Interview Red Flags
More Interview Red Flags
From Career Tips, 2026 Volume 2, February
Continuing my theme from last month, here are two more items suggested when I asked about situations that, as a candidate, you would consider red flags.
I found this first one very interesting:
“I always advise my clients not to have subordinates interview their potential bosses, because it rarely produces an objective assessment. Personally, if a company structure interviews that way, it’s a red flag for me and I usually reconsider moving forward with the opportunity.”
I disagree, but before I share my thoughts on why, I’d like to hear what you think. Take this quick survey, and I’ll share the results in the next issue, along with my reasoning.
Here’s another, related to video interviews (lightly edited by me for clarity):
“In the application, the verbiage specifically states that cameras must be on for all virtual interviews.
I had a great recruiter interview. Then when it came to the interviewing managers, they were late, and neither had their camera on. Not to mention that I felt rushed. I have interviewed a lot of people before, and I get that timelines with hiring meetings are tight. I just didn't understand that the expectations were not for all parties involved."
I would consider it a red flag that the company policy stated cameras must be on, but the interviewers ignored that:
- In what other ways do they not follow procedures?
- Should I now take with a grain of salt other company practices, policies and procedures shared during the interview process or that I found in my research?
In general, I would find it off-putting that any interviewer chose not to turn on their cam, without some explanation as to why. It's very awkward to interact with someone on a video platform, and have yourself be on cam and them not. While it wouldn’t raise to the level of a red flag, it would go into my thoughts about the job, as an indication of how they operate and what I can expect in ongoing interactions on the job.
This person's experience also gets into something I touched on a bit last issue, when the interviewer is late with no explanation.
This communicates to me a lack of respect for the candidate’s time, and potentially a ‘my time is worth more than subordinates’ attitude issue on the part of that interviewer.
Certainly, things happen that could create a delay. But if there is no explanation given, or apology, that would go on my list of potential red flags, whether it’s by video, phone or in-person.
So what do you think? Hit reply, and share your thoughts on this.
So what do you think? Share your thoughts on this at Advice at JHACareers.com.
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