The Top Red Flags to Look for Before Accepting a Job Offer

When we get an offer for a position that looks like our dream job, we are naturally excited about the opportunity. However, this state of excitement might sometimes lead us to make a premature decision, and miss some red flags. It is unfortunately not uncommon for people to join a company just to discover a few days or weeks later that the job that was advertised to them in the original job description is nothing like the work that they are actually asked to do. The next thing they know, bitterness and disappointment lead them to resignation, or even to depression.

However, in many cases, clear clues that "something is not right" can be spotted throughout the entire recruitment process. Learning to recognize and interpret those signals might help you make an educated decision regarding your next position, and avoid bad surprises on your first days in your new role. Below, I describe some precautions you can take before signing an offer.

1. A high employee turnover

Before signing an offer or even before interviewing, go check LinkedIn employees and see how long employees typically stay at the company. Because this might vary from department to department, make sure you check people currently employed in the department you are considering to join. A high turnover rate among the executives is also a possible sign that the company is second-guessing its choices, or that even highly-incentivized people decide to leave (even sometimes one of the cofounders). If most people are unhappy enough to leave after just a few months, it is highly unlikely that you will thrive there.

2. No signs of a fair promotion system

Here again, LinkedIn is your best friend: check out how quickly people typically get promoted. Check several data points to make sure the information is accurate, and that you don't get misled by outliers. In a good company, a high performer can be promoted in less than a year after joining, so if you don't find a single example with someone being promoted in less than 2 years, it is usually a sign that the criteria for promotion is length of tenure and not performance. If you are a high achiever and hope to grow quickly, the company's policy regarding promotions might make or break a great opportunity.

3. Unimpressive future colleagues

Before you sign an offer, it is fair game for you to check LinkedIn once more to get a sense of who is working for the company. What is the background of the people working there? Are there any employees that impress you? Any that you feel like you would be learning from? Remember: "if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room", and the same goes for companies. Finally, who is on the board? Does the C-suite have experience and a good track record? Would you be proud to report to your potential future manager? If looking at the other employees' profiles leave you underwhelmed, it is unlikely that you will stay motivated in the long run.

4. Low Glassdoor ratings

That one might seem obvious, but many people fail to check that anyways: if the average rating is under 4.0, you should try to figure out the main reason for discontent. Sometimes, what makes others unhappy might be something completely insignificant for you (like lack of parking, when you know you will be commuting by public transportation). However, the company's biggest flaw might be just the same that caused you to start looking for a new job in the first place. While a little less obvious, it is also important to check the trends: have the ratings dropped in the recent weeks or months? If so, it might be an indication that a recent change in strategy or a reorg has caused the working conditions to change. The data found on Glassdoor is very useful indeed, but you have to make sure that what you read is still relevant to the current situation within the company.

5. Inconsistencies in the job description

Assume that you read the description of what seems to be your dream position, but that after talking to the recruiter, the hiring manager, or a few other people, it seems that the position doesn't look anything like what you read online. If that happens to you, then realize that there is a high probability that the company is still unsure who they are looking to hire for the position (which is not a good sign in terms of their stability and reliability), or that they are simply trying to lure you in by using an embellished description that has ultimately very little to do with the actual job. A few years ago, I was contacted for something that was described to me as being a lead data scientist position, but turned out very quickly to be a junior data analyst position.

6. A vague or unrealistic job description

A few years ago, some companies started publishing job descriptions with as a top requirement, at least 5 years of experience with Hadoop. There is apparently nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that Hadoop had been invented just about 18 months before then. These companies quickly became the laughingstock of the industry, and no serious engineer would apply there. This isn't very surprising: would you work for a company that expects the world's best experts to work for them, but don't even keep themselves informed about the industry? Similarly, beware of companies that put down an endless list of requirements without being able to justify why they need candidates to have all these skills. I seriously doubt that a company that requires 15 years of experience in machine learning for a product analyst position would actually know how to run the business.

7. Absence of clarity regarding why the position is vacant

Companies will try everything they can to make you excited in their opportunity. But if a position seems too good to be true, chances are, it is. There sure are lots of exciting opportunities out there, but if the recruiter goes lengths to convince you that a director position with lots of room for advancement in what he/she claims is the most promising companies in the area is great, something must be fishy. Great positions in great companies will attract the best local talent, and it doesn't make sense that recruiters try so hard to attract your interest. Ask why the position is vacant, what happened to their previous director, and why he/she left. If they are not willing or unable to give you a clear answer, it is legitimate for you to start wondering what is wrong with the position, the team or the company...

8. Too many vacancies for the company

If the company you are interviewing for has lots of positions open compared to its size, it can be either a good sign (that they are scaling and investing in the future of the company) or a bad one (that turnover is high or that no one wants to work for them). If the number of vacancies seems high, take time to investigate by checking out LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or by asking around if anyone has details to share about the internal politics of the company. Also try to find out if they are hiring to restaff the company or the team after a reorg. While a reorganization might be justified and suggest a brand new strategy, it might also indicate that the company offer little job security. You owe it to yourself to figure out what the company is up to.

9. Inconsistencies between interviewers

People usually think of interviews as the time where they have to prove themselves (which is, of course, perfectly correct); however, remember that it is also the time when you get to interview your future team, and audit the position that you are trying to get. If the various interviewers you interact with don't convey the same message, or give you inconsistent answers regarding the role, the values of the company, or its strategy, it is likely that they are either not very well aligned as a team, or that someone is lying to you. Once more, not a good sign regarding the dynamics of the team.

10. A position that has been open for too long

If the position has been open for a long time, it might mean that either offers were made before but other candidates have declined, that the company is indecisive, or that no one is interested in the company or the work. I once interviewed for a position that had been open for several months, and kept wondering why they had not found anyone yet: the company was well established and respected, the description attractive, and the team seemed pretty nice. After they made me an offer though, I knew why the position had not been filled yet: probably like many others before me, I had to decline because they were offering me about 25% less salary than my position at the time. If a position is open for a long time, there probably is a good reason for it, and you need to find out what and determine if it is a problem for you.

11. A slow/inefficient recruiting process or a long time to hear back

Who hasn't had to wait several weeks to hear back from a recruiter at least once in their career? A company that doesn't feel it is necessary to keep the candidate updated regarding the status of their application is much less likely to respect their employees, as this is typically an indication of a poor culture. Also, if you wait for three weeks before getting an answer, there is a fair chance that you were only their second or third choice, and that they got back to you after another candidate has declined. Nobody likes to be a second choice, of course, but this is not the actual problem. The real issue is that this is a possible sign that your profile might not be an exact match for what they were originally looking for, which makes it more likely that they might also not be such a great fit for you.

12. A recruiter who insists to have details about your current package

Recruiters frequently try to get a sense of your current package. While that might seem innocent at first (after all, they don't want to make a lowball offer), it is often a sign that they are trying to pay you the minimum wage possible instead of paying you what you actually deserve. Your package should be determined by the value that you will bring to the company, and not your current salary. Good companies don't need information related to your current salary because they offer you a fair market value. A recruiter who keeps insisting on having details about your current package is just trying to get a sense of "how low they can go" to get you. Be also very careful when the recruiter keeps emphasizing too much that the package they are offering is stronger than your current package.

13. A purely technical interview with trick questions

This point is a little more open to discussion, as there might be multiple reasons why companies put their candidates through a very technical process, and not all of these reasons indicate an actual problem with the employer. Renowned companies like Google or Facebook have rounds of technical interviews in order to make sure to keep a high standard of engineers. However, some less prestigious companies put their candidates under technical scrutiny because they have no idea what to look for in a candidate, and that is generally a red flag because it might be a sign they don't know what they are doing. If you feel that your interviewers are asking you questions straight out of "Cracking the Coding Interview" and judging you on how close your answers are from the textbook answer, it generally speaks poorly of the employees and the company's culture.

14. A disrespectful interviewer

We have all been interviewed by people we would label as 'jerks', for lack of a better word. You know, someone who constantly checks his/her phone while you are trying to answer a question, arrives late at your interview and doesn't even apologize, doesn't make eye contact, or patronizes you throughout the conversation. But if that person is not someone you will work closely with, it is fine, right? Unfortunately, things are not that easy. Truth is, if one of your interviewers doesn't know how to behave, chances are there are many more such employees in the company. A company that allows people like that on the team, and even chooses them to represent its value can not be a healthy environment for any worker.

15. Concerns regarding the hiring manager

Over the course of your interview process, it is unlikely that you will spend more than a couple of hours (if even that much) with the person who will be your future boss. If over that period of time, you start noticing some problems with him/her, remember that you will have to deal with him/her on a daily basis for the next few years. If after just a few hours, you already feel like you are not listened to, not taken seriously, or if it seems like you are not sharing the same values, now is the time to reconsider and ask yourself if working for that person is really what you want.

16. A high manager-to-IC ratio

A position with a good job title might seem very appealing. However, before getting too excited, check out LinkedIn again and get an estimate of the ratio of managers over the entire workforce. I once interviewed for a company where almost 50% of the team were at the director level or above. Discovering this not only made me much less excited about the Principal position they were offering, but it also raised a flag regarding their internal dynamic (too many cooks is never a good sign). While you are at it, it is also a good idea (if you are into diversity in the workplace) to check the ratio of minorities.

17. A HR/interviewer not able to explain the company's mission

A recruiter once called a friend of mine telling him that he had the perfect position for him. The opportunity seemed pretty good, and given that my friend was open to a move, he accepted to chat with the recruiter on the phone. However, after a few minutes, it was clear to him that the recruiter had no idea what he was talking about: when asked to describe the position, he even said that he did not know anything about the role, and that he barely knew the hiring manager. How, then, could this recruiter know that the position was just perfect for my friend? That incident alone was enough for my friend to decide not to move forward: if even the HR department shows signs of deception and can't communicate the values and mission of the company, it is unlikely that the company will be able to offer you an environment in which to thrive.

18. An interview process where you don't get to meet the team

Most good companies make sure that you get to meet most people on the team you will join, as well as people you are likely to interact with the most. It is only fair that those team members get to evaluate you as a potential future colleague, but also that you get to meet these people to determine if you see yourself working with them on a daily basis. However, some less scrupulous companies don't proceed that way: either you are interviewed by people outside your team, or almost exclusively by the hiring manager. I have even seen cases where the candidate was never even introduced to the hiring manager before an offer was made! It is normal then for candidates to wonder what the company is hiding from them (do they know, for example, that you might refuse to join if you met some of your future team members?). Finally, if the hiring manager chooses to interview you on his own, it raises question regarding the importance they give to the opinion of others, which should be a major red flag.

This list is in no way exhaustive, but should still allow you to catch most potential problems with your prospective employer before it is too late. Finally, remember that there is not one single recipe that fits all: the criteria that matter the most to me when choosing a position might be very different from yours, and that's ok. The important thing is to ensure that the job you think you are signing up for is indeed the job you get to do, and that you have all the right information when it is time for you to make a decision about your next career move.