‘I wish I knew this earlier’: Viewers defend worker for saying you should never give 100% when starting a new job

Everyone wants their boss to think they’re a hard worker. But according to one career coach, there’s a smart way to go about doing so.

Going by the username @badass.careers, she explained why workers shouldn’t pour everything into their job after first starting. As of Tuesday afternoon, her video had more than 329,000 views. 

@badass.careers Starting a new role? Don’t give it 110%. Sounds counterintuitive because you want to impress your new manager, right? Wrong. Giving 100% in the first weeks or months of a role sets an unsustainable precedent for your baseline normal work capacity. Instead, start at the 85-95% effort and save the ‘all in’ mode for when you *really* need it. Have you made this mistake in a new role before? Let’s chat about it in the comments. #corporateculture #newhire #newjob #workethic #workplaceculture ♬ original sound - Badass Careers

The TikTok was posted as a stitch, in which another content creator recommended that new workers slowly increase their productivity at work versus jumping right into working extra hard.

“This person is 100% correct,” @badass.careers said in response.  

In her own video, @badass.careers said that workers are responsible for teaching their employers how to treat them with dignity and respect. The best way to go about doing that, she said, is to set realistic expectations from the get-go.

“If you are pulling extra hours, saying yes to everything, going above and beyond 110% straight out the gate, that’s actually going to become your baseline normal,” she warned. “That’s damn hard to sustain.”

Instead, @badass.careers advised workers to increase their workplace productivity over time.

“Stick to about 80% to 95% and then get that 100% to 110% out for important presentations,” she said. “Or, if your team is in crisis mode.”

@badass.careers also said that workers may suffer burnout if they work too hard—or in an unsustainable way. 

Many viewers said that they agreed with her advice. Some even shared their own horror stories about working too hard, too soon. 

“My last job was insane. A few months in, I was doing the work of 3 people and had responsibilities my colleagues didn’t even know about,” one user shared.

“Love this!” another said. “Omg I always would go 110% at first to prove myself and then feel pressure to keep it up and not know how to turn it down.”

"I wish I knew this earlier,” a third viewer said.

TikTok has become a home for plenty of useful work advice. One content creator, in May, went viral after sharing her tip about a remote job at CVS that apparently paid $34 an hour. Another creator, meanwhile, raked in views for a video that gave tips on how to land remote jobs. 

The Daily Dot has reached out to @badass.careers via TikTok comment.

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