'Your life should be the company's mission': 22-year-old rejects job from tech startup because he wants work-life balance, founder can't understand why a 22-year-old would want work-life balance

Work-life balance is something that most of us want, but we're often hesitant to mention it in work settings. It's perfectly acceptable for a recruiter to claim that their company's culture promotes work-life balance, but the moment a candidate expresses interest in work-life balance first, the red flags start to fly.

I understand why some companies that expect their full-time employees to work overtime might be hesitant to bring someone on board who only wants to work from 9 to 5 exactly. This could all be sorted out if recruiters and candidates were completely candid about what they want from each other. If a company only wants people to work during work hours and nothing more, they should say that. If they expect employees to put in a little extra time during the busy season, they should also make this expectation clear. If they want their employees to work at the office and sleep around the clock, it's imperative that they say so. On the flip side, job seekers should also be able to be honest about what they want too, and if their expectations are different than the company's, that might be cause to reject them, but they shouldn't be dragged through the mud for their personal preference.

The tech startup founder in this story is a low blower. He publicly criticized an interviewee who declined to proceed with the interview process because he wanted to work for a company that offered a better work-life balance. The founder couldn't understand why a 22-year-old would want work-life balance.
via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
Advertisement
via @marvy_101
via @marvy_101
via @marvy_101
Advertisement
via @marvy_101
via Ameer Basheer

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
via @lennardeth
Advertisement
via @marvy_101
via @misinfo_agent
via @misinfo_agent
Advertisement
via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
via @marvy_101
via @standyro
Advertisement
via @sidcodes
via @marvy_101
via @FractalVeritas
Advertisement
via @marvy_101
via @VPSocialSec
via @darrowoah
Advertisement
via @growing_daniel
via @marvy_101
via @StatisticUrban
Advertisement
via @LinkofSunshine
via @lambdacalcc
via @aaVasyl
Advertisement
via @marxmiltonism
via @narrenhut
via @CalamityPink
Advertisement
via @rsg
via @OneTruePoster
via @avianeagle
Advertisement