It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. Should I expand my job search outside of my industry?
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in March and hoped and planned to enter the field full-time. I’ve had multiple internships at good publications and freelance gigs with others. Now, the fellowships I’ve applied to are canceled, entry-level hiring looks nearly frozen, and most editors have limited (or no) freelance budgets. I search job boards every day and see little that I’m qualified for. My professors and mentors always told me they were confident in my ability to make it work in journalism, so I made a promise to myself that I’d only apply for journalism opportunities (no marketing, PR, technical writing, etc.). But the current economic/world situation has me wondering if I should expand my job search.
When I think about my second-choice industry, I’m actually more interested in education and academics over marketing or PR, but applying for those positions (of which there aren’t many, either) feels a little like giving up. I do know that there will likely be even fewer journalism jobs a year from now due to this, and it might benefit me to have a back-up plan. And I’d still hope to continue writing in my free time if I got a job outside journalism. At the same time, I worry about starting a job in another industry only to have a dream journalism opportunity come around a month later — or, on the other hand, being stuck in my non-journalism job for long enough that it feels impossible to break back into journalism.
I have no student loans and a manageable sum in my bank account and parents who would welcome me back home while I figure things out, all of which I’m grateful for but know won’t get me through things forever. Should I keep applying for the few journalism opportunities I see, try to keep freelancing wherever I can, and wait things out? Or is it time to cast a wider net?
Cast a wider net. Journalism is being very hard hit, and you’re going to be competing for jobs with more experienced (and probably better networked) journalists for at least the next year. You don’t need to stop applying for journalism jobs — you should keep doing that, and keep freelancing and accumulating clips however you can — but it shouldn’t be your only plan right now. That’s not giving up; it’s being pragmatic.
And if a dream opportunity comes around a month after you accepted a job outside the field … well, if it’s really a dream opportunity, it might still be worth going after it; you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. But you’ll be a more attractive candidate (for any job) if you’re working while you figure this out than if you’re not … and in working, you might find other paths that you’re excited about but aren’t envisioning now.
2. My office includes me in Administrative Professionals Day just because I’m a woman
Administrative Professionals Day is coming up on Wednesday and I am already dreading it.
I am not an administrative professional but I work in the construction industry. In our company, women make up 20% of the office staff. All but four are considered administrative support.
Every year for Administrative Professionals Day, the company pays for lunch (they buy take-out and serve it in a conference room) and gives away some small token of appreciation (a mug or a balloon). Every year, all the women in the office are invited. The first year the invitation was extended to me, I was told, “We know you’re not an admin, but we didn’t want you to feel left out since most of the women in the office will be attending.”
Rather than feel included, the annual invitation makes me feel somewhat insulted. I have a four-year degree and 20+ years of professional experience. I work in creative services, perform various tech and software functions, and wear other hats as needed. I am proud of my work and my accomplishments, but being lumped in just because I’m also a woman makes me feel minimized.
I generally decline the invitation without any fuss (“I’ve got a prior lunch engagement”) but I wonder if I’m being too sensitive? I get that they are trying to do a nice thing but I end up feeling patronized.
Nooo, you are not being too sensitive and this is not a nice thing, regardless of their intentions.
It’s sexist and demeaning that your office is bringing gender into this. You’re not going to feel “left out” if you’re not included in an event for a profession you don’t belong to, simply because you share a gender with the attendees. So this year, when you get invited, say something! You could say, “I know you mean well, but I don’t think we should invite people to this based on gender, especially given the long history of women being assumed to be admins.”
You could also say, “It’s not fair to the admins to include me. It waters down the point of honoring their work if we just make it all the women who work here.”
Frankly, though, it’s time to get rid of this patronizing day entirely. Admins don’t need flowers and lunch; they need better pay and year-round respect.
3. My company is asking people to reserve vacation time during a pandemic
My company is “essential business” and most of us are still working on-site everyday. The higher-ups are asking the team managers to push their employees to start reserving vacation time now. They fear that there will be a sudden explosion of vacation time requests once the pandemic-induced travel bans are lifted and people can travel freely again. I feel this is a terrible time to ask people to make vacation plans. How should companies handle vacation/PTO allowances in a pandemic?
Yeah, this is not the right time to push people to make vacation plans. Way too much is up in the air, and we have no idea when things will be back to normal-ish or what normal-ish will look like. We don’t have enough info yet for people to decide whether they’ll be comfortable traveling at all this year, let alone specifically when.
It would make more sense for your company to alert people that they’re concerned about a sudden explosion of vacation requests later this year and that they can’t guarantee those requests will all be approved, depending on what it would mean for coverage. They can say that if you want to ensure you get specific dates, you should submit them now, and be aware it might not be as easy later. Bonus points if they also come up with (and announce) a system for how they’ll work it out if they do get more requests than can be approved for a particular time.
4. How do I tell my boss my coworkers aren’t working?
How do I let my supervisor know that during work from home, other employees are actually not working? I’m not trying to tattle. My work is generated from their work, and now it looks like I’m doing nothing all day. He doesn’t supervise my coworkers, but does supervise their managers.
Focus on the impact on your work, not any particular judgment about your coworkers. For example: “I know people’s schedules are weird right now, but I haven’t been getting X or Y from Cecil or Ophelia, which means I can’t move forward on Z. I’ve talked to them about it, but I still haven’t received what I need, so we’re in danger of missing our mail deadline. How do you want me to handle that?”
Note, though, that this says you’ve spoken with the coworkers about the problem. If you haven’t done that, do that first. That can just be, “I can’t move forward on Z until I get X or Y from you, and if we miss the deadline it will cause (specific problem). When do you think you’ll have it to me?”
5. Can I ask for written assurances about when our pay cuts will be reversed?
I’m a salaried, exempt employee in a professional field. My company has just announced that they are reducing everyone’s salaries due to Covid-19, with no reduction in the hours we are expected to work. For me, this represents a 33% pay cut and is simply unsustainable for more than a few months. Are they allowed to do this? Would it be reasonable for me to ask for written assurances regarding being paid back for the period during which my salary is reduced, and a timeframe for restoration of my full salary?
They are allowed to do this, as long as it’s not retroactive, and a lot of companies are doing it right now in an effort to stay afloat and not lay people off.
It’s vey unlikely they’ll agree to put something in writing guaranteeing when your salary will return to normal. Right now they probably can’t even guarantee people will still have jobs in a few months, let alone when your pay will go back up. (They might have an idea of what’s likely, but in most cases it would be foolish to rigidly commit to that, since no one knows exactly how this will all play out.)
I also wouldn’t assume you’re going to be paid back for this period, unless they’ve said they will do that. (Most companies are not.) But if they’ve offered that and framed it as a definite thing, it’s reasonable to confirm that in writing, since you might be staying in the job based in part on that promise. (Although even then, I’d be wary about relying on it too much unless the company is very stable; they might end up not having the funds.)
should I expand my job search outside of my industry, my coworkers aren’t working, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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