Applying for jobs - red flags

[Peachylass]

I have just left an extremely toxic workplace and am looking for a new job possibly in a new sector outside my network.
I was thinking it’s a bit like online dating - they all say the right things to draw you in etc, and on reflection there were a few little red flags i maybe should have listened to (but you do also have to take a leap of faith).
I just wondered if anyone had any advice for what might be red flags when you apply or have an interview?

• sorry if this is in the wrong category work doesn’t seem to attract much comment
• if there’s already a thread like this please can you send the link
• I know sites like Indeed have company reviews but I’ve been on both sides of that and it’s hard to believe they are ever honest/without an agenda.

Permanently advertising the same role(s) or doing so very frequently. No mention of social activities, only 'perks' being cycle to work scheme. 8 hour shift (no flexitime). Also worth checking our company reviews on Glassdoor.

Too wide a salary bracket being advertised- they will always default to the lower of the amounts. Or worse still, no salary noted, just “competitive salary”.
I personally also don’t work for start ups- known too many go under, no pay staff etc.

Join our very close-knit team (it's cliquey)

‘Family like team’ means nosy cliquey bastards.

Oh good one yes I will do that.

I run for the hills if I read the words "good sense of humour" required. It makes me think I'd be working with David Brent

" are you prepared to go the extra mile?"

Sorry I just replied meaning to quote @ichundich , I don’t know what I’m doing!
yep will definitely check out glass door, and fully agree re the ‘family’ and the lame perks 🥴
I always get dazzled by good websites which is tricky because all that glitters … but on the other hand a shoddy website and glitchy application process is a bit of a put off.

No salary details shown on job ad

X years experience for entry level job

"Competitive salary"

Suggestion of a need for emotional investment in the role ("it's so much more than a job" etc).

I just don’t understand this , who would bother to apply.

Totally agree with this one. I currently work with a "close-knit" team. They have been working together for what seems like forever (I'm talking 35+ years).

I am the newest member of the "knit". I noticed the cliquiness especially between 3 of them right off the bat. These 3 seem to know a lot more corporate info before everyone else does.

Lucky for me I don't report to that side of the clique so I don't really care.

No salary ads.

If I applied and got an interview for a job like this, my first question would be I need to know the salary so that I don't waste your time if it's not adequate!

• No salary details in application
• Any reference to work being 'family' - I just think exploitation / monothought clique.
• Asking one of those stupid management consultantcy questions like 'how many tennis balls can you fit in a bus'?
• Glassdoor is good to get a measure. Have to watch out for ones with very negative and very positive ratings - they are most likely down to management creating spoof entries.

'how many tennis balls can you fit in a bus'?

Zero or more.

Ignore Indeed reviews. There is a bad review for the company I work for, which casts the company in a terrible light. It was obvious who wrote it (we can tell by the typos), but what she failed to mention in her damning review (funnily enough) was that she was sacked for gross misconduct. On the other hand everyone still employed has been here for years and is happy, yet you don’t see that side of it on indeed!

Advertising a wide range of roles for the same company site or repeated for the same role month after month. Mentioning it’s a family business. Adverts unable to mention the salary twice in one advert at the same rate both times. Adverts with just job title and hourly rate mention and nothing else like hours/benefits/skills required etc. Agencies - although agency working has its positive points, it tends to mean the company you end up working at really just thinks if you as an accounting cost and not a human. Adverts which state basic legal requirements as perks, or (perhaps worse) lists perks which mean little to the majority of people especially when the rate is barely over minimum wage /particle role eg discounts of hugely expensive cars/bikes/health insurance etc
Always read the reviews - it’s surprising the number of companies that either change names just enough to ‘dump’ the litany of bad reviews and readvertise under a slightly changed name and continue to either fail to recruit or gain yet more bad reviews, you can normally spot the disgruntled employee reviews and the fake over the top happy employee review to bump otherwise poor reviews.

Any mention of ‘thriving in a busy environment’ or similar puts me right off. To me that means overloading people with work.

‘thriving in a busy environment’
'willing to hit the ground running''
'we are an organisation that punches above its weight'
'willing to go the extra mile'

All the above just usually means heavy workload & unrealistic expectations.

I also hate job ads where the salary is not mentioned and avoid any company that does that.

Companies that always have the same vacancies being regularly advertised (high staff turnover = poor working conditions/crap managers).

Any use of the word ''family'' on the ad and also companies that say ''we are a young team'' because they are letting you know they only want a certain type of applicants.

Try and do a bit of nosying on your interviewers on LinkedIn. I applied for something that was a change based rollout role; my two interviewers (1 of whom I’d be working for directly) had been with the firm for 20+ years, I declined partly on this basis as I didn’t think it boded well for the job.

I also had a weird interview that was a generic strengths based interview. It didn’t allow the interviewers to ask anything outside of the questions they’d been given, and meant you couldn’t ask them to expand or relate it to the job they were recruiting for. Gave no sense of what they, the team or the role was like. I declined the role based on this.

High staff turnover equals unhappy workplace.

This, and suggestions of enforced socialising/ 'a lively social atmosphere' - it's a personal preference but I have a very active social life outside of work and I would hate this.

Good thread op, I think a lot of people don't think like this when applying for a role, they just think of their downsides so this is very informative and interesting.

Came here to say "family" but you all beat me to it.

Endure endless dysfunction and bitching, and then get chucked a free pizza lunch with the family as if you hadn't spent enough time with them