[Timothee]

Maybe I'm just getting old and uptight but I find things like "unlimited amount of beer" to be a real turn-off. It has a feel of immaturity. "Yeah, let's get drunk! Woohoo!" Really?

It's not the first job ad where I see something along these lines. Sure it tells me that the culture is probably laid-back, but depending on how it's phrased, it can be sound very juvenile.

[seiji]

Frat-themed startup culture has been growing over the past few years. Drink lots, video game lots, hire a bunch of same-culture white guys, then before you know it you have a fully formed 5 hour energy bro-driven corporate culture. Except you're not corporate. You're startup chic.

[rdouble]

The startup scene in NYC is pretty "Bro" oriented.

[jrockway]

I like a beer to relax with coworkers after most of the workday is over. If I have one every day, that's 260 beers a year. Let's say it's good beer and we are buying in bulk, so each bottle costs $2. That's $520 a year for just one person. On a 10-person team where everyone has a couple beers each night, you'd be spending $10,400 on beer, which is a benefit worth mentioning.

You're not going to be drunk from two beers, either, so if you drink at work instead of going to a bar, a little more work has the opportunity to be done. All in all, a nice benefit for everyone.

If you don't drink alcohol, I'm sure they'll buy you an unlimited amount of Perrier or energy drinks or whatever else you want.

[Timothee]

Honestly, I don't mind or care about people drinking at work. I probably wouldn't mostly because beer makes me very sleepy.

But it's really a matter of phrasing.

"We typically have a couple of beers together at the end of the day" sounds much better than "we'll provide you with an unlimited amount of beer" and likely gives the intended image of the company culture. The former tells me that people like to relax together, the latter focuses on the beer you will have access to and incidentally on the dollar amount of that beer, not the social aspect of it.

[jonnathanson]

Perhaps, but then, "we typically have a couple of beers together at the end of the day" doesn't sound as novel or noteworthy as "we'll provide you with an unlimited amount of beer."

For better, or for worse, the "unlimited amount of beer" line is catchy. It's memorable. And it sends a very strong signal of the company's culture. That cultural signal will turn off quite a few would-be applicants, but it will attract many others. And isn't that the point of a well-thought-out job listing in the first place? You want to find people who'll kick ass at the job, but part of that ass-kicking is cultural fit. Perhaps a bigger part than many of us would admit at first blush. (In this particular case, they seem to be casting a line for New York hipsters. If that's what they want, great. If it's not, then they might want to rethink their listing).

Of course, there is certainly a way to take "startupy" culture too far. Recall the '90s tech scene, for instance. But that depends less on the culture in question, and more on whether or not the company is getting the results to back up the unique culture. A unique culture is pointless, and possibly even destructive, without productive results.

[sethbannon]

We do indeed, jrockway. If you'd like honest tea instead, you can have it.

[Sodel]

What's more, the prospect of once again working with a company that prides itself on unlimited beer is horrifying.

At my old job, we worked with a certain game development company at the behest of a larger publisher. They also had recently relocated... to an office directly above a pub with their own brewery.

On the one hand, I have a hard time believing that our bitter jokes were true, and that they actually were perpetually wasted; on the other hand, even just getting responses from them was a bit of an ordeal -- never mind getting even acknowledgement of the bugs that prevented us from continuing with our side of the "partnership". Not the most professional folk, and I can't see how the beer would help.

In the interest of not repeating that experience, I'd certainly want positive evidence that the unlimited beer didn't impede the company's performance or professionalism before I'd work with a company that prided itself on offering unlimited beer.