What's A JOB INTERVIEW Red Flag That Should Make You Walk Out

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:01]What's a red flag everyone should be aware of when attending a job interview?

[00:00:04]If they tell you on arrival that the job you applied for is no longer available, but they have a very similar position that just opened up, leave immediately.

[00:00:13]It's a bait and switch tactic coupled with a sunk cost fallacy. The new position will be identical to the original one you applied for, except the salary is significantly lower. They're hoping that you'll play along because you showed up to be interviewed, probably desperate for work, and will accept any job, no matter the wage.

[00:00:27]Furthermore, the position you applied for doesn't really exist, or at least not the advertised wage. Advertising for a fake position would be legal in the US. Although it happens, it's often hard to prove. How they get around it is to advertise an attractive position that is actually available and take lots of candidates for it. But the people they decided internally are the most likely candidates for it early so they can fill it immediately. Then all those other less qualified candidates that they scheduled, they still have you come in so they can pitch the other jobs they need filled, which are usually far worse. They usually aren't required to call up other candidates and tell them the job has been filled before they arrive. And if they're ever called out on it, which they likely won't be, they can say that they scheduled the best candidates early, but left open the possibility that some of the less qualified candidates could get the position if no one else was a good fit before them. As long as they're very clear about their intentions upfront.

[00:01:13]They don't try to trick you into thinking the new job is the one you applied for. They tell you immediately that it's filled and move to the other position. They can't be accused of scamming. It's scummy but illegal. They really said that position is gone but we have a similar one and somehow the similarity stopped right at the paycheck. Story two. If they lied about the salary on the posting. Yes, I have had this happen three times. The first time was in the fourth job interview four office visits. I was confused when negotiations around stocks and PTO were going weirdly and I finally asked if they were even willing to pay the salary stated in the job ad. They were not and I politely thank them for their time and wish them good luck finding someone experienced and knowledgeable to meet their needs at the price point. The second time turned out to be someone pretending to hire for one company but were really starting a competing business and they were only willing to pay an equity. No salary. Third also only wanted to pay an equity but didn't have a clear business plan just some patents. I'm done interviewing a very early stage startups. Story three. They asked me my political opinion which I didn't think was right. I once interviewed for a place called Appalitical. They kept claiming they were completely appalitical while pushing EDI agendas. Better policies for climate change and better regulations for AI. I'm absolutely in favor of those things. But I can also recognize that those issues are very political at their core. I wanted to make that point, but that kind of shut me down and I didn't think it was the place or time to argue.

[00:02:31]And they asked me what my most controversial political beliefs were, which I couldn't really answer because controversy really depends on the audience. And nothing I believe seemed to go against what the company advocates for. I didn't get the job and one comment was that I seem to lack critical thinking. That makes me laugh now. I think I really dodged a bullet. Story four. I once turned down a job offer because they mentioned that the previous person in the position had quit after a few months and most of the people I interviewed with seemed stressed out.

[00:02:55]This is a huge red flag for me. When an interviewer says, "We're looking for someone who won't leave after 6 months or a year. Is that something you're interested in?" It tells me immediately they have a turnover issue so bad that they can't even keep people there longer than a few months. And the fact that their solution to that seems to be asking the candidate to pinky promise they won't leave instead of actually addressing the issues tells me it's not somewhere I'll want to work after a few months either. Story five. I had an interview for a supervisor position a couple years ago for a private security contractor. I have just under a year of supervisory experience in this industry, which I now round up to a year following the interview. I got a call to come into the interview. During the call, they mentioned what position I applied for. I confirmed that was the position and the guy scheduled an interview. I wake up nice and early and get dressed. I had to drive into the city and pay for parking because the building there in does not have parking and there was virtually no on street parking. I get in early and end up waiting like an hour to be seen.

[00:03:46]I'm led to a room for the interview by the secretary and wait another 20 minutes for the interviewer. He walks in with my resume in his binder and starts the interview. The whole time he seems kind of annoyed. After a few generic interview questions, he describes the job to me and I realize he's describing a security guard position and not a supervisor. He ends with mentioning that it's a 48 hour per week position with the expectation that I pick up overtime.

[00:04:07]and the pay is a whopping $11.75 an hour. A far cry from the $18 an hour the supervisor position offered and less than the $15 an hour I was already making in my current job. He then starts explaining how the onboarding process works as if I've already accepted this god-awful job. And I stop him and mention that this doesn't sound like the position I applied for. He then throws his hand up dismissively and mentions that the job requires a minimum of a year of supervisory experience and that I don't have any. I point on the resume that he's literally looking at that I have 9 months. He says, "That's not enough." So, I shake his hand and thank him for the offer, but that'll have to pass. He looks shocked and then goes, "Well, okay, fine then. You can leave, I guess." I was so mad. Dude completely wasted my time and money. He knew what I was there for, never had any intention of offering me that supervisor position and assumed that I would just settle for that crappy guard position. The good thing was, given his attitude, I mostly definitely dodged a missile. Story six, nobody wants to work anymore. You're about to find out exactly why nobody wants to work for them. Seriously, every single job I've worked that said that during an interview was toxic and grossly underpaid. At my last job, the bosses were shutting the office down and moving across the state because they couldn't find anyone willing to work for them in the largest city in the state.

[00:05:16]The reason no one wanted to work for them was because they were offering crappy pay that was less than the starting wages of every other company in the industry in the city. They didn't want to increase wages. Story seven, we're a family. The dysfunctional one with a narcissistic mom and abusive alcoholic dad. Work hard, play harder.

[00:05:32]aka we're all functional alcoholics and sleep is for the dead. Up to X dollars a year performance bonuses. You're going to make minimum wage. Buzzword bingo.

[00:05:41]When you ask what you'd actually be doing, that either means you'll be bored out of your skull or regularly bered for not being Superman. So, if you make it to the sixth round of interviews, you can expect they're not really going to hire anyone. Cut bait. Unttrack PTO.

[00:05:54]This one can be a green flag as long as they immediately clarify that everyone takes at least 8 to 10 weeks a year.

[00:05:59]Otherwise, it's a nice way of saying there's no need to track it because we don't take any. Also, unlimited PTO.

[00:06:05]This means you get no vacation, but the bosses get to take several weeks at a time many times during the year.

[00:06:10]Unlimited PTO is a new way for companies to avoid paying you for the vacation they wouldn't let you take when you finally get fed up and leave. The only way you can ever take vacation is if you know some really, really damaging things about at least one of your supervisors, preferably all. I should know. I work for a company that uses this as a recruiting tool. I can take vacation if a manager approves, but I can't get a hold of my manager to get him to approve since he's always gone on his unlimited vacation, which actually is unlimited.

[00:06:35]It is a sign of a crappy company. Story eight. I interviewed with one of the big ticket networks. It's based in southern New England. The pre-screen call with a hiring manager went well, and our views about writing code, source control, and documentation were spot-on, so I thought I'd give it a shot. When I arrived, they took my driver's license for me and told me they'd hold it while I was on site.

[00:06:54]and they wanted to do a credit check while I was taking a series of grammar, basic intelligence, and JavaScript tests. I told them there's no way I was going to get my credit danged with a hard credit check before an offer. The woman from HR just didn't get it. I made sure they stopped the credit check, collected my license, and walked out. I sat in the car for a minute, thinking about the very odd vibe of the place, how they treated me, and wondered about the culture of a place that would do these things. Since then, they have been outed for a whole bunch of issues, including, big surprise, HR ethics.

[00:07:22]Looking back, I never should have considered working in that place. I'm very happy where I work now. My boss is smart and flexible and I'm doing good work as opposed to screwing concert goers. Near miss. The moment they said they'd hold my license, I'd say nah.

[00:07:35]Goodbye. Story nine. When you ask, tell me a time when one of your employees really impressed you and they cannot give you a single example. My current job gave me multiple examples of how their team members impressed them.

[00:07:46]That's how I knew I wanted to work there. In comparison, when I asked this in another interview, the answer was, "There are so many instances and I can't focus only on one," which I interpreted as, "I don't value my staff in the least." I was glad not to get that offer. Story 10. If you show up and it's not what you were told to expect, it's probably nonsense. My example is an interview I took years ago. It had several phone interviews and it seemed it was going well. They asked me if I could come in for an in person. The first flag was something in the appointment email that made me look up the address and it was a hotel conference center. I asked if this was an office or what. They admitted they were doing interviews in a conference room because they were doing a lot of hiring and had managers and HR flying in from around the country. I arrived at a giant conference hall with hundreds of applicants for the position I interviewed for. We checked in, got numbers, and waited and waited, then sat through several rounds of group interviews with panels of interviewers.

[00:08:34]I talked to a few people while we waited and found out we'd all been told it was another round of interviews for people that had good prospects for getting hired. It was not. It was a circus. The guy I talked to on the way out was near tears. He'd taken an unpaid day off and borrowed a car to drive there. He told his wife he was coming home with a great job. The whole thing was degrading and insulting. Story 11. In my experience, every manager that told me they weren't a micromanager was a micromanager. I've learned to dig deeper when people say this to figure out what they consider micromanagement. For example, asking them how they personally stay up to date on what their team is working on. One guy that said he wasn't a micromanager actually had a system of tracking that involved his reports to update tickets, fill out forms, and submit an email status update every week. Just because someone automated their micromanagement doesn't make them not a micromanager.

[00:09:19]Story 12. I asked if the promotion ladder could be clearly defined or laid out and what systems they had in place to develop existing talent. I was in an interview at a personal request due to a lack of experience in their department.

[00:09:29]I obviously struck a nerve. After a closed- dooror chat, management was adamant that this was a performance-based company and promotions were applied accordingly. They were apparently not hard up enough for experience. I was not invited to join the team. If a company cannot detail employee retention and development outside of money, I personally don't want to work there. Strangely, they were touting their new pet insurance benefit as a big selling point. This was an aerospace company and not a small one.

[00:09:53]Story 13. I just had a great interview with the office manager who mentioned the owner wants to meet any possible candidates. I agreed to meet her the next day. the entirety of the 30 minutes I spent with that horrible human I was verbally abused and talked down to in every way possible. She asked, "Why do you want this job?" And I replied, "I really love this kind of work and I'm good at it." She interrupted with, "You like this kind of work?" incredulously.

[00:10:15]Oh yeah, you want to hire someone who hates this kind of work. I told her I left my previous job to go back to school, but also management changed and therefore the office dynamic changed.

[00:10:23]And she interrupted again to say, "Well, every office has drama. We certainly have drama. You think you're going to get away from drama in an office with women? I look young for my age and I have two teens. When that came up, she asked the exactly how old were you when you had them? I get this question a lot and I hate it, but I'm also a professional and courteous and I want this job. So, I said I was 21 when I had my first and she interrupted to say that's extremely young. Look at me judgingly. Literally everything I said, she interrupted with a rude or straight up mean comment. She just had to put me down in every way. Let me know I'm beneath her. I laughed and had an anxiety attack because I was in shock, but also I really liked that place, an office manager, and was really looking forward to the job. I just could not believe that I encountered such a horrible human being who was in holistic healthc care for a profession. Anyway, long story long, don't take crap from nobody. I'm too old to deal with this crap. Good luck finding someone to step on. Story 14. I got an interview for a front desk position at a small law firm, basically doing administrative work like scheduling and handling paperwork.

[00:11:21]Anyway, I get a text, not even a call, asking what time it would be available for an interview. I responded with my availability pretty much any time during the week. Then they mentioned the interview would be over Zoom. I currently don't have a camera or a decent microphone to do a digital interview. And since their office was only a 20-minute drive away, I asked if we could just do it in person since I couldn't do Zoom. Radio silence for about 5 hours, and I get a text basically ignoring what I said and scheduling the Zoom interview anyway. I responded again reminding them I couldn't do Zoom, that I could easily do an in-person interview or even a phone call. The next day they replied saying that since I was unable to conduct their interview, my application would be dropped. This was about 2 months ago and the job listing is still posted. So yeah, being completely uncompromising over something as simple as the format of an interview. Story 15. I've got a couple of them. If the job interview is a sales pitch, they're spending too much time trying to convince you the job is great and almost none of the interviews spent getting to know you. If they're completely unaware or don't bother checking your resume, this is a sign they're looking for a body, which is likely because they're desperate or need warm bodies. They dodge your questions.

[00:12:21]Reputable companies won't shy away from tough questions. Actually, they like you for it. Asking about work reviews, company direction, company culture, etc., etc., are all excellent questions worth asking, and an interviewer worth their salt will be prepared for the question. They don't ask you any tough questions. This can be interpreted multiple ways, but whether it's a question challenging your knowledge, confidence, or ability to do the job.

[00:12:42]These are important to know if you're a good fit for the company. They require a yes or no once the interview is completed. This is a sales tactic to pressure a decision. They require way too many interviews. This depends on the role, but generally speaking, three rounds of interviews, one call and two inerson or Zoom calls should be all it takes. Maybe a fourth depending on circumstances, but never a fifth. This is what I could think of in a few minutes, but these are all top of mind for me when going to an interview. Story 16. I was very motivated to leave a hostile work environment and switch to another agency. After being offered a new job at a new agency, the interviewer or my potential future boss said she needed me to start at a date in about 1 and 1/2 weeks. I told her that I needed at least two weeks due to turnover at my agency. They didn't deserve it, but I didn't want problems leaving. My potential boss then said, "If you want to work here, you'll start in 1 and 1/2 weeks." I told them I didn't want to work there, but I appreciated them trying to bring me on board. Oddly enough, I now work at that agency, albeit a different division, and I'm technically higher up the chain than the person who offered me the job, although we've never spoken or run into each other since I've worked there. Story 17.

[00:13:44]We're very flexible. If you stay late one day, you can just come in later the next day. What they actually mean is that you're expected to be flexible. You stay late whenever they need you, which ends up being all the time. The flexibility rarely goes the other way.

[00:13:55]In practice, you stay late to finish work, cover for someone, or handle last minute issues. Then the next day comes around and suddenly there's too much going on for you to come in late or you're made to feel guilty for even asking. It sounds like a benefit, but it is really a way to normalize longer hours without calling it overtime. They get extra labor when they need it while keeping everything off the books. So, no, they're not doing you a favor.

[00:14:16]They're just making sure they never have to pay you overtime while still getting overtime level effort. If you're enjoying the video, don't forget to hit that subscribe and like button for more videos like this. Story 18. From the other side of the fence, when attending an interview, as the interviewer, I'm always wary of candidates who don't ask me questions and are simply passively answering questions instead of being engaged. I'm not asking for you to be pumped and sing the company's praises.

[00:14:38]But if you're not engaged in an interview, I get the feeling you're just going through the motions to get any job, not this job. And I don't really want to hire you because you may just leave too soon to get an RO. Look, I get it. You want this job because you have bills to pay. That's why I do my job, too. But why do you want this job at this company versus one somewhere else?

[00:14:55]Show me you're not just a drone blasting out resumes, but that you actually considered the specifics of this position at this company. Again, you don't have to pretend you've always been super passionate about us or what we do, but show a genuine interest in finding the right job for you. Interviews are a two-way street. As much as we are interviewing you, you should be interviewing us. Some really good questions I love hearing from prospective employees. What is the most positive and the most challenging or frustrating aspect of working at company? I love this one and I answer honestly, not with some HR bull crap.

[00:15:24]This tells me you're serious about potentially working here, but want to know the bad with the good so you can make an informed decision. Are there any technologies or practices used at company that I should look into for my own professional development? While some information is proprietary, I'm happy to tell you some basic stuff and it shows if you're interested in learning more and about preparing for a new role, even if you don't get it. Why was the position made available? If it was an existing position, can you tell me any details of why the previous person left?

[00:15:48]Or if it is a new position, can you share why it was created and approved?

[00:15:52]This is a very valid question. Now, I may not be able to answer that fully.

[00:15:56]Like, if the previous person was terminated, I may only be able to say the previous holder separated from the company and their position became available, but I enjoy sharing when we were able to promote someone or if they got head-hunted by a better offer, we couldn't match or if it's a new position because we're growing and need more staff or are branching into a new technology. It again shows you're invested in the position and want the full details to make an informed decision. Story 19. when they Freudian slip and they offer health insurance for one group of their employees but not another group regardless of the size of the business if they do not have someone operating in an HR role or capacity when they bring another employee into your interview as opposed to a manager or HR rep. That same random employee in your interview texts you between interviews to say X says if you accept the offer you'll definitely get your own office.

[00:16:37]Hope that helps your decision. Companies that encourage you to download remote software to your personal computer as opposed to providing a company computer with software already installed. Bonus points. If they tell you during the interview that remote work is acceptable, then you later watch someone get fired for working remotely while they're mending a debilitating injury, just know you screw up and are next in the chopping block. Story 20. I guess this is useful if you're getting into cram school teaching. I had a job interview a few months ago for an ESL position where they asked about my preferred style of teaching. I answered with something along the lines of incorporating different styles of learning to suit all students while covering the four key language skills.

[00:17:13]creating a supportive environment in which students are allowed to make mistakes as participation is more important than perfection. Being patient with the kids as this is their third language, etc. The interviewer told me I was 100% wrong and I just needed to ensure the students had top grades to take home to their parents. Nothing else matters. She also added that she wanted someone she could shape into a real school name, teacher, i.e. do whatever the school says without question. Oh, and she insulted my ability to speak their native language despite it being banned in their school as they wanted to advertise an English only environment.

[00:17:42]Red flags everywhere. Was offered the job, politely declined. Another fun thing, they asked to see proof of my residency and were confused that my car had no expiration date. I had to explain that after 5 years of living in this country, foreign workers can apply for a permanent residency card rather than reapplying for a work permit every year.

[00:17:58]The woman interviewing me called in others to look at my card and none of them had ever heard of it. This means that no teacher had ever lasted at that school for 5 years. I wonder why. Story 21. Heed this warning. I worked for a specialty chain run by one man. He did things in a very unique way and tied his divisive beliefs to free items, usually at the most inconvenient times. A lot of employees left and started posting on glass door. The company then flew all the store managers to headquarters where the head of HR showed us the glass door posts. The owner acted like it was a safe space and said we were free to speak openly without repercussions. The people who actually spoke up ended up gone within the next year for all sorts of reasons. It was one of those moments where you realize the open discussion was more of a test than an invitation.

[00:18:39]Say nothing and you're fine. Say something honest and suddenly your performance, attitude, or fit becomes an issue. If a company is already showing you how it really operates, especially during something like an interview or a meeting like that, it is not going to magically improve later. That is the culture. That is the standard. If anything, what you're seeing is probably the polished version. Story 22. If they don't want to directly answer questions about wages, overtime expectations, or any of your questions prying into daily life there and how well employees actually like working there, run. If you ask whether there will be situations where you have to cover someone else's shift after asking for that day off and getting approved, they even hint that it has happened before, run. If you ask how much they make, how much the boss makes, how long they've had their positions, how often people move up the ladder and they get uncomfortable or start dodging the question, run. If you ask about other employees wages and they say, "We don't allow employees to share their wages with each other or anything along those lines," run. Basically, take all the bad situations that happen at work, ask them about it, and if they start squirming, run. Story 23. That they're really, really happy to see you, and get you on boarded. Read. Hello, fresh new person whose only drive is aiming to please, do all the work, look good, and get references. I learned one too many times that managers who were overly excited to interview me were probably running very unstable workplaces. I had one job like that where we lost 11 people in 5 months. Two quit on the same day. And this goes hand in hand, too.

[00:20:03]High turnover at another job where in my four years there, we lost an average of one person a month. The worst week saw five people leave or get fired. Story 24. In the late 2000s, I was once interviewed by Microsoft for a job. The interview is pretty straightforward until he asked me, "If you were the project manager for the Zoom, what would you do?" I replied, "Given the current state of the music device market, and I'd push for the resources dedicated to the Microsoft Zoom to be diverted to other worthwhile pursuits." The iPod currently holds over 3/4 market share, while the Zoom, despite Microsoft investing hundreds of millions of dollars, hasn't even been able to break 1%. There was a slight pause, and then the interview asked other questions for the next 15 minutes, but continually looked up at the clock. a sign that the interview was basically done in a bad way. At the end, he shared that he was in fact the lead project manager in the Microsoft Zoom with a slight look of disgust or anger or disapproval. Didn't get the job, but I think I was proven right about the Zoom. Red flag. The clock thing is a flag that it's not happening. Taking the Zoom question so personally is a clue that the people you might be working with have fragile egos.

[00:21:02]Story 25. The interview and owner of the company told me they had issues keeping people in the position they were hiring for, and their solution was that the salary was too low. To fix that, they brought me in at $25,000 higher than what they had previously paid for the role and made sure I knew it. It was a huge pay bump for me, so I ignored the red flags. Looking back, that should have been the biggest one. When a company openly tells you they cannot retain people, the problem is rarely just money. The company ended up being complete mess. The real reason they had issues keeping people was not just pay.

[00:21:29]It was the person I reported to. They were easily the worst person I've ever worked with. Every day felt unnecessarily stressful, disorganized, and frustrating. The higher salary helped at first, but it did not take long for the daily experience to outweigh the extra money. No amount of pay made up for dealing with that environment. I ended up going back to my old company after 6 months. The extra money simply was not worth the constant frustration. No amount of money can fix a bad boss. It just means you're getting paid more to be stressed. Story 26. I work in HR. I absolutely loathe the family description and would tell you to stay away from a company that describes themselves as a family. Family usually means there is one super toxic individual that is high performing that everyone has to put up with because that's just the way Bob is. Or everyone puts up with each other's bad behavior and conflicts never get resolved. Look for we are a team. Ask for specifics, too. This gets thrown around a lot without it being true. If they can't give you tangible examples of actual teamwork, then it's a lie. Remember, you can fire a teammate. You can't fire your family. Story 27. Working for a husband and wife. Family drama spillover. High turnover of staff. 50% of staff at the school has been there less than two years. Teaching position interview at pre- Cololine NYC behavior school. What would you do if a student brought a weapon to school? How many people have been in this position in the past 2 years? My mom's assisted living facility has had eight head chefs in 2 years.

[00:22:48]They're asking the head chef to do the impossible. If it is a full day interview and they do not bring you lunch out to lunch or schedule you to have lunch. This happened to my wife, PhD, 20 years experience. She got an apology letter from the company about how badly they did. employees crying in the bathroom. If you see an OSHA safety violation of days without accident, that is saying do not report an accident.

[00:23:08]They want you to have a flexible schedule so they can call you in any time and you cannot refuse. Sure, boss, but I already started my day drinking.

[00:23:15]I've got three shots in me. Come over and pick me up. I'll sober up on the way over. Story 28. My sister had a job interview for an HR job that asked her what medications she took. She was desperate, so even though she knew that was wrong, she answered anyway. They said they would pray on whether or not she would be allowed to take her ADHD medications. She got the job offer and I told her, "Hell no, run. Who knows what else they will do." My mom got mad at me and told her that it was a good Christian company and she should take it. She didn't. Is very happy and works at a company that does work in the environmental sector. Story 29. When they ask questions that reveal a lack of general technical competence, such as harping on undergrad CS course material that has only very limited relevance to real world software development. When they reveal they don't let their developers choose the desktop environment they use to code with.

[00:23:59]Hello, you are paying $200,000 or more to staff this position and benefits and HR costs are included. This highly paid professional is telling you what he or she needs to be the most productive. All editors and IDEs on all oss create compatible text files for the source code they create. That you are going to micromanage expensive professionals into lower productivity because of policy hostility to remote or hybrid work. Same general logic as previous item asking for salary history. I will gladly give you mine when you give me your payroll data. Story 30. Oh, I have several from the many bad interviews I've done over the years. They say we're like a family here. Yeah, the kind where boundaries don't exist and you can't quit without guilt. They ask specifically about your personal life goals and say you must not be workrelated. Totally not trying to figure out your life situation or anything. The interviewer is running late. An even bigger red flag is if he is the CEO and is in his office gossiping or hitting on his young assistant. Nothing says great leadership like that. They offer you a different job with lower pay as you're apparently a better fit. Translation: We like you, just not enough to pay you properly.

[00:25:00]Pay, hours, work location, etc. are different from the ad. Remote suddenly means fully in office 5 days a week.

[00:25:06]They talk behind their staff's back. If they're doing it to them, they'll do it to you, too. They ask you to do assignments or unpaid work. Free labor disguised as part of the process. They make a mistake during the interview and then blame or snap at you when you ask about it. already passing accountability before you're even hired. If all the staff are really young usually means overwork, underpaid, and high turnover, dressed up as a fun, energetic team.

[00:25:28]Story 31. Asking illegal questions. At the interview for my first teaching job, I was asked if I had a fiance. Thus, if I would not stay there long due to moving, due to a potential upcoming marriage, whether people had had difficulty understanding my accent. The questions may not seem egregious at first, but they were a foreshadowing of what was coming up. The job was not good. I was nitpicked on for everything, even the way I walked. They made my life impossible. Then I was constructively dismissed. Obtaining a reference from them was quite a feat since the principal was deliberately vague in her responses. I had a malas during the 4 months or so I worked at that school. I was afraid it was CO poisoning, but the monitor did not reveal anything off in my place. When I left that school, the males went away. I have been with my library system for over 20 years now, and these two decades have had nowhere near the issues I had at that school in 4 months. Story 32. Look at the people in the halls and offices as you proceed to the interview. Do they look relaxed and happy or sad and stressed? I interviewed an ad agency years back and honestly, everyone I passed looked like they were at a funeral. I went through the interview, but my suspicions were confirmed when literally in the middle of the interview, a young woman burst into the HR office crying hysterically because she'd made a mistake and her boss was angry with her. Yeah. No.

[00:26:37]Finished the interview and nope right out of there. Agency closed about a year later. Absolutely not a surprise. Story 33. once drove from OC to an interview in LA where the position turned out to be door-to-door sales of security systems in upscale neighborhoods.

[00:26:50]Interviewer explained that we'd be dropped off sand cell phones and picked up at the end of the day. The guy basically told us he'd interview us all then call us that day to let us know if he had it. On my way home, he called me and said no. It occurred to me then that this was the actual interview. He wanted you to turn his no into a yes, be a persuasive salesperson. I didn't bite.

[00:27:07]Thanks for your time. Anyway, the idea of being dropped off without a phone in random upscale LA neighborhoods to go doortodoor didn't sound great. Story 34.

[00:27:16]Did they mention any sort of gamification of work? I just had an interview where halfway through the manager casually mentioned points. When I asked what he meant, he said all employees are ranked based on their point value and points can be earned or taken away. For example, you call out sick minus two points. You show up late minus two points. If you get your name in a positive Google review, plus one and a half points. I had so many questions. Does it reset or are new employees just predetermined to rank lower than people who have been earning points for years? Why is all the bad things worth more points than any of the good? The only one I actually asked was, "What does the point system affect?" And he said, "It's the order in which they schedule people." Nope. First and only offer ever actually rejected. Story 35.

[00:27:56]You walk in and it's a group interview with like 20 people. It happened to me when I was like 18 or 19 and really needed work, so I ignored so many red flags. Lasted 3 weeks. By the time I left, there was only one other person for my intake of around 20 left. If they need to interview that many people at once, it's a job with very high turnover, and you need to ask yourself why. Also, if you walk in and it rapidly becomes clear they lied or obfuscated or hid details about the role in the application. I've had two. The above job advertised as marketing that we didn't find out was door-to-door sales until training started and one a couple of months ago advertised as it for a small cafe. Figure it'll just be basic tech support, fixing POS systems, etc. Right up my alley. Get there and the guy starts to describe the role. Run their social media. Take photos of the food and vibe. Try and target the posts to get more women in. Asks if I have experience with Insttor Facebook in that sort of capacity. Laugh and explain, "Absolutely not. I don't really even use socials. I'm very much the wrong person for the job. Get out of there within like 5 minutes." Story 36. Interviewed for a major oil and gas company.

[00:28:58]Afterward, the top interviewees were all invited to go bar hopping and clubbing with the interview team, 10 of us, four of them. At the first club, one of the guys asked me if I wanted to take some substance with him. I declined. Later, he offered me a neon blue mixed drink. I declined again. Part of me thought these were tests or that he just wanted to seem cool. The interviewers were in their early 30s, late 20s. As we left the first club to go to the next venue, the same guy suddenly fell down the stairs and hit his head. Being the largest man in the group, I had to carry him away from the crowded street to a parking garage. Another employee brought in bottles of water while we waited for EMS. I gave them my phone number in case they needed help later. Once EMS arrived and took him and a female employee in the ambulance, the rest of the interviewees were sent home. Then at 4:00 a.m., I got a call from the female employee asking me to pick them up. I drove to the hospital and picked him up.

[00:29:44]The guy's head was bandaged, but he kept saying it was no big deal and acting inappropriately toward the woman. They were both married to other people. When we got back to their hotel, the woman asked me to keep everything I saw a secret. I agreed. A month later, I received a job offer from them with a strong salary. I declined. A lot of red flags. Too many red flags. Story 37. Not saying this is always the case, but one that I will not forget. If you're interviewing for a relatively competitive position and you're offered the job immediately and you have to decide right there to take it or not, or the job is talked up so much you feel like you have to accept the offer or lose out. The FOMO got me bad. Turned out they needed people because teachers kept quitting on them and new hires were needed before the new school year started. I also ended up quitting. The school closed a few years after that and it should have been closed a lot sooner.

[00:30:29]Story 38. I had gotten hired as a receiving manager for Ghost Kitchen. Any duties were supposed to be doing the bulking ingredient ordering inventory, a bit of forklift operation and managing to employees that were meant to help me with dock work. I.e. they'd be offloading pallets and doing restock while I did QC and make sure the order was complete or got replacements or requested refunds, etc. It was for six separate chefs, so it was a pretty big job. Within the first week, both the dock workers quit. So, I was doing everything by myself. On my 30-day check-in, I brought up the fact that it had been several weeks since I had dock workers. And some days, I was having to run the whole dock alone. From inventorying to ordering to receiving, forklift, daying, shelving, rotating stock, QCing, getting refunds for incomplete orders, sourcing incompletes, and they didn't want the chefs to have to take meats out. So, they were supposed to call me anytime meat needed to be pulled from an outside freezer.

[00:31:17]After I'd had to receive like eight pallets loaded down with the literally thousands of pounds of meat alone in the August heat that broke me. Everyone else was smooing some guy who'd come from corporate. I finally called my direct supervisor and told her that unless I had some help, the meat was going to drop in a temp and be unusable. Then the corporate guy showed up outside too and said, "Are you doing this all alone?" I very loudly said in front of all of them, "Yes, I have been for 2 months."

[00:31:41]Jeez. The supervisor stared daggers at me. At that point, I'd been outside for several hours. They called a few people out and we finished the job. I was off the next day. I started looking at the group chat and saw people saying the chicken they got was no good and smelled off. I deleted the apps. No call no show and got a job through an agency. They hired me full-time and I'm still here today. Probably doing 5% of the work I did there and getting paid more and getting more appreciation for it. So I guess my answer is if you show up for a job advertised as for a manager and all of a sudden you have no one to manage, they were hiring you to be a mule the whole time. Story 39. If they can't clearly define the job you'll be doing or your job title, run. Don't take any kind of vague job. If they say something like, "Well, we just need a hard worker who can jump on whatever work is available." Then don't take that damn job. What they should be able to do is clearly list some of your responsibilities. Example, so your job is forklift driver. You'll be moving pallets, boxes, materials, maintaining the forklift, and sometimes operating or other equipment. If they can't define your responsibilities in the interview or your job sounds vague, don't accept the job. Well, if you like these stories, here's more. YouTube thinks you're going to love this. Catch you in that video.