“I had a recruiter reach out to me about a job months ago. I went through the process, and when I got to the last interview I asked the VP about the work-life balance, since I’m very happy with my current company’s position in that regard. The recruiter reached out to me a few days after and told me that one question, which took two minutes, ‘put them off,’ and they decided to go a different direction. … Bullet dodged, no doubt.” —u/Infected_Pretensile That, ‘We’re extremely understaffed for the workload, but we order cheap pizza once a month.’” —u/jayydubbya “For some jobs, overtime is understood as a necessary evil at times: manufacturing, medical, law enforcement, etc. For retail jobs, however, when they start talking about ‘flexibility in scheduling’ you should be wary, since that often means ‘whenever the fuck we tell you to be here you better be here,’ and those jobs don’t pay NEARLY ENOUGH for that shit. Talking about your weekends? Gone. Called you up on your day off? Be here in an hour. Worked you to midnight? You’re scheduled to open the next day.” —u/Yawzheek “I work in IT, and that’s been every job I’ve ever had for the last 25 years. Some have a rotation; some just expect you to be reachable. Some blatantly abuse it, some don’t, but it’s all abusive in as much as it takes advantage of salaried workers (expecting you to be available to work hours for which you won’t be paid).” —u/NumbSurprise “Or if they require full-time availability for a part-time job paying minimum wage.” —u/emthejedichic
“I heard ‘we’re a family’ for years from an employer who later fired me under sketchy circumstances, with no warning or improvement plan (would have been hard since nobody ever actually told me anything I needed to improve), a few days after I told my boss my husband and I were starting the process to adopt. Now I work at a place where some of my team members genuinely feel like family, but nobody feels the need to say it 20 times a day because a company that actually treats its employees well doesn’t need to resort to guilt trips in order to motivate you.” —u/HashtagNewMom “‘Family’ or ‘culture’ means you’re supposed to conform [and] never challenge the way things are done.” —u/aSocraticQuestion “Or sign a contract that will charge you for training if you do not work there for so many years and a non-compete clause to force you into a different line of work if you leave. I believe some of these have been outlawed in some places now.” —u/fanestre “Heard this exact phrase in one of my first jobs in VFX. It actually meant this: ‘Four people just quit, and their jobs are now yours, and we don’t have time to train you properly.’ I became the fifth person to quit three weeks later.” —u/UncleHeavy “Either they’re too picky, or they don’t pay market value for the job.” —u/herkMech96 “I went to an ‘interview’ for an assisted living place. The manager didn’t ask me a single question, just described the job and the shifts I would work and said, ‘You’re hired if you want it.’ I had no previous experience with that kind of job, I had worked at a gas station my whole life, and all of a sudden I’m on my own taking care of dementia patients.” —u/leah_mw1984 “Interview for produce clerk at a grocery store: Manager: ‘You got the job! Can you start this afternoon?’ Me: ‘Uhh, I’ve got this other commitment.’ Manager: ‘You’ve only been here 30 seconds, and you’re already making excuses to get out of your shifts. FINE! You can start tomorrow.’ —u/originalchaosinabox “On two occasions I got a job offer, but the official salary was different than what was in the job listing. Each time I was told it was because ’listing a higher salary attracts more qualified candidates.’ Declined both offers right there on the spot.” —u/sleestak_orgy “Or, ‘We’re a startup that’s been in business for 10+ years.’ No, you’re a business and that equity you’re offering is worthless.” —u/SuspiciousBroccoli43 “The whole ‘startup’ tag is suspect. I did a job reference for a friend who was applying at an 11-year startup. If you are still hunting for investors after 11 years, you have to wonder about your business model. It seems to be a buzzword for cool, cutting edge, and a culture of overwork.” —u/ElectricMan324 “We don’t offer bonuses or raises, but we do have a pool table.” —u/Crisis_Redditor “The other is ‘It’s dependent on the candidate.’ If they are interviewing for a position, they know what it pays.” —u/Foodwithfloyd “If they can’t feed employees, it means they are failing.” —u/alarsonious “But then it’s contingent on a 90-day review and the manager responsible for the review is impossible to track down. Yup, been there.” —u/Sauteedmushroom2 “‘You’ll be working for X. They are super passionate and a genius in what we do. They can be demanding, but if you meet expectations they are great to learn from.’ Met the guy, and all his questions were aimed at how quickly I could figure things out and stop asking him questions. Easy decline.” —u/Re-Created “I’m a therapist, and nothing pisses me off more than when employers try to use personality inventories on their employees. It’s fucking predatory and manipulative in my opinion.” —u/Fred_Foreskin “I’m in HR. Those tests are unreliable AF. Thankfully people are starting to phase it out.” —u/miketigerdominates —u/makosh22 “Also, see what the toilets look like. It they are careful with their employees well-being, the toilets will be clean and comfortable (I know because the washroom is where I spend most of my time at work).” —u/yodaa_san “Ask about how they handled the COVID pandemic. No matter your viewpoints on that topic, how they answer will give you good insight on how they treat people.” —u/ronaldreaganlive “‘What’s your salary expectation?’ Never, ever answer that. And as an insider, let me tell you they will ask several times in several ways, and they will pretend to be angry, hurt, offended, puzzled… They might even insult you…but never ever answer that question. If they aren’t telling you what they expect to pay, there’s a reason. Small or big companies, all are the same on this.” —u/GoodGoodGoody “In trade school, they always told us to put [salary range] as ‘Negotiable,’ and if they ask us in person make sure to keep it consistent and say that you’re open to consideration and to keep the ball in their court. Until they’re willing to give you an idea of what you’re worth or could be worth to them, there’s no reason to give them serious consideration.” —u/CygniYuXian
