CEO: The No. 1 question that ‘cuts through the BS’ at job interviews—people who ask it are ‘stunned’

Do you want a job you love, at a company you love, with values you love? Of course you do. That’s the dream for just about everyone. And frankly, companies want the same thing. When employee values align with company values, you get engagement and retention. It’s a win-win.

A desire for this “glove-like” fit is why so many MBA students enroll in my class at NYU Stern School of Business. It’s called “Becoming You,” and its goal is to help graduates find a job aligned with their purpose. But here’s the problem — and it’s a big one: Most people know their aptitudes and interests. But their values? Not so much.

My research shows that only about 7% of adults know their values with real clarity. And worse, most don’t know how to identify a company’s real values, either. Not the ones in the brochure. The real ones.

Nearly every company will say it values empowerment, innovation, and excellence. But let’s be honest: Those are just platitudes. The truth is, values aren’t what a company says it believes. Values are how work really gets done.

Figuring out a company’s values

Ask directly, and you’ll usually get those same vague buzzwords. So you’ll need to do some sleuthing.

And that’s where the job interview comes in. There’s one question that cuts through the BS: “What kind of person should not work at this company?”

People who ask it are usually stunned. It almost always catches managers off guard, but that’s exactly why it works. Because the answers are often more honest, less rehearsed, and far more revealing.

Here are some real responses my students have heard:

“A person who doesn’t want to text on weekends.”
“Someone who wants to try out different roles — this is a place for specialists.”
“A person who’s too social.”
“Excessive wokeness does not really fly here.”
“Anyone who likes to work on their own too much.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. These answers reveal true values — in high relief.

Take that first one: “A person who doesn’t want to text on weekends.” That company might claim it respects boundaries and employee well-being. But this answer tells a different story.

Or, “A person who’s too social.” Translation: “We prize focus and independence. Community? Not so much.”

I’m not saying any of those values are wrong — unless they’re wrong for you.

Keep in mind that this question is best saved for the end of your interview process, ideally after you’ve received an offer. Why? Because it can be so disarming to hiring managers that you want to make sure you have good rapport with them before you launch it.

And since this question can make people get a little defensive, it has to be delivered with just the right tone. You need to sound pleasantly curious, not investigative, even though indeed, you are being a little bit investigative.

How to get clear on your own values

You can get a ranked list of your core values by taking “The Values Bridge,” a test I developed with my team. When I started teaching at NYU Stern in 2021, building an assessment tool was not on my to-do list. But the seven values exercises I was using in class weren’t giving students the precision they needed.

People kept confusing values with virtues, despite my best efforts. Virtues are broadly agreed-upon ideals: Fairness, Integrity, Honesty. We all endorse them. But values? They’re different. Values are choices — about how we want to live and work. They’re not good or bad, just right or wrong for you.

Take the value of Scope, for example. People with high Scope want stimulation: learning, adventure, novelty. Low Scope individuals seek calm, predictability, and peace.

There are 15 values in total — like Affluence, Familycentrism, Achievement, and Radius. You can test for all of them — and you should. Especially if you’re job hunting. Because once you know your values, you can assess if a company shares them.

Suzy Welch is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed researcher, popular podcaster and three-time NYT best-selling author, most recently with ”Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career.” A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Dr. Welch is a frequent guest of the Today Show and an op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of public and private companies, and is the Director of the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing.

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37-year-old mom who makes $6,300 a month in passive income—my best advice for starting a side hustle

I turned my back on corporate America after getting laid off in 2015. I decided to become a full-time entrepreneur instead. I threw all of my energy into growing my personal brand and scaling my Bridesmaid for Hire side hustle — which offers bridesmaids for hire, wedding day and maid of honor support, speech and vow help, and other services.

This cost me time. I went from working a 9-to-5 job to putting in over 70 hours a week. I ran my business as a one-woman show for almost a decade, traveling all around the country and working as many hours as needed.

But when I became a mom in 2023, my priorities changed. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter, while also keeping my business afloat. That’s when I pivoted to making passive income the heartbeat of my business, earning money from a variety of products, including AI tools and affiliate links. Today, I make about $6,300 a month in passive income.

If you’re looking to start a side hustle that generates passive income, here are my top tips:

1. Take advantage of what you already have

When I realized my website draws nearly 40,000 users a month on average, I decided to monetize it with ads and affiliate links.

Audit what you’re already working with, whether it’s a social media following, an email list, or even a skill set that’s in demand among your friends. For example, are you the one everyone always asks for help choosing art for their walls? The social media video specialist of the friend group? The go-to bridesmaid and wedding speech helper?

Find ways to generate revenue from those foundations. It’s often faster and more reliable than starting from scratch.

2. Listen to your audience

I’ve learned firsthand how easy it is for side hustles and passive income streams to fail because there’s no interested audience. I once spent a few hundred dollars and over 20 hours building a course that not one person purchased. I thought people would want to invest in this topic — using Google analytics to help with brand storytelling — but they didn’t.

Before building out an idea, make sure there’s an audience for it. If I want to invest in launching a new tool, for example, I’ll first write several blog posts that incorporate SEO keywords around that topic (like “bachelorette party hashtag”). I’ll also share them with my newsletter subscribers and social media followers to see if enough people are clicking.

If you’ve built a TikTok or Instagram following, pay attention to patterns. What kinds of posts get the most engagement? What are people saying and asking in the comments? Is there a product you can create that addresses their needs or wants?

3. Turn time-intensive services into scalable products

After having a baby, I realized I was spending too many hours working on things that weren’t scalable. For example, one of my most popular services is writing wedding speeches. Each speech took five or six hours, and I’d often have 10 to 15 due in a month.

To reduce the burden, I partnered with a developer to create AI wedding speech and vow tools, trained by over 200 of the speeches I’ve written in the past. It maintains my writing quality and style, while servicing more customers at a lower price point ($35 versus $397).

This transformed my expertise from a time-for-money offering to a scalable product that brings in thousands a month in passive income.

4. Repurpose your expertise

I always hear people saying that to be successful you have to find a niche and stick with it. I don’t agree. I’ve pursued multiple different passions, skills, and interests, and haven’t been afraid to diversify.

Recently, for example, I took the speech-writing tools I built for the wedding industry and repurposed them, with some adjustments, to help people looking to write eulogies and graduation speeches.

This allowed me to create additional passive income streams without starting from scratch (starting to notice a theme?).

5. Set time boundaries to force better business decisions

I always thought being an entrepreneur meant you had to hustle 24/7. But I’ve found that this mindset causes burnout and actually hurts productivity in the long run. Now that I only work 20 to 25 hours a week, I have to ruthlessly evaluate which activities generate income versus those that just fill my calendar.

I only do phone calls one day a week and set 15-minute limits to each one. When I’m in my work hours, I block social media and news websites. I say no to events, meetings, or busy work that isn’t pushing my specific goals forward.

Having less time available forced me to focus on what truly moved the needle rather than getting caught up in tasks that felt productive but didn’t pay. I get more done working a third of the hours I did in the past.

Jen Glantz is the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, the author of ”Finally the Bride: Finding Love after Walking down Everyone Else’s Aisle,” and the creator of The Pick-Me-Up newsletter. Follow her adventures on Instagram @jenglantz.

Psychologist: If you say ‘no’ to 4 questions, you may be unhappy in your relationship—without realizing

Many of us already know the components of a healthy relationship — things like strong communication, total honesty, and unwavering commitment. But most people don’t actually know what these qualities look like in practice.

As a result, couples may find themselves in a miserable situation. Even worse, they don’t recognize it due to unhealthy habits like emotional numbing, suppression, or normalizing issues. When you’re stuck in familiarity and routine, it’s hard to stop and assess your feelings.

As a psychologist who studies couples, I often recommend a quick survey to couples. If you find yourself answering “no” to all the questions, there’s a chance you may be unhappy in your relationship, but not realize it.

1. Do you feel like you’re on the same team during conflict?

In relationships, conflict is both inevitable and necessary. But the way you fight matters more than what you’re fighting about. If it always feels like it’s you versus your partner, instead of the two of you versus the problem, it’s worth assessing why.

Research on conflict resolution shows that when both partners believe a disagreement is solvable, they’re more likely to find a way forward. But you can’t rely solely on optimism; you need a shared and clear-cut strategy. Otherwise, arguments can turn into emotional duels and over time lead to distance and resentment.

If your answer to this question is “no,” ask yourself: “What are we fighting for?” If the answer isn’t the relationship itself, sit down together to discuss and reestablish what it really means to be a team.

2. Can you be your most authentic self around your partner?

The healthiest relationships give you room to breathe. To laugh loudly, ugly cry, make a mess, and be weird. Research notes that people who feel secure in expressing themselves in authentic, unrefined ways are more likely to engage in healthier relationship behaviors.

If you have to constantly remind yourself to suppress parts of your personality, you’ll slowly start to lose invaluable parts of your identity.

If you answered “no” here, you need to pause and reflect. You deserve to be with someone who doesn’t flinch when they’re met with your most real, honest self. Great partners see this as a special privilege. It shouldn’t feel like something that has to be “tolerated.”

3. Are they genuinely curious about your inner world?

In the early wooing stages, curiosity comes naturally. You want to know everything about each other — what they’re thinking, how they see the world, what makes them tick. But later on, that curiosity can dwindle.

Research asserts that curiosity is a fundamental tool for emotional intimacy. If your partner stops asking questions about your thoughts, feelings, or experiences, they’ll never get to know the new versions of you that are born each and every day.

A “no” to this question could suggest that your relationship is running on autopilot. A partner who’s truly invested in you will keep asking, keep listening, and keep learning about who you are.

4. Do they take accountability when they mess up?

Mistakes don’t matter nearly as much as how they’re handled in the aftermath. Does your partner own up to their faults and try to make things right? Or do they dodge responsibility, get defensive, and turn the blame onto you?

Research on conflict repair teaches us that even the smallest gestures — acknowledging a mistake, offering a sincere apology, or even using humor — can stop an argument from spiraling. But when accountability is absent, you’ll eventually start questioning whether you can trust each other at all.

If your partner never takes ownership, or if they consistently make you feel like the “difficult” one for bringing up a concern, it might be time to regroup and reconsider what’s keeping you invested. Honesty, humility, and a genuine desire to do better should be a bilateral norm in a relationship.

Mark Travers, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in relationships. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, a telehealth company that provides online psychotherapy, counseling, and coaching. He is also the curator of the popular mental health and wellness website, Therapytips.org.

Minimum wage just went up in places across 7 states and Washington, D.C.—it’s $20.24/hr in one city

Workers across the United States are getting a raise this week after minimum wage increases took effect across several states and localities Tuesday.

The wage increases are expected to affect more than 880,000 workers this summer as minimum wage laws take effect in areas including Alaska, Oregon, Washington, D.C. and certain cities in California and Washington state, according to a report by The Economic Policy Institute.

In Everett, Washington, a city just north of Seattle, companies with more than 500 employees are now required to pay a minimum of $20.24 an hour. In Alaska, the statewide minimum wage is now $13.00 an hour, up from $11.91 — meaning a full-time, year-round worker in Alaska will receive an average annual wage increase of $925, according to the report.

Nationally, the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, but in many areas, state and local governments have enacted higher minimums.

A full-time worker in every U.S. county would need to earn at least $17 an hour to afford basic expenses such as housing, food, transportation and health care, according to The Economic Policy Institute’s family budget calculator.

Where minimum wage increases went into effect on July 1

Alaska

Statewide increase to $13 (from $11.91)

California

Alameda (city): $17.46 (from $17)
Berkeley: $19.18 (from $18.67)
Emeryville: $19.90 (from $19.36)
Fremont: $17.75 (from $17.30)
Los Angeles (city): $17.87 (from $17.28)
Los Angeles (county): $17.81 (from $17.27)
Milpitas: $18.20 (from $17.70)
Pasadena: $18.04 (from $17.50)
San Francisco: $19.18 (from $18.67)
Santa Monica: $17.81 (from $17.27)

District of Columbia

Increase to $17.95 from $17.50
Tipped minimum wage: $12 (from $10)

Illinois

In Chicago:

Increased to $16.60 (from $16.20) for employers with four or more employees
Tipped minimum wage: $12.62 (from $11.20)

Maryland

In Montgomery County:

Employers with 10 or fewer employees: $15.50 (from $15)
Employers with 11 to 50 employees: $16 (from $15.50)
Employers with 51 or more employees: $17.65 (from $17.15)

Minnesota

In Saint Paul:

Employers with six to 100 employees: $15 (from $14)
Employers with five or fewer employees: $13.25 (from $12.25)

Oregon

Standard: $15.05 (from $14.70)
Portland metro area: $16.30 (from $15.95)
Nonurban counties: $14.05 (from $13.70)

Washington

Everett: Employers with 15 to 500 employees increased to $18.24 (from $16.66). Employers with more than 500 employees increased to $20.24 (from $16.66).
Renton: Employers with more than 500 employees increased to $19.90 (from $18.90)
Tukwila: Employers with 15 to 500 employees increased to $21.10 (from $20.10)

CEO: I’ve invested in over 100 startup founders under age 25—the No. 1 predictor of their success

Josh Browder says the most successful entrepreneurs under age 25 all share a single common trait.

Browder, 28, is an entrepreneur in his own right: He’s the founder of online legal services company DoNotPay, which was most recently valued at $210 million in 2021, according to Bloomberg. He’s also a startup investor with his own investment firm, Browder Capital, who says he’s financially backed “over 100 entrepreneurs below the age of 25 who are, by virtue of [their] company, millionaires.”

The “biggest thing” that correlates to success among those founders is a “deep connection” to the problem that their startup is working to solve, says Browder. When examining potential investing opportunities, Browder says he looks for founders with enough inherent passion for the area they’re working on to withstand the rigors and inevitable setbacks of building a successful startup.

“A lot of being an entrepreneur is like eating glass,” he says, adding: “If they don’t have a true connection to the problem, they’re going to give up. So I look for signals that they really care about what they’re building.” The philosophy is relatively common logic for early-stage startup investors, who often make bets with limited data on whether companies will grow and succeed.

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Browder’s investment firm raised $30 million in May from investors including Sequoia Capital to invest in young tech founders, Bloomberg reported at the time. Entrepreneurs under age 30 are more likely to be intensely passionate about the problem they’re looking to solve, Browder says.

They’re “much more energetic [and] ambitious,” he says. “The world is changing so quickly that these young entrepreneurs are passionate about ideas and if they don’t pursue it today, they’ll never get a chance to pursue it.”

He points to a couple of startups in his investment portfolio as examples. One of them, a luxury short-term rental platform called Wander, was founded by an entrepreneur named John Andrew Entwistle — but it was actually Entwistle’s first startup, Coder, that caught Browder’s eye, he says.

Coder, which makes open-source tools for software developers, and has reportedly raised at least $80 million in total funding. Its three co-founders met in high school, made money together building plug-ins and servers for Minecraft players, and founded their company to build the sorts of developer tools they wished they’d had as teens, TechCrunch reported in June 2024.

Another startup in Browder’s portfolio, Owner.com — which reached a $1 billion valuation in May by building business software for restaurant owners and other small businesses — was inspired by co-founder Adam Guild’s experience watching his mother struggle to grow her own dog-grooming business, Browder notes.

He invested in Owner.com in 2018, struck by Guild’s conviction and personal connection to the business, he says: “He instantly struck me as one of the top 0.1% people. I thought, ‘This is just such a powerful story. I have to find some way to invest in him.’”

Ultimately, Browder avoids investing in founders who don’t seem to be committed to their business for the long haul, he says.

“A lot of people are just building companies to get it on their resume and things like that … Just having them care deeply about the problem puts them in the top 20% [of potential investments],” says Browder.

Browder’s comments echo those of billionaire entrepreneur and startup investor Mark Cuban, who’s long been adamant that founders should be extremely passionate about their businesses from the very beginning — rather than thinking about how much money they could eventually make by selling their stake.

“Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love,” Cuban wrote in a 2012 column for Entrepreneur, adding: “If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.”

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Josh Browder invested in short-term rental platform Wander, run by John Andrew Entwistle. A previous version of this article misidentified the platform.