Survey Finds Most Common Red Flags During Job Interviews

Job hunting can be stressful even under the best of circumstances, so it certainly doesn’t help when a company immediately gives off red flags. And according to a recent survey, this happens more than you might think.

VoiceNation, a corporate phone answering service, surveyed 1,500 people across the United States to see which red flags they have experienced during job interviews. What the researchers found was that 37 percent, or nearly two-fifths of U.S. employees have had a negative experience when being interviewed for a role at a company. On the other side of the coin, 62 percent said they had never had any issues up until this point in their career.

Of those who have experienced red flags, the most common gripe was hiring managers who refuse to disclose salary, which 38 percent of respondents say they have experienced. Constantly rescheduling the interview or asking too many personal or irrelevant questions affected 25 percent, respectively; while 23 percent said the interviewer disrespecting co-workers set off warning signs. Another 18 percent griped about the job role sounding different from what was initially advertised.

Other revelations include that men are generally more likely to have had a bad experience during a job interview, with 41 percent weighing in negatively compared to just 33 percent of women.

Gen Z applicants were most likely to be treated poorly throughout the job interview process, with 44 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming to have had a bad experience. Though, the data could also suggest that younger generations have different expectations when it comes to applying for jobs than those older.

Interestingly enough, seniority also played a factor, with 43 percent of business owners, directors, and board members claiming to have been put off by interviews. However, another possible explanation for that could be due to a much more scrupulous interview process, factoring in the increased responsibilities of the role.

You can see the top 10 most common interview red flags by percentage of respondents, below.

1. Not disclosing salary: 38 percent
2. Constantly rescheduling the interview: 25 percent
3. Too many personal and/or irrelevant questions: 25 percent
4. Interviewer disrespecting co-workers: 23 percent
5. The job role sounds different from what was initially advertised: 18 percent
6. Not answering questions correctly, directly, or consistently: 18 percent
7. Interviewer seeming unprepared: 17 percent
8. If the company seems to have a high staff turnover: 14 percent
9. Being told overtime is ‘mandatory’ or being expected to work overtime: 12 percent
10. The interview started later than it was supposed to: 12 percent