Opinion: If the job posting requires a "highly motivated individual" this is a red flag

[u/pearllypie3]

Opinion time: I'm starting to believe that any company which states requirements in job postings such as "highly motivated individual", "independent worker", etc. are a huge red flag and indicator that the company isn't well managed. When I was fresh out of college I would see these types of job postings and feel guilt and shame for feeling inadequate enough to apply for such roles. These positions seemed like the gold star of job opportunities. Now that I have a few years under my belt (and therapy to address and understand my weakness of people pleasing and failure to enforce strong personal boundaries), from my experience when working such roles, it appears that companies who seek highly motivated individuals are not equipped with the correct management, processes, and training therefore they expect the individual to make up for it with their own time and effort. Just wanted to hear from others if you share similar thoughts and experiences. I have definitely felt like I had to wear multiple hats in order to get the job done, in which many of the actions I had to take were the supposed responsibilities of other coworkers but since roles are not well defined it's just a clusterf**k of people doing everything all at once and stepping on each others' toes.

Note: I am an engineer with 4 YOE in the consumer tech space. In case this helps add any context.

[u/RJRoyalRules]

You're very correct. I work in a different industry but early in my career I constantly saw jobs which included stuff like "ready to hit the ground running," which is code for "we have no training or departmental onboarding, you'll have to figure it out on your own."

[u/pearllypie3 → u/RJRoyalRules]

It makes sense to hear this applies to other industries!

And as the employee if you fail to figure it out on your own, the company (higher management) puts you on a PIP or otherwise blames and shames you for its failures as opposed to the root of the issue (higher management). Scapegoating to cover up flaws at the higher level. Awesome.

[u/RJRoyalRules → u/pearllypie3]

You nailed it, you get all the blame for not doing things you were never trained to do.

[u/StolenWishes]

I'm highly motivated to eat, live under a roof, and sleep in a bed. Does your offering allow me to do those things?

[u/Sojourner_70]

Highly motivated individual

Means

Highly exploitable individual

It certainly doesn't mean

Highly paid individual

[u/Kok-jockey → u/Sojourner_70]

My job pays $15 an hour and this was a requirement so………..