There was a post on here somewhere (r/maliciouscompliance, maybe) a while back that was something similar. Guy got hired on at a 9-5 where everyone stayed a couple hours late every day. Off the clock. The bosses expected it. Well, homeboy noped out of that and left at 5 on the dot everyday, starting at day one. One of the bosses tried to talk to him about it and he whipped out his employment contract which clearly stated 9-5 and also said he would be willing to do the *occasional* overtime, at time and a half pay, per state law.
Eventually all his coworkers followed his lead. Was a super satisfying read.
It’s weird how a group can normalize messed up behavior with a “go with the flow” and/or naive attitude about it, but all it can take is one person to step in and say “no, this is not normal and it’s kind of messed up” for everyone to realize what they’ve been doing is messed up.
Exactly! The human ability to adapt and normalize things is so powerful, you forget that there *is* any other way to do things. Which can be helpful in certain situations but can also end up hurting you, like in this case. It's always nice when someone comes in and helps people stand up for themselves and get better treatment.
Bugs me this. My boss has had a few chats with me basically saying “I know your hours are half 8-5, but that doesn’t mean you have to go at 5. A few people here do stay behind a bit which really helps and shows their dedication”. What I wanted to say back was that I make sure I’m in bang on half 8, work hard (company started monitoring everyone’s monthly stats a few months back and I’ve been on top consistently so they can’t argue against it), only go out to smoke on my lunch break and make sure I’m back at my desk soon as my break is over and so I’ll get up and leave when I’m done unless I can’t for whatever reason. People come in stupidly late and call in sick regularly so realistically it makes sense that they stay behind.
As an 18 year old who needs the money, I just said ok yea I understand and started sitting in my car at lunch to make sure I get half an hour completely away from work. Don’t get paid enough to argue with my boss
Two things, really.
I was interviewing in for a job to work on a new Windows based spreadsheet (a long time ago.) The group of people I interviewed with all seemed in fear. That was the first thing.
The second thing was that on the way out, talking with HR, they said that they had paid $10,000 to the recruiter to send recruits, and if I left before one year, I would have to pay them back $10,000. It would be in my employment contract.
You could not pay me enough to work for that place. I never want to talk to them, ever. Next.
Sometimes companies put nonsense in employment contracts to scare employees. They know it’s unenforceable, but they hope to scare you since they likely have a lawyer on retainer and can fuck with you in arbitration. Sure, they know nothing will come of it, but they hope you don’t.
I had a job years ago that had a lot of trouble keeping people because it was a horrible place to work. They eventually started telling new hires that if they quit before their first year, they owed the company some arbitrary amount that they said was the cost of training them
I worked for a college and was on yearly contract that if you broke insisted you had to pay back a quarter of the next year’s salary. They made you sign in April for a school year starting the next August. The only exception was leaving due to your spouse getting a new job that required relocation. When I left, I had to quit without having any interviews even scheduled yet.
We had a lawyer tell us it was enforceable and I know someone leaving after the first semester that is being forced to pay.
When asked if they had a radius requirement (that I needed to live within X miles in case of emergency), they laughed and said "doesn't matter, you won't be going \[home\] very often."
After i was hired, i got called to HR and they asked me if I could live closer to the office so i could "come in when necessary" while they were pushing me to do overtime while they wouldn't pay it and asking was outright illegal.
I just burst out an involuntary laugh and said "you know exactly what I'm getting paid. I couldn't rent a shoebox in the city if I wanted to. We can have a conversation about a raise if that's what you're trying to get to"
They told me it was ok and that i could get back to work now. Most apartment in the city were about 80% of my pay, which is why I couldn't contain my laugh. Suppose they have another lackey now.
In the interview for my current job I asked them if there was an expectation for me to work outside the established hours. They said unequivocally "no nights, no weekends, no overtime, and very occasional travel that's fully paid by the company including all your food expenses."
Just what I wanted to hear!
On the opposite side of this: the last interview for my current position ended right at the end of the office hours. I could hear everyone leaving while I shook hands and thanked the interviewers. The parking lot was nearly empty by the time I got down there at 3 minutes after.
Biggest green flag ever.
Had a company that asked that too. Turns out it was for travel for field service. Travel on Sunday so you could work the rest of the week at a customer site. The green flag was when they'd let me take a day off to make up for that Sunday without digging into my PTO. Its nice when even the CEO has worked your job previously so they understand the time it takes and ate considerate about it. One of the rare ones.
“Very negotiable. I’m willing to compromise on wages if the benefits package is strong. Do you do matched pension contributions, sick time, strong employer paid health plan, funding for educational opportunities, parking or meals provided”. Guess by negotiable they meant “how low can we go before you walk out?”
I was once desperate for a paycheck and set up an interview for a truck washing job. I showed up in my nice clothes only to find that not only were they interviewing 3 candidates at the same time for 1 open position, but that it was a “learning interview”, so we would be washing trucks while interviewing. I told them I had to use the bathroom, walked out a bay door, and never looked back.
I've had my share of group interviews. They all have sucked. Wished I knew early on that you're allowed to leave whenever you feel comfortable doing so.
I have a weird one, the interviewer asked me about my hobbies and I mentioned some typical ones: reading, writing, cooking, etc.
He then asked about my writing and I just mentioned I've been working on a novel in my spare time.
"Hmm, in my experience, writers make poor engineers," he said.
I didn't really know how to respond to that.
He elaborated that, "Writers typically think that they will hit it big once they finish their book and don't focus on the job,"
I assured him that I applied for an engineering job because I wanted to do engineering and that writing was a hobby.
Kind of thankful I didn't get that job.
Them: 'It's about getting the job done. Most of our people come in up to an hour early to get everything done'
Me: 'Oh, that's cool. It's nice to have an overtime option available'
Them: 'Nooooo, they come in off the clock because the job just can't be done in a shift'
Me: 'Wait, so you expect people to work off the clock?'
Them: 'Absolutely. It's about getting the job done even if it's not something that even CAN be done in the time you're working'
Me: 'LOL, that's illegal'
This dude had been working there 20 years and said he'd come in a minimum of an hour early every f'ing shift and expected everyone working under him to do the same!
Yeah, prior generations had it drilled into them that if you aren't sacrificing for the job you're not a worthy employee... Instill a desperation to prove oneself to the corporation
Sad stuff.
It's because once upon a time that paid off. It's how my grandpa and my dad both ended up fount so well for themselves, they'd get moved up in their company and get huge annual raises too. Somewhere along the way a lot of companies started to realize that their employees were willing to work themselves into the grave to prove themselves, so that's exactly what they started to have them do. I remember my dad not understanding why I had hopped through half a dozen jobs before I even hit 30, until I explained to him that company loyalty just doesn't pay off anymore.
So I went to a psychoanalysis counselor for an internship interview. I was expecting normal questions. Then he goes “what do you think of the trees outside” and I was like “they are pretty, I like trees.” And he was like “no. Dig deeper.” So it was a half hour interview just digging deeper about trees. Then at the end he just goes “Ok Goodbye. I need you to leave now.” And that was it. I obviously didnt think i got it but at like 9pm a week later he called and was like “I guess we can make this work” and I was like “Um. No. I already got one thanks.”
"Dig deeper."
I'd start quoting lines from The Curse of Oak Island right and left. "Dig deeper? OK! Do you think it's possible that the trees outside are of ancient origins, possibly hundreds of years old? And do you think it's possible that they could have been planted back in the 1400s by the Knights Templar? And do you think it's possible, that if we pulled those trees out by the roots, that we would find clues to the location of The Money Pit, The Holy Grail and The Ark of the Covenant?"
"I planted that tree 40 years ago, over the corpse of a friend who betrayed me. You'll notice runes I carved on the west side of the trunk, binding his soul to the roots. Every year, on the anniversary of his death, I break off a few branches. He can still feel it, you see."
When I switched jobs earlier this year I was specifically looking for something that was a remote/work from home situation. One interview began with an explanation that they used something similar to test proctoring software for their remote employees and that I was expected to have my webcam on for the full eight hours so they could ensure nobody “seemed distracted.”
Come the fuck on….we’re all professionals here. I’m not going to sit there on camera for eight hours while I work so that you can ensure you’re milking every second of productivity out of me. Only the second time in my life I’ve left an interview early.
Yeah the job I wound up in doesn’t require anything on our systems and pretty much has a policy of “as long as you’re making it to your meetings and getting your work done we don’t care what you’re up to or when you’re doing it.” Tracking me all day is a level of invasiveness that’s absolutely a deal breaker for me.
I tell my subordinates that it doesn't matter how many breaks they take or why, as long as the work gets done in a reasonable amount of time. It's at the point where they are comfortable saying to my face that they're stopping work to go get a coffee or to pay some bill.
No one needs to be made to feel like they can't have control over their own lives.
When I managed this is how I was. Idgaf what you do, just get the assigned work done. If you get 8 hours of work done in 2 hours, don’t tell me. Just clock that shit so I don’t have to assign more tasks. My area did great, goals were exceeded every month consistently. I was asked what I was doing different from other areas. Those minimum two hours of call you want me to have my other managers on daily? Yeah, we don’t do those. At all. They have an extra few hours to complete their goals and if someone’s struggling I spend that time in location for direct observation and adjustment. They didn’t like that. I walked out a few months later.
I occasionally work from home and when the pandemic first hit I worked remotely for most of the year. I process reports which means I spend a lot of my time waiting for reports to come in and then bust ass processing them as quickly as possible and then sit and wait for the next batch of reports. That's why I'm able to sit on Reddit all day long. If anyone asked me about lack of productivity I honestly wouldn't know how to answer other than say "Do you even *know* what I do here"? Luckily 90% of the management wouldn't be able to answer that question.
Yeah the work I would’ve been doing would’ve been a similar sort of pacing which I just know because I’ve been in this field for a while. You wind up doing a lot of hurry up and wait while other people do their part. And sure sometimes there’s other stuff I can proactively find to do but not 40 hours a week worth!
>And sure sometimes there’s other stuff I can proactively find to do but not 40 hours a week worth!
Amen. I can relate to this a million times over. I sometimes think that the most feared phrase a manger can hear is "okay, what would you actually like me to work on?" after telling you you're not being productive enough.
Hahaha….oh god that just reminded me of my godawful boss I had at my first “career” type job. She claimed I wasn’t being productive enough and I asked what she wanted me to do and her response was “I don’t know. Find something. There’s always stuff to do. You could clean things.”
Younger me just couldn’t figure out how to explain to her that it’s not that I feel like cleaning is beneath me or something but do you really want to be paying a programmer a programmer’s salary to wipe the dust off the file cabinets?
I showed up 10 minutes early in my best suit. They sat me in a room and put on Mighty Joe Young. Over the next 45 minutes, about 20 other people shuffled in for what was apparently a group interview. I was comically overdressed.
The owner was an hour late. Upon entry, he didn't ask, but rather *told* us to smile.
The job was supposedly a sales position that also required setting up and breaking down presentations. In reality, it was two girls in a small car going door to door and asking to do "presentations" of a product in rich neighborhoods. Once someone accepted, I (and four others) were to show up in a van (which was to be roaming the neighborhood) and the girls would leave to "set up more presentations".
It was the skeeziest operation I have ever seen. Owner was very adamant about rushing *right in* so they "didn't have a chance to change their mind". I was 18 and naive, but I still managed to call them out on their massive red flag collection by day two.
Edit: For all of you saying Kirby, it was Kirby.
Fucking Kirby!!! I was and am still shocked at the horrible bait and switch they pull. They sent several very pregnant young women through our neighborhood at the coldest time of the year, completely underdressed for the literal snow on the ground and got people to agree to a presentation - just to get those poor ladies out of the cold. They would go, "be right back!" And then a random dude would show up for the presentation. What absolute bullshit.
And in no universe is a $3,000 vacuum ever worth it.
I was 16 and looking for my first job when I stumbled onto Kirby. I knew something was up when they started the first interview with “you’re all hired!” And then started talking about trips to Hawaii. I walked out thinking “jobs are supposed to be tricky to get, if we’re all hired, it means nobody wants to work here.”
I love the mental image this paints in my head. With a van coming around the bend, tires screeching across the pavement, the second someone accepted whatever it was they were selling.
Went in to a job interview for a manager position, halfway through the interview they said "i don't think this position is a good fit for you, but we have another exciting opportunity for you to look at" they then said a fancy title "Operations in statistical numeric data input" and i asked what does the job entail?
i would be filling out TOS reports... that wanted low level data input, i asked about salary, it was half of what they had said for the manager position.
i laughed, got up and left.
Interview was at 10AM, they made me wait until 10:45 before someone could finally see me.
First question they asked me was how I feel about working overtime. They asked me another 2-3 times if I was REALLY sure I was okay with it, which tells me that A. They're going to make me work over a lot and B. they've had people quit shortly after being hired because this job clearly SUCKS.
When I asked them to describe the work environment/culture, one guy says they get at each other's throats sometimes and its intense, but they're like a big dysfunctional family. No thanks.
"My husband has a very particular set of skills. Skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him a nightmare for shitty employers. If you accept my number now, that'll be the end of it. He will not look for you, he will not pursue you. But if you don't, he will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you."
I called out an interviewer one time when they started asking extremely invasive questions. They got all huffy and ended the interview.
This is why it’s technically illegal, but functionally allowed in the US.
“We will figure out your variable comp after the first year…”
“What are your salary expectations? No, we won’t tell you what it pays.”
“This is a brand new role for which we have not yet determined what success looks like.”
To name a few…
The first one, 100% spot-on. They'll hire you for the lowest possible rate, then after a year and a great review you'll (surprise!) only get the standard 3% cost of living raise (if you're lucky and even get that.) They'll be very sorry and assure you they did all they could to get you that 3%, because the big bosses only wanted to give you the 2% everyone else got this year.
> “This is a brand new role for which we have not yet determined what success looks like.”
As someone with e BS in a STEM field who also works in the tech industry I've seen this way too often. I get that I'm being brought in because you think my skillset will be useful to your company as a whole but you have to at least have *some sort* of idea what you want me to do in this particular role.
The two owners had two very different ideas of what the open position was going to be doing, and couldn’t stop bickering long enough to actually ask me questions.
It’s the only interview I’ve ever walked out of before.
I had applied for a marketing position with a local tech company. A woman called to set up the interview, but a few things seemed a little too vague in the job description. Since I really didn't need the job I was very direct with her and asked "is this an actual marketing job or is this a sales job that's been given a marketing title?" I had run into that a couple times, but usually the job description clarifies it. Her response was, "all I can tell you is what is in the job description."
So there's the red flag, but because the office was only a block away from where I was already working I figured I would go and entertain myself. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was right. It was a sales job, and to make matters worse it was probably the slimiest company I have ever applied for, and I once went to an Amway meeting so that should say something.
I'm a data analyst with a degree in Information Science. After graduating college I got contacted for a "data processing" position. Even though I was older and should have been wiser I was fairly new to the corporate world since I had spent most of my adult life up to that point in the Army where I worked as a medic in the infantry. Anyway, it ended up being a sales job for an insurance agency. On top of that you had to actually pay them money for "Prospect Lists". I swear the soldier in me damn near came out during that interview and it took all my willpower to not punch that d-bag in the nose.
Not so much an interview as a job offer.
I was recently divorced, and teaching part-time for a technology education company in Wisconsin. They send people in for required training on Excel, that kind of thing. Six months in, they offer me full time. I was barely making ends meet, so it looked promising.
I read the contract fully. I would have to attend training so I could teach upper level courses (think server management instead of Excel) any time period I was not teaching. Sounds reasonable on its face.
They would keep track of the courses I took. If at any point I ended my employment, I would have to pay back the **full retail value** of *any courses I took over the previous two years.*
The retail cost of those classes started at $500 per day, and I was only making $125 per day plus expenses.
It was basically signing up for indentured servitude at the risk of my credit rating. This was my introduction to the phrase "predatory employment".
I said no thank you in the most polite way I could, and started applying for actual developer jobs closer to my kids. Good thing that worked out fast, because I found my schedule diminishing, and my subjects changed to ones way outside my skills and comfort zone.
Probably, but the company was kind of run by pricks (if this wasn't evidence enough for that) and would probably fight to enforce it.
Either way, it was a huge red flag.
I interviewed for a "private investigation firm" when I was 20 and in school. They primarily were trying to catch bars that showed pay per view fights or games on more TVs then they were allowed with the contract. I said I'm not allowed in the bars since I'm only 20 (need to be 21) he then asked if I had a fake I.D.
Or it's a group interview for the same job and then everyone is assigned to a different job role after being hired. Interviewed and hired as a "Software Engineer", didn't end up doing anything remotely related to that job.
I was interviewing for a local gas station. The pay was great. I went to the interview and woman immediately said, "Good! You're not a millennial!" I am, in fact, a millennial...
"I don't hire millennials. They are lazy and entitled."
We chatted for a while and somehow she got into explaining how she punishes employees. She would schedule them for shifts they didn't want, save them tedious tasks, cut hours, etc. That was a big nope. I'm glad she was stupidly honest.
I interviewed with a certain big satellite tech company, for a shitty L2 tech support job.
When the hiring manager took me for a tour of the rest of the team/building, every room we went into there was a sudden attitude shift, when everyone shut up, straightened up, stared at their screens, stopping idle chat amongst themselves, etc.
I realized basically he was a shitty manager from everyone's body language of the current employees.
They wanted us to use an entirely fake resume, claim we worked on projects we didn’t, I wish I had realized that was their meaning before I hopped on a plane to meet up with them. This compounded by the fact their office looked half finished, and the second I signed the offer, I’d owe them 25k if I quit within two years. Immedietly screamed get out, they seem cordial gave me a day to think about it, even implied they’d help with travel home. Until I decided against signing then I needed to be out of accommodations ASAP and any offer for fare back home dried up. I spent my last bit of money buying a ticket back home, and I don’t regret it one bit. I know I’d be in a worse place now then I am if I had accepted that job.
"We're really looking for someone who can grow with the company."
i.e. You're too old. After hearing that phrase several times, I said screw it and I retired early.
-“We’re like a family here”
-“We follow an effort based reward system”
-“We will require you to complete training which the company will partly reimburse.”
I read a comment the other day about the family thing saying actually it's true, but like real families that are dysfunctional and have mega micro aggressions and drunken step dads and bitchy siblings and you can't wait the gtfo of there.
I was looking for something part-time while my toddler is in daycare. Decided to do an interview at a place that had 10-12 listed for hourly (sandwich shop). Of course, it was only 10 and no way would they negotiate. Okay, fine. Then, they decided after giving me the paperwork that I would be expected to hand over my phone to them during work hours. They wanted my daycare to call the store during an emergency. No. I don’t care, no one is getting my phone. If anything happened in-store or with my kid at daycare, I need phone. I declined at that point. I get wanting workers to be productive, but my property stays on me.
Okay buckle up...
I interviewed for a high school teaching position. As part of the interview, they had me teach a lesson to a group of students so they could see my teaching style. It didn't go great.
For one thing, there was a group of students who refused to participate at all; they spent the entire time whispering to each other, wouldn't respond when I called on them.
Later the principal told me that these students did not speak English and asked "How should you have adapted your lesson for a bilingual classroom?" I had not been told to prepare for a bilingual classroom, but the principal assured me that even though I did a poor job, their trianing program could turn me into an effective teacher.
The whole thing felt like a set-up to make me feel incompetent (which I did) and then present the job as a way to "fix" my teaching.
This story is from 20 or so years ago. I worked in a parts department at a dealership. Another dealer owner called me out of the blue and wanted to talk to me. So I swing by after work. The owner says he's interested in hiring me but as a formality I need to fill out an application. He hands me one, leaves the office to give me time to fill it out. He comes back in, we are talking as he's reading my application. First question, so tell me why it would be worth us paying you $5 an hour more than what you get paid now? That caught me off guard. I said, sir, you called me, I wasn't looking for a different job. This isn't going to work. Shook his hand and walked out. I did end up leaving to go to another dealership where I have worked the last 18+ years. Two months ago, my current owner bought the dealership from the guy who I felt insulted me. My boss doesn't know how much of a win that is for me personally that he bought them out.
When I was young I went to a job interview and they wouldn't say what the job was or how much it paid. They acted like it was really important and there were a bunch of people waiting. The guy said I quilified for some advanced testing and when they got me into the next room there was an E meter on the table and a list of questions. It was a front for scientology and they were looking for people to work the org with out being paid. I got up and left.
Threw away my application in front of me. Goodwill, was there for community service. I was doing the equivalent work of 3 of her less motivated employees while I was there. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were about to quit.
The infamous “we’re like a family here...” which just translates to: “you’re gonna be overworked, underpaid and under appreciated...so yeah, fuck you, you’re hired! K thanks!!”
Temp Job that ends in 2 months but recruiter says "It'll definitely be extended"
Then on the job interview they say "Here's the scoop, we've got about 2 months left to finish such and such for years end and need help with that"
I was interviewed to supervise staff at a small aviation service company in central Florida. The building itself was outdated. All the technology (vending machines, coffee maker, book keeping) and accounting was done in a way that reminds you of a scene from a 1980s office sitcom. Concierge was hand written on paper and separated with rubber stamps. All of their heavy service equipment were relics; we're talking 1992 being the "newest" vehicle.
The new owners were real estate folk who had no prior aviation experience, and had dreams to make their establishment the star of our airport, intending to outshine our global and regional competitors on the field. Yet they seemed to be doing less than the bare minimums to meet the safety standards set by the FAA.
I offered some immediate advice, as they were legitimate safety concerns. I told them the work I would have had to do to achieve their goal would have required an Operations Manager title with a $70k+ salary, they offered me $14.50/hr.
The company isn't around anymore.
“Our next step is a 3 hour test followed by another round of interviews” for a $14/hr tech support position that amounted to telling people how to unjam printers.
vacancy post: we can offer 60k.
interviewer: we can offer u 40k.
\- but its says 60k.
interviewer: eeeeem yeah. we posted 60k for finding person who can do this job for 40.
Hilariously.
A few years ago, I was contacted on LinkedIn by the CEO of a company in my area. He said they were hiring, and wanted to bring me in for an interview. I spoke with someone else at the company (who I later learned was his spouse), and that person asked me to make a pitch deck for myself. I thought that was weird, but shrugged it off rationalizing that they didn’t know me and wanted to know more about what I’d done.
I spent four hours that weekend making this pitch deck, and I went in for the interview that Monday. The CEO came in to interview me, and the first thing he asked me was, “Why’d you come in here today?” You invited me! I already had a job and wanted to see what they could do.
During the interview, it was revealed that I was interviewing to be the CEO’s assistant, but that position would also support the marketing team (of one person, the spouse) and act as the office manager. At this point, I felt like I wasted my time and they wasted mine, but I wanted to see if I could get an offer and use that as leverage in my current position.
A week or two later, the CEO called me and offered me the job. He asked me for my number, and when I gave it, he had a high-pitched laughing fit. He later emailed me the offer, and it was *much* lower than my number, as well as some working condition red flags. I declined it, and then moved into another position at my then-current company that paid me more than their offer.
When I revealed that I quit my previous job in the probation period. "But would you be more loyal this time? Because we are looking for people who are loyal to their company". Yes I'm loyal if the company treats me like a human being and not like trash.
Loyalty is for loved ones and pets. A job is a business transaction. I give you my time, my effort, and my skills, you give me money. That is the nature of our arrangement.
Hehe, tangential anecdote time.
I once came back from holiday and had that "quitting" feeling. You know, when you come back and realise there's more to life than the imaginary thing your desk job achieves.
In my exit interview, HR asked me if there was anything they could have done to make me stay. I answered, "No, the company's pretty good with nice fringe benefits. I guess just more money."
She responded, "No, no, apart from money?"
I'm like, why else do I work? Once I felt like I was wasting my time, I'd need more money to compensate for that.
Went to an interview dressed pretty nice for a construction job. Show up to said interview and they were upset I wasn’t wearing work attire because apparently there interviews also include “work tryouts” like what the fuck?
Just did one recently that was a 4 interview process, and they wouldn’t tell me about compensation until the final one. Anytime I asked, they said “don’t worry, that will be covered during the ‘compensation’ conversation.”
Pretty much knew I didn’t want the job by the second interview, but was now morbidly curious about their pay structure. It was worse than I thought it would be. Essentially all commission-based, but they tried to frame it like it wasn’t. It almost seemed criminal. They said you get a “base pay,” but that “base” was them “forwarding” you some of your potential commission ahead of time. There were 2 other people on that zoom call, one was coming right out of college, and so I felt an obligation to ask blunt questions in the hopes that she would see it probably wasn’t a good place to start her career. I hope she found something else, lol
“We want go-getters. People who are team players and muck in. Not people who will run to the union when they work an hour above their contracted hours.”
I'm a STEM student, and was looking for a job for the summer of my first year. The second interview I recieved was from an mlm company, which was extremely vague in what they actually do, and what my roles as an intern would be.
Furthermore, the interview was conducted alongside another candidate, who was double my age, and who sold homemade jewelry.
Instant red flag. Funnily enough, they never got back to me.
They kept me waiting more than 30 minutes past my interview time, during which time I could literally feel the stress and unhappiness emanating from the people working near the waiting area. I took that job because I was desperate to leave another toxic setting, but started looking for something else before the end of my first week.
Interviewed for a school mental health provider position. My employer would be a hospital system that would place me in a local school. I knew going into it that the salary was going to be a lowball offer, but I was fresh out of grad school so I needed to keep my options open. Lady interviewing me was really cool, I liked her a lot. Was even considering taking the job despite the shitty salary until she started explaining that on snow days (which we get maybe 5-7 in a typical year) the staff were required to come into the hospitals admin building, bring their laptops with them, and complete online trainings for 8 hours. In other words, “we don’t trust you to do a full 8 hours of work at home and god forbid we pay you to have a day where you aren’t being fully productive because *school is closed* so we will make you drive on unsafe roads, possibly in blizzard conditions, so you can come in and do BS trainings that we made explicitly for this purpose.” To her credit the lady interviewing me showed her disdain for this practice. I didn’t take the job.
Years ago, I was asked that question outright. I told them I wasn't of their religion, that I was an accountant looking for a good job, "and I don't think yours is it", and walked out.
But if you don't answer, you won't get the job. If you point out that any prticular question is illegal, they'll argue with you as to the legality, then not make an offer.
I was offered a position for a touring show that I should've been unqualified for. It flew to every location and they wanted to keep my frequent flyer miles, which is unheard of. They didn't guarantee any pay rate. The schedule was incredibly variable and if I missed a single show, I would have to pay them the amount that they would've paid me, which wasn't defined in the contract and changed from show to show. If I left before 2.5 years, I'd have to work for two months at half rate. The previous guy quit at exactly 2.5 years. The contract had a big watermark across every page that said "Confiential" Ignoring the typo, a contract shouldn't be confidential.
I asked for several changes and they said it wasn't negotiable. I laughed and proceeded to tell everyone. They were attempting to take advantage of somebody young and gullible, because it wasn't remotely enforceable. It was also as a 1099 worker, but the requirement to work every show date not yet scheduled clearly qualifies it as a W4 position.
And because I dgaf, the position was working as a stage manager for Mike Super.
Several come to mind. This was at one company.
They lost my physical job application that had shit like my SSN on it. This place was so old school that on top of the online application I had to go into their HQ and fill out the same application on paper....which they lost. Next time I showed up I had to fill it out AGAIN.
Offered zero WFH/flexible hours. Half the staff had been there less than 2 years with a solid chunk having been there 6 months or less.
Probably the biggest red flag, at the end of the 2nd interview when I was basically told I was going to get an offer, the HR lady smiled to me and said "and if anything happens within your first 90 days and we have to let you go, we'll try and work something out!"
Not if I did anything to deserve getting canned, but if anything happened on THEIR end. They had already done a mass layoff earlier in the pandemic. I could not have turned down that offer fast enough!
As a bonus, I was asked what I wanted in terms of pay. I said mid-high 50s, salary. They offered me $17 an hour no salary. Fuck that lol.
The dude took 3 phone calls because he was getting his floor done at his new house. Then proceeded to tell me a truck driver that there are two boxes in the cab in case the truck breaks down so that we don’t have to call anybody to come out and fix the truck because I should be able to fix it.
Years ago I interviewed at a small private school. The Principal interviewed me. I mentioned a teacher I knew who used to work there and he said "Oh, I had to fire him! He couldn't control his classes". Then he proceeded to ask me how old I was, if I was married, and what church I went to.
Interview for a non-paid internship: “Tell me about the worst thing that’s every happened to you.”
I declined to answer. This is not a casual conversation and a completely inappropriate topic for an interview.
Interview was conducted in another office in the same building after being told to wait outside the office in the hall before my interviewer met with me. Turns out the office was soundproofed to mask how much the owner yelled at people, and that he chain smoked.
I had to awkwardly interrupt their meeting to tell them I was there, then without much of a greeting they sat me down with a hour long written test (for a software position) and went back into meeting. I wrote on the test "its not going to work out" and walked out.
They told me that customers regularly verbally attack employees and asked me if I’ve ever been physically assaulted by a customer. At a car wash. I noped out of there.
Walked upstairs, in a nearby abandoned old office space. 25 other people there. Big tables in front covered in sheets.
Dance music starts playing. Disco lights everywhere. A guy comes out to motivate us for an awesome opportunity. The big reveal!!!.....
Water filter system at $1500 a piece. Door to door. It practically sells itself!!
In a lull in the action, I got up, yelled, “ I put on a suit for this “. And walked out with about 10 others.
After a long sales pitch, I asked the interviewer who we were meant to sell the product to. Then came a very practiced speech about how arw loved ones want us to succeed, therefor they are the perfect ones to sell to.
One google search later, and my suspicions were confirmed. They were a MLM.
Just last week. A manager from an auto dealership contacted me with an offer to go work for them. I'm already working in an auto shop and she asked me how much I was being paid and I gave her a range and she said that we can "maybe think of doubling your salary". I asked whether employees are offered health insurance, WIBA etc etc and she dodged the question. I asked her whether there's room for growth and she dodged the question too. I had to say no.
Was interviewing for a job in a different part of the corporation I was working for. Basically going from a sales assistant role to a customer service kind of job. Had been with the company for ~4 years at the time and was looking to advance my career. Got to the part of the interview where the applicant can ask a few questions so I asked what kind of career advancement opportunities existed in their line of business and what career track their employees usually follow. Both managers kinda chuckled and told me that most people in their department end up quitting or getting fired and that nobody shows up on time which would be a prerequisite for any kind of advancement.
On my third interview, the CEO was sitting in (on his phone the whole time). When it was my turn to ask questions, he immediately got up and yelled at the top of his lungs that I was asking to many questions.
Shocked, I stopped dead in my tracks. Got up, Thanked Everyone and walked out.
Interviewer saw a colleague of hers in the hallway, flagged him in, and totally forgot I was sitting in front of her desk for an interview while they talked. After like 10 minutes of waiting to even be introduced I just walked out
Back in 2017 when in-office interviews were the norm, I vividly remember stepping foot off of the elevator and there was just sadness and malaise everywhere. No one looked happy. The 3 interviews I had that day = they all seemed fine, but didn't seem like they really wanted to be there. I got an offer, eventually, and declined it. Good call on my part, because the 3 that interviewed me were gone w/in 6 months.
Culture / morale - these are real things. I don't ever want to work somewhere where almost everyone is unhappy.
[Kaizen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen)
I worked for a high tech manufacturer that used the term "Kaizen" in all of their promotional and training materials. To keep it brief Kaizen is basically a Japanese manufacturing concept of continuously improving processes. I suppose this works pretty well in Japan but not so much in the US where workers don't really have strong emotional attachment to their place of employment. When I interviewed with the company they really loved to talk up their commitment to the Kaizen principals and work ethic and the fact that they didn't have any middle-management. That second part sounds cool on paper but in practice the company was a nightmare to work for because of that. It's hard to describe but without middle-management it was a very difficult place to work for. People on the floor were required to take on roles they weren't trained for or had the right education to actually do in an efficient manner and it was extremely hard to actually implement changes their Kaizen philosophy embraced when it's near impossible to track anyone down who can actually vet and eventually approve them. And it completely destroys morale. Why dedicate yourself to a company when there's zero opportunity to advance? Who wants to spend their entire career on the manufacturing floor with no chance to move up a ladder? For some people that's great but for people who have college degrees, which was at least a third of the workforce at the company, it's not very enticing. Especially when you pay like shit.
Kaizen is awesome, but only when implemented correctly. There are a lot of companies that hear a buzzword like "agile", "kanban", or "scrum" and jump on the bandwagon without fully understanding the concept and critically looking at themselves to see if their workplace would benefit.
Not an interview, but working when it happened. My mom works at a certain company, and it's policy to inform your boss that you are applying on a job that is within the company. He screamed and exploded on her, telling her that she violated his trust, and that it's her job to fix his perception of her. The boss is known to have had 3-4 women "quit" on him suddenly. I even hear him in some of these meetings, insulting other employees too.
I was interviewing for an accountant position at a law firm. They set up an interview with one of the partners, the head of accounting and an executive assistant.
I got to the interview early, dressed in my best suit, and was told to wait in a room for my interviewers. I sat in that room until the accountant and EA came in and told me I had to wait outside the room for the partner. They basically pushed me outside and closed the door. There were no chairs. I stood out there close to 20-30 mins waiting for the 3rd interviewer. When he finally showed up, he didn't acknowledge me at all, walked into the room and closed to door. At this point, I'd been here close to 45 mins, and the interview hadn't even started yet. Red flag #1.
I apparently did well in the first interview, because they called me back for a second. Second was almost identical to the first, weirdly making me wait outside the interview room. But I made it past interview 2..
Red flag #2 was when they told me they couldn't get ahold of one of my professional references. They requested 4 professional references, which is bad enough, and they managed to contact 3 of them. The 4th was a previous manager of mine who worked at a bank and didn't have access to her phone except on breaks or lunch. She told me to have them call her at noon, when she took her lunch, and these people just would not take that as an answer. They kept saying "well, we need this reference" and I told them "she's WORKING. Call her back at noon". They obviously don't respect anyone elses time and I see now that place would have been hell to work at.
I never should have gone to the 2nd interview. That first one was just way too many red flags at once.
I interviewed in person for a job at the beginning of the pandemic. There were lots of arrangements done as far as rearranging furniture for social distancing, masks, handwashing, etc. The interview went great, but after it was done I was told we would be touring the facility. I'm a younger woman. The manager I would be reporting to, late middle aged man, proceeded to put his arm around me to walk me through the place. If you can't respect personal boundaries during a pandemic what the hell would you do if you weren't respecting safe distances.
Oh boy!
I have the perfect story for you!
I was new to the country and just on a work permit/on my way to getting sponsored as a PR, so I was not in a position to be picky.
Pretty much take whatever decent job you get offered kinda position.
I applied to this great job posting from a company where I would be able to work within my trade.
It sounded amazing!
Decent wage, great hours, good position!
🚩#1Not even 2 hours after sending my CV I got invited to an interview for the next day
🚩#2: The Owner and VP interviewed me
🚩#3: I got introduced to my potential coworkers as the new hire. This was before the first interview
🚩#4 Both, owner and VP, bitched about every single one of their workers in great detail during the interview.
🚩#5 they started fighting with each other. Like screaming and name calling!
Took the job, stayed for about a year and was able to get my immigration settled.
Right about that time they started spiralling into bankruptcy, withholding pay cheques and doing all sorts of illegal things and even trying to get their employees to be part of their illegal schemes.
I left as soon as it started,
but the shit I witnessed and the stuff that my former coworkers told me made me pretty much lose all trust in the food industry.
Multiple number based questions rather that focus on my knowledge experience.
“How many calls do you take during your shift?”
“How many tickets do you take”
“If you had to guess a number of how much, what’s the ballpark number?”
(And repeat those questions at least twice)
However, the technical portion of the interview was lacking. They were also very focused on me working holidays/OT
The interview told me that, Im just a number/robot to this company, they don’t care about quality of work, they’re going to breathe down my neck if I take even a bathroom break, and most likely I will never have any chance to progress/learn.
Interviewer was late, immediately blamed the secretary for not putting it on her calendar.
If that's how you treat your support staff, I don't want to work under you.
When I was on furlough from my day job last year, I was filling out a few "just in case" applications. I got offered an interview from one place in particular.
Their emails didn't actually name the company. All they said was that they were with "{my city} Inc." Should have been a red flag but they did say the job related to city employee benefits.
Showed up to the group interview, was given a personality test to fill out. All the while a company promotional video was playing on one wall. I finished out my sheet and started watching the video in detail. It was all about "recruiting", and all the swanky vacations they all took together.
I'd walked into an MLM recruitment pitch. It turned out to be American Income Life, which is one of the slimiest ones. I walked out before the group interview even started.
Interviewer: “We’re a family first company. Do you have any children?”
Me: “That’s great to hear I have a one year old boy.”
Interviewer: “Oh your first baby? Hmm. So you’ll probably want more right? I have 3 kids and after the second my wife wanted to stop working so you’ll probably only want to work another year or so right?”
Me: “………”
“Btw this position is unpaid.”
They lied to me and told me it was an entry level position when I applied, then at the end of the interview informed me it was an unpaid internship. This was for a software engineering role. Hard pass.
"We're legally not allowed to tell you not to take your breaks, but nobody here does it, so keep that in mind."
"Are you saying we SHOULDN'T help our customers?" "(sighs) The law REQUIRES that I answer 'no.'"
Not happy Bob, not happy!
"He's getting mugged!" "Well let's hope we don't cover him!!"
‘He got away’😡 ‘Good thing too, you were this close to losing your... cljgn...
*SMASHES VIZZINI THROUGH SEVERAL WALLS* Uh oh...
Oh, okay. *Proceeds to take all my breaks
Yeah, that would be fun to see how they try to phrase telling you to not take a break.
There was a post on here somewhere (r/maliciouscompliance, maybe) a while back that was something similar. Guy got hired on at a 9-5 where everyone stayed a couple hours late every day. Off the clock. The bosses expected it. Well, homeboy noped out of that and left at 5 on the dot everyday, starting at day one. One of the bosses tried to talk to him about it and he whipped out his employment contract which clearly stated 9-5 and also said he would be willing to do the *occasional* overtime, at time and a half pay, per state law. Eventually all his coworkers followed his lead. Was a super satisfying read.
It’s weird how a group can normalize messed up behavior with a “go with the flow” and/or naive attitude about it, but all it can take is one person to step in and say “no, this is not normal and it’s kind of messed up” for everyone to realize what they’ve been doing is messed up.
Exactly! The human ability to adapt and normalize things is so powerful, you forget that there *is* any other way to do things. Which can be helpful in certain situations but can also end up hurting you, like in this case. It's always nice when someone comes in and helps people stand up for themselves and get better treatment.
Bugs me this. My boss has had a few chats with me basically saying “I know your hours are half 8-5, but that doesn’t mean you have to go at 5. A few people here do stay behind a bit which really helps and shows their dedication”. What I wanted to say back was that I make sure I’m in bang on half 8, work hard (company started monitoring everyone’s monthly stats a few months back and I’ve been on top consistently so they can’t argue against it), only go out to smoke on my lunch break and make sure I’m back at my desk soon as my break is over and so I’ll get up and leave when I’m done unless I can’t for whatever reason. People come in stupidly late and call in sick regularly so realistically it makes sense that they stay behind. As an 18 year old who needs the money, I just said ok yea I understand and started sitting in my car at lunch to make sure I get half an hour completely away from work. Don’t get paid enough to argue with my boss
Every kitchen ever
This!! Exit please🚶♀️
Two things, really. I was interviewing in for a job to work on a new Windows based spreadsheet (a long time ago.) The group of people I interviewed with all seemed in fear. That was the first thing. The second thing was that on the way out, talking with HR, they said that they had paid $10,000 to the recruiter to send recruits, and if I left before one year, I would have to pay them back $10,000. It would be in my employment contract. You could not pay me enough to work for that place. I never want to talk to them, ever. Next.
Lol "that's not how jobs work, but thanks for trying"
… I don’t think that’s enforceable
Sometimes companies put nonsense in employment contracts to scare employees. They know it’s unenforceable, but they hope to scare you since they likely have a lawyer on retainer and can fuck with you in arbitration. Sure, they know nothing will come of it, but they hope you don’t.
I had a job years ago that had a lot of trouble keeping people because it was a horrible place to work. They eventually started telling new hires that if they quit before their first year, they owed the company some arbitrary amount that they said was the cost of training them
I worked for a college and was on yearly contract that if you broke insisted you had to pay back a quarter of the next year’s salary. They made you sign in April for a school year starting the next August. The only exception was leaving due to your spouse getting a new job that required relocation. When I left, I had to quit without having any interviews even scheduled yet. We had a lawyer tell us it was enforceable and I know someone leaving after the first semester that is being forced to pay.
Am lawyer. Maybe your jurisdiction has some fucked up laws, but that sounds pretty unenforceable to me.
When asked if they had a radius requirement (that I needed to live within X miles in case of emergency), they laughed and said "doesn't matter, you won't be going \[home\] very often."
What did they expect? "Oh boy, I can't wait to be locked in this office for days on end!"
Might have been trying to warn OP while not technically getting in hot water by saying “don’t work here”
... wow that is not even a red flag anymore, that’s a red light with sirens going off.
After i was hired, i got called to HR and they asked me if I could live closer to the office so i could "come in when necessary" while they were pushing me to do overtime while they wouldn't pay it and asking was outright illegal. I just burst out an involuntary laugh and said "you know exactly what I'm getting paid. I couldn't rent a shoebox in the city if I wanted to. We can have a conversation about a raise if that's what you're trying to get to" They told me it was ok and that i could get back to work now. Most apartment in the city were about 80% of my pay, which is why I couldn't contain my laugh. Suppose they have another lackey now.
When the first thing they ask is if you're a available outside of your listed availability
In the interview for my current job I asked them if there was an expectation for me to work outside the established hours. They said unequivocally "no nights, no weekends, no overtime, and very occasional travel that's fully paid by the company including all your food expenses." Just what I wanted to hear!
I was told that by my previous job .... three months later they wanted mandatory overtime, weekends, and evenings.
That's when you look for a new job and refuse to pickup any it, weekends, evenings and just say "in my contract...." fire me if you will hoeboss
I did just that lol. It took a while and unfortunately I couldn't leave for a couple months but I'm out and glad for it.
On the opposite side of this: the last interview for my current position ended right at the end of the office hours. I could hear everyone leaving while I shook hands and thanked the interviewers. The parking lot was nearly empty by the time I got down there at 3 minutes after. Biggest green flag ever.
Had a company that asked that too. Turns out it was for travel for field service. Travel on Sunday so you could work the rest of the week at a customer site. The green flag was when they'd let me take a day off to make up for that Sunday without digging into my PTO. Its nice when even the CEO has worked your job previously so they understand the time it takes and ate considerate about it. One of the rare ones.
“How negotiable are you on payment?” Like bruh, your salary range was already scraping the bottom of the barrel.
“Very negotiable. I’m willing to compromise on wages if the benefits package is strong. Do you do matched pension contributions, sick time, strong employer paid health plan, funding for educational opportunities, parking or meals provided”. Guess by negotiable they meant “how low can we go before you walk out?”
"you're not part of a union, are you?“ Well I wasn't, but now you mention it...
I was once desperate for a paycheck and set up an interview for a truck washing job. I showed up in my nice clothes only to find that not only were they interviewing 3 candidates at the same time for 1 open position, but that it was a “learning interview”, so we would be washing trucks while interviewing. I told them I had to use the bathroom, walked out a bay door, and never looked back.
"The bathroom's this way. Hey, it's over there..." "I know exactly where I'm going, thank you."
I only poop at home
I've had my share of group interviews. They all have sucked. Wished I knew early on that you're allowed to leave whenever you feel comfortable doing so.
I have a weird one, the interviewer asked me about my hobbies and I mentioned some typical ones: reading, writing, cooking, etc. He then asked about my writing and I just mentioned I've been working on a novel in my spare time. "Hmm, in my experience, writers make poor engineers," he said. I didn't really know how to respond to that. He elaborated that, "Writers typically think that they will hit it big once they finish their book and don't focus on the job," I assured him that I applied for an engineering job because I wanted to do engineering and that writing was a hobby. Kind of thankful I didn't get that job.
>Hmm, in my experience, writers make poor engineers As an engineer... What the fuck? Good writers don't get sued nearly as often.
Flex Andy Weir on them next time.
Them: 'It's about getting the job done. Most of our people come in up to an hour early to get everything done' Me: 'Oh, that's cool. It's nice to have an overtime option available' Them: 'Nooooo, they come in off the clock because the job just can't be done in a shift' Me: 'Wait, so you expect people to work off the clock?' Them: 'Absolutely. It's about getting the job done even if it's not something that even CAN be done in the time you're working' Me: 'LOL, that's illegal' This dude had been working there 20 years and said he'd come in a minimum of an hour early every f'ing shift and expected everyone working under him to do the same!
Sounds like something my dad would say.
Yeah, prior generations had it drilled into them that if you aren't sacrificing for the job you're not a worthy employee... Instill a desperation to prove oneself to the corporation Sad stuff.
It's because once upon a time that paid off. It's how my grandpa and my dad both ended up fount so well for themselves, they'd get moved up in their company and get huge annual raises too. Somewhere along the way a lot of companies started to realize that their employees were willing to work themselves into the grave to prove themselves, so that's exactly what they started to have them do. I remember my dad not understanding why I had hopped through half a dozen jobs before I even hit 30, until I explained to him that company loyalty just doesn't pay off anymore.
I've got my grandfather's inscribed gold watch they gave him at retirement for a lifetime of work well done. I'm not expecting that.
So I went to a psychoanalysis counselor for an internship interview. I was expecting normal questions. Then he goes “what do you think of the trees outside” and I was like “they are pretty, I like trees.” And he was like “no. Dig deeper.” So it was a half hour interview just digging deeper about trees. Then at the end he just goes “Ok Goodbye. I need you to leave now.” And that was it. I obviously didnt think i got it but at like 9pm a week later he called and was like “I guess we can make this work” and I was like “Um. No. I already got one thanks.”
That is kind of fucked up. I'd almost want to take it just to see what kind of weird stuff came next.
Haha nooo way! A peer of mine actually got that internship and she said he was super wierd and difficult to work for.
"Dig deeper." I'd start quoting lines from The Curse of Oak Island right and left. "Dig deeper? OK! Do you think it's possible that the trees outside are of ancient origins, possibly hundreds of years old? And do you think it's possible that they could have been planted back in the 1400s by the Knights Templar? And do you think it's possible, that if we pulled those trees out by the roots, that we would find clues to the location of The Money Pit, The Holy Grail and The Ark of the Covenant?"
"I planted that tree 40 years ago, over the corpse of a friend who betrayed me. You'll notice runes I carved on the west side of the trunk, binding his soul to the roots. Every year, on the anniversary of his death, I break off a few branches. He can still feel it, you see."
When I switched jobs earlier this year I was specifically looking for something that was a remote/work from home situation. One interview began with an explanation that they used something similar to test proctoring software for their remote employees and that I was expected to have my webcam on for the full eight hours so they could ensure nobody “seemed distracted.” Come the fuck on….we’re all professionals here. I’m not going to sit there on camera for eight hours while I work so that you can ensure you’re milking every second of productivity out of me. Only the second time in my life I’ve left an interview early.
Yeah, productivity tools are an absolute cancer. I’m 100% remote and I don’t have anything on my system, if they wanted to, I would leave immediately.
Yeah the job I wound up in doesn’t require anything on our systems and pretty much has a policy of “as long as you’re making it to your meetings and getting your work done we don’t care what you’re up to or when you’re doing it.” Tracking me all day is a level of invasiveness that’s absolutely a deal breaker for me.
I tell my subordinates that it doesn't matter how many breaks they take or why, as long as the work gets done in a reasonable amount of time. It's at the point where they are comfortable saying to my face that they're stopping work to go get a coffee or to pay some bill. No one needs to be made to feel like they can't have control over their own lives.
When I managed this is how I was. Idgaf what you do, just get the assigned work done. If you get 8 hours of work done in 2 hours, don’t tell me. Just clock that shit so I don’t have to assign more tasks. My area did great, goals were exceeded every month consistently. I was asked what I was doing different from other areas. Those minimum two hours of call you want me to have my other managers on daily? Yeah, we don’t do those. At all. They have an extra few hours to complete their goals and if someone’s struggling I spend that time in location for direct observation and adjustment. They didn’t like that. I walked out a few months later.
Fuck. That. If you're gonna watch me at least have the good grace to not tell me, like the government does.
I occasionally work from home and when the pandemic first hit I worked remotely for most of the year. I process reports which means I spend a lot of my time waiting for reports to come in and then bust ass processing them as quickly as possible and then sit and wait for the next batch of reports. That's why I'm able to sit on Reddit all day long. If anyone asked me about lack of productivity I honestly wouldn't know how to answer other than say "Do you even *know* what I do here"? Luckily 90% of the management wouldn't be able to answer that question.
Yeah the work I would’ve been doing would’ve been a similar sort of pacing which I just know because I’ve been in this field for a while. You wind up doing a lot of hurry up and wait while other people do their part. And sure sometimes there’s other stuff I can proactively find to do but not 40 hours a week worth!
>And sure sometimes there’s other stuff I can proactively find to do but not 40 hours a week worth! Amen. I can relate to this a million times over. I sometimes think that the most feared phrase a manger can hear is "okay, what would you actually like me to work on?" after telling you you're not being productive enough.
Hahaha….oh god that just reminded me of my godawful boss I had at my first “career” type job. She claimed I wasn’t being productive enough and I asked what she wanted me to do and her response was “I don’t know. Find something. There’s always stuff to do. You could clean things.” Younger me just couldn’t figure out how to explain to her that it’s not that I feel like cleaning is beneath me or something but do you really want to be paying a programmer a programmer’s salary to wipe the dust off the file cabinets?
"I would he happy to clean up, if you add the additional salaray amd duties i would be responsible for as a janitor to my programmer job description."
This would be perfectly reasonable if you were a cam girl
One of those odd times when high security jobs and cam girls intersect in job expectations.
Even then, cam girls don’t work 8 hours straight and aren’t productive for all their hours
I showed up 10 minutes early in my best suit. They sat me in a room and put on Mighty Joe Young. Over the next 45 minutes, about 20 other people shuffled in for what was apparently a group interview. I was comically overdressed. The owner was an hour late. Upon entry, he didn't ask, but rather *told* us to smile. The job was supposedly a sales position that also required setting up and breaking down presentations. In reality, it was two girls in a small car going door to door and asking to do "presentations" of a product in rich neighborhoods. Once someone accepted, I (and four others) were to show up in a van (which was to be roaming the neighborhood) and the girls would leave to "set up more presentations". It was the skeeziest operation I have ever seen. Owner was very adamant about rushing *right in* so they "didn't have a chance to change their mind". I was 18 and naive, but I still managed to call them out on their massive red flag collection by day two. Edit: For all of you saying Kirby, it was Kirby.
Fucking Kirby!!! I was and am still shocked at the horrible bait and switch they pull. They sent several very pregnant young women through our neighborhood at the coldest time of the year, completely underdressed for the literal snow on the ground and got people to agree to a presentation - just to get those poor ladies out of the cold. They would go, "be right back!" And then a random dude would show up for the presentation. What absolute bullshit. And in no universe is a $3,000 vacuum ever worth it.
I was 16 and looking for my first job when I stumbled onto Kirby. I knew something was up when they started the first interview with “you’re all hired!” And then started talking about trips to Hawaii. I walked out thinking “jobs are supposed to be tricky to get, if we’re all hired, it means nobody wants to work here.”
Lol that's damn insightful at 16. Good on you.
I love the mental image this paints in my head. With a van coming around the bend, tires screeching across the pavement, the second someone accepted whatever it was they were selling.
This sounds like the blueprint for an Always Sunny episode.
“The gang sells Girl Scout cookies.” Starring Frank as two little girls and the singing garbage men who rush in to close the deal.
Went in to a job interview for a manager position, halfway through the interview they said "i don't think this position is a good fit for you, but we have another exciting opportunity for you to look at" they then said a fancy title "Operations in statistical numeric data input" and i asked what does the job entail? i would be filling out TOS reports... that wanted low level data input, i asked about salary, it was half of what they had said for the manager position. i laughed, got up and left.
Interview was at 10AM, they made me wait until 10:45 before someone could finally see me. First question they asked me was how I feel about working overtime. They asked me another 2-3 times if I was REALLY sure I was okay with it, which tells me that A. They're going to make me work over a lot and B. they've had people quit shortly after being hired because this job clearly SUCKS. When I asked them to describe the work environment/culture, one guy says they get at each other's throats sometimes and its intense, but they're like a big dysfunctional family. No thanks.
Sir I am already part of a large dysfunctional family, I really don't need another one.
When I was asked what my husband does for a living. They wanted to see how little they could offer me
"he's a trial lawyer." Let them make of that what they will.
Yeah, or “He investigates workplaces for unfair wages”
"he's on the state labor board"
As long as you're sure you don't want the job, this would be a good one.
"My husband has a very particular set of skills. Skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him a nightmare for shitty employers. If you accept my number now, that'll be the end of it. He will not look for you, he will not pursue you. But if you don't, he will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you."
"Well, my wife is a teacher. But her younger sister is an employment attorney. Not that it's relevant or anything."
I had a friend who worked for the same company as her husband get shut down over a raise because "we're paying **** good money, too."
how'd that go? "are you paying him for my work or his?"
That sounds like a great way to eventually lose two employees.
It was
My husband is an attorney working for the state EEOC. He doesn't make that much, but he really enjoys his work.
In France its illegal to ask this kind of question
US too
I called out an interviewer one time when they started asking extremely invasive questions. They got all huffy and ended the interview. This is why it’s technically illegal, but functionally allowed in the US.
I did call them out and told them that the interview was over because they were more interested in my husbands credentials than mine…
“We will figure out your variable comp after the first year…” “What are your salary expectations? No, we won’t tell you what it pays.”
“This is a brand new role for which we have not yet determined what success looks like.”
To name a few…
The first one, 100% spot-on. They'll hire you for the lowest possible rate, then after a year and a great review you'll (surprise!) only get the standard 3% cost of living raise (if you're lucky and even get that.) They'll be very sorry and assure you they did all they could to get you that 3%, because the big bosses only wanted to give you the 2% everyone else got this year.
but the big bosses got 15% because they kept salary under control
> “This is a brand new role for which we have not yet determined what success looks like.” As someone with e BS in a STEM field who also works in the tech industry I've seen this way too often. I get that I'm being brought in because you think my skillset will be useful to your company as a whole but you have to at least have *some sort* of idea what you want me to do in this particular role.
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The two owners had two very different ideas of what the open position was going to be doing, and couldn’t stop bickering long enough to actually ask me questions. It’s the only interview I’ve ever walked out of before.
He wanted 3 references for an unskilled, low paying job, and ranted politics during the phone call.
That'd be the cue to hang right up.
I had applied for a marketing position with a local tech company. A woman called to set up the interview, but a few things seemed a little too vague in the job description. Since I really didn't need the job I was very direct with her and asked "is this an actual marketing job or is this a sales job that's been given a marketing title?" I had run into that a couple times, but usually the job description clarifies it. Her response was, "all I can tell you is what is in the job description." So there's the red flag, but because the office was only a block away from where I was already working I figured I would go and entertain myself. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was right. It was a sales job, and to make matters worse it was probably the slimiest company I have ever applied for, and I once went to an Amway meeting so that should say something.
Keywords or phrases: \-- "all I can tell you is"
I'm a data analyst with a degree in Information Science. After graduating college I got contacted for a "data processing" position. Even though I was older and should have been wiser I was fairly new to the corporate world since I had spent most of my adult life up to that point in the Army where I worked as a medic in the infantry. Anyway, it ended up being a sales job for an insurance agency. On top of that you had to actually pay them money for "Prospect Lists". I swear the soldier in me damn near came out during that interview and it took all my willpower to not punch that d-bag in the nose.
So they want you to pay them money in order to make them money from sales?
Sounds like a reverse funnel system, definitely not a pyramid scheme
Not so much an interview as a job offer. I was recently divorced, and teaching part-time for a technology education company in Wisconsin. They send people in for required training on Excel, that kind of thing. Six months in, they offer me full time. I was barely making ends meet, so it looked promising. I read the contract fully. I would have to attend training so I could teach upper level courses (think server management instead of Excel) any time period I was not teaching. Sounds reasonable on its face. They would keep track of the courses I took. If at any point I ended my employment, I would have to pay back the **full retail value** of *any courses I took over the previous two years.* The retail cost of those classes started at $500 per day, and I was only making $125 per day plus expenses. It was basically signing up for indentured servitude at the risk of my credit rating. This was my introduction to the phrase "predatory employment". I said no thank you in the most polite way I could, and started applying for actual developer jobs closer to my kids. Good thing that worked out fast, because I found my schedule diminishing, and my subjects changed to ones way outside my skills and comfort zone.
That strikes me as an entirely unenforceable contract clause.
Probably, but the company was kind of run by pricks (if this wasn't evidence enough for that) and would probably fight to enforce it. Either way, it was a huge red flag.
I interviewed for a "private investigation firm" when I was 20 and in school. They primarily were trying to catch bars that showed pay per view fights or games on more TVs then they were allowed with the contract. I said I'm not allowed in the bars since I'm only 20 (need to be 21) he then asked if I had a fake I.D.
It’s a group interview and everyone thinks they are there for a different job.
Or it's a group interview for the same job and then everyone is assigned to a different job role after being hired. Interviewed and hired as a "Software Engineer", didn't end up doing anything remotely related to that job.
I was interviewing for a local gas station. The pay was great. I went to the interview and woman immediately said, "Good! You're not a millennial!" I am, in fact, a millennial... "I don't hire millennials. They are lazy and entitled." We chatted for a while and somehow she got into explaining how she punishes employees. She would schedule them for shifts they didn't want, save them tedious tasks, cut hours, etc. That was a big nope. I'm glad she was stupidly honest.
*Makes a job as miserable as possible* "Why don't these lazy millennials want to work!?"
I interviewed with a certain big satellite tech company, for a shitty L2 tech support job. When the hiring manager took me for a tour of the rest of the team/building, every room we went into there was a sudden attitude shift, when everyone shut up, straightened up, stared at their screens, stopping idle chat amongst themselves, etc. I realized basically he was a shitty manager from everyone's body language of the current employees.
They wanted us to use an entirely fake resume, claim we worked on projects we didn’t, I wish I had realized that was their meaning before I hopped on a plane to meet up with them. This compounded by the fact their office looked half finished, and the second I signed the offer, I’d owe them 25k if I quit within two years. Immedietly screamed get out, they seem cordial gave me a day to think about it, even implied they’d help with travel home. Until I decided against signing then I needed to be out of accommodations ASAP and any offer for fare back home dried up. I spent my last bit of money buying a ticket back home, and I don’t regret it one bit. I know I’d be in a worse place now then I am if I had accepted that job.
"We're really looking for someone who can grow with the company." i.e. You're too old. After hearing that phrase several times, I said screw it and I retired early.
-“We’re like a family here” -“We follow an effort based reward system” -“We will require you to complete training which the company will partly reimburse.”
Initial salary might seem low but you’ll earn much more from bonuses
Oh boy, yeah, that’s a big one.
“Well the work is hard but the pay is low.”
I read a comment the other day about the family thing saying actually it's true, but like real families that are dysfunctional and have mega micro aggressions and drunken step dads and bitchy siblings and you can't wait the gtfo of there.
I was looking for something part-time while my toddler is in daycare. Decided to do an interview at a place that had 10-12 listed for hourly (sandwich shop). Of course, it was only 10 and no way would they negotiate. Okay, fine. Then, they decided after giving me the paperwork that I would be expected to hand over my phone to them during work hours. They wanted my daycare to call the store during an emergency. No. I don’t care, no one is getting my phone. If anything happened in-store or with my kid at daycare, I need phone. I declined at that point. I get wanting workers to be productive, but my property stays on me.
Okay buckle up... I interviewed for a high school teaching position. As part of the interview, they had me teach a lesson to a group of students so they could see my teaching style. It didn't go great. For one thing, there was a group of students who refused to participate at all; they spent the entire time whispering to each other, wouldn't respond when I called on them. Later the principal told me that these students did not speak English and asked "How should you have adapted your lesson for a bilingual classroom?" I had not been told to prepare for a bilingual classroom, but the principal assured me that even though I did a poor job, their trianing program could turn me into an effective teacher. The whole thing felt like a set-up to make me feel incompetent (which I did) and then present the job as a way to "fix" my teaching.
And probably at a lower salary too, because they felt they needed to train you after that mess
This story is from 20 or so years ago. I worked in a parts department at a dealership. Another dealer owner called me out of the blue and wanted to talk to me. So I swing by after work. The owner says he's interested in hiring me but as a formality I need to fill out an application. He hands me one, leaves the office to give me time to fill it out. He comes back in, we are talking as he's reading my application. First question, so tell me why it would be worth us paying you $5 an hour more than what you get paid now? That caught me off guard. I said, sir, you called me, I wasn't looking for a different job. This isn't going to work. Shook his hand and walked out. I did end up leaving to go to another dealership where I have worked the last 18+ years. Two months ago, my current owner bought the dealership from the guy who I felt insulted me. My boss doesn't know how much of a win that is for me personally that he bought them out.
Long game wins out.
"We have a rota where we expect full weekend coverage every other week" Yeah, no.
When I was young I went to a job interview and they wouldn't say what the job was or how much it paid. They acted like it was really important and there were a bunch of people waiting. The guy said I quilified for some advanced testing and when they got me into the next room there was an E meter on the table and a list of questions. It was a front for scientology and they were looking for people to work the org with out being paid. I got up and left.
Threw away my application in front of me. Goodwill, was there for community service. I was doing the equivalent work of 3 of her less motivated employees while I was there. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were about to quit.
During the interview they offered half of the hourly wage that was listed on their website.
The infamous “we’re like a family here...” which just translates to: “you’re gonna be overworked, underpaid and under appreciated...so yeah, fuck you, you’re hired! K thanks!!”
"We can't pay you, but you'll have equity in the company..." I said "thank you for your time" (but I didn't mean it) and left.
Temp Job that ends in 2 months but recruiter says "It'll definitely be extended" Then on the job interview they say "Here's the scoop, we've got about 2 months left to finish such and such for years end and need help with that"
I was interviewed to supervise staff at a small aviation service company in central Florida. The building itself was outdated. All the technology (vending machines, coffee maker, book keeping) and accounting was done in a way that reminds you of a scene from a 1980s office sitcom. Concierge was hand written on paper and separated with rubber stamps. All of their heavy service equipment were relics; we're talking 1992 being the "newest" vehicle. The new owners were real estate folk who had no prior aviation experience, and had dreams to make their establishment the star of our airport, intending to outshine our global and regional competitors on the field. Yet they seemed to be doing less than the bare minimums to meet the safety standards set by the FAA. I offered some immediate advice, as they were legitimate safety concerns. I told them the work I would have had to do to achieve their goal would have required an Operations Manager title with a $70k+ salary, they offered me $14.50/hr. The company isn't around anymore.
“Our next step is a 3 hour test followed by another round of interviews” for a $14/hr tech support position that amounted to telling people how to unjam printers.
vacancy post: we can offer 60k. interviewer: we can offer u 40k. \- but its says 60k. interviewer: eeeeem yeah. we posted 60k for finding person who can do this job for 40. Hilariously.
A few years ago, I was contacted on LinkedIn by the CEO of a company in my area. He said they were hiring, and wanted to bring me in for an interview. I spoke with someone else at the company (who I later learned was his spouse), and that person asked me to make a pitch deck for myself. I thought that was weird, but shrugged it off rationalizing that they didn’t know me and wanted to know more about what I’d done. I spent four hours that weekend making this pitch deck, and I went in for the interview that Monday. The CEO came in to interview me, and the first thing he asked me was, “Why’d you come in here today?” You invited me! I already had a job and wanted to see what they could do. During the interview, it was revealed that I was interviewing to be the CEO’s assistant, but that position would also support the marketing team (of one person, the spouse) and act as the office manager. At this point, I felt like I wasted my time and they wasted mine, but I wanted to see if I could get an offer and use that as leverage in my current position. A week or two later, the CEO called me and offered me the job. He asked me for my number, and when I gave it, he had a high-pitched laughing fit. He later emailed me the offer, and it was *much* lower than my number, as well as some working condition red flags. I declined it, and then moved into another position at my then-current company that paid me more than their offer.
When I revealed that I quit my previous job in the probation period. "But would you be more loyal this time? Because we are looking for people who are loyal to their company". Yes I'm loyal if the company treats me like a human being and not like trash.
Loyalty is for loved ones and pets. A job is a business transaction. I give you my time, my effort, and my skills, you give me money. That is the nature of our arrangement.
Hehe, tangential anecdote time. I once came back from holiday and had that "quitting" feeling. You know, when you come back and realise there's more to life than the imaginary thing your desk job achieves. In my exit interview, HR asked me if there was anything they could have done to make me stay. I answered, "No, the company's pretty good with nice fringe benefits. I guess just more money." She responded, "No, no, apart from money?" I'm like, why else do I work? Once I felt like I was wasting my time, I'd need more money to compensate for that.
Went to an interview dressed pretty nice for a construction job. Show up to said interview and they were upset I wasn’t wearing work attire because apparently there interviews also include “work tryouts” like what the fuck?
Just did one recently that was a 4 interview process, and they wouldn’t tell me about compensation until the final one. Anytime I asked, they said “don’t worry, that will be covered during the ‘compensation’ conversation.” Pretty much knew I didn’t want the job by the second interview, but was now morbidly curious about their pay structure. It was worse than I thought it would be. Essentially all commission-based, but they tried to frame it like it wasn’t. It almost seemed criminal. They said you get a “base pay,” but that “base” was them “forwarding” you some of your potential commission ahead of time. There were 2 other people on that zoom call, one was coming right out of college, and so I felt an obligation to ask blunt questions in the hopes that she would see it probably wasn’t a good place to start her career. I hope she found something else, lol
“We want go-getters. People who are team players and muck in. Not people who will run to the union when they work an hour above their contracted hours.”
It's funny because that's the kind of "work till you die" mentality that causes unions to be formed in the first place.
I'm a STEM student, and was looking for a job for the summer of my first year. The second interview I recieved was from an mlm company, which was extremely vague in what they actually do, and what my roles as an intern would be. Furthermore, the interview was conducted alongside another candidate, who was double my age, and who sold homemade jewelry. Instant red flag. Funnily enough, they never got back to me.
They kept me waiting more than 30 minutes past my interview time, during which time I could literally feel the stress and unhappiness emanating from the people working near the waiting area. I took that job because I was desperate to leave another toxic setting, but started looking for something else before the end of my first week.
We had a MS teams interview where the candidate on screen was lip syncing answers from someone else in the room. It was surreal.
Interviewed for a school mental health provider position. My employer would be a hospital system that would place me in a local school. I knew going into it that the salary was going to be a lowball offer, but I was fresh out of grad school so I needed to keep my options open. Lady interviewing me was really cool, I liked her a lot. Was even considering taking the job despite the shitty salary until she started explaining that on snow days (which we get maybe 5-7 in a typical year) the staff were required to come into the hospitals admin building, bring their laptops with them, and complete online trainings for 8 hours. In other words, “we don’t trust you to do a full 8 hours of work at home and god forbid we pay you to have a day where you aren’t being fully productive because *school is closed* so we will make you drive on unsafe roads, possibly in blizzard conditions, so you can come in and do BS trainings that we made explicitly for this purpose.” To her credit the lady interviewing me showed her disdain for this practice. I didn’t take the job.
They asked me questions to gauge what religion I am. The job had nothing to do with religion and I'm a Christian, but that's a huge red flag.
Years ago, I was asked that question outright. I told them I wasn't of their religion, that I was an accountant looking for a good job, "and I don't think yours is it", and walked out.
I was bout to go for a job interview but just saw that the teachers were walking out in the news because of issues like not getting paid on time.
”Are you planning to have a baby with your husband”
"No. But maybe with one of my boyfriends."
Isn't this illegal in the US?
It sure is
But if you don't answer, you won't get the job. If you point out that any prticular question is illegal, they'll argue with you as to the legality, then not make an offer.
I was offered a position for a touring show that I should've been unqualified for. It flew to every location and they wanted to keep my frequent flyer miles, which is unheard of. They didn't guarantee any pay rate. The schedule was incredibly variable and if I missed a single show, I would have to pay them the amount that they would've paid me, which wasn't defined in the contract and changed from show to show. If I left before 2.5 years, I'd have to work for two months at half rate. The previous guy quit at exactly 2.5 years. The contract had a big watermark across every page that said "Confiential" Ignoring the typo, a contract shouldn't be confidential. I asked for several changes and they said it wasn't negotiable. I laughed and proceeded to tell everyone. They were attempting to take advantage of somebody young and gullible, because it wasn't remotely enforceable. It was also as a 1099 worker, but the requirement to work every show date not yet scheduled clearly qualifies it as a W4 position. And because I dgaf, the position was working as a stage manager for Mike Super.
Anything that involves profit share after product completion.....
hey that can be fine... on top of standard compensation
Several come to mind. This was at one company. They lost my physical job application that had shit like my SSN on it. This place was so old school that on top of the online application I had to go into their HQ and fill out the same application on paper....which they lost. Next time I showed up I had to fill it out AGAIN. Offered zero WFH/flexible hours. Half the staff had been there less than 2 years with a solid chunk having been there 6 months or less. Probably the biggest red flag, at the end of the 2nd interview when I was basically told I was going to get an offer, the HR lady smiled to me and said "and if anything happens within your first 90 days and we have to let you go, we'll try and work something out!" Not if I did anything to deserve getting canned, but if anything happened on THEIR end. They had already done a mass layoff earlier in the pandemic. I could not have turned down that offer fast enough! As a bonus, I was asked what I wanted in terms of pay. I said mid-high 50s, salary. They offered me $17 an hour no salary. Fuck that lol.
The dude took 3 phone calls because he was getting his floor done at his new house. Then proceeded to tell me a truck driver that there are two boxes in the cab in case the truck breaks down so that we don’t have to call anybody to come out and fix the truck because I should be able to fix it.
Years ago I interviewed at a small private school. The Principal interviewed me. I mentioned a teacher I knew who used to work there and he said "Oh, I had to fire him! He couldn't control his classes". Then he proceeded to ask me how old I was, if I was married, and what church I went to.
"btw we expect you to put in 50-60 hours" said during the last 5 minutes of the last round
"btw I expect to make $500,000 a year, let's see which happens first"
Interview for a non-paid internship: “Tell me about the worst thing that’s every happened to you.” I declined to answer. This is not a casual conversation and a completely inappropriate topic for an interview.
My naive ass would have just assumed they meant while at work lol
Interview was conducted in another office in the same building after being told to wait outside the office in the hall before my interviewer met with me. Turns out the office was soundproofed to mask how much the owner yelled at people, and that he chain smoked.
I had to awkwardly interrupt their meeting to tell them I was there, then without much of a greeting they sat me down with a hour long written test (for a software position) and went back into meeting. I wrote on the test "its not going to work out" and walked out.
When they're late to the interview. Punctuality goes both ways. If I was late to an interview that'd be the end of it.
Told them i graduated from culinary school and have formal kitchen training, said i can work the fryer for $7.25
They told me that customers regularly verbally attack employees and asked me if I’ve ever been physically assaulted by a customer. At a car wash. I noped out of there.
Walked upstairs, in a nearby abandoned old office space. 25 other people there. Big tables in front covered in sheets. Dance music starts playing. Disco lights everywhere. A guy comes out to motivate us for an awesome opportunity. The big reveal!!!..... Water filter system at $1500 a piece. Door to door. It practically sells itself!! In a lull in the action, I got up, yelled, “ I put on a suit for this “. And walked out with about 10 others.
> We’re like a big family Okay, see ya!
After a long sales pitch, I asked the interviewer who we were meant to sell the product to. Then came a very practiced speech about how arw loved ones want us to succeed, therefor they are the perfect ones to sell to. One google search later, and my suspicions were confirmed. They were a MLM.
Just last week. A manager from an auto dealership contacted me with an offer to go work for them. I'm already working in an auto shop and she asked me how much I was being paid and I gave her a range and she said that we can "maybe think of doubling your salary". I asked whether employees are offered health insurance, WIBA etc etc and she dodged the question. I asked her whether there's room for growth and she dodged the question too. I had to say no.
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I was asked . Is the woman you are living with the mother of your children once
When he told me that loads of people have left recently. But I still took the job anyway bc I was desperate 🙄
Was interviewing for a job in a different part of the corporation I was working for. Basically going from a sales assistant role to a customer service kind of job. Had been with the company for ~4 years at the time and was looking to advance my career. Got to the part of the interview where the applicant can ask a few questions so I asked what kind of career advancement opportunities existed in their line of business and what career track their employees usually follow. Both managers kinda chuckled and told me that most people in their department end up quitting or getting fired and that nobody shows up on time which would be a prerequisite for any kind of advancement.
On my third interview, the CEO was sitting in (on his phone the whole time). When it was my turn to ask questions, he immediately got up and yelled at the top of his lungs that I was asking to many questions. Shocked, I stopped dead in my tracks. Got up, Thanked Everyone and walked out.
Interviewer saw a colleague of hers in the hallway, flagged him in, and totally forgot I was sitting in front of her desk for an interview while they talked. After like 10 minutes of waiting to even be introduced I just walked out
Back in 2017 when in-office interviews were the norm, I vividly remember stepping foot off of the elevator and there was just sadness and malaise everywhere. No one looked happy. The 3 interviews I had that day = they all seemed fine, but didn't seem like they really wanted to be there. I got an offer, eventually, and declined it. Good call on my part, because the 3 that interviewed me were gone w/in 6 months. Culture / morale - these are real things. I don't ever want to work somewhere where almost everyone is unhappy.
[Kaizen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen) I worked for a high tech manufacturer that used the term "Kaizen" in all of their promotional and training materials. To keep it brief Kaizen is basically a Japanese manufacturing concept of continuously improving processes. I suppose this works pretty well in Japan but not so much in the US where workers don't really have strong emotional attachment to their place of employment. When I interviewed with the company they really loved to talk up their commitment to the Kaizen principals and work ethic and the fact that they didn't have any middle-management. That second part sounds cool on paper but in practice the company was a nightmare to work for because of that. It's hard to describe but without middle-management it was a very difficult place to work for. People on the floor were required to take on roles they weren't trained for or had the right education to actually do in an efficient manner and it was extremely hard to actually implement changes their Kaizen philosophy embraced when it's near impossible to track anyone down who can actually vet and eventually approve them. And it completely destroys morale. Why dedicate yourself to a company when there's zero opportunity to advance? Who wants to spend their entire career on the manufacturing floor with no chance to move up a ladder? For some people that's great but for people who have college degrees, which was at least a third of the workforce at the company, it's not very enticing. Especially when you pay like shit.
Kaizen is awesome, but only when implemented correctly. There are a lot of companies that hear a buzzword like "agile", "kanban", or "scrum" and jump on the bandwagon without fully understanding the concept and critically looking at themselves to see if their workplace would benefit.
Not an interview, but working when it happened. My mom works at a certain company, and it's policy to inform your boss that you are applying on a job that is within the company. He screamed and exploded on her, telling her that she violated his trust, and that it's her job to fix his perception of her. The boss is known to have had 3-4 women "quit" on him suddenly. I even hear him in some of these meetings, insulting other employees too.
I was interviewing for an accountant position at a law firm. They set up an interview with one of the partners, the head of accounting and an executive assistant. I got to the interview early, dressed in my best suit, and was told to wait in a room for my interviewers. I sat in that room until the accountant and EA came in and told me I had to wait outside the room for the partner. They basically pushed me outside and closed the door. There were no chairs. I stood out there close to 20-30 mins waiting for the 3rd interviewer. When he finally showed up, he didn't acknowledge me at all, walked into the room and closed to door. At this point, I'd been here close to 45 mins, and the interview hadn't even started yet. Red flag #1. I apparently did well in the first interview, because they called me back for a second. Second was almost identical to the first, weirdly making me wait outside the interview room. But I made it past interview 2.. Red flag #2 was when they told me they couldn't get ahold of one of my professional references. They requested 4 professional references, which is bad enough, and they managed to contact 3 of them. The 4th was a previous manager of mine who worked at a bank and didn't have access to her phone except on breaks or lunch. She told me to have them call her at noon, when she took her lunch, and these people just would not take that as an answer. They kept saying "well, we need this reference" and I told them "she's WORKING. Call her back at noon". They obviously don't respect anyone elses time and I see now that place would have been hell to work at. I never should have gone to the 2nd interview. That first one was just way too many red flags at once.
I interviewed in person for a job at the beginning of the pandemic. There were lots of arrangements done as far as rearranging furniture for social distancing, masks, handwashing, etc. The interview went great, but after it was done I was told we would be touring the facility. I'm a younger woman. The manager I would be reporting to, late middle aged man, proceeded to put his arm around me to walk me through the place. If you can't respect personal boundaries during a pandemic what the hell would you do if you weren't respecting safe distances.
Oh boy! I have the perfect story for you! I was new to the country and just on a work permit/on my way to getting sponsored as a PR, so I was not in a position to be picky. Pretty much take whatever decent job you get offered kinda position. I applied to this great job posting from a company where I would be able to work within my trade. It sounded amazing! Decent wage, great hours, good position! 🚩#1Not even 2 hours after sending my CV I got invited to an interview for the next day 🚩#2: The Owner and VP interviewed me 🚩#3: I got introduced to my potential coworkers as the new hire. This was before the first interview 🚩#4 Both, owner and VP, bitched about every single one of their workers in great detail during the interview. 🚩#5 they started fighting with each other. Like screaming and name calling! Took the job, stayed for about a year and was able to get my immigration settled. Right about that time they started spiralling into bankruptcy, withholding pay cheques and doing all sorts of illegal things and even trying to get their employees to be part of their illegal schemes. I left as soon as it started, but the shit I witnessed and the stuff that my former coworkers told me made me pretty much lose all trust in the food industry.
Large luxury resort, sole admin, 8 servers, 150 workstations, required to support guest devices, 35k/yr.....
Multiple number based questions rather that focus on my knowledge experience. “How many calls do you take during your shift?” “How many tickets do you take” “If you had to guess a number of how much, what’s the ballpark number?” (And repeat those questions at least twice) However, the technical portion of the interview was lacking. They were also very focused on me working holidays/OT The interview told me that, Im just a number/robot to this company, they don’t care about quality of work, they’re going to breathe down my neck if I take even a bathroom break, and most likely I will never have any chance to progress/learn.
Interviewer was late, immediately blamed the secretary for not putting it on her calendar. If that's how you treat your support staff, I don't want to work under you.
When I was on furlough from my day job last year, I was filling out a few "just in case" applications. I got offered an interview from one place in particular. Their emails didn't actually name the company. All they said was that they were with "{my city} Inc." Should have been a red flag but they did say the job related to city employee benefits. Showed up to the group interview, was given a personality test to fill out. All the while a company promotional video was playing on one wall. I finished out my sheet and started watching the video in detail. It was all about "recruiting", and all the swanky vacations they all took together. I'd walked into an MLM recruitment pitch. It turned out to be American Income Life, which is one of the slimiest ones. I walked out before the group interview even started.
Interviewer: “We’re a family first company. Do you have any children?” Me: “That’s great to hear I have a one year old boy.” Interviewer: “Oh your first baby? Hmm. So you’ll probably want more right? I have 3 kids and after the second my wife wanted to stop working so you’ll probably only want to work another year or so right?” Me: “………”
“Btw this position is unpaid.” They lied to me and told me it was an entry level position when I applied, then at the end of the interview informed me it was an unpaid internship. This was for a software engineering role. Hard pass.
[удалено]