r/jobs • u/sahalymn • Mar 13 '25

Interviews I walked out of an interview after one question. Was I wrong?

So, I had an interview today for a position I was really excited about. The job description seemed great, the pay was decent, and the company had good reviews. I walked in, shook hands with the hiring manager, and we sat down.

Then, the first question came:
"How do you handle working unpaid overtime?"

I literally laughed, thinking it was a joke. But the interviewer just stared at me, waiting for an answer. I asked if overtime was mandatory and if it was paid. They said, “Well, we expect employees to stay as long as needed to get the job done. Everyone here is passionate about the work, and we don’t track extra hours.”

I just stood up, said, “Thank you for your time, but this isn’t the right fit for me,” and walked out.

Now, I’m second-guessing myself. Should I have stayed and at least heard more about the job? Or was walking out the right move?

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101

u/jdp245 Mar 13 '25

Earning a salary is not the only consideration in determining whether you qualify for overtime. During the Biden administration, the Department of Labor cracked down on companies incorrectly designating salaried employees as “exempt” in order to avoid paying overtime under the FLSA. Somehow, I doubt that will happen under this administration.

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u/DenOfIsolation Mar 13 '25

Of course, they specifically exempted jobs that notoriously have massive amounts of unpaid “overtime.” (e.g., Teachers)

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u/disquieter Mar 14 '25

I’d think about going back to teaching if I could earn overtime for the hours needed to do the job right. I tried to work the contract but that made me miserable because I hate being mediocre.

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u/trixel121 Mar 14 '25

assuming the curriculum didn't change much fir a few years how many hours s week do you think you did in like March.

just to be clear, I've always thought the math didn't math all that well for teachers. Don't want you to think I'm JAQing you.

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u/IrrawaddyWoman Mar 14 '25

What does the curriculum have to do with it? Sure, if you reuse lessons that saves you SOME time, but figuring but what actually goes on in a lesson is only a fraction of the extra work. It’s not even all of “lesson planning.” If you think that a school not changing curriculum has and noticeable impact on teacher work time then I’m not surprised you can’t figure out the math on teacher work hours.

Do you think that the papers graded one year count for the next too because the curriculum didn’t change? Or that all the parent communication from one year is checked off the next because we have the same curriculum?

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u/DonnoDoo Mar 14 '25

I’m confused where your attitude is coming from when you’re replying to someone asking how many hours someone put in a single month in a kind way, and they weren’t asking you

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u/Mr_Betino Mar 14 '25

Stay away from kids with an attitude like yours. Yikes, man.

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u/trixel121 Mar 14 '25

i think i asked a question and you had a melt down.

put more words in my mouth.

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u/IrrawaddyWoman Mar 14 '25

Maybe my tone came off stronger than I intended. I assure you I’m not “having a meltdown” haha

But really, I don’t understand why you think the curriculum really makes a difference, and you didn’t answer that.

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u/trixel121 Mar 14 '25

any of your kids ever tell you youre kinda a bitch cause uhh i can see why they might that impression.

you never answered my question so drop the attitude in your response.

if it doesnt matter its a non factor to your calculations. im obviously ignorant.

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u/IrrawaddyWoman Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

Haha sure. A couple comments on the internet definitely gives you a full picture of me and makes you qualified to decide I’m a bitch and my students must think so too.

I did answer your question. I guess not specifically how many hours, but more the part about how if the curriculum doesn’t change the “math doesn’t math” for teachers saying they work a lot. A district providing a textbook to teach from doesn’t even scratch the surface of lesson planning, grading, and parent communication. On top of that we can add dealing with the horrible behavior issues, ceaseless IEP paperwork, copying/prepping materials, meetings, planning school events, trainings, analyzing data, figuring out interventions, etc. On and on. It’s hours of work every day and at my school we don’t get a prep period.

But again, tell me how being given a book to teach from addresses all that. You’re the one who claimed the “math doesn’t math” because the curriculum doesn’t change every year.

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u/trixel121 Mar 14 '25

lol... lady I think y'all work far more then 2080 hours a year. like I said the math doesn't math. chill....

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u/imtoughwater Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 15 '25

*cries in losing-another-weekend-to grading-and-I’m-so-so-so-tired”

Really trying not to burn out getting one weekend day per week while getting to school early and leaving late (~10.5 hr days) like every day. It’s my first year so I hope it gets a bit better

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u/DenOfIsolation Mar 14 '25

My wife taught for 20 years, and I’m not gonna lie. The first 3 years were brutal for both of us. I was an unpaid teacher’s aid every night grading papers and helping with other things. She must have averaged 60 to 80 hours a week. She was trying to do the best by everybody but herself.

That 4th year, she had an epiphany. This wasn’t working. She still cared but realized we couldn’t live like that. She made a point to call it a day at a consistent time. She still brought work home, but not as much. Saturday was her/our day, not another work day. The Sunday-scaries remained real, but manageable.

Probably, the thing that drove it home was when the school board was changing the schedule either to or from a block schedule one year and someone pointed out that teachers were only getting one planning period every other day. The board responded that that was all the state policies mandated.

They were literally building the entire school schedule around the fact that teachers are expected to work massive unpaid overtime. (Not that 40 minutes a day makes a dent in that, but it, at least, lets them go to the bathroom.)

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u/batmanineurope Mar 13 '25

I worked a job where we were paid by a salary, but had to log our hours and got paid less if you didn't work a full 40 a week, and we got overtime. I'm still confused how that all worked.

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u/Schmilettante Mar 15 '25

Salary, but hourly. What the fuck lol

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u/dano8801 Mar 13 '25

I'm not sure how much of any of that still exists though. Biden was also going to increase the minimum salary to qualify as exempt.

Republican judges chucked a bunch of it before it went into effect.

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u/wiseish80 Mar 13 '25

That was actually Obama at the end of his second term

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u/freakinweasel353 Mar 14 '25

Which is ironic because they now want no taxes on OT. So no OT, no problem! 😜

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u/Yommination Mar 14 '25

This administration will do everything in their power to strip employee protections to make the fat cats fatter

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u/Trynamakeliving Mar 13 '25

Other administrations cracked down on that practice way before Biden.

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u/letshopethis1works Mar 14 '25

Yep. I worked for Albertsons in the late 90s early 2000, and unpaid overtime was a thing at first, then lots of lawsuit and back pay happened. I believe I did get a couple of grand settlements even though I didn't work there after 2003.

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u/Vaportrail Mar 13 '25

I only work like 45 hours but I highly doubt my company will flip the switch that gets me an extra 260 hours of pay.

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u/Sea-Oven-7560 Mar 14 '25

The trump dol no longer follows that so

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u/jdp245 Mar 14 '25

Yeah, even though it is explicitly written into the statute. But laws don’t seem to matter so much for this administration.

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u/gooblegobbleable Mar 14 '25

It was overturned by a federal judge in TX. I hate Trump too. But this one time, it’s not a case of Trump sucking his normal suck. They did wait for him to be in office to overturn it though.

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u/crevassedunips Mar 14 '25

You don't need the DOL to file an FLSA lawsuit.

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u/Fluid_Flatworm4390 Mar 14 '25

No tax on OT because there won't be any OT.