diff --git a/rq/job.py b/rq/job.py
index c09f0f4c..cf455c85 100644
--- a/rq/job.py
+++ b/rq/job.py
@@ -330,12 +330,17 @@ class Job:
         Args:
             refresh (bool, optional): Whether to refresh the Job. Defaults to True.
 
+        Raises:
+            InvalidJobOperation: If refreshing and nothing is returned from the `HGET` operation.
+
         Returns:
             status (JobStatus): The Job Status
         """
         if refresh:
             status = self.connection.hget(self.key, 'status')
-            self._status = as_text(status) if status else None
+            if not status:
+                raise InvalidJobOperation(f"Failed to retrieve status for job: {self.id}")
+            self._status = JobStatus(as_text(status))
         return self._status
 
     def set_status(self, status: JobStatus, pipeline: Optional['Pipeline'] = None) -> None:
@@ -950,7 +955,7 @@ class Job:
         self.timeout = parse_timeout(obj.get('timeout')) if obj.get('timeout') else None
         self.result_ttl = int(obj.get('result_ttl')) if obj.get('result_ttl') else None
         self.failure_ttl = int(obj.get('failure_ttl')) if obj.get('failure_ttl') else None
-        self._status = obj.get('status').decode() if obj.get('status') else None
+        self._status = JobStatus(as_text(obj.get('status'))) if obj.get('status') else None
 
         if obj.get('success_callback_name'):
             self._success_callback_name = obj.get('success_callback_name').decode()
diff --git a/rq/utils.py b/rq/utils.py
index cc945583..522c91b6 100644
--- a/rq/utils.py
+++ b/rq/utils.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def as_text(v: Union[bytes, str]) -> str:
         ValueError: If the value is not bytes or string
 
     Returns:
-        value (Optional[str]): Either the decoded string or None
+        value (str): The decoded string
     """
     if isinstance(v, bytes):
         return v.decode('utf-8')
diff --git a/tests/test_job.py b/tests/test_job.py
index b7b0967c..36c356e5 100644
--- a/tests/test_job.py
+++ b/tests/test_job.py
@@ -554,6 +554,12 @@ class TestJob(RQTestCase):
         self.assertIsNotNone(job.last_heartbeat)
         self.assertIsNotNone(job.started_at)
 
+    def test_unset_job_status_fails(self):
+        """None is an invalid status for Job."""
+        job = Job.create(func=fixtures.say_hello, connection=self.connection)
+        job.save()
+        self.assertRaises(InvalidJobOperation, job.get_status)
+
     def test_job_access_outside_job_fails(self):
         """The current job is accessible only within a job context."""
         self.assertIsNone(get_current_job())
@@ -625,7 +631,7 @@ class TestJob(RQTestCase):
 
     def test_cleanup(self):
         """Test that jobs and results are expired properly."""
-        job = Job.create(func=fixtures.say_hello, connection=self.connection)
+        job = Job.create(func=fixtures.say_hello, connection=self.connection, status=JobStatus.QUEUED)
         job.save()
 
         # Jobs with negative TTLs don't expire
@@ -837,7 +843,11 @@ class TestJob(RQTestCase):
         queue = Queue(connection=self.connection, serializer=JSONSerializer)
         job = queue.enqueue(fixtures.say_hello)
         job2 = Job.create(
-            func=fixtures.say_hello, depends_on=job, serializer=JSONSerializer, connection=self.connection
+            func=fixtures.say_hello,
+            depends_on=job,
+            serializer=JSONSerializer,
+            connection=self.connection,
+            status=JobStatus.QUEUED,
         )
         job2.register_dependency()
         job2.save()
@@ -866,7 +876,11 @@ class TestJob(RQTestCase):
         queue = Queue(connection=self.connection, serializer=JSONSerializer)
         dependency_job = queue.enqueue(fixtures.say_hello)
         dependent_job = Job.create(
-            func=fixtures.say_hello, depends_on=dependency_job, serializer=JSONSerializer, connection=self.connection
+            func=fixtures.say_hello,
+            depends_on=dependency_job,
+            serializer=JSONSerializer,
+            connection=self.connection,
+            status=JobStatus.QUEUED,
         )
 
         dependent_job.register_dependency()
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 2dbb6131..fea02bf6 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from redis import Redis
 
 from rq.exceptions import TimeoutFormatError
 from rq.utils import (
+    as_text,
     backend_class,
     ceildiv,
     ensure_list,
@@ -57,6 +58,15 @@ class TestUtils(RQTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(True, is_nonstring_iterable({}))
         self.assertEqual(True, is_nonstring_iterable(()))
 
+    def test_as_text(self):
+        """Ensure function as_text works correctly"""
+        bad_texts = [3, None, 'test\xd0']
+        self.assertEqual('test', as_text(b'test'))
+        self.assertEqual('test', as_text('test'))
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            for text in bad_texts:
+                as_text(text)
+
     def test_ensure_list(self):
         """Ensure function ensure_list works correctly"""
         self.assertEqual([], ensure_list([]))