: Give it a shot. Don't fall all over yourself apologizing for your lack of experience, but it's perfectly OK to say something like, "While I may not be the most experienced applicant, my combination of education and experience make me the best candidate for this job." Then tell them why. Give examples.
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Washington, D.C.: I am 23 and currently in my first "real" job after college. I have been here about 11 months, and am finding this is not the career path I would like to follow. How long do you advise I stay in my current position? Should I stay a couple more years to improve my resume? Would it hurt my job prospects if I started looking in a couple of months for a new position? Thanks.
Mary Ellen Slayter: 11 months? Oh man, that's an eternity when you're 23. I usually get questions from people your age wanting to leave after 11 DAYS. Start looking for another job. Don't sweat it.
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Washington, D.C.: When I was hired six months ago my boss told me that if I had a positive review at six months into the job I would get a small raise. My review was glowing, but I didn't get the raise due to "cutbacks." I had been under the impression that this raise was part of my overall offer at the beginning of employment. Can they rescind money promised during a hire?
Mary Ellen Slayter: It was if it was in writing; otherwise, it was just dependent on your boss's goodwill and nothing legal compels them to give you a raise. It's very short-sighted of your boss to do this, though; it's a real morale-killer.
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Bowie, Md.: Hello,
I'm a young professional (finally getting up to three yrs) and have limited corporate experience. Is it typical for a company/contractor to promote without compensation? I work for large contractor and have had complications with how raises are typically administered. This is the second promotion that I've received without immediate compensation. I waited three months the last time (no back pay), and am told they "may" be able to push the current one through in three months. I've been told that they only issue raises annually, even when someone changes to a significantly higher paying position (so I'm lucky only waiting three months). If they're billing me out at a significantly higher rate, why is that not passed on immediately? Is this practice typical or even legal (govt contracting regs)? I'm satisfied with my advancement but need the income to correspond for this area. Appreciate any advice.
Mary Ellen Slayter: This is another case in which if there's nothing in writing, you're out of luck. Check the contract between your employer and its client, as well your contract with your employer, to see if they say anything about pay scales and billing rates.
That said, it's fairly common for there to be lags between promotions and raises, especially when you're young. Also, contractors often have lags in when they start projects and when they get paid for them. At this point in your career, just be glad they trust you enough to keep moving you up the ladder so quickly. The money will come. Even if it's three months later.
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washingtonpost.com:
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Linthicum, Md.: Just got through with my yearly review of my goals ... kind of funny. Set up goals that stretched me, and took a lot of personal time and energy. When I got to my review, I did not EXCEED my goals, so I got an average -- exactly the same grade that someone who spends four hours of company time attending "Microsoft Excel."
So my employer has taught me -- dumb down your goals, so that you can exceed them. Wow! How very short sighted.
Mary Ellen Slayter: *sigh*
That is rather counterproductive.
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Austin, Texas: Hey Mary Ellen. I'm posting early because I need some advice. Right after graduation, I worked as a paralegal for a small D.C. firm for one year. By the end, I was pretty bored with the work. Then I moved to Texas with my boyfriend. I've been searching for a job here for a while. Now I am about to be offered a position at a great nonprofit. My only hesitation is that the position involves a fair bit of administrative work (but also some fairly substantial work and the opportunity to travel to balance it out). This was the first offer I got and it's a really good one. If nothing else was out there, I'd take it in a minute. But now I am fairly confident that I will be asked to interview for another position at a different nonprofit. The position might be more substantive, but I won't know until I meet with them. The thing is, I think I will have to decide on the first position before I know about the second one. I can't afford to turn it down without an actual offer from the second one, and right now, I'm still waiting for an interview. That being said, do you have any suggestions for holding off the first employer or trying to find out more about the second? If I take the first without knowing, the doubt might plague me!
Thanks!
Mary Ellen Slayter: Tell the second place that you want to work for them, but you've got another offer that you're weighing. If they want you badly enough, they'll move up their time table.
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Arlington, Va.: When is the appropriate amount of time being on a job to ask for a promotion? I have been at my current job for three months and the person directly above me left the organization and I recently took over some of her responsibilities.
Mary Ellen Slayter: You might not get the promotion just yet, but go to your supervisor and offer to do the job in the interim as the acting-whatever-the-title is. Don't press them about a raise, just the opportunity to show you can do the job. After 6 months or so, if you do well and like the job, ask them to make it permanent, with the appropriate salary increase.
Good luck!
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Centreville, Va.: A dear friend of mine lost her job today and I'm wondering if she has any recourse at all. They said her position was being eliminated in order to "harvest" the salary so they could create a new management position for which they have already decided she is not qualified. She's been there over 15 years and has never had any problems with her management until just very recently. As she is also over 40, I am suspicious that there is more to this than what they claim meets the eye. But is there anything that can be done about it?
Mary Ellen Slayter: My area of expertise is young workers, not older ones, I'm afraid. Sometimes employment lawyers lurk on the chat, and perhaps one can chime in on this with some good advice.
The company may be telling the truth; it may be just trying to push her out. It's hard to tell without more details. Have any other older workers been driven out like this?
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Arlington, Va.: I just learned that people being hired at my office at my position are starting at a higher salary than the rest of us. I went to my manager directly to ask him about this and he said during our annual review in March he would match the salaries and all new employees will be earning more than the amount I and others started at. I told him I understood but let him know that I am looking for a new job because I don't feel I'm being compensated fairly; it wasn't to manipulate him at all, just to give him a heads up that he might start getting reference checks. Bad idea?
Mary Ellen Slayter: Bad idea. You pretty much have to leave now, after showing your hand that way. There's no way you can stay and save face. You might not have meant it to be manipulative, but it's going to look that way to others. Short-timers are bad for morale, and some bosses will just fire people on the spot rather than have them hanging around.
As a general rule, don't tell your boss when you are looking for a job. Tell them when you've found one.
Depending on what your boss's temperament is like, I wouldn't bank on getting a good reference from him either.
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Washington, D.C.: I've lived in the D.C. metro area my whole life. I'm currently 26 and I've always wondered about if people other cities in this country are as work-centric career driven people here? The older I get the less I want to focus my life on work and more on my personal life, perhaps I'm just sick of inhumane work weeks I've experienced here
Mary Ellen Slayter: Define inhumane? I've found that professionals in other major cities tend to work 50-hour-plus weeks, too. The big difference is that people in other places just don't talk about their work as much as people here do. There's less bragging about putting in long hours.
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Washington, D.C.: If you're applying for a job and you don't have one of the main criteria -- two years doing similar work - should you address that in the cover letter? I'm afraid if I don't address it at all, they'll just throw my resume out. But if I say, "While I don't have two years experience in this field, I have X,Y, and Z, which I think makes me an ideal candidate..." etc.
Mary Ellen Slayter: Go with the latter.
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Alexandria, Va.: For the past four or five months, I've been "working up" in my office, doing a lot of tasks normally done by the person a level ahead of me, as well as just working a lot (much more than most of my colleagues in terms of hours). I haven't minded, because the tasks have been more advanced, and I've learned a lot in taking on that responsibility. My bosses have given my work great praise, and it was my hope that when I reached my annual review, I could use the experiences as cause for a promotion.
However, I just found out that one of my bosses is going to solve the understaffing problem by hiring someone at the level above me. While that's great because it will mean I can have a life again, I'm worried about losing all the great opportunities I've had, and that it might impact my chances of a promotion. What's weird is that the boss wants to hire a candidate who is a mid-life career change, so he wouldn't know our industry at all. I would essentially be looked to train this person for the job that I want, because I know much of what the job and clients will require, and in the end, I fear that I will end up at the bottom of the pile.
I would talk to the boss, but I am worried that I will look like I think I'm too good for my job. Any suggestions?
Mary Ellen Slayter: Go to your boss! Ideally you would have done this long ago, before he set his sights on this other candidate. Unless you explicitly tell him that you want to move up the ladder, he is going to assume that you are happy where you are, and are just taking on these other jobs to help out while needed. You must tell him otherwise.
And you know what? With the skills you've picked up, you *are* too good for your current job. It's time for you to move on. And there's nothing wrong with saying that.
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Washington, D.C.: For the chatter who has the friend who was fired -- if your friend was an "at will" employee at the company, then they can fire her at any time, for any reason. The only exception being if she were fired due to age, race, sex, disability, etc.
Mary Ellen Slayter: Right. The question is whether it was actually for her age, and the official excuse was a cover for that. Those sorts of cases are very hard to prove, though.
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Vienna, Va.: I attended a board meeting fairly recently and was told to promise new hires (from college) a step increase in salary after their first year.
But the reality is that the company policy is to hire on the cheap for year one, and at the end of the year, rotate by replacement. In other words, managers are encouraged to keep employees for only a single year.
So college grads are being intentionally misled thinking that they will have a shot at moving up in the organization. To the other poster, keep your eyes and ears open because there is usually something sinister going on behind the scenes.
Mary Ellen Slayter: I have heard this, too.
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RE: Person waiting for info. on federal benefits: You should check out the opm.gov Web site. They will tell you what benefits you are entitled to as a federal employee. When I was hired with the Feds, no one talked to me about benefits until I came on board for orientation, but the Web site pretty much can tell you all you need to know.
Mary Ellen Slayter: For the soon-to-be federal worker ...
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Mary Ellen Slayter: Thanks for all your comments and questions! See you in 2 weeks.
Mary Ellen
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