If You See These Signs During the Interview - RUN!

You've got a job interview for a position that seems to perfectly match your skills and abilities. You're prepared and dressed to the nines, and you have a great feeling about the interview, but when you get to the interview location, something seems off. You observe some behaviors or activities that make you second-guess your confidence in this employer. Here are signs your second-guessing is right and you're about to engage with a bad employer.

The Hiring Manager Shows Little Interest

There's nothing worse than feeling motivated and excited to meet a company's representative for a possible job only to find that representative seeming disinterested or bored. A hiring manager might have a lack of eye contact, constantly shuffle papers or be unable to remember what you said. Another sign of a bad employer shows itself when the HR rep has to keep looking at your resume to remember key things about you. Chances are the workplace culture at this job doesn't reflect strong working relationships among employees.

The Employer Keeps Giving You the Runaround

You've had the initial interview, and things went passably well. The company has shown an interest in you but has not given you any firm details about a job offer. Instead, you've met with more staff members, attended some company events and prepared some materials to showcase your marketing skills. These aren't exactly bad things, but the HR rep should have asked you to do them during your original interview rather than as an afterthought. If the hiring manager keeps putting you off, it's another sign of a bad employer. In fact, the employer could be vetting more candidates while leading you on with extra tasks.

The Employer Isn't Organized

Another type of bad employer is a disorganized one. Maybe your interview time changes a couple times. The intro packet about the company that you should receive by mail or email doesn't arrive. The company explains you'll be interviewing with Sam, but Janine is the one who interviews you, and she isn't prepared for the meeting. These are all signs of a bad employer. If the company can't tell you specifics about the job or whom it reports to, it could be it just isn't ready to hire anyone yet. You don't want to put yourself in that situation, regardless of how great the job description was or how badly you might need a job. This type of behavior gives you an idea of the company's workplace culture, and it isn't one that inspires confidence.

Although a job may seem very tempting, it's a good idea to observe what goes on during the hiring process to avoid getting stuck with a bad employer. You want to work for a company that appreciates what you bring to the table and wants to develop strong working relationships among employees that lead to success. Going against your better judgement now could make you miserable later.

Photo courtesy of Levo League at Flickr.com