Hiring practicies at many corporations are designed to maximize employee labor value, while minimizing the cost of their FTEs.
For instance:
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Many managers and supervisors cannot address compensation during interviews and instead are told to direct applicants to HR. When benefits, compensation, and job responsibilities are siloed in different departments, it disseminates individual responsibility for ensuring that you are adequately compensated.
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Some application processes include uneeded or redundant work on purpose. It is corporate best practice to have applicants invest significant time in the process before outlining benefits or compensation. You are more likely to compromise and take fewer benefits or less compensation if you invested time in the application.
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It always benefits the employer to describe themseves as a family, or to frame their environment as a socially valueble experience. This isnt exactly a red flag, but rememeber that to you the worker, these statements hold little to no real value.
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If during the interview with management you hear questions about “work ethic”, “reliability”, or “pulling your weight”, know that these are issues in the role you are applying for. People who like their jobs show up for them and do them. People who dont, are being asked to do something unpleasant.
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As a general rule there are two jobs. Jobs where you are hired doing something that no one else wants to do, and one where you are doing something no one else can do. Be sure to go for roles in the latter catagory. You will be treated far better the more indisposable you are.
Finally,
This doesnt apply to every industry, but make sure you understand what the job actually is.
Use glassdoor and double check what the job is calling itself vs what the responsibilities are. There are many places that pay for a title, but not what the actual labor entails. Too many times people bid for titles instead of roles. Some employers use titles to devalue roles instead of hiring appropriately.