Cynthia Balusek

View Original

The Mental Scorecard I Use To Determine How Bro is Your Startup

Your website

The Job Description uses the words

  • rockstar:    -1 point
  • ninja:    -1 point
  • Sports reference:  -1 point
  • Cursing:  -1  

The job application

  • Asks me to write something interesting about myself:  -3
  • Asks me to rank objects such as Batman, glitter, and Budweiser*:  -20
  • Asks my pronoun:  +10

Your careers or about us page contains the words

  • Diversity:  +5   points
  • Inclusion:  +5   points
  • Ping pong:  -1 point
  • Company trips:  -5 points  
  • Happy hour: -2 points

Your culture page / list of values

  • Doesn't exist:  -3 points
  • Uses the word ping pong:  -2 points

Your leadership team is 

  • All male:  -10 points 
  • All white:  -10 points
  • Has a woman:  +1 per woman
  • Has a woman who isn't in marketing or HR:  +2 per woman
  • Has a c-level woman:  +2 per woman
  • Has a woman CEO:  +1000

During an interview  

  • I talk to a woman:  +1
  • Who isn't the recruiter:  +1
  • I'm asked about my kids:  -5 
  • I'm asked about my husband:  -3
  • I'm asked what my husband does for a living:  -3

When I ask a woman in the interview about the company's commitment to promoting women:  

  • She hesitates: -5
  • She sighs:  -10
  • She laughs:  -25
  • She mumbles something about hiring qualified people:  0
  • She's incredibly excited about company opportunities:  +15
  • I never talk to a woman and don't ask the question:  -10

My potential boss

  • Is a woman:  +5
  • Has kids:  +3
  • Has a spouse who works**:  +2

During a tour of the office 

  • There's a ping pong table:  -2
  • A foosball table:  -2
  • A beer pong table:  -5
  • Video games: -2 per console  
  • A keg / kegerator: -3 per keg
  • Liquor:  -5
  • An actual bar:  -7
  • A girlie calendar: -5
  • A mother's room***:  0
  • No mother's room:  -10
  • A mother's room with a refrigerator:  +3
  • A mother's room with a sink:  +10
  • Other women are visible, doing their jobs:  +2
  • The sales team appears to be composed of at least 20% women:  +5
  • The engineering team appears to be composed of at least 20% women:  +10
  • The women are wearing company swag****:  +2
  • People with wrinkles / grey hair are present:  +3

I use the ladies' room: 

  • There's a tampon machine:  +1
  • There are free tampons:  +2
  • There are free pads:  +2
See this content in the original post