Igor Ranc

The hiring process tells you a lot about how a company is operating. Internal recruiters are your first touch point with the company and can give you a great signal about how well the company is run. If recruiting is a mess then probably everything else is a mess too.

Everyone makes mistakes, but how they handle them matters. If you spot several of these warning signs, consider walking away from the recruiter and the company.

When they don’t have their act together

  • Can’t explain what the company actually does or what you’d be doing day-to-day
  • Can’t explain how the company is making money
  • Won’t share salary ranges, but expect you to name your salary first
  • Job requirements keep changing throughout the process - suddenly, they need someone with completely different skills
  • The same job posting has been up for months with identical wording (either they’re not serious about hiring, or nobody wants to work there)
  • New people keep getting added to the interview process at the last minute, making you wonder who’s actually in charge
  • Interview panel members contradict each other about basic things like reporting structure or team size
  • Job descriptions that sound like they want a unicorn - junior salary for senior expertise, or 5+ years experience for something that exists for 2
  • Nobody seems to know who actually makes the hiring decision
  • Cancelling interviews and rescheduling them without a good reason
  • Not responding to reasonable emails and questions (a simple acknowledgement and “I will come back to you as soon as possible” can go far)

When their priorities are wrong

  • Creating false urgency because they didn’t plan their pipeline properly
  • External recruiters/headhunters who won’t tell you which company you’re interviewing with but insist you need to decide immediately
  • Headhunters pushing you toward companies they admit have high turnover
  • Headhunters over-promising about the role and at the same time being vague about actual responsibilities (did anyone say commission?)
  • Steering you away from asking tough questions about company culture or challenges
  • Not being ready to openly talk about company culture or challenges

When the process is a mess

  • Endless interview rounds with no clear progression or decision timeline
  • Promising feedback by the end of the week and then sending it two weeks later or never, or going radio silent for weeks after promising a quick follow-up
  • Asking for references before they’ve even properly evaluated your fit
  • Scheduling meetings and then clearly not being prepared so you can see them improvise on the spot
  • Constantly rescheduling without explanation or apology
  • Promising feedback on why they haven’t decided for you that never happens
  • Asking interview questions that have nothing to do with the actual job

When they can’t handle basic professionalism

  • Camera off during video calls, when face-to-face visual interaction is the basic idea of a video call
  • Showing up late without any heads-up
  • Not being upfront about what the process will look like and what to expect

When they cross the line

  • Playing the “what’s your salary expectation” game instead of just being transparent about their budget
  • Digging into resume gaps like they’re investigating a crime
  • Asking for your current boss’s contact info way too early in the process
  • Expecting you to do significant unpaid work (read: take-home assignments that take a week to complete)
  • Requesting access to your personal social media accounts

Reader submission

  • “We don’t negotiate salaries in Europe, the offer is the offer.”

What are we missing? Drop me an email.

AuthorIgor Ranc

Founder of Handpicked Berlin — a weekly newsletter and community for Berlin professionals. Covering careers, salaries, startups, and Berlin life since 2020.