Six Reasons to Run from a Job Interview

Job seekers have issues to keep them up at night. They worry that the beautifully crafted cover letters they're sending off won't be read and that plum jobs will go to less deserving candidates. They worry that their résumés don't showcase their shining accomplishments well enough to command the six-figure offers they're hoping for. If they're job hunting while working, they worry that a stray comment by a hiring manager or human resources screener to the wrong person will make its way back to their own boss.

These are all reasonable worries. Personally, I worry about something else—on behalf of job-seekers everywhere. I worry that they'll tumble into The Vortex and accept a job they should have scorned.

What's The Vortex? It's the set of forces that overtakes a job seeker when he or she is deep into the selection process, somewhere between the first and third interviews, when the employer begins to send signals that he's interested. The Vortex is deadly, because in the face of all that approval and positive feedback (way more, in many cases, than we get on our jobs most of the time), it's easy to lose one's head. It's easy to overlook slights and red flags that should warn us away from dangerous waters. It's easy to get sucked into The Vortex and let our brains override what our instincts are telling us: that no matter how much wining and dining and affirmation is involved, some companies don't deserve our talents.

Charm Offensive

If we end up taking a job because of Vortex effects, we'll regret it, and we know it. That's why we've created this list of Six Reasons to Run from a job opportunity, no matter how pleasant and charming the company representatives are, and no matter how much latte, red wine, and discussion of end-of-year bonuses is involved.

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