Job seeker shares how they spotted red flags in an interview and walked out of it

People must put in a lot of thought when they choose a workplace. The job becomes a second home for them as long as they are employed. It has the power to impact people's physical and mental well-being. Nowadays, there are various websites where people can review companies and share their thoughts, but nothing comes close to first-hand experience. Most of the time a company's priorities become quite clear in their interview sessions if the candidate is paying attention without wearing rose-colored glasses. u/watercolorfxg shared one of their interview experiences with Reddit, which, in a span of a few hours, gave them all the information they wanted regarding the company and made them walk out.

The job seeker begins the post by sharing how they had taken a break of a few years from studying and had recently gone back to school when they took up this interview. They were looking for a job near campus and a bookstore down the street perfectly fit the bill. Having had experience in the field, they believed they had a good shot at getting the clerk's job in the establishment, so they applied. Moreover, the job would have also looked good on their resume as in their own words, the bookstore was "eccentric enough that it makes a news story every few years."

Their opinion regarding the establishment fell drastically when they sat in for their interview. On arriving, they were given a lot of paperwork to fill out, which included a test. Many applicants left, seeing how large the packet was, but the job seeker was optimistic and gave it a shot. As they went through the test, they quickly realized that the establishment cares more about pretentiousness rather than the ability to get the job done. They were asked questions that had nothing to do with clerkship. The user was asked about topics like Eudora Welty, Button Gwinnett, Bible verses and Alfred Stieglitz.

The company just wanted to portray a particular image of themselves by being pompous, as the students quickly understood they had no idea about the topics. They got this sense as certain things were spelled wrongly. They already began feeling that this job would be a misfit, as the establishment cared more about appearances rather than real substance.

It took the job seeker close to an hour to finish everything in the packet, little of which had anything to do with the job. After finishing, they informed the clerk assigned to them, who brought the manager. The manager's attitude further solidified the user's resolve that they did not want to be a part of the bookstore. She did not give any greeting or acknowledgment and without going through the application, they made the user fill in and asked, "Oh, you're at X school? We don't usually hire students because we have day shifts. What days are you available?"

The job seeker was done with the whole facade of the bookstore not being able to give students from nearby institutions a job. They politely informed her that the availability was mentioned in the application. She replied nonchalantly, "Well, I'm asking you." By this time, they began collecting their belongings, not willing to entertain this further, and suddenly got called out by the manager. She apologized for being tired, but they respectfully took her leave. The fact that this was the way they were treating a prospective employee gave them all the intel they needed to form an opinion.

The comment section agreed with the job seeker regarding their rejection of the bookstore. u/Global-Mix-1786 was shocked by the whole test, "A literature test for a part-time, minimum wage job in a book shop? They are delusional." u/urbisOrbis expressed how rudeness is a red flag that should not be ignored, "Any power plays or rude behavior should be the signal that screams you shouldn't work for that business. Good for you for walking out."