1. The company is not growing and has no plans to grow. This is huge and probably swamps all the others. 2. The job is to maintain something old, and you get a

1. The company is not growing and has no plans to grow. This is huge and probably swamps all the others. 2. The job is to maintain something old, and you get a sense there are no new plans for this product. 3. Is the software "enterprisey" in the pejorative sense: bloated, slow, over-engineered, etc. This might be a sign of a stable dead end job, and some people might want that. Leave these jobs to them. 4. Does the company either (a) promote from within, or (b) look good on a resume. If the answer is no to both, it's not going to advance you. Note that a startup with growth potential may satisfy one or both of these-- if you join early you are likely to hit a high position if it succeeds, and a successful startup looks good on a resume.