How to Know a Toxic Company before you accept the job

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗫𝗜𝗖 𝗝𝗢𝗕𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡.

The problem is that the warning often looks like normal recruitment.

I’ve worked in HR long enough to know that candidates spend so much time trying to impress the company that they forget to study the company too.

Here are things I would pay attention to before accepting an offer.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟭: 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗪.

Ask your interviewer how long they’ve been there. Look at your potential manager. Look at the team on LinkedIn.

One new employee means nothing.

But when your manager joined 8 months ago, their manager joined 11 months ago, and you discover that several people have already occupied your position…

Pay attention.

𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟮: 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨’𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘.

“We need someone proactive.”

“You’ll wear many hats.”

“We need someone who can hit the ground running.”

Fine.

Ask one more question:

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝟲 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔?

If three interviewers give you three completely different answers, remember that.

You may eventually be judged against expectations nobody agreed on.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟯: 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗬 𝗬𝗢𝗨.

Your 3pm interview becomes 4:30pm without explanation.

A “30-minute conversation” becomes two hours.

They send an assignment Friday evening and expect it Saturday morning.

One incident can happen anywhere.

𝑨 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕.

Recruitment is usually when a company is trying to make its best impression on you.

So pay attention to how they treat you when they still need you.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟰: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗢𝗕 𝗞𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗦 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪.

You applied for marketing.

Then you hear you’ll also handle partnerships.

Then customer success.

Then some sales.

Then “a little operations.”

By the end of the interview, one vacancy has quietly become four jobs.

And undefined jobs have an interesting habit:

𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟲: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗬 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞.

“We’re a family here.”

“We need people willing to go the extra mile.”

“Everyone gives 110%.”

“We don’t really watch the clock.”

None of these statements alone makes a workplace toxic.

But I’d ask what happens during busy periods.

How often do people work outside normal hours?

What happens after those periods?

How does the team actually take time off?

Because sometimes “commitment” has a very strange meaning:

𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝟳: 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘.

This one is underrated.

After three interviews, you should understand the job better.

Who you report to.

Why they’re hiring.

What success means.

What the priorities are.

What you’re actually being paid to solve.

If every conversation gives you a different version of the job, don’t ignore that confusion because the salary looks good.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆.

 

[Amobi Emeka]

This is why I tell job seekers:

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗢𝗕𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.

Watch the little things.

Sometimes the red flag wasn’t hidden.

You were just too happy about getting the offer to notice it.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱… 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱?