How to understand that the employer is not himself – part 2

I already wrote a cheat sheet post for those who are afraid of falling victim to a boss with a leaky cap. I wasn't going to publish the second part, but here are some wonderful examples that can't be hidden from people.

Cult of the boss

Watch the videos above. This is a startup owner talking about how he takes screenshots of his employees' screens so that they don't scroll through memes during work hours. He forbids asking about salaries during interviews, but offers an opaque motivation system, intolerance for mediocrity (what is that anyway) and a salary level of 80,000 – 100,000 rubles (in Moscow, where renting an apartment costs at least 60 thousand). In 2024, it is customary to bashfully keep quiet about such things, and not record videos with a satisfied face. Where are you going in our bright IT world with these sawdust in your head?

Advice to young colleagues: never be fooled by your boss's stylish appearance and his popular social networks. If he sits in front of you in trendy sweatpants, it doesn't mean he's a progressive manager. If you're told that salary is unimportant, that the company has fines, that your final salary depends on the number of anal fissures you've received, run.

And in general, when a company is based on the personality of the founder, the latter can slide into narcissism and tyranny. Read what ex-colleagues of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs or at least Lebedev say about working with them.

You are being pressured during an interview/stress tested

At first I thought it was the beer kiosk owner making videos about hiring salespeople. But it's much more complicated.

The lady in the video has had a very interesting journey. In the 90s, she worked as a school teacher, and then sold sausages at the markets of Tatarstan. Ten years later, she got a job at a furniture factory. History is silent on who exactly she worked for – I suspect she was a janitor. In 20 years, she rose to top management and now organizes “teacher-student” role-playing games right at interviews.

All of this is very sad – the Soviet view of management processes, and attempts to assert oneself during interviews, and the absolute detachment from reality (in which, by the way, there is a shortage of personnel).

A stress interview and a conversation in this vein is a huge red flag (unless, of course, you're applying for a job as an intelligence officer).

Strange price range in vacancies

For example, the vacancy indicates a range from 30,000 to 500,000 thousand. The final amount, of course, depends only on your motivation. But at the start, you will be offered to work for discount coupons, after three months – for travel expenses to work, and after 10 years you will certainly be promoted to department director.

And here is my favorite example

The full text of the vacancy can be found here see here ((Be careful, you might feel sick).

Requirements:

— Irregular schedule;
– Incredible motivation and desire to succeed;
– Intelligence and the ability to understand the founder with a half-word or a glance;
— Honesty, dedication to the cause and the company are a must;
— The opportunity to never work for “Uncle” again.

Translating into human language: they are looking for a true samurai who is always ready to commit seppuku or at least go to jail for the boss. The marketer should not sleep, have a hobby, friends and family (they are considering graduates of an orphanage). This should be the winner of the “Battle of Psychics”, otherwise how will he read the boss's thoughts?

Absolute tolerance is required, because the phrase “not working for the man” probably means working for a transgender person.

Terms and Conditions
— In the long term, you can earn huge amounts of money that no one will offer you anywhere, but at the start you will have to give it your all;
— If you do not plan to take action and achieve results, then there will be no stability in your life. You create stability for yourself, as well as everything else in your life. What income you will have depends only on your ambitions, desire and determination. Those who want to look for opportunities, and those who do not want to look for reasons;
— There is no registration according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Translation: you will never earn more than 30,000 rubles here in your life, you will die right at your workplace because of a blood clot. By the way, there will be no pensions or other social perks – you will make do.

Did you also get the impression that they were yelling at you right through the monitor, so much so that spit flew up to your forehead? And what are these strange sayings, as if I were about to go shoot Chechens in the market in the movie “Brother”.

Test assignment before the first bell

You respond to a vacancy and instead of an invitation to an interview you get a test assignment. I know that many people are not embarrassed by this, especially if the job is really needed. But for me it is not immediately. Let's say I spend some time on this assignment – I study the company, the product, do the test. Let's say I do it perfectly and they call me to the second stage. And there it turns out that the company does not suit me at all (neither in money, nor in tasks, nor in values). It turns out that I did the work for free, wasted my time instead of looking for another job.

By the way, a test task that takes more than 30 minutes must be paid.

Group interview

This is the greatest form of disrespect for future employees. You and 20 other candidates must show the boss who is the best here. Anything goes: from demonstrating your willingness to work for free to showing off your mammary glands.

There is no onboarding system

Unfortunately, this can only be discovered in the first weeks of work. A normal company is interested in you immersing yourself in the product without stress, joining the team, and understanding the processes. If you are overwhelmed with tasks on the very first day with the words “you'll figure it out as you go”, just leave. You are no longer appreciated and it will get worse.

______

A couple of years ago, I was offered an interview at a pharmaceutical company. On the first call, I asked HR about remote work and the work schedule. There is no remote work, work in the office from 9 am to 6 pm. And then HR adds: “According to the schedule, we work until 6 pm, but everyone usually sits until 8 pm-9 pm, finishing tasks. Hee-hee.”

“Why are you laughing so joyfully, woman? I won't come to you,” I said and said goodbye. You found something to please me with.

More wild stories about careers in digital in my-telegram channel. There are some shameful projects there psychicsthreats break legs and reviews on I'll shit the ad from our grandfathers.