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Whether you’ve been looking for a job for months and are desperate for any sort of employment at this point, or you’ve just been casually interviewing and are in a position to take your time and entertain many possibilities, it’s always exciting when you get a job offer. Maybe my job hunt could be over, you tell yourself. Maybe this is a place where I could really make a difference, you start to dream. Perhaps I could be really happy here, you imagine. You brain begins to turn on what it would be like to truly work at that place. But, don’t let the flattery of the offer—or the attractiveness of the salary—blind you to the facts.
Taking a job, just to put an end to your job search, is never worth it if that position—or the entire company—will just go down in flames. Most companies will put on a pretty face when you come in for your interview. They will tell you that the company is thriving and that the workplace culture is awesome. They’ll list all of the accomplishments and accolades of the company—possibly elaborating a bit—to make you feel like this is a place you really want to work. And the staff will be on their best behavior, of course.
But if you dig a little, you may be able to find that perhaps things aren’t as shiny and perfect as they seem there. Like I said, taking a job just to end the search isn’t always worth it. It’s important you do your research, ask poignant questions—both of the person interviewing you and the current employers—to get a sense for how the company is really doing, and what it would be like to work there. Here are red flags that should tell you don’t take that job.
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A lot of people are new
It seems that half the staff—if not more—are new. Everybody is in training, just getting their desks set up, and looking a little lost. That’s weird because the company itself isn’t new. This could be a sign that people quit or get fired often. This company struggles to keep people on staff, either because they’re too demanding, or aren’t well funded.
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The staff seems stressed
The staff gives you short, cold “Hellos” before turning right back to their computers. They don’t talk to each other. Nobody is playing music. Everybody seems on edge. They answer one another with irritation in their voices. This is often a sign that there is a tyrant boss in the office of whom everyone is afraid.
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They’re selling you on the place
It feels like, in the interview, the interviewer is selling you on the place. They’re trying to prove something to you about how great the company is and how well they’re doing. Oddly enough, you couldn’t find much about the company online—certainly not enough press and write-ups to match up with all of these great things the interviewer is saying about the place.
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They won’t clarify your duties
You keep trying to ask what exactly your duties will be, and nobody will give you a clear answer. Your interviewer dances around the subject, and refuses to just put a clear title on your position. That’s probably because the company is unorganized, or understaffed, and you’ll be asked to do several jobs at once, without being compensated fairly.
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The job has listed, unlisted, and re-listed
You actually saw the job listing go up a few weeks or months ago, then it was gone. Then it went back up. Then it was gone again. Then it was back up. You weren’t sure if this company is just hiring multiple people for the same job or if something else is happening. More likely than not, everyone they hire for the position keeps quitting on them.
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You see those “Run now” eyes
You aren’t quite sure, but when you go into the office for your interview, you think you see a few people give you looks that seem to say, “Get out while you can” or even, “Why would you want to work here?” Either way, there are eyes on you, and they don’t look relaxed or overjoyed.
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The owner has little to no experience
The owner of the company is, to put it simply, under-qualified to run this company. Or not qualified at all. She is, perhaps, a trust fund child who always dreamed of running a music management company/PR firm/clothing company, but hasn’t gone to school for any of those things or even worked in the industry at all before waking up one day and deciding to be a CEO.
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The place looks run down
If the office space itself looks run down, that’s usually a sign that the company isn’t doing great. Stuffing is coming out of desk chairs. The desks themselves are cracked. The refrigerator in the break room is incredibly old and musty-smelling. Typically speaking, if a company is doing well, they use some funds to maintain the office.
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They’re hopping on a bandwagon
While the interviewer explains to you more about what the company does, it becomes glaringly clear that they’re just jumping on a bandwagon. They are starting a type of company that hundreds or thousands are trying to start right now, arriving a little late to some craze. They’re going into a saturated market, in which few succeed.
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The place looks chaotic
In addition to looking run down, the place also looks chaotic. It’s unorganized. There are white boards with scribbles crossed out and written over. There are documents in messy piles everywhere. This can mean that people are overworked, since they aren’t given even a moment to tidy up their workspaces.
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“You can’t just be in this for the money”
During your interview, there is a lot of emphasis on the fact that they don’t want to hire someone who is “Just in it for the money.” That’s often code for, “There isn’t enough money so you better love the work so much to make up for the fact that you won’t be able to go out for drinks with friends for a while.”
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The place is too nice
Not sophisticated, timeless nice but…like they’re trying to go for that ultra-hip, startup thing with extremely expensive and frivolous items like a latte art machine and virtual reality pods where people can go for “Inspiration.” It almost feels like a grownup playground. They may be using the “You gotta spend money to make money” ideology wrong, and spending way more than they’re making.
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The interviewer uses fluff words
“We’re going to blow up.” “This place is next level.” “It’s so crazy what we’re doing it can’t even be explained.” Your interviewer uses a lot of fluff words to talk about the company, but not a lot of concrete numbers or definitions. There may only be a lot of hype here, but not a lot of work or research going on.
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Even the interviewer seems disenchanted
Your interviewer seems bored and tired. She forgets what she was supposed to ask you next, and it was something pretty simple, like, “So, tell me about your work experience.” She seems like she is just going through the motions, but doesn’t want to be here. She either hates her job, or so many people quit on the position you’re hiring for, that she’s tired of conducting this interview.
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People seem afraid of the boss
When the boss calls someone’s name, they look terrified. They seem to instantly believe they are in trouble. If an employee is called into the boss’ office, everyone gives that employee a deeply sympathetic look as if to say, “It was nice knowing you.” When the boss calls out, the assumption is that somebody is about to get his or her head chewed off. You don’t want to knowingly walk into a job with a mean boss.
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