It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. My coworker is obsessed with my video set-up
I work as a creative in a small team in a large enterprise organization. Since we have been working from home, my group has been meeting weekly over Zoom. I am married to a film creative and he lovingly created a Zoom set-up for me with a podcast microphone, professional camera, lens, set background, and lighting. It is a modest set-up by filming standards but definitely a cry better than your typical look just using your computer camera and microphone alone.
My coworker has made it a point to make comments every time I get on a call, such as “look at you with your background, your lighting, your perfect hair, your makeup!” and so on. She says these things in a condescending tone and it upsets me because I like having my nice set-up. My husband wanted me to look good and now it is upsetting my coworker. For the record, no other coworkers or managers have said a negative thing. They think it’s great and like it’s expected from me since I am a creative and we tend to want make things look good. It’s just this one coworker who keeps pointing me out and it makes me feel like I have to make her feel better by toning it down. Her insecurity makes me feel like I should walk on eggshells around her. Can’t I have a nice looking Zoom?
You can indeed have a nice looking Zoom, and your coworker needs to chill out. Tell her to cut it out! The next time she makes those comments, respond with, “Could you lay off of that? It’s getting old.” Or, “You seem weirdly focused on my Zoom set-up. Can we move on?” Or, “Noted. So anyway, (insert work topic).”
If internal politics don’t allow you to be that blunt (if she’s senior to you or so forth), try just saying in a really brisk tone, “Yep, that’s my Zoom set-up. So anyway, (insert work topic).”
She’s the one who looks strange by continually harping on this, not you.
2. How important are cover letters for IT positions?
Because we’re relocating, my husband is searching for a new position in the IT field (front end user assistance and server management). I have issues with wanting to micromanage things, so I’ve been trying to be as hands-off (but supportive) as possible during his job search, though sometimes we get into small disagreements about his process. The main debate right now is about cover letters.
He is of the opinion that in the IT field, cover letters don’t matter. He usually never sends one, and thinks it’s a waste of time given that people in his line of work mainly care about experience listed on the resume. He’s also been a hiring manager in one former position, so he has experience reviewing applications for this type of position. However, I think the opposite— that even in IT you should always send a cover letter unless the posting explicitly says not to. Especially given how competitive things are right now, I feel like he would be doing himself a disservice by not attaching one. He has won awards and done really amazing things in his prior positions, and has definitely gotten jobs without cover letters, but I feel like he would be introducing his stellar background better by having a short cover letter. (And he could explain that we’re relocating, clarifying why he’s searching in the first place.)
My career field is highly writing-intensive, and I honestly like writing, so I know I’m really biased in that regard. I also don’t know the norms in IT that well. Yet I still can’t help feeling that a well-written cover letter can only help, not hurt, and I’m happy to proofread his cover letters if he wanted to write them. But on the other hand, job searching is stressful enough without me nagging about a small detail like this, especially if it doesn’t give a lot of added value.
Do you think its worth it to push the issue, or should I defer to him since he has tons of experience in his field? And if you do think cover letters should be the norm in this instance, how might I convince him it’s worth his time to write them?
It’s true that IT is a field where cover letters generally matter far less. Lots of hiring managers in IT don’t read them at all, and it’s really common for IT candidates not to include them. It’s just the norm of the field.
That said, IT candidates who do include a cover letter can stand out because of that — when so few of your competitors bother to do it, a good candidate with a good cover letter can really have an impact. In that field they won’t always be read, but you can’t know from the outside when that’s the case and when it isn’t and your husband has no way of knowing if the job he’s applying for is one where a compelling cover letter could help him get an interview. So all else being equal, yes, it would be a good idea for him to write them.
However. If he’s going to write perfunctory cover letters that just summarize his resume and don’t add much more, he’s right that in IT much of the time he could just not bother. The letter will only boost his candidacy if he writes a compelling, personalized one. If that’s not likely, it’s not worth arguing over.
But even aside from that, I’d let this go. It’s his field and his job search, you’ve offered your opinion, and from there it’s up to him. Obviously if you see your spouse doing something you think will harm him, you should speak up. But you have spoken up! Now you’ve got to leave it to him. You noted you have issues with wanting to micromanage — recognize that it’s happening here, and choose to let your end of this one drop!
(Note: this is not license for people in other fields to stop writing cover letters! You still benefit from continuing.)
3. My company is following my personal Twitter
My place of work has followed my personal Twitter account using their institutional Twitter account (run by the marketing department). I find this disconcerting. While I do not hide what kind of work I do on my Twitter account, I intentionally do not discuss my specific place of work. I do have a “views are my own” statement in my Twitter bio. I use Twitter to have conversations with friends and colleagues. It’s not inappropriate content, but it is not necessarily all content I would actively bring to work and share with coworkers who I do not know.
I’ve left my Twitter profile public so I can meet and connect with new colleagues in my field, but I am now leaning towards locking it down since being followed by workplace. Is it weird to actively block one’s workplace on Twitter? I really don’t like having them follow me.
They probably followed you as a friendly move — like someone in marketing though, “Oh, let’s connect with our employees because we’re connected in real life” not “Let’s monitor our employees.” But it’s fine to block them from following you if you want!
You might consider a soft block, where you block them (thus stopping them from following you) and then unblock them … which makes them unfollow you without making it obvious that you blocked them. But it’s also fine if you want to just block them! Or, of course, you can set your profile to private so that only people you approve can follow you, although that would mean using Twitter in a different way than you have been.
4. Does my boss want me to end my temp assignment early?
I currently have a temp job (covering while someone is out on maternity leave) and I still have about six weeks left. A few days ago, my boss told me that Beth will be returning early from her leave early (in about two weeks) to work part-time. She reassured me that this wouldn’t change my end date.
Today, I happened to walk into the office with my boss and she asked me if I was applying to jobs and if I was getting any interviews. I can’t tell if she wants to be helpful in my career search or is just wanting to know if I’m planning to stay for the duration of my assignment. If I get an offer that begins before my temp job is set to end, should I take it? For what it’s worth, my job is very slow and could easily be done part-time (and would be excruciatingly boring if shared by two people).
She was probably asking because with only six weeks out, she assumes you’re actively job searching; six weeks isn’t a long time for a search. But it’s possible that she’s hoping you’ll wrap up early after Beth is back, who knows. In theory you could just ask her directly, by saying something like, “When you asked me about job searching the other day, I wondered if you’d prefer that I move on sooner after Beth returns, or if it really is okay to work the full remaining six weeks.” But frankly, I wouldn’t ask in this case — because if she says that yeah, it would be ideal if you left earlier, then you’re going to be in awkward position if you don’t get a job sooner. Instead, just take at face value her reassurance that you can stay as long as originally planned and continue actively searching. But if you do get an offer that starts earlier, it’s fine to take it — with temp jobs, people assume you’re going to be looking and will need to prioritize a non-temp offer if you get one.
5. How should you show a furlough on your resume?
I was having a conversation with a friend and I was hoping you could provide an answer to our debate. We have both been furloughed for the past six months due to the pandemic, but expect to be brought back to our companies as soon as government guidelines allow. The question was how to note this break in employment on a future resume. Would it be misleading to just say “Coordinator, Aug 2018-present”? Or should you do something like “Coordinator, Aug 2018-Mar 2020, Sep 2020-present” or “Coordinator, Aug 2018-present (furloughed Mar-Sep 2020)” and assume potential employers will understand that the break was due to the pandemic? Does the answer change depending on how long you worked at the company prior to the shutdown? Does the answer change if you’ve been doing small amounts of work (either paid or unpaid) while the furlough has been going on?
You don’t need to note the furlough on your resume. It’s fine to just list your employment as August 2018 – present” or so forth. It’s the same with maternity or medical leaves too — you don’t need to note that you were on leave for a portion of your time with the company. For the purpose of a resume, you’re still considered an employee there, even though you’re furloughed or on leave.
I do think it would be different if you were only employed for a month or so before the furlough began. In that case, at a minimum I’d add “(currently furloughed)” after the dates if I included it at all. But in your case, you should be fine.
coworker is obsessed with my video set-up, how important are cover letters in IT, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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