Keep an eye out for these interview warning signs.

We get it — preparing yourself for the interview can take up all of your brainpower. But don't be so focused on impressing the hiring manager that you forget to “interview” the company themselves. You want to make sure that the company and position are the right fit for you — and you most definitely don't want to get stuck in a toxic workplace. 

Here are the interview warning signs you should be on the lookout for, according to the Reddit community: 

Shady salary deals 

“I had a job offer me 'unpaid bonus hours' as a form of 'community service.'” — suitology

“'You decide how much you make!'” — branchout

“I interviewed with a tech company in Augusta, GA to work on Fort Gordon as a network admin. They offered $13/hr for 20 years of experience, certifications and clearances. That comes out to 26,520/yr. For a TS/SCI network admin job. The HR manager said they pay low so that 'you can get public housing, food stamps and assistance! It's like getting double the salary without the taxable benefits!' 

I noped.” — cliffy348801

Work hard, play hard? 

“In a lot of industries, 'We work really long hours sometimes, so we're really looking for someone who's willing to put in the hours and is interested in making a bigger impact' is code for 'We're looking for someone to sacrifice their weekends on the altar of our arbitrary goals and expectations because we can't be bothered to pay a second person for this role.'” — etennui

 “Anyone using the phrase 'work hard and play hard' during the interview.” — NoKindofHero

When it sounds too good to be true

"Would you like to work in a dynamic, fun environment? Are you a self-starter? Are you a people-person? Then come work for us...and pay no attention to the fact that we never tell you up-front what the job is … because it's really just a marketing scam." — ElBomberoLoco

“'We're like family here.' — Utter Bollocks every. single. time. It's invariably a way of trying to manipulate you into doing things not in your contract or against labor law.” — Adenoid_Hinkel

“'Everybody is happy here, and nobody wants to leave this job because of how awesome it is to work here. You know, everybody, would love to get a place here.' This is a very red flag, because basically it means we have huge issues inside, but we are keeping it under the rug so that the public opinion won't change about our company.” — Illidiaar

Uncomfortable workplace culture

“Interviewer has visible anger issues with other staff. I encountered this at the beginning of my career. They didn't hire me, which was good.” —  TheSanityInspector 

“When you walk through the site and you don't see a single person smiling. I don't mean those fake customer service smiles, either. If everyone there looks miserable I'm out, life is too short for that.” — max_and_friends

They didn't do their homework

“People who visibly show they haven't looked at your resume. I have no issues going in depth about my experience or things that may need clarification. But, to blatantly not know anything about the person they're interviewing shows they don't even value their potential employees at a minimum.” — btashawn

 “If they reach out to you and say they're looking to hire someone and ask if you want to come in and interview, but they never say anything about the job or company except maybe the name, and their website is just a bunch of filler stuff that says nothing about what the company does, then don't go for the interview.” — OkArmordillo 

“Not a job offer, but I decided to skip an interview after the email I received had lots of grammar errors, the info on the website was very ambiguous such as 'We work with big clients,' and the Glassdoor comments were very similar and sounded like they were written by Pollyanna.” — byrak97

Invasion of privacy  

“If they ask if you are on medications and if so, what medications and why?” — Rizumu972

 “He asked me (on the phone) whether I was good looking? He asked me what my body was like etc. I was like okay, I'm going to hang up now. This was a job advertised in the London Evening Standard, a respected newspaper. They were really pissed off when I told them and this guy must have realized he crossed a line because he wouldn't answer the phone when they tried to get in touch.” — FloppyEaredDog

Not sure what to expect when it comes to the job interview? Our expert interview coaches can guide you. From helping you identify what to look out for during the interview to sharpening your interview skills so that you impress, our coaches are here to help with any and all of your interview needs. 

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