【中英双语】求职面试中的十大信号，你千万要警惕
10 Red Flags to Watch Out for in a Job Interview
求职面试是一个双向选择的过程——潜在雇主面试你，你也在面试对方。毕竟你不是来者不拒，而是想要一份合适的工作。但调查显示，2/3的员工表示自己接受的工作并不适合自己，一半的人在入职半年内就辞职了。原因有很多，比如觉得自己被开了空头支票，或者意识到公司文化不符合自己的价值观。求职季正在到来，在面试中注意一些潜在的警示信号，有助于避免找到不合适的工作。
Job interviews are a two-way process — you’re interviewing your potential boss and employer as much as they’re interviewing you. After all, you don’t just want any job — you want the right job. According to a CareerBuilder survey, two-thirds of workers say they’ve accepted a job only to realize it was not a good fit, with half of them quitting in the first six months. There are several reasons this could happen, including feeling like you’ve been sold a false bill of goods or a realizing that the culture is not consistent with your values or even toxic. Here are 10 red flags to watch out for.
一、不断调整时间，组织混乱
1. Constant rescheduling and disorganization
大家都很忙，而且会碰到意外，调整面试时间不足为奇。但如果调整了很多次，就可能有问题。“如果改了两次时间，他们还想再改第三次，那就不行了，太多了，”高管及职业发展教练苏珊·佩珀康说，“这种情况必须要有合理的解释，因为你的时间跟他们的时间一样宝贵。频繁调整时间，传达出的信息是你没有那么重要。而且我觉得现在的雇主必须非常注意快速回复求职者、清晰地沟通、像对待员工一样对待他们……否则求职者就会去别的地方。”
People are busy and things may unexpectedly come up, so it’s not unusual that an interview may at some point need to be rescheduled. Yet, when it happens multiple times, it’s an indication that something is amiss. “If things get rescheduled let’s say twice, and they want to reschedule a third time, that’s it. That’s too much,” said Susan Peppercorn, an executive and career coach. “There has to be some real extenuating circumstances that get explained to you because your time is valuable just as much as their time is valuable. And it’s sending a message that says you’re not that important. And I think employers today have to be extremely conscious about getting back to job candidates quickly, communicating with them clearly, and treating them as if they were employees…because otherwise job candidates are going to go somewhere else.”
高管教练兼领导力策略师卡罗琳·斯托克斯表示赞同，并且补充说，反复改时间意味着“他们没有把人才或职位放在首位，没有意识到人才战争的重要性。一遇到什么事情，他们就很混乱，没有条理，这绝对是警示信号”。还有他们跟你的交流（或者缺乏交流），“如果招聘人员很长时间不回复你，我是说比如有一个星期没理你，这也是警示信号。”斯托克斯说。这表明公司缺乏透明度，缺乏正常沟通的能力。
Caroline Stokes, an executive coach and leadership strategist, concurred, adding that constant rescheduling means “They don’t prioritize the people or the placement. They are not cognizant of the war for talent. If things are scattered, and they’re all over the place or they’re disorganized, it’s absolutely a red flag.” This includes their communication with you (or lack thereof). “If the recruiter or the hiring manager ghosts you for a considerable period of time — and by a considerable period of time, I’m talking a week, that’s a red flag,” Stokes said. It shows a lack of transparency and inability to communicate properly.
二、不尊重他人
2. Disrespecting others
每个组织都会面临不同部门之间天然的紧张关系或挫折，比如销售部门和工程部门。你在面试中遇到的人是能以建设性的方式与其他利益相关者讨论难题或矛盾，还是会表现出轻蔑和无礼？如果是后者，这就是一个警示信号，不仅预示着该组织可能高度封闭，也说明组织内的氛围容易让人没有心理安全感。
Every organization has some natural tensions or frustrations between different departments, such as sales and engineering. Are the people you’re meeting with during the interview process able to talk about challenges or tensions with other stakeholders in a constructive way, or do they do so disparagingly or disrespectfully? If it’s the latter, this is a red flag, not only indicating that the organization may be highly siloed, but also that there may be low psychological safety.
斯托克斯指出，如果你参加小组面试，有两个及以上面试官，这是观察他们之间互动状态的好机会。这几个人如何互动？是否经常打断其他人？是否有一个人主导对话，让其他人闭嘴？他们的肢体语言和微妙的表情表达了什么？在线面试也可以观察这些迹象。
Stokes points out that if you participate in a panel interview, with two or more interviewers, it’s a good opportunity to observe the dynamics between the panelists. How do they interact with each other? Do they interrupt each other regularly? Does one person dominate the conversation, shutting the others down? What does their body language, including subtle micro-expressions, say, even if the interview is on Zoom?
三、价值观冲突
3. Values conflict
价值观不合是一个重要的预警信号。在面试前明确自己最重要的价值观，准备一些问题用于评估公司文化、公司价值观是否与你最坚定的价值观相符，以及你在工作中能否表达自己的价值观。
A values mismatch is a big red flag. Get clear on what your most important values are before you start the interview process and have questions ready that will allow you to assess the company’s culture, the extent to which the organization shares your most deeply held values, and how well you’d be able to express your these values on the job.
举例来说，如果你有包容的价值观，面试的公司自称秉持这一原则，那么他们用以保证工作场所包容性的具体措施是什么？如何衡量工作场所的包容程度？该组织是言行一致，还是只做表面文章？斯托克斯说，“如果你想找个稳健的好环境工作几年，就必须仔细考察面试公司的价值观。”
For example, if you have a value of inclusion, and the company you are interviewing with says they are committed to this principle, what are they doing to ensure the workplace is, indeed, inclusive? How are they measuring it? Is the organization walking the talk or is it just lip service? “If you really are looking for a good, strong environment to commit to for the next few years, you need to be diligent about the values aspect,” Stokes shared.
同样，如果重视自主权，你可以问上司，“你希望哪些事情由我自己决定，哪些决策交给你？”即使他们给出了你想听到的答案，也要保持“信任但要查证”的态度。问问其他向这位领导者汇报的同事，了解他们有多大的自主权和决策权。倘若无法获得可信的答案，就要提高警惕了。
Likewise, if you have a value of autonomy, you might ask your boss a question like, “Which decisions would you expect me to make, and which decisions would you want me to escalate to you?” Even if they tell you what you want to hear, take a “trust but verify” approach. Ask others who report to this leader what their experience has been in being given autonomy or to what extent have they been empowered with decision-making authority. A lack of convincing answers is a red flag.
四、回答你的问题不明确或不一致
4. Lack of clarity or consistency in answers to your questions
你在面试中提出的问题所获得的答案是否清晰准确？面试官是给出了泛泛的含糊回答，还是给出了具体的例子？“如果你觉得自己没有获得具体直接的答案，这就是一个警示信号。”佩珀康说。你要继续追问，直到获得足够具体的回答。
As you ask questions throughout the interview process, how clear or precise are the answers you are given? Are the answers you receive vague or general statements, or does the interviewer give you tangible examples — the same as they’d expect from you? “If you don’t feel that you’re getting specific and direct answers, that’s a red flag,” said Peppercorn. You should ask follow-up probing questions until you feel like you’ve be given the specificity you need.
面试过程中，你会遇到多个对于你在这个职位上的成功有重要意义的利益相关者。准备一组问题，了解他们每个人的观点，关注他们回答的一致性——或许更重要的是不一致的地方。理想状态下，他们的回答应当大体一致，某一个人给出的不同答案可以与其他人的回答互补，为你展现出职位或环境的全貌。可以预料每个人的回答会有一定程度的差异，没有问题。但如果同一个问题获得的几个答案之间存在直接的矛盾或不一致，那你就要注意了。
Throughout the interview process, you’ll be meeting with various stakeholders who will be important to your success in this role. Have a core set of questions that you ask each person to understand their perspective, as well as notice where there is alignment in their answers and, perhaps more important, where there is not. You’ll want to see that there is a fair degree of consistency in their answers from one person to the next. A different answer from one person may still be consistent and complement others’ responses, painting a fuller picture of the situation, role, or environment for you. Some variance is okay and is to be expected. It’s when you hear answers to the same question that are in direct conflict — or inconsistent — with others’ answers, that it’s a red flag.
五、偷梁换柱
5. Bait and switch
如果你面试的工作听起来与最初吸引你投简历的职位描述大不相同，就是警示信号。诚然变化是常态，但如果招聘负责人不明确强调变化，可能说明他们未能有效地向内部和外部的关键利益相关者传达变化，或未能妥善管理变化。
When the job for which you are interviewing starts to sound very different from the initial job description that prompted your application, this is a red flag. To be sure, change is constant. Yet, if the hiring manager doesn’t explicitly highlight or call out the change, it can be an indication that they don’t communicate or manage change well with key stakeholders, both internally and externally.
同样，如果这份工作的变化让你没那么感兴趣了，也要注意一下。“可能是他们变得太快，来不及向求职者解释‘我们的职位描述的确是这样写的，但这30天里我们的需求发生了变化……所以我们现在需要应聘者关注另一个领域’，”佩珀康说，“这样（缺乏沟通）会让我有点担心，这个组织知道自己在做什么吗？”
Likewise, if the change in the scope of the role suddenly makes the job less interesting to you, this is well worth noting. “They may be moving so quickly that they haven’t stopped long enough to be able to explain to job candidates well that ‘Yes, we said this in our job description, but over the past 30 days, our needs have changed…so we really need the person to focus in this area instead of that area.’,” Peppercorn said. “That [lack of communication] would make me a little concerned about does the organization know what they’re doing?”
六、不恰当的问题或评论
6. Inappropriate questions or comments
讲述优步崛起及其毒性领导的电视剧《超蓬勃》（Super Pumped）中，公司狂妄的“兄弟会文化”在特拉维斯·卡拉尼克的第一个面试问题里就体现出来：“你是混蛋吗？”如果当时你想在那里获得一份工作，唯一的正确答案就是“是的”。没有比这更明显的警示信号了。你可能不会被问到这么明目张胆的问题，不过很可能在面试中听到极为不当乃至违法的问题或评论。
In the limited Showtime series Super Pumped that chronicles the rise of Uber and its toxic leadership during that time, it is no surprise to anyone that the hubris-filled “bro-culture” was revealed immediately by Travis Kalanick’s first interview question, “Are you an a**hole?” The only correct answer to this question (if you wanted a job there at the time) was “Yes.” There is no brighter shade of scarlet than that particular red flag. While you may not be asked a question as crude or blatant as this one, it’s entirely possible that an interviewer could ask a highly inappropriate or even illegal question or make an inappropriate comment.
如果你在面试中听到了含有年龄歧视、性别歧视、种族歧视或其他冒犯性的问题或评论，就要注意这个组织不仅培训不到位，还可能容忍不当行为，或者是在包括招聘在内的人才管理中放任无意识的偏见。
If you receive a question or comment that is ageist, sexist, racist, or equally offensive, it is an obvious red flag that this organization not only has poor training, but also likely tolerates bad behavior — or just as bad, has not addressed unconscious bias in its talent management practices, including recruiting.
七、缺乏连接感
7. Lack of connection
好的面试是双方都积极投入的交流，让双方都感到激动，期待今后共事的可能性。如果缺乏热情或连接感，面试官不积极、没有笑容、心不在焉，像念稿子一样机械地提问，并不尝试了解你，这不是什么好的信号。“如果你发现对方不专心，可能这个职位已经有了确定的人选，面试只是走过场，”佩珀康说，“如果在面试你的时候已经选中了别人，他们可能就会表现得比较冷淡。”
A good interview is an engaged two-way conversation that leaves both parties feeling energized and excited about the possibility of working together. When there is a lack of energy or connection and the interviewer doesn’t seem engaged, is not smiling, seems distracted, and/or is robotically asking questions as if following a script and not really trying to get to know you, that is not a good sign. “If you notice that the people that you’re talking to don’t seem engaged… it could be that they’re going through the motions because they already have somebody else lined up for the position,” Peppercorn said. “So, if somebody’s interviewing you, but they know that they’ve found the person that they want, they’re likely not to be so enthusiastic during the interview.”
还有，两轮面试可能会突然出现“温差”。斯托克斯说，她的一位客户在第二轮面试后说，“第一轮面试真的很好，有那种化学反应……第二轮面试就不行了，没有化学反应，没有温度。”她听了立刻想到，“他们是看上别人了。”她说，这种突然的温差说明他们中意其他候选人，却不想取消面试，因为要进一步确认找到了合适的人。她补充道，“这也表明他们不会有效沟通。”
Likewise, there can be a sudden shift in the energy or engagement from one round of interviews to the next. Stokes shared that a client of hers said after a second round of interviews, “The first interview was really great. You know, there was great chemistry….The second interview, not so great. There was no chemistry there. There was no warmth.” She immediately thought, “Yeah, because they like somebody else.” Stokes said that the sudden shift in enthusiasm was a red flag that they’d found another candidate that they preferred, and they just didn’t want to cancel the interview because they wanted to make sure that they their hunch was right. She added, “It’s also a sign that they don’t know how to communicate effectively.”
八、抗拒改变（即使声称希望改变）
8. Resistance to change (even if they say they want change)
出现空缺职位，是因为组织需要有人来改善当前状况——打造更好的产品、提升运营效率、吸引新客户、改善部门绩效等。实现改善需要改变。我的客户戴维受聘于上一家公司去改善客户支持部门，要实现改变，挽救这个部门，然而上司的上司并不希望改变，还觉得受到了威胁。因为有这样的掌权者，戴维的工作进展很不顺利。我问他在面试中是否注意到警示信号，他说那位上司对他说了一句，“几年前我在这个部门干过，对这方面的工作有我的看法。”
Open positions exist because an organization needs someone to improve the current situation — to build better products, create operational efficiencies, attract new clients, improve departmental performance and the like. Making improvements in the business requires change. A client of mine, “David,” was hired by his last employer to improve the organization’s customer support function. While he was hired to turnaround the department and create change, his boss’s boss ultimately didn’t want change and felt threatened by it. Since she was the one with the power, it didn’t turn out so well for David. I asked him what red flags there were in his interviews, and he noted that she had said to him, “I may have opinions about this [function], since I used to do this years ago.”
当时戴维并没有慌乱，因为大部分管理者都有自己的看法。但只要再追问一句或许就能捕捉到预警信号，比如“如果别人有不同意见，你会如何应对？”他或许能从上司对这个问题的回答和肢体语言中获得更多有用的信息，还可以从与她共事的人那里了解她处理不同观点的方式。很可惜，不听她的就必须走人。更糟糕的是，结果证明这位上司在那个部门工作是几十年前的事了，现在情况与她了解的大为不同，而且她也不熟悉现在用的技术。她不接受戴维的改善建议，坚持上世纪80年代就淘汰的方法，拒绝戴维提出的更有效率的方法和技术。戴维很沮丧，每天都感到挫折，像是面对一场阻力重重的战斗。
At the time, her answer didn’t really faze him, since most managers are going to have an opinion. But a simple follow-up question might have raised an important red flag, such as, “How do you deal with others who have different opinions?” He may have gotten more useful information here from both her words and body language, and from those who worked with her to see what their experience was of how she handles conflicting points of view. Sadly, it was her way or the highway. Even worse, as it turned out, she had worked in that function decades prior and much had changed since then, including the technology that she was woefully unfamiliar with. She overrode my client’s improvement recommendations in favor of outdated practices that hadn’t been used since the 1980s versus more efficient methods and technologies he proposed. It was frustrating — every day felt demoralizing and like an uphill battle to David.
斯托克斯说，一些招聘负责人“根本没有要改善的想法。他们太守旧，只想保持原状……你一定要注意这方面的迹象。”
Stokes shared that some hiring managers “just don’t have an improvement mindset. They may just be so old school they just want to keep it the way things are…You’ve got to keep your ears wide open on that.”
九、面试次数很多，或面试过程拖延
9. Excessive number of interviews or drawn-out interview process
理想状况下，面试应当高效且充分优化（而不是最大化）利益相关者的参与性和一致性，不要拖到几个月之久。如果面试次数非常多，流程拉得很长，就要多加注意了。这两种迹象都可能说明团队或组织过于靠共识驱动，缺乏决断，难以推动事情完成。
In an ideal world, the interview process itself would be efficient and optimize (versus maximize) stakeholder involvement and alignment, and not take more than a few months. A red flag arises when the number of interviews becomes excessive, and the process drags on for an extended period of time. Either (or both) of these can be a sign that the team or organization is overly consensus driven, indecisive, or has issues driving things to completion.
虽然面试次数和面试流程长度似乎与职位级别正相关（比如C级高管面试可能比更初级的职位花的时间更长，因为更重要，而且可能会有其他C级高管和董事会成员参与），但佩珀康认为，10到12场面试就太多了（她最多见过14场的）。C级职位的候选人或许有必要面试这么多次，董事长则大可不必。佩珀康说，“做决定的应该是招聘负责人，为什么要面试14次？这说明这个组织做完一件事情的能力糟糕成了什么样子？”谷歌等一些公司积极采取措施缩短冗长的面试流程，以在人才竞争中获得更大的竞争力。
While the number of interviews and duration of the interview process is likely to be positively correlated with the level of the position (e.g., a C-suite interview process may take longer than a more junior position, as the stakes are higher, and the rest of the C-suite and board members will be involved), Peppercorn considers 10 to 12 interviews to be excessive. (She’s seen up to 14). While this many interviews could make sense for a C-level candidate, it does not for a director. She said, “It should be the hiring manager that makes that decision, so why do you have to have 14 interviews? What is that saying about the organization and its ability to get things done?” Some companies, like Google, are actively taking steps to shorten drawn-out interview processes to be more competitive in the war for talent.
十、逼迫性的录用通知
10. Exploding offers
逼迫性的录用通知期限很紧，超过期限就等于作废。虽然不多见，但的确会发生这种事。我的一位客户曾在周五下午收到一家公司的录用通知，被告知必须在周一之前决定是否接受。当时他还在面试自己的理想公司，顶不住这家公司的期限压力，对于获得一份工作保障的需求压过了继续尝试理想公司的不确定（几个月后他收到了理想公司的录用通知，于是离职，第一家公司因此受到不利影响）。
Exploding offers are job offers that are given with a firm deadline (often on a very tight timeline), beyond which, the offer expires. While rare, these still occur on occasion. One client of mine was given an offer at one company on a Friday afternoon and was told he had until Monday to decide. He was still interviewing with his dream employer and succumbed to the pressure from the first company and the security of having an offer of employment versus tolerating the uncertainty that remained with his ideal company (which incidentally ended up backfiring for the company whose offer he accepted, as he left months later when the job at the dream employer finally came through).
逼迫性的录用通知相当于最后通牒。最后通牒让人感觉不舒服，对想做出慎重的职业决定、权衡今后几年事业和生活影响的人很不尊重。这种做法显示出雇主的僵化、不安乃至霸凌（更不用提他们意识不到这种公司在人才市场中会是个什么形象）。你是想迫于压力进入一家公司工作，还是真心为能在这里工作而激动？要相信人（或组织）表现出的本质。会给出这种录用通知的公司，不太会尊重你入职后的愿望和需求，而且可能死板僵化、霸凌且专制。
An exploding offer is basically an ultimatum. Ultimatums don’t feel good or show respect for an individual’s desire to make a thoughtful career decision and weigh their options that will affect their career and livelihood for years to come. It shows rigidness, insecurity, and even bullying behavior on the employer’s part (not to mention a big blind spot in their awareness of how the company will be perceived in the talent market). Do you want to join a company because you are under duress to do so, or because you genuinely are excited to work there? When people (or organizations) show you who they are, believe them. Companies that issue exploding offers are not likely to respect your wants and needs once you’re on the job, and are likely to be inflexible, bullying and autocratic.
没有人能精准预测一份新的工作究竟会如何，但在面试中对以上提及的警示信号保持警惕，有助于筛除不理想的职业选项。在面试中留心观察面试过程的管理状况，提出合适的后续问题，做好公司背景调查，能够降低自己做出坏决定的可能性。
While no one can perfectly predict how a new job will turn out, staying alert to the potential red flags mentioned above during the interview process can help weed out suboptimal employment options. Being observant in your interviews as well as attuned to how the process is managed, asking good follow-up questions, and doing your due diligence can help mitigate the chances of making a bad decision.
关键词：职场
丽贝卡·扎克是领导力发展公司Next Step Partners高管教练兼创始合伙人。她的客户包括亚马逊、高乐氏等高速成长的科技公司。
朔间|译 周强|编校
