How to Stay Away from a Bad Company Culture

If you’ve been in a job where you were totally miserable, there’s a good chance the company culture was at least partly to blame. Yes, things like pay and workload also play a role—but usually we have at least some idea of what those will be like when we take a job, so it’s not a total surprise.

Company culture, on the other hand, can sometimes be tough to evaluate until you are in it. And getting trapped in a bad company culture environment can quickly turn a dream job into a nightmare.

The best way to deal with bad company culture is to avoid getting into it in the first place. And while it can be tough to get a true picture of company culture as an outside observer, there are a few things that can be bad signs. This article shares a few tips of red flags to look for during an interview.

One thing to look for is the interviewer’s personality. Nervous and timid might not be worrisome—it’s possible the interviewer is new at this task. However, an interviewer who is obnoxious and rude may be giving you an example of the prevailing attitude of company leadership.

Likewise, if the interviewer dodges questions about the work environment or company morale, that’s often a big warning sign.

Then of course there’s the obvious: if employees just generally seem unhappy. This may be tough to evaluate just from an interview, but if you can manage to loiter around a little while and observe the employees at work, you will often be able to tell right away how they feel about their jobs.

How do you evaluate the company culture at a potential employer? Share tips in the comments.