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30 People Share Things In Job Descriptions Or Interviews That Instantly Indicate Red Flags
The US unemployment rate went up to 3.7% in August, a bump that surprised economists who had expected it to remain at July's 3.5%.
One of the main reasons for this increase was the fact that more people were actively looking for work—labor force participation rose three-tenths of a percentage point to 62.4%.
While the figure is still a full percentage point lower than it was before the pandemic in February 2020, it could be the first glimmer of hope that there might be some relief ahead when it comes to the tight supply of workers.
However, when they're in such high demand, people shouldn't sign on the dotted line before exploring all of their options. To help everyone do this, we thought it would be useful to find a way to narrow the selection.
And there's a Reddit thread that might do the trick. Created by user CurrentlyCurious, there's a post that asked, "What's a red flag when looking for a job?" The 12.9K comments it has received so far have plenty of suggestions!
This post may include affiliate links.
“You’ll wear different hats in this role.”
First of all, this is a stupid phrase. Secondly, you just mean you’re going to make me do six different jobs and underpay me for them all.
It means we actually do not have a clear position and just want to be able to stuff you with all kinda crappy tasks that nobody else wants to do and you'll not be in the position to decline.
If you ask them what the pay is and they start off with what you COULD be making after so much time and they start rambling about the raise process, run the other way
Any job that requires an upfront cost. This is a telltale sign that you are getting wrapped up into a MLM pyramid scheme.
Yup. A real job pays YOU, not the other way around. EDIT TO ADD - Also, your pay shouldn't be dependent on how much your "downline" works.
In the entertainment business, if any agent asks for money up front to represent you, it is non legit. They take a percentage of what you make on jobs they definitely get for you, that is their incentive to find you work.
Beware! There is a new scam going on. This scam seems like a legitimate job for remote work. You will be told that you'll be receiving a phone and laptop for work. Then you'll be told that there's an issue and you'll need to order a phone and/or laptop through a portal and will be reimbursed on your first check. The portal is a scam and your money disappears.
I think its that you need to buy these items/products, join this group for a fee, pay for that training. That sort of thing. Basically you are paying money to the person recruiting you who pays money to the person who recruited them. You only get paid a pittance and you only get paid good money if you recruit more people who recruit more people, who all spend up front money and do whatever gets the pittance paid and also recruit more people. It's like a toned down legal pyramid scheme.
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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...."
Made it pretty clear that they expect work to be your first priority.
I know exactly how it looks, like I've got a life of my own and I am maintaining my work/leisure ratio as intended.
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
probably means someone walked out in the middle of a shift five minutes earlier
Here is a way to find a red flag.
Go into the interview with actual questions. (See some below) if the interview/s can't or won't answer them, thank them for their time and leave.
Sample questions:
What is the turnover rate?
How do pay increases work?
Are promotions internal? And are they based on performance or seniority?
How long have you worked here?
Do you offer and pay for external training?
What is the overtime policy?
How do you handle conflict in the workplace?
If I need help who do I ask, what does "the chain of command" chart look like
These are just a few. But the idea is to ask the questions that you wish you would have known the answers to before taking you last crappy job.
for your future boss if he is part of the interview process "what is the most average day in this position?". If they start to wave around the answer or give torpes like "there is no typical / average day" it means either they don't have a clear job in mind, they have no set procedures on how to handle work tasks and you will and up doing 100 different things or you will be the fireman asked to put out fires all the time. Even for actual firemen have a number of standardised tasks they have to do every day.
Initially unpaid, but will result in full time offer upon completion of XYZ
Interviewer for an shift manager job at wendy's asked me to quit college, said I needed to always be available to them if they needed me. Never mind that HE was over an hour late to MY interview.
NO...I will not quit college for 9 dollars an hour
Similarly, I have had to work two jobs and one of them said I needed to choose between the two. After saying that, the decision wasn't hard. The job I chose to keep was full time with benefits anyway. If your employees have to work multiple jobs, look at yourself and see how you can be doing better, don't see them as a traitor for needing the extra money.
If you are expected to work right off without sufficient training. It reflects poorly on the company's management and likely also means that they don't care about the employees
Just started a job with a new Behavioral Health company after leaving my last one. They thought because of my experience that they didn't have to train me, so I was thrown into it almost right away. Every company is different, even if it's the same position, that's why it's called 'training' so you can get used to it their way, not your previous company's way. I found out that they didn't do it to just me, they also did it to this young girl that is brand new to the field. In other words, they just do it to everyone.
It's common in my industry for you to be interviewed separately by 3 or 4 different people. They will typically all be people that you will be working with or for (e.g.: the hiring manager and two teammates). I've taken to asking each of them to describe what they see as the day-to-day duties and priorities of the role. If they don't align, it's a warning sign that no one knows exactly what they're hiring for.
Or that each person wants you to take over some of their work, so that you get a bunch of stuff to do that helps the others but not you.
"Family owned and operated". The family members will not be held to the same standards as you.
If the job description has about 20 items of which one is "sales" your job is going to be sales.
So... it wasnt clear that you were responsible of sales and if you dont hit the targets you'll be in trouble?
This was a red flag I had 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 6+ months before the opportunity for first shift would even be a possibility.
Also, he was big into 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 6am everyday 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 10-11pm 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 been in.
That person conducting the interview needs to wake up and realize what he's doing with his life.
I was recently (roughly two months ago) given a job offer from a company I was really interested in. The job sounded great, was in a career path I was originally hoping for when graduating, and was back in my home town so I could see some old friends and family regularly.
When they made me an offer, it was a pretty big pay cut from what I'm currently making. Actual salary would have been flat-out even. I hate my current job, so that would have been ok by me. However, I would be losing a week of vacation, a week a paid sick time, getting slightly worse benefits, and half of what my current company offers in 401k matching.
When I asked what was available for negotiation, they got mad at me. In fact, they expected me to make this life-altering decision in 24 hours with little to no questions asked... and got even more mad that I wanted to negotiate *my life* instead of just say yes or no.
So... I ended up just walking away. I hate my current bosses, but not enough to walk away from 4 weeks of vacation and an extra week of sick leave. And especially not for, given the signs, people who will treat me the exact same way as my bosses.
"But but but... wE'rE dOiNg YoU a FaVor! You get to work with US!" Yeah, nope.
Arrived for an interview not to long ago. Showed up 15 minutes early and had all my certs to prove training. Waited over 20 minutes before the secretary led me to a conference room. Waited another 40 minutes and got fed up. Quality manager walked in as I was getting up to leave. He was very offended when I told him he had wasted my time and i would never accept a position after being left to wait almost an hour while having an appointment.
Why is it so hard for these arrogant managers to just say "I apologize for making you wait".
When looking at compensation figures, bear in mind that "up to X" includes the number zero.
This happened to us. My partner's son got a new job and was going on about how he'd be earning £10 / hour. I asked "Have you had that confirmed?". "Well, no, but the advert said up to £10 / hour". I pointed out the "up to" and that "up to" included everything from zero to £3.50 and beyond. His response was "Well they're not exactly going to pay £3.50 because that's below the minimum wage!". Of course I was just using that to make a point. So what was his starting pay? £7.49 / hour. Nowhere near the £10 he assumed he'd be making.
A former coworker shared this tidbit with me years ago and it works wonders.
Try to schedule your in person interview as late in the afternoon as possible, relevant to your position. If you're expecting a 9-5 job, schedule your interview for 4:00 or 4:30. You probably discussed after hours work etc during the interview, when you are done, you should be able to look around - are people still working? Is the parking lot empty? You can match up the evidence with what was claimed during the interview and from that, judge how realistic the entire job description is based on how they treated the after hours work.
I don't agree with this one. It depends very much on your individual position and tasks. Your being required to work longer in the afternoon (or not) may differ a lot from the person in the next room if the tasks are just slightly different.
I interviewed for a company that had a recruiter after me pretty hard. The company was just moving into my market and the reviews on Glassdoor definitely mentioned people being frustrated with the “bro culture“. All of my interviews were over facetime with the managers showing up in their pajamas from home and admitting that since the company is still growing the work load was pretty much 7 days a week until you got your new team hired and running - it just wasn’t very professional and it was obvious they didn’t have structure or care about people’s time.
I also don’t trust companies that brag about things like nerf gun fights around the office and constant Happy Hour events. Those perks are fun but it’s clear when that’s all they talk about in the job posting that they’re trying to distract you from other issues. I need to see that your company culture is enriching and creates success, not free lunches.
Perks don't pay your bills. That stuff is great but often used as a way to cover for garbage pay and murderous workloads
Always ask them why the person you are replacing left the job. The way they answer this could be a red flag.
They'll never tell the truth. I had a coworker quit without notice because our boss would not allow her to take time off with FMLA that HR had already approved. He would never in a million years admit that to any applicant who asked.
"We work hard and play hard", it actually means all work and for sure no play.
"Looking for rock stars" in the job description, unless of course the posting is in fact for a position to be a rock star!
"Reaching out to potential clients" likely refers to cold calling. F that.
Any job that forces you to watch videos, or has videos playing during the interview process that talk about how great it is to work there.
Amazon, Geico, Wal Mart, etc.
All have Soviet style Propaganda videos
Making jokes about overtime and "crunch time". Guaranteed it's going to be a nights and weekends are optional (but not actually optional) place.
I worked in a warehouse for 4 months. When I got hired they said "we rarely do overtime" Everyday I worked those months were overtime
"if you're the kind of person who likes a 9-5 job this may not be right for you"
If you're the kind of person that doesn't appreciate being overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, this may not be right for you.
"Master's Degree Preferred" for an entry level job.
I saw one recently "Laborer needed, with a Class 4 driver's license" Which is a lorry license...therefore they want a driver but at minimum wage.
Test task that looks like real work they need to be done
I saw a job posting last eek in which one of the requirements was to keep your desk tidy.
If they're willing to put that in the ad, the office is run by control freaks. Stay away.
My desk at work will always be immaculate if you let me work from home.
A 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 or not. I don't want to walk into a s**t show.
When they talk bad about previous employees. They're going to do it to you.
When I was new to the area and looking for a job, I was offered a position that was filled by someone they were planning to replace. When I pointed out that the position might not open up since the current guy was working under a strong union contract, they just shrugged and said that didn't matter to them. Where I worked before, I had been the union president. I turned them down.
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The interviewer spends a lot of time staring at your chest and asks overly personal questions. I outright walked out of that interview before it finished - if I’m getting creep vibes I’m out.
I once had a really great job interview. The recruiter was really excited for me. Then said, the post won't be available for a few months. We'll follow up with you then. A few months? I was looking for a new job now.
If they have some goofy statement in the job ad. e.g. A company was advertising for a Graphic Design position and requesting a person who could "make a Macintosh get up and dance". You know the company culture will be like a circus with no ringmaster.
A job interview is a negotiation among equals. I want you to hire me, so I hope that I have the skills and demeanor needed for the position I want. But you need to make coming to this place and doing this work worth my while. If we meet each other’s needs, then it looks like I have a job and you have a valuable resource.
Once signed up for an online job site, after browsing it for a bit decided it wasn’t for me and my cv/profile that I had filled out only had my name and title of my last position, nothing that would lead any employer to show an interest, within an hour I had an email inbox literally filled with offers for interviews and even a few actual employment offers some from big household name companies, I figure if a company doesn’t care who they employ they aren’t going to treat those employees well at all
The interviewer spends a lot of time staring at your chest and asks overly personal questions. I outright walked out of that interview before it finished - if I’m getting creep vibes I’m out.
I once had a really great job interview. The recruiter was really excited for me. Then said, the post won't be available for a few months. We'll follow up with you then. A few months? I was looking for a new job now.
If they have some goofy statement in the job ad. e.g. A company was advertising for a Graphic Design position and requesting a person who could "make a Macintosh get up and dance". You know the company culture will be like a circus with no ringmaster.
A job interview is a negotiation among equals. I want you to hire me, so I hope that I have the skills and demeanor needed for the position I want. But you need to make coming to this place and doing this work worth my while. If we meet each other’s needs, then it looks like I have a job and you have a valuable resource.
Once signed up for an online job site, after browsing it for a bit decided it wasn’t for me and my cv/profile that I had filled out only had my name and title of my last position, nothing that would lead any employer to show an interest, within an hour I had an email inbox literally filled with offers for interviews and even a few actual employment offers some from big household name companies, I figure if a company doesn’t care who they employ they aren’t going to treat those employees well at all
