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This item is filed under these categories:
Finding a Job Job Interviews Criticism

I just had a job interview, and the interviewer spent much of the time badmouthing the company, his boss, and the work atmosphere. I have never experienced this before, and I wonder what you make of it.



When an interviewer spends time "badmouthing" the company, sometimes it's bad and sometimes it isn't.

On the one hand, perhaps the interviewer was just being honest and trying to help give you an accurate picture of the company so that you could make the right decision for yourself. Maybe the company is an extremely demanding stressful place where pressure is high and recognition is low. If he has lost employees in the past who assumed that the company was warmer and fuzzier, he may want to spell out the gory details as early as possible. His goal may have been to give you an honest portrayal of the company so that you could take yourself out of the running if his description did not sit well with you.

At the same time, if his comments sounded more like a massive negative rant, that is a different matter. Such comments are totally inappropriate to outsiders, especially to job candidates. When a corporate emissary spews a nonstop litany of venom against the company, it can be assumed that such an interviewer has problems with his job, with the company, or with himself.

You should not take his comments personally, and you should not take this job until you have had additional interviews, and not with him.




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