Ive done my fair share of interviews and I've noticed that shitty companies tend to do a lot of the same tricks. If anyone says any of these things to you in an interview, cut it right there and walk. The odds of it being a good fit are about as good as the odds of you becoming the next Queen of England (as in pretty darn low).
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“We work hard and play harder.” This means they work constantly, have no life outside of work and in their free time they drown their pain in mass amounts of alcohol.
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“We're like a family here.” If it's an abusive family then sure, you're like a family. It's like you put up with your shitty relatives out of familial love and obligation so maybe you'll do the same for your shitty supervisor.
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“What's the absolute bare minimum you're willing to accept foe the job.” Because that's the top end of where our negotiations will start as we try to low ball you from there and we're looking for a super cheap deal here so whoever comes in at the lowest rock bottom price is the winner, competency and ability be damned!
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“Do you value work life balance?” Because you'll have no life if we hire you and we need to make sure you won't whine about it later.
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“You should be on call 24/7.” You're paying me to do a job, not to control my every waking hour. Unless you're a surgeon or a fire fighter, fuck this being on call nonsense.
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“We require flexibility with regard to working hours.” Meaning work late, work weekends, work all day everyday and if you have a kid or some other lame excuse that might keep you out of the office foe more than a 5 minute span, we don't want you.
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“You need to buy (fill in the blank) to start.” Sure, there are some trades in which you need your own tools but beyond that, anyone asking for money or requiring you to buy the shit they should be buying on behalf of their employees and are too cheap to do it is full of shit.
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“The job has great potential to get experience and training.” You should be paying us…but failing that, how about you work foe free or close to it.
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“Our people have to wear a lot of hats.” We're not actually going to staff up properly so you'll have to do the jobs of 3 or 4 people. Good luck with that.
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“We have a hard time keeping people in this role.” High turnover is a huge red flag. It Must really suck if people are bailing out that fast.
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“We've had a hard time filling thus position.” They're either too picky, too cheap or too unrealistic about the job.
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Anything that changes from the initial posting or offer. Salary, hours, duties, etc. You're in danger of the old bait and switch routine. Get you in the door and then see how low you'll limbo.
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“We have a startup mentality and culture”. So 80 to 100 hour weeks but no stake in the company like a start up, no raises or bonuses but there is a ping pong table.
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“We prohibit discussion of compensation with coworkers”. If you or they found out how much we're low balling you we might actually have to give raises around here.
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“We want people who are passionate about their job and the opportunity and aren't just in for the paycheck”. Because if you're going to work here, they paycheck isn't going to be very motivational.
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“We need you to come in for 4 more interviews. ” No one wants to be on the hook and take responsibility around here so if we spread the blame around our asses will be covered.
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If it's a restaurant that charges its employees to eat. If you can't afford a few meals for your people, you're either a failing business or a greedy one. Either way run, don't walk.
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If they ask for discretion because the person you're replacing doesn't know they're one hire away from getting a pink slip. If they did it to him they'll do it to you too. It's like dating a married man. If he cheats on his wife he's gonna cheat on you too eventually.
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“We'd like you to work for free for a day or two just to see how you fit in.” So free labor then? No fuck you. If you want me to do a job, pay me!
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“We'll start you at this ridiculously low figure for a 90 day probation period and if things work out don't worry, we'll bump you up to your expected salary. Trust us…either that or we'll so no and if you quit we'll consider ourselves lucky to have gotten 3 months of underpriced labor and we'll go look for our next victim.
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“We want someone who will go the extra mile.” Because we really want to exploit the crap out of you and we need you to have the kind of can do attitude that will allow us to do that.
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“Only the strongest stay at our company.” Because it's such a toxic environment with high turnover that few people stick it out.
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Any mention of working for or with someone with a big personality. This is code for narcissistic egomaniac who will make every waking minute of your life a living hell.
Finally look around for other red flags. Do you see signs up everywhere dictating terms to employees or treating them like children. Were you asked to sign any paperwork agreeing not to file complaints or other documentation? Look for red flags and heed them as the warnings they are. Run…don't walk!!