Learn from my mistakes: Job interview red flags to look out for
In one of my many periods of unemployment—this one was while living in the Kansas City suburbs—I was desperate for a job.
I’d just quit my at-the-time dream job of running youth programming at synagogue. Many things in my life were falling apart, including letting go of the dream of rabbinical school in the wreckage of my mother’s death from breast cancer.
In one of the great fortunes of my life, a family I knew well there took me in and gave me a safe home base while I figured my shit out. But within a few weeks of moving in, I needed to get a job.
So I was really motivated, because I was very grateful and very scared to make this family mad, and I was also very broke. Like, negative bank balance, couldn’t-pay-for-a-plane-ticket-home broke.
It was also 2009, the worst economy the US had had since the Great Depression. There were no jobs out there. (True story: I went on a date with a literal repo man during this time, and I was a little impressed with how secure his job sounded. Wild times.)
I was also incredibly, extremely dumb. I did zero research about anything. Maybe the most cringe-worthy was repeatedly applying for underwriter positions when I just really wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know what an underwriter was, and I didn’t think to look into it. Shockingly, I never did get an interview from those applications.
One day, after many weeks of doing online applications for any job that required little post-college work experience, I finally got a call!
The guy was super friendly—it was Kansas, after all—and told me all about this sales position he had open. He wasn’t concerned about my lack of experience, telling me about their robust training program. It was a commission-based role that he thought I could be perfect for. Could I come in tomorrow for a formal interview?
Maybe you can see where this is going, but I sure couldn’t.
I unearthed my best office-appropriate Forever 21 dress and my most sensible heels, and tromped downtown the next morning. The office was in a pretty impressive office building, on a moderately high floor. Seemed promising!
I went over all my not-very-extensive work experience, talked about what a go-getter I was, and did my best to win him over.
Then he dropped it on me: the job was door-to-door siding sales.
Don’t get me wrong, everyone has to make a living. And if door-to-door sales is it for you, I am deeply impressed.
But even as a very young woman with dashed hopes and no direction, I knew this was not for me. So I sat there, listening to him give me the whole spiel, knowing there was no way in hell I was going to take the job, wondering how and why I was even there.
And that, my friends, is because I didn’t know anything at all about job interview red flags.
What are job interview red flags?
Job interview red flags are things that happen before and during your job interviews that should at least give you pause, and at most send you running far, far away.
There are a few categories of red flags to keep an eye on:
Things that show the vibes are off
Things that demonstrate lack of clarity
Things related to compensation
Red flags that show the vibes are off
All the little things that make you feel unsettled while you’re interviewing? That’s your intuition telling you important info about the organization’s culture. Some things to look out for:
Manic excitement: Recruiter/HR/people you interview with seem disproportionately hype about you and/or the org. Like yes, you’re great, they should hire you, etc., but also, their level of enthusiasm seems unreasonable. This could lead you to wonder what they’re covering up. (This is what I should have noticed with the door-to-door sales guy.)
Apathy: On the flip side, the recruiter/HR/interviewers seem totally jaded and disinterested. This is a great way to suss out if people are overworked and burned out. If a person tasked with hiring someone can’t get it together to at least show a little interest, you may have found a workplace where people are slowly dying inside.
Bad news comes out while you’re interviewing: Could be something scandalous like the Astronomer CEO affair that was big news last week, could be a bad quarterly earnings report, could be a negative news article. If you’re hearing something negative bubble up, keep an eye on it and ask about it in your interviews.
Red flags demonstrating lack of clarity
Clarity is also so important. Here’s some things you might experience if the organization isn’t clear about this role, or its overall priorities and direction:
Job description seems like suggestions, not responsibilities: If you hear a lot of hand-wavey “Oh we all get a lot of stretch projects” or “We really value people who don’t worry so much about their job description, but instead want to help out the team,” consider that a warning that you’re going to end up doing a lot of stuff you don’t want to do.
They struggle to clearly define their department-level priorities for the next 6-12 months: This might mean that they pivot a lot or are having trouble with strategic planning. Take it from me, that’s not a great work environment to be in.
Your reporting structure changes while you’re interviewing: This isn’t always a bad thing, but it’s good intel. If the org is making leadership changes, you need to ask them pointed questions so they (1) know you’re on top of your shit, and (2) you can get some info about if they’re laying people off, firing, or reorganizing.
Red flags around compensation
Compensation is often where job seekers get mistreated while interviewing. Potential problem areas include:
Being cagey about compensation: To get around the requirement some states have to post salary ranges, orgs are posting totally ridiculous ranges. I’ve seen some that were $90k-$300k! This is a huge red flag, because it shows that they don’t want candidates (and their competitors) to know what they’re paying. This is so shady.
Over-reliance on long-term incentives: Some people are cool with gambling today’s earnings in hope for tomorrow’s windfall. To me, this is a great way for a company to say “Sure, sure, we’ll pay you more later” knowing full well they’ll lay you off before you see a dime. Talk to your financial advisor before making any decisions about this.
Trying to convince you that a “competitive benefits package” means you should settle for a lower salary: Yeah, I get that health insurance costs a lot for employers, but it’s not like if you refuse their health insurance, they’ll just give you the cash. It’s part of your benefits, but it’s not the same as making more money.
Having a sixth sense about these things—seeing the red flags before you even get an offer—can keep you from wasting your time. If there are lots of concerning things about an organization before you even work there, that’s a good reason to take a beat and think about what your life will be like if you work there.
As for me, I eventually got a job at Starbucks. It was fine. Because sometimes you can’t find an amazing job, but you can find something that pays your bills until you figure out what’s next.
If you’re interviewing and feeling unsure about whether you’re seeing red flags, let’s chat.
