16 November 2023 , 13:14
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A bad job interview can be the first indicator of a toxic workplace, as one interviewee can testify. Taking to the online problem-solving forum to complain about her treatment, poster, Lisa Bushey, shared: "This incredibly awful person leaned back in his chair, threw his two feet up on the desk, and started to bemoan his travel/lack of sleep at the start of the interview. I am in a professional suit, full make-up, resume in hand - for nothing!
“After a huge, open mouth sound-filled yawn, and a disinterested sideways glance, he says ‘…so do you really want this job or not?’ Stunned, and young, I murmur ‘yes, of course,’ but all I wanted was for this terrible ‘interview’ to end.“
Lisa also revealed that she had been made similarly uncomfortable by a manager who had shown up seriously late. After being left waiting for an hour, the interviewer finally arrived and blamed the mistake on a “scheduling mishap". However, Lisa explained that even once she and the interviewer were finally seated, she continually peered over her head through the walls of her glass office to watch for staff headed her way. She also regularly lept up from her seat during the interview to rush out of the office and sign contracts. Lisa admitted: “I wonder to this day why I didn’t get up and simply walk out.“
But the worst experience Bushey claims to have had in an interview was with a particularly rude boss. She explained the interviewer was a medical doctor who ran a very large, well-known association and who asked a "battery of questions", and then invited Lisa to ask her own.
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She revealed: “[The doctor] then scoffed at one as 'bs question', while dismissively shaking her head. Without missing a beat, I calmly explained its origins, it is a standard PR agency question, thanked the bully and her panel - who seemed used to this, btw as no one batted an eyelid - and said I had no further questions.
"[I was] grateful for the early alert, I called the scheduler to remove myself from further consideration, but I should have simply ended the interview and walked out. If someone bullies, belittles, or demeans you at the interview, be grateful for the early toxic workplace alert and walk out!!"
Many other people responded to the question that had been posed: 'When should you walk out of a job interview?', commenting with tales of poor interviews and other red flags to look out for. One user posted they thought it was a red flag if the interviewer asked 'Are you married?' as some companies prefer bachelors since they ask for fewer holidays, and rarely have issues where their spouse or child is sick.
They also encouraged readers to be cautious if they sense they're being hired to be used as a "scapegoat" to sack other people. While they admitted such an issue is rare, they countered that no one wants to be put in that position and do someone else's "dirty work" . Another huge red flag they shared was the number of interns the business had. They wrote: "When the company is majorly being driven by a massive workforce of Interns, working full-time hours, think more than full-time employees, all at a meagre salary, this is a warning sign.”
However, some users suggested walking out of an interview is a huge risk, unless you are actually in danger. ”Unless you find yourself in danger you should never walk out of an interview. You never know when the individual or someone they know may run into you in a position further down the line of your career path,” one user explained.