A job interview is just as much for a candidate to see if they want to work for a company as it is for a company to see if they want the candidate to work for them. The application and interview process can be so stressful and intensive for a candidate that this often gets overlooked, with candidates who are too desperate or eager to please get themselves into exploitative situations after missing extremely obvious red flags during interviews. Let us be brutally honest here, most of the time, a…

Have you ever had this crushing anxiety that you shouldn't be doing the job that you're doing? That, although you're a consummate professional, really you're just a child inside of a giant robot controlling it with an off-brand controller. You fear people discovering this secret and revealing that you actually have no idea what the heck you're doing and don't deserve any of the success that has been handed to you. This is imposter syndrome, and many people suffer from it—and in part, it's true,…

Sometimes you have to fake it ‘till you make it, that may or may not include your salary. I’m not sure you're on the right side of ethics if you do this.

When you make a request of someone to uphold a certain standard, do a certain thing, or act a certain way, there's a general expectation that you will uphold the same—acting in a manner that makes your request appropriate. It's called “leading by example,” and people seem to really struggle with it, with many leaders making no attempt or actively avoiding having to do so. This job candidate reported being specifically asked by the HR worker, who was setting up the interview, to ensure that they…

The usual decorum for interviews is that of subtlety—and for good reason. The fact that you're looking for other work is one that you'd probably prefer your employer wasn't aware of. Their gut reaction could very well be to fire you and secure the future of their business and the security of their company. Now, jobless, the job you were applying for now has much higher bargaining power over you than they held previously. For this reason, it's usually an unspoken rule that an interviewer As an a…

The modern job application process is as dehumanizing as it's intended to be. Apply to 200 jobs, and you might hear back from five, eventually getting an interview with three, with (hopefully) one actually having a chance of progressing to employment. Long gone are the days of “Turn up at the office and chuck your CV at the nearest manager" to prove your gumption. I highly doubt that method was actually as efficient as we've been led to believe. Still, if your older relatives are to be believed…

This worker shared her experience on Reddit's r/antiwork workplace subreddit community, telling of how she had been fired for using her phone from her new job despite never being given any warning that this was an issue. She had just started the new job a month ago, and although it was in a new industry she thought the job had been going well, but had never received any kind of employee handbook or had any rules regarding phone usage explained to her. “If I had been told that I was not supposed…

Feedback is important but usually not well received. People generally don't like hearing all of the things that they could have done better; those with overly inflated egos tend to take this especially poorly. Sure, it doesn't feel good, but most of us would take the feedback—maybe apply it, maybe not—and move on from it. Only occasionally recollecting the exchange when the intrusive thoughts move in while trying to go to sleep at night. Rather than doing this, this company decided that they ne…

Starting a new job is stressful; you've traded the relative security of whatever job you've just left for the uncertainty of a new one. This entire process, from start to finish, is time-consuming and emotionally draining, leaving you hoping that you'll never have to go through it again… and then you get fired on your second day. This old bait and switch probably means that either someone realized they didn't have the budget for a new role that they thought they did, or layoffs are on their way…

Getting passed up for a promotion when you know you're the best candidate is heart-breaking—made worse by the fact that it's usually because of some petty political dynamic or so that they can bring in a nepotism hire. Bonus points when the person who successfully interviewed for the role turns around and asks you for help or tries to delegate your work because your peers and managers have recognized you as the “go-to person." Whatever you decide to do at that point… you probably would like to…

There's no shame in ditching a new job once it's clear it won't work out. We're constantly told that a bad reference (or lack of one) will follow us for our entire life and hurt future job prospects, but that's not really true. Still, not everyone is going to be able to do this. However, when you're 17 years old and still living with your parents, you have the freedom to look for something else—which is good because you're often going to attract a lot of employers looking to exploit your lack o…

You should always be wary of the “walk back” as a manipulation tactic. Often used in sales and scams, the seller starts by offering something acceptable and slowly changes the terms of the deal to something that might have been unacceptable to start with but is now reluctantly accepted due to the sunk cost of invested time. Consecutive slight alterations to figures or terms should always raise red flags, and if something doesn't seem right you should always trust your gut instinct, just as this…

Just a tip for the next time you're in a job interview: Don't tell the interviewer that you're more qualified for their job than they are. That's… just not going to end well for you or your prospects. This three-part story has taken place over the course of just as many years, with the original poster returning this week to provide a wholesome update and conclusion to their tale of the most insolent job candidate they ever interviewed. The tale starts with the candidate “Annabelle” coming in fo…

Imagine submitting a cover letter that is so well written and on point with calling out and solving the company's problems that you immediately get contacted by the company's lawyer and a frantic department head who demand to know where you got your information. Then, after all of that, you still don't get the job when they balk at your compensation request… Talk about a roller coaster! If you've ever wanted undeniable proof that you have the qualifications for a position and are generally skil…

There are plenty of great opportunities to reach out to your network and enquire about open positions—with friends, family, and former colleagues all being solid possible leads. You can volunteer, attend industry events, utilize contacts through shared interests—even turn to social media. Heck, just about the only person you shouldn't reach out to for a job is a candidate you're supposed to be interviewing. It's bold, for sure, but bound to land poorly. The interviewee already has so much going…

If an employer wants to charge you money for anything to do with starting your new role… it's a scam, not a job interview. You would do your best to get up and run—fast, and as far away as possible—metaphorically… but maybe also literally.