Job descriptions leak information. Not through what they claim, but through the phrases that get used when something is being avoided.
None of these is proof of anything. All of them are worth a question at interview.
"We're like a family here"
Families do not pay you, and you cannot leave a family at five o'clock. The phrase frequently accompanies long hours, blurred boundaries, and a reluctance to have professional conversations about pay and performance.
Ask: "How does the team handle disagreement?"
"Fast-paced environment"
Sometimes genuinely true and fine. Often means understaffed, with people absorbing work that should belong to roles nobody has approved.
Ask: "What does a typical week look like? When was the team last at full strength?"
"Must be able to wear many hats"
In a small company, honest and normal. In a large one, the role has no definition, which usually means no clear success criteria and an unpredictable workload.
Ask: "What will I be spending most of my time on?"
"Looking for a rockstar / ninja / guru"
Signals that whoever wrote the advert was not thinking carefully about the role. Frequently paired with wanting one person to do the work of three.
Ask: "Is this a new role or a replacement? How is the work currently being covered?"
No salary range
Increasingly a legal requirement in various jurisdictions, and increasingly standard elsewhere. Its absence may mean the range is uncompetitive, or that they intend to anchor on your current salary.
Ask it directly, early, before you invest time in the process.
A requirements list of fifteen items
Either nobody separated the essentials from the nice-to-haves, or the role genuinely combines several jobs. Both are worth clarifying.
Ask: "Which of these matter most? Which would you flex on?"
"Competitive salary" with nothing else
Combined with no range, this usually means the opposite. A genuinely competitive employer tends to say what they pay.
The role has been advertised for months
Visible on job boards and company sites. It can mean the market is tight, or that the salary is below market, or that something about the role or the manager causes candidates to withdraw.
Ask: "How long has this been open, and what has made it difficult to fill?" An honest answer is a good sign in itself.
Five or more interview stages
Signals either indecision or an organisation where nothing happens without extensive consensus. Both tell you something about what working there would be like.
Ask about the process upfront, including who makes the final call.
An unpaid task that takes a full day
Reasonable work samples exist. A full day of unpaid work does not, and particularly not when it closely resembles live work the company needs doing.
Ask: "How long should this take? Is it based on a real project?"
"Must thrive under pressure"
Pressure that is worth mentioning in the advert is usually structural rather than occasional.
Ask: "Where does the pressure in this role come from?"
What to do with any of these
None is disqualifying on its own. Any company can write a poor advert.
What matters is the answer when you ask. An employer who responds honestly — "we have been short-staffed and it has been difficult, here is what we are doing about it" — is probably fine. One who becomes defensive, or gives an answer that contradicts the advert, has told you what you needed to know.
The interview is bidirectional. Use it.
Where to start
Pick two of these from any advert you are considering and prepare the question. The responses will tell you more than the rest of the interview.
Sizanid writes job descriptions with clients and pushes back when a specification is unrealistic. [Browse our open roles](https://jobs.sizanidstaffing.com).
