Interviewing for a new job is difficult, but you should pay attention to the way your future boss discusses the team and projects you’d be working on—not just so you have an idea of what you’ll do, but for what they think of your future team, and by extension, what they’ll think of you.


Anyone who’s ever worked for a terrible boss shortly after taking a new job has probably wished they had been able to tell the future from the interview—to only see that their future boss was going to be a nightmare before they took the job. We’ve talked about how to do just that before, by asking about management style and seeing how others react to them, but our friends at GlassDoor offer another useful tip—see how they characterize the people they work with:

Anecdotes and stories tend to find their way into interviews. For example, if they’re explaining a work situation or describing a project and speak dismissively about employees, they probably don’t respect them. Don’t waste time. Instead, dig right into their perspective and test how they perceive themselves in the operation. Ask about the company’s biggest problems and what those causes are. If they play the blame game, they are a poor leader who can’t take responsibility.


They offer a number of other tips to root out a bad boss before it’s too late, like watching their body language and even seeing if they’re too friendly, so the whole post is worth a look. In the interim, listening for those cues to how they talk about the people who currently work for them will tell you how they’ll talk about you when you’re their employee too.

How to Spot a Bad Boss During Your Interview | Glassdoor Blog

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