'Oh, people like to work late': 20+ Workplace red flags that scream, "Don't work here"

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    'Nobody works here for the money'
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    What is a red flag from an employer that people might not immediately recognize as a red flag?
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    The Quicktrigger When an employee quits or gets fired from the job and the company doesn't hire anyone new to replace them. It can be hard to tell as a red flag at first, but the temporary workload they added to your own over that was left over after the person left, slowly becomes your new permanent workload, without any
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    changes to your pay or benefits to compensate for the additional tasks. The further out it goes without the position being filled, the larger and more obvious the red flag becomes.
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    sn... This is such a good question. Here are some thoughts- and for context I've started several companies, hired a lot of people, and consequently spent a lot of time thinking about how to develop positive cultures. -The CEO/boss/whatever drives a conspicuously expensive car. I can
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    elaborate why this is a tell if anyone cares. -If it's a private/family company, do a Google search for '[company name] defendant' and '[company name] plaintiff'. If the company has been sued, or is in the habit of suing others, that can be a red flag- although something there are legit reasons for either. But it's something worth paying attention to.
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    -If when you are asked to come in for an interview, you are not treated with total respect for your time- for example, if you find yourself waiting for extended periods for an interview because 'so and so is in a really important meeting'. Similarly, if you are not offered at least water and/or coffee if you're in for several interviews. I once interviewed at a place for seven straight hours with no
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    break, no food, not even a glass of water. Fortunately I wasn't offered the job as it was at Michael Milken's firm... before he went to prison. -If the company brings alcohol into the office for 'end of week' sessions on a regular basis. I know they can be fun but it's a stupendously bad idea for all kinds of reasons and if leadership hasn't figured
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    that out then I'd think twice before joining. -If when you're visiting the company for the first time and you pass someone in a hallway, do they smile and acknowledge your presence with a nod or maybe a hello, or do they ignore you? It's a small thing but very telling about the workplace culture. Similarly, do people seem 'healthy and energized' or 'grey-faced and tired'?
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    -ANY 'bait and switch' deviations from representations made during the recruiting process vs. actual terms/conditions. -If it's a job in a manufacturing or distribution facility, is it messy or tidy? Messy, cluttered facilities are indicative of poor management, plus they can be dangerous.
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    -As others have noted, any B.S. about 'oh people like to work late' or stuff like that used as pressure to get you to put in extra hours. -Last, pay attention to your gut feel. If something feels. 'off', it probably is.
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    co... Anything that the manager says in the interview that doesn't line up with the job description.. "yea we posted it's a manager level position, but this is actually a coordinator role". "yea the description says travel is 25% but it might be closer to 50 it just depends".
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    "We did post it as a remote job, but we prefer people to be in the office X days a week" "Yea we phrase it that way in the job description because corporate says we have to" All of those are red flags. ANYTHING a company is vague about should be a red flag.
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    abolish_gender I know people (rightfully) like to hate on HR, but if a company brags about "not having an HR department to deal with," expect them to be very disorganized at a minimum.
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    JetSetJAK If the job description has a nondescriptively massive salary range ($25,000-$100,000)
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    Joeyjackhammer When you don't get a review until you ask for a raise. Then, all of a sudden, you work is being questioned and you're being berated.
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    T-money79 Open interviews. It tells me that people leave faster than you can bring them in, and with good reason.
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    ctone777 Interviewed with a regional vp of a billion dollar company for a sales role. When I asked if the position. was a backfill or open due to growth, he stated a backfill. I asked if the person was promoted or moved to a new role, and his response was "we have had more people quit in 2021 than ever, and it's because they can't handle the pressure".
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    Needless to say, I declined the next step in the hiring process.
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    aattanasio2014 Trying to rush a decision out of you once the offer is made. I once interviewed with a company where I would have been relocating across the country to work for them. There were 3 rounds of interviews and they left me completely in the dark for weeks on end between each round before inviting me to
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    the next round within just a few days of when the interview would take place. After the final interview it was over a month of silence from them until they made an offer but told me I had less than 24 hours to let them know my decision. I would have been moving 2,000 miles away from home to a place I had never been or even seen before (interviews were completely
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    virtual). They wanted me to start 6 days after the offer had been made. When I asked if there was any flexibility for me to have more time to think it over or have more time to move out there, they said no. They needed the decision the next day and if I accepted I would be starting in less than a week. I declined the offer.
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    mfgfvd I always ask the question "why is this role open? Is it a new role, or am I replacing someone? Why did that person leave?" This really helps you seeing their reaction and if they look nervous it's because the person who left did it because they were not happy.
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    I also like asking how "senior" my team members are, if there's noone there more than 2 years I would also be concerned. Final question, as I work in sales, I always ask "what's the KPIs and how many are actually hitting their quarterly and annual target?" This also reveals if they set their targets too high and you can expect to enter a grim working culture
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    where you're never "good enough" and can always "do better". Last one, I like asking about how they are working to establish a team culture as well, since this will tell you a lot if people at work are "friends" or just there to do their job
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    I_am_dean The "sink or swim" technique. It was my first day as a cashier, I got a couple of hours of training, then I was by myself and we were dead. All of a sudden this rush came in and I was asking for help. The manager goes "sink or swim, we're busy back here, figure it out."
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    Lol I did but let me tell you customers were not happy because I still didn't know how to properly enter in orders, especially modifications.
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    [deleted] 'Nobody works here for the money.' Why should they work there, then?
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    topothesia773 "Competitive pay" but they wont tell you what the pay actually is in the posting or even the interview
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    votefawnmoscato Asking if I planned to have children in the interview (I was 19)
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    rockkicker27 Asking if you are somebody who's "willing to put in the time to make sure deadlines are met/work is done" or if you're "the type of person who leaves when the 'workday' is finished?". This is generally corporate speak for "we will be forcing you to work unpaid overtime".
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    zbysior To me it was a " we will start you low and will give you a ton of money later" they never do. Never happens
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    Zickna They try to sell you their service during your interview. | it was really really bad.
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    Or... MULTIPLE MANAGERS TO REPORT TO* If you're being interviewed/hired and they tell you have/will have multiple managers to report to. Basically if there is not a clear chain of command. What'll happen is eventually one manager's directions, goals or instructions will
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    conflict with the other's, and you'll get caught in the middle of it. And one or both will use it against you in performance reviews.
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    Flyinpotatoman Everybody is very young in a very old company.
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    theWildBore I interviewed once at a very huge organization that had a site in the town I was living in, and these guys were so proud of the new top of the line facilities. When they took me on a tour they pointed out the lovely zen garden area that was made for employees to go "unwind
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    and clear their heads". The problem with it was this area was positioned directly across from all the higher ups offices. Yeah... no.

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