Interview red flags

The Traveling Introvert

Interview questions or things that might come up that are a red flag, that you probably shouldn't work for that organization or company. And this has come about because of various clients that I've worked with and various people that it's the start of the year. People are looking for new jobs. They want to make sure they have some sort of job security. But at the same time, they don't want to just say yes to anything.

So what could be a red flag when you were in the interview stage or even just reading through the job description stage of a role? So any time a role says, you will be wearing many hats. This is normally a sign that they're going to assign you two or three positions worth of work, rather, for the wage of one. It's one of those things. It's like, what do you do a little bit of this or a little bit of that.

But you also might be going to this team, another really big red flag that the company hasn't thought through. What that role actually is going to do is when they say that you'll be reporting to two or more people because it means they're not sure what you're going to be doing that have enough work for one full well under one department. So they're kind of splitting you up into two different departments. And then either both departments try and take ownership of you and your work or neither takes ownership of you on your work.

And then it gets really, really weird.

Another phrase that comes up a lot that is can be a red flag is everyone's like family here. So here's the thing. With organizations that tend to treat their workers like family is that means they expect you to work overtime or give up your weekends or be at your beck and call because family is available all the time. Right. You can call your mom, dad, sister, whatever, and any time of the night and they will back you up.

And so that is seen as a very big red flag. Also underpaying most people who work for a family organization or work for like my mom, dad, sister, whatever, a they might be qualified for the job. And B, they do it not realizing their worth and therefore are underpaid and overutilized. So we treat everyone like family here, not necessarily always the best sign or also when you are required to wear company logo clothing that you must purchase yourself from the company.

I've heard that come up a couple times when they're really, really happy that someone actually turned up for an interview because it means that maybe no one's turning up for the interviews or they're really desperate to hire. And most of the time when someone is desperate to hire, it means they haven't thought through what the world's going to do, where it resides, or the person who used to have that role left for a very good reason. And therefore, it's possibly not the best thing to be getting into.

So one thing, when you are also interviewing the company, a good question to ask your interviewer is, hey, so what do you like about working for this company if all they do is talk about the location and everything except the actual work and the job or the like? Oh, that's a good question. And they're like, the people are nice and run run for the hills because they can't tell you where they fit in the culture of the organization, how they make a difference and why they really enjoy working for that particular organization.

And so. Also, if you do get a video interview, see see if the person you're talking to looks tired because that that can be a thing, I ask them when they last worked weekends. Ask them what time they finished work. Ask them what time everyone else finishes work if you get to always finish at 5:00. But most of us are still here, eight or nine, because we had this project. And then if that's a one off, the next question obviously is how often does this happen in the past six months?

And if they like we've always had this big project, there's always something going on that means that over time is just normal, but probably not paid for it because you are salaried. So these are just things to think about when you are applying for a new job. One last one, if there are new hires and people have been there for 15 years, but nothing in between, it means there's no room for advancement. People are believed to be advanced and those who've been there for 15 years just keep their jobs.

So if you're looking for somewhere that you can move up, probably not the best fit for you. All right. Thank you for listening. This is [e-mail] helping you build your brand and get hired. I hope you have a great rest of your week.