Have you ever gone through a job interview where the interviewer came up with something that made the workplace seem toxic? Someone recently posted on a popular financial forum asking for red flags in an interview that shows work is toxic. Here are the answers with the most votes.
1. Scolding employees
One person shared: “I once had an interview where the manager kept asking me the usual questions between rounds of swearing on the phone by some poor tech support guy about their payroll software. Also, every time a hiring manager talks about company bonuses and raises them to justify their low salary, you better believe you’re not getting anything either.”
2. Trying to hire without first discussing salary
One of them noted: “I’m trying to get you to agree to start work before they tell you what wages you start. For example, I applied for an out-of-state job and was offered a job.
When asked when I could start, I replied that two weeks, but stated that I needed to know how much he paid and have it in a formal offer letter or email.
This guy got confused and said all hurt and puffy, “Well, I mean, I don’t have the numbers right in front of me, but I guess if you need to know, I can get it for you.” I said yes, I should know. He said he would call back. He never did.
3. Use of the word “sales”.
One warned, “If you hear the word ‘sales’ mentioned ANYWHERE in a job description, then sales will be your main job.” “Yeah,” agreed another. “I worked in a call center as a technical support service. They forced us to make sales our priority.”
Another confirmed, “I also worked in tech support. The only thing my boss cared about was sales figures. We had a board with sales numbers that were updated every week, along with photos of us with a funny nickname for each of us, and they showed us how we did with the sales.
Anyone downstairs was chewed up by the boss. They only cared about showing us phone numbers, talk time, etc., as long as it didn’t affect our sales.”
4. Lowering salaries for the sake of a “bonus”.
“The interviewer tried to convince me to understate myself after I said I would accept the minimum wage that was in their offer from publication,” shared one. The interviewer said, “If we pay you more, you won’t get a bonus at the end of the year and you’ll be upset when everyone else gets it.” However, the user did not agree.
Another added: “Yes. Spoiler alert: this bonus will never happen. They will give you some lame excuse “in these troubled times” while the company is making record profits and you are not making any.”
5. Expect flexible working hours
Someone explained that hearing these words is a serious wake-up call: “We expect our employees to be flexible in terms of working hours: are you ready to work evenings, weekends and sometimes holidays with short notice in accordance with our needs? This means: you will be constantly working all this time.
6. When top management is the whole family
Someone said, “Once you understand that all upper management is family.” Another agreed: “This, or they are all from the same church or community; nothing beats a promotion from a new guy because he meets with his boss every Sunday. Despite incompetence in real work. Classic nepotism.”
Finally, a third added, “Or they are all best friends. So when you need to file a complaint against one of them, they don’t take it seriously and dismiss it because they think you’re the problem, when in fact they are the ones who are venomous.”
7. Disrespect time
Another stated: “I drove for three hours for an interview and the secretary took my information and then said that the boss is not available for an interview right now.
I said ok, I can be back in an hour. I have come a long way to get here. She goes to his office, comes back and says that I can come back next Friday. I asked if they could do an interview today because they asked me to come in today – no respect for anyone’s time.”
8 Nanny Red Flags
“Oh my god, I’m a nanny so I get some of the weirdest interview questions. It’s not XP. This is Lisa, a housewife with her first child,” one of them replied.
“A big trigger in the babysitting world? “Easy cleaning”. If you are asked to do some light cleaning, they will also want you to be their maid. So any time they’re down, they expect you to be vacuuming, doing laundry, and doing the dishes. This question seems innocent, but it’s a huge red flag.”
Another added: “Don’t forget about ‘light cooking duties’, which means making dinner every night.” A third referred to the question “do you expect to be paid while you sleep/sleep?” Adding: “Only if you expect me to be here for it. Both words contain the word “time”. So that’s what you pay me for, ma’am.
9. “People just don’t want to work anymore.”
“High turnover rates CAN be a wake-up call, but they are more common in certain occupations than others, such as retail and food service,” one confirmed. “However, if they say ‘people just don’t want to work anymore’ or something like that, RUN.
They will not value your time as an employee, the pay is likely to be miserable, management will be incompetent and overbearing, and opportunities for promotions, promotions or career advancement will be minimized.”
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10. We work hard and play a lot
Finally, one remarked, “When they say things like ‘We work hard and play hard’, ‘OT is infinite and you can work on it as long as you want’, and ‘We have high turnover because people just stop going to work.” Another added: “Work hard, play hard – the code for this job made everyone in the department become alcoholics.”
What do you think? Reddit got it right, or do you have a big red flag to add to this list? This article is inspired by the Internet and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Wealthy Nickel.
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