An interview is a two-way street: while the recruiter is studying the resume, the candidate recognizes the company. This is a good opportunity to understand the structure of the company, its attitude towards employees, and the Labor Code. We tell about alarm bells at interviews: from carelessness and negligence of the employer to outright rudeness.
Specific questions – abstract answers
During the interview, you need to understand what you have to do in the company. Find out if the requirements specified in the vacancy correspond to your real job responsibilities.
Are you being invited to a new position or a position vacated after your dismissal? What the previous employee did not cope with, what initial volume of work should be done during the probationary period, if such is supposed?
The recruiter should answer any question about the company and your role in it. If the HR does not have the necessary information, your future manager usually joins the interview – the last resort to understand the front of the work. It happens that the question is asked incomprehensibly or too sharply: try changing the wording. Usually, companies without double bottoms are open to dialogue.
High staff turnover
Staff turnover itself is not a wake-up call – companies often recruit students for seasonal work and interns. In this case, the company saves on salaries, and employees gain useful experience. Someone stays in the industry, someone leaves for another company or sphere.
Another thing is high turnover where it should not be. In an accounting department or a beauty salon, the average working time of an employee exceeds six months. If the firm is constantly looking for an accountant, it may be due to inadequate job descriptions, toxic staff, or an aggressive leader.
If, apart from high turnover, nothing else bothers you, ask directly why the staff changed so often – maybe the employer will name objective and adequate reasons.
Too fast or too long resume processing time
On the one hand, getting a job offer after a fifteen-minute interview is ideal. On the other hand, it is a sign of a lack of competition and an indication that the organization is desperately plugging holes in its staff.
An unnaturally long hiring process is the other extreme. Sometimes companies are not invited for an interview for months or cannot make a salary offer. Usually, it takes one to two weeks from the moment of the first contact with the HR to making a decision – be guided by this number.
Disrespect for the profession and hazing
Right at the interview, the employer makes it clear that second-class people are entering your profession. “We pay sellers little because they often steal”, “There is nothing to guard here – consider not a job, but a gift”, “The salary is low, if you want more, earn a tip.”
It happens that disrespect is masked for hazing: for example, at an interview, they say that you need to build a client base yourself, and access to “warm” contacts will be given only after a trial period. Work issues are ignored under any pretext, hinting at the insignificance of the position.
Usually, line staff is more likely to face this problem, but there are exceptions: professional hazing is found among real estate trainees, in IT and design.
Rudeness, insults and coffee on trousers
Some employers conduct stress interviews – this can be expected by a public transport driver or office manager. The recruiter deliberately delays the interview for 30-40 minutes, “accidentally” spills coffee on the candidate’s resume or pants.
Often, under the guise of a stress test, the boss or the HR is openly rude: they say that it is not customary to wear dark underwear under light blouses, they hint at unprofessionalism, or insult them for free. If the situation simulated during the interview does not even remotely resemble the problems that may arise at work, the employer has played too hard.
The best thing to do in this situation is to politely interrupt the interview and leave the interview. There is no need to be rude in response: most likely, the recruiter maintains contacts with other HRs, and you can be put on the unspoken blacklist of conflicting candidates.
Pay for the opportunity to work
Fraudulent companies, under any pretext, demand from applicants a fee to take office. Taxi drivers are asked to fix a broken car, pharmacists or handymen – to buy overalls.
Until now, dozens of fake agencies pretend to arrange job seekers as waiters, bartenders, or masseurs for cruise ships. The money is taken for registration of a sanction book or visa, for ordering a personalized form or paying for a personal cabin.
Payment is usually accepted in cash, documents are issued with the stamp of a non-existent legal entity. When trying to get the money back in the company they say that they are counterparties, and the employer has already closed all positions, but next season they will need their hands again, and they will call you back.
Honest companies conduct training at their own expense. The same rule applies to the issuance of a form, tool, or work computer.
