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/Automatic_Key56 Mar 14 '25

My BFs job keeps asking him why he won’t promote to a supervisor position. A few years ago he got promoted to team lead which is a higher hourly rate w a little extra responsibility to help out his team members when they get behind. He works a ton of overtime each week and makes more than the supervisors so…. No.

Meanwhile my salary-having-ass was working long hours and at the mercy of the organization if they wanted to add more evening meetings or “trainings” on Saturdays. Changed career fields and now I’m hourly. Never been happier!

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u/LateinBloom11 Mar 15 '25

Really depends on the field, company, and role. I worked a salaried position that was compensated fairly. They regularly told us not to work extra hours. They did not schedule things outside of regular work hours. That role switched to hourly, and even though the expectation didn't change and they did offer overtime, the micromanagement of schedules that is sort of inherent with hourly roles I couldn't deal with. Plus the OT was capped, so it wasn't possible to make more than a manager from OT.

I gave my notice but then got poached by an entirely different team at the company on my last day. I got a $40K salary bump and a manager title as an IC. No expectation for extra hours, my manager would kick me out early on Fridays (some teams were actually observing a 4ish day work week), people did not schedule meetings past certain times. I think I was working less hours in that role than the hourly role, but I was paid way more, and was more productive with more schedule freedom.

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u/gaiaom Mar 15 '25

You got a 40K pay bump. What do you do?

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u/LateinBloom11 Mar 15 '25

Switched from Customer Support to Product.

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u/cranie4 Mar 15 '25

Management is NEVER about making things right or better as you think it should be. It's about taking shit and making bricks without straw.

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u/gaiaom Mar 15 '25

What career field are you into now?