Lately, people on Reddit have been sharing the red flags you should look out for while job hunting — the telltale signs that a workplace might actually be toxic.
But what about the GREEN flags? When you're in a job interview, you might be able to spot a few signs that the workplace — and the coworkers — could actually be great.
Here are some "green flags" you should know, as shared by redditors:
1. "When you come into the office and see people casually talking and laughing about something work-related. Bonus points if one of them is the interviewer."
2. "If the position is open because the person was promoted, not terminated."
3. "We were doing a walk-and-talk job interview as the manager was showing me the facilities. When the manager not only greeted the custodian by name, but also asked about his wife and kids by name, I knew this would be an awesome place to work!"
4. "The office being empty at 5:30 p.m. I visited a friend at his office after-hours a couple of weeks before interviewing for a position there (they have a bar in the office). This is a multibillion-dollar tech company, and I'd estimate about 3 percent of the employees were still there at 5:30. It showed me that the company really respected their employees' time."
5. "A happy, relaxed atmosphere and staff that have been there a good while. If they're hiring constantly to replace people who have quit, chances are it's a shitty place to work."
6. "Low turnover. A company that doesn't have to replace employees very often usually means job satisfaction."
7. "When the interviewer tells you in clear terms what the possibilities for advancement and raises are, and how best to succeed as an employee working for them."
8. "If nobody is wearing a suit or dress shirt."
9. "People having a smile on their face instead of staring like a zombie at their computer or desk."
10. "Talk to the receptionist. If they are happy for more than just a cursory hello, you're usually good."
11. "When they try to convince me that it's a great place to work and that I want to be there, instead of treating the position like a carrot they are dangling in front of me that I should be grateful to chase. A job is a mutually beneficial working relationship. Fucking act like it."
12. "Honesty. I always ask the interviewers what the worst part of the job is, and it's a pretty good tell about whether they're being honest with you. And if they won't tell you what the worst thing about the job is, you definitely don't want the job."
13. "If the higher-ups are genuinely nice. I think there's a tendency for business to advance assholes up the career ladder at a greater rate than kind people. So if you find a business where some truly decent people find themselves in positions of power, it's a good sign that the company has values and a good working environment instead of a culture of anything for a buck."
14. "Seeing employees taking breaks is a good sign. Absolutely everyone was working on something when I interviewed for a job, and that should have been a red flag that the store was horrendously understaffed."
15. "Employer at my current job told me: 'We don't care if you make reasonable mistakes. We just want you to inform someone when it happens so we can fix it and move on.' This was a huge plus in my book because so many places freak out when normal, human mistakes happen, and employees hide it from them for fear of being fired over small stuff."
16. "For me, the first green flag is that the interviewer isn't an office drone who's conducting a textbook interview and going through the motions."
17. "The number-one green flag of every good job I've worked at is that they test my abilities. Every company that has given me a pre-interview test or interview exercise or some other way of testing my skills has turned out to be competent. Every company that has not done this has turned out to have hired idiots."
18. "Look around when you are walking through the building. When I was walking from the receptionist's desk to my now-manager's office, I looked around everywhere. I saw we all had dual monitors, there were multiple microwaves, refrigerators, and coffee machines that were full. I also saw one guy listening to music while working, and another even had a movie up on his second screen. I later learned that we got free coffee and could watch or listen to things like TV shows as long as we were focused on work and got our work done."
And finally...
19. "Probably too late to be a green flag for anyone applying for the job but: They call you back if you didn't get the job after an interview. Bonus points if they point out your strengths and what you can do to improve yourself."
You can check out more workplace "green flags" on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.