The way it's important to look out for red flags in relationships — that same logic applies to companies when you're job hunting. Sometimes, when you're in the midst of the interview process, it can be easy to overlook certain things that indicate the company is not one you should work for.
To help you figure out which job ~red flags~ you should be on the lookout for, I rounded up responses from a Reddit thread that asked, "What screams: 'This company is not a good place to work?'" Here are some of them.
2. "When the longest working employee there has been around for less than a year."
3. "When the boss says it's illegal to discuss your wage with others."
4. "Speaking from experience, I met with the hiring manager for an interview, I got the offer at the table — they actually gave me more than advertised because of my experience — and I started Monday at 8 a.m. I showed up bright and early. The department manager, office manager, and store manager had no idea who I was or that I was coming."
5. "Someone leaves, their responsibilities get piled on to someone else, and the business thinks it's working so why hire a replacement? Then, that person eventually caves, and now, two jobs are piled on to the next person. By the time the company thinks they have to hire someone, nobody wants to do three people's work for one person's pay."
"This reminds me of a job listing I saw two years ago for a nonprofit. The pay was $2,000/month, required a Master's in a social sciences field, and 5+ years of experience. The position seemed like three people quit and the manager is trying to fill the positions with one person. It required administrative work, HR work, secretary, and work with data."
6. "Anything with a vague job description, especially if they do a mass interview. I spent three months at a well-known retail and grocery inventory service until they screwed me out of nearly $500 in pay and wanted me to adjust my school schedule around them. That's the only time I have ever ghosted a job."
7. "One of my first jobs always had a sign in the window that said, 'We’re hiring.' So, I applied and got the job along with one other person, but they never took the sign down. The job was awful, and it caused me impending doom anxiety every day I had to go there. After I was fired (lol), I would walk by every so often, and there was still the 'We’re hiring' sign in the window."
8. "'We're like a family.' Just walk out. Hearing this means there will be cliques, and expectations to work long hours and to put up with some REALLY shady stuff. There are no outliers with this red flag."
9. "In the interview, ask them, 'What opportunities for advancement will there be?' If they can't come up with anything, you’re either applying for a dead-end position, or the company has no concept of employee retention and advancement, both of which are huge red flags."
10. "When the grandfather was the COO, after him the son was, and later the grandson. Bad habits never die, they say."
11. "Five rounds of multi-hour interviews. Unless you’re applying to be the CEO, there’s no reason to waste everyone’s time with such a horrible hiring process."
12. "I had an interview once where I asked the interviewer, 'What is your favorite thing about working at this company?' and she sat there for, like, an awkward 10 seconds and then was just like, 'I just took this job after I graduated college because it was the first place that gave me an offer, but I guess the experience has been good.'"
13. "When you get paid more as a new employee."
14. "Stay-on bonuses. I know these can be viewed either way, but in my experience, when companies pay bonuses for your three-year, five-year anniversary, it seems they have trouble keeping people around — especially if the amounts seem exorbitant. That is often because they rarely pay them out because everyone is gone before then."
15. "When the employees are either close to retirement age or they're all fresh out of school, but there's no one in between."
