At first glance, the job offer looks attractive. The company offers a competitive salary, a rich package of benefits, and in addition, it is located in a modern office building in the city center, with good access. Nevertheless, our intuition tells us that it does not necessarily have to be a dream job. What is worth paying attention to in such a situation?
The air full of stress
The first thing that catches your eye after joining the company is a bad atmosphere. Employees look stressed, no one is talking to each other, and the desks lack personal gadgets that suggest people feel comfortable here. It is known that you come to work, not to socialize, but you should ask yourself a very important question – will we feel comfortable in a place where, for example, no one talks to each other?
If the first impression is not the best, ask the interviewer to show you the office including our potential workplace, break room, and toilet. Let’s sniff all the angles before we decide if we really want to spend half a day there.
Attempt to challenge skills
“The other candidates have better education and more experience, but we decided to give you a chance” or “I have heard about this project, in your position I would not brag about it.” A manager who starts a conversation in this way does not treat subordinates as partners, and his management may be based on exerting pressure. Perhaps he is one of those people who will not hesitate to question the quality of our work, e.g. during a meeting in front of a large audience. If, in addition, it turns out that there is a lot of rotation in a given department, it is hardly a mystery why.
Curses
“You can say the f-word at the meeting.” This is a signal that there are really loose relations in the company, which do not necessarily suit us. The quality and level of everyday communication are very important, so we should answer the question whether this convention suits us.
Another thing is when the interviewer swears because even in such a specific situation he cannot control himself. Do you want a boss like that?
Unfavorable conditions in the contract
Everything that promises to be beautiful should be asked carefully. Example: a company offers its employees free foreign language courses or full funding for postgraduate studies, as long as they are correlated with the work they do for it. It sounds great, but you always have to ask what is expected in return. Very often, behind such a proposal there is a commitment that we will work in a given place for a certain period of time.
An important issue is also non-competition agreements, which, under the threat of a high penalty, can close all opportunities for extra money. Let’s think carefully about whether we want to accept such limitations.
No interest in the conversation
It really does happen! – Several times I participated in meetings during which the recruiter replied to messages, and one manager even answered three calls. It is true that he apologized to me a lot each time, but I had the impression that I was disturbing him a lot – says Sylwia, who has been working in finance for seven years.
A meeting with a potential employee doesn’t have to take an hour. If someone is busy, they can be reduced to 15 minutes in advance, which results in a sprinting pace. There is a fear that such a busy boss will be unavailable, or worse, this is how the work in a given company looks like! There are so many responsibilities that you have to do seven things at once.
