Getting a job has officially become a job unto itself. Finding a new job takes an average of about six months, and can take even longer depending on a wide range of variables. And that’s just one part of the time-suck that job hunting can become: The interviews themselves are often multi-part affairs.
Knowing the right time to look for a job and being able to identify problematic (or even fake) jobs before you even send in a resume can save you some trouble, but in the end, a few bad job interviews are almost inevitable. By and large, it’s best to finish out a job interview even if you know you don’t want the job. You never know if another position comes open in the future at that organization might be more enticing, for one thing, and you might encounter one of your interviewers somewhere else down the line, and you don’t want them to remember you as the candidate who excused themselves to the bathroom and never came back. But there are certain scenarios when you not only can walk out of a job interview; you’d be totally justified to do so.
The bait-and-switch
One terrific reason to walk out of a job interview? If you realize that you’re actually interviewing for a very different job. Whether the interviewer is up-front about this, telling you that the position you applied for has been filled but there’s a different position available, or you slowly come to realize that the manager-level job you applied for has somehow transformed into a lower-level position, it’s an enormous red flag. Sure, you can hear them out to see if it’s an equivalent position you might be interested in, but the moment the bait and switch is clear you should be clocking the exits.
This goes for bait-and-switch salaries, too, where the job is exactly as advertised but somehow the compensation has shrunk between your application and the interview. In either case, the company is using the “sunk cost fallacy” against you—you’ve prepped for and traveled to the interview, so you’ll feel pressure to stay and make it worth all that effort. It shows a lack of respect for you, and a scammy culture at the office.
Inappropriate vibe
You don’t necessarily have to feel the love when you’re being interviewed—but you should also never put up with an inappropriate tone or an overtly hostile vibe. The moment any of the following pop up in an interview, walk away:
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Insults. Questioning your experience is one thing. Mocking your resume or answers tells you that this place is not worth your time.
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Overly personal questions. Making some small talk to establish rapport is fine, but if the interviewer starts drilling into political, religious, or extremely personal details you have every right to be weirded out—and to leave.
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TMI. If the interviewer starts gossiping about people in the office you’ve never even met or tells you that they’re planning to fire the person you’ll be replacing, they obviously don’t run their business or department professionally, and it’s the right time to suddenly remember a lunch appointment.
Absurd timelines
Interviews run late, of course, and it’s appropriate to make reasonable allowances for schedule hiccups or unexpected problems, just as the interviewing company should be understanding about traffic or other problems that make you late for your appointment. But you should have a reasonable idea of the schedule before you arrive for your interview. If you’re blindsided by an unexpectedly long process—for example, the one interview you expected has metastasized into six interviews that will take all day and no one bothered to inform you—it’s a good moment to just wish everyone luck in their search.
Fishing expeditions
Most companies schedule job interviews for sincere reasons—they need to fill a position and you seem like a good fit. But sometimes job interviews are used as information-gathering exercises on competitors. If your interviewers start asking specific questions about your current (or even a past employer on your resume) that go beyond the challenges you faced and how you handled cross-functional teams, they might be mining you for data they can use to compete and not really interviewing you at all. Not only is that insulting, it could potentially get you into trouble if you disclose confidential or privileged information.
