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People Share 30 Workplace Red Flags That Scream “Avoid This Job”
Your first day at work is usually the most stressful one. You work hard to show your best side, you try to make friends during lunch, you do everything to leave a good impression.
And usually, we are so preoccupied with our own performance when starting a new job, we may actually not realize that the workplace is not doing a good job either. In fact, people in these threads (this and this) say that the first impression, not just of you, but of any workplace you enter, is the most important one.
So you have to stay alert and make sure you don’t spot any of these screaming red flags, either during the interview or during your first day at work, that show you that you gotta run, not walk out of there.
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#1
Constantly having people leave. Constantly hiring people. No real training structure for new hires.
To find out more about what red flags you should watch out for when entering a new workplace, Bored Panda reached out to Gleb Tsipursky, the CEO of the boutique future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Gleb has been consulting Fortune 500 companies for 20 years and is the author of 7 books, including the global best-seller “Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters.”
“Some potential signs of trouble to look out for when joining a new company,” Gleb explained, “include a lack of transparency from leadership, high turnover rates, and a lack of clear communication and expectations.”
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#2
If you have to pay any amount of money in order to work for them it is a scam and stay away.
#3
"We work hard and play hard" translation: You'll have no work-life balance but we also all drink too much.
“Another red flag,” Gleb continued, “to be aware of is a toxic or negative work culture, which can manifest through gossip, backstabbing, and a lack of support among colleagues. Additionally, it's also important to be aware of any cognitive biases that may be present, such as the sunk cost fallacy, which may lead you to overlook red flags in the hopes of making the best of a bad situation.”
#5
I always ask in interviews what the turnover rate is, or why the person I am replacing left the position. Definitely avoided some sketchy scenarios with those questions.
#6
Treating you like a child- ie. monitoring the time you arrive/leave, timing your breaks/bathroom visits, dress codes that don't make sense for your role, and any other rules that make more sense for a kid than an adult. If you're an experienced professional in an office setting, you should be basically left to take care of yourself as long as your work is getting done. Obviously, these rules make more sense for jobs where you need to schedule breaks around other people, or service jobs, or jobs with lots of people with little experience - but still, I hear stories of places that give people warnings for being a minute late.
If you identify one of these red flags, Gleb argues that it's important to weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.
“On one hand, it may be wise to walk away if the red flags are severe and it seems unlikely that they will be addressed or resolved. On the other hand, it may be worth giving the company a second chance if the red flags are relatively minor and there are good reasons to believe that they can be addressed or improved,” the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts explained.
#9
You realize that all of the other people working there are related to the person who hired you or the person who is running the place. Run while you still can.
Moreover, “checking with your gut is an initial step to evaluate whether to join a new company, as it can help you to identify potential red flags and to make decisions that are in your best interest.”
“However, it's also important to be aware of cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias, which may lead you to overreact or overlook red flags or to make decisions that are not in your best interest,” Gleb explained.
“Therefore, it's important to check with your head and use your head to overrule your gut when your gut and your head disagree,” Gleb concluded.
#11
If they ask you to clock out and then keep working to finish closing or whatever, run away fast. It's never just a one-time thing.
#12
Employers who bemoan the lack of “good employees who want to work”. If everyone who hires [is bad] then either you are the most unfortunate business owner in the world or you need to look in the mirror.
#14
If they lure you into an interview for a management position, but tell you during the interview that the position has already been filled. Then they ask if you're interested in interviewing for the entry level position instead.
#16
They like to micro manage you but then tell you off for not having enough initiative to do something.... then tell you off for doing it due to micro managing and the cycle continues
#18
My workplace has a sign in the employee bathroom that says, “The best way to appreciate your job is picturing yourself without one.” They also don’t pay benefits until after 2 years and have an incredibly high turnover rate. They’re great..
#19
They don't ask you what your wage expectation is, but instead ask you what you were making at your last job.
#20
"We don't "technically" have breaks. We just take smoke breaks and stuff here and there." No, f*** you. I don't smoke. You can't deny me a meal break, I don't give a s**t how busy you are.
#22
Being hired for a specific job and then having additional duties tacked on after you are hired. The company doesn't follow it's own employee handbook or whatever rules and guidelines they have. Work hours and days change after you are hired. Telling you which holidays you have off, then not giving you those holiday's off. Every employee is talking s**t about every other employee. Poor or non-existent training time. Management with no management training or knowledge.
#24
Places with truly great culture don’t have management teams constantly gushing about how great the culture is. If management talks about the culture ten times in the first week you’re there, run. Don’t look back.
#25
If they say they are family-friendly. It mean that as a childfree person, i will have to pick up the slack of parents. No thank you.
#26
If you work in manufacturing, the company buys cheap and s****y machinery to save money. If they don’t even value their equipment, they definitely won’t value their people.
#27
The look of defeat on the faces of their employees. When a place is good to work, their employees seem to be excited to be there. There are smiles, there are jokes, there is enthusiasm. When a company screws over and abuses their employees? The employees get that look of defeat in their eyes. Their job has no enjoyment, it is merely about survival. When I say survival, I don't mean working to make some money to get food to eat, I mean that you are trying to make it to the end of the day, just to go home and repeat the cycle, each day a bit worse than the next. People don't joke and if they do, it seems to be morbid jokes about the workplace. People aren't social. You can feel the lack of joy. The company has managed to defeat their workforce.
#28
They have literally everything in the building. I interviewed at a place where they had the cafeteria and a nurse station (not healthcare related) in the building. I was pretty desperate for a job so I overlooked this, but was glad they didn't call me back. They didn't allow missed days, and I was told by one of the ladies who let me listen in on her phones that she had missed a day of work so she didn't get any sort of raise that year. If you're sick, they expect you to be in there and doing the job. Worst case scenario you need to visit THEIR nurse.
#29
Everyone has their own best way to do something and they all tell you in private. It sounds like their helping, but it’s really a symptom of bad management.
#30
Toxic work environment such as refusing to address issues and becoming passings aggressive about it.
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