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Avoid a toxic workplace at all costs.
By Unwritten — Written on Dec 03, 2022
A job interview is not only an opportunity for the company to get to know the candidate, but it is also a two-way session during which both parties can decide whether they want to cooperate or part and never see each other again.
According to the researchers at University of Manchester’s Business School, the percentage of workers leaving their jobs due to economic conditions is much lower compared to having an unbearable boss or disorganized company culture.
Needless to say, working in a poor environment is something you want to avoid at all costs, as this is going to affect your overall happiness and throw you into apathy.
Below are 4 signs of a poor workplace you can spot in your next job interview.
Trust your hunches.
Most HR specialists come to the conclusion that the best way to detect a poor work environment is to trust your intuition. If you do not feel comfortable during the interview, there is probably a good reason for it.
When you are about to have a meeting with a hiring manager, pay attention to how the people are behaving. If you notice some long faces, there is a good chance that the employees are unhappy or unmotivated.
Should you get a chance, note how regular employees interact with their superiors and see if there is some tension.
Watch for signs of disorganization.
Time is gold. If the interviewer makes you wait for more than 10 or 15 minutes and does not bother to apologize for it, they do not value your time, and therefore, they do not respect you. This attitude is likely to be accentuated when you enter the position.
Note that even if you are applying to some big company, the hiring manager must show some common courtesy and punctuality.
Pay attention to if you feel respected.
If you feel uncomfortable or undervalued by the hiring manager as well as your prospective team members during your interview, you are probably facing a poor work environment. If they criticize or underestimate your achievements and/or hobbies, this is clearly a red flag for you.
However, it sometimes happens that the hiring manager will deliberately say something slightly negative about your hobbies just to trigger you.
Example: "You mentioned that you have been into gardening for the last 5 years. I think that gardening is rather boring, no?"
In this case, the hiring manager might simply want to see if you are going to stick to your colors or admit that what has been your hobby for a long time is in fact nonsense. If you feel this is the type of situation, stick to the truth!
Be interviewed long enough.
Normally, a job interview lasts about 45 minutes. If that is not the case and your job interview ends in a matter of minutes, this could be 2 either of two things.
Either the hiring manager clearly sees that you are not a good fit for the company, or they are not selective about the people they hire. If it’s the latter, your instincts should tell you to run.
Getting a new employee onboard is quite expensive for companies today. For this reason, they spend hours screening and sourcing candidates to find the one with a unique skill set they need.
We spend a great deal of our life at work and our workplace has an enormous influence on each and every area of our activity. This means we have to be extremely selective about the job that we take and being able to recognize a poor work environment could save us plenty of trouble in the long run.
Unwritten is a website for millennials written and run by millennials. Unwritten is committed to giving Generation-Y the discussion they need, whether it be a source of news, a much needed laugh, a comforting shoulder to cry on, or a place to have their own stories heard.
This article was originally published at Unwritten. Reprinted with permission from the author.