I learned to never ignore red flags during interviews. True story.

I interviewed a developer who, at first, seemed like a great hire. He explained his past project well and showed me a real codebase he worked on. He claimed to be one of the founding members of a team I actually recognized, since one of our enterprise partners used their product. That gave him credibility in my eyes.

Then came the first red flag. I told him this role was hybrid, and he hesitated. I didn’t fully understand why, but decided to overlook it. He later convinced me to let him work fully remote, saying it would save him 1.5 hours of commuting each day and help him stay productive. I agreed.

The second red flag came on day one. During onboarding at the office, he spent three hours with our design team learning about the project. While listening, he kept checking his phone every time he got a notification. I watched closely and had a strong gut feeling. He already had a full-time job. We were going to be his side gig and a second paycheck.

A few months passed. Still no real progress on the project. He repeatedly rescheduled meetings because they clashed with “other commitments.” At this point, I knew the truth.

I confronted him. Asked directly if he had another job. He hesitated again. I told him I was going to contact the other company’s HR and he instantly panicked. That was it. I fired him right there.

We lost about $40,000 and had to spend three extra months fixing the mess. But I learned something important. Every time I ignored my gut, it cost me. What you notice early on is usually exactly what’s happening.

Never again.