People Share Their Top Tips and Red Flags for Things to Look Out for When Searching for a Job
Most of us have had to take some pretty bad jobs in our lives in order to stay afloat.
Job hunting can be stressful enough without walking straight into a workplace that is already waving red flags. A bad interview, a strange job description, or a manager who overshares can tell you a lot before you ever accept an offer.
That is exactly what came up in this Ask Reddit thread, where people shared the biggest warning signs they have noticed while searching for work. The comments range from funny to painfully familiar, and plenty of them will make you rethink what counts as a normal interview.
Read on for the red flags people say are impossible to ignore.
And you took the job after that?
"I had a team lead interview me for a contract once and bluntly said, 'You don't want to work here; it's horrible.' He was right and still somehow undersold the experience."
That is about as direct as a warning gets.
High turnover means a bad workplace
"Places that always say they're hiring and always taking applications but where you never actually see anyone new being trained or anything. It means people are quitting CONSTANTLY, and management isn't hiring new people, so they are critically understaffed on top of being poorly managed."
Nope
"I turned down a second interview for a position in which the interviewer said something to the effect of, 'If your boss emails you on a Friday night, you don't have to respond, but you know how that looks..."
That kind of comment says a lot without saying much.
Or it's commission-based...
"Hiring lots of people for the same position; everyone who calls gets a job.It often means the job is either not legitimate or they're setting you all up to compete for the actual job."
Key word is 'could'
"When they say you could be earning six figures in less than a year."
Or current employees behind their backs to you...
"When they badmouth previous employees. They're going to do it to you."
It’s the same energy as the nosy coworker who wouldn’t stop prying into personal work relationships.
A good tip!
"Always ask them why the person you are replacing left the job. The way they answer this could be a red flag."
"Optional"
"Making jokes about overtime and 'crunch time.' Guaranteed it's going to be a place where nights and weekends are optional (but not actually optional)."
AKA we will exploit you for a while, first.
"Initially unpaid, but will result in a full-time offer upon completion of XYZ."
The job description should not change
"This was a red flag I encountered during an interview process once. I was doing a phone interview for an IT position, and the person I was interviewing with basically changed the details of the job during the interview. Instead of the first shift hours the position promised, he immediately went into saying it would be six or more months before the opportunity for first shift would even be a possibility.Also, he was big on asking how dedicated I was to jobs. The idea of weekend shifts (again, not in the original description) kept coming up, and how everyone had to be a team player and help out on weekends when needed. The kicker was when he started talking about how many hours he worked. He was bragging that he was up at 6 a.m. every day working, then he'd go into the office for the day, come home to see his family for dinner, and get right back to work until 10 or 11 p.m. every night.I had never been turned off from a job faster in my life. He asked me to think things over, and he'd send me some paperwork via email. Needless to say, I called him the next morning and declined the job. It was the worst interview process I'd ever experienced."
That interview went off the rails fast.
Workplaces that try to seem fun will not be.
"Looking for 'rock stars' in the job description, unless, of course, the posting is for a position to be a rock star!"
Nope
"I got a call from a subway I applied to telling me my interview was in ten minutes. That was the first I heard from them after submitting my application."
Pretty much
"An employer who treats you like they are doing you a favor. With good servant leadership, it should be the other way around. An unclear job description or a job description that includes too many duties. Not being offered the opportunity to see the working areas or talk to people who would be your peers.Just generally trying to feel out whether or not they have things under control. I don't want to walk into a shit show."
Mandatory play is not a good sign
"'We work hard and play hard' actually means all work and definitely no play."
Finally, this.
"'We are a family here' means this is how they try to make up for the poor pay and long hours."
Do you have any more red flags that were missed? Share them below!
After reading the red flags about hiring chaos, see what happened when someone refused to recommend a fired coworker.
