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The Great Resignation is alive and well — nearly 4.3 million people quit their jobs in January trying to run away from toxic culture, entitled bosses, and burnout. Although it’s a difficult time for businesses, some workers also feel quite stressed while looking for better opportunities, fearing ending up in the "same company, different name" kind of situation.

Luckily, the internet is here to lend a helping hand. User taylortaylortaylorrr decided to ease the pressure for people on their job hunting journey. They asked members of Ask Reddit to share the signs from an employer that people might not immediately recognize as a red flag. Two months later, more than 18.4K people voiced their precious knowledge.

From asking "Do you plan to have children?" to saying "Nobody works here for the money", Bored Panda wrapped up some of the things people should be on the lookout for before signing on the dotted line. Scroll down to read these pieces of advice, upvote your favorites, and share your own experiences with us in the comments!

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#1

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Interview question someone actually asked me: "What would you do if I told you at 3 PM on a Friday that I really needed something done by Monday morning that would take 36 hours of coding?"

I told him "I would tell you to find someone who works weekends and walk out the door."

heili , Van Tay Media Report

Final score:
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mulk
mulk
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My answer: "You have a big project management issue"

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#2

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver A couple old senior partners, lots of young employees and nothing in between.

That means there’s no opportunity to move up, they can’t get people to stay, and can’t get lateral transfers. They work young folks for as long as they can, and the young folks leave once they figure out the company sucks.

Thirty_Helens_Agree , unsplash.com Report

Final score:
219points
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John C
John C
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

my daughter works for an ice cream shop that's just like this - they pay like crap but it's an ok starter job, easy pace, low stress - so it has its place... but yeah, there's the owners, then a revolving door of kids

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#3

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver The phrase “we all wear a lot of hats” it’s corporate speak for we are cheap bastards that make you do things outside your job description

IDhl89 , Firmbee.com Report

Final score:
205points
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#4

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Is money the only reason you work??????

Yes. Yes it is.

EmperorPenguinNJ Report

Final score:
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Susan Green
Susan Green
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, most people don’t work for the money, they just work because it’s so much fun.

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#5

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Had an interview somewhere they offered 20-23 starting. Being new in this field, when they asked how much I was expecting to be paid I said "well you guys are offering 20-23 starting and being new in the field I think 20 would be good."

Their response was "oh....well that's kind of a red flag for us....usually when someone starts with us they'll say 'I'll take 17 dollars until I can prove to you that I'm worth the $20' so you'll see why we're hesitant."

My response "then why would you offer $20 at your low end?"

I didn't get a call back.

LordMarshall , Van Tay Media Report

Final score:
199points
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Steve
Steve
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So string along new hires and make them take on more work than needed to "prove" they are worth more. Gross.

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#6

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver "Competitive pay" but they wont tell you what the pay actually is in the posting or even the interview

topothesia773 , airfocus Report

Final score:
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Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s certainly not competitive if they’re unwilling to reveal it. Just a Big Red Flag!

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#7

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver “The company doesn’t pay for coffee, employees chip in if they want it in the office”… yeah if you are too cheap to provide coffee, I will never get a raise.

really-good-point , Mahadev Ittina Report

Final score:
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Beth L
Beth L
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've been in a coffee-drinkers-bring-in-coffee office environment for 20 years and regularly get raises (well, except for 2008-2010, but that wasn't a coffee issue).

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#8

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Anything that the manager says in the interview that doesn’t line up with the job description..

“yea we posted it’s a manager level position, but this is actually a coordinator role”.

“yea the description says travel is 25% but it might be closer to 50 it just depends”.

“We did post it as a remote job, but we prefer people to be in the office X days a week”

“Yea we phrase it that way in the job description because corporate says we have to”

All of those are red flags. ANYTHING a company is vague about should be a red flag.

coolguytrav , Christina Report

Final score:
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Kate Jones
Kate Jones
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amazon does this a lot. They always have positions open starting at 17 an hour but when you get there it's always 'that position has been filled but we still have starting positions open'...yet mysteriously the ad remains open for months. It's so misleading.

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#9

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Asking if you are somebody who's "willing to put in the time to make sure deadlines are met/work is done" or if you're "the type of person who leaves when the 'workday' is finished?".

This is generally corporate speak for "we will be forcing you to work unpaid overtime".

rockkicker27 , unsplash.com Report

Final score:
175points
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Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have told them I’d be willing to stay, but I would definitely be expecting 1-1/2 pay for my time after the legal eight hours.

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#10

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver When you don’t get a review until you ask for a raise. Then, all of a sudden, you work is being questioned and you’re being berated.

Joeyjackhammer , Headway Report

Final score:
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Eepe
Eepe
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

R I G H T. Flawless work, no complaints. Until it’s time for them to give a raise.

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#11

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver 'Nobody works here for the money.'

Why should they work there, then?

[deleted] Report

Final score:
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#12

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Whenever an ad says "Flexible schedule", it never ever means that you can work when you want. It always means that they can schedule you any time week to week without giving you any consistency.

Ok-Advantage4191 , Elisa Ventur Report

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#13

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver When they refuse to tell you what your starting salary would be or when they just avoid the question all together. Like I didn’t apply to the job to be apart of some “family” work culture, I came here to get a job and be paid.

UnknownL_13 , Michael DeMoya Report

Final score:
150points
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Rosemary Probert
Rosemary Probert
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Say, "I need to know what you will be paying me to compare it my other job offers."

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#14

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver "We're a family here"

No. We're co-workers. I don't love you. I wouldn't do anything for you. We have boundaries.

level 1 [deleted] Report

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#15

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Asking if I planned to have children in the interview (I was 19)

votefawnmoscato , unsplash.com Report

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145points
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Caro Caro
Caro Caro
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happened to me once and I was 24 I think.... I said "it's none of your business". Didn't get the job which was fine by me.

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#16

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Old Machinists: Why doesn't anyone want to work, we can never keep any of these lazy millennials!

Also old machinists: I'm not gonna teach you anything, you little s**t, you're just gonna leave in a month anyway

Young new hire: Wow, this is a terrible place to work, buhbye

ClubMeSoftly , christian buehner Report

Final score:
139points
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Seabeast
Seabeast
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A lot of companies fret about the average age of journeymen trades being old and about to retire, but then refuse to fund the training of apprentices. They want some other company to do that so that they can poach them after they've earned their ticket.

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#17

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver I always ask the question "why is this role open? Is it a new role, or am I replacing someone? Why did that person leave?" This really helps you seeing their reaction and if they look nervous it's because the person who left did it because they were not happy.

I also like asking how "senior" my team members are, if there's noone there more than 2 years I would also be concerned.

Final question, as I work in sales, I always ask "what's the KPIs and how many are actually hitting their quarterly and annual target?" This also reveals if they set their targets too high and you can expect to enter a grim working culture where you're never "good enough" and can always "do better".

Last one, I like asking about how they are working to establish a team culture as well, since this will tell you a lot if people at work are "friends" or just there to do their job

mfgfvd Report

Final score:
137points
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Devan LePage
Devan LePage
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm 16 and looking for a job. I was reading through this to help me find the "red flags" but I was just wondering what KPI's are

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#18

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Overall poor ratings from bad employee reviews on Glassdoor. Seriously - that site exists to give employees a place to review their employer anonymously. Use that info.

graffing , Daria Nepriakhina Report

Final score:
129points
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mrkette avatar
Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked at the same law firm twice…I told them when they hired me he first time that I would be moving abroad when I turned 50, so after 3-1/2 years I left, and then a year or so later I moved back to San Francisco and ended up working for them a second time. The corporate culture was good, and I liked nearly everything about my job. During this second stretch I came to realize that the company’s founder was an inveterate liar. She told both little and big lies, and I finally posted this anonymously on the firm’s Glassdoor page, but many, many months after my leaving there.

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#19

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver "Sorry no money for your annual raise due to the pandemic"

It's a lie.

MEDICARE_FOR_ALL , nastya_gepp Report

Final score:
126points
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johnl_2 avatar
John L
John L
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A bald faced one, at that. Most corporations made record profits during the pandemic.

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#20

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver There's a misery wall when walking into work. When you pass a certain point in the building the feeling changes significantly. If you know, you know.

PeachLeech , Filip Mroz Report

Final score:
124points
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I work for myself, from home, so have joyfully left this b******t behind. But I do remember that misery wall materializing the minute I walked out my own door, sometimes even before. I have worked places where I literally threw up from the stress of working in such a toxic work environment, while I was just getting ready to go into that same toxic work environment. Those were jobs I quit the millisecond I was offered another. I. Do. NOT. Miss. That.

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#21

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver MULTIPLE MANAGERS TO REPORT TO*

If you’re being interviewed/hired and they tell you have/will have multiple managers to report to. Basically if there is not a clear chain of command. What’ll happen is eventually one manager’s directions, goals or instructions will conflict with the other’s, and you’ll get caught in the middle of it. And one or both will use it against you in performance reviews.

Orpheus6102 , Jason Goodman Report

Final score:
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#22

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver The quality of the Toilet paper in the bathroom. There are minimal if any cost savings to 1 ply and it just shows they couldn't care about you at all.

Siveri16 , David Smith Report

Final score:
111points
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aurorarider2013 avatar
No you can't have my name
No you can't have my name
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exception to this is in rural areas where plumbing and buildings can be 60+ years old and still working fine. Old pipes don't always handle the fancier TP. Also anything above 2ply is horrible for septic systems and the plumbing.

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#23

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver I know people (rightfully) like to hate on HR, but if a company brags about "not having an HR department to deal with," expect them to be very disorganized at a minimum.

abolish_gender , Tim Gouw Report

Final score:
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#24

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver If the job description has a nondescriptively massive salary range

($25,000-$100,000)

JetSetJAK , ABDALLA M Report

Final score:
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#25

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Listing something like "fast-paced environment" as a benefit

Calkky , Vanna Phon Report

Final score:
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Rosemary Probert
Rosemary Probert
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or to put it another way, you'll drop with exhaustion at the end of every shift.

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#26

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver The job title says they’re looking to hire “rock stars.”

Marquetan Report

Final score:
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Magpie Magoo
Magpie Magoo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Worst job I ever had had this in the description when we were hiring newbies. I cringed when I read it.

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#27

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Additional s***ty law firm red flags:

The firm gives you a free dinner from a nice restaurant if you have to stay after 7

gym in the office

free daycare services

You need to keep an extra suit in the office.

Free laundry service

unlimited time off

Translation: you will never leave the office.

ohio_redditor , unsplash.com Report

Final score:
93points
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Buren
Buren
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is wrong with this? I worked in office for two decades and I can tell you I'd rather have all those.

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#28

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver They claim that overtime isn't mandatory and workers stay longer by choice.

howwouldiknow-- , Mapbox Report

Final score:
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mrkette avatar
Mary Rose Kent
Mary Rose Kent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once someone’s in the sixth grade, they’re going to see through that!

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#29

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Two or three really nice cars in the parking lot, and the rest are beaters.

coffa_cuppee , Michael Fousert Report

Final score:
86points
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Seabeast
Seabeast
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Calgary this didn't mean much. Long-timers in the oil patch know that the booms turn to busts eventually and buy cars that they can afford to pay cash for.

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#30

Someone Asked People To Share Red Flags From Employers That Potential Workers Might Not Immediately Spot, 30 Deliver Everybody is very young in a very old company.

Flyinpotatoman , unsplash.com Report

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