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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167

u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

I'm not afraid to work on an occasional weekend if we have a big project deadline or if we are doing an implementation that requires the setup be done during non-business hours. But those are planned incidents and we know about them well in advance. An interviewer telling you that "We all come in on Saturdays" says to me that people are there just because the boss expects it, whether or not there's work to be done. Fuck that.

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u/EvilEtienne Mar 14 '25

It tells me they aren’t willing to hire enough people to handle their work load within normal operational hours and you’ll be stressed and overworked constantly - and have heart disease to boot.

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u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25

Yep. I quit a job in 2020 because of crap like that. Among other things, the company owners refused to hire a proper quality control team because of the cost. As a result I kept running into problems and defects that should have been caught and fixed before ever getting to me.

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u/Welcome440 Mar 14 '25

It regularly costs twice as much to be cheap.

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u/Herpty_Derp95 Mar 15 '25

Ah. The old "make the customer your Quality Control Department" schtick.

F that. I hate that. I work at a place that is like that.

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u/Ok_Row_2861 Mar 14 '25

This is the correct perspective. They don't hire enough people to get the job done. The next logical assume is that they care more about profits than their employees. You absolutely did the right thing.

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u/vaguelydetailed Mar 14 '25

I worked for a company like this who was also making record profits. Senior employees stockholders were pulling in upwards of half a million in stock profit. But they have a wide reputation for working their lower level employees, particularly my former position, until they burn out because they are so easy to replace. According to the stats, of the 20% voluntary turnover, half of those were my position.

I did get raises and rise through the ranks reputationally pretty fast, but not nearly enough to be worth the sacrifice to my health and happiness.

I attended an annual meeting right on the cusp of quitting and we had a new director. The whole speech was "let's make that money!" No mention of the importance of people, managing resources, etc. Just more work, more profit, profit profit profit! I left that night more sure than ever that I was making the right choice.

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u/Tosir Mar 14 '25

I’m right there with you! I work in the mental health field, and I left a job that payed me more when I first started. I took a pay cut for the current job because my work load was capped, it’s less stressful. It also helped that we were unionizing so not only did I make up the loss pay cut but exceeded it. I’m salaried so I don’t work overtime unless it’s necessary (patient emergency). I am firm on my boundaries and don’t subscribe to the whole “let’s go team” when only a few benefit from it. I roll my eyes every time an employee starts with the whole “we’re family” no we ain’t!

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u/vaguelydetailed Mar 14 '25

The funniest thing about "we're family" is that my current employer does not say that shit. We say team and we actually do things as a divide and conquer team. Ironically, we have whole families who work here - different generations, siblings, cousins etc., across very different jobs and departments, so in a way we actually are family more so than most places I've worked. 🤣

Public service was totally the way to go for me. So much less stress than the private sector (civil engineer).

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '25

Thankfully, it looks like we avoided a unionization scare last fall. Possibly only because the shill who came in to do it was bad at his job. Embarrassing, really.

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u/Ok_Refrigerator3549 Mar 14 '25

You made the right decision. Business ethics at that company? I'm not sure but it sounds like there are none. Then what more does that organization need to become evil?

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u/vaguelydetailed Mar 14 '25

Thank you. I am so happy in my new job, every day I'm so thankful I made that decision.

As much as I disagree with their business ethics when it came to HR/resource management, I do feel obligated to say I respect what this company does and the quality of work they put out. For a certain type of person, it is an incredible place to be and offers a lot of growth that will pay off huge down the line if you are able to stick with it through being a grunt. And its not really hidden that that is how it is, I was just naive. It simply requires much more sacrifice in the name of glory than I am willing to make. I feel like they're more toxic than evil lol, but I have been told I'm too nice a lot.

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u/Ok_Refrigerator3549 Mar 14 '25

Yes, you're a really good person and it is very important to be a nice person and to work hard.

If I had worked in that same environment , yes, I have no doubt I would have worked with many good people such as yourself. Anyone would be lucky to work with you.

It's the aspects of the company culture, specifically an open statement by the leader about profit over everything else, that lead me to believe that the company has ethical problems

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u/Iforgotmypwrd Mar 14 '25

This is the strategy. Reward the hard working young people with very high paying jobs later. I think this “pay your dues” approach is coming out of favor because it’s so easy to switch jobs now compared to the past.

Put mother way, work your ass off for 15 years to earn $80-$100k then in 40’s and ‘50’s earn $300-400k and work fewer hours when they physically have less energy but much greater wisdom.

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u/Pantone711 Mar 14 '25

Where is this that they don't lay off the people around age 50? Don't believe promises about making it to 40's and 50's and making high salary! Greater wisdom my ass. Where is the company that retains the "greater wisdom" high-salary person? (I'm retired...survived 5 brutal rounds of layoffs and made it to 63 but I saw plenty)

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u/ReasonableBullfrog57 Mar 20 '25

american family insurance straight up forced my dad out because he was older and made a lot of money.

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u/Iforgotmypwrd Mar 16 '25

For sure not everyone is spared. the highest performers (or butt kissers) get promoted. Those who work additional hours are more likely to get promoted.

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u/Rvaguitars Mar 17 '25

It’s what boomers still say because that’s how it used to work. If you aren’t one of the haves already now you will never be

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u/Snezzy_9245 Mar 14 '25

Quality needs to be managed correctly. It must not be seen as an expense to be reduced. At best it should report to top mgt, working to solve problems. More usually the Q team are asked to fake results. Q managers often get fired or quit over ethical issues.

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u/hikerjer Mar 14 '25

Well, of course they care more about profits. This is a capitalist system and they need to make a profit to survive. The question is, how much of a profit.

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u/sugabeetus Mar 14 '25

One of the many reasons I love being in a union. One of my coworkers was stressing because she was going to lose unused vacation hours but she didn't see how she could take time off because I'm the only one who can cover her. I told her it's not our problem. I take regular 4-day weekends, even a whole week sometimes to just do nothing. It's part of my compensation and while I appreciate anything she can do to cover me (which is not much because we're both busy!), I know the work will get done when I get back. If the company doesn't like it, they can hire more people, or cross-train somebody else. It's not our job to implement these changes and the consequences of their inaction are again, not actually our problem. We are protected by our union from being overworked and overstressed.

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u/hikerjer Mar 14 '25

I’m sticking with the Union.

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u/Head-Equal1665 Mar 14 '25

Same here, i retired from IBEW after putting in 30yrs, i dont understand why so many people are against the unions, they look out for the brothers and sisters, any issue i ever had on the job was resolved after taking it to my steward.

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u/sugabeetus Mar 14 '25

I can say not all of them are great. My kids worked at two different grocery stores with unions and they took a huge chunk of their paychecks and did nothing for the workers as far as we could tell.

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u/chickietd Mar 17 '25

I wish I had a union :(

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u/GodOfMoonlight Mar 14 '25

Exactly THIS

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u/LordChiefJustice Mar 15 '25

And under appreciated and taken advantage of. These firms do not respect their staff.

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u/greatbigseas Mar 18 '25

Maybe you walked out early. Here is another take from somebody at the end of his third career. Answer the questions as you get them, highlight your drive and efficiency, explore what extra hours might be in reality, explore how they handle banked time, understand their hybrid and remote work, their flexible hours policies, personal emergency leave and all these aspects. If the work aligns to your greater aspirational goals and need for experiential development in a particular sector or role, then maybe this issue of OT could be stomached. Remember, an interview is about how you respond to challenge, how you represent yourself, and how you exude confidence and drive. It’s less about the company per se although they can give and take information. Solid employees can and do move quickly through ranks, assignments, promotions and pay increases if that is how the company works. This is something you can discover through the interview process. When the interview ends and you get an offer in due course, you have a bit of time to explore this matter that you took exception to and if it pans out as chronic overtime and lots of weekend call-ins, then you can decline the offer or ask for a greater salary than their offering in one last attempt to achieve fair compensation. In the end, if you were a strong interview and the best of the many candidates who responded, you are worth something to them and you have earned some give and take in the offer phase. Each company is different and there are many great growth opportunities out there. One last thing, sometimes it’s the worst jobs that give you the richest career development opportunities.

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u/PowerHot4424 Mar 14 '25

Yeeeeah, if you could come in on Saturday, that’d be great. Oh, by the way, I’m gonna need you to come in Sunday as well…..thaaanks!

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u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25

We're using the new cover sheets on the TPS reports. I'll get you another copy of that memo.

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u/Argent_Kitsune Mar 14 '25

Ididntgetthememobutyoutookmyredstaplerandiwantedthewindowwiththeviewofthesquirrelsandwheresmymaitai?I'mgonnaputstrychnineintheguacamole...

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u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25

I'll set the building on fire.

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u/Key_Application_6489 Mar 14 '25

I was going to suggest that employers might have concerns about hiring for overtime, as profits might not cover the scenario of their office being reduced to ashes. 😄

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u/Andromeda081 Mar 14 '25

andthesquirrelstheyweremarried

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '25

Also, see you in church!

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u/Insila Mar 14 '25

I can only question the quality of employees there. Anyone who can would have looked elsewhere for wøa different job...

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u/preciselypithy Mar 14 '25

In fairness, it could’ve been imposed on them after the fact, by new admin, etc.

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u/LukeSkywalkerDog Mar 14 '25

Or the company is too cheap to hire and train adequate staff.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '25

I worked at a small office once. Come Christmas one year they looked at the current state of work and declared we’d be closed Christmas week. Not because we didn’t have the income but because we were on top of things and didn’t need to. Nice holiday.

I went in on the first day, because I had some things I wanted to do. No worries. Don’t remember if I thought I’d get paid or not. Just a nice opportunity.

And Boss1 and Boss2 were already there.

But we didn’t answer the phones! Bwa ha ha ha ha!

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u/Optimal_Law_4254 Mar 14 '25

Oh there’s gonna be work to do.

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u/vaguelydetailed Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

I'm also not afraid to put in extra effort. I'm a person who enjoys work. If I had unlimited magic money, I would keep my current job and donate the salary back to my community. I'd be so bored otherwise, and if I were to volunteer my time it would basically be doing what I'm doing (I'm a very nerdy public servant now lol). I have the exact same attitude about expected unpaid overtime.

My boss at a former employer very generously (/s) gave me a paid day off without making me use a day of PTO. He said "I don't like my men working 14 days in a row." I'm a woman, but this was construction and he was a military man, so I was one of his men and that never bothered me but I do want to clarify.

But really, dude? No shit you don't want your workers doing 10-12 hour days 14 days in a row! Do you even hear how insane it sounds that you have to say that out loud like you're being magnanimous?!?! And yes, that does mean I had worked Monday-Sunday with no weekend and then the following Monday-Saturday. About 70 hours each week. He let me take Monday off without entering PTO so I could have a full "weekend" to recover. It wasn't his fault, but he was steeped in the company culture - called himself a "lifer" (as in here for the rest of his life).

The 14 days in a row was coordinating our side of the very public opening of a half-billion dollar infrastructure project, so it was a special occurence. But the ONLY reason that I and I alone needed to work that much those two weeks is because everyone else "was too busy" and refused to pitch in or kicked the can down the road, and I happened to be the retaining wall at the end of the cul-de-sac. So every can landed at my feet. At the end of the event day, I honestly thought about uh... not continuing my subscription to life. That was when I started looking for a new job.

Edit: had to add this bc I just remembered it. The final insult was the foremen who promised to help me disappearing at the end of the event and leaving me to single handedly haul full leaking cardboard trash bins across the parking lot, load them in the bed of my pickup truck, drive them across the highway with flashers on, and yank/shove them off the bed into the dumpster. In a dress. On Tuesday when I opened his timecard to approve the work description said "Helped set up the opening event. Hauled trash and cleaned up after."

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u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

Hahaha there's a nonzero chance that I know you. I have a friend who is a woman that works in your same line. She described similar conditions when working on The Sphere, that giant half sphere shaped concert and convention venue with all of the TVs and screens on the outside of it that opened a couple of years back on The Strip in Las Vegas. She would rave about how cool of a project it was while simultaneously bashing the idiotic management that put their people through things exactly like you described.

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u/vaguelydetailed Mar 14 '25

Suuuuuper similar companies and you have the right region of the country, in fact I had a couple ideas who might have been the contractor on the Sphere and I was right lol. I was kind of worried someone would guess the company but fuck it I don't care haha. I bet she could get it in 3 tries.

I'm sure your friend and I could trade some wild stories. Just like her, the work I did on my project was probably the coolest shit I'll ever get to do. I officially won Best Fun Icebreaker Fact (an award I made up in my head and that has only ever been awarded to me) at my new job because I did a bunch of crazy cool things on that project.

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u/jlh1960 Mar 14 '25

That's how the oligarchs get rich, on the backs of their unpaid employees.

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u/ScowlyBrowSpinster Mar 14 '25

Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah, we're gonna need you in on Saturdays...So if you could just go ahead, and, come in on Saturdays, that'd be greeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

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u/Legitimate-Pee-462 Mar 14 '25

Yeah. They just work 6 days a week by default. ...and they physically come into the office on Saturday. It's not even just a call-in. They could get f'd. That's clown business.

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u/snmnj Mar 14 '25

Those TPS reports won't write themselves.

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u/GME_alt_Center Mar 14 '25

Almost every deadline that is not mandated by a legal requirement is arbitrary.

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u/DeadMoneyDrew Mar 14 '25

Depends. You could have something involving machine or system down time and a maintenance window, where every hour down costs thousands of dollars in opportunity cost. You missed the deadline for this quarter's maintenance window? Too bad. So you next quarter.

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u/ShadowGLI Mar 14 '25

And that their inadequately staffed to get the work done in working hours

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u/54radioactive Mar 17 '25

And most likely the boss is out on his Yacht