Had a job offer, but are these red flags from the interview?

thekid007

So I left my last job in IT due to a crazy commute and too much micromanagement. Now I'm looking for the right fit...

I had an interview recently where the office was really nice, job description is good, but, the interview set some red flags for me...i just remember coming out of the interview thinking "man that was...confusing".

In the interview, the hiring manager showed me around the office and referred to the workers as idiots..."some idiots sit here, this section theres other idiots"

also in the interview he said the last office was so small "the hr lady was practically sitting on my lap" I just thought it was unprofessional and strange...

also, they would not be clear about the hours. i tried to get some confirmation but HR seemed a little upset about that.

my gut says to reject the offer, but my mind says take it because its so close to home. glassdoor reviews there is only one, and very poor.

any ideas?

networker050184

The guy sounds a bit inappropriate to me, but probably wouldn't be the deciding factor for me. The not telling you the hours would be a huge deal to me though.

Deus Ex Machina

I say go with your gut. Look for something that doesn't set off alarms in your head.

JoJoCal19

I would say it depends on if you are in a position where you NEED to get into something right away, or if you have the means to wait for a better offer.

EnderWiggin

Sounds like he was just joking around with those comments. If you prefer a strictly professional environment, then you may want to pass on this one, but I don't necessarily see anything wrong with what he said (unless he wasn't joking.....).

The hours thing does sound off, though. What was the context there? How did those interactions go....?

thekid007

thanks for the advice everyone.

yeah, the interview there was a lot of joking (which was good, im an easygoing guy, but, i still have a filter). but that's also where im a bit concerned - i dont want to get sweet-talked into something.

also in the interview, when i asked the hours, the tech manager pointed at me and semi-jokingly said "you know this industry you chose it not me" and i laughed it off and was like 'yeah yeah i just am curious what you had in mind in terms of hours', again i just find the behaviour strange.

initially when they gave me an offer, i counter-offered, mainly to see how they would react. at the end of the counteroffer, i asked a couple questions.

the counteroffer was refused flat out (i have no issue with that), but the few questions i asked were just never answered, until i asked again if they would clarify (one of them being about the hours). after which, i received a phone call and we had some brief discussion.

one of my questions was an example of a common technical task i would be doing (couldnt ask this since the interview was cut short due to time), and i was told to refer to the job description.

w.r.t to the timing and hours: i was told by the HR interviewer that "as we told you in the interview we are building out a team so we dont know what it will look like". in the interview, it was mentioned that they wouldnt have me working at 2am, but till 9pm was a possibility (this is not a big deal to me), but the fact that hr was upset about me trying to clarify was a bit odd i thought. it just sort of left a sour taste in my mouth with the whole experience.

im not in a rush. at this point ive taken a job before with flags going on (which was later a mistake), im leaning towards not taking this and waiting for something a little more...better. guess i wanted to see what the thoughts on this were.

TheFORCE

I would caution you if you decide to go with this. Main reason is how the manager responded when reintroducing you around to the area.

You want to management team that promotes positive energy and positive working environment. You do not want people that are negatively impacting your way of thinking or your attitude.

Blucodex

Sounds like there will be a lot of infrastructure and project work. If this is the experience you want then maybe take it until it's not something you want. You may love it, you may hate it, but you're not stuck there.

p@r0tuXus

From the sound of it, since they're building out a team, the HR has probably been inundated with calls, scheduling, interviews and onboarding requests. Who knows, maybe the people you talked to in HR were just having a rough go of it or were frustrated that the Hiring Manager didn't cover that for you and thus the folks in HR wouldn't have a clue and it meant more work for them. They could be stressed. The hours thing would bug me too, I don't like overnights, but I could work with an evening shift at least. The traffic isn't so bad, anyway. If they aren't willing to budge on your pay, I'd say if you do entertain it further, don't budge on your availability and let them work around that. No reason you should have to dance around incompetence now and expect it to change later.

thekid007

thanks for all this advice. i just wanna thank this site and forum, cuz the community here has given me lots of advice in the past and i really appreciate it. thanks guys.

they asked for an update, and i sent a rejection letter. i had to go with my gut. its too bad cuz it was a snazzy office but looks can be deceiving. theFORCE, i agree with that.

i get that they are busy, totally for sure...but imho that rudeness cost them. the tech q's on the interview were very simple. i dont know, if i was a manager i wouldnt refer to my colleagues as 'idiots' especially for someone we're hiring, but maybe thats just me.

thanks again.

volfkhat

Actually....
i Did a little poking around, and was able to figure out who the employer was:
https://vimeo.com/148822564

;]

dialectical

I could be wrong but I suspect that he was baiting you to see if you are prone to chime in on creating a negative work atmosphere. Meaning, he was social engineering you. If you chimed in and laughed about them being idiots or showed a propensity for misogyny at the HR lady, then may he was not going to hire you. If this were the case then it would have been ideal for him to walk back on all that afterward, but then you could do a tell-all on Glass Door or Tech Exams and ruin his gig.

As a disclaimer I'm usually wrong.

Danielh22185

I think you made the right decision. It would be a huge red flag for me for a hiring manager behaving the way you described. Also no disclosure of working hours is silly. Sounds like they are trying to beat around the bush with that and get people in. I once was burned by a company that flat out lied about working hours. I was told I would have to cover a night shift twice a month. I get there and they tell me oh no you are taking over for Bob over there. He is going to day shift and you are to fill his full time night shift. I quit that night.

yoba222

Think you made the right choice too. There's joking around, then there's dysfunctional joking around. You fortunately may have gotten an early taste before having to commit to the position.

scenicroute

It's frightening when I read about all the dysfunctional work environments out there. Makes me never want to look for another job.

mbarrett

To the OP: these are the people you will be working with, so if it raises red flags you should decide if the negatives outweigh the positives, or will you be able to function in that environment?

thekid007

i know im hashing up an old thread here. i just wanted to say three years later --- i am happy i rejected that job and went with my gut. 

i got a better offer from another company about 1 month later. about 1 year into the job, another guy joined who had turned out to work in that same company i rejected! he had left after a year.

so i guess the advice is, go with your gut if there are semi-interpretable red flags.

DiffieHellman173

The simple fact that management and HR were dancing around what the hours were was enough for me to say run away. You did the right thing!

si20

^^^

I was looking at the previous post dates (2017) and wondering if I was in a weird time warp. Until I read your last comment, I didn't figure out you'd updated it lol.

Anyway, you definitely did the right thing to reject it. The manager sounds like a complete clown - you DO NOT call your staff idiots, even as a joke - it shows his sheer incompetence. And as for not telling you the hours? That's insane... although that being said - my contract says 35 hours. Ha..........ha..........hahahahaha. I don't think I've ever done 35 hour weeks since I started. 40 hours+ (unpaid extra hours may I add) is my usual working week.