Job offer - red flag or not?

[Hereyougosandwiches]

I interviewed for a job last week and was offered it today. I haven't yet formally accepted due to the fact the MD said something in the interview that's been bugging me. She told me, if offered the job, that I should not accept it if I don't plan on staying for x number of years, as recruitment is so time consuming, and they only want someone who's in it for the long haul.

I'm not someone who hops from job to job all the time but the comment still made me uneasy. I am, for instance, planning DC2 in the next couple of years. Am I going to be penalised for going on maternity leave?

Do you think I am overreacting or am I right to be concerned?

Hopeful bump

To be clear, is this a recruitment consultant job?

I interviewed for one a couple of years ago and it quickly became apparent it was a fairly unpleasant industry. I didn’t take the role.

What she said to you, would make me feel uneasy too.

Well they can’t stop you leaving can they? Just take it if you don’t like it leave. What they gonna do?

Given that you've been offered the job, is there someone you can speak to to clarify? They might (eg) be fine with mat leave, but not an employee who sees the job as a stepping stone.

It’s a shitty thing to say in an interview, and would make me think twice. Recruiting is always a pain, and no-one wants someone who is going to move on quickly, but you don’t say it in the interview!

Absolutely not a red flag - they want someone with commitment, not going to up sticks and bugger off within a year. Perhaps could have been expressed better

I wouldn't not take the job if it's one you want. Obviously they'd like someone to stay forever, but they can't enforce that. If you do decide to have more children in the future, they can't penalise you for that or discriminate against you. If you want the job, take it. The future is always an unknown.

I think it would unsettle me. When I recruit - I always think if I get 2 years out of someone that would be great. Similarly - I always think of jobs with a 2 to 3 year plan (I have stayed for as much as 7 sometimes as little as a year). If you otherwise gelled with the interviewer then I would probably get comfortable that it was a silly comment. But I also do think these things are often warning signs and if it unsettles your gut - then I would probably not take it.

But it depends on the job you have, the job it is and how likely it is you are going to get another offer

That sounds like they have high staff turnover to me which suggests probably not the greatest of employers.

I ignored my gut on a few jobs when I was younger and it was a mistake every time which I leaned from and after those experiences if something didn't feel right in an interview I wouldn't take the job.

The rest of the interview was great and no, they don't have high staff turnover.