The first thing you check when searching for a job is, of course, the job description. It’s important to analyze if the responsibilities listed are what you want to do, if you are suitable for this position and in general what the company offers, salaries, benefits, etc. However, bear in mind that even if everything in the job description looks good, that’s not always exactly what the company is ready to offer.
Additionally, sometimes you don’t even notice a few additional words in the job posting that may mean something (most likely bad) that only people who have learned this the hard way know.
Recently, somebody asked in one of the Reddit communities to share job posting red flags that immediately scream “stay away”. Here are 42 things folks wish people knew so that they can avoid workplaces like these once they see at least one of these signs!
More info: Reddit
#1
I applied for a position on indeed, guy called me like an hour after I sent my resume, said he was traveling and was only going to be in town through today, but wanted me to come to his hotel room for an interview. I told him that sounds like how you get human trafficked and he immediately hung up. So, that, I guess.
Image source: Ok_Ad_9188, Sora Shimazaki
#2
“Entry level” and “3-5 years experience required” don’t belong in the same job posting.
Image source: mwalimu59, fauxels
#3
As a wheelchair user, I stay away from job postings that require applicants to be able to lift 50 lbs, but the position is something like graphic designer, web content specialist, etc. I’ve even seen that listed for remote positions.
It’s code for “we don’t want to hire disabled people but it’s illegal to say that overtly.”
Image source: buckyhermit, i_yudai
#4
“salary to be discussed”.
Every single interview I’ve gone for that didn’t disclose the salary upfront was severely underpaid.
Image source: Mobile_Prune_3207, Karolina Grabowska
#5
*We are a family* companies expect you to be fine with getting underpaid and doing endless overtime because hey, they order food once in a while for the team which is soo cool…
Image source: Zitson5150, Nicola Barts
#6
“You wear many hats”, we expect you to do the job of like 4 people and we’re going to under pay you
Image source: GroundbreakingFall24, CoWomen
#7
“Start up culture” : a disorganised hot mess of egos.
Image source: LeSmeg47, Canva Studio
#8
Flexible schedule means we expect you to be very flexible with our poor scheduling
Image source: missypierce, Bich Tran
#9
Must have a bubbly personality.
F**k off.
Image source: silentwhim, cottonbro studio
#10
Permanent “Now hiring” signs painted on buildings/trucks. It just means you can’t keep staff.
Image source: roadfood, Erik Mclean
#11
“must have thick skin.” GTFO
Image source: Least_Effort2804
#12
“Looking to hire a rock star” is code for overworked, underpaid, and willing to accept ego strokes over fair working conditions.
“Salary based on experience” is code for lowest possible salary.
If it is a government job and the salary range is 35,000-50,000…the salary is 35,000. No negotiations.
If the job has a date range that states when they will be accepting applications, and that range is less than seven days, they most likely already have an internal candidate for the job and are legally required to post the job for other applicants. State government and public universities do this all the time.
Image source: Gingerbread83, Andrew Neel
#13
“Fast paced enviornment” means insane deadlines and bosses breathing down your neck.
“Unique challenges” means constant clusterf**k.
“Occasional overtime” means just say goodbye to your family because you’ll never leave the office again.
Image source: cheesingMyB, Oladimeji Ajegbile
#14
Work hard, play hard – we’re all alcoholics
Image source: PaintedLady5519, Charlotte May
#15
“Bachelor’s degree required. Starting pay $12.50/hr”
Image source: DeathSpiral321, Emily Ranquist
#16
Any use of the word “Rockstar”.
Image source: Jsmith0730, Yohanes Sanjaya
#17
Requires you to be bilingual and have experience but pay is 15 dollars an hour.
If my skills as a bilingual worker with experience only gets me minimum wage f**k you
Image source: Blacklotusispunk, Lukas
#18
“salary to be discussed”
This means they ARE going to lowball the daylights out of you.
“occasional overtime”
This means plan on working several evenings or Saturdays….sometimes on short notice.
Image source: callsignroadrunner, Say Thanks! Show some love to Tima Miroshnichenko
#19
They’ve been growing rapidly for the last fifty years, but you’ve never heard of them. It’s probably going to be an MLM recruiting session, not an actual job interview.
Image source: DoTheMagicHandThing, fauxels
#20
When the pay is advertised as “up to $XX” instead of actually saying the starting base pay amount.
Image source: deadevilmonkey, Karolina Grabowska
#21
Fast paced environment. That usually means absolute chaos with no one in charge.
Image source: Spellflinger2019, Andri
#22
“Competitive wages”
So, low wages
Image source: Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
#23
“Be your own boss”. Stay away.
Image source: UnscarredVoice, Lukas
#24
I saw one job posting that was front desk administrator at a retirement home.
Requires a bachelors degree, 10 year experience.
Your role was a/p, a/r, payroll, journal entry, bank recs. Then to add to that, SEO management, social media management, updating the website. Oh and if that wasn’t enough there was an HR requirement too. Hiring, training new staff, outlying policies, reviews, payroll, etc.
so basically doing the work of 3 departments all for the great wage of 38k
Image source: jenh6
#25
Too many HR buzzwords
Image source: claymir, Alex Green
#26
My job partially includes job placement. I went on a tour today with one of the higher ups and she used the word “nightmare” several times describing some things. Then she was complaining that they can’t get anyone to hire on or stay hired on. That they had 8 candidates file, get screened and the day of only 2 showed up. And I wanted to ask so badly what they were paying, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my reaction so I refrained. Then she complained later that people “didn’t want to work, wanted to take days off during the middle of the week, and didn’t want to work over 40 hours”. I was getting nauseous. I don’t want want to deal with that s**t either, especially for half of my pay that I get now. Not to mention dealing with deadlines and back breaking work. On top of that they were bitching about it from a nice office position. Like you don’t have to work in the factory with no climate control, lifting heavy s**t, or dealing with all the other countless b******t. You get to sit in a nice office and gossip with the other office people, while making 3x what those line workers get. I don’t know if I have the heart to place people in these positions.
Image source: Jay-G, Manuel Cernuda
#27
Late response or not responding within days to months after the final interview for the job vacancy (based on my exp.)
This means that they already hired someone else and you have to move on without any closure.
Image source: Legal-Living8546
#28
All caps.
A litany of technologies.
“no job hoppers!”
If they ever suggest that you should care “more about the work than compensation”
“Some weekends”
Image source: template009, aaltonen
#29
When the company has no website
When they don’t list the salary
When the company name is too generic
Image source: amindfulloffire
#30
“Urgently hiring multiple candidates”
Image source: TacticalAssaultGoose, Jonathan Borba
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