What are some warning signs to look for when interviewing with a potential employer?

[Nikia]

Assume that you know no one who works there and it isn't large enough for people to complain about it on the internet.
I'll start:
The company president not having a computer because he thinks they are unnescessary and a poorly lit parking lot at a company with an evening shift.

[Danger Mouse]

1. Your potential employer isn't wearing a shirt.

He is wearing a necklace made of human skulls.
He stares into your soul.
...

He appears in your nightmares...
:scared:

[Nikia]

2. That sounds bad

I've never interviewed with someone like that.

[dysfunctional press]

3. a chrome-plated floor-ceiling pole and a mirror-ball in the office?

[Orrex]

6. Now, let's not be hasty

[Nikia]

9. I guess that it depends on why they are there

In general though I'd agree with you.

[dysfunctional press]

18. okay- let's assume that it ISN'T at a gay firehouse.

[XemaSab]

4. When your potential boss tells you

that if they hire you, they'll get rid of someone else.

Not only that, but it's an office with 3 people in it to begin with. :scared:

[Nikia]

7. Sounds rather risky

I'd pass on that too.

[Orrex]

5. If you have to drink something from a chalice before signing your contract, it's usually a bad sign

In my experience, anyway.

[Nikia]

10. That would make me a little nervous

I think that I saw a movie like that.

[Dystopian]

8. "Are you sure you're not looking for McDonald's playland?"

That's what the idiot at the desk said to my twenty-eight year old son when he arrived for his interview. Needless to say...I'm freaking out at his recently screwed up choice for a 'career'...
I have no respect for 'authority' figures....they suck....live in a pumped up world filled with themselves...
I won't go on...
Now he's on the edge of being one of 'them'

My son sold his soul for the money and security.
And chopped off three feet of beautiful hair in the process....


peace~

[Nikia]

11. I have a male friend who has long hair for that purpose

He says that it is part of his screening process.

[Dystopian]

19. Interesting...

I'm wondering what type of work....I wish I could have told my son...
It was a matter of survival so I had to act supportive....
I've not heard of such a thing....hair = work
I guess I haven't been able to give up the hair thing since the 60s...
Or my disrespect for those who command respect....
sigh....

[XemaSab]

16. One of the best stories I have ever heard anywhere ever:

Ted Parker got a call from Louisiana State that they needed someone to help them with bird research in South America. This was 1968.

Ted thought the position sounded great, but Ted was a bit of a hippie. Basically, the gig won out over the hair and beard, so he cut his hair and shaved his beard.

He showed up to meet his new colleagues, only to meet a bunch of bearded hippies.

A few months later, they told him that when he showed up at the airport, they all thought "Who's this asshole?" :P

[Dystopian]

20. Thank you for sharing...

Great story...made me smile...:-)

peace~

[XemaSab]

23. You're welcome. This is "the" Ted Parker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_A._Parker_III

[Odin2005]

17. Where does your son work that is so evil?

:shrug:

[Dystopian]

22. He's still working on it....

Many steps for the hiring....
He gets to lie to the shrink on Friday...final interview.
He's got a lot of good connections...it's all about connections.
If and when he gets the job I'll be back to vent...

And people can tell me what a horrific mother I am....:(



peace~

[greendog]

12. Small business. New owner with no relevant experience.

[Nikia]

13. My husband had a boss like that

His grandfather sold a successful multi million dollar business to a larger corporation. He felt the need to do something that would make him feel important so he bought a dealership of equipment that had sold to his grandfather's company.

[LeftyMom]

14. Two that have actually happened to me:

1. Potential employer mentions that he has had problems with turnover and has not been able to keep your position staffed.

2. It becomes clear during the interview that the potential employer has not read your resume and requested an interview based only on your cover letter. You go over your qualifications and the potential employer seems pleasantly surprised that you are in fact highly qualified for the job.

Scarily enough, it was the same interview. I took the job because some of the other aspects were appealing, but the interview served as excellent warning as to what working there would be like.

[pitohui]

30. this is number 1-- "turnover and has not been able to keep your position staffed"

this the SURE sign of a shitty job w. a shitty impossible supervisor/boss/owner

[Wapsie B]

15. When they openly admit that if you accept the position you'll be expected to clean up their mistakes

Meaning be the hatchet man. You wouldn't believe the number of places I've interviewed with who were quite open about that. And this is healthcare we're talking about, not some high-pressure job in finance or manufacturing. They wanted me to start creating the paper trail that would lead to the firing of people they didn't have the balls to fire themselves.

[Mopar151]

31. Been on both sides of that one

To be fair, I asked them first about the guy I had to get rid of.....

As to being "Paper trailed" out the door - it's what happens when you step on a weak & swollen ego or 2 - 'specially if the ego(es) involved have had a recent promotion.

[Lars39]

21. Is it a family-owned business?

And if so, is the second generation running it, or running it into the ground?

[Godhumor]

24. 2 from my life

1) Having the employer lose my resume during the interview and then forget my name. Oddly enough, I got offered the job but passed on it.

2) After going through all the steps and showing up on day 1 to have my mentor tell me that she expected one of her friends to get the job and was not happy that I was there. Keep in mind this was my mentor. I lasted one year before leaving for greener pastures.

[Chan790]

25. I read that wrong and had a doozie of an answer...

at my last job, I was sitting there in my hiring interview and over the cubicle wall I hear the director of LP "So why did you leave that position?"

"Well...sir. I was caught masturbating in the mail room."

"I can see why they'd fire you for that. Care to explain?" (The tone of his voice is clearly one where he's decided he's not hiring this guy but he needs the interview to be pristine so the guy has no recourse to sue of file a complaint. This applicant, like most of our applicants, was a referral the the NY State Dept. of Unemployment.)

"Oh no, I was just too embarrassed so I never went back. I was stealin' stuff anyways."

If it wasn't my own job interview, I'd totally have stood up just to see who was this dumb...if you're stealing stuff and masturbating in the mail room...just say you had personal differences with your employer and leave it at that.

[LoZoccolo]

26. Any pre-emptive warning about negative comments about the company on the Internet.

Especially if they are dismissed as whining by people who couldn't keep up or handle the job.

PS Check out glassdoor.com for company reviews.

[Z_I_Peevey]

27. The interview itself is substantially different

than what you were told it would be. You're facing a panel of three interviewers, rather than the single interviewer you were told to expect. Or the location is a different room.

Your potential employer pulls these stunts to gauge your adaptability or your ability to stay calm, or somesuch claptrap. It's either a warning that you might be working with a bunch of pathological liars or a tipoff that they don't really want you for the position.

[Deep13]

28. People doing busy work for the last half hour.

No one leaves before or after closing time, support staff leaves exactly at, for example, 5:00.

The lights are on way past business hours.

Passive-aggressive expressions in the office like Dilbert cartoons or signs that read "in case of frustration: bang head here."

Close relatives in positions of responsibility.

Employer pays just a little too much attention to himself or herself. Obvious displays of wealth or "success." Bodybuilder physique. Gaudy jewelry. Pro nail job.

Interviewer talks with excessive meaningless business lingo focused mostly on how hard you will work.

A contract written by the employer.

[raccoon]

29. Your prospective boss's nails are bitten off way below the quick.

Ask about her management style and she gets defensive.

PS--Be sure to ask why the position is open.

[jakefrep]

32. Your employer shows up in a track suit...

...and wearing enough gold chains to choke Mr. T.