If a hiring manager was being transparent and told you that it might initially feel like you are jumping into the fire when you start the job, but that the team and she will be there for you - would you take that job?

I see this as a red flag. I went through something similar at a scientific company. I was told to be prepared to work under pressure for demanding personalities, and that I was expected a 24-hr report turn-around. But I shouldn’t worry because they would be my support system and there were plenty of (report template) resources available to me. The person that was to train me had absolutely no idea of what to do and was not familiar with protocols. I had to figure out on my own as time progressed. Access to report templates was available to a single person company-wide, who was unable to reply to emails in a timely manner due to their high work load. Upper management did not provide support or was willing to evaluate their protocols when issues and solutions were presented to them. Their answer was “we’ve been doing it this way for x-years and we have never had issues. You should be more flexible and adjust to our protocols.” Personnel was overworked, understaffed, and stressed. Needless to say, I left this place as fast as I could. My advice? RUN!

I feel like that’s how most jobs are any more unfortunately. Especially if it’s a private equity owned company.

I guess I’d want more specific information re what I would be expected to accomplish and what resources I would have access to.