Bad Employers, and their Red Flags. Pass.

You sit down for that first interview. Across the table is the HR rep, trained and educated to spot red flags in you. After the interview, the third-party headhunter who was responsible for sourcing you, follows up with the HR rep.

"Pass", says the HR rep, rejecting you as a candidate.

But what about job seekers? Are you, the job seeker allowed to spot red flags in employers, and say "Pass"?

Just like bad employees can be a waste of time and effort, so too there are many bad employers, who frankly, don't know what they want, or know what they're doing. Know the signs to save your time, your track record (you don't want to have a fleeting employer on your resume), and most of all, your dignity.

Serial Job Posters. Employers who repeatedly post the same job. It might disappear for a few months (meaning it got filled), but then the same vacancy appears again. It could mean many things, such as the employer not knowing what it actually needs, or worse, it is a poor manager of talent. Pass.

Churning Employees. You want to apply again to the same job vacancy. The HR rep, and or the decision maker is different from your first application. So if the employer can't maintain stable employment of these people, what is to say they can with your job? Pass.

Poorly Written Job Descriptions (JD). Conflicts, and even poorly-spaced descriptions tell you the recruiter or employer is careless. Experienced eyes can even spot JDs with ill-advised tones in words. The JD wants an entry level manager for low pay- but it demands 3 jobs, plus executive duties (?!) in one. Is this fair? Does this make sense? Is the JD all mashed together without line breaks, paragraphs, sections, or bullets; giving no consideration for you to read? If the JD is non-sensical or sloppy, what does it say about the employer? Pass.

Employer misses your Interview Call. With no heads up beforehand, the HR rep forgets to call you. The employer may apologize after the fact. But if there is no courtesy communication before, then this is also a red flag. Maybe their business is so chaotic, or they are unprofessional, and don't know how to honor appointment times. Pass.

Interview itself is a Bad Experience. You wait in the lobby too long. The HR rep was strange, asked improper questions, or was needlessly adversarial. Surprising and out-of-control interviews will lead to your similarly surprising and out-of-control day you get laid off. Pass.

Job seekers, with their expectations, situations, needs, and experience levels are all different. Some will take anything. Some learn from mistakes, and steer clear from employers on the trajectory to failure - Some can see this. Some don't care. At some point, where money is not such a screaming concern, and you care about your time, you should know the signs, and you too can say, "Pass."