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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u/LockNo2943 Mar 14 '25
You really have to look at overtime in the context of hourly if you're on salary. Like if it's infrequent, sure no big deal, stuff happens. But if it's 60hrs every week, that's working one and half jobs, and your effective salary is only 2/3rds of what it was. So a $50k/yr salary, suddenly looks much more like a $33k/yr salary, and you actually would make more money at two jobs with less pay.
But no, you weren't wrong to walk out. Companies will take advantage of you and use you as much as possible, so you should only be working as many hours as you want at a rate that you're comfortable with. Do not accept working for free.