What phrases would immediately put you on guard about the culture and team vibe, when you are in a meeting or interviews?
Mine includes
1. “We work like a family”. That means OT without pay and no accountability.
2. “You have to be scrappy and tenacious in cross-function communication”. Basically be a hunt and expect sharks and stabs
3. My personal favorite. “For anyone who never worked in a big company before….”. Anyone with senses will never say such things like this🤪
I saw a job posting yesterday with that scrappy comment and immediately sent it to friends as a red flag 😂
Another one I recently saw “your the kind of person who works evenings and weekends simply because you are excited and dedicated and you can’t imagine it any other way” 🚩🏃♀️
Honestly, I appreciate them putting this in their job posting so I can know to never apply. If they lied and said "great WLB" but then your bosses have expectations like this?? F outta here. I'd tell this listing thank you for saying the quiet part out loud. 😂
I got a LinkedIn message yesterday for a job posting that included “Values-first organization that is pro-America, capitalism, and the Bill of Rights. “ INSTANT NO, sounds like some sort of pro-trump cult group. What company has to go out of their way to say they are “pro-America”?
Yo whenever someone or something describes itself as "having values" I immediately wonder what skeletons they have in their closet. No normal person or company has to tell you they have values.
“Comfortable with ambiguity”
We don’t know what you’ll be doing but you’ll need to figure it out or be fired.
“No no, you’re taking extreme responsibility!” 🙄
Rising Star
“Employees drive their own career and development” = the company has no idea how to help you develop your career and expects you to learn everything on your own.
I heard sometimes v similar. “Create the job you want”. Jesus was weeping. I want to be paid for breathing. Can you do that with 501K and health insurance?
Bragging about “Start-up Culture” like start-ups are notoriously healthy workplaces to work in lol
I really wish I had paid attention to this one.
Rising Star
-" You gotta be comfortable with a highly fast-paced environment" --> you will be near burnout very fast. I hate this phrase. "Fast-paced"...
Rising Star
Sorry perinent? Are you ok?
"Work hard, play hard" = everyone is angry, overworked, and not reasonably paid
And likely have a drinking problem
I just saw a job posting saying that their firm “runs lean”. Sounds like burnout to me.
"Sink or swim" means "we have a s*** training program and you'll have to figure it out yourself but still be held to know things you were never taught"
It’s a circus
let’s share more so we can swim away from these corporate BS!
1) "agile team in this field of ever-changing technologies" -> requirements will always be changing so you'll be pulling your hair out delivering features
2) "competitive salary" (depends) -> probably average or below average salary that company thinks is competitve
Probably a lot more. Maybe I'll edit this in the future to add some more that irritate me.
Any company that still describes themselves as a start up and they have been around for more than a few years.
Your #3 was new to me, but I can very much see a company say that.
"We were certified a Great Place To Work"! If you're such a great company to work for, you should have few problems recruiting. I wish my company would spend more energy on fixing current employee retention issues, instead of pursuing these awards. Our Glassdoor reviews cut deep..
Absolutely agree. No budget for retention but counting on hiring new people to fix the problem.
Rising Star
“Forge your own path” = there is absolutely no structure in terms of career growth
Work hard play hard
It’s not a 9-5