Lack of clarity or consistency in the answers to your questions. Resistance to change (even if they say they want a change) While no one can perfectly predict what a new job will be like, staying alert to potential red flags during the interview process can help eliminate employment options that aren't optimal. Being attentive during interviews, as well as being attentive to how the process is being managed, asking good follow-up questions and doing due diligence can help mitigate the chances of making a bad decision. Here are 10 red flags you should pay attention to.
The saying “warning to the buyer, beware” applies when interviewing for a job. This doesn't mean that you should start the interview process too skeptically or suspiciously, but rather to encourage yourself to be aware of possible red flags in the interview process that deserve your attention, as they may indicate more significant problems with your potential boss, team or the organization in general. At the time, his answer didn't perplex him, as most managers are going to have an opinion. However, a simple follow-up question could have generated an important red flag, such as: “How do you treat other people who have different opinions? You may have gotten more useful information here, both from her words and from her body language, and from those who worked with her to see what her experience was about how she handles conflicting viewpoints.
Sadly, it was his way or the road. Worse yet, it turned out that I had worked in that role decades earlier and a lot had changed since then, including technology that I was sadly unfamiliar with. He ignored my client's recommendations for improvement in favor of outdated practices that hadn't been used since the 1980s, instead of more efficient methods and technologies that he proposed. It was frustrating, every day felt demoralizing and like an uphill battle for David.
While the number of interviews and the length of the interview process are likely to correlate positively with the level of the position (p. ex. While so many interviews might make sense for a C-level candidate, they don't make sense for a director. He said: “It should be the hiring manager who makes that decision, so why do we have to have 14 interviews? What does that say about the organization and its ability to get things done? Some companies, such as Google, are taking active steps to shorten lengthy interview processes in order to be more competitive in the war for talent.
The average hiring process takes 23.8 days, so if you wait weeks or months between Zoom interviews, you're probably faced with an inefficient or overwhelmed organization. Companies that issue explosive offers aren't likely to respect your wants and needs once you're on the job, and they're likely to be inflexible, intimidating, and autocratic. The manager didn't ask me a single question, he simply described the work and shifts he would work on and said: “They hire you if you want it. A client of mine, “David”, was hired by his last employer to improve the organization's customer service function.
But taken together, they're a wake-up call to politely step aside from consideration and keep looking for a new position, even if you're desperate to leave your current job or need to start earning a paycheck soon. When you hear answers to the same question that are in direct conflict or are inconsistent with the answers of others, it's a red flag. Caroline Stokes, executive advisor and leadership strategist, agreed, adding that constant rescheduling means: “They don't prioritize people or placement. While no one can perfectly predict how a new job will turn out, staying alert to potential red flags during the interview process can help eliminate employment options that aren't optimal.
Stokes shared that a client of his said after a second round of interviews: “The first interview was really great. Likewise, if the change in the scope of the position suddenly makes the job less interesting for you, it's worth noting. Clarify what your most important values are before starting the interview process and have questions ready that will allow you to evaluate the company's culture, to what extent the organization shares its most deeply held values, and how well you could express those values at work. Let's say you were excited about your new job opportunity when you arrived at company headquarters for an interview.
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