Tips to avoid a toxic workplace

Your work environment is, I dare say, the most important aspect of work.

How do you find out if a workplace is toxic without having joined it though?

Here’s some tips I wished I knew and took more seriously:

1. Check Glassdoor reviews, both the reviews on the company as well as the interview reviews

What do the reviews say? Are the reviews positive or negative?

My rule of thumb is that the company culture is good where the rating is above 4 and anything less should be a red flag.

2. Check LinkedIn for how long employees stay there and in particular, how long employees with the position you’re interested in have stayed there!

If you have LinkedIn premium, you can check how long employees have been there.

If you don’t, Google is your best friend - Google the job title and the company name and the word “LinkedIn” - e.g. “Compliance Analyst Greenarrow Capital LinkedIn”

Google will likely pull up the data of everyone who held that position and you can check how long they’ve stayed there.

In my opinion, anything less than 1 year is a red flag.

Remember: NO ONE LEAVES A GOOD JOB ❌

Check if the last person working there has found a new job ‼️

Check how long the last person working there has been unemployed since finding a new job ‼️

If the person has found a new job quickly, it’s likely due to the employee wanting to jump to a better company.

If not, consider why he/she would leave without another job offer? Ofc, these are assumptions but I’ve noticed that this is a good starting assumption.

Bonus: Check Reddit by searching “Company Name” and “Reddit”

3. Consider messaging the last person who worked there on LinkedIn

I’ve personally not tried this before but I’ve seen many people advocate for this.

Honestly, would you rather join a company and then quit after 2-4 months, potentially disrupting your career or “lose face” by sending a polite message?

What’s the worse that could happen?

Example message:

“Hey (Name), I’m (Name).

It is a pleasure to e-meet you!

I noticed that you worked at (Company) during (Time Period) and saw that the (Company) is hiring for (Position).

I was wondering if you would be willing to share about your experiences working at (Company)?

I’d love to learn more about (Industry), (Company) and your experiences.

Of course, everything will be confidential.

Thank you for your time!”

Of course, if you’re friends with someone who used to work there, feel free to ask for a favour! I’ve personally had friends of friends ask about my experiences.

4. Alas, you can always ask HR or the hiring manager in a polite and professional manner

Example questions:

1. Please can you tell me how this role came about? Is this a new role or a replacement role?

2. How long were previous employees holding this position there for? Notice I mentioned employeeS - PLURAL**

3. Please can you share why the last hire left?

Consider their responses carefully ‼️‼️‼️‼️

In hearing these responses, remember that every story has two sides.

I remember I heard that the last hire had left within 6 months and I felt a bit off.

After all, there were many amazing company benefits. Why did he leave so soon?

The HR mentioned it was because the last hire did not possess basic knowledge.

Huh??? That’s such a weird reason???

In hindsight, that was a huge red flag - the last hire had a few years of experiences. It simply wasn’t possible that he didn’t have basic knowledge.

5. Speak to the hiring manager and feel their vibes

This is self explanatory - Trust your instincts!

My ex-boss would constantly try and neg me, try and put me down in order to feel better about himself. He constantly put blame on others.

I wish I trusted my instincts.

I wish I stayed at my old company as joining and then resigning the new company really interrupted my career.

Alas, a new journey awaits me!

BONUS: The hire prior to me had left within 6 months, I within 6 months and the next hire within 2 weeks 🫣

#toxicworkenvironment