We asked our regular contributors through e-mail What are subtle red flags at a job interview that say “working here would suck”? We got many interesting responses. Here are some of them. We have just copied and pasted their responses, not editing them in any way.
1. I brought up a company’s awful Glassdoor reviews and they got so mad they ended the interview. Well. Guess I dodged that bullet.
– glitterpumps
2. When you ask, “what do you like about working here” and the interviewer talks about the location of the job (“it’s a great place to live!”) instead of the actual job.
– beard_lover
3. 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.
– DragonsLoooveTacos
4. 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.
– couch_slgg
5. I once turned down a job offer because they mentioned that the previous person in the position had quit after a few months, and most of the people I interviewed with seemed stressed out.
– tuna_tuna
6. “We only want the best of the best” Me: “How much are you paying?” “Minimum wage”.
– therain220
7. “You are required to wear clothing that has the company logo. You must purchase it yourself. From the company.”
– accidentpronehiker
8. Always ask the interviewer about the last person who worked the position you are interviewing for, how long they worked, and why they left. Their answers can be very telling of the work environment.
– icebox666
9. 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.
– TH3YL1V3W35L33P
10. I went 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.
– miss-impossible
