What’s Your Saddest-But-Can-Now-Laugh-At Red-Flag Story?

Feb 25

Miriam Salpeter, my partner for “Land Your Dream Job” and I were talking about some of the “horror” stories from her recruiter friends about major faux pas that candidates have done in interviews (such as calling their previous boss an insane a$$hole).   She recently wrote a post on her blog about Red Flags and not ignoring them.  It’s tough in this economic climate when all the news is bad, and I’m not looking at your mortgage statement.  That said, it has been both of our experiences (which again, aren’t your experiences) that most people who ignore the “red flags” end up regretting it.

I thought we’d turn the tables today, in a fun way, of course.

My husband’s horror story goes something like this…  he goes for his in-person interview, and they make him wait outside for an hour.  Just him and the security guard staring at each other across a lonely, empty lobby.  They updated him once, about twenty minutes into it, and other than that, there was no one to talk to to reschedule.  He goes in for the rushed interview, and they invite him back.  Same experience next time.  They make him a very generous offer, along with what amounts to a promotion, and he accepts the job.  He reports to work on the day his offer letter says to report to work.  It’s January 2.  The parking lot is empty.  There are chains on the doors.  Ooops, they forgot to send him the updated version of the offer letter that includes the company holiday.  He knew he was in for it.  Turns out, he worked for the equivalent of the Devil in the Devil Wears Prada.  Found out later that the last person to hold the job only lasted 3 months and the person before that stayed even less time.  His replacement didn’t make it a full week.

I’ve been asked whether I plan on getting pregnant any time soon.  My friend AJ was asked, “My God, how old are you?”

So what’s your story?

Tags: Action Coach, Active Listening, business coach, Career Coach, Career Management, Carolann Jacobs, coach, coaching, Extraordinary Results, facilitation, Inimitable Leadership, Inspired Workplace, Interview Strategies, Job Interview, Land Your Dream Job, Leadership, Legacy Leadership