Corruption has increased everywhere with the rise of population and wealth. People are always looking for easier ways to get what they want.
Adding to this root of confusion and moral decay are suspicious companies that maltreat their applicants once they have joined in or hire candidates on false promises and refuse to pay up when the time comes.
More so, there are also applicants who are unprepared and yet they think they deserve the job so they sometimes take extra pains to hide their weaknesses by lying.
No matter how smart you may be, an additional step of precaution would not harm. There’re simple red warning flags for you to identify such suspicious organizations or applicants at interviews and they’re as follows:
Interview Red Flags for Employees:
1. Lack of information on the company:
Genuine companies are well-known and any information on them is readily available. However, in some cases if the company is new or if it has not been long enough for advertisements to run its magic then it is slightly difficult to get enough data on the internet.
But even so, there will be other ways of getting more data from the company office itself. All you have to do is a phone or go up to the main office if you want more details about the company.
On the contrary fraudulent companies will not be willing to provide any kind of information whatsoever. And even if they do, it will never be enough to satisfy your queries. They will keep making you run from pillar to post until you either give in or see through the façade.
2. The employer’s lack of respect:
You know something is wrong with the company if your employer does not pay you respect. Remember that being patronizing and rude are two different things.
Employers normally patronize the candidates to see who holds through the grinding but if the employer is being unreasonably rude then it is a sign that it is better to look for a job in another place.
If you are a person who treads on the bright side of things then do not see rudeness as a mark of experience and wisdom. If your employer does not give you respect then it does not mean that he or she has reasons or that is going to give you better results at work.
It is simply a glimpse of the toxic relationship they must have with their employees.
3. If the employer is not confident while answering your questions:
Consider it a red flag if your employer is not able to meet your queries efficiently. It’s expected that whoever is taking your interview will have the answers to your questions regarding the company.
But if it does not happen to be so and the employer is unable to supply you with enough details to the company then you better be scuttling off.
Do not waste a minute if you see that your employer himself is not well aware of the company norms and procedures because chances are that they are hiding something from you.
And it is always better to be sure of what you are getting into than be hung indefinitely in suspense.
4. If things are not exactly as they say on the classifieds:
If they’re not keeping true to what you thought you were signing up for then make a run for it. There are a lot of shady companies that refuse to be clear about their affairs. And agree to let in on the details only if the applicants are ready to join. Be warned from falling in such traps.
These kinds of companies are temporary and the classifieds they give have very little information regarding the job.
So if you are not getting answers to your satisfaction or if you see that the employer is trying to avoid your questions by changing the subject then do not proceed with the interview.
5. If work leaves no time for yourself:
The way employees are needed to work in some companies is at times too harsh to bear. And it is a bigger problem when it eats the time you suppose to spend with your family.
It is not uncommon for employees to be working under pressure and sometimes they have to work beyond their normal time to get things done. But not being able to spend time with your family at all for too many days in a row is not to be taken lightly.
It only explains how bad things must be at a company that does not give their employees enough time to spend with their loved ones.
Discuss these matters at the interview since chances are that employers are going to talk you into taking the job without telling you all sides of the story.
6. Inappropriate manner of talking:
You know you have come to the wrong place when the employer says something he has no business to know. Good companies often ruin their reputation by the way they try to break the ice with their applicants.
While sometimes they are just trying to be friendly, at other times the things they want to know or want to talk about are none of their concern. That is when you have to draw the line.
At this point, you can choose to react in either of the two ways that are you can either leave the interview or tell them in no uncertain terms that you do not wish to discuss private matters at work.
Your best option would be to end the interview since employers who ask inappropriate questions at interviews are most likely to poke their nose in your business later on as well.
7. If your interviewer is late:
A late interviewer is never a good sign. If your interviewer does not respect the importance of time then chances of working at a company where discipline revere are next to none.
You would not be forgiven if you were late for that interview so why should you make light of it? However, there is some chance that the interviewer may not have been late on purpose and he/she would most probably apologize if he/she is aware of it.
Otherwise, you are better off not working for the company where there is no respect for time or discipline.
8. Unkind employers never make good bosses:
If your employer is too rash while talking to you in the interview or hurries you without having given the average amount of time one needs to answer a question then you are looking at an unkind person.
This definitely cannot lead you anywhere peaceful let alone a place where you will be expecting the co-operation of your colleagues and the help of your employer. They will invariably tend to turn a deaf ear to your problems.
Undoubtedly you will have no happiness working for somebody so devoid of emotions and sympathy. Plus if the employer sees his/her employees as machines then he is most probably running a bad company with no name for a good reputation.
Interview Red Flags For Employers:
1. Red flags on resumes – Inconsistent career pattern:
Even employers have to watch out from applicants who can go to any extent to get a job. To such candidates lying is an everyday thing they look forward to.
But why would companies settle for less even though it means that some applicants will have to look elsewhere since they did not deserve the job they had come for.
If you are not getting enough data on an applicant from his resume and it is raising your suspicion then do not fall short of check where else he/she has worked previously.
Not only will it clear your conscience but will also save any misjudgment on your part.
However, if you see that your applicant’s career pattern has not been smooth then you have every right to either question him/her or reject him/her right away if you do not want problems for your company.
2. Lack of confidence:
Another red flag you have to look out for in any potential employee is whether they have the required amount of confidence needed to complete the job. More often, applicants have no preparation and not all who apply are smart.
So naturally, they have a hard time tuning up to the environment and finding the right answers to the questions that suppose to test their aptitude. And the company cannot expect to make a deal that will lose them thousands of dollars just to keep someone’s heart.
3. If your candidate is not friendly:
The last thing you would want for your company are employees fighting among themselves. A company primarily runs on teamwork.
So watch out for applicants who are by nature hostile but would pretend to be super friendly for an hour or so just to get the job. Throw questions at them that will bring out their true nature but remember not to ask questions that can consider too personal to ask in an interview.
However, if you are a man with experience then you will probably know how to see through your applicants and call them for how they are actually.
4. When the applicant has no sense of time:
Being on time for the interview is the first test an applicant has to pass to win the confidence of the employer. If the applicant is late you would invariably start taking him/her less seriously than others since he/she has no sense of being on time.
There can be exceptions where the applicant may give you enough reason for being late and apologize profusely. Other than that you can hope to get any kind of sincerity from an applicant who has deliberately come late.
You can never fully depend on somebody who shows such a lack of punctuality right on the first day so you are better off selecting someone who respects the time you had given.
5. An applicant with a demanding attitude:
Do not trust an applicant who demands too much. Some applicants think that if they ask for too much and act smart at interview the employer is bound to give them what they want.
This is where the applicants forget that the interview is not a place where they can call the shots. They think that if they are too good for the job the employers would blindly offer them the job but they are wrong.
There is one good employee after another, and they are all interviewed on who is more deserving of the job.
Therefore in an interview, an applicant is in no position to make calls and you are not to put up with such an attitude where they think they can make unreasonable claims and get away with it.
6. Lack of skills:
Look for skills if you want to avoid choosing the wrong person for your company. Applicants who are not skilled would want to keep you busy in conversation.
Although speaking about various things is a good thing to gel up with your potential employees, do not forget to see if they skilled as they appear to be. Ask them questions that you think only skilled applicants would be able to answer.
You do not want to disappoint later on to see that there are mistakes on your part in selecting the right applicant. Remember to test them on the specific skills needed for the different positions each of them has applied for.
Conclusion:
These are the basic things to look for in employers and employees if you are not hoping to be misled in any way. It is always better to take precautionary measures than being proved wrong afterward.
So watch out for the above-mentioned interview red flags to make the right decision for yourself.
