A jobseeker has sparked debate after he walked out of an interview upon being asked about working unpaid overtime. He took to Reddit to share his experience, expressing doubts over his decision.
“So, I had an interview today for a position I was really excited about. The job description seemed great, the pay was decent, and the company had good reviews. I walked in, shook hands with the hiring manager, and we sat down,” he began.
“Then, the first question came, ‘How do you handle working unpaid overtime?'” Initially laughing it off as a joke, the man swiftly realised the gravity of the question. The interviewer just stared at me, waiting for an answer. I asked if overtime was mandatory and if it was paid. They said, ‘Well, we expect employees to stay as long as needed to get the job done.”
“Everyone here is passionate about the work, and we don’t track extra hours.'” His story has sparked a lively conversation about workplace boundaries and expectations. He quietly got up and left the interview, thanking the interviewer for their time. However, now he’s questioning whether he made the right decision.
He recalled: “I said, ‘Thank you for your time, but this isn’t the right fit for me,’ and walked out. Now, I’m second-guessing myself. Should I have stayed and at least heard more about the job? Or was walking out the right move?”
Commenting on his post, one user remarked: “They basically started the interview asking ‘are you ok with the company taking advantage of you?’ You made the right decision.” Another user noted: “It’s the difference between exempt (salaried) and non-exempt (hourly) employment.”
An IT professional, who occasionally works long hours, commented that they feel well-compensated and have never felt taken advantage of. However, in a previous role at a large accounting firm, they worked excessively long hours for poor pay and left after six months.
They said they wouldn’t fault him for not wanting the job, but would have personally sought more information before walking out of the interview. One user declared: “I will never work unpaid overtime again. I left project management and went back to analyst work because the financials didn’t make sense anymore -you don’t get paid OT as a PM but you get paid more.
“When I worked out hours worked and compared to higher salary, I was making less than working as a lower analyst who makes overtime. Been working as an overqualified analyst getting paid overtime for six years now and I make more now than I ever did as a PM.”
Another user chimed in: “I was salaried for years. I worked on average 50 hours a week. I just did it to get the job done. Were they offering a salaried position? If it was hourly, maybe they were just checking to see if you were willing to put in extra effort at work because it’s illegal to make you work overtime without paying it unless you were exempt.”
