Career coach shares the biggest tell signs that indicate you shouldn't accept a job offer

A career coach has outlined her biggest red flags when it comes to looking at job offers, and you should take her advice.

Finding a great job which has a good environment, perks to go with it and pay to match sounds like an unimaginable dream to many.

But you can actually get that if you listen to the right advice.

All too often candidates get a job offer and barely read the first sentence of the offer before they’re accepting it, and it needs to stop now.

A career coach has gone above and beyond for the internet after creating a TikTok video which states all of the terms that you should reject if you see it written down, and why.

This way, you can ensure that you’re getting the best offer possible.

Who is the expert and what has she said?

Darci Smith, an agency recruiter talks about the recruitment industry often to her 293,000 followers, and this time she’s back with even more advice.

She shared to her viewers that when you initially receive that job offer you’ve been waiting for, you can accidentally miss the vital signs that it’s not for you.

She shared in her caption: “Your recruiter should always talk through the offer with you! If they don't, they suck.”

After explaining who she is and what she does, she said in the clip: “Here are the reasons I would advise a candidate to not accept a job offer.”

She then added: “I'm an agency recruiter so I work with a lot of different companies and I'm helping them find candidates and I help them get an offer.

“I am going to look through and make sure that offer is good before I let the candidate accept it.”

So, what are these red flags you need to be wary of?

Company red flags

Bonus

According to Darci, you need to watch out for your bonus.

She said: “If a bonus is offered, you should know how you can get that bonus. If it says, ‘performance-based bonus available’, that's not good enough.”

Darci continued: “You need to know what the actual metrics are.

“If your bonus is based on performance you need to know how you need to perform in order to get that money.”

Benefits

The next thing to watch out for are the benefits you’ll be offered.

She said: “Just because they have a benefits plan doesn't mean it's good.”

So, what you need to do is look at the business and its 401K plan and insurance coverage to make sure that you’re getting what you deserve.

Other perks can be health focused or they could come with a catch, meaning that you have to work at the company for a certain length of time before they kick in.

Obviously she’s right on the money as a commenter wrote: “This is key. I started a new job and I didn't think to ask about timing for when my 401k will begin.

“I learned it doesn't begin until five YEARS into my employment.

“I now know better but am kicking myself for this mistake.”

Take her advice and see what happens in 2025!