Are you currently seeking employment or plan on doing so in the future? Many of us don’t realize the education a job seeker needs to ensure they are going to land a secure job let alone landing a Bad Boss! You will find some tall tale signs of reading your future boss and how they are going to be if you get the job.
Preparing yourself beforehand can help you achieve a solid career or employment. Bad Boss’s are a nightmare within its own category!
You get the call from the company you have had your hopes up for! You go through the routine of fantasizing how the work place is, putting your game face on, pulling out the finest clothes, double checking your resume for any grammatical errors! YOU’RE READY TO WIN THIS INTERVIEW…..! Until you walk out that door!
But……………! Take a moment and review the 5 Tall Tale Signs of a Bad Boss!
EYE CONTACT: Hello I am over here! This reminds me of speaking with a child and trying to get them to lock eyes with you so you can explain something to them. Having eye contact ensures that the child got the point when told or explained the first time. Having an adult not make eye contact creates a non-interest in his position, insecure of his/her position, lack of confidence or guilty. You need to ask yourself “If my future employer can’t make eye contact how does his client(s) react to this?” This Tall Tale sign is a red flag for when an issue happens, someone will be hiding in that office and it surely is not going to be you!
FIRE HAPPY: Uh…. Interview please! If the interviewer is Fire Happy this is a major warning sign of how he/she is going to talk about you. I personally experienced this myself. I walk into the interview and everything is going well, too darn well however I should have noticed the warning sign of the individual getting amped up about “Firing this person” “Firing that person”………! This person was not shy about diminishing their character. I soon realized that anger can take over someone’s judgment; this is why these unfortunate characters including myself, fell victim to a Fire Happy Boss! If they are proud to shout about it, you are not clarified as a value to the company!
DESK EXPLOSION: Is there a body in there? Remember the saying “A first impression is always the best impression”. Yes I know that bosses get busy and caught up with so many things causing an unorganized desk and/or office. If you watch your boss getting caught up with the paperwork on this desk, can’t find anything which causes frustration…. Think “If I need something how will they find it?” This is very scary! Just imagine you sending in a vacation request and it was lost in the pile? Guess you will have to work through your vacation!
PROCRASTINATOR: This was to be done a week ago! I highly doubt you are going to be able to get the honest 
answer from the interviewer / owner to give you the answer however you can do this: call any of their existing clients and just tell them you are searching the company & you would like to discuss further on their current customer service experience. If they have negative feedback, something can be seriously wrong internally that you may not want to get involved with. If you constantly hear them say “They always say it will get done but never does”, “We’ve been waiting for weeks”, “There are still a bunch of glitches”, “They never answer their phone”, “Over promised under delivered” etc. If you have a company that cannot keep up with the clients’ needs, technical issues and such; why in the world would you want to push that product on to future clients or even your clients that follow you? YIKES….! Bad Boss’s love to procrastinate over their company to make it look good, which is how they get their hooks into you! Pushing a bad product is pushing a bad business.
CLIENTS! CLIENTS! Are you done asking? If you repeatedly hear from the interviewer, future boss or manager constantly ask you about your clients…… BEWARE! This is a major red flag! They are more interested in getting their hot fingers on your client list and your contacts. Be cautious on uploading your information as these are clients you worked hard on to build relationships with for your future growth. You know them better than anyone else and you know when to approach them with the product if you take on the position you are interviewing for. I consider this “Old dogs up to their old tricks again!” I still see this happen more than I would like to see. For instance I was on an interview with a very well known company recently, once we get further into the call they started getting in their comfort zone and started asking me several times of my connections within the auto industry & dealer groups. After the 3rd time, I had to get them back on track of my experience and what I can do for them. It never stopped! Just be careful on supplying your customer relationships from the past into future employments as this can place you in a tuff spot when choosing your clients best interest over your Bad Boss’s Bad Habits!
I surely hoped you can take these Tall Tale Signs for Bad Boss’s to your advantage. All that is listed above is from past personal experiences. Be sure you are educated before you educate them!
All views & opinions are solely based upon the author only: Jennifer Schrader
Jennifer Schraders Blog 