It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. Contractor wants a raise two months after starting
Two months ago we brought on a new editor on a 1099 contract basis. We’ll call her Arya.
Overall my partner and I have been very pleased with Arya’s work. There are a few things to still iron out, but we were happy. Arya is aware that my partner and I are having a baby in January and will need to count on her to be self-sufficient for editing and occasional article writing for a few months after the birth. She knows it would be hard for us to onboard a different contractor until that’s over.
Last week, Arya approached me and said she would like to revisit her rate. When we first offered her the job, we asked her to name her rate; it was at the higher end of our budget but we believe in paying for quality and didn’t haggle at all. She got the rate she named.
Now she is saying she isn’t used to working as a freelancer so much, and didn’t realize how much she would pay in self-employment tax; she thinks she should have asked for a higher rate. Frustratingly, she has also intimated that she would normally charge much more for article writing than editing, even though we were clear that writing would be part of the role. We even had her write a test article before hiring!
I’m at a loss. She isn’t aware that we’ve actually cut back or let go of other contractors given the tough economy this year. Meanwhile, while I want to assume good intentions, she knows we are really going to be in a bind if she leaves suddenly — this feels a little cutthroat. Are we being taken advantage of? And, more to the point, what should we do — try to pony up more to get through the next six months, or tell her a deal is a deal?
If she’d asked for the higher rate originally, would you have agreed to it? And knowing what you know of her work now, do you think it’s a fair rate? I’m not a fan of people agreeing to a particular rate and then saying “no, wait” a few months later (unless the work has changed significantly), but ultimately you want to pay what’s fair. So the question really comes down to whether or not this new rate is.
But if your understanding of the market tells you that she’s already paid fairly, it’s reasonable to say something like, “We think your work is great and we want you to be happy with the pay, but it’s already at the higher end of our range and for now we’re not able to go higher than we agreed in September. I think it’s a fair rate and I hope we were up-front about the writing part of the role from the start — for instance, having you write a test article during the hiring process. So I hope the rate we agreed to will still work. Will you think about it and let us know in the next week or so if it still makes sense for you?”
Of course, then you need to be prepared for her to decide that it doesn’t and you’d need to replace her — but a lot of people are looking for work right now. And you never want to feel like you have to find a way to keep any one given person at all costs. Not only can that drive you to make bad decisions, but people leave unexpectedly for all sorts of reasons — health, family crises, a better job falling in their lap, etc. But before you have the conversation, make sure you’re okay with all the possible outcomes.
2. I was fired for “poor performance” after years of glowing feedback
I was recently let go for “poor performance.” It came as a complete surprise and I did not see it coming at all. I was given absolutely no notice at all that my performance was not up to par.
The crazy thing about that is that I literally got GLOWING performance reviews for three years in a row. Not just good reviews, like actually amazing reviews from 15 people who I work closely with, including from someone very senior at the company. My manager did not submit any comments for my review, which I thought was weird, but not a huge red flag considering she had only been my manager for three months, so she probably thought that she did not have enough information at that point to provide a review. I just got my review feedback and it was all amazing, which is why none of this makes any sense at all.
I probably have no legal action against them since it is “at will employment” and they can let me go for any reason or no reason at all, but what could possibly be the reason for letting an exceptional employee go for “poor performance”? Maybe they were experiencing layoffs, but did not want to call it a layoff in fear of other employees worrying about their employment? Or maybe there were some shady internal politics going on? I guess there could be a bunch of reasons, but I am still in absolute shock and would welcome any insight that you have in regards to this. Additionally, now that I am job searching, how can I explain why I was let go from my previous job?
I’m sorry this happened! It’s impossible to say from the outside what might be behind it. It could be some kind of internal politics (a higher-level manager had a problem with you, or the CEO wants to hire a nephew into your role). It could be that your manager did have serious concerns about your work but was a terrible manager who didn’t bother to talk to you about them. It could that she personally disliked you. It could be an illegal reason — something connected to your race, religion, age, disability, pregnancy, or other legally protected characteristic. It could be that your new manager decided you didn’t fit in with the team (which might or might not be connected to those illegal reasons). It could be that she you remind her of a hated ex. There are a ton of possibilities and no way to know from here which is most likely.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the fact that she only started managing you three months ago is probably significant. It sounds like the glowing feedback might have come from your previous boss and others you worked with, and it’s possible her take was very different (or even that she came in with a mandate to change things up). If that’s so, she handled it terribly — you don’t fire someone who’s always been praised and refuse to explain what why — but terrible managers abound.
If you want to explore the legal angle, you could meet with an employment lawyer; they’ll ask questions to figure out whether your firing might indeed have been illegal (meaning something like discrimination or retaliation for legally protected conduct — things that are illegal even under at-will employment) and if that looks like a possibility they can negotiate with the company on your behalf to get you a better severance package or other restitution. In fact, I’d consider doing this even if you’re doubtful that it’ll lead to anything — sometimes lawyers spot things that you didn’t realize would matter. Most lawyers will give you an initial consultation for free.
As for what to say to future interviewers, explain that you had three years of glowing performance reviews (which ideally you’d offer to provide) but a new manager came in, seemed to want to clean house, and let you go without explanation. You can also see if that senior person who gave glowing feedback in your most recent review would be willing to be a reference.
Your company sucks for not giving you any reason.
3. Requesting more lead time for international meeting requests
I work with teams whose members are located in the opposite time zone from me (12 hours ahead). Every so often, team members send me meeting requests when I’m not checking my email (weekends, nights, and times when I’m out of the office). Due to the time difference, these meetings tend to be first thing in the morning … the very next day. Sometimes, the only way I‘ve found out about these meetings ahead of time (without checking my email) is because my work calendar is synced to my personal device.
Is there a way for me to politely say, “Please don’t send me next morning meeting requests when I’m not checking my email”?
Sure! You could say, “Because of the time difference, if you send me a meeting request at 12 pm your time for a meeting at 7 pm, that’s 7 am my time and I won’t see your email in time to attend — especially if it happens to be the weekend or other time when I’m not checking my email. Can you give me X hours of notice when you’re scheduling meetings so there’s time for me to see it and respond?” (Obviously you can’t ask this if the nature of work makes that kind of notice unrealistic, but I’m guessing you wouldn’t be raising the issue if that were the case.) It can also help to translate it into their time so you’re not expecting other people to do the math every time — “If you email me after X your time, I won’t see the email until Y your time.”
You can also try putting an auto-responder on your email when you leave work for the day, saying something like, “I am out of the office and will not see this email until 8 am EST/1 pm GMT.” (Translate it into the time zones you work with most frequently too.)
4. Explaining why I’m relocating in a cover letter
My fiance and I live very far from our respective families, and we hate that We’re planning to relocate to a city halfway between them in the next 6-12 months. So, thus begins the job search.
How should I mention this in my cover letters when applying for jobs in these halfway-in-between cities? I currently live in a city with a ton of opportunities in my field that also happens to be a popular vacation destination. These other cities will still have opportunities in my field, but not nearly on the same scale. I worry that hiring managers will think I’m not serious about moving when they see my current city on my resume, and I’m not certain how to address that.
Say that you’re moving to be closer to family, which you are! Everyone understands that.
It’ll also help to put a note about your intended relocation on your resume in case the employer misses it in the cover letter. On your resume, directly under your address, include a parenthetical note that you’re soon relocating to __ (fill in the city). For instance:
Valentina Warbleworth
(Relocating to Boston)
It’s even better if you can list a specific timeframe:
Valentina Warbleworth
(Relocating in February to Boston)
That doesn’t require you have rock-solid plans for the move to definitely be in February — move timelines can change — but it can be helpful to give employers a sense that (a) the move is definitely happening and (b) in this rough timeframe.
5. Two job titles in three months on a resume
I was promoted about a month ago to a mid-level title of my current position (from a product manager I to a product manager II). My company is now standardizing some job titles to align with industry standards. My manager has informed me that my job title and level will change again due to this, and in January I will be a product manager III. From my understanding, there is no change in my job description, requirements, or even salary. It’s just a title change.
I’m not sure how to represent this on my resume. I feel that two promotions in such a short amount of time will lead to me looking underqualified. At the same time, if I were to go back and properly level my previous titles using the current guidelines, I worry that it will look duplicitous. And if I cut the middle title out completely (my current position), I go from a I to a III, which also looks weird. Do you have any advice?
One option is to list it this way:
Product Manager, Employer Name, dates
(product manager I Jan.-Sept. 2020, product manager II Oct.-Dec. 2020, product manager III Jan. 2021-present)
* accomplishment
* accomplishment
* accomplishment
contractor wants a raise 2 months after starting, fired for no reason, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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