Ex-Google recruiter's advice to job seekers: Don’t ask about work-life balance in an interview

Google CEO Sundar Pichai had in 2021 spoken in favour of a work-life balance. He said that working three days a week in the office and two days remotely gives employees a good "balance" between time at home and time with their colleagues.

Days after ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt blamed remote work and work-life balance for making the tech giant fall behind OpenAI and other startups in the AI (artificial intelligence) race, a former Google recruiter has advised professionals not to ask questions regarding work-life balance during a job interview.

Nolan Church, who has worked with Google for three years and is the CEO of salary data company FairComp, said that while it is a relevant question for job seekers when it comes to figuring out if they want the job, the interview process is not the time to ask it.

The question “indicates to me that you don’t want to work hard,” he told CNBC Make It. Church said that it's a red flag for recruiters if the candidates ask how long a work day is or field other questions directed towards internal successes instead of asking about the company’s mission.

This question “needs to come after you’ve received an offer,” Church said, adding that the right moment to ask such questions is when the job seekers have some leverage and have proven they have what it takes to do the job. Otherwise, “I don’t think you’ve earned the right to ask,” he told the publication.

In a related note, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had in 2021 shared a formula on how to "balance" work from office and home. He said that working three days a week in the office and two days remotely gives employees a good "balance" between time at home and time with their colleagues.

"Even in places like New York and San Francisco our employees dealt with long commutes and that was a real issue. And so I do think people get a better balance in a three/two model," Pichai told The Wall Street Journal. The Alphabet-owned company first unveiled this "flexible work week" in December 2020.

Read more: Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt says tech giant is losing to OpenAI as it supports WFH, 'work-life balance'