Agreed. I'm not sure what this "culture" talk is. I've been in the bay area for a decade now and have worked at a small YC startup with a modest exit, a big-ish company that got acquired, and a bigger company that's gone public.

In all cases each company talks up it's "culture" - to me it's just a phrase that elicits an eye-roll.

Another commenter suggested you look for a "typical 9-to-5", but even there I'm sure they'd talk up their amazing culture.

Not having to think about work 24/7 is culture. You need to look for a job where that is part of the culture.

That in itself is a perfectly valid culture - e.g. happy and relaxed employees who actually want to come into work in the morning are probably more useful than even extremely clever people bored out of their minds being berated by egotistical managers.

Ok technically yes but I can almost guarantee any company discussing culture is not one that tends toward the more relaxed/happy end of the spectrum.

Agree. Professionalism is what I look for in a company, not culture.

> How about none at all?

This is like saying I don't want to have any behavior.

Every company has a culture. The difference is whether you are aware of it and working on it or not.

Alright well take a look a job postings and I bet more often than not the word culture will be beside the word rockstar. Typically that means they want you to live/breath their "culture" 24/7. I rarely see the term when the job actually has a decent work/life balance.