10 Red Flags During the Interview Process that Warrants a Side-Eye

Have you ever gotten hired on the spot? It’s one of the greatest feelings ever. There are times when an employer can recognize a quality candidate and want to take them off the market immediately. However, other companies are so understaffed that they seem overly eager to offer titles and positions to anyone who needs one. While there’s no sure-fire way to tell if an on-the-spot offer or another occurrence is a red flag, before giving your verbal acceptance, do your due diligence. Then, continue reading to learn of additional red flags that might present themselves during the interview and hiring process.

Flag #1: Hiring You on the Spot!

While many sectors face staffing shortages because of COVID-19, some companies are notorious for their high staff turnover rate. If you have read our previous blogs, you know that employees quit for a variety of reasons. However, poor staff culture, incompetent leadership, or unclear roles and responsibilities are often huge factors. This results in a revolving door of employees transitioning into and out of positions. Therefore, when companies meet candidates, they become eager to offer them a job and start immediately. While this is not always a red flag, you should be wary of them offering you a position on the spot, especially if you feel pressured to accept without having time to think about or negotiate your offer.

Flag #2: Incentives and Perks that Make You Work More Without Realizing It 

Upon hearing that companies offering employee incentives such as free meals and other perks, many of us were envious. In recent times, companies are choosing to reward and incentivize their employees by granting unlimited paid time off and ping-pong tables in the break room. But you must ask yourself, what is the drawback? Employees who have worked at organizations that offer free laundry pick-up, free dinners, and nap pods feel that these incentives are blurring the line between work and life. You end up spending more time in the office with your co-workers instead of at home with your friends and family. Studies since the end of quarantine reveal that many companies are shifting towards unlimited paid-time-off and work from home flexibility, resulting in employees working more hours than they would have in the building. Crazy, right?! Everything that glitters is not gold.

Flag #3: Ignoring Requests to Speak with Current Employees 

Speaking with current employees in or like your position is a great way to learn more about company policies and work culture. When requesting an internal contact, job seekers often do if they are unsure about accepting a new role or entering a new sector. However, if you find that your request goes unanswered, or worse, dissuaded, you should begin to wonder why. Even at the worst jobs, there is always one employee that has something positive to say. So, if you feel that they are trying to hide something or prevent you from asking questions unsupervised, you should continue to do your due diligence to ensure that this position and company is the right next step in your career. 

Flag #4: Pinky Promises

Recruiters and hiring managers can see when you are hesitant about an offer. To prevent you from walking away from the company, they might make promises about the future to appease your asks for advancement, money, or responsibility. This is particularly the case when they offer you a lower salary than your experience or education warrants. While often they have good intentions when speaking about these matters, the recruiter or hiring manager might not have the power to control what happens in the future. Then, when the bonus that you were expecting does not occur, you are resentful and back on the job search. Should you encounter this during your negotiation or interview stages, ensure that everything communicated verbally regarding your career trajectory and incentives is followed up in writing so that you have something concrete to speak to your manager with after starting.   

Flag #5: Offer Letter Does Not Reflect Negotiations

As a continuation of the flag mentioned above, get everything in writing. The hiring and onboarding process can be very time-consuming and busy for companies. Therefore, even those with the best intentions sometimes forget to follow through on verbal agreements that were made. When you receive your offer letter, ensure that everything discussed is listed explicitly in the letter. Beyond money, if you negotiated flex time, PTO days, or anything else, ensure it is included. Failure to do so might result in the company not holding up their end of the bargain, considering that sometimes many people and departments are involved in the hiring and interviewing, and not always your direct manager. Therefore, getting negotiations in writing lets you ensure that all interested parties are on the same page before you sign your offer. Emphasis on before, because once you sign, chances of a successful re-negotiation are lessened. 

Flag #6: Wait, that Doesn’t Answer the Question 

You should always have questions to ask the employer at the end of your interview to determine if the company matches what you are looking for in your career trajectory. I encourage clients to ask the same questions at all interviews to compare responses and make the most informed choice for themselves. However, if you are asking about diversity and inclusion initiatives or work culture, they are giving you a cookie-cutter answer…. flag on the play! When given generic answers, follow-up with a more specific question to push them to speak specifically. Not only does this allow you to determine if they are making something up, but it also provides you with a more precise answer to inform your ultimate decision. 

Flag #7: Vague Job Descriptions

How a company advertises a role is a great tool to dig into their work and staff culture. A company posting a vague or incomplete job description can signal that 1) they are disorganized and rushed to post it, 2) the role is new and unclear with no core vision, 3) it is a catch-all position that will be doing a little bit of everything. Regardless of the reasoning, though, all these reasons get an immediate side-eye from me. Depending on what you are looking for in your next role, a vague job description might excite you in a “choose your own adventure” way. However, if you crave and value structure, this might be your first sign that this company might not be for you. Instead of nixing your application right away, though, you should conduct informational interviews with staff members at different levels to gain a better scope of the role to ensure that it is aligned with your career goals. 

Flag #8: Unprofessional Interview Process

Every company leads its hiring and onboarding processes differently. However, some norms across all sectors ensure that new employees are set up for success and welcomed. If you find that managers are not responsive to communication or short, this might be a sign that they do not value their employees. Take this with a grain of salt, though, and extend grace as many folks balance multiple responsibilities. However, if they are not showing remorse for long delays in responses or disorganization, this might foreshadow what it may be like working there. How they treat you during the interview and onboarding process is a clear example of how you will be treated when you start. 

Flag #9: Offered a Different Position than Applied For

Being offered a role that you did not apply for seems like a blessing in disguise. However, it often makes me wonder why it was not communicated earlier in the hiring process before the formal offer was extended. In my experience, this might signal a recent sudden departure in a more advanced position that they want you to fill. In addition, walking into this scenario might create resentment between you and other employees, mainly if the role was never listed for them to consider. When you find yourself in this predicament, ensure that you have conducted your research about the average salary offered so that you are not low-balled, even if you do not have the experience or education typically expected.

Flag #10: Poor Company Reviews

I am always wary of reviews for companies and restaurants alike. Mainly because I understand that only folks with polar experiences usually write them. If they love a job, they are raving about the experience and culture. Still, if they had a negative experience, they go into detail about how they were wronged, and it is the worst place in the world. Use company reviews as a starting point when crafting your questions to ask. It provides a particular perspective as you go through the hiring process that allows you to investigate further and find evidence about the claims being made.

Ultimately, like dating, you can identify many things as red flags when engaging in the hiring and onboarding process. Regardless of what you see, conduct your thorough investigation to determine if your clues are valid or simply rooted in fear of change. If you are giving your new job offer a side-eye, there might be a plausible reason that you just cannot name. So basically, always trust your gut!  

Diana Williams, Resume Tailor