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25 Signs That The Workplace You’ve Entered Isn’t Worth Staying In, As Shared By Folks Online
Article created by: Robertas Lisickis
Whatever you do, do not decorate your office for Halloween using "ghosts" of people who used to work there. Like, specific employees with names and everything. You're gonna have a bad time. Just figured this should be included in the list.
Oh, what list, I hear you saying, dear Panda? Why, the list you can find below, of course. A list of red flags Redditors were pointing out that are sure to make anyone regret ever applying to work at a certain company. But like, red flags as in ones that scream "don't work here".
And Bored Panda has collected some of the most spot-on observations and turned them into a list. So, scroll down, upvote, comment, and share your thoughts and red flags in the comment section below!
More Info: Reddit
- Read More: 30 Signs That The Workplace You’ve Entered Isn’t Worth Staying In, As Shared By Folks Online
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
At the interview they offer you water. Suddenly you start feeling groggy. Next thing you know you are waking up in a bathtub full of ice with your kidneys missing.
Fool me once Hobby Lobby. Fool me once.
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#3
When your initial interview doesn’t start on time, and you’re waiting. They don’t respect your time. Which essentially means they don’t respect their workers.
#5
"Were like a family"
"Be willing to work in a fast-paced environment"
This is just code for "we will guilt you into doing things beyond your job, and we are poorly managed"
#6
If all of the other employees look sullen and depressed. If you walk into the office area and feel like you've walked into a funeral service. Nobody's smiling, nobody's laughing. Nobody looks remotely happy or content. Just turn around and walk back to your car. That is not a good place to be working at.
#7
If you ever hear a higher up say anything along the lines of “I don’t have to do that because I’m a X”
As a manager/owner/lead/etc… Your job is to support your team, if that means as a store owner you’re cleaning puke off the bathroom floor guess what, you’re cleaning puke off the bathroom floor.
If you ever see a boss refusing to help when it’s busy or delegating a task poorly (eg the blind guy has to go pick stock while ur boss hangs out in the back room taking calls) quit.
#8
If a larger company buys your company out but says "Nothing is changing but the name and address that your paycheck is coming from" But then everything changes.
#9
If you get asked in interviews about how you deal with workplace conflict and how you get along with difficult personalities. If they’re asking about how you deal with difficult customers, that’s one thing. If they basically ask how you handle a toxic work environment, it’s going to be a toxic work environment. I very naively learned this the hard way.
#11
Oh man i feel like my work place is filled with red flags. Like tonight for example, we had a 16 yr old get fired for being drunk while on the job and unable to function. They fired the kid about a month ago, I show up today and that same kid who they fired got his job back and was at work tonight.
It's sad when a place of business is so hard up on finding workers that they will rehire a 16yr old drunk
#12
High turnover. A team with 10% turnover in three years had a few bad employees. A team with 110% turnover in three years is a bad employer.
#14
One thing I look for when interviewing onsite is checking out peoples desks as I walk through the halls. If there are no personal effects or decor in workers cubicles, then that makes me think people just hate being there. I think if there are decorations, people are more comfortable and enjoy their job and workspaces and it's likely a more friendly place to work.
#15
Extremely high pay for what is a very simple, low effort job.
Bonus points if they have a sign that says 'Now hiring' outside, year round.
This indicates that even with a high pay rate, they cant keep people on.
#16
“Work hard, play hard” = “You won’t have a life outside the office, but we’ll pump you full of booze!”
#18
If they're plastering "It's so much FUN to work here!", all over the place, RUN. I believe in good workplace morale, but if they have to advertise it, it's not.
#20
If there is a staff parking lot and all the cars are older / beater cars besides the management/owners cars.
#21
This might be controversial, and its probably not universally applicable... but for the sake of something original: Nobody on staff really seem like they are "friends" with one another.
This comes from personal experience with a large portion of my life where I used to job hop a lot. I feel like I could always tell whether the job would be good or not within a few days of starting just by seeing how the staff interact with each other. If your co workers talk a fair amount about non-work related stuff, or have inside jokes or hang out OUTSIDE of work hours, those are all generally super good indicators of a really solid and happy workplace culture.
Every job I have ever had where the workers only discussed work and didn't seem to have any interest in a more casual work relationship all ended up being miserable jobs by the end of my time there.
There truly is a "vibe" to a workplace... It doesn't take long to pick up on. I have had really tough jobs (for example, being a dockhand) that were incredibly fun and fulfilling, as well as jobs that should have been incredibly fun (like a rock climbing instructor) become the complete opposite purely off the vibes of the team.
#22
Information overload. They expect you to understand everything and will somewhat train you Day 1. But after that day, they expect you to do everything to a tee.
Training takes a while.
#23
Team activities that happen every week. Casual fridays, team meetings, group presentations. Just let me do my job we don’t need to dress up for halloween at the office
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