Red Flags and Rude Awakenings: Recruitment is a Two Way Street
Knowing Self-Aware Leadership
Hello KSKOers
Right now I’m looking for a new job and like lots of other people, finding the recruitment process brutal. The competition is fierce and the process feels like it’s lost its humanity. Today’s blog is inspired by Nick Thomas from Charisma Charity Recruitment who shares some great advice and puts a little bit of heart back into the process. Join me in sharing my experiences of recruitment and that reminder that actually, you’re checking them out in the same way they’re checking you out. And if you’re not, you should be!
Looking forward to joining you on your learning journey!
I’m looking for my next big adventure, and like many people, I’m finding the recruitment process bruising. Competition is intense, communication is sparse, and the human element can feel conspicuously absent. But a few recent LinkedIn posts by Nick Thomas of Charisma Charity Recruitment has reminded me of a truth we often forget when the pressure mounts: recruitment is a two-way street.
When we’re in the throws of ‘am I good enough’, ‘will my CV get past the ATS’ and ‘they’ll never notice me amongst the other 99 candidates’, we forget that the prospective employer is just as much on trial as we are. The recruitment process is a chance for us to observe, assess, and interpret the signals an organisation sends, signals that often arrive in the shape of red flags or rude awakenings.
Over the years of being interviewed, interviewing other people, and researching self-aware leadership, I’ve come to the conclusion that recruitment is full of clues about an organisation’s culture, values and relational maturity. And when you pay attention to those clues, you become a participant in the decision-making, not just the subject of it.
1. The Compass Behind the Curtain
A job advert is often your first real insight into an organisation’s culture. Some adverts feel human, values-driven, and intentional; others feel like they’ve been copied from an ancient HR archive without and thought to the humans that they want to attract.
“A job advert is likely to be the first contact a potential candidate has with an organisation. They may have heard about it, met someone who worked there or applied for a job there previously, but in terms of really getting to know an organisation before actually working for it, this is it. ‘You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,’ meaning how job adverts are written sets the tone for the organisational culture (which may or may not align with the strategy…” (The Self-Awareness Superhighway')
That misalignment between promised values and lived experience can show up quickly during recruitment. I once went to an interview for a children’s centre manager role where a panel member grilled me about my reflexology practice which I ran as a side hustle to my ‘day job’ for ten years. The tone suggested she was suspicious rather than curious. Her attitude totally clashed with the organisation’s values of compassion and family support. From that point on, the interview was a waste of time - I’d never have accepted a role with them.
Values aren’t what organisations laminate and put on the office ways, they’re what their people live and breathe, even in interview rooms!
2. The Power Behind the Politeness
A second clue lies in who holds influence. Leadership pages dotted with identical surnames or long-standing internal alliances can signal a culture where power and decision making doesn’t move freely. Sometimes an organisation doesn’t say it’s a family business, but it behaves like one.
My research repeatedly highlighted themes of organisational standards, people dynamics and strategic-level disconnect, all of which reflect how power moves around an organisation and who gets listened to. You can often sense this during recruitment long before you ever sign a contract.
If opportunities seem limited to an inner circle before you’ve even stepped into the building, consider it a quiet but significant red flag.
3. Your Gut Will Feel it Before You See it.
One of the most important elements of self-awareness is your ability to notice your internal reaction to others, especially in moments where stakes feel high .
Early in my career, I walked into an NHS interview to find a row of 5 stern-faced men behind a long table. I wasn’t sure if it was a hiring panel or a hit squad. Before they’d asked me the first question, I already knew I didn’t belong there.
Years later, in a virtual interview during the early Covid era, only one of three panel members were actually paying attention and listening to what I was saying. One hurried me along while the other was talking to colleagues in the open office she was in, rarely acknowledging what I was saying. It was startling in its disrespect and I wondered, maybe indicative of a disorganisation in their business as usual practices. It made me really wonder about what day-to-day staff experiences might be. It turned out that this was a multi-stage recruitment process that no-one had told me about, so I withdrew - how many red flags make a blanket?
Your gut is not being dramatic. It’s picking up data you haven’t yet had a chance to process. If you want to know more about gut feelings and leaning in to your intuition, check out my conversation with Jannine Barron
4. How They Treat You Is How They Treat Their People
Recruitment is a miniature version of the wider organisational culture. Communication, timeliness, clarity, and courtesy all signal how people behave internally.
After one interview process, I waited a week… then two… before finally calling to follow up. On the phone, someone muttered something about the panel disagreeing and then they disappeared, never to be heard of again. No closure, no thanks, no conclusion.
Behaviour, or ‘behaviour modelling’ is one of the compass points of my ‘self-aware leadership compass’, because it is the clearest expression of values. Organisations that treat candidates casually or carelessly often treat their employees the same way. If they can’t regulate their behaviour during the polished “best behaviour” stage of recruitment, imagine what happens under pressure!!
5. What They Ask You Tells You Who They Really Are
Interview questions reveal what an organisation values in practice. If all the questions focus on technical skills and none on relationships, behaviour, conflict management or trust, then those human skills may not matter much internally. That’s a red flag being waved, right there!
“I’ve actually been recruiting to my team the same week as I’m writing this chapter. Only yesterday I was typing up the interview questions and I thought, Hang on a minute, put your money where your mouth is! I added questions like ‘Tell us about the skills and behaviours you would need to do this activity?’ and ‘What relationship skills would you draw on to manage dissent and conflict in a situation?’ In nearly 25 years in the world of work, I don’t think I’ve ever put the word ‘behaviour’ into a job interview, which is quite unbelievable. Until now.
How achievable would it be for you to add ‘behaviour’ into a job interview question? I bet your organisational strategy sets out behaviour expectations, and I bet your management and leadership competencies mention behaviour in some guise or other. Grasp the nettle and try it out. See what happens! And see how your fellow panel members feel about it. What are you going to say to convince the dissenters?” (The Self-Awareness Superhighway)
If an organisation never once asks about how you relate, reflect or adapt, it’s telling you exactly what its culture prioritises. And you should believe it.
The Last Word
Recruitment is full of signals, some subtle, some startling, some gently whispered and others delivered like a slap. These red flags and rude awakenings aren’t inconveniences. They’re information. They’re invitations to step back, notice, and decide. This process isn’t simply about whether you’re right for them. It’s equally about whether they are right for you.
When you pay attention to values, behaviour, power, communication and instincts, recruitment becomes a conversation rather than a judgement. Ultimately, you deserve to join an organisation whose actions match its aspirations, whose culture supports its people, and whose recruitment practices demonstrate the respect and relational skill it claims to value - because recruitment is, and should always be, a two-way street. And the more willing you are to notice the red flags early, the fewer rude awakenings you’ll encounter later on.
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Nia is an expert leader who talks the talk and walks the walk. She is an academically awarded thought leader in self-aware leadership and practices self-aware leadership every single day in her role as a strategy and operations leader.
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When I used to do a lot of hiring, I instructed my teams that the onboarding process started with the application. We never failed to be both professional and kind, treating candidates like colleagues during interviews. Our goal was to have even candidates we didn't hire walk away knowing they were treated well and given a fair shake. Not only did this bolster our reputation in the industry, but it sent a message about our culture and values to anyone we hired. Furthermore, it reinforced our own commitment to that culture and those values. I based our approach on my reaction to all the horrible and unprofessional interviews I endured in my career.