“Never Trust”: 25 Industry Insiders Share Red Flags

Professionals often receive a great deal of respect, as people tend to believe their credentials reflect deep expertise, extensive study, and intelligence. However, having qualifications doesn’t always guarantee true proficiency. In reality, some experts may fall short of the expectations their backgrounds suggest. Redditors have recently shared the biggest red flags they use to gauge the trustworthiness of industry professionals. We’ve sifted through a thread inspired by u/ShapingTormance to highlight some of the most insightful opinions on key warning signs—useful for quickly assessing a worker’s true level of expertise.

#1

Image source: CantBuyMyLove, Max Fischer Don’t trust a principal who was never a teacher. .

#2

Image source: sotiredwontquit, Tima Miroshnichenko Never trust a librarian who agrees to ban books.

#3

Image source: fancylamas, Edwin Andrade Don't trust a minister of God that preaches hate.

#4

Image source: SeasonMarla, John Price Don't trust a religious person who is loud about being religious.

#5

Image source: InfernalWedgie Don't trust an unvaccinated health care worker.

#6

Image source: RomanoCheesed, ThisIsEngineering Don’t trust the scientist who can’t say “I don’t know”. A good scientist knows they don’t know everything.

#7

Image source: AriesProductions, bruce mars Don’t trust any life coach/consultant who uses “we all have the same 24 hours in a day” as a comeback to the “I don’t have time” excuse. I absolutely do not have the “same” 24 hours in a day as child free Oprah Winfrey, with her paid staff and zero daily commute.

#8

Image source: TuxPaper, Kaysha Don’t trust a man who bankrupts casinos with your economy.

#9

Image source: Wonderful-Power9161, Pavel Danilyuk Don't trust a pastor who wears expensive shoes and watches. EDIT: of course I'm not saying "don't trust all pastors because all pastors are awful!!!" The point in the original question is about YOUR OWN INDUSTRY. Since I'm an actual pastor, I thought you might want to know how I determine whether or not someone who claims to be clergy puts me on guard or not - and wearing flashy clothes, watches, shoes, or who drives a luxury car (that's obviously not an cold clunker that they've fixed up) - THOSE are reasons for me, a pastor, to be made wary of other people who claim to be a part of clergy. For those of you who just don't trust pastors of any kind because of the hurt you may have experienced at the hands of the unscrupulous or the awful representatives of the cloth - I deeply and sincerely apologize for that pain. I, too, wish that had never happened.

#10

Image source: tmotytmoty, cottonbro studio Famous psychologists that are tv personalities are not famous because they are “the best”. “The best” exists in research and or the clinic.

#11

Image source: chrza, Ushindi Namegabe Don’t trust a wine sales rep that wears heavy cologne/perfume. It messes up your ability to taste samples in sales meetings.

#12

Image source: nekosaigai, Ketut Subiyanto Don’t trust a writer who doesn’t read.

#13

Image source: theoutsideinternist, Pixabay My job seems to get new ones every day recently, not sure why... The most recent is Don’t trust a doctor who recommends women of childbearing age refrain from using Tylenol.

#14

Image source: Fearless_Lab, Andrea Piacquadio Don't trust a restaurant manager who's never waited a table. This includes brewers who open and run brewpubs.

#15

Image source: RhynoD, Lisa from Pexels Don't trust a writer who doesn't have a strong opinion about Oxford commas. Preferably, they should have the *right* opinion about them (they are good and everyone should use them) but even if they're wrong you should still trust them to write better than someone who doesn't care either way.

#16

Image source: unrepentantfuncooker, August de Richelieu As a perpetually single/never married divorce lawyer, I don't love this question...

#17

Image source: More_Rise, Kampus Production Don’t trust a home care aide/special needs provider who claims to know what causes autism.

#18

Image source: Broad-Try-8127, Toomas Tartes Don’t trust a hiker who says they love nature but leaves trash behind.

#19

Image source: Affectionate-Bad4890, Polina Zimmerman Never trust a therapist who hasn't been to therapy... extensively..

#20

Image source: Uncle_Bill, RF._.studio _ Always let the nurse give you the shot, never the doctor...

#21

Image source: TheHarb81, Djordje Petrovic Don’t trust an IT person who hasn’t caused an organization wide outage at least once, if more than 5, also don’t trust them.

#22

Image source: Particular-Leg-8484, George Milton Don’t trust any “professional” artist who likes AI.

#23

Image source: DiamondBurInTheRough, cottonbro studio Don’t trust a dentist who’s anti-fluoride.

#24

Image source: uninterestedteacher, fauxels A teacher who isn't interested in learning new things.

#25

Image source: thelimeisgreen, luis gomes Don’t trust a software engineer that thinks AI is good at programming.