I’m afraid of dogs and our chairman brings his dog to work, job application videos, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. I’m afraid of dogs and our chairman brings his dog to work

I work at a small business (fewer than 100 people, all in one building) and I am mildly cynophobic (afraid of dogs). Logically, I’m aware that this is mostly irrational, but I tense up and can’t focus on anything else when a dog is nearby.

The chairman of our company has a dog, who he often (most days) brings to the office. He has also been known to encourage other people to bring their dogs to work. You can imagine how I feel about this. However, many people like the dogs.

A couple of years ago, I made an anonymous request, via my then-manager, for measures to be taken to keep the dog away from areas where I am likely to be. It was agreed that the dog wouldn’t be brought to the area of the office where my desk is, but nothing was said or done about communal areas. The chairman has since either forgotten about this agreement or doesn’t care. Furthermore, I think the chairman worked out that it was me who made the request, due to me freezing and stopping what I’m doing when the dog comes near me.

I neither want to be seen as a killjoy, nor do I want to pick a fight with the chairman, nor do I want to have to put up with this. Is there anything I could do?

Yes, you need to raise the issue again. You don’t need to hide that it’s you; you’re not trying to ban dogs from the building, just to stay away from them yourself. That’s a reasonable request, and it might also help you if the chairman does know it came from you so that he can make sure he is in fact keeping his dog away from you!

You can talk to your manager again, explaining that the previous agreement seems to have been forgotten, or — better — if you have HR, talk to them and ask for their help with more formal accommodations.

None of this is being a killjoy or picking a fight. You’re just asking to have a spot where you work comfortably.

Related:
how much should we compromise for a dog-phobic coworker in a dog-friendly office?

2. I was asked to make a video for a job application

I’ve applied for a job that involves extended, in-person contact with customers of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures. Today I got an email asking me to make a short video about why I want to work with them so they can “get to know me better.” I have never made a video before and videography would not be part of the role. I really am not adept at anything to do with photography and my phone is ancient. It serves my purposes usually but doesn’t have all the things that more modern phone cameras have. The selfie camera is low-quality so isn’t very good for video recording, and in low-light everything is very grainy. Apart from that, I just don’t have the skills. Even if I spent hours acquiring them, cadged a newer phone off someone, found out how to edit, and so on, I don’t think this will be the ideal showcase for me (understatement). I’m in my sixties and I wonder if for younger applicants this kind of thing is second nature?

I was quite surprised by their request and have gone back over the spec to see if I missed anything about videography. It definitely isn’t mentioned anywhere and there is no “digital native” element to the role, so I think it is simply their way of screening out candidates without having to do an interview. (I would be happy to do a video call on Teams or whatever and am set up for that.) Anyway, I think if I went ahead and made the video, I would be ruling myself out of getting the role. Shall I withdraw my application instead and explain why? That would be a shame as it’s something I’d like to do. But I can’t really see me getting through this first round.

Ugh, yeah, this is not a good practice for most roles. There are jobs that require the ability to do this kind of thing and it can make sense there — although it’s still often an unreasonable request before an initial phone screen has been done and will end up wasting a lot of people’s time, both from candidates who respond to it and from hiring staff who have to watch them, to say nothing of all the potential for illegal discrimination that it introduces — but here we are.

In any case, though, I don’t think you should reject yourself for them; they can do that themselves if they want to. You could simply explain that your phone doesn’t take video but that you’d be happy to do a phone or Zoom screen, and then leave it in their court. They probably won’t end up moving you forward but, who knows, if they’d been particularly interested in your application maybe they will. If nothing else, it’s good for them to get this kind of feedback from candidates.

3. No one wants to apply for our job opening because of my boss’s bad reputation

I work in a very small professional office within an extremely large, unionized white-collar organization. This organization values absolute fairness (which I absolutely believe in) and has many protections in place to assure it. For example, past job performance and recommendations cannot be considered in selecting the top candidate for a position.

The only other person who shared my (very specialized) exact job was recently promoted to my supervisor (they supervise four people, including me, plus 2 vacancies). Their reputation as a supervisor is not good (they held a previous supervisory role but eventually took a demotion/transfer).

Although the role I hold (that they also previously held) has traditionally been much in-demand with many candidates, this time there have been almost no applicants. Everything I have heard, including from people who have previously applied to transfer to my office, is that no one wants to work for this person based on their reputation.

The problem is that I also applied for the supervisor position, but I was not selected. I am absolutely doing everything I can to be professional about it! I definitely want someone to come on board, both to take over the extra duties that were transferred to me, and just to have a colleague.

I know management has been casting about for an explanation. If someone eventually asks me why I think people are not applying for the role, what can I say? I can’t think of any way to answer even semi-truthfully or in a way that would assist in hiring, without looking like I’m bitter or driving candidates away. And if I try to evade the question, it will look like I’m hiding something (also, I have a very hard time not answering questions honestly when asked directly).

Well, first, it’s not “absolute fairness” to refuse to consider past job performance when hiring. Past job performance is probably the most directly relevant factor that should be considered in hiring.

Anyway, if you’re asked why you think people aren’t applying for the job … well, you don’t need to give them an answer that you’re not comfortable giving! You’re not responsible for solving this problem for them, and if you think it risks causing problems for you if you tell them the truth (like that you’ll appear to have sour grapes over not getting the job yourself), you can fall back on something bland like, “I’m not sure. Would it be worth asking some of the people internally who you would have expected to apply and get feedback from them?” Which, frankly, is what they should be doing anyway.

4. How do I tell my boss I’m okay with a lower performance rating this year?

My supervisor said in our most recent meeting that she was worried she wouldn’t be able to give me as good ratings as the previous year because I haven’t finished some longer-term projects (with no real repercussions to anyone’s workflow; my job is IT adjacent so I’ve stayed on top of daily needs and anything that affects our internal customers). I am well aware I could have finished some of these sooner but, honestly haven’t had a great year mentally with a few family deaths and have missed a decent number of days this fall with kids home sick. But, last year, I got nearly all “exceeds expectations” and honestly, this year “meeting expectations” would be fine by me. I’d even be okay with a “needs improvement” in a category or two since I feel like I do need to improve! If this comes up again, how do I politely say I’m all right not getting the office equivalent of an A this year?

“I understand. This has been a rough year, and I’m hopeful I’ll be able to tackle some of the longer-terms projects going forward.”

Or: “I think that’s fair. I’ve been out more than I usually am, and that’s affected what I could complete. I am hopeful that won’t remain the situation.”

5. Joining an LGBT employee group when I work for the federal government

I’m a fairly tenured (eight years) employee in civil service/government work in the US.

I started a new position recently, my first non-bargaining role. One of the things advertised to us during orientation was the various work/social groups for employees to connect with others because hundreds, if not thousands, of people work for this agency.

I am a single woman over 30 who identifies as a member of the LGBT community. My employer has a group for LGBT employees that I was considering checking out, but I am scared to do so. I am an unclassified employee who had to sign a statement acknowledging I serve at the pleasure of the head of the agency I work for. He is termed out and we will be getting a new one in the next election cycle.

I hate that this is the world we live in, but would you advise I check out the group or wait? I would hate to miss out on making friends but I don’t want a target on myself either.

Attend a meeting and feel it out! You presumably don’t need to register on an official “attending the LGBT employees group” list with your employer; you can just go, right? (And besides, for all they know, you could be going as an ally; you presumably don’t need to declare your specific interest or identity either.) Then, once you meet other people there, ask for their thoughts on the safety of being active with the group right now; they’ll likely have useful insights (hopefully ones that will make you feel comfortable attending more, but useful either way).

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