I had a really weird power-trip interview once, and it was the CEO who was joined by a contractor who was ostensibly the technical lead for the project. There was nobody in engineering who worked full-time on the job, everybody was contracted. I was also going in as a contractor so I was aware that the interview would be a bit lighter on process as a result.
The questioning very quickly veered away from technical stuff and into stuff like, "where do you stand spiritually?" and other questions probing into whatever bizarre cosmic insights I could pull out of my ass at the time. He was the really intense kind of boss who wants to make sure you know of it with the hard back/shoulder slaps and micromanagement, and I could see his office from the boardroom which basically had an array of monitors all wired up to CCTV so he could watch (and hear) people from the comfort of his desk.
If any of that wasn't a red flag, getting hired literally 5 minutes after leaving the office was probably the biggest. I lasted about 6 months and even trying to leave was an ordeal.
> I lasted about 6 months and even trying to leave was an ordeal.
Like finding your next gig or just not showing up ever again? Because I've worked at a place where someone came in, went to lunch, and they never saw them ever again.
In general as companies decided to treat people like fungible cogs while selling "we're are family" story, it should be expected people will start treating companies like the faceless and soulless entities they really are. When people are laid off and escorted out not even allowed to say goodbye to their coworkers, employees should be just be walking out and doing exactly the same thing to those companies.
I got a gig as a contractor for a well known company. They were hiring and he told his recruiter to get him in. After several conversations trying to tell him not to come in and telling him what a clown show it was, he still managed to get hired.
Same thing. Came in, continually had to ask me how to do stuff, and I kept telling him, "See man, I told you this place is a clown show!". He did the same thing. Left his laptop, "Going to lunch, be back in an hour."
The most shocking part of this story is the part where you took the job. Not trying to throw shade, just the truth! What on earth was going on that made this your best option?
The questioning very quickly veered away from technical stuff and into stuff like, "where do you stand spiritually?" and other questions probing into whatever bizarre cosmic insights I could pull out of my ass at the time. He was the really intense kind of boss who wants to make sure you know of it with the hard back/shoulder slaps and micromanagement, and I could see his office from the boardroom which basically had an array of monitors all wired up to CCTV so he could watch (and hear) people from the comfort of his desk.
If any of that wasn't a red flag, getting hired literally 5 minutes after leaving the office was probably the biggest. I lasted about 6 months and even trying to leave was an ordeal.