We talk a lot about HR managers and what they’re looking for when they’re hiring new employees, and those posts are super helpful.

That said, people looking for new jobs need to be aware of what red flags might show up from the other end, too, because no one wants to spend all of those hours applying and interviewing only to end up somewhere they don’t want to be.

These people are coming through with some things that would make them 100% rethink accepting an offer.

Can you give me a list?

My favorite is ‘there’s a lot of people waiting in line to work here, count yourself lucky. Huge red flag

I used to think “well, I need a job” and let myself think it was sweet that I was being given the chance, but I have a great work ethic so I always become “the man” ( supervisors seem to love that term). Well, I’ve learned that when they say that they mean they are going to heap a lot more work and responsibility on you than your coworkers.

So, now I go into interviews with the attitude that I can always find another job, so I judge the company now.

Without skipping a beat.

I always ask about training and learning curves. Every job I’ve had that went wrong- I notice that when that question came up they stumbled.

The current job I have, when I asked the question they had sparks in their eyes as they explained the whole process from day 1 of shadowing to the transition to working solo.

And even when covid hit they managed to continue without skipping a beat.

Nope.

When they ask out of nowhere what clients can you bring with you.

I interviewed with MetLife insurance about twenty years ago. They demanded that I provide them with a contact list of no fewer than a hundred friends and family.

Noped out of that quickly.

That’s like asking someone if they break up nicely.

They told me all about their generous severance packages.

In the initial interview.

Turnover city.

Props for honesty.

This actually happened to me:

Interviewer: Do you have any questions for us?

Me: what is a challenge this department has recently faced?

Interviewer: Job security

Spoiler alert.

“Well, the overtime isn’t mandatory, but most folks stick around after hours most days.”

Spoilers: The overtime is mandatory.

Way too positive.

Besides always hiring, they seem almost overly eager to say, “Yes, we could do that!” to everything you ask.

No job will have literally everything you want, and if your gut is telling you they seem to be promising a bit more than they can offer, they likely are.

They’re super cringe.

Was interviewed by a Senior programmer and the department head. The department head was continuously making condescending remarks towards the other interviewer.

Poor guy just sounded broken. Hope he’s somewhere else now.

Don’t just sign there.

When you are signing all the forms they give you and you are taking your time to read over every document so that you can fully understand what you are getting into and people come in and start telling you that you don’t need to read this and that just sign here and so on.

Oh my goodness.

On a second interview the general manager brought me into the conference room with his 8 managers present. At first I thought it was a meet and greet but no, they grilled me for an hour and a half. Didn’t appreciate that along with a couple other things and politely withdrew from being considered.

Couple months later I’m playing in a ball tournament and come across one of the managers. I mentioned how weird that interview was. He says ‘Weird for you? Ha! I found out then and there you were being interviewed for my job!’.

Yep, dodged a bullet there.

That’s a code word.

I didn’t know it at the time, but “you’ll be wearing many hats” was a sign that they were going to give me the work of four positions and the wage of one. I didn’t last a year there before I left and now I won’t even finish reading job ads that include that line.

They didn’t even try to hide it.

Once an interviewer straight up asked me if I had any trouble working for free on weekends… I told them my free time is more valuable than anything and that the only way that I would work a weekend is if they are paying me and if I felt like working a weekend.

She got really mad at me and ended the interview right away.

Biggest red flag I’ve ever seen because they didn’t even try to hide it.

You have to fail some to figure it out.

If you are unsure what direction you want to take your career, many hats jobs do help you figure it out.

They will also leave you angry, tired and frustrated, but you’ll leave with a better sense of what you are good at and what you like doing

A mystery document.

I was once part of a group onboarding for an IT job. They handed us all the one-page new hire “contract” and everyone except me signed immediately. When I read the paperwork, I discovered we were signing a mystery document. Clauses included “I agree to abide by the personal search and seizure security policy (attached).”

Without other pages, there was no way to determine what I was agreeing to. I kept requesting more and more pages until the HR drone said “ok, I guess [me] is just determined to hold everyone up. We will handle you separately if you’re struggling so much.”

After I walked out and drove home, I called the hiring manager to apologize for not taking the job. He informed me that HR reported I had walked out after refusing to be drug tested

A great tip.

My current boss gave me a great tip on the last interview I had. He said “Ask them if you can pick an employee to chat with about how they like the position you’re applying for. They’ll give a better impression of the place than management”.

I got the job I was interviewing for. I turned it down because the above is the kind of management I want to keep in my life. Also the place undercut my pay offer I found out which is certainly also a red flag.

They’re trying to warn you.

Last job I worked.

“Yea, everyone here is new, but it’s totally because of covid”

“The boss doesn’t like people going out to get lunch because they’re afraid you’ll never come back, so being your own lunch”

“You’ll get weird looks if you leave on time”. It was a chinese owned company with heavy chinese work culture influence so you were expected to stay overtime all week.

Also “the people here are nice but it’s pretty stressful”.

Eta: also was told by my trainer “you want to know the best advice I can give you? Find another job”. This was like…my 2nd week in.

Tucking all of these in my back pocket.

You never want to throw out good advice, whether you’re looking or not!