10 Warning Signs Job Seekers Should Be Alert to During Interviews

Employees decided to share their job seeking experience on social media. We studied their stories and put together key signs that can be considered red flags at a job interview.

Free tea and cookies

The idea of drinking tea at the employer’s expense seems attractive. But today, this benefit has become a sign of a suspicious company that uses it to lure employees.

• I believe one of the obvious signs of a bad company is free tea and cookies. This is a straightforward red flag. The company doesn’t pay well, but imitates an increase in the standard of living of employees. It’s disgusting, I have worked for companies like this!

Stress tolerance and multitasking skills

This point speaks for itself. You’ll have a lot of work and it will be nerve-wracking.

• The main red flags for me are “friendly team” and “multitasking.” The first one always means that the friendly team will eventually turn against you, and the second one means 500 tasks per hour in addition to the job description, and the salary is at best in line with the offer. © TinaRexwolf / YouTube
• I like the special point in some job postings — stress tolerance. I would understand if the job was in medical institutions, emergency service, or something like that. But no, in a regular office. What’s going on there? Once asked at the interview, why it is needed, I never got a proper answer. © Olga-n4l6sh / YouTube
• Another frightening phrase in the job requirements is, “We are looking for those who want to work hard and earn well.” © alexanderrevkovskiy6943 / YouTube
• Based on my experience, I have my own red flags. For example, something like, “You are energetic, tireless, you want to learn new things, you like to work in the conditions of multitasking.” To put it simply, you will work like a horse, performing the duties of several people. Multitasking is an indicator word, experience verified. © UlyanaKostrova-s2sh / YouTube

“Sell me a pen.”

It might seem that some interview questions should be forgotten like a bad dream. But they are as hard to get rid of as an old callus.

• Why are manholes round? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Sell me this pen. What’s your favorite color? Why did you choose our company? Why should we hire you and not someone else?
  If you hear any of these questions, politely say goodbye and leave.

Weird questionnaires and psychological tests

There are jobs where mental health checks are mandatory. For example, train conductors have to be tested by a psychiatrist. But sometimes applicants are tortured with some dubious questionnaires and surveys.

• I was interviewed for 3 hours once. I took 3 tests and drew fictional creatures. © OlesyaSintseva / YouTube
• I was given a 400-question test. And in my college days, these tests were popular, we did them often. By the way, it was a clinical test for psychopaths. I said to the HR manager, “What result do you want? I know a combination of a couple of key answers that provide opposite results.”
  She was surprised, and I walked away. It’s not worth wasting your time working for a company like this.

Long interviews

We decided to mention this criterion separately. After all, if an employer is looking for a person to fill a simple position, like a dishwasher, what is there to discuss for an hour?

• I tried to get a part-time job as a dishwasher in a canteen for the summer, and they told me on the phone that the interview would last at least an hour. I don’t know what they were going to discuss with me for an hour. © Gronskaya147 / YouTube

• I remembered when I was looking for a job after graduation. The worse the office, the longer the interviews and more difficult the tests. © irinasemibratova7961 / YouTube

• I needed money fast, so I went to an interview for the position of a cleaner in a beauty salon. I repeat, a cleaner! Interview questions, “What property do you have? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” I said, “I will be a wife of an Arab sheikh.”
  I thought that’s when they’d kick me out. But no! They asked how many foreign languages I know and at what level. It seemed I was applying for a job in the president’s security, not to mop floors. In short, they didn’t hire me. © ElenaBondareva-y4ya / YouTube

Non transparent wages

If management is evading the salary-related questions, that’s a red flag. After all, you go to work for money, it’s not a charity or a hobby.

• A friend is in her 3rd year of university. She got a part-time job. She even signed a contract, but it didn’t specify the number of working hours and salary. They took advantage of her lack of experience.
  I asked her how you agreed on the salary. The boss told her, “We’ll discuss it later.” Then my friend got her salary and realized that she could earn more as a cashier in a fast-food restaurant.

Jack of all trades

Some companies want an employee who will combine different professions. For example, a person will be both a lawyer and an accountant. As a rule, the salary for a position like this is very low.

• I got a job in a construction shop as a consultant. On the second day, I was told to mop the floors because “I am a woman.” I quit immediately. I don’t see anything wrong about working as a cleaner, but it has to be paid for.

Overtime and weekend work

If an employer asks you how you feel about working overtime, that’s a red flag. Most likely, the processes in the company are not aligned. And “rare” overtime is in fact chronic.

• Most of the time I heard at an interview, “Sometimes you’ll need to work on weekends, too.” As a rule, this “sometimes” turned into “all the time.”
• I had a job interview at a large firm. The boss asked me seriously if I was ready to work outside on my days off for free and hand out leaflets to attract clients. My experience in sales is 7 years. Facepalm.
• “What if on your day off, you go for a walk with your girlfriend, and then I call and say I need urgent help at work — what would you choose work or a walk with your girlfriend?” And that’s when I realized it was time to get the hell out of the interview. © Valeria Alkhuari / YouTube

Suspicious test assignments

There is even a popular joke: it would be nice to get a test salary for a test assignment. In all seriousness, yes, an employer must understand whether a potential employee can cope with the job. But alas, unscrupulous businessmen just want to use other people’s labor for free.

• My mate was applying for a job, where he was given work for half-day as a “test” assignment. He did everything and showed the results. He was praised, but was told that the position had already been given to someone else.
  The employer was standing there with his mouth open when my friend said, “Okay,” and took the floppy disk out of the computer. He had saved his “test assignment” on it. So, the employer got nothing. © kodimbo / YouTube

• There was an occasion when at a job interview I was asked to write a business plan for the company. The funny thing was that the company consisted of a father and daughter who wanted to start a transportation company. © DavidSurkov-k3e / YouTube

• My friend is a programmer. They told him to do a test task and write a program. Done! Employers, rubbing their hands, “No, you are not a good fit for us.” The friend said, “I forbid you to use this program,” and walked away. The guys laughed at how they’d fooled the simpleton, but they were wrong.
  The friend was a smart guy. He wrote a program for a machine that stamped parts. He added the code to the branch: at the 10th part, the machine switches to the service mode, where the protection is disabled. And it starts working at full speed.
  Meaning, it destroys itself to pieces. And the price of this machine is very high. © StanislavV-o5u / YouTube

“We’re a family,” and “We’re a tight-knit group.”

When an experienced person reads in a job ad, “We invite you to join our friendly team,” they shudder.

• At the interview, they said that the team in the company is like a family. They only forgot to mention that it was a dysfunctional family. © chidka / YouTube
• When they say, “We’re like a family,” it means you’ll be spending most of your time with them at work, and not with your family. © LaughingMan-I3sh / YouTube
• When at work I was told, “We’re family,” they didn’t lie. All managers were related, friends, mistresses of the founders or directors, and so on. © konstantins7344 / YouTube

What is a red flag for you in a job interview?

And here’s a bunch of stories about weird job interviews.