About 5 years out of college, I spent nine months applying to jobs. 

At first, I was scared to tell my boss I was looking, but eager to explore the possibilities. 

I was hopeful that I could go from Director of Operations in a small nonprofit to a director in a bigger organization (that could pay more than $30k). 

And when that scary conversation went really well, I got going applying, putting careful intention into each cover letter and waiting for the offers to pour in. 

Around 30 applications out the door with only a couple interviews, I started to doubt myself. 

And when I started to doubt myself, I switched from applying to roles that were exciting to me to the most junior ones I could find...at organizations that didn’t align with my values.

It’s not a great place to be. 

By 7 months in, I had applied to nearly 100 jobs and was invited to just a few interviews...almost all for roles I didn’t want in organizations I didn’t respect.

At one point, my boyfriend at the time asked if I even wanted a job. 🙄🙄🙄

And the thing is, even when I got to the interview, beyond prepared with thoughtful questions after carefully researching an organization, there was a clear power dynamic that too often went unacknowledged by the employer.

If you’ve ever applied to jobs, you know just how unequal this dynamic is. 

This is a plea to the employers, hiring managers, and interviewers. And this is a validation of all the shitty experiences YOU have had in interviews. 

I collected these insights from this community on Linkedin, Instagram, and through private conversations, and all of these insights are fully anonymous.

These are the top 5 signs of a toxic employer in the hiring process:

1. Ghosting: 

So many people shared their experiences of spending hours, days, or even weeks creating an application in which an employer asks so much of you...only to receive AT MOST an automated email response, and sometimes not even that. Which brings us to toxic behavior #2... 

2. Unpaid labor: 

From work examples to video essays to case studies, you have helped these employers do their work - without pay or recognition and often, again, without response. The one time I had this experience, I really was doing the work of the organization, but I was hired within a few days and had my goals ready to go from the work I’d done in the interview. 

Applicants: If you’re being made to spend hours, a day, or even more of your time doing work FOR an employer, this might be a red flag.

Employers: Do the work you’re asking from applicants and don’t ask for this level of detail and work in the first round. I get that it’s a way to deter the wrong people from applying and get a real feel for their work, but you are wasting people’s time. On that note...

3. Wasting people’s time: 

This community shared different ways that employers waste applicant’s time, including through unpaid labor, but this one really pissed people off: 

“Asking you to do an absurd number of interview rounds”

During my 9-month job search, I was invited to an interview for an account manager role (a $35k salary) at a nonprofit. It was a little above entry level, so I expected 1-2 interviews with a peer currently in a similar role and with my would-be manager. When I arrived, I was shuttled through SIX different interviews with people from different teams who ranged from bored to harsh, and ended with an interview with the peppy CEO. They ultimately offered the role, but I was so put off by the interview experience that I turned it down. 

I had a similar experience with a marketing agency that sent me on an emotional rollercoaster as one interviewer worked to build a connection, the next ripped me and my background to shreds, and then a senior leader in the agency discussed next steps with all but a signed contract. They never reached out again and stopped returning my emails. 

4. Lack of transparency: 

This one came up around salary requirements - “Asking for candidates previous/current or expected compensation without disclosing the salary range of position offered.” 

It’s actually illegal in MANY U.S. States and places to ask candidates about salary history. See this map for recent legislation on this. Outside of the U.S., Canada has The Pay Transparency Act which requires that employers share salary rates/ranges in job postings, bans employers from asking about candidate salary history, and offers additional protections for employees and candidates. There are similar policies in place in several European countries and Australia, though much of the focus is on gender pay gap data. 

So what can you do if salary history comes up - whether it’s legal or not where you live? 

I encourage my clients to reframe the focus back to their salary expectations for the role with phrases like, “Based on my qualifications, $130k is the salary I’m seeking in the roles I’m applying for.” You might also add, “Other roles I’m considering have a salary range of $125k to $135k. Is that the case for this role too?” 

This can also be a good way to find out if you’re wasting your time. If they share that their range is $110k-$120k you might still be interested, but if they share that the range they have available for the role is $50k-$60k, you know it’s too far off for you to invest more of your energy and you can thank them for their time.

5. Emotional manipulation: 

Several people talked about the emotional manipulation they experienced in the hiring process - including these two perspectives:

→ Not telling you the people hiring you are leaving/

→ Employers not allowing employees to disclose their plans to leave: “in toxic environments, the folks who are actually leaving, especially if it is multiple people leaving, may be unwilling participants [in not disclosing plans to leave].”

Another frustrating one for people was: Unnecessarily saying and doing things to make you feel like the top choice, an offer is imminent, you are close to the finish line and then declining or ghosting (see above).

We also need to talk about racism in the hiring process. 

All of the experiences shared above are horrible, unethical, and often even abusive, AND they are magnified for Black, Indigenous, and people of color job seekers.

I just started Austin Channing Brown’s book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, in which she shares the origins of her first name (to prevent employers from assuming that she’s a Black woman and therefore automatically discounting her as a candidate), as well as her experiences with employer promises of safety that quickly unravel. 

We can't talk about toxic employers or horrible hiring processes without acknowledging the racism inherent in the process and making concrete changes with real accountability.

I've created these action prompts for us all - job seekers, hiring managers, recruiters, and organizational leaders. I encourage you to reflect on all of these, recognizing that so many of us will be on both sides of the interview table (or Zoom call) at some point in our lives.

Action prompts

• What would a truly fantastic hiring process feel like for you? 
  • How can you communicate qualities or elements of that ideal experience - to a recruiter, hiring manager, in interviews? 
• If you are hiring for your organization, or even just part of an organization, how will you know if your hiring process is positive for candidates? How can you build/change, and hold people in your organization accountable to creating a positive hiring process?
• If you or your organization are hiring, how will you know if your process is racist or biased? How will you change it? What accountability mechanisms will you put in place and how will you model your own accountability?