it’s five answers to five questions. here we go…

1. should i tell my employer if i file for bankruptcy?

i am a relatively new hire at a law firm. i am seriously considering filing for bankruptcy due to a large amount of medical debt, as well as a much smaller amount of non-medical debt (i would not be filing if that were my only unsecured debt). even with my new salary, i am really struggling, since i also have student loans and a mortgage to pay.

what are the pros and cons of telling/not telling this information to my supervising partner or someone in hr? on one hand, i don’t think it’s anyone else’s business, but on the other hand, i don’t want to look like i have something to hide. i should also mention that i’ve done my research and i know that it won’t impact my professional license.

i don’t see how it’s your employer’s business at all. i can think of zero pros for telling them about it. this is a private financial matter that has nothing to do with them. after all, would you report other financial happenings to your employer, like making a bad investment or buying property or borrowing from your 401k? none of that is their concern, and i can’t see how this is either.

moreover, it’s illegal for your employer to take any adverse action against you (like firing you, demoting you, or taking away responsibilities) because of your bankruptcy, so that’s a pretty clear reinforcement that it’s none of their business.

2. can i ask employers to email me instead of calling?

how should i phrase in my cover letter/accompanying email that i would prefer if employers e-mailed me in lieu of calling? due to my office location, my cell reception is almost completely blocked when i’m at work. i do not have an office line, and even if i did, i would not want prospective employers calling my work line, as my boss does not know that i’m looking. i thought including something like “please email instead of calling” looks tacky without reasoning – and adding a reason just makes it worse. what do you think?

i think you’ve got to leave this one up to employers. some prefer email, some prefer to call, but most have systems and ultimately they’re going to prefer to do it their way. the most you could do would be to include a line at the end of your cover letter saying something “email is the easiest way to reach me” … but i think people who prefer to call will still call. as for the phone situation, you definitely aren’t expected to use your work number on your resume; in fact, that would reflect poorly on you if you did, since you shouldn’t be using your employer’s resources for job hunting. just give your personal number (cell or land line), and call people back when you’re able to. this is how it worked in the days before cell phones, after all; people received messages and called people back. same thing here.

3. how to help my manager after a coworker was fired

i got a new manager earlier this year. before she was hired, we believed that she would only manage one person (me), but the agency quickly decided it would be a good idea to merge a second employee whose work was loosely related into our department. this coworker was… difficult… to work with. very nice, easy to talk to, impossible to get results or information from her.

a couple of days ago, my coworker was let go. my personal opinion is that this was a good move, however i’m not sure how i can be useful to my manager during the transition. a lot of the coworker’s work was client facing while mine was internal, so it’s not like i will be asked to take on any of her responsibilities. additionally, the coworker was very disorganized and i’m so tempted to organize files and “fix” things.

what would be a useful way to help my manager at a time like this? just keep my head down and do my work well? jump in and take an active role in the transition? on the flip side, what should i not do at a time like this?

i wouldn’t jump in and take an active role without talking with your manager, since you and your fired coworker had pretty different sets of responsibilities and since it’s possible that your manager has plans to cover things during the vacancy that you don’t realize. the best thing to do is to say, “if there’s anything i can help with while the position is vacant, please let me know!” also, if there’s something specific you want to propose (such as organizing those files), offer it.

4. can i ask to put my phone interviewer on speaker phone so i can take notes?

i have a phone interview coming this saturday. when the interviewer calls me, i want to ask up-front whether i can put him/her on speaker so i can take notes during the interview. is this appropriate? will he/she think it’s weird? will it leave an odd, negative impression and jeopardize my chances for the job?

i wouldn’t use speaker phone because (a) it will often make the sound quality worse, and you want the sound quality to be as strong as possible, and (b) some people (like me) hate speaker phone and will be annoyed that you’re using it. but you should still be able to take notes even while holding the phone (or if you can’t, try a headset!).

as for taking notes in general, it fine as long as it doesn’t delay your answers or create weird pauses. in phone interviews, it’s more important that you don’t have weird pauses than that you jot down every detail; because this is a first impression, weird pauses can create an odd vibe on the phone, and you’re going for rapport here more than capturing everything that’s said.

5. recruiter emailed me with confusing details and set up an interview, and then i received an automated rejection

a month ago, i had applied online to job x through the company’s job website. last week, an hr recruiter from the company contacted me about my interest in job x – basically asking if i would be interested in hearing more about the position and adding that “if this is not the right time in your career to make a move, i completely understand!” i was a little thrown off by this last statement because i had clearly applied for this position. how else could he see my resume, if not through the online application? (it is not posted publicly anywhere.) i enthusiastically replied, stating my interest. i mentioned that i previously applied for the position a few weeks ago, and then asked what date/times would be best to speak.

he replied with a proposed time and then included a link to a position for job y (not job x). i replied with other times i was available to talk, and said: “also, i noticed your email referencing job y; i just want to confirm that my candidacy is being considered for job x.” note: the subject line of his email was for job x, not job y; and the body of his first email to me was for job x, not job y.

that was last night. this morning, i received an automated email from the company’s job portal stating that my candidacy was no longer being considered. i’m very confused. should i just take it as a rejection email, even though we were scheduling a phone interview? or do i follow up and email the recruiter to confirm that i am no longer being considered? if so, how to word this email without sounding pushy or confrontational?

it’s possible that the confusing stuff in his email was because he was copying and pasting from emails to other candidates (i do this all the time and it’s very easy to forget to change details if you’re not vigilant about it). it’s also possible that the automated rejection email was a mistake; this also happens sometimes. i’d check back with the recruiter — but frame it as confirming that your interview is still on (explaining that you received a rejection email and weren’t sure), rather than confirming that you’ve been rejected, since the former is totally reasonable to do and will sound more confident than the latter.