We've had dating red flags, how about JOB red flags?

[uniglowooljumper]

The two worst jobs I ever had, I should never have taken up after the interview.

In both interviews, it was very clear that the supervisors/bosses did not want the person whose job I was interviewing for to go. In both second interviews, the person who held the position was there and in both cases the person was promoted.

There was lots of talk about how the boss/team hated to see 'Susan' or 'Wendy' go, how super Susan and Wendy were, staff would say things like 'You have big shoes to fill' and there was constant comparisons to Susan and Wendy.

I ended up quitting both after a month or two.

Now, any interview like this is the dating equivalent of talking about exes or saying your ex was psycho. I don't go any further.

Do you have any job red flags that make you nope out immediately?

Yep. Sadly quite common amongst haulage companies.

The other thing that they do is ask you to take a driving assessment as part of the interview - usually entails several deliveries and can last a full 8 hours for no pay/compensation or even a job.

What does you've got a magnetic personality mean??
Does it mean you dont take the recommended rests?

It refers to the old tachographs and how they could be skewed by the use of magnets.

Ah! Blimey.

female bosses in my experience are borderline psychopaths. I have turned down jobs when I've been told my LM is a woman.

Wow.

I’ve had two line managing females and both were not easy to work with. Quite awful actually.

However I am certain it was down to their individual personalities and not their gender!

@caulioccolii

Being told at the interview that the Christians and non Christians eat separately, and there is no uniform as such but that they like their young ladies ( myself at the time- only a few years ago though) to wear a skirt.

Wish I'd taken the job then waited for a court case.....

I once had an interview like that, they advised they were Plymouth Bretherens and they didn’t agree with seeing or hearing the news, the internet, socialising, women in trousers or bright colours. I didn’t take the job either... they also told me the previous lady was asked to leave because during her “monthly’s” (their words) she became irrational!

Me: checked out PT job. Turned out they wanted someone to work FT hours but be on the books as PT so thay had fewer employment rights. No thanks.

DH: saw a software development job advertised. The small company did exciting new work in a field he was interested in, at a nice location. Sounded great. But at interview, it turned out that the company founders & their friends did the exciting new work at the nice location, while he & other poor saps new employees would be contracted out to other companies, doing grindingly awful old-fashioned donkey work to get funds in so that the original lot could have all the fun. DH didn't take them up on it.

thay -> they

I went for an interview where I was asked if I minded having a boss who shouted at staff on a regular basis. There were other red flags but that was the biggest. They called me back inviting me to a second interview, but I politely declined.

Day three (I think) in a new job, and one of the other team members is sobbing at their desk, other colleagues huddled around her, director walking away looking furious. My line manager sees the look of horror on my face and says, 'Oh don't worry, if you make it to five weeks without crying, you'll be fine' Should have quit there and then. It took me a year, several crying sessions and a shouting match with the director, (who was a tosser) to actually leave.

Same company, client arrives for meeting, first thing he says is 'one of your vans has just cut me up doing the most incredibly dangerous manouver, he was on the wrong side of the road, speeding, and nearly caused a really nasty accident.' I apologise profusely, take down the details and after the meeting, check the van tracker info to see if it correlates with the complaint. Sure enough it does, so I write it all up, with evidence from the tracker and the client's complaint, and submit it to the director. Who storms out of his office and tells me not to waste my time with petty complaints and get back to fucking work. The driver was his son. Who was also a tosser.

Another role, the manager decided to implement a morning gratitude session. We all had to stand around and say what thing we were grateful for regarding one of our colleagues. Total cringe. I handed in my notice shortly after that.

Great thread OP.
Some pretty horrendous experiences pps have!
Generally it is hard... just like dating what you see isnt always what you get. you cant really ask "will you micromanage? Are you a sexist? Crazy? Are hours long and unpaid? Are employees happy?" Or you could glean but may not get a truthful response.

For me I only had one red flag, similar to a pp re small companies not knowing exactly what they want. I get they need proactive, but you are joining as an employee not a start up co founder so you do need clear guidance and strategic direction what your role is for. Basically the company copied a job spec from a larger company that was totally irrelevant and I took at face value. So my advice is to always discuss your duties. The directors expensed personal dinners and golf trips amongst themselves through the company (I say small but it is aim listed).

Offered job, accepted, did OH assessment. All good and they were happy with a few advisories due to disabilities.

On first day my new manager took me into a room and said if I'd declared at interview she wouldn't have offered me the job as I clearly couldn't do it.

I left after a year, it was hellish. Not because of my disabilities but because of her and the culture. They simply didn't want me there.

A question, would you think a line manager interviewer saying "I'm not a micromanager" and "this is not a 9-5 job" and "I need someone who is able to push back" raise a red flag or just being honest?

Context: well paid business sales, manager based in hq in different country, not a predictable operational job, but equally nobody wants to go into a crazy environment

I think that needs to be in the job description. @Hutella

@Hutella It really boils down to people's definition of micro management. Perhaps they meant they won't be the type to breathe down your neck, watch your every move and tell you exactly how to do your job. On the other hand, it could be code way of saying they will give you fuck all supportand expect you to know everything from the get go.

Overall, what you've said wouldn't raise red flags but I'd definitely be asking what the first weeks would look like in terms of induction, training and support.

I think alot of sales jobs aren't a regular 9-5 and I'd interpret someone who is able to pushback as being someone assertive, so not a red flag if it suits your personality.

@Hutella

A question, would you think a line manager interviewer saying "I'm not a micromanager" and "this is not a 9-5 job" and "I need someone who is able to push back" raise a red flag or just being honest?

Context: well paid business sales, manager based in hq in different country, not a predictable operational job, but equally nobody wants to go into a crazy environment

I'd be wondering whether that means you won't hear from them at all (including when you've had to ask an important question) unless they're calling you at 2.30am to shout at you why you haven't done something yet. And they will take the piss with you until you tell them to fuck off.

@MitziK: yup, putting a magnet on the gearbox tacho sensor to interfere with the signal.

I left a long term office job about 2 yrs ago because of LM issues that weren't addressed by any senior managers or HR when I raised concerns (my then LM was part of that organization's succession plan so it was probably easier to wait for me to get fed up with lack of action & leave).

But then I went to another much smaller office, was almost employed on the spot during the interview, & I stupidly didnt pick up on the glaring red flags of his sexist comments or the receptionists looks at me (warning, warning).
By law I was meant to have a signed employment contract before I started, several days of working there & still asking finally got it emailed to me, but it was full of errors, so he unprotected the document for me to edit my own contract. He tried to sack me at the end of my 3 month probation, but because of contract thing above it wasn't a legal option. Quit & walked out.
Found out that day I was the 7th employee in that single year to quit.

My next job I got through an agency so I thought it would be good, but my boss kept forgetting my name, couldn't remember to tell me relevant info about client work in, then would complain I was costing her too much & asking too many questions. Her kids came into the office after school too & were "kept entertained" by staff so she could work - very unproductive with loads of interruptions for the rest of us though.

17 year old being offered the job without being given your wage but instead going straight into a “training day” which despite you working you will not get paid for! When you ask for payment you get it but they no longer need you!
If an employer isn’t upfront about salary etc - you can get your arse there’s a good reason - it’ll be as bad as you expect, maybe worse.

I thought it was IBS. To have an email sent out on a daily basis to everyone to tell them how long I had been...really put me a in a dark
place mentally.

Shit! They would have a field day with me too - my bladder is very dodgy! Did you get a union on your side?

Not exactly what you were all speaking about but I guessed I did not get the interview when one of the women found out I lived near another hospital and decided that it was too long a journey to this other hospital. She had lived as a student in the hospital grounds. Well I live there now and I can tell you that from this hospital to the train.bus station would only take 15 mins at the most (unless everywhere is gridlocked). It is also a short walk. I always allow plenty of time to get to where I need to be.

After the fifth time of her murmering it is a long way away, I gave up! I hope the person who got the job lives miles away!

@midlifecrash

I would never answer if someone asked me why the last person left - that's personal information and I would say so. If I was being interviewed, and they gave me personal information about the last person in the job, that would be a red flag.

I am thinking of applying for a job.it sounds right up my street..but I know it has been advertised at least 3 times over the last 5 ish years. that's a red flag in itself but if they gave me that answer that's another red flag imo.

I am thinking of applying for a job.it sounds right up my street..but I know it has been advertised at least 3 times over the last 5 ish years. that's a red flag in itself but if they gave me that answer that's another red flag imo.

I didn't make second stage interviews with a charity because the technical manager was off sick on the day of interview for a database admin position.

The woman interviewing asked me questions about my interest in the charity's goals (which were all fine and admirable, but it was a database job requiring a DB specialist, not someone devoted to the charity aims...). She also asked about my approach to managing change of systems, and I said that I'd take some time understanding the business functions needed by the organisation and fixing any volume-related data issues before reinventing the wheel. Then move on to addressing improving the structure and processes to make them more efficient.

I asked why the job was available again, as I'd missed the application deadline six months previously. She said that the person they took on could cope with the volume of data administration and weren't making advancements.

I was rejected because I 'wasn't ambitious enough about addressing their issues' (not that the woman interviewing me even understood their issues), and they 'needed someone who'd hit the ground running making improvements'.

Dodged a bullet there. The job was re-advertised again eight months later.