Don't work here: the 4 biggest interview red flags

Last week I wrote about red flags in job descriptions. Once you've avoided those, you're not out of the woods yet.

Now you actually have to talk to humans in interviews and I don't think I need to tell you that this can be a minefield of red flags (a flag field?).

Now, you might be thinking, "Stephen, what's with the obsession with red? Is it your favorite color or something?"

Well, the joke is on you because I'm red-green colorblind. In fact, I despise the color red (I think. I can't really see it).

Still, I don't despise it as much as I despise bad interview practices from companies. And that folks, is what we in the business call a seamless transition.

Money? I don't want your stinking money.

At a minimum, by the end of your first interview you should know a rough compensation range for the job you're applying to.

Bad companies like to perpetuate this idea that it is rude or wrong for job seekers to ask about compensation until an offer is on the table.

Nonsense. Cynically, I think this is an intentional ploy to lower your compensation.

Noone wants to waste their time. Not you, not the people you're interviewing with. Why then, do companies with bad hiring practices treat compensation like a state secret?

If you invest hours of your time during a work day to interview across multiple rounds these companies think you're much more likely to accept a low-ball because of something called the sunk-cost fallacy.

They know you don't want to waste your precious time off with nothing to show for it.

How do you prevent this? Ask about a compensation range by the end of the second interview at the latest.

You can even pitch it as trying to help them, "I don't want to waste your valuable time so I'd like to make sure we're on the same page in terms of compensation..."

This is the interview that never ends, it goes on and on my friends...

The interview process you have to go through to get a job is the best indication of what it will be like to work for the company you're interviewing with.

Is the process well-structured or are you being asked the same questions by different people?

Being asked the same questions over and over by different people within a company demonstrates a lack of collaboration. Couldn't one person have asked the question and shared your answer?

Do you know, before your first interview, what every step of the process will be or do you keep getting strung along with "we'd like you to meet one more person" type requests?

"Winging it" in an interview process could mean that the company didn't invest time or resources into thinking through what they're looking for in your role. If this happens in the interview, you can bet you'll have even less clarity once you start the job.

If a company sets a deadline to get back to you after each round, do they live up to their word?

A company would NEVER accept you missing a deadline in the interview process. That should be a two-way street.

Politican answers to your questions

At my first job out of college me and a colleague would play "buzzword bingo" during large team meetings.

Words like "synergy", "go-getter", and "teamwork" would score you points. You know, words that managers love to spout because they sound meaningful but convey no meaning.

In your interview, you should be playing "buzzword bingo" when it's your time to ask your interviewers questions.

For example, if you ask a question like "how's work-life balance here?" and you get a response of "we work hard and play hard" then run for the exit. If, instead, you get a response like "I typically work 40 hours a week and don't check email on weekends" then you may have a winner on your hands.

If you don't get a satisfactory answer to your question the first time, try to rephrase it in a more black-and-white fashion.

So, if they don't answer your "how is work-life balance?" question, you can ask "how many hours do you typically work in a week?".

If you still don't get a concrete answer, then you have to assume the answer to your question is not what you would have liked to hear.

At the end of the day, lean into your doubt

I have a confession to make. I'm an eternal optimist. I could meet a cannibal and come away thinking, "that person has a real hunger for life".

I've had my fair share of really bad interviews. Interviews where everyone I talked to was clearly miserable and just trying to get through the day.

For me, it took a conscious effort to not give my interviewers (and by extension, their company) the benefit of the doubt.

Interviews are a two way street. Of course, you're being evaluated. But, you also have to diligently evaluate your interviewers.

I always tell job candidates to lean into doubt. There are not many universal rules but here is one: looking for a job is soul-draining.

It's too easy to want to be done with the whole thing so you accept a job where you had that uneasy feeling in your gut after interviewing.

All this does is prolong suffering. Jumping from one job you don't love to another means it could be months to years until you get bite at the job apple.

Be discerning and don't underestimate your worth. When people tell you who they are in your interview, believe them.