Gen Z job seeker teaches interviewer a lesson about self respect after unpaid overtime question in round one. ‘I got up and said...’

For many Gen Z job seekers, salary is not the only thing they look at when deciding whether a job is worth taking. Work-life balance, boundaries and how an employer treats their time can also matter, and one Gen Z candidate appears to have made that point during an interview.

The job seeker shared on Reddit that they walked out of an interview after the hiring manager opened the conversation with a question about working unpaid overtime. The candidate had been interested in the role and said the salary looked reasonable, while the company also appeared to have a decent reputation online.

That interest did not last very long.

Gen Z candidate was asked about unpaid overtime


According to the Reddit post, the interviewer began by asking, "What is your approach to working extra hours when they're unpaid?"

The candidate said they laughed for a moment because they assumed the interviewer was joking. But the question was apparently serious.

They then asked whether overtime was required and whether it would be compensated. The interviewer reportedly replied that employees were expected to "do what it takes to get the work done" and said the team was committed to the company's mission, so hours after the normal schedule were not really counted.

The candidate decided that was enough information.

"I got up and said, 'Thank you for meeting with me, but I don't feel like this is a good match,'" they wrote in the Reddit post before leaving the interview.

The Gen Z job seeker later questioned whether walking out had been the right thing to do, asking Reddit users if they should have stayed to find out more about the position.

Reddit users defend the walkout

A large part of the Reddit discussion supported the candidate's decision, with some users saying an employer revealing its expectations so early was actually useful. "If they open with that, you know the work-life balance is going to be abysmal," one commenter wrote.

Another said, "They basically told you they will expect free work out of you."

Some users, however, pointed out that unpaid extra hours do not necessarily mean the same thing in every workplace. One commenter described having a strict work-life balance while still responding to rare emergencies, including travelling at short notice for work.

"It comes down to what 'what it takes' actually means," the commenter wrote.

Another person said that if an employee is expected to be flexible during emergencies, the arrangement should work both ways. "If you're asking me to be flexible it needs to go both ways," they wrote.

Some said the candidate should have stayed

There were also Reddit users who thought walking out had been too quick.

One commenter suggested keeping a straight face, answering honestly and allowing the interview to continue. That way, the candidate could have found out exactly why the company expected overtime before deciding whether to accept the job.

Another raised a practical question: "What if after hours was two hours a month?"

The discussion also touched on employment law, although users pointed out that whether unpaid overtime is unlawful depends on the country and the worker's employment arrangement. One commenter noted that simply describing a job as requiring unpaid overtime does not provide enough information to determine whether a law has been broken.