'He showed me other peoples' paystubs': 25+ Job-seekers who spotted red flags at their interviews

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 29, 2023 3:00 PM EST

Go with your gut during your next job interview. These people did, and it saved some of them from terrible jobs. 

A lot of times as we're seeking a new job, we may feel a sense of desperation. If you're at a toxic job looking for something better, you might overlook the red flags you notice during your interviews. And if you're unemployed, the thought of looming bills and rent payments might cause you to jump at the first place that offers you a position. 

Sometimes you can spot red flags just by talking to the hiring manager, as a few people mentioned in this r/askreddit thread. U/pbourree wanted to know about the more subtle red flags a job-seeker might encounter while on the hunt for a new gig. It may be as subtle as the hiring manager being unsure about the best perks of working there. Or maybe you spot a cartoon on someone's desk about how angry bosses can be. There's no way to know for certain, but these little hints can point to a larger company culture issue. 

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  • You can check out all of the eye-opening responses below. Up next, this boss knew he had to get rid of some unsavory graffiti, so he told his employee to ‘only wash where the paint is.’

  • 01
    SIRI R 40 ఆంధ్ర Aimer CMR1440 3
    via LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
  • 02
    What are subtle red flags at a job interview that say "working here would "?
    via u/pbourree
  • 03
    ikogut I always ask about training and learning curves. Every job I've had that went wrong- I notice that when that question came up they stumbled. The current job I have, when I asked the question they had sparks in their eyes as they explained the whole process from day 1 of shadowing to the transition to working solo. And even when hit they managed C to continue without skipping a beat.
    via u/ikogut
  • 04
    takatori They told me all about their generous severance packages. In the initial interview. Turnover city.
    via u/takatori
  • 05
    IM_OK_AMA "Well, the overtime isn't mandatory, but most folks stick around after hours most days." Spoilers: The overtime is mandatory.
    via u/IM_OK_AMA
  • 06
    khanman504 Was interviewed by a Senior programmer and the department head. The department head was continuously making condescending remarks towards the other interviewer. Poor guy just sounded broken. Hope he's somewhere else now.
    via u/khanman504
  • 07
    GentleLion2Tigress. On a second interview the general manager brought me into the conference room with his 8 managers present. At first I thought it was a meet and greet but no, they grilled me for an hour and a half. Didn't appreciate that along with a couple other things and politely withdrew from being considered.
    via u/GentleLion2Tigress
  • 08
    Couple months later I'm playing in a ball tournament and come across one of the managers. I mentioned how weird that interview was. He says 'Weird for you? Ha! I found out then and there you were being interviewed for my job!'. Yep, dodged a bullet there.
    via u/GentleLion2Tigress
  • 09
    lempiraholio Once an interviewer straight up asked me if I had any trouble working for free on weekends... I told them my free time is more valuable than anything and that the only way that I would work a weekend is if they are paying me and if I felt like working a weekend. She got really mad at me and ended the interview right away. Biggest red flag I've ever seen because they didn't even try to hide it.
    via u/lempiraholio
  • 10
    + [deleted] My favorite is 'there's alot of people waiting in line to work here, count yourself lucky. Huge red flag
    via u/ [deleted]
  • 11
    Space2345 When they ask out of no where what clients can you bring with you.
    via u/Space2345
  • 12
    Dragons LoooveTacos. This actually happened to me: Interviewer: Do you have any questions for us? Me: what is a challenge this department has recently faced? Interviewer: Job security
    via u/Dragons LoooveTacos
  • 13
    Doobledorf Besides always hiring, they seem almost overly eager to say, "Yes, we could do that!" to everything you ask. No job will have literally everything you want, and if your gut is telling you they seem to be promising a bit more than they can offer, they likely are.
    via u/Doobledorf
  • 14
    Saxon_Shields69 When you are signing all the forms they give you and you are taking your time to read over every document so that you can fully understand what you are getting into and people come in and start telling you that you don't need to read this and that just sign here and so on.
    via u/Saxon_Shields69
  • 15
    [deleted] I didn't know it at the time, but "you'll be wearing many hats" was a sign that they were going to give me the work of four positions and the wage of one. I didn't last a year there before I left and now I won't even finish reading job ads that include that line.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    kharmatika My current boss gave me a great tip on the last interview I had. He said "Ask them if you can pick an employee to chat with about how they like the position you're applying for. They'll give a better impression of the place than management". I got the job I was interviewing for. I turned it down because the above is the kind of management I want to keep in my life. Also the place undercut my pay offer I found out which is certainly also a red flag.
    via u/kharmatika
  • 17
    accidentpronehiker. "You are required to wear clothing that has the company logo. You must purchase it yourself. From the company."
    via u/accidentpronehiker
  • 18
    53raptor I once showed up for an interview and the manager wasn't there that day. No one called me to let me know. The assistant manager was not apologetic for the scheduling issue at all. She was literally just like "oh, she's not here today" in a tone that suggested I should Somehow already know that. She said they would call me to reschedule some time the next week. I told her I was currently unavailable M- W but could come in any time Th-F. She said if I couldn't make time for the interview,
    via u/53raptor
  • 19
    elsewhere. You'd think that would be the end of it, but both the manager and the assistant manager badmouthed me to a few other people in the industry, including one of my friends. Hello? I made time for an interview. You disrespected me by not calling me to let me know it was canceled. I gave you the times I was available to reschedule, and that was disrespectful somehow?
    via u/53raptor
  • 20
    Xerodo Jobs where the expectations of the position aren't clear. The person hiring you should be able to give a clear idea of your responsibilities are day to day in a practical way. It shows that the company understands what it wants out of the position. I've worked a couple positions that had a really hard time figuring out who was supposed to do what that lead to a lot of confusion and both of them had this in the interviews. If the company you're working for can't define what success in that
    via u/Xerodo
  • 21
    beard_lover When you ask, "what do you like about working here" and the interviewer talks about the location of the job ("it's a great place to live!") instead of the actual job.
    via u/beard_lover
  • 22
    T98i I asked this at one of my first interviews right out of school. My interviewer went, "That's a good question." and was ruminating for a good 2 minutes. She went with, "We get pretty good parking spots..." and quickly followed with, "...and the people are nice." Umm...
    via u/T98i
  • 23
    madeamashup I interviewed for an independent contractor position on a piece rate. It's hard to predict how much you're going to earn on a piece rate, so to attract me the manager showed me some paystubs from his guys. I noticed that: 1. He could easily cherry pick paystubs to show my his best guys best weeks. All that tells me is that I'm likely to make less than what he's showing me, at least on average.
    via u/madeamashup
  • 24
    2. The paystubs were obviously designed to be confusing. They were a full page and absolutely covered in data. He wanted me to be impressed by a dollar amount (obviously not accounting for costs which the contractor has to carry or taxes which the contractor has to deduct and pay) but he took them away before anyone could have deciphered what the pay period, piece rate, number of jobs or kms was.
    via u/madeamashup
  • 25
    3. He showed me other people paystubs! ?? Another red flag is that they were desperate to hire, because they didn't have enough contractors to deliver the work contracts they'd already sold. I had two guys from different offices call me after I'd declined the position who apparently still thought I was considering it.
    via u/madeamashup
  • 26
    "We only want the best of the best" Me: "how much are you paying?" "Minimum wage"
    via r/AskReddit
  • 27
    glitterpumps I brought up a company's awful Glassdoor reviews and they got so mad they ended the interview. Well. Guess I dodged that bullet
    via u/glitterpumps
  • 28
    Posaunne At my last place of work, the person interviewing me had a printed cartoon on their wall of someone who looked like a bomb had blown up in their face, with the caption "I spoke with 'boss' name' about it.. I guess we're still doing it". That wasn't subtle at all, but I ignored it. The boss was an absolute tyrant who wouldn't listen to her staff, consider changing her mind about anything, or let people do the work they were best suited to do. She wouldn't show up for weeks at a time. The
    via u/Posaunne
  • 29
    dachjaw I was once told "Sometimes the hourly workers go on strike and they lock us in to keep the production line running, but management brings us steaks and we have an informal agreement with the unions so you can cross the picket lines once a week to visit your wife."
    via u/dachjaw
  • 30
    WildeAquarius I had an interview once, the owner of the company told me he was going to hire me, let the man in the office train me, then fire that man once I was up to speed. He also told me that sometimes employees have to hold their paycheck. And the final capper, (not that I needed it, I had already decided not to work for him) was he told me I looked like his nephew. I am female.
    via u/WildeAquarius
  • 31
    + [deleted] If they seem too relieved that someone actually showed up for the interview.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    princessarielle6 Employees are either new hires or have been there for 15+ years with no in between. There is rno room for improvement - it's better to leave for advancement
    via u/princessarielle6
  • 33
    kitten896 Everyone looks tired, also you dont see anyone in your department before working in it other than the boss. Made this mistake a few time was the worst jobs
    via u/kitten896
  • 34
    VictorBlimpmuscle When they feel the need to reassure you in the interview that at that company, they "work hard, but also play hard." They don't play hard - it's a sweatshop and they're just trying to convince that's it's anything but one.
    via u/VictorBlimpmuscle
  • 35
    [deleted] "We don't like 'clockwatchers' here. We expect everyone to be committed." Expecting more work for no extra pay. Getting mad at you when you leave at 5 even though your stated work hours end a 5
    via u/[deleted]
  • 36
    ✪ [deleted] I once turned down a job offer because they mentioned that the previous person in the position had quit after a few months, and most of the people I interviewed with seemed stressed out.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 37
    They dodge questions on pay, meaning they don't pay enough for what they expect of you. The word "Family" in reference to the employees. Means they want you to work lots of unpaid overtime. EDIT: Also forgot, but if they keep talking about the "experience" you'll gain, that's also code for "We know we're going to be underpaying you."
    via r/AskReddit
  • 38
    bunintheoven2 I went into an interview for a low-level admin position, and they made my put my cell phone in a bucket up front, stating "no phones are allowed in the back. it reduces productivity." Big NOPE for me.
    via u/bunintheoven2
  • 39
    Autarch_Kade I had a job interview with two people asking questions. One of them brought questions for the wrong position. Things I found out later: The person on the IT team who had been with the company longest had been there just under a year. Their turnover was higher than McDonald's - over 50% turnover annually. They had a goal to get it down to 40%.
    via u/Autarch_Kade
  • 40
    Bonuses only get paid one year after you've been there... for a full calendar year, that only starts counting on January 1st. If you get hired January second 2020, you wouldn't get your first bonus until 2022. There was no manager for the programmers. There was no director for the IT team. They had tracking software for your every keystroke, idle time, programs you were active in. They would question idle time, which meant people on the phone with clients would be questioned often because their
    via u/Autarch_Kade
  • 41
    There was a lot going wrong but the interview slip up wasn't enough to really give it away in time. Suffice it to say they didn't meet their turnover reduction goal.
    via u/Autarch_Kade
  • 42
    D [deleted] You'll get full-time hours but wont be "full time" aka we'll do everything in our power to avoid giving you benefits even though we have you working more than 40 hours in a week.
    via u/ [deleted]
  • 43
    Stevieeeer If they tell you not to discuss pay. I never ever followed this rule. It's important to find a way to broach the subject with your coworkers. If they are of the mind frame that it's impolite to ask someone their pay then tell them yours and pay very close attention. Do they smile a bit? Do they look disappointed? Try to gauge from that. Because "we don't discuss pay" has always been a way to hold down wages and nothing else. It's illegal but unfortunately it occurs anyway
    via u/Stevieeeer
  • 44
    ChellynJonny "do you have a strong personality" meant everyone else who worked there were raging i who i literally got into massive shouting matches with and quit over within 6 months of having started. The money was good but no ty.
    via u/ChellynJonny
  • 45
    Edward_Morbius The ad for the job has been running continuously for 10+ years.
    via u/Edward_Morbius

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