These 2 Interview Questions Can Expose A Company With A Toxic Work-Life Balance

Job interviews usually present the best version the company can offer. Your job is to determine if the rosy picture being drawn matches the reality of working there.

It would be good to check if the company actually allows you to live outside of work. Employers don’t usually say explicitly that you’re expected to sacrifice your well-being for the company’s benefit, but if so, there’s a crucial clue.

In an interview with HuffPost, career experts shared their tips for determining if you’re an employer. Really They value work-life balance and say they find it helpful to ask two types of questions in particular.

The term “work-life balance” is often used these days. However, before asking about it in an interview, you should consider what your priorities are and adjust your questions accordingly.

“It’s important for job seekers to really know what it means to them first,” says Ediana Rosen, a recruiter and HR specialist who mentors job seekers.

“For me, ‘work-life balance’ might mean being able to say to your boss at the last minute, ‘I have to pick up the kids, so I have to be home by 3:30.'” Rosen added. “But before I had kids, ‘work-life balance’ for me meant needing to be transparent with my boss about what my promotion would look like, and not caring about weekends. I did.”

When talking to an interviewer about company culture, the first important questions you can ask are around flexibility and benefits. This reveals whether the organization is providing good benefits and prioritizing them.

“When I asked, ‘What is your policy on work flexibility and remote work? [in a healthy work-life balance] Mary Abajay, president of leadership development consultancy CareerStone Group and author of the book Managing Up.

Similarly, ask, “Do you think employees are really using up all their vacation time?” Abajay added that it could give insight into whether the team could take a break.

If you prefer to avoid asking directly about company policy, you can also talk about burnout instead. Mr. Abajay suggested saying: “I know burnout is a huge problem in many organizations. Are there any steps you guys are taking to prevent employee burnout?”

Information on a company’s website can also be a starting point for questions. That way, “it will seem like you’re acting on company values ​​instead of sounding self-centered,” Rosen said.

For example, if you want to know if your employees have flexible working hours to go to the gym, Rosen suggested saying: I think that’s amazing. Can you tell me a little more about that? How are your employees taking advantage of this?”

A second important question concerns how your potential boss thinks about vacations.

In the post-hire stage, the interviewer is often the person you will work for if hired. So you can directly ask about vacations or even hint about management style.

You can say, “Tell me about your own personal approach to work-life balance,” Abajay says, encouraging job seekers to “tell a little personal story and let them talk.”

Alternatively, she added, you could also say: “I know it’s a busy office here. How do you prioritize your work? How do you deal with too much work?”

This can indicate whether the person is willing to help team members when they are behind in their work. Abajay said bosses who don’t have a plan and say, “I’m just trying my best to make it through,” are the least supportive.

“I really want to hear what they want to know when you’re feeling down and that they’re here to support you,” she said. “Try to get some acknowledgment from them that it’s their job to keep that from happening to you.”

And when asking directly about managers’ views on work-life boundaries, Abajay suggested using the softer word “approach” instead of “support.”

“I think it puts people on the back foot when you ask questions like, ‘Do you support work-life balance?'” she said.

“But if you just say, ‘How would you describe your approach to work-life balance?’ or ‘What is your philosophy on work-life balance?’ I think people will become less defensive. ”

To get real insight into an organization’s work-life balance, we need to ask those who know first-hand the more transparent answers. “The best way to really know the truth is to find people who work there, or who have worked there,” Abajay said.

Even strangers usually try to help someone out of working for a nightmare company.

Abajay said that if you don’t know an employee yet, you can message them directly on LinkedIn with the following phrase: . Specifically, how do you think about work-life balance? ”

Knowing that complaints from ex-employees can skew information, Rosen says you can also research employers on review sites like Glassdoor to make more informed decisions. said. “But if you see a pattern there, it could potentially tell you what it’s like to work there,” she added.

Whether it’s fair or not, asking too early about work-life balance can come across as lazy or not as passionate about your job.

“We employers are kind of confused by the fact that people should want to work for us and think we offer them something really great. And why would they put a warning about it?” said Abajay. “I mean, before you start talking about how much you want or don’t want to work, you want them to like you a little bit.”

In other words, time your questions when it’s clear that the company wants to hire you. Being asked if you will be interviewed elsewhere and when your interview will start are some of the secret signs that you are a finalist.

Regardless of timing, your question can lead to disappointmentBut it’s also convenient.

“If you ask these questions and it backfires, you know the company isn’t for you,” says Rosen.