5 Red Flags to Watch for During Your Job Search
Job seekers spend hours crafting the perfect resume to best represent their skills and qualifications. While ensuring their resume eliminates any potential red flags for employers, they often forget to be on the lookout for red flags in the job postings they are applying for.
When job searching, it’s important that you want to work for a company as much as you want them to hire you. While there’s no true way to be certain a company and its culture will be a good fit until the interview, there are some red flags to watch out for in job postings that'll help you decide whether you truly want to work there or not:
Unrealistic Expectations
A job posting should include a realistic description of the position’s responsibilities and the requirements necessary to be successful in the role. A company’s expectations of the role and potential candidates should be high, but realistic.
Having unrealistic requirements on a job posting, like asking for 4 years of experience on an entry-level position, is a red flag. It shows a misunderstanding of the responsibilities of a the role and the skills and qualifications needed to succeed in it.
Extremely long/broad list of “must have” requirements
To succeed in a role, there's a minimum of necessary skills and qualifications. If a job posting has an extremely long list of requirements, or the requirements are broad and seemingly unrelated, this is a red flag.
An excessive list of qualification requirements shows the company has unrealistic expectations or a severe misunderstanding of the skills necessary to succeed in the role. It also demonstrates a potential lack of interest in employee training opportunities and the option to learn and grow into a role. An extremely broad list of requirements shows the company doesn’t truly know the type of candidate they're looking for.
Very vague description of responsibilities
A job description should clearly outline the responsibilities and tasks of a given position; if you don’t have a good idea of what the job entails after reading the provided description, this is a red flag. Along with a broad description, a vague one can also signify the company is unsure about the position’s responsibilities and the type of candidate that would be best suited for the role. Furthermore, it can also give the illusion that there is something to hide.
It’s important to distinguish between a short job description and a vague one. Sometimes, a short description is all that’s necessary if position is pretty straight forward. As long as the main function(s) and responsibilities of the position are accurately and appropriately conveyed, the length of the description doesn’t matter.
Unclear or missing instructions on how to apply
A key component to any job listing is how to apply for the position. If the instructions on how to apply are unclear or worse, missing, this is a huge red flag signaling disorganization and a lack of preparedness within the hiring department.
Unrealistic Pay
Another red flag to watch for is an unrealistic pay range. Often, companies will forego providing a pay range altogether and instead ask for an applicant’s wage requirements so they can more accurately negotiate appropriate compensation. A lack of listed wages is better than an unrealistic wage, such as offering a lower wage while requiring many years of experience. An unrealistic pay range signals the company may have a fundamental misunderstanding of compensation practices.
As a job seeker, you need to have a good understanding of what an appropriate pay range requirement isbased on your skills and experience, and for any given position. Just because you feel the listed wage is too low doesn’t necessarily mean it is an inappropriate amount for that position – your expectations must be realistic too.
When job hunting, your success depends on you presenting yourself in the best light possible while accurately portraying your skills and qualifications – you don’t want to accidentally throw up a red flag to a potential employer because you didn’t proofread your resume. Likewise, you must watch out for red flags the companies you're applying with may present. It’s important to your long-term success, as well as the company’s, that you're a good fit for each other.