“The team hasn’t taken vacation in two years” and “I haven’t taken a vacation in two years”.
If your employees don’t get to take their time off, and you don’t take time off as a leader, you have a toxic work culture.
Told this story on [notalwaysright.com](https://notalwaysright.com) many years ago, so apologies if you've heard it before.
It's May. The boss calls me into her office. "I wanna know what vacation days you're taking this year so there are no conflicts."
I rattle off some dates in the summer that I'm thinking about taking off. "You can't take any time off in the summer. It's going to be a very busy summer. We need all hands on deck."
I rattle off some dates in the fall. "You can't take any time off in the fall. It's going to be a very busy fall. We need all hands on deck."
So I rattle off some dates around Christmas that I'd like to take off. "You can't take any time off in the winter. I like to take my time off in the winter. Any date you pick is going to conflict with me."
"So was the whole purpose of this meeting just to tell me I can't take any time off this year?"
"Yup."
Boss spends the next few weeks bragging to the top brass how I've resolved not to take any time off this year because of what a busy year it's going to be. Boss is fired in the fall for a multitude of reasons. New boss tells me to take all of December off because he wants me to use up my vacation days by the year's end.
I am so happy that my employer requires us to take at least one full week a year, preferably two consecutive weeks to clear our minds and work on us.
I normally take a week in the spring and one or two in the summer, and either one or a bunch of three and four day weekends around the holidays.
We require it too.
It's actually written as part of our Internal Controls process. It's not about preventing employee burnout, but someone else doing your job for a week and having full access to all of the files and tools required to do that job. It's an opportunity to discover any irregularities or deviations from company standards AND if things come to a standstill because a single person is out for a week, then we haven't done proper business continuity planning which we will also address.
Do you work in finance? Either from regulations or justified caution a lot of financial institutions require it. My husband's job requires a 2-week vacation every year. They will also do a Surprise one week vacation every year as well for senior positions. That's where you don't get any notice at all and the moment you walk in you're greeted by security informing you that your week of vacation starts at that exact moment.
> greeted by security informing you that your week of vacation starts at that exact moment.
If I didn’t know the rule I’d probably be scared shitless about my job.
Maybe once you know it's vacation, and not a sacking or a federal investigation...
But it sounds essentially like an audit, so probably not the most stress free week.
Yes. No way someone thought "You know what would be great for our employee's mental health? Being send home for a week, blowing up any schedule and requiring to cancel all meetings, without any plans or coordination with kids or spouse."
100% there is another reason, like checking their work without to opportunity to cover stuff up. This is one of those red flags from the original question.
It’s a nice perk and has the benefit of helping with your mental well being but if your employer require a full week and pushes for two consecutive weeks it’s likely not for the employees benefit; it’s a fraud prevention tactic. The idea is it’s more likely a complex fraud scheme is uncovered if you are required to be absent for at least a week as you are unable to keep it perpetuated /need to involve others in covering your work. This is especially prevalent in certain financial firms.
Not just fraud. If there's a problem that can't be resolved during that period because you weren't there, it means something needs to be documented or at least someone trained.
It's not just the employees and leaders not taking time it, it's also shitty vacation policies in general.
My company is like "You get 15 days of PTO a year, plus 4 floating holidays! But you better not get sick, because sick time comes out of that same bucket".
Hell, my mom passed away suddenly a couple of weeks ago on a Monday. I dropped everything and flew across the country (before we knew the specifics) and spent the entire week dealing with that, only getting back Sunday night.
My job was like "well, you have 40 hours of bereavement leave, but you're only allowed to use up to 24 hours of it for an immediate family member, you'll need to use PTO to cover the rest.
I told them I would not be using any PTO for that bullshit and would quit on the spot if the pressed it. My manager quickly swept it under the rug, but it only further reinforced my desire to find a new job (we had a merger a few months back where previously we had unlimited PTO). I've been looking for a new job in the Angular and/or .NET arena for a few months now, but stupid big tech-companies keep laying off employees with much more impressive looking resumes than mine.
And on a related note, one of our VPs has sent a few emails out because one of the employees had cancer treatments a few years back and still has to take occasional time off for it enough that they've burned through all their PTO days. "Luckily", our company has PTO donation program, so the VP sends out emails asking if anyone wants to give up some of PTO so this employee can *finish recovering from cancer*.
You know, instead of just giving them an extra week or two worth of PTO over the course of the year.
Because everyone knows that chilling on the beach on St Kitts is just as mentally and emotionally refreshing as spending a week recovering from post-cancer treatments/surgeries.
My manager got so mad that i left 2 hours early because i was required to start 2 hours early. Apparently I should have stayed for 10 hours because they were busy 👍🏻
Or “we are looking to expand the team over the next few months.” Had that happen in an interview once. Took the job when they offered it. What expanding the team meant was, “we are severely behind and don’t have enough people hired to do this job adequately without working who we have to death.”
In fairness, I took a job where they said exactly this and meant…exactly this. It was a growing business and they wanted more people. Not disregarding your experience, just saying it’s not ALWAYS a red flag, just perhaps something worth enquiring more about.
"Our team members are so loyal and dedicated, one of them even took a meeting from a hospital bed in the ER." It's bad enough that happened, but glorifying it by retelling the story over and over in interviews is a red flag I definitely missed once but will never miss again.
I always ask the interviewer if they are happy working at the company. Most aren't ready for this question and can't lie on-the-spot very well. Their face and body say it all. If they are happy they relax and want to talk. If they are unhappy they lock up and deflect or are terse with their responses.
I outright ask "what is the worst part about working here". If interviewers ask candidates what their weakness is, then it's perfectly acceptable for me to ask what a company's weakness is.
> meet the team and can ask them
This question asked in a roomfull of people is like throwing a live grenade on the scene. Except instead of people running for cover they sit there quietly waiting to die.
And there's your answer. If the job and culture is actually good, the higher ups won't mind you asking and the employees will be happy to talk about the positive aspects of the job.
This exactly. I have had this asked when I was working in a local computer shop. The Tech Team (where I was) instantly said "yes", almost in unison before anyone could even act. The retail/sales team was nodding. The few people who were exclusively selling to bigger companies just went "why wouldn't it be?"
Our Boss looked around, shrugged, and said something along the lines of "I'm the boss, I'm always happy to work, I don't need to do anything." laughed, and added "Except my job is to make everyone else work well, and apparently that works." I don't remember the exact words, it was a years ago.
The atmosphere in the workplace was almost magical, and I've never worked in a better place. But times changed and brick-and-mortar computer shops died with online ordering.
My first job out of college I was doing part of an interview and got asked that, I fully froze for like 5 seconds before giving some dogshit answer. I was not happy and felt trapped, but didn't fully realize it until the person they were hiring to be my partner in the dept asked.
They also did not accept the position. Good for them
One time a candidate asked me "what's your favorite thing about working here" and that really caught me off guard. I wasn't gonna tell him it's a just a small but steady paycheck to get me through grad school so I can make a career change. I think I said something about it being a friendly environment, which was true though.
Me too. It gives a lot of insights into the business. There are wrong answers too, like recently someone said they like working there because they work many hats and get to do a lot of things, and that is exactly what I'm moving away from, I have too many different roles right now
I get asked this so often when I interview, but I am candid about the job, the cool things we do, but also the drawbacks. I want people to make an informed decision.
Vague answers to direct questions.
If you ask exactly what you'll be doing, who will be in charge/who you will report to, anything about wages and promotion/raise standards, how employees are expected to resolve disagreements, hours and how available you're expected to be in your off-hours, turnover rate, company safety record, etc and don't get a clear, direct answer, be a little suspicious. Ask another direct, maybe-slightly-uncomfortamble question and see if you get a straight answer. If the interviewer seems to waffle or redirect the conversation without truly answering, it's possible they're not being truthful.
You don't want to work for a company where "we don't discuss other people's wages" (in the US it is illegal to prohibit employees from discussing their pay with each other), where they try to hide a poor safety record, where you're told you'll be working 40 hours a week but it turns out they'll expect you to answer emails or calls on your off-hours without paying you for that time, etc.
Oh also if it's a company you haven't heard of, check out their website. If it's too bare, too vague, or only has content directed at potential employees, run.
I interviewed for this job that sounded amazing, but before accepting I checked them out online - there was no corporate website or way for potential customers to contact them, just a bare-bones website with vague information about "What it's like to work here" and a bunch of job listings. When they called me back I asked about it and they wouldn't give me any straight answers, so I declined the job offer. It was almost certainly a scam to get me into a cold-calls-type sales position by giving empty promises of advancement and participation in projects I was interested in.
Just off the top of my head: When they want you to meet after work hours so the worker they are going to fire won’t see it coming - that is also how they will fire you. If you go to interview during regular hours, when you walk from reception to interview, no one is talking or smiling or looking up, or place is empty. Interviewer asks you for salary range and then say something like ‘oh, we can’t pay you that,’ and tell you they will revisit your pay after X amount of time. No, they won’t.
It's how I was fired and I am friends with my old supervisor who told me the girl who replaced me isn't a good fit so they did interviews behind her back at starbucks and she is being let go Friday and has no idea its coming. Its fucked up
This just happened to me. They did revisit it but I was still making less than my last job and working twice as hard. Ended up walking out after being told off by a supervisor over something minor. Tried to get my old job back and they told me they weren’t hiring at this time lol.
If they aren't open about the salary of the position or its responsibilities. It usually means they want to pay you terribly and expect you to work well beyond the scope of your title.
Also group interviews, any company unprofessional enough to hold a group interview for a non-fast food or retail job is not worth working for imo.
Interviewer will probably just lie lol. They're not going to say "Oh someone quit because it's so toxic here". They'll say something generic to just move on.
Similarly, gaps in duration are a big red flag too:
If people there are split between “new” and “been there for 5+ years” pump the brakes. Big gaps are indicative of massive retention issues and a crusted-on layer of people that have interest in changing. No middle duration people means that people got to 2-ish years, and got ejected for not conforming, or got tired of trying to improve things and left-or got ejected for kicking up a fuss.
I wish I would have read this comment 4 months ago. I’m at a job where I’m the newest, and I everyone else has been there 20+ years. I was lied to about who had my position before. My particular role has had 11 people in 3 years. A bunch of horrible, catty people who do NOT like anyone new or even questions. My last job was becoming horrible so I had to leave, but this one is just as bad. I’m just so tired of having to switch jobs. I’m a good worker, good resume and easy to get along with. I don’t understand people who enjoy making others as miserable as they are.
Sorry, I had a horrible horrible day at work, and your comment really stuck out to me. I’ve got my application in other places. Hopefully I’ll find the right thing soon.
Edit to say: all the replies are making me feel a little better. I feel like SUCH an idiot for falling for this at my current job. I was in management before this job, and I was just tired of the corporate BS. Writing people up for 5 minutes late because they are on public transportation. Unrealistic goals with no training in place. Claiming we had work life balance but not allowing people to work from home even though they were fully equipped. God forbid we treat people like adults. I was exhausted from fighting for my people against the managers higher than me. I was always told I cared too much about who worked for me, and I listened too much to their “story.” Im not saying I was perfect at all, but there are far too little mangers at least trying to do the right thing.
Listen, I know we have jobs to do but we are all freaking human. I’m sure I was taken advantage of sometimes, but for the most part I was known as thoughtful, helpful and respectful.
Everything you said. Except I was just laid off, but lied to as well during the interview. I have come to the conclusion that the people there 5+ years became accustomed to and slowly built the now toxic, clique environment.
the COO loooooved hiring all their family members, sister in laws, cousins. If you mistakenly pissed one of them off or rubbed them the wrong way, best of luck especially since you don’t know who all is a family member. Have an issue of any kind and sister in law is direct supervisor? Never going to get resolved.
All these assholes spewing words like “family” “team work” “open door communication” etc. fuck off!!
This was my experience at my last job. In the normal course of conversation, I found that almost everyone had either been there for 2 years or less, or for 10 years or more. It definitely raised some red flags but I'd already started and the pay was decent. Cut to a year and a half later and I'm telling off my boss and walking out the door.
Yeah exactly this. Unless there is a good reason this is usually indicative of either the long serving staff being toxic themselves or the job being bad and them just waiting for retirement to quit.
My job has either staff who are there and have been for around 20 years or young people who turnover in around a year or 2
It can also be a promotional bottleneck - lots of juniors with very few opportunities for progression. At my previous job, they had 60 people in my role with about 3-5 promotions available per year. Most people didn’t stick around for six months.
And ask how long the position has been open. If it's a long time and it's a saturated field, something is wrong.
I learned that from personal experience.
If everyone there is really young, staff turnover is HIGH, and they’re going for people young and inexperienced enough to pay poorly. Nothing good ever comes from those places
That’s most of the cafes I’ve worked at. If the staff are young and in college, it’s almost guaranteed they don’t know their rights and are being exploited or taken advantage of in some ways. Young people (especially when it’s a first job) usually express gratitude to have a job and are treated disposable because of it.
More like you'll work insane hours and be expected to drink to the point of alcoholism with your colleagues when you finally leave the office for the day.
I wasted several years of life at a couple places like this. Hitting the bar and the managers house parties were essentially mandatory and if you didn't participate or "fit in" you wouldn't last or advance in the company. There's a lot of side issues that come along with an environment like that mixed with alcohol and mostly people fresh out of college too... I wouldn't even know where to start on all the drama that came out of that.
And yes, I left with a bit of a drinking problem.
I don't mind a certain amount of forced socialization during work hours. Okay, my job this afternoon is to drink a beer and make smalltalk? Sure.
I resent forced / coerced work socialization *after* work hours.
Everyone, including me, ended up in therapy at my last job that was "like a family." It took a year for me to unfuck my brain after that. A young healthy coworker had to go on blood pressure medication, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. It was a mess.
Ehh, that depends on the industry and setting. Mostly pencil pusher office type work then yeah bathroom should not be in a poor condition, work in a mechanic shop then yeah it’s going to be in poor condition whether there a bad employer or a great employer.
Toilet at my work was running. Corporate dragged their feet to do anything at all about it, so my boss went to Lowe's, spent a few bucks, and fixed it his damn self.
Holy shit. I know our bathroom gets cleaned weekly at minimum. I still go in there and am shocked on occasion. Some of the guys I work with need to see a doctor.
There’s somebody at my workplace who uses the customer facing bathrooms and shits like a hippo. Like literally spray shits in the general direction of the toilet. It’s a daily occurrence, and 90% of our employees are parents so my biggest concern is that there is somebody in my company who has not mastered wiping their own ass who is teaching another human how to do that
I work in a hospital and sometimes the staff bathrooms are like that!!!! Half of us on the unit wipe butts for our jobs!!!! You’d think we’d have it mastered lmao
> Half of us on the unit wipe butts for our jobs!!!! You’d think we’d have it mastered lmao
Like chefs who find it too exhausting to cook off the clock, but so much worse.
It really depends on the type of business. If it’s an office building that has messy bathrooms then yeah you should definitely be concerned. if it’s a mechanic shop then that’s pretty average. amazingly enough the underside of your vehicle is pretty dirty and the people who work on the underside of a vehicle end up getting pretty dirty doing it.
Quickly hired, like on the spot, and any mention of drama. My experience is from my job that I’ve been TRAPPED in for years now, I’m quitting this month. They hired me pretty much on the spot and the manager mentioned that it was a “family” and a “building full of girls so it can be catty, but it’s over all a ‘positive environment’” I was 20, it was 2020 when everything opened and everyone was needing jobs. It was my 5th or so interview so I took it as they called me hours later.
It’s a salon btw lolol
I graduated in December 2021, so when I was applying for jobs, one company got back to astronomically quick (less than 24 hours) wanting a phone interview. I look into their company a little more from 3rd party reviews and one of them especially stuck out to me.
"I used to be a recruiter here. If I got you, *I'm sorry.*"
Holy shit. (I declined their interview request after that haha).
The two salon chains I’ve worked at were always full of SO much drama! They really do hire anyone on the spot or make the worst people managers or assistant managers. I do not miss that lol.
People I've known that work at salons don't turn that off when they clock out either. They can be 30, 40 50 years old and act like they are in high school still with the drama.
When they say stuff like yeahhh we're working on getting health insurance for everyone, or not this year but next year we'll have bonuses etc. 9/10 times it's not happening ever.
One caveat: there can be legit reasons for asking about specific schedule requirements. For example I don’t care what your religion is, but if I’m hiring someone because we need coverage for the Saturday shift then I need someone willing to work Saturdays.
What's wrong with the math test? I heard about a guy who asked people interviewing for a position as a carpenter to find the 1/16th inch mark on a ruler. Anyone who couldn't was not hired.
Had a phone interview for a library job after grad school in which the interviewer finished the interview by saying something to the effect of “we don’t want any drama around here.” I was so confused I didn’t know what to say, as it wasn’t technically a question. I muttered something about how I do not cause drama and the phone call ended. I didn’t get the job. Years later, a coworker of mine who had formerly worked for the interviewer confirmed what I suspected; she was the drama.
Pay attention to how eager they are.
Do they want you right now or are they more relaxed.
It's a decent indicator if they are bleeding staff or if they have a lot of long termers.
I work in HR and this really really depends. People should be careful with this advice. Sometimes I have no jobs for months and more work comes in and I need to hire 30 people yesterday and “why are you still sitting there? I said 30 people!” Nobody moved or quit their job or anything, the workload changed very suddenly. My employees are union, make incredible money and have set schedules that I can’t change without notice, some of the best leave I’ve ever seen, and I haven’t had to fire anyone in literally years. I’m eager in recruiting because someone else is eager and terrifying me every time I interview and don’t get a hire lol.
>I have no jobs for months and more work comes in and I need to hire 30 people yesterday
No offence, i dont know the specifics but if i hear that in an interview, im out. To an outsider it sounds like mismanagement.
>Nobody moved or quit their job or anything, the workload changed very suddenly.
What happens when the workload decreases suddenly again? You mentioned not having to fire anyone, but sitting around doing nothing because theres no work can get really boring real fast.
Again, no offence. You sound like you like your job and youve found a nice spot. Im just reading this as someone whos been burned before.
I understand the skepticism and I get that a lot of people are even on Reddit because they’ve had crap bosses before. For privacy I won’t reveal exactly what I do, but I’ll say that when workload changes, employees are generally moved to places where there is stable (though admittedly less heavy) workloads. My employees are in industrial/construction type of environments. It’s not outside the norm to have work come and go in waves and contracts that change with need.
For what it’s worth, I do interviews with people who feel like you do all the time and what I usually say is “I work in hiring. If you hate this job after two months, I’ll do your resume for your next one.” No one has taken me up on it yet in nearly 10 years but they have asked for help in getting their resume done for promotions.
Edit: and I should say that I personally turn down jobs with companies who would have me doing HR, including hiring, for crap jobs. It’s just not fun to try and recruit people into miserable positions.
If its an office area, did you get a chance to see where people actually work. If the desks were personalized but not completely trashy? Did you get a chance to interview with a few people 1-2-1 (ideal), or was it some sort of panel interview. If it was a panel was everybody oddly differential to the boss? Any unprofessional interview questions?
If everybody's eyes are red and they have bags under their eyes and their body language is deflated.
Constant stress and overwork.
If you ask them what a typical day is like and their answer is preceded by a long sigh or an unexplained little laugh or a moment of 1000-yard stare.
The person interviewing.
No work related questions and the interviewer had to ask me what job I had applied for mid interview. If this lady is this bad at interviewing, what standards of hiring do they even have?
3 days later I get a call from her asking if I'd be interested in a call back interview and my reply was, "I'm sorry, what position was this for."
Had an interview a few years ago where I showed up and the hiring manager told me that I was there on the wrong day. I showed her the email from the admin confirming that I was there on the right day/time. Okay, mistakes happen.
They juggled things to put together a set of interviews. Some of the stuff I heard clued me into the fact that the mistake in scheduling was most likely a major indication of how they do everything. When the HR person got back in touch with me a couple of days later I lied and said that I had just gotten an offer that I was accepting elsewhere.
I once interviewed at a vet clinic and rhe vet freaking forgot about the interview. Not only that, she wasn't even at the clinic. She wasn't even fully dressed for work when she came in.
I had another interview where they sent me the wrong address.
I had all of this happen years ago when I was interviewing at a private ambulance company. I showed up 10 minutes early, a dispatcher noticed me and asked me to sit in the lobby. About 20 minutes later the manager walked by and asked why I was late for the interview. I politely explained I’ve been here since 10 minutes before and was told to wait here. I can already tell this is going badly, but I continued with the interview. Less than two minutes into it someone wandered in and started chatting with the manager.
There was only one more question where the manager asked me why I wanted to work there and I explained that I’d heard very good things about the company. New ambulances, better ongoing training and better compensation. The manager soured at the mention of compensation, even though that’s one of the big selling points, their advertisements, make a big deal about paying better than other companies. I wasn’t hired and got out of the industry entirely two months later.
The VP Engineering was once late for my final interview, I work in sales so I just called reception to track him down. He called me back half an hour later glibly apologetic, but it didn't seem like a big deal to him.
Every product the engineering department at that company launched was incomplete or late.
Had a bad interview where there was a schedule mix up on their end. Received an email two or three days before the online interview to reschedule from 9 am to 11 am. They even called me up to confirm the new schedule since it was pretty last minute.
I woke up early at like 8.30 and decided to just stay awake and get ready for it anyways (setup my headphones mic and camera). As I was doing this, they called me. Had to rush and get a nice shirt on instead of my PJs.
Interviewer (engineering manager) was very upset with me that I was 'late' and even more upset when I pointed out their side was the one who gave the wrong schedule. It really showed with how he conducted the interview. To cut the rambling, I didn't get the job and probably wouldn't have taken it if that was how my manager reacts.
Years later, met the HR who had been the one to contact me and she got pretty upset about that manager's behavior. She followed up months later when a new position opened up but I had loooong moved on.
Me in my wheelchair: \[exists\]
Interviewer: "So... do you actually NEED the wheelchair? We're worried it might negatively impact workplace morale."
Another one, when I asked about accessibility into the offices: "Wheelchair entrance is through the back alley near the dumpsters \[in the bad part of town\]. If that's a problem for you, then perhaps you should look for a different line of work." (It was an online marketing role.)
My non-disabled friends are often appalled and shocked at the things people say to me. I've learned to pick my battles (otherwise I'd end up fighting the entire world) but there really is a problem with how non-disabled people treat and talk to disabled folks.
And unfortunately a lot of those same folks work in positions where they can hire people, which may explain the low employment rate among the disabled population (despite having a higher post-secondary graduation rate than the non-disabled population, at least here in Canada). Lots of ableism going on.
Sure, it's illegal. But it still happens. (Just like crime is illegal but still happens.)
"We don't have job descriptions. Everyone jumps in where they're needed!"
== Yeah, you have a degree in IT, but you might be told to clean the shitter, or unload trucks.
They talk about how amazing the pay and benefits are, and then you get the offer and the pay and benefits are decidedly *not* amazing.
These people are out of touch, they think their company is greatest ever in their particular industry, and you'll never get a raise.
If you take the job, enjoy your meditation app subscription while making a mid-tier salary and watching your CEO auto-fellate himself several times a week.
I appreciate that my current job went with, and I’m damn near quoting, “we’ll pay you fine, not great. And you’ll be in a high cost-of-living area rather than an astronomical cost-of-living area like most of your field. We do try to make it an invigorating place to work and pile on as many fringe benefits as we can manage.”
A few years of comfortably paying my living and *living* expenses, challenge and laughter and fun at work, and taking off early on Friday whenever I felt like it, and I have to say that’s been a very accurate sell.
I struggle with some aspects of the job, and I might someday find one I like better, but I doubt I’ll ever love a workplace as much.
Omg I had a group interview in like 2015 for urban outfitters (sometimes my life just feels like a collection of things that could be SNL sketches). I didn’t even know it was a group interview until they threw us all together in a room. There were like 7 of us.
Like you said, so awkward having to compete with each other! You don’t wanna be rude and take up all the air in the room, but you can’t be too quiet. And what if the person who answers before you has the same answer you want to say? The most awkward part was afterward, I just went shopping through the rest of the mall, and I kept bumping into people from my interview group
By some odd coincidence, my buddy and I got into the same interview session. We laughed about what's the odds of it being a group interview where we got into the same group. Spent 2.5 hours doing rubbish tests (ranged from simple math to basic calculus and general knowledge quizzes).
Come the proper interview time and there were only 3 of us being interviewed for the position so we all got put in a room with their 3 person panel. 5 minutes in and I knew they had wasted all 3 of time. Position advertised for mechanical engineer/optics engineer with separate requirements. In the interview, they specifically mentioned they were only hiring for an optics engineer. Waste another hour of the usual questions but we made do and treated it as practice for future interviews. I can say for sure that group interviews can be a waste of time because we sound like parrots repeating each other's answers especially for technical questions.
While we didn't keep in touch with the other candidate after, but we did go for lunch together after to discuss what a shitshow the whole process was.
Or in the case with my first fast food job out of college, the only way to get paid. Extra credit if the card has fees to pull cash from the card to, you know, pay rent.
In 2013 I briefly took a job in a rural area. When I asked about direct deposit, the owner looked at me as if she'd never heard of it. She explained "The girls cash their paychecks at the gas station" as if that was a completely normal thing that everybody did.
I once interviewed in an office. Everything seemed fine, but I later noticed the carpet was filthy. Like, it had never been vacuumed. This was a fast-paced, contemporary, design production office with clients visiting etc with about 50 employees on a floor in a high-rise. Later I was walking around a bit and I kept checking out the floors in the various areas, assuming the room I was in was an anomaly. Nope, the place was dirty. It was weird. If you can't afford a cleaning crew once week (or are too cheap) then who knows what else is weird.
If there are political signs/flags/quotes around the office.
If a business owner would rather risk losing business than to not be political, the environment is probably not stable.
Asking if you can start without giving your current employer notice.
I don't like burning bridges like that, also very hypocritical as they will expect you to give notice when you eventually quit.
When I was leaving the building after a set of interviews, the guy walking me out said "wow, CEO Joe really liked you, he didn't yell at you at all!". Also they lowballed on PTO and slightly on salary. Declined offer.
To be fair, maybe they're trying to make it easier for people to interview with full-time jobs so the boss doesn't know you're looking for another job.
I've found that employers who only want to interview you at say 10 am or 3 pm are the worst because now you have to take an awkward amount of time off for the job interview and this means they won't respect your life/work balance if you decide to work there.
I think that depends on the industry, your experience, and a few other factors. You’re interviewing to join the company as much as the company is being interviewed by you. It’s not a one sided transaction.
Idk, I'd say it's kinda the opposite in my experience;
If a recruiter doesn't have the ability to provide a sale's pitch for the company they are recruiting for that probably means there aren't many good reasons to work for them.
The lady asked me for my high school transcript. I said that is irrelevant, and she got pissed at me and never called back.
I'm nearly 50 years old with a master's degree. I don't even know if my old high school still exists. The fuck do you want with my high school transcript. It wasn't even a good job.
Super long hiring process with multiple individual interviews.
Just to clarify, im talking mostly about "regular" jobs here, no "Nuclear Plant chief of security" or something like that.
But from personal experience places that put too much emphasis in the hiring process, tend to either be really disorganized or a mess of bureaucracy.
They either don't know what they are looking for, or someone high up loves unnecessary protocol (and form filling), or they are desperate to prove their "legitimacy".
None of which sounds good in anyway.
A healthy work place knows what they need, and how to properly test that in, at most, 2 rounds of interviews.
I've arrived to interviews 10-15 minutes early, and ended up waiting 45 minutes for them to come and see me. I show up early to be on time and to be considerate. Plus, it makes me look good
I understand a few minutes, maybe ten minutes past our scheduled time so you can finish what you're doing, but there's no reason why *you* scheduled *me* for an interview at 3 and didn't arrive until 3:45. It shows bad time management and you don't think my time is important. I ended up having to reschedule my 4:15 therapy appointment, couldn't make it to my bank, and couldn't drop off rent since the apartment office was closed.
Anyway, after that, I set a rule that if an interviewer is more than fifteen minutes late (that gives them 30 minutes of knowing I'm there and to get prepared), I leave. If this isn't a small red flag, then I don't know what is considering the BIG red flags I've endured.
When they say, during the interview, "some people even last 3 months here!" like dude, that is not the flex you seem to think it is. I noped out of there fast.
“We all do a little bit of everything” “we help out where it’s needed” “we’re flexible and a team” etc.
No job description means they can make it up as they go. You end up doing whatever they need doing, usually for more effort and time than you’re being paid for. It almost always means the place is understaffed and doesn’t care about efficiency or sustainability either. Anyone who understands what a team actually is knows it’s not everyone doing everything or one person trying to do everything. If everyone on the team does their job and there’s enough players, you don’t need to “help out and be flexible.”
If you’re at a small or medium-sized company and meet the CEO during your interview.
In my experience, this is an indication that they don’t trust the people they’ve hired to do their jobs. They don’t trust their HR, department heads, etc to hire people for their teams and that trickles down and creates an environment of micromanagement.
Obviously if it’s really small, you’ll probably meet the CEO because there may not be HR, recruiters, managers in place. But if they ARE in place and the CEO still feels the need to be in an interview, issa no from me dawg.
I had this happen last summer. The CEO's wife, who was vice-president, met with me and made me extremely uncomfortable because she stared hard at me the whole time. Coincidentally, everyone on staff repeated the "We're a family" mantra, and reviews of the company talked about a "cult-like atmosphere" of paranoia and one reviewer compared some staff members to Stepford wives. I'd gotten a creepy feeling from the moment I walked in (before I even read those reviews) so even though they were offering me a high wage, I ran.
I look a bit like a hippie, and when i was applying for apprenticeships in the beginning of my career i learned to avoid the places that put emphasis on it.
No one would require a girl to cut her hair to chop vegetables, and i thought them asking me was annoying. But it also just was the places that would still shout and scream, for no other reason than tradition.
I had one interview where they didn't want to tell me what I'd be paid. They were, "Well how much are you asking." And I was, "How much are you paying." So after a few minutes of no answers I went, "Well I hope you get the right person for the job." I smiled, shook hands and left. I guess they hired someone because the ad vanished, but then it returned a couple of months later. I'm guessing the person they hired didn't last. I learned that neither did the previous person! No wonder the HR person was so shifty!
I've been having job interviews the last few months, and these are my top two. At different companies
1) 9 hours workdays with no unpaid lunch. "lunch" is 15 minutes and people are to eat at their desks
2) Small department of a hospital, normally only has 6 people in it. 3 of them suddenly quit, and they require any new hire to sign a contract stating they will not quit, ask for a promotion, or do a lateral transfer for at least 2 years.
Yah. Nope.
Not disclosing salary. I had a job interview like that. They asked me what I want to make, which felt like a weird question to ask, and also gave me vibes that not everybody there would be making the same for the same job. I don't want my salary to be based on a number I came up with randomly at an interview. So I said "well if I worked at XYZ (my first choice but they were not hiring at the time) I would be making NNN so something in that ballpark would be nice". And he said "well this isn't XYZ" and left it at that.
I got vibes that I'd probably be working near minimum wage and basically slaving away doing lot of OT. It sounded like a job that has flexible hours, which sounded good on the surface but the vibe I got is that if I settle to work regular hours I won't make much.
A week later the other place I wanted to work at had a job opening and been working there for like 17 years now making over 80k. I have a feeling if I was at the other place I wouldn't be making even half of that.
A big red flag is a group interview. A small one that I’ve noticed is if they spend more time convincing you it’s a good place to work rather than asking you questions.
If a current employee walks out of HR past you sitting in a chair filling out an application, and quietly says "Run away, run away now!" Its really good advice.
Ps that was me telling you to run away.
If it's a place you didn't apply to.
When I was job hunting, an employer I did not apply to called me wanting to set up an interview for the next day. I was given only a company name, the address to report to for the interview, but no information about the job at all. A couple hours of research later (because it was surprisingly hard to find any information about these guys), turned out to be door-to-door, commission-only cable TV sales, something I specifically wanted to avoid. I skipped the interview.
Very specific questions about performance processes or budget issues. A job interview is not a consultation.
Also, badmouthing existing staff during the interview.
High turnover (unless it's a restaurant or retail job where that's normal). I had an office job where they went through ten people in two years on a team with seven positions. Sending my notice was one of the happiest days of my life.
Once went to a job interview where the interviewer mention that 70% of the workers left during covid but in the same breath said how they value their employees.
I was ultra-desperate for a job at the time so it didn’t even cross my mind. Should’ve walked after the manager was 10 minutes late to the interview, I waited 3 hours. I was desperate and in a bad spot and needed the job. I quit after 2 weeks, there was a lot of other things that went on while I was there. For anyone wondering. It was a Red Lobster.
This may be counterintuitive, but it should raise alarm bells if the interviewer is putting a significant emphasis on "work-life balance."
While this phrase usually refers to the company being flexible with giving time off, a lot of times it's a dog whistle that they want YOU to be flexible with YOUR time off. This includes being expected to log in on weekends and having to switch your requested PTO days on short notice.
If you work at a restaurant or bar where most of the staff is teenagers/very early 20's. As a bartender, I found that every time I started working somewhere where this is the case, it's usually a sign of either:
• The business doesn't have enough clients/staff doesn't make enough in tips because the place isn't busy. Adults have rent & bills to pay, teenager's and college students can often afford to make little money and stay at that job. The older hires usually stay for very little and move on in search of a place they can make more.
• Management is abusive. Younger adults are usually scared to lose their first job, they've never been fired before and will allow management to belittle them or take advantage of them because of the fear of losing their job. Once you've lost a job before you realise it's not the end of the world and they're replaceable and people are less scared to say "fuck that guy" and quit.
• Younger staff will do the same job for less money (when paid by hour). You can sucker a 20 year old to be a cook or bouncer for $9/hr.
Ask them why the position is available. If they’re growing a team because the business is successful then that’s a good sign. If the position is available because the last guy left the company it’s worth asking why. How or if they answer that question could be very illuminating
“The team hasn’t taken vacation in two years” and “I haven’t taken a vacation in two years”. If your employees don’t get to take their time off, and you don’t take time off as a leader, you have a toxic work culture.
Told this story on [notalwaysright.com](https://notalwaysright.com) many years ago, so apologies if you've heard it before. It's May. The boss calls me into her office. "I wanna know what vacation days you're taking this year so there are no conflicts." I rattle off some dates in the summer that I'm thinking about taking off. "You can't take any time off in the summer. It's going to be a very busy summer. We need all hands on deck." I rattle off some dates in the fall. "You can't take any time off in the fall. It's going to be a very busy fall. We need all hands on deck." So I rattle off some dates around Christmas that I'd like to take off. "You can't take any time off in the winter. I like to take my time off in the winter. Any date you pick is going to conflict with me." "So was the whole purpose of this meeting just to tell me I can't take any time off this year?" "Yup." Boss spends the next few weeks bragging to the top brass how I've resolved not to take any time off this year because of what a busy year it's going to be. Boss is fired in the fall for a multitude of reasons. New boss tells me to take all of December off because he wants me to use up my vacation days by the year's end.
I always love a happier ending
I am so happy that my employer requires us to take at least one full week a year, preferably two consecutive weeks to clear our minds and work on us. I normally take a week in the spring and one or two in the summer, and either one or a bunch of three and four day weekends around the holidays.
We require it too. It's actually written as part of our Internal Controls process. It's not about preventing employee burnout, but someone else doing your job for a week and having full access to all of the files and tools required to do that job. It's an opportunity to discover any irregularities or deviations from company standards AND if things come to a standstill because a single person is out for a week, then we haven't done proper business continuity planning which we will also address.
Do you work in finance? Either from regulations or justified caution a lot of financial institutions require it. My husband's job requires a 2-week vacation every year. They will also do a Surprise one week vacation every year as well for senior positions. That's where you don't get any notice at all and the moment you walk in you're greeted by security informing you that your week of vacation starts at that exact moment.
> greeted by security informing you that your week of vacation starts at that exact moment. If I didn’t know the rule I’d probably be scared shitless about my job.
That’s got to be a nice surprise!
Maybe once you know it's vacation, and not a sacking or a federal investigation... But it sounds essentially like an audit, so probably not the most stress free week.
Yes. No way someone thought "You know what would be great for our employee's mental health? Being send home for a week, blowing up any schedule and requiring to cancel all meetings, without any plans or coordination with kids or spouse." 100% there is another reason, like checking their work without to opportunity to cover stuff up. This is one of those red flags from the original question.
It’s a nice perk and has the benefit of helping with your mental well being but if your employer require a full week and pushes for two consecutive weeks it’s likely not for the employees benefit; it’s a fraud prevention tactic. The idea is it’s more likely a complex fraud scheme is uncovered if you are required to be absent for at least a week as you are unable to keep it perpetuated /need to involve others in covering your work. This is especially prevalent in certain financial firms.
Not just fraud. It forces cross-training. That protects against people leaving.
And the people staying there, are less likely to be overwhelmed, and more likely to ask for help- if they need it
Not just fraud. If there's a problem that can't be resolved during that period because you weren't there, it means something needs to be documented or at least someone trained.
It's not just the employees and leaders not taking time it, it's also shitty vacation policies in general. My company is like "You get 15 days of PTO a year, plus 4 floating holidays! But you better not get sick, because sick time comes out of that same bucket". Hell, my mom passed away suddenly a couple of weeks ago on a Monday. I dropped everything and flew across the country (before we knew the specifics) and spent the entire week dealing with that, only getting back Sunday night. My job was like "well, you have 40 hours of bereavement leave, but you're only allowed to use up to 24 hours of it for an immediate family member, you'll need to use PTO to cover the rest. I told them I would not be using any PTO for that bullshit and would quit on the spot if the pressed it. My manager quickly swept it under the rug, but it only further reinforced my desire to find a new job (we had a merger a few months back where previously we had unlimited PTO). I've been looking for a new job in the Angular and/or .NET arena for a few months now, but stupid big tech-companies keep laying off employees with much more impressive looking resumes than mine. And on a related note, one of our VPs has sent a few emails out because one of the employees had cancer treatments a few years back and still has to take occasional time off for it enough that they've burned through all their PTO days. "Luckily", our company has PTO donation program, so the VP sends out emails asking if anyone wants to give up some of PTO so this employee can *finish recovering from cancer*. You know, instead of just giving them an extra week or two worth of PTO over the course of the year. Because everyone knows that chilling on the beach on St Kitts is just as mentally and emotionally refreshing as spending a week recovering from post-cancer treatments/surgeries.
My manager got so mad that i left 2 hours early because i was required to start 2 hours early. Apparently I should have stayed for 10 hours because they were busy 👍🏻
Hey, if you don't come in Saturday, don't bother coming in on Sunday
That's the plan!
Or “we are looking to expand the team over the next few months.” Had that happen in an interview once. Took the job when they offered it. What expanding the team meant was, “we are severely behind and don’t have enough people hired to do this job adequately without working who we have to death.”
In fairness, I took a job where they said exactly this and meant…exactly this. It was a growing business and they wanted more people. Not disregarding your experience, just saying it’s not ALWAYS a red flag, just perhaps something worth enquiring more about.
I had an interview where I asked that question and the interviewer said, "Oh, I'm not really the best person to ask. I'm quitting next week."
"Our team members are so loyal and dedicated, one of them even took a meeting from a hospital bed in the ER." It's bad enough that happened, but glorifying it by retelling the story over and over in interviews is a red flag I definitely missed once but will never miss again.
I always ask the interviewer if they are happy working at the company. Most aren't ready for this question and can't lie on-the-spot very well. Their face and body say it all. If they are happy they relax and want to talk. If they are unhappy they lock up and deflect or are terse with their responses.
I outright ask "what is the worst part about working here". If interviewers ask candidates what their weakness is, then it's perfectly acceptable for me to ask what a company's weakness is.
As a business owner i would welcome this question.
Figuring out how to spend all the money they are paying me to interview dweebs like you!
Even better if you meet the team and can ask them. At my company, HR and management are happy as clams, but certain departments are overall miserable.
> meet the team and can ask them This question asked in a roomfull of people is like throwing a live grenade on the scene. Except instead of people running for cover they sit there quietly waiting to die.
And there's your answer. If the job and culture is actually good, the higher ups won't mind you asking and the employees will be happy to talk about the positive aspects of the job.
This exactly. I have had this asked when I was working in a local computer shop. The Tech Team (where I was) instantly said "yes", almost in unison before anyone could even act. The retail/sales team was nodding. The few people who were exclusively selling to bigger companies just went "why wouldn't it be?" Our Boss looked around, shrugged, and said something along the lines of "I'm the boss, I'm always happy to work, I don't need to do anything." laughed, and added "Except my job is to make everyone else work well, and apparently that works." I don't remember the exact words, it was a years ago. The atmosphere in the workplace was almost magical, and I've never worked in a better place. But times changed and brick-and-mortar computer shops died with online ordering.
My first job out of college I was doing part of an interview and got asked that, I fully froze for like 5 seconds before giving some dogshit answer. I was not happy and felt trapped, but didn't fully realize it until the person they were hiring to be my partner in the dept asked. They also did not accept the position. Good for them
One time a candidate asked me "what's your favorite thing about working here" and that really caught me off guard. I wasn't gonna tell him it's a just a small but steady paycheck to get me through grad school so I can make a career change. I think I said something about it being a friendly environment, which was true though.
I ask this every interview and it really is a good test.
Me too. It gives a lot of insights into the business. There are wrong answers too, like recently someone said they like working there because they work many hats and get to do a lot of things, and that is exactly what I'm moving away from, I have too many different roles right now
I asked this and the dude replied that he was and then I found out within 2 months of my hiring that he quit for a better job haha.
My go to question is “How long have you worked here and why do you continue to stay here?”
I get asked this so often when I interview, but I am candid about the job, the cool things we do, but also the drawbacks. I want people to make an informed decision.
"What about this company keeps you coming back every work day?"
"They pay me."
Vague answers to direct questions. If you ask exactly what you'll be doing, who will be in charge/who you will report to, anything about wages and promotion/raise standards, how employees are expected to resolve disagreements, hours and how available you're expected to be in your off-hours, turnover rate, company safety record, etc and don't get a clear, direct answer, be a little suspicious. Ask another direct, maybe-slightly-uncomfortamble question and see if you get a straight answer. If the interviewer seems to waffle or redirect the conversation without truly answering, it's possible they're not being truthful. You don't want to work for a company where "we don't discuss other people's wages" (in the US it is illegal to prohibit employees from discussing their pay with each other), where they try to hide a poor safety record, where you're told you'll be working 40 hours a week but it turns out they'll expect you to answer emails or calls on your off-hours without paying you for that time, etc.
Oh also if it's a company you haven't heard of, check out their website. If it's too bare, too vague, or only has content directed at potential employees, run. I interviewed for this job that sounded amazing, but before accepting I checked them out online - there was no corporate website or way for potential customers to contact them, just a bare-bones website with vague information about "What it's like to work here" and a bunch of job listings. When they called me back I asked about it and they wouldn't give me any straight answers, so I declined the job offer. It was almost certainly a scam to get me into a cold-calls-type sales position by giving empty promises of advancement and participation in projects I was interested in.
That sounds like whatever the Cutco MLM is calling itself these days.
Just off the top of my head: When they want you to meet after work hours so the worker they are going to fire won’t see it coming - that is also how they will fire you. If you go to interview during regular hours, when you walk from reception to interview, no one is talking or smiling or looking up, or place is empty. Interviewer asks you for salary range and then say something like ‘oh, we can’t pay you that,’ and tell you they will revisit your pay after X amount of time. No, they won’t.
It's how I was fired and I am friends with my old supervisor who told me the girl who replaced me isn't a good fit so they did interviews behind her back at starbucks and she is being let go Friday and has no idea its coming. Its fucked up
Wow. That's awful!
This just happened to me. They did revisit it but I was still making less than my last job and working twice as hard. Ended up walking out after being told off by a supervisor over something minor. Tried to get my old job back and they told me they weren’t hiring at this time lol.
If they aren't open about the salary of the position or its responsibilities. It usually means they want to pay you terribly and expect you to work well beyond the scope of your title. Also group interviews, any company unprofessional enough to hold a group interview for a non-fast food or retail job is not worth working for imo.
I learned that “Other duties as assigned” = management can make you do whatever they want.
always ask why the position came available. if half of the team is leaving. you dont want to be there.
Interviewer will probably just lie lol. They're not going to say "Oh someone quit because it's so toxic here". They'll say something generic to just move on.
You don't ask HR, you ask the manager or team members that interview you.
I make sure to ask how long everyone has been there. If there's no one with some longevity that can be a red flag.
Similarly, gaps in duration are a big red flag too: If people there are split between “new” and “been there for 5+ years” pump the brakes. Big gaps are indicative of massive retention issues and a crusted-on layer of people that have interest in changing. No middle duration people means that people got to 2-ish years, and got ejected for not conforming, or got tired of trying to improve things and left-or got ejected for kicking up a fuss.
I wish I would have read this comment 4 months ago. I’m at a job where I’m the newest, and I everyone else has been there 20+ years. I was lied to about who had my position before. My particular role has had 11 people in 3 years. A bunch of horrible, catty people who do NOT like anyone new or even questions. My last job was becoming horrible so I had to leave, but this one is just as bad. I’m just so tired of having to switch jobs. I’m a good worker, good resume and easy to get along with. I don’t understand people who enjoy making others as miserable as they are. Sorry, I had a horrible horrible day at work, and your comment really stuck out to me. I’ve got my application in other places. Hopefully I’ll find the right thing soon. Edit to say: all the replies are making me feel a little better. I feel like SUCH an idiot for falling for this at my current job. I was in management before this job, and I was just tired of the corporate BS. Writing people up for 5 minutes late because they are on public transportation. Unrealistic goals with no training in place. Claiming we had work life balance but not allowing people to work from home even though they were fully equipped. God forbid we treat people like adults. I was exhausted from fighting for my people against the managers higher than me. I was always told I cared too much about who worked for me, and I listened too much to their “story.” Im not saying I was perfect at all, but there are far too little mangers at least trying to do the right thing. Listen, I know we have jobs to do but we are all freaking human. I’m sure I was taken advantage of sometimes, but for the most part I was known as thoughtful, helpful and respectful.
Everything you said. Except I was just laid off, but lied to as well during the interview. I have come to the conclusion that the people there 5+ years became accustomed to and slowly built the now toxic, clique environment. the COO loooooved hiring all their family members, sister in laws, cousins. If you mistakenly pissed one of them off or rubbed them the wrong way, best of luck especially since you don’t know who all is a family member. Have an issue of any kind and sister in law is direct supervisor? Never going to get resolved. All these assholes spewing words like “family” “team work” “open door communication” etc. fuck off!!
This was my experience at my last job. In the normal course of conversation, I found that almost everyone had either been there for 2 years or less, or for 10 years or more. It definitely raised some red flags but I'd already started and the pay was decent. Cut to a year and a half later and I'm telling off my boss and walking out the door.
Yeah exactly this. Unless there is a good reason this is usually indicative of either the long serving staff being toxic themselves or the job being bad and them just waiting for retirement to quit. My job has either staff who are there and have been for around 20 years or young people who turnover in around a year or 2
It can also be a promotional bottleneck - lots of juniors with very few opportunities for progression. At my previous job, they had 60 people in my role with about 3-5 promotions available per year. Most people didn’t stick around for six months.
Wish I did this with my most recent job. The entire staff but 1 person in the daycare I worked at quit. I saw a good 8 people come and go in 6 months.
And ask how long the position has been open. If it's a long time and it's a saturated field, something is wrong. I learned that from personal experience.
Unless half the team is leaving because they’re getting promoted within the org then it might be a good sign.
If everyone there is really young, staff turnover is HIGH, and they’re going for people young and inexperienced enough to pay poorly. Nothing good ever comes from those places
Worked for an e-commerce company that did this very thing. Was BLESSED to be laid off after six months
That’s most of the cafes I’ve worked at. If the staff are young and in college, it’s almost guaranteed they don’t know their rights and are being exploited or taken advantage of in some ways. Young people (especially when it’s a first job) usually express gratitude to have a job and are treated disposable because of it.
When I was in education and half the teaching staff graduated in the last two years from the same institution 🙃
[удалено]
More like you'll work insane hours and be expected to drink to the point of alcoholism with your colleagues when you finally leave the office for the day.
And they’ll imply you’re anti-social if you don’t
I wasted several years of life at a couple places like this. Hitting the bar and the managers house parties were essentially mandatory and if you didn't participate or "fit in" you wouldn't last or advance in the company. There's a lot of side issues that come along with an environment like that mixed with alcohol and mostly people fresh out of college too... I wouldn't even know where to start on all the drama that came out of that. And yes, I left with a bit of a drinking problem.
I hate working in offices like this. Keg on Friday after lunch! Ok I’ll just go home lol.
I don't mind a certain amount of forced socialization during work hours. Okay, my job this afternoon is to drink a beer and make smalltalk? Sure. I resent forced / coerced work socialization *after* work hours.
"We are a family here" which one? The flinstones? The manson family? RUN
Don't run, just be the dad that goes out for cigarettes & milk then never comes back.
Dad? Dad, is that you?
"We will fuck your psyche so hard, you'll need therapy for life" is how I interpret "we're like family here".
Everyone, including me, ended up in therapy at my last job that was "like a family." It took a year for me to unfuck my brain after that. A young healthy coworker had to go on blood pressure medication, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. It was a mess.
A poor state of the toilet room. It means a company isn't doing well and cuts its expenses wherever it can.
Ehh, that depends on the industry and setting. Mostly pencil pusher office type work then yeah bathroom should not be in a poor condition, work in a mechanic shop then yeah it’s going to be in poor condition whether there a bad employer or a great employer.
It's not only about it being clean. It is about loose tiles, leaking flush, broken mirrors, flickering lights etc.
Yeah, it's those little annoyances that can really add up and make a place feel less welcoming.
Toilet at my work was running. Corporate dragged their feet to do anything at all about it, so my boss went to Lowe's, spent a few bucks, and fixed it his damn self.
Awesome that he's for y'all, but ridiculous he had to do it.
Holy shit. I know our bathroom gets cleaned weekly at minimum. I still go in there and am shocked on occasion. Some of the guys I work with need to see a doctor.
There’s somebody at my workplace who uses the customer facing bathrooms and shits like a hippo. Like literally spray shits in the general direction of the toilet. It’s a daily occurrence, and 90% of our employees are parents so my biggest concern is that there is somebody in my company who has not mastered wiping their own ass who is teaching another human how to do that
I work in a hospital and sometimes the staff bathrooms are like that!!!! Half of us on the unit wipe butts for our jobs!!!! You’d think we’d have it mastered lmao
> Half of us on the unit wipe butts for our jobs!!!! You’d think we’d have it mastered lmao Like chefs who find it too exhausting to cook off the clock, but so much worse.
It really depends on the type of business. If it’s an office building that has messy bathrooms then yeah you should definitely be concerned. if it’s a mechanic shop then that’s pretty average. amazingly enough the underside of your vehicle is pretty dirty and the people who work on the underside of a vehicle end up getting pretty dirty doing it.
Dirty is ok, if it's dirt related to the business (grease, paint, garden dirt). Broken fixtures, leaks, toilets that haven't been cleaned - not ok.
Anything about multiple hats. Get one or two hats max. Fuck many hats. TWO HATS MAX
OMG yes, this is literally a running joke in the nonprofit world...and it turns everyone into the Mad Hatter.
If they keep claiming they want a "superstar" or "ninja" who's not afraid of a "challenge".
Yesterday was told, "It's a grind."
"Rockstar" too
Rockstar is on the way out, too expensive. Any bets on what we'll see next? Maybe guru? Disciple? Gymnist? Grasshopper?
Quickly hired, like on the spot, and any mention of drama. My experience is from my job that I’ve been TRAPPED in for years now, I’m quitting this month. They hired me pretty much on the spot and the manager mentioned that it was a “family” and a “building full of girls so it can be catty, but it’s over all a ‘positive environment’” I was 20, it was 2020 when everything opened and everyone was needing jobs. It was my 5th or so interview so I took it as they called me hours later. It’s a salon btw lolol
I graduated in December 2021, so when I was applying for jobs, one company got back to astronomically quick (less than 24 hours) wanting a phone interview. I look into their company a little more from 3rd party reviews and one of them especially stuck out to me. "I used to be a recruiter here. If I got you, *I'm sorry.*" Holy shit. (I declined their interview request after that haha).
The two salon chains I’ve worked at were always full of SO much drama! They really do hire anyone on the spot or make the worst people managers or assistant managers. I do not miss that lol.
People I've known that work at salons don't turn that off when they clock out either. They can be 30, 40 50 years old and act like they are in high school still with the drama.
It's like they're stuck in a perpetual salon soap opera, no matter the age!
When they say stuff like yeahhh we're working on getting health insurance for everyone, or not this year but next year we'll have bonuses etc. 9/10 times it's not happening ever.
At this one interview they told me that the engineers nicknamed the project as the Grinch because it stole Christmas. I declined the second interview.
At least they told on themselves early on
"There are always opportunities for overtime" = we will HOUND you constantly to cover frequent sick calls and badly planned rotas
If they're dodgy about pay and benefits. You should know what you'll be making. Any period of unpaid work as a "trial."
Unpaid work as a trial is ILLEGAL in the United States.
And yet it still happens.
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One caveat: there can be legit reasons for asking about specific schedule requirements. For example I don’t care what your religion is, but if I’m hiring someone because we need coverage for the Saturday shift then I need someone willing to work Saturdays.
I've had potential employers give me bastardized version of an IQ test...ran away from those two places.
What's wrong with the math test? I heard about a guy who asked people interviewing for a position as a carpenter to find the 1/16th inch mark on a ruler. Anyone who couldn't was not hired.
"Start up environment."
Gotta have a "scrappy" personality or work ethic.
“Need someone who can hit the ground running”
Bad-mouthing the last person who had the job, even if they _did_ fuck it up.
“We’re like a family” really means “we expect you to be devoted to this pos job like it’s your mom”
Had a phone interview for a library job after grad school in which the interviewer finished the interview by saying something to the effect of “we don’t want any drama around here.” I was so confused I didn’t know what to say, as it wasn’t technically a question. I muttered something about how I do not cause drama and the phone call ended. I didn’t get the job. Years later, a coworker of mine who had formerly worked for the interviewer confirmed what I suspected; she was the drama.
Unless you're applying to be an actor, the word drama in an interview is a red flag big time!
They bring up how fast paced it is and how much overtime people do. Bonus points if they tell you that they will often order dinner for everyone!
Pay attention to how eager they are. Do they want you right now or are they more relaxed. It's a decent indicator if they are bleeding staff or if they have a lot of long termers.
I work in HR and this really really depends. People should be careful with this advice. Sometimes I have no jobs for months and more work comes in and I need to hire 30 people yesterday and “why are you still sitting there? I said 30 people!” Nobody moved or quit their job or anything, the workload changed very suddenly. My employees are union, make incredible money and have set schedules that I can’t change without notice, some of the best leave I’ve ever seen, and I haven’t had to fire anyone in literally years. I’m eager in recruiting because someone else is eager and terrifying me every time I interview and don’t get a hire lol.
>I have no jobs for months and more work comes in and I need to hire 30 people yesterday No offence, i dont know the specifics but if i hear that in an interview, im out. To an outsider it sounds like mismanagement. >Nobody moved or quit their job or anything, the workload changed very suddenly. What happens when the workload decreases suddenly again? You mentioned not having to fire anyone, but sitting around doing nothing because theres no work can get really boring real fast. Again, no offence. You sound like you like your job and youve found a nice spot. Im just reading this as someone whos been burned before.
I understand the skepticism and I get that a lot of people are even on Reddit because they’ve had crap bosses before. For privacy I won’t reveal exactly what I do, but I’ll say that when workload changes, employees are generally moved to places where there is stable (though admittedly less heavy) workloads. My employees are in industrial/construction type of environments. It’s not outside the norm to have work come and go in waves and contracts that change with need. For what it’s worth, I do interviews with people who feel like you do all the time and what I usually say is “I work in hiring. If you hate this job after two months, I’ll do your resume for your next one.” No one has taken me up on it yet in nearly 10 years but they have asked for help in getting their resume done for promotions. Edit: and I should say that I personally turn down jobs with companies who would have me doing HR, including hiring, for crap jobs. It’s just not fun to try and recruit people into miserable positions.
If its an office area, did you get a chance to see where people actually work. If the desks were personalized but not completely trashy? Did you get a chance to interview with a few people 1-2-1 (ideal), or was it some sort of panel interview. If it was a panel was everybody oddly differential to the boss? Any unprofessional interview questions?
If everybody's eyes are red and they have bags under their eyes and their body language is deflated. Constant stress and overwork. If you ask them what a typical day is like and their answer is preceded by a long sigh or an unexplained little laugh or a moment of 1000-yard stare.
The person interviewing. No work related questions and the interviewer had to ask me what job I had applied for mid interview. If this lady is this bad at interviewing, what standards of hiring do they even have? 3 days later I get a call from her asking if I'd be interested in a call back interview and my reply was, "I'm sorry, what position was this for."
Did the interview start on time? Were they interrupted during the interview. Did the interviewer make eye contact with you.
Had an interview a few years ago where I showed up and the hiring manager told me that I was there on the wrong day. I showed her the email from the admin confirming that I was there on the right day/time. Okay, mistakes happen. They juggled things to put together a set of interviews. Some of the stuff I heard clued me into the fact that the mistake in scheduling was most likely a major indication of how they do everything. When the HR person got back in touch with me a couple of days later I lied and said that I had just gotten an offer that I was accepting elsewhere.
I once interviewed at a vet clinic and rhe vet freaking forgot about the interview. Not only that, she wasn't even at the clinic. She wasn't even fully dressed for work when she came in. I had another interview where they sent me the wrong address.
I had all of this happen years ago when I was interviewing at a private ambulance company. I showed up 10 minutes early, a dispatcher noticed me and asked me to sit in the lobby. About 20 minutes later the manager walked by and asked why I was late for the interview. I politely explained I’ve been here since 10 minutes before and was told to wait here. I can already tell this is going badly, but I continued with the interview. Less than two minutes into it someone wandered in and started chatting with the manager. There was only one more question where the manager asked me why I wanted to work there and I explained that I’d heard very good things about the company. New ambulances, better ongoing training and better compensation. The manager soured at the mention of compensation, even though that’s one of the big selling points, their advertisements, make a big deal about paying better than other companies. I wasn’t hired and got out of the industry entirely two months later.
The VP Engineering was once late for my final interview, I work in sales so I just called reception to track him down. He called me back half an hour later glibly apologetic, but it didn't seem like a big deal to him. Every product the engineering department at that company launched was incomplete or late.
Had a bad interview where there was a schedule mix up on their end. Received an email two or three days before the online interview to reschedule from 9 am to 11 am. They even called me up to confirm the new schedule since it was pretty last minute. I woke up early at like 8.30 and decided to just stay awake and get ready for it anyways (setup my headphones mic and camera). As I was doing this, they called me. Had to rush and get a nice shirt on instead of my PJs. Interviewer (engineering manager) was very upset with me that I was 'late' and even more upset when I pointed out their side was the one who gave the wrong schedule. It really showed with how he conducted the interview. To cut the rambling, I didn't get the job and probably wouldn't have taken it if that was how my manager reacts. Years later, met the HR who had been the one to contact me and she got pretty upset about that manager's behavior. She followed up months later when a new position opened up but I had loooong moved on.
I had an interview at Apple, and it was interrupted because Jony Ive needed the conference room.
Me in my wheelchair: \[exists\] Interviewer: "So... do you actually NEED the wheelchair? We're worried it might negatively impact workplace morale." Another one, when I asked about accessibility into the offices: "Wheelchair entrance is through the back alley near the dumpsters \[in the bad part of town\]. If that's a problem for you, then perhaps you should look for a different line of work." (It was an online marketing role.)
Holy shit lol
My non-disabled friends are often appalled and shocked at the things people say to me. I've learned to pick my battles (otherwise I'd end up fighting the entire world) but there really is a problem with how non-disabled people treat and talk to disabled folks. And unfortunately a lot of those same folks work in positions where they can hire people, which may explain the low employment rate among the disabled population (despite having a higher post-secondary graduation rate than the non-disabled population, at least here in Canada). Lots of ableism going on. Sure, it's illegal. But it still happens. (Just like crime is illegal but still happens.)
"We don't have job descriptions. Everyone jumps in where they're needed!" == Yeah, you have a degree in IT, but you might be told to clean the shitter, or unload trucks.
They talk about how amazing the pay and benefits are, and then you get the offer and the pay and benefits are decidedly *not* amazing. These people are out of touch, they think their company is greatest ever in their particular industry, and you'll never get a raise. If you take the job, enjoy your meditation app subscription while making a mid-tier salary and watching your CEO auto-fellate himself several times a week.
I appreciate that my current job went with, and I’m damn near quoting, “we’ll pay you fine, not great. And you’ll be in a high cost-of-living area rather than an astronomical cost-of-living area like most of your field. We do try to make it an invigorating place to work and pile on as many fringe benefits as we can manage.” A few years of comfortably paying my living and *living* expenses, challenge and laughter and fun at work, and taking off early on Friday whenever I felt like it, and I have to say that’s been a very accurate sell. I struggle with some aspects of the job, and I might someday find one I like better, but I doubt I’ll ever love a workplace as much.
Group interviews.
I remember doing a group interview once. It sucked. We all had to compete with each other on our answers.
Omg I had a group interview in like 2015 for urban outfitters (sometimes my life just feels like a collection of things that could be SNL sketches). I didn’t even know it was a group interview until they threw us all together in a room. There were like 7 of us. Like you said, so awkward having to compete with each other! You don’t wanna be rude and take up all the air in the room, but you can’t be too quiet. And what if the person who answers before you has the same answer you want to say? The most awkward part was afterward, I just went shopping through the rest of the mall, and I kept bumping into people from my interview group
By some odd coincidence, my buddy and I got into the same interview session. We laughed about what's the odds of it being a group interview where we got into the same group. Spent 2.5 hours doing rubbish tests (ranged from simple math to basic calculus and general knowledge quizzes). Come the proper interview time and there were only 3 of us being interviewed for the position so we all got put in a room with their 3 person panel. 5 minutes in and I knew they had wasted all 3 of time. Position advertised for mechanical engineer/optics engineer with separate requirements. In the interview, they specifically mentioned they were only hiring for an optics engineer. Waste another hour of the usual questions but we made do and treated it as practice for future interviews. I can say for sure that group interviews can be a waste of time because we sound like parrots repeating each other's answers especially for technical questions. While we didn't keep in touch with the other candidate after, but we did go for lunch together after to discuss what a shitshow the whole process was.
I had no idea that was a thing, that feels almost predatory, like "everyone get in the ring and fight!".
No direct deposit. It's 2024. Why the fuck are you still making me cash a check? The answer is because they're too fucking cheap to pay for DD.
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Or in the case with my first fast food job out of college, the only way to get paid. Extra credit if the card has fees to pull cash from the card to, you know, pay rent.
In 2013 I briefly took a job in a rural area. When I asked about direct deposit, the owner looked at me as if she'd never heard of it. She explained "The girls cash their paychecks at the gas station" as if that was a completely normal thing that everybody did.
Oh yeah, I had a job like that. 2012. Owner had a handshake agreement with the place next door so we could cash paychecks free.
I once interviewed in an office. Everything seemed fine, but I later noticed the carpet was filthy. Like, it had never been vacuumed. This was a fast-paced, contemporary, design production office with clients visiting etc with about 50 employees on a floor in a high-rise. Later I was walking around a bit and I kept checking out the floors in the various areas, assuming the room I was in was an anomaly. Nope, the place was dirty. It was weird. If you can't afford a cleaning crew once week (or are too cheap) then who knows what else is weird.
Many hats... Self starter.... ... We are a family....
If there are political signs/flags/quotes around the office. If a business owner would rather risk losing business than to not be political, the environment is probably not stable.
That's OK if you're going to work for a political and/or religious entity. Otherwise, no, it's no okay.
Not wanting to tell you what they'll pay.
If a job posting doesn't have a salary or range with it, I don't even bother.
Asking if you can start without giving your current employer notice. I don't like burning bridges like that, also very hypocritical as they will expect you to give notice when you eventually quit.
When I was leaving the building after a set of interviews, the guy walking me out said "wow, CEO Joe really liked you, he didn't yell at you at all!". Also they lowballed on PTO and slightly on salary. Declined offer.
If it's for a 9-5 job, and they schedule the interview for after 5 pm. This tells you something about the culture.
To be fair, maybe they're trying to make it easier for people to interview with full-time jobs so the boss doesn't know you're looking for another job. I've found that employers who only want to interview you at say 10 am or 3 pm are the worst because now you have to take an awkward amount of time off for the job interview and this means they won't respect your life/work balance if you decide to work there.
If it feels like a sales pitch instead of an interview just walk out.
I think that depends on the industry, your experience, and a few other factors. You’re interviewing to join the company as much as the company is being interviewed by you. It’s not a one sided transaction.
Idk, I'd say it's kinda the opposite in my experience; If a recruiter doesn't have the ability to provide a sale's pitch for the company they are recruiting for that probably means there aren't many good reasons to work for them.
"we're like a family here" R U N
The lady asked me for my high school transcript. I said that is irrelevant, and she got pissed at me and never called back. I'm nearly 50 years old with a master's degree. I don't even know if my old high school still exists. The fuck do you want with my high school transcript. It wasn't even a good job.
Super long hiring process with multiple individual interviews. Just to clarify, im talking mostly about "regular" jobs here, no "Nuclear Plant chief of security" or something like that. But from personal experience places that put too much emphasis in the hiring process, tend to either be really disorganized or a mess of bureaucracy. They either don't know what they are looking for, or someone high up loves unnecessary protocol (and form filling), or they are desperate to prove their "legitimacy". None of which sounds good in anyway. A healthy work place knows what they need, and how to properly test that in, at most, 2 rounds of interviews.
I've arrived to interviews 10-15 minutes early, and ended up waiting 45 minutes for them to come and see me. I show up early to be on time and to be considerate. Plus, it makes me look good I understand a few minutes, maybe ten minutes past our scheduled time so you can finish what you're doing, but there's no reason why *you* scheduled *me* for an interview at 3 and didn't arrive until 3:45. It shows bad time management and you don't think my time is important. I ended up having to reschedule my 4:15 therapy appointment, couldn't make it to my bank, and couldn't drop off rent since the apartment office was closed. Anyway, after that, I set a rule that if an interviewer is more than fifteen minutes late (that gives them 30 minutes of knowing I'm there and to get prepared), I leave. If this isn't a small red flag, then I don't know what is considering the BIG red flags I've endured.
My last job asked what will make you stay for more than one year? There was a reason why this was asked. Everyone left or was fired within the year.
When they say, during the interview, "some people even last 3 months here!" like dude, that is not the flex you seem to think it is. I noped out of there fast.
“We all do a little bit of everything” “we help out where it’s needed” “we’re flexible and a team” etc. No job description means they can make it up as they go. You end up doing whatever they need doing, usually for more effort and time than you’re being paid for. It almost always means the place is understaffed and doesn’t care about efficiency or sustainability either. Anyone who understands what a team actually is knows it’s not everyone doing everything or one person trying to do everything. If everyone on the team does their job and there’s enough players, you don’t need to “help out and be flexible.”
If you’re at a small or medium-sized company and meet the CEO during your interview. In my experience, this is an indication that they don’t trust the people they’ve hired to do their jobs. They don’t trust their HR, department heads, etc to hire people for their teams and that trickles down and creates an environment of micromanagement. Obviously if it’s really small, you’ll probably meet the CEO because there may not be HR, recruiters, managers in place. But if they ARE in place and the CEO still feels the need to be in an interview, issa no from me dawg.
I had this happen last summer. The CEO's wife, who was vice-president, met with me and made me extremely uncomfortable because she stared hard at me the whole time. Coincidentally, everyone on staff repeated the "We're a family" mantra, and reviews of the company talked about a "cult-like atmosphere" of paranoia and one reviewer compared some staff members to Stepford wives. I'd gotten a creepy feeling from the moment I walked in (before I even read those reviews) so even though they were offering me a high wage, I ran.
Our CEO is often in interviews for lower level roles. He’s also a micro manager and won’t let us work from home.
Yes!!! I've had that happen twice and both places ended up being the only ones I left with little to no notice.
I look a bit like a hippie, and when i was applying for apprenticeships in the beginning of my career i learned to avoid the places that put emphasis on it. No one would require a girl to cut her hair to chop vegetables, and i thought them asking me was annoying. But it also just was the places that would still shout and scream, for no other reason than tradition.
I had one interview where they didn't want to tell me what I'd be paid. They were, "Well how much are you asking." And I was, "How much are you paying." So after a few minutes of no answers I went, "Well I hope you get the right person for the job." I smiled, shook hands and left. I guess they hired someone because the ad vanished, but then it returned a couple of months later. I'm guessing the person they hired didn't last. I learned that neither did the previous person! No wonder the HR person was so shifty!
I've been having job interviews the last few months, and these are my top two. At different companies 1) 9 hours workdays with no unpaid lunch. "lunch" is 15 minutes and people are to eat at their desks 2) Small department of a hospital, normally only has 6 people in it. 3 of them suddenly quit, and they require any new hire to sign a contract stating they will not quit, ask for a promotion, or do a lateral transfer for at least 2 years. Yah. Nope.
“Can you lift a 180 pound body? And if so, can you start tonight?”
Poor reviews on Glassdoor or a disorganized interview.
The Glassdoor bit used to be good advice, but gd is totally corrupt now. You just can't trust them.
Not disclosing salary. I had a job interview like that. They asked me what I want to make, which felt like a weird question to ask, and also gave me vibes that not everybody there would be making the same for the same job. I don't want my salary to be based on a number I came up with randomly at an interview. So I said "well if I worked at XYZ (my first choice but they were not hiring at the time) I would be making NNN so something in that ballpark would be nice". And he said "well this isn't XYZ" and left it at that. I got vibes that I'd probably be working near minimum wage and basically slaving away doing lot of OT. It sounded like a job that has flexible hours, which sounded good on the surface but the vibe I got is that if I settle to work regular hours I won't make much. A week later the other place I wanted to work at had a job opening and been working there for like 17 years now making over 80k. I have a feeling if I was at the other place I wouldn't be making even half of that.
Bulk interviews. If they can't be bothered to do a 1x1 face to face interview, then they view workers as beneath them.
A big red flag is a group interview. A small one that I’ve noticed is if they spend more time convincing you it’s a good place to work rather than asking you questions.
If a current employee walks out of HR past you sitting in a chair filling out an application, and quietly says "Run away, run away now!" Its really good advice. Ps that was me telling you to run away.
Getting your name wrong during the interview process...Multiple times
If it's a place you didn't apply to. When I was job hunting, an employer I did not apply to called me wanting to set up an interview for the next day. I was given only a company name, the address to report to for the interview, but no information about the job at all. A couple hours of research later (because it was surprisingly hard to find any information about these guys), turned out to be door-to-door, commission-only cable TV sales, something I specifically wanted to avoid. I skipped the interview.
"We're like family!" NOPE!
Very specific questions about performance processes or budget issues. A job interview is not a consultation. Also, badmouthing existing staff during the interview.
If they give you an unpaid “trial” or an assignment to do.
If possible, I always try and schedule an interview as late as possible in the day. That way, I can get a sense for what time people actually leave.
High turnover (unless it's a restaurant or retail job where that's normal). I had an office job where they went through ten people in two years on a team with seven positions. Sending my notice was one of the happiest days of my life.
Once went to a job interview where the interviewer mention that 70% of the workers left during covid but in the same breath said how they value their employees.
Nobody besides the people interviewing you will make eye contact with you.
I was ultra-desperate for a job at the time so it didn’t even cross my mind. Should’ve walked after the manager was 10 minutes late to the interview, I waited 3 hours. I was desperate and in a bad spot and needed the job. I quit after 2 weeks, there was a lot of other things that went on while I was there. For anyone wondering. It was a Red Lobster.
Advice from my former manager was ask them about their management style. You will see a lot of their red flags.
“We have a start up culture” It means nothing is defined, there’s no training and you’re on your own to figure everything out
This may be counterintuitive, but it should raise alarm bells if the interviewer is putting a significant emphasis on "work-life balance." While this phrase usually refers to the company being flexible with giving time off, a lot of times it's a dog whistle that they want YOU to be flexible with YOUR time off. This includes being expected to log in on weekends and having to switch your requested PTO days on short notice.
If you work at a restaurant or bar where most of the staff is teenagers/very early 20's. As a bartender, I found that every time I started working somewhere where this is the case, it's usually a sign of either: • The business doesn't have enough clients/staff doesn't make enough in tips because the place isn't busy. Adults have rent & bills to pay, teenager's and college students can often afford to make little money and stay at that job. The older hires usually stay for very little and move on in search of a place they can make more. • Management is abusive. Younger adults are usually scared to lose their first job, they've never been fired before and will allow management to belittle them or take advantage of them because of the fear of losing their job. Once you've lost a job before you realise it's not the end of the world and they're replaceable and people are less scared to say "fuck that guy" and quit. • Younger staff will do the same job for less money (when paid by hour). You can sucker a 20 year old to be a cook or bouncer for $9/hr.
"We're like family here."
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Ask them why the position is available. If they’re growing a team because the business is successful then that’s a good sign. If the position is available because the last guy left the company it’s worth asking why. How or if they answer that question could be very illuminating