Ask HN: What's the biggest red flag you've encountered during a hiring process?

A few years back, I was interviewing at a then "hot" startup. At the end of the process, the CTO calls and says they'd like to extend an offer. I was expecting him to walk me through the offer details, when he goes "well, are you going to take it?" I asked about getting some specifics (cash comp, equity, etc.) and he explains that they ask candidates to commit before sharing any details.

I told him that didn't seem like such a great idea, and he assured me that comp wouldn't be an issue, and that they do this to avoid hiring mercenaries. I passed and never looked back.

One of them condescendingly asked me if I voted for Trump, simply because I am originally from a non-blue state.

It was very strange, anti-toxic/toxic, and came out of nowhere. It made me consider secretly filming & voice recording interviews, especially in the SF Bay Area where people are a bit more influenced by political trends.

If a company cannot negotiate salary because of some corporate rules, I'm not interested. If a company will not give me any flexibility in working hours I'm not interested. If a company tries to make me feel bad about not immediately accepting their offer I'm very likely to not accept their offer at all.

Rigid companies which have no regard for your emotional wellbeing are not pleasant places to work and I struggle to give my best when I feel I'm not respected.

Who knows, maybe if you joined you would have hated it too, or loved it ! The story you shared is likely shared by many other companies that went through hyper-growth

TLDR: Stuff is hard!