Jennifer Brick: How can you spot the difference
between your dream job and your toxic AF dread job
before accepting the offer? I recently did an
entire series on toxic workplaces and how to
survive and move on from a toxic work environment.
And one of the requests that I got was to actually
help you from ending up in a toxic workplace in
the first place. What are the warning signs that
you can look for if you're interviewing at a
company? If you're ready to learn what they are,
tap that like button, and then let's just jump
straight into it. The first way that you can spot
a toxic company before you actually join the toxic
company is by reading the Glassdoor reviews. Now,
I have a whole video on Glassdoor reviews and how
you can actually weigh them and assess them and
figure out if they're even real. And that in
itself is actually a sign of a toxic company.
Toxic workplaces are way more concerned about how
they appear to be versus the actual experience
that you have when you're there. So if you're even
suspecting that a company has doctored their
Glassdoor reviews, that in itself, in my opinion,
is a sign that that might be a toxic workplace,
when you're not concerned about their review
authenticity. If you feel like these are re
l, legitimate reviews, read through both the posit
ve and the negative reviews, you're going to be a
le to pull out and specific themes. And you can e
en watch out for the toxic workplace signs tha
I covered in a video that I'm going to link d
wn below. So you know, all 14 because if those thi
gs are coming up again and again, consistent
y, whether in a positive light or a negative lig
t, that is something that you can watch out for.
The next way that you can spot a toxic company be
ore you accept the job offer is by word of mouth.
You might be thinking, I don't already know som
one there. That's why I'm here watching your vi
eo, Jennifer, because I need you to help me fi
ure this out. Don't worry, if you don't know an
one there, that's not a deal breaker for word of m
uth reputation, you can actually reach out to cur
ent and former employers and ask questions about t
eir experience working at that company, this is g
ing to be a very fast way for you to find out if
hat company was toxic. Think about it this way,
ost employers are going to ask you to pro
ide employment references before they exten
or finalize your job offer. They're going to
all those references and they are going to find
out what they have to say about you. You shoul
be doing reference checks on them as well. Th
t's exactly what this is ask questions like what
hey liked working about their what they like less,
and what was their reason for leaving, you
ill actually be shocked by the receptiveness o
so many people who've had both positive and nega
ive experiences, working with your prospec
ive company, and who are willing to tell you if
hat is a toxic workplace, or if it's the best p
ace that they've ever worked in their lives. D
ing this is remarkably simple. You can do this
all using LinkedIn. And you can use my non gross g
ide to networking in order to reach out to t
ose people build the connections and ask the quest
ons that you want to ask before you sign the do
ted line of a job offer. The third way to spot a t
xic company before you actually work in it is by d
ing a vibe check during the interview. Now hang
ith me for a couple minutes because I'm going to b
eak this down because there's a few different
ays that you can watch out. And basically what thi
is going to be is reading between the l
nes throughout the interview process. I will say
hat this is much easier when you are going to b
on site interviewing because you're just going t
be able to see things but it can still work in
the virtual world as well. First, especially if
t's an on site interview, make sure that you ar
ive early sitting in the reception area isn't the
ost exciting thing in the world. But if you hang
out there for about five minutes, you are goin
to overhear and see some people interacting, you
can gauge those interactions, to get a sense of
how people at the company are to each other. This
can really help you identify if there are any t
xic workplace behaviors before you're actually in
the company. also pay attention to any interact
ons between people at the company to help you spo
if these are positive and collaborative relations
ips or if they are toxic work relationships, th
ngs like tone of voice, if they're joking around
ith each other. These are all indicators that
t's probably a more positive place. But I don't
now maybe if there's a bunch of like bro jokes and
you don't feel comfortable around those things.
And that's what they're showing you with
the interview. That's a warning sign that that's g
ing to be a toxic company for you. The fourth war
ing sign that a company that you're interviewing
ith might be a toxic company, is they're not tryin
to sell you on the opportunity. Because workp
ace toxicity so often coincides with things
ike narcissism, what you'll generally find is
hat toxic workplaces are much more likely to take
the stance of You're so lucky that we're conside
ing you versus let's consider each other. And as a
job seeker, the biggest mistake that you can mak
in your job search is not actually interviewing
the company that you Maybe potentially working
for this is a bi directional decision. Just bec
use you need a job doesn't mean that you want to
ave the job that they're going to give you, especi
lly if it's in a toxic workplace. And this comes
up, obviously, in a whole bunch of ways,
how transparent? Are they about the actual role
and the obstacles? Are they giving you time to
ask questions during the interview? Are they b
ing attentive between the different touch points
and in between interviews, so that you feel
ike you're staying in the loop. Now, just because
the company goes radio silent for a few weeks doe
n't mean it's toxic, it probably means that t
eir recruiter isn't very organized or has way too
uch work on their plate. But these things when
you think about them all together might tell you
the story of a toxic workplace before you have
the unfortunate circumstance of working for that t
xic company. And that actually brings me directl
to the fifth way that you can spot a toxic com
any before you actually go to work at that t
xic workplace. And that is through asking questi
ns. As I just mentioned, are they giving you
the opportunity to ask questions? Are they giving
ell thought positive answers to those questions
Or are they acting like it's kind of annoying
hat you have the audacity to question them at all?
And there's a few different question lines that
you can take here. First, I would highly recom
end that you look at those Glassdoor reviews and
ind questions, you can actually ask questions a
out any of the concerns that you have that have
ome up in those last two reviews to kind of suss
out what they're doing. see their reaction.
ow. Hopefully, they're honest and forthright and
you can take their answer at face value, but also
try to get the subtext and the tension that t
ose questions actually elicit, aside from
any precision questions that you get from rea
ing those Glassdoor reviews, I also highly encou
age you to ask questions to everyone that
you interview with about the leadership style of
the company, the company culture, this is obvious
y a great way to tell if this is a toxic company,
and also asking people what they would chang
or adjust about their experience working at
hat company to see what they say. And actually the
e's one more thing I'm going to throw this in
s a bonus, because I think this is really import
nt, especially if you've been in a toxic workp
ace recently, your toxic company radar migh
be really, really sensitive. It might be going b
ng, bing, bing, bing, bing, even though the compan
is not a toxic company at all, this might actuall
be a great company to work for. But you're
ery sensitive to those signs. Because of the traum
of being in a toxic work environment. Thi
is something that I've seen very frequently i
my clients. So it's something that I want you t
be aware of, because when you have that awaren
ss, you can also sit with this, think about the si
ns, think about the warning signs and figure ou
if it's your hurt that's really surfacing and
hat you're suspecting that this workplace migh
be toxic, or if it actually is a toxic company
If you haven't already taken steps to recover fr
m a toxic workplace. I highly recommend you go
and check out this video right now because I'm g
ing to help you with the steps get to get through
it. If this video helps you figure out if you'
e a prospective employer is a toxic company. Give
his video a thumbs up and as always, thank you so
uch for watching my friends. I will see you in
the next video. Bye for