Ten Interview Questions That Scream ‘You Don’t Want This Job’

By: Liz Ryan , Contributor Forbes
Fear is the most powerful force in the universe that no one talks about.

Fear has tremendous influence over our career decisions.

When you’re afraid of your boss (as many if not most working people are) you keep your mouth shut at work when you really want to speak.

When you’re running out of cash and you’re afraid of missing your rent payment next month, you’ll ignore signs on a job interview that tell you “Get out of here — you would hate this job if you got it!”

Our fear makes us miss signals Mother Nature is trying to send us.

We pretend that we won’t hate the job, even when the signs clearly point to a miserable experience for the poor person who gets hired.

Over time, we learn that when we can muster the confidence to step through the fear, good things happen.

When you find the strength to say “No, thanks!” to the wrong opportunities, watch how the right ones come in!

The scarier it feels to say “Thanks anyway, but I’ll pass” to the wrong job opportunity, the greater the reward will be when you walk away from it.

Here are ten interview questions that tell you the job will not be a good fit for you.

It will be a painful experience to work for people who would such rude and insulting questions.

Don’t ignore those signals!

  • How many unplanned absences did you take last year?
  • What would your last three bosses say about you?
  • What’s the minimum salary you would accept?
  • Will you commit to staying here for two years?
  • Have you ever been fired?
  • Which parts of your resume are exaggerated?
  • What makes you more qualified than the other candidates?
  • What has been the greatest failure in your career so far?
  • How’s your availability on nights and weekends?
  • How do you deal with demanding or rude co-workers and managers?

I have interviewed tens of thousands of job applicants over the past thirty-plus years. I have never asked even one of these questions because I prefer not to insult people the first time I meet them.

Sadly though, I hear from job-seekers every day who hear disrespectful questions like these on job interviews.

You might get angry when you hear these interview questions, but I encourage you to rejoice silently instead — because you’ve learned something valuable.

Any company that lets its interviewers ask these questions is not a company that deserves your talents!

Nobody wants to miss work because they’re sick or because of a family emergency. Who cares how many unplanned absences you had last year?

What does that have to do with your qualifications for the job? Any company that treats your relationships and obligations outside of work like a disruption of their business rather than your highest priority as a person is a company you don’t want to work for.

I hate the question “What would your last boss say about you?” in particular because it assumes that managers sit on a higher plane of existence than mere mortals do. We know that’s not the case.

Your last boss could be in prison for all the interviewer knows. Why is your last boss’s opinion of you important?

Anybody who asks you about the minimum salary you would accept is someone who is planning to rip you off. Run away from a person like that!

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