Look Out For These Red Flags In Your Next Job Interview

Once, an interviewer straight up asked me if I had any trouble working for free on weekends... I told them my free time is more valuable than anything and that the only way that I would work a weekend is if they are paying me and if I felt like working a weekend. She got really mad at me and ended the interview right away.

Biggest red flag I’ve ever seen because they didn’t even try to hide it.

I was once part of a group onboarding for an IT job. They handed us all the one-page new hire "contract" and everyone except me signed it immediately. When I read the paperwork, I discovered we were signing a mystery document. Clauses included "I agree to abide by the personal search and seizure security policy (attached)." Without other pages, there was no way to determine what I was agreeing to. I kept requesting more and more pages until the HR drone said "ok, I guess [me] is just determined to hold everyone up. We will handle you separately if you're struggling so much."

After I walked out and drove home, I called the hiring manager to apologize for not taking the job. He informed me that HR reported I had walked out after refusing to be drug tested.

Last job I worked.

"Yea, everyone here is new, but it's totally because of covid"

"The boss doesn't like people going out to get lunch because they're afraid you'll never come back, so bring your own lunch"

"You'll get weird looks if you leave on time". It was a Chinese-owned company with heavy Chinese work culture influence so you were expected to stay overtime all week.

Also "the people here are nice but it's pretty stressful". Also was told by my trainer "you want to know the best advice I can give you? Find another job". This was like...my 2nd week in.

This actually happened to me:

Interviewer: Do you have any questions for us?

Me: what is a challenge this department has recently faced?

Interviewer: Job security

I once showed up for an interview and the manager wasn't there that day. No one called me to let me know.

The assistant manager was not apologetic for the scheduling issue at all. She was literally just like "oh, she's not here today" in a tone that suggested I should somehow already know that. She said they would call me to reschedule some time the next week. I told her I was currently unavailable M-W but could come in any time Th-F. She said if I couldn't make time for the interview, I probably wouldn't be a good fit. I said okay, and went on to my other interviews and ended up working elsewhere.

You'd think that would be the end of it, but both the manager and the assistant manager badmouthed me to a few other people in the industry, including one of my friends.

Hello? I made time for an interview. You disrespected me by not calling me to let me know it was canceled. I gave you the times I was available to reschedule, and that was disrespectful somehow?

I was interviewed for a job like this. When I walked into the interview, it was made clear that the job was being offered and was mine if I wanted it, on my credentials alone. It was a library supervisor job at a rare items and fine arts library.

An hour into the interview, despite asking several times, they couldn’t tell me what I would be doing. Slowly, it came out that there were frequent fights in the library I would need to break up, student mental breakdowns I would somehow have to handle as a mental health professional. The kicker was that the library held a lot of fine art, and I would need to stop people from, literally, “stealing the Warhol’s.” They wanted a librarian who I guess was somehow Batman.

I got an email that the position was dissolved six months later.

I interviewed for an independent contractor position on a piece rate. It's hard to predict how much you're going to earn on a piece rate, so to attract me the manager showed me some paystubs from his guys. I noticed that:

He could easily cherry-pick paystubs to show me his best guys’ best weeks. All that tells me is that I'm likely to make less than what he's showing me, at least on average.

The paystubs were obviously designed to be confusing. They were full-page and absolutely covered in data. He wanted me to be impressed by a dollar amount (obviously not accounting for costs which the contractor has to carry or taxes which the contractor has to deduct and pay) but he took them away before anyone could have deciphered what the pay period, piece rate, number of jobs or kms was.

He showed me other people’s paystubs! What the heck?!

Another red flag is that they were desperate to hire because they didn't have enough contractors to deliver the work contracts they'd already sold. I had two guys from different offices call me after I'd declined the position who apparently still thought I was considering it.

At my last place of work, the person interviewing me had a printed cartoon on their wall of someone who looked like a bomb had blown up in their face, with the caption "I spoke with 'boss' name' about it.. I guess we're still doing it".

That wasn't subtle at all, but I ignored it. The boss was an absolute tyrant who wouldn't listen to her staff, consider changing her mind about anything, or let people do the work they were best suited to do. She wouldn't show up for weeks at a time. The job itself was decent, but she was the worst boss I've ever had.

During my last semester in nursing school, I went ahead and started applying for jobs. One was on a neuro floor (adults) at a local hospital. Interestingly enough, my own neurologist worked at that hospital. Anyway, the posting showed day shift 3 12's, which is what i wanted. I got a call to interview 2 days after applying. When I got on the floor, everyone looked absolutely exhausted.

However, the part that bothered me was that no one said hi or smiled when I introduced myself. They just ignored me while I was waiting on the supervisor. I interviewed with her, as well as three other nurses on the floor. There was a desperation in their faces, and I think they were hoping this new grad would be grateful for a job.

However, the supervisor told me the position was actually night shift. I explained that I could not do that, for several reasons (sleep deprivation = seizures for me). She said, no worries, we will just change it to day shift. You can go ahead and start after graduation (even before I took the NCLEX). Suspicious...I got a call the next day with an offer. I actually did accept though, but I ended up changing my mind. The day before graduation, another job on another neuro floor (different hospital), was offered to me. More money and a sign on bonus.

They dodge questions on pay, meaning they don't pay enough for what they expect of you.

The word "Family" in reference to the employees. Means they want you to work lots of unpaid overtime.

Also, if they keep talking about the "experience" you'll gain, that's also code for "We know we're going to be underpaying you."

I once interviewed for a job wherein the interviewer actually directly told me that the job was extremely stressful and they'd had a slew of new hires quit within a month or two. (The job was at a psychiatric hospital). I thanked her for being honest with me and said that I was not interested. As she was walking me out, she leaned in and said, "you're doing the right thing. Our last hire quit because he said he was having palpitations all the time here and was worried he would have a heart attack."

About 3 years later, at another company, I saw one of the women who had interviewed me. She worked in a totally different position in a totally different setting. She said that the other woman who had interviewed me, the one who gave me the warning actually DID suffer a heart attack! She survived, and she stopped working there. I was so thankful she warned me. Most interviewers wouldn't do that.

During the interview, they told me that in the last 2 years, they had 8 people in the position, for 8 months at most. It was a good offer, and a job I would like, but I cannot believe that 8 people in a row were lazy, not good enough or bad at their job. I didn't accept the job offer.

“We work hard and we play hard.”

Translation: “You will work 60+ hours a week. You will be expected to work late nights and early mornings. People will treat this job like their whole life. We’ll also underpay you. It may look like a decent salary but when you back it out to hourly it’s not even remotely competitive with industry standards. But we have kegs and a ping pong table.”

Also, if everyone that interviews you has been there less than two years, it’s a sign that they can’t retain good employees.

On a second interview, the general manager brought me into the conference room with his 8 managers present. At first I thought it was a meet and greet but no, they grilled me for an hour and a half. Didn’t appreciate that along with a couple other things and politely withdrew from being considered.

Couple of months later I’m playing in a ball tournament and come across one of the managers. I mentioned how weird that interview was. He says ‘Weird for you? Ha! I found out then and there you were being interviewed for my job!’.

Yep, dodged a bullet there.

I always ask them about their online reviews; I've done this a few times during interviews. I've gotten the same responses and it has never been addressed professionally. Even when companies have stellar reviews, I like to ask about their online reviews. It shows me their reactions to stressful situations. I also figure they're looking at everyone's LinkedIn or whatever, so if they judge me by my online presence, I don't see why I can't do that to them.

I'm not obligated to work for someone simply because they extended an interview.

This "we're all team players, we're all family, we all help each other out when it comes to scheduling" means that the interviewing manager is going to use and abuse you as much as possible for as long as you'll deal with it. I've never experienced a case where that isn't the truth.

I didn't know it at the time, but "you'll be wearing many hats" was a sign that they were going to give me the work of four positions and the wage of one. I didn't last a year there before I left and now I won't even finish reading job ads that include that line.

I was working with an indie game studio, as a modeler and texture artist. It was just for fun and making contacts. The game we were working on started picking up traction, and had studios looking to pick us up. The lead on the project immediately got together with an attorney and drafted up contracts. Not a problem.

I got mine, but there wasn't a rush, and since I had to do regular work for bills, I kind of ignored it for a couple days.

The lead and his attorney started bombarding me with emails, telling me to sign it. I replied with "after I read it, I'll let you know" I immediately got a phone call from the attorney, assuring me it was "all just standard stuff" and "if I wanted to secure my position in the studio, I should just sign it."

Red flags everywhere. So when I had time, I read it, and I'm glad I did. It stated that anything I worked on in my personal time, which I did a lot of as an artist, was their property, and I had no rights to even show it. If I left the studio for any reason, I couldn't work in the video games industry for a minimum of 12 months. Even though I was working for free I was not allowed to take a paid position at any other game studio, while working with them. The list went on.

I told them I wasn't gonna sign that, and if they pressed, I was leaving. They pressed, I left. Find later that the lead started the studio, hired people, then drained the accounts, sold the hardware, locked the doors, and never returned.

Had an online interview with a company a few years ago.

Was interviewed by the regional manager, seemed like a normal interview.

Halfway through, he let slip that there were six other people from his company watching and listening in, but the software was set up so I could not see or hear them.

And he actually got a kick out of telling me this.

It was like being on a first date with someone, and finding out later she had a hidden camera on her and her parents and six other family members were watching the whole time.

I'm like, yeah, no way.

Jobs where the expectations of the position aren't clear. The person hiring you should be able to give a clear idea of what your responsibilities are day to day in a practical way. It shows that the company understands what it wants out of the position.

I've worked a couple of positions that had a really hard time figuring out who was supposed to do what. That led to a lot of confusion and both of them had this in the interviews. If the company you're working for can't define what success in that position looks like you won't be able to either.

Besides always hiring, they seem almost overly eager to say, "Yes, we could do that!" to everything you ask.

No job will have literally everything you want, and if your gut is telling you they seem to be promising a bit more than they can offer, they likely are.

I went into an interview for a low-level admin position, and they made me put my cell phone in a bucket up front, stating "no phones are allowed in the back. it reduces productivity." Big NOPE for me.

I was once told, “Sometimes the hourly workers go on strike and they lock us in to keep the production line running, but management brings us steaks and we have an informal agreement with the unions so you can cross the picket lines once a week to visit your wife.”

I just had an interview last week where they showed up 30 mins. late because they weren’t expecting me to show up after the first three HIRES never came to work. Tried to hire me on the spot and wanted me to work in a different department than what I applied for…

I have heard "we don't want people who are just here for the paycheck." I looked him dead in the eye and said "you pay the lowest possible wage for an entry level position. You aren't getting career-driven people applying here.”

Had a job where they said at least 5 times "if you don't have thick skin you won't make it " City job detailed: Turned into Everyone shting on everyone's family. One dude was constantly made fun of for his wife leaving him. Another dude made fun of cause his kid was gay. Another guy was made fun of for always ending up in short relationships.

I flipped st numerous times and had to talk to HR. Decided to quit after considering following a worker home to beat the crap out of him cause he'd always say "I can say whatever I want if I’m on the clock I’m protected by management "

Job was a joke with great pay and benefits to essentially be everyone’s verbal punching bag.

When they get the interview time wrong and then gaslight you about it. I’ve had a couple interviews where that happened and the person told me it was me who made the mistake. I did not feel bad missing the opportunity.

"You're not going to have kids anytime soon, are you?".

"What are your childcare arrangements?"

Are both things my wife has been on the receiving end of. You'd assume you wouldn't apply if it was an issue, right? Funnily enough, I'm a man and I've never been asked.

This actually happened with me, but at a professional scale. At the time, I was unhappy with my current job because I was underpaid and constantly having to work extra to make up for the incompetence of someone who made significantly more than I did. This company was trying to recruit me and their pitch was that they didn't hire employees who didn't pull their own weight; they pushed this message really hard in each interview. When it came time for salary negotiations, they got exasperated and made it clear they thought I was overpaid. They were hoping to pay a salary that'd be an insult to anyone talented.

You'll get full-time hours but won't be "full time" aka we'll do everything in our power to avoid giving you benefits even though we have you working more than 40 hours in a week.

Was interviewed by a Senior programmer and the department head. The department head was continuously making condescending remarks towards the other interviewer. Poor guy just sounded broken. Hope he's somewhere else now.

Years ago, I was told by a manager that he needed some help with a technical interview. This manager was not exceptionally skilled, so I ended up conducting the interview. When it was time for goodbye the candidate offered me his business card and the manager commented in front of him with "funny how he's given his business card to you when you are basically irrelevant".

I could see the guy cringing so hard at that point, and he was obviously right.

I had an interview once, the owner of the company told me he was going to hire me, let the man in the office train me, then fired that man once I was up to speed. He also told me that sometimes employees have to hold their paycheck. And the final capper, (not that I needed it, I had already decided not to work for him) was when he told me I looked like his nephew. I am female.

Two years ago during the government shutdown, I had someone call me for a phone interview, just raving about my resume & experience. Until we got to pay. We were about 50k apart. They start in with, well there are lots of other people interested in this spot, that rate will never fly etc. I said those people are only interested because they have been furloughed and will go back to that other job soon and if you truly weren’t interested you would’ve hung up. Found out later that the other people in the department (about 10) had quit because it was a sh*t show. Dodged a bullet that day.

We cater lunch and dinner for our whole team!

Sounds like a positive, but what it means is, "We expect you to be working past dinnertime hours, and there will be a lot of social pressure to never leave and to socialize with the team well past working hours. We don't understand that anyone might want a life outside of work."

Less of a problem now, hopefully, but in the tech bro heyday, this was super common.

Showed up for an interview with the owner of a company where I had been a contractor for several years Had to take the afternoon off, PAY to park in the city and when I got there he said he had to reschedule, his toddler had a dance class. Oh. And could I give him 3 design ideas for a job - for free - in the next day or so?

I didn't last long after that. The final straw was "not being a team player" when I refused to be "on call" for a project for free. Nope. Heard later he refused to pay other staff until they walked out in front of clients.

Tagging on to that I saw another redditor post to ask “tell me about your most successful employee in this position” and listen to what they say. Sometimes it’s more telling than the straightforward questions of like hours and such. “We value our employees family time,” but then when answering the question about their most successful employee may talk about a person who stayed late all the time etc. means they really don’t care about your personal time.

I just had an interview last week where they showed up 30 mins. late because they weren’t expecting me to show up after the first three HIRES never came to work. Tried to hire me on spot and wanted me to work a different department than what I applied for…

I’m a nurse and I applied to a dialysis company that’s like this. I had a friend who had good experiences working as a tech at the location closest to her, so I applied at a different location a little closer to me.

The manager was late to a video conference interview, and then spent 15 minutes explaining why I could never be late, and how they “never really call in sick here, I mean, you get sick time accrued but no one really uses it”... I let him know that I’m healthy and active and ride a bike to work... and he got all bent out of shape about me really needing to have a car for “emergencies”... I asked if I’d ever be asked to go to another location and he said no... I was like oohhkaaaay, changing the subject... I asked what their covid policy was and if they provide n95s and testing and he basically said “none of our patients have covid.” without actually answering me.

Dude, you never let your nurses take sick days, you disapprove of me commuting by bike in a major city, and none of your patients have covid? Are you for real?

I came in for a job interview at 7:30 PM. The entire staff was still in the office. Should have known right then that 9 to 5 was not ever going to happen. One day I worked until 2:30 AM to finish up a big project, and my boss said to me I could come in an hour later the next morning. Gee thanks bro, with my public transport/travel time that gives me a solid 2 hours of sleep instead of just the one.

"Do you have a strong personality" meant everyone else who worked there were raging jerks with who I literally got into massive shouting matches with and quit over within 6 months of having started. The money was good but no thank you.

I've come in at four in the morning to find people still in the office from the day before.

No matter how much money is offered, I categorically tell recruiters to go screw themselves when they send me never-ending "amazing opportunities."

I will never go back to that life.

It's also a red flag if a majority of employees were there for a short time. I, unfortunately, took a job after a positive interview with principals, and on my first introduction to everyone else, I found that everyone but one of them had been there for a year or less. A super toxic place that one.

I was told they wanted long-term employment. Don’t just leave after 5-6 years. Ok. What do you pay, and what about raises? His response. $12 an hour. 3-4% increases every year. Nope. Told him I’m all set. This was an armored truck service. I had to carry my gun and wear a vest. Which they did offer to pay for, they just took it out of your pay. $600 for a handgun, $400 for a vest. (You had to possess a permit to carry prior to applying)

I went back to Private EMS. Same pay, but I didn’t have to protect other people’s money with my life

A few years ago I was interviewing for a position at an esteemed gaming retail chain... It's known for abusing its employees and just, in general, being a pretty terrible job due to rude and disrespectful customers... So I'm interviewing for it and one of the lower managers comes in and hands in their keys. Complained about the toxicity of the environment and said they couldn't take it anymore... I got their position after a bit of training and realized I should've taken the warning then. I've been out for about a week now and I feel so much better. Retail sucks especially at that job

Last job I interviewed for was dead silent, they were literally whispering when showing me around the office. When I asked my potential team how many hours they were working, answer was “12-14 hour days, but when you work past 7pm you get $15 towards your dinner!” Yeah... no thanks. I passed on the job and that entire team left a few months later.

The one question every job applicant must ask is: "Why is this position open?", and watch the faces of everyone in the room before they answer. If they tell you the company's growing and it's a new position, great! If smiling Mary says it was her job but she was just promoted, terrific! If they tell you that the last couple of people they tried in the position just didn't work out, thank them and leave.

If one or more family members work for the boss, their kids especially. You’ll end up getting screwed while their family members get raises and get the easy stuff. You’ll end up overworked, underpaid and talked down to no matter how much seniority you have.

No one decorates their desk. Means that either they don't get their own desk, no one has time for any interests outside of work, or the culture is stuffy and no fun.

Similarly, for tech in particular, if everyone has the same brand of keyboard it's because they have to; basically, no one chooses to code for 8 hours a day on a cheap Microsoft keyboard if they can help it.

I interviewed for a job and the guy was just kind of off-putting. He answered a personal call in the middle of the interview, which was fine whatever, but never addressed or said “sorry” or “excuse me for a second” out of common courtesy and professionalism. Just sat and talked for an awkward couple of minutes.

I was running errands all the next day and had three missed calls from the workplace. Missed another call the next day but at that point, I had decided it wasn’t for me. When I tried returning his call to tell him I was no longer interested he wasn’t there. But then it became kind of entertaining because he called me nearly every day for 2 weeks after my interview. It’s just a retail job, so I can only imagine how hard-pressed he was to have an employee and how that work environment must be.