working title

Trust

There is a lot of trust in place in the whole job searching process. You have no idea what kind of place you’re going into when you apply and get an interview. The employer grills you to see if you’re the right person for their company, but you don’t get to find out what it’s really like working there. Sure you can ask some questions during your interview, to try to find out what it’s like, but you won’t really know until you start.

It would be nice if you, as an applicant and prospective employee, could turn the tables and interview the owner/manager or better yet, other employees. It would be nice if they could be as honest as they expect you to be during the interview process. Everyone embellishes a little, and I think most employers take that into consideration. There are little red flags, however, that you can listen for when you’re interviewing at a company.

For instance, if they ask more than once, “You would be okay working with someone you didn’t get along with, right?” that could be a warning that someone abrasive is going to be training you (I’ve had that one happen to me). On the other hand, if they say several times that you will be working in a fast-paced environment with plenty of tasks to work on, that doesn’t always ring true. Every job claims to be constant work to keep you busy, but it’s not always the case.

Other red flags questions:

“How are your problem-solving skills when it comes to dealing with people?” = You’re going to have angry customers yelling at you, and you’ll have to try to appease them as best as you can.

“Can you take parents screaming at you and calling you a racist over the phone?” Yeah, this one is kind of obvious (and yes, I was asked this one at an interview)


What it comes down to is the fact that you’re taking a blind leap when you take on a new job. You can’t really know what it’s like, what you’ll have to deal with on a daily basis, until you actually start the job, and that’s not really fair. Because once you’re in the job, you’ll put up with almost anything to keep that job, and I think the employers know that. They idolize their company and the position until you’re ready to beg to have the job.

Also, the person interviewing you is often not the person you’ll be working with and often not really in a position to tell you about the job. How does that make sense? How can they really know who is right for the job without knowing that position, too?

The whole process seems shady and confusing to me. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised I have had so many jobs over the years.