“Or the flip side: I once worked in a place where everyone had been there 15-plus years except one other person who had just started eight months before me. Needless to say, there wasn’t much career progression, and the people there were just counting their years (or days) until they retired and didn’t give a shit about anything. Red flag was definitely the newest person training me instead of the ones who were there a long time.” —personofinterest18 “Not a drinker, but decided to give it a go after the place I worked at fired someone that regularly didn’t show up for the ‘optional’ binge drinking happy hours. He wasn’t a team player.” —too__soon__ ‘“We work hard, and we play hard.’ I once asked for an example of some of the fun things they’ve done as a work team, and the answer I got was special cookies that were recently brought in. Yeah, I’m sure that makes the 55-hour work week worth it.” —hungryjimbo “This happened to me. They left three weeks after I started.” —chumabuma “The hiring manager who brought you in quits.” —Sarged117 “Bonus points if everyone on all sides of the merger promised different things.” —Heroshade “I can confirm. Don’t apply for any job with the words ‘fast-paced environment’ and ‘multi-tasking.’ You will have a low title, poor pay, be doing the work of five different positions, and will not be respected.” —sparklystars1022 “‘We’re like a family’ means ‘I have no friends outside of my subordinates at work.’” —findgregasap If you ever see a boss refusing to help when it’s busy or delegating a task poorly (e.g. the blinds guy has to go pick stock while your boss hangs out in the back room taking calls), quit." —GardenSpecialist5619 “Oh, god, my job is like that. For minimal effort, we make $15-plus an hour starting and $18-plus if you are a lead. (I should note this is rural-ish Minnesota, so 15-plus is quite good.) The job takes no effort at all, we are always hiring, and we go through staff like a chainsmoker with cigs.” —delcan_-_ —Choice_Bid_7941 “Or 3.) Their standards are so low that you’re genuinely the best employee they have because the workplace is so full of shit people.” —Arammil1784 “They hire you on the spot and have you start immediately. There’s a reason they’re that desperate to fill a spot; nobody wants to be there, LOL.” —HolidayMan01 “If at the job interview, on the spot, they ask me to fill in new employee details, bank details, and tax file number info. I’m expecting to be interviewed, not hired on the spot. Red flags galore there.” —otherpeoplesknees 2. Do your interviewers show up on time? Are they constantly checking their phones? Do they end it immediately on time even if the next person isn’t ready? This shows a few things, like how tight and busy are people. It’s good to be busy, but not so busy that you can’t take 30 minutes to meet with someone. It also shows where priorities lie in terms of new talent acquisition. 3. Ask people what they do for fun and how often they engage in those activities. Look for answers that show a lack of energy or time on the weekends. This will obviously vary by people and their personal interests, but if you ask all your interviewers the same question, you can look for trends. 4. Ask people where they see their careers in three to five years. This can be a good indicator for how quickly they feel they can move up and how much development is in the role. It’s important to understand how the company promotes as well. Look for answers that show that people have the time and ability to think about growing in the future. At the tech company, a lot of people said, ‘I’m not sure, I haven’t thought about it,’ which in hindsight should have been an indicator that they didn’t have the time or tools to develop themselves. These are not hard rules, and there will always be exceptions, but regardless, look for leading indicators of a bad situation." —Silver_Lion
