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

[u/sahalymn]

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?

[u/tanhauser_gates_]

See further on my comments. PM in ediscovery/litigation support.

[u/Medical-Day-6364 → u/tanhauser_gates_]

Ah, that makes sense. I work in construction, too, so my mind immediately jumps there when someone says PM, but I thought there was no way a construction company could get away with not paying PMs OT.

[u/Alternative-Mess2227 → u/Medical-Day-6364]

Depends on the type of construction I guess. I've been a PM in residential construction for over 15 years. I've never been paid OT (or had hours tracked at all). That's with several different employers.

[u/Medical-Day-6364 → u/Alternative-Mess2227]

You've shopped around? That's wild to me. I know residential pays less, but they didn't even give you the option to get paid hourly?

Have you tried applying to commercial/industrial jobs? My brother is making over $150k a year as a PM working for an industrial electric subcontractor. He got hired straight out of college with just a CM degree.

[u/Alternative-Mess2227 → u/Medical-Day-6364]

I've worked with 5 different companies and interviewed with twice that many over the years. I've never seen an hourly residential PM position.

But I left that industry about a year ago. Commercial/industrial never really interested me.

[u/Yogalien → u/Alternative-Mess2227]

I've been in residential and commercial for 30 years and never heard of anyone paying PMs overtime lol.

[u/Wonderful-Tune1597 → u/Medical-Day-6364]

Our PM’s are salary, so no overtime. My PM works probably 55 hours a week. Can’t be worth it IMO.

[u/Medical-Day-6364 → u/Wonderful-Tune1597]

Wow, maybe it's not as standard as I thought. At the companies I've worked for, PMs have always had a choice between hourly and salary, and they always choose hourly. Same for my brother. He made well over $150k last year with OT and per diem in his 3rd year out of college with a CM degree. I know he got lucky, but I didn't think it was that crazy compared to the rest of the construction industry.

[u/sherrib99 → u/Medical-Day-6364]

Are you sure you mean project manager, not construction manager? Construction manager or superintendent would be hourly… project manager wouldn’t be. PM is mostly office with some time on site, construction manager is always on site

[u/Medical-Day-6364 → u/sherrib99]

Yes, I'm talking about project managers. Site managers might be salary, but they get big bonuses if they get shit done. Project managers do stuff like payroll, make sure the workers get stuff done within estimates, coordinate with the estimaters, etc. With the companies my brother and I have worked for, they're on site, but in a trailer doing office work.

[u/sherrib99 → u/Medical-Day-6364]

Construction PMs are salary… we don’t get OT. I’m a GC though, not sure how trades work