CEO sparks debate after sharing their biggest red flags during job interview

A CEO has caused fierce debate after revealing her biggest ‘red flags’ when it comes to hiring new employees.

If you want to thrive in the workplace and climb the career ladder at a rapid pace, then it’s best to know your do’s and don’ts when it comes to your chosen industry.

One particular area that’s worth focusing on is how to nail an interview for your dream job - and the bits you should probably leave out when chatting with a new business.

One woman who has listed her ‘green’ and ‘red flags’ when it comes to hiring fresh-faced candidates is Codie Sanchez.

The Contrarian Thinking founder, 38, has dispensed crucial business knowledge on a number of Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast episodes.

During one instalment, titled ‘They're Lying To You About How To Get Rich’, Bartlett, 32, asked the entrepreneur whether she had any ‘red flags’ when it came to interviewing potential employees.

Codie Sanchez has delivered her interview 'red flags' (Diary of a CEO podcast)

“If I was interviewing to join Codie Sanchez’s business, what’s the best things I can exhibit?” asked the Dragons’ Den star.

Sanchez explained that she likes candidates to show that they know ‘almost everything’ there is to know about a company and that interviews should be completed with ‘humility’.

"Too many people do 'shotgun rounds' which is really wide, going after a ton of different jobs as opposed to 'sniper shots'," she continued. "Go after the three positions you want, aggressively, knowing everything about that company and that boss."

But after listing the positives, the businesswoman revealed exactly what she isn’t looking for when it comes to interviewing job-seekers.

Her first red flag was people who talk badly about their last boss or speak negatively about their career so far.

“The way you treated your last person is probably going to be the way you treat me,” she reasoned. “Immediately not going to hire you.”

Sanchez’s second red flag was if candidates blame others for mistakes or possess a ‘victim mentality’.

The episode of Steven Bartlett's podcast is available to listen to now (Diary of a CEO podcast)

Another was that she didn’t take kindly to those who wanted to discuss whether it was possible to attain a work-life balance at her company.

“If you come into my companies and you say 'talk to me about work-life balance' I'm not the place for you," Sanchez explained.

“Our companies are hardcore, there's not a lot of work-life balance, we work hard. So I'm not going to hire you if you talk about time off or texting on the weekend.”

A clip of Sanchez’s red flags has been shared on TikTok and has caused quite a stir among social media users.

One viewer commented: “If there’s no work life balance I’m out.”

A second echoed: “No work/life balance is madness. People who aren’t happy at home aren’t happy in the workplace.”

“Interview is two way street,” said someone else. “I would withdraw my application based on this.”

Another TikTok user remarked: “Texting on the weekends should be illegal. People are more depressed than ever and it’s because of bosses like this not letting their staff have a personal life.”

Many viewers, however, have come out in support of Sanchez, with one commenter saying: “Reading these comments, I actually praise her for being honest. Why can’t people have a different opinion?”

While another user agreed: “I don’t like when candidates are negative about their last boss because it usually says more about the candidate - than it does their last boss.”