Red flags

"Red flags" or "gut instinct"

I've made a few bad mistakes due to ignoring "red flags" or "gut instinct" at times.

First case was at University - not going into details but I remember sensing loads of 'red flags' and instinctively feeling something was off - yet I ignored them. In this case I clammed up for about eight years and told no one what happened. I did eventually open up, and felt a lot of relief when I did.

The second case was a job interview - I felt drained afterwards - they appeared to grill me and I felt I'd failed the interview. Imagine my surprise when they offered me a job, which I took! I regretted it on my first day. I sat down, said hello to the person next to me, she proceeded to bite my head off! I lasted 10 months and moved on. Never worked anywhere like that before (or since) - everyone just seemed hostile!

So now I try to pay attention to how I'm feeling and it seems to work better. Sometimes helps with job interview - since I've had a long career (40+ years) I've gotten a lot of experience. I can sense when I've not got the job, and sometimes when I have (but I'm a bit negative and think I've failed). I've had quite a few interesting jobs over the years.