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This is as true as:

1) We value work life balance!

2) We only hire the best! Everyone here is a rock star.

3) We love diversity!

4) We have an open door policy. You can complain about anything!



> 1) We value work life balance!

I interviewed somewhere that specifically mentioned #1 in the job description. I applied in part because it was the only job ad I had seen to that point specifically mentioning it.

It was brought up again in the interview as a perk of the job, by the person who would be my boss, without my prompting. In the very next sentence he made a generalization about being confused as to why developers would not willingly work 45-50 hours a week as a rule and how "40-hour clock watchers" never lasted long at the company.

The cognitive dissonance was staggering.


I don't disagree with the guy on the "clock watchers" point but he should appreciate that in some cases people's circumstances push them to become "clock watchers". If they commit and produce excellent work during the time they are there then they should last.

Also, yeah, that doesn't make sense at all! It suggests they didn't a) read the job spec or b) believe in the company's values or c) perhaps the phrase was really "We value [when you] work [your] life [out of] balance" ;)


Wow. That person sounds like an entitled ass.


The best way to tell if some company actually gives a shit about the above is to ask them what they are doing about it.

I interviewed at a company once where the answer to #1 is "we do 4-day work weeks and make sure people are actually working 32-hour weeks instead of 40-hours-in-4-days". They seemed like they actually gave a shit.

Ditto diversity - companies love to talk a lot of smack about hiring women and racial minorities, but ask them about actual programs, policies, or structures in place to pursue this goal and... crickets.

But yeah, in most places the answer to "what are you doing about these things you allegedly value" is "absolutely nothing".


The best way is to look around and see who is rewarded financially. Just because a program is available doesn't mean it's not a trap.

Are the 40 hour workers getting promoted? Are people joining us from Google, Facebook, Dropbox, etc? Are there minorities in management?




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