What in the Hustle Culture is Going On Here?
This might be the most unhinged question I've ever seen on a job application.
I consider myself lucky. I have a job I enjoy at a company I respect. But as the experts suggest, I always keep an eye open for great opportunities in my industry.
Like many other LinkedIn users, I get a job roundup email about twice a month featuring opportunities in marketing, advertising, and creative services that match my skill set, and that I might be interested in.
Recently, one piqued my interest. I clicked into an application to review the job description, and there it was: The most bizarre question I’ve ever encountered on an application, seemingly scraped right off the cutting room floor of early 2000s hustle culture. I read it twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. Much to my second-hand embarrassment, I was.
The company in question is a DTC company based in NYC with a subscription-based model. It’s a very cool brand with products I would consider important and good for culture, and I’m sure the people who work there are smart, creative, and maybe even lovely humans. Who knows? This isn’t about them. It’s about their company’s job application, which somehow made its way out the door with this out-of-touch question in tow:
Uh…excuse me?
Where am I? This feels like a question you’d get on a culty Zoom training for an MLM company, not something you’d see on a job application for a sophisticated startup. It’s a giant red flag for several reasons.
First, a 1 to 10 scale is almost always associated with a positive and negative choice.
We can all align around the fact that when it comes to questions based on a scale of 1 to 10, the number 1 usually corresponds to the low/negative end and the number 10 corresponds to the high/positive end. Notice how in this question, work-life balance and career growth are pitted against each other, positioned at opposite ends of the scale with work-life balance being assigned to 1 (traditionally the negative end of the scale) and career growth assigned to 10 (traditionally the favorable end of the scale.)
Life circumstances will inform how someone answers this question, and we’re not all the same.
Let’s take myself for example. I don’t have children. I consider myself committed to growing my career. If I moved to NYC for a job, my husband and I could downsize to a small apartment so I could be close to work in Manhattan. What if another candidate with equal or more experience, who’s just as committed to growing their career, is taking care of young children and an aging parent outside of work, and has to commute 2 hours a day to the city? Do you think we’re going to answer this question the same way? Of course not. Does that mean one of us is a better candidate than the other? That’s up to our creative portfolios to decide. Not a number on a 1-10 scale.
Lastly, there’s just no good way to answer this question on a job application.
Either knowingly or unknowingly, the employer is making candidates pick a side, and that makes the question very tough to answer in a way you can feel good about if you dare to want to grow your career while also maintaining your life outside of work.
If you select 1, then you’re the farthest you can be from the aspiration of career growth. I can’t imagine this would serve you well on a job application.
Selecting 7 or above feels like you’re preemptively signing up to sacrifice your personal life for the betterment of your career and the company. Trying to chill in the middle with a 5 doesn’t feel quite right either, almost like an unwillingness to answer the question at all.
No matter what number you choose between work-life balance and career growth, you have to distance yourself from one to get close to the other. You have to choose between the two. You cannot have both.
This, of course, is untrue. And, as the data proves, a great way to burn employees to a crisp by robbing them of a balance between their work and personal life.
(Spoiler alert: they’re already cookin’.)
In an article published last month, Fortune magazine’s Emma Burleigh noted that about 82% of employees are at risk of burnout this year, but only half of employers design work with well-being in mind.
“A burnout epidemic is hitting offices across the world, and despite increased awareness about the issue, a majority of employers aren’t establishing a work culture that prioritizes employee well-being, according to a new survey,” Burleigh reported.
She went on to share that according to the 2024 Global Talent Trends report published by HR consulting firm, Mercer, more than 8 out of 10 employees are right on track to burn out this year at work.
As it turns out, offering flexibility and a work-life balance is essential to combatting burnout—and protecting productivity.
Perhaps no one knows this better than another NYC-based startup that, conversely, does not consider work-life balance and career growth mutually exclusive—Kickstarter. In April of 2022, Kickstarter rolled out a 4-day work week in honor of a better work-life balance.
"We're just giving people back time in their week to get better rest," said Jon Leland, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Sustainability at Kickstarter, in an interview with CBS News last March.
“And so, when they do come to work, they're just a lot more focused."
Leland continued, “So far, we are performing much better than we have historically. Employees are happier. We are a much stronger company at this point."
Not only does the data from several sources prove that productivity increases when employees prioritize work-life balance, but other studies show that a healthy work-life balance helps to maintain a diverse workforce.
As reported by Alexandra Kalev and Frank Dobbin of the Harvard Business Review in a 2022 article, “Corporate programs that support work-life balance promote productivity, reduce turnover, and improve employees’ mental and physical health. That much is well-known. But our research has revealed another benefit: They can also boost your organization’s diversity. In fact, when it comes to increasing diversity among managers, [programs that support work-life balance] are better than the most popular racial equity programs.”
So, employee work-life balance drives organizational success. Got it.
However according to the unnamed company, career success and work-life balance live at opposite ends of a 1-10 scale? That doesn’t make sense.
And in the words of the honorable Judge Judy Sheindlin…
At least one source, a Monster.com article about setting boundaries at work, says one of the benefits of maintaining a work-life balance is—wait for it—career advancement.
"If you're not getting projects completed on time, have mind-drift during meetings, and wake up dreading going to work, chances are you're not going to be the first person your boss thinks of when it's time for a raise or promotion,” wrote Monster contributor, Kathleen Walder. “Making enough time for sleep and exercise helps you fully participate and be present at work to keep you on track for advancement.”
As an older Millennial who came up in peak NYC hustle culture, I’m not afraid of working hard to advance my career. I worked at Condé Nast when print was still king for God’s sake. I’ve worked in-house for brands, at an ad agency, and at more than one startup. I would say I spent the majority of my working life having little to no work-life balance to advance my career. That’s why I know the lie that you have to sacrifice your work-life balance to grow your career is, in fact, a lie. Because I currently have the most stable work-life balance I’ve ever had, in a role with the most responsibility I’ve ever held, and I’m making the most money I’ve ever made in a global company that’s promoted me twice since I joined 2 years ago.
Before I published this piece, though, I wanted to do a temperature check with some outside sources. So, I headed to Instagram where I am connected to a lot of people who think like me, and a lot of people who don’t.
Below are a few of the responses I received.
"I think it’s a bit of a loaded question and I would probably lie if I wanted the job. The implication that you can’t have a big focus on career goals without giving up a healthy work-life balance kind of gives me the ick. I would tell them an 8, probably, when I would be thinking more of a 4.” - C
"Well clearly I’m not going to get hired if I say work-life balance is [most important!] Unless they’re asking as a trick question, but that’s doubtful. Maybe because the younger generation is all about preventing burnout they want to hire people who aren’t going to complain about not having balance. I probably would just think this place isn’t right for me and I wouldn’t apply.” - S
“RUN.” - M
"Both are important but a lot of folks will take a backseat to that balance if they pay is really good. But having life/work balance is a great benefit.” -J
"Oof. I would be asking myself why they are asking this question and how answering honestly could backfire.” - L
“It’s technically not illegal, but it pushes up against the boundary of asking about family, right? Like whether you’re pregnant, whether you have children, etc. And it feels like they’re trying to find a back door into illegal territory.” - F
“Why can’t I have a work/life balance and career growth? In education, it definitely feels like you have to choose one.” 🤦♀️ - T
"My reaction is kind of to roll my eyes because something like this is performative and doesn’t necessarily indicate if someone is worth interviewing or not. It’s something you can probe about in their interview if all else checks out. I think I’d be likely to just put a 5 down (even though I’m in a stage where I really feel like it’s a 1) to show that I know that at different times I will have to prioritize one over the other. You don’t have to sacrifice balance [for] career growth. Also, career growth is different for different people.” - S
"I think a 5!? So wild. Why can’t we have it all? Also, red flag about whatever company that was.” - K
"Reads simplistic and privileged! It’s like asking a woman how many kids she plans on having. There’s an idea, but bears no weight in reality. Life is nuanced and intentions/values can vacillate based on circumstances and opportunities.” - S
“Until companies offer 401K full match, full GOOD health benefits, all that stuff again…no one should be doing any more than the bare minimum at their job. 😂” - M
"I would hope that companies that ask this question are wanting a true answer and wanting to see employees have a healthy balance and be happier humans which means that they’ll likely do better work.” - W
It’s worth noting that many of the responses I received above are from mothers—the group of people that is constantly told you can have it all, mamas! but are often forced to choose between their families and their careers when the rubber meets the road.
The takeaway here is a simple one. A job application can reveal a lot about a potential employer. The questions they ask and the language they use are a sneak peek at the culture they promote. I think the only way to answer this application question is with another question: Can we stop making people choose between their sanity and their success?
So well said