The 80-95% rule: Not giving 100% in a new job could actually make you more successful

But one career coach has turned that mentality on its head and insists giving 100% to a new job is a recipe for disaster.

The TikTok user @badass.careers, a career fulfillment & job search coach who claims to have over 13 years in HR under her belt, warned high-achieving new starters that they’re setting the bar for their future career at the company unrealistically high.

“Sounds counterintuitive because you want to impress your new manager, right? Wrong,” she captioned the video which has captured over 340,000 viewers.

Save your energy for when you really need it

“You teach people how to treat you,” she began while explaining that your first few weeks in the role will set the precedent for your work capacity. 

So if you don’t want your new boss to expect you to pull overtime shifts often or take on more than you can physically do in a working day, @badass.careers suggests avoiding signaling that you’re up for that 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, she recommends setting out how you expect to continue by only putting in about 80% to 95% of your energy into the new job. 

Then you can dial up your efforts to 100% or more when you really need to. “For important presentations, or if your team is in crisis mode,” @badass.careers says.

“If you’re firing on all cylinders all of the time, you’re just going to end up burned out. Protect your energy and you’ll perform better at work [in the] long-term.”

Giving 100% early on: The pros and cons

The notion that new hires should reign in their efforts for career longevity resonated with many viewers who felt like they’d over-delivered in previous new roles before getting burned out. 

“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,” one user wrote.

“I wished i saw this 8 months ago when i started my new job,” another chimed while adding that they have now been left struggling to impress their manager. “I am told I am not performing “at my capacity” and “inconsistently”.”

Another pointed out that you’re often expected to set higher targets as you progress—so a new hire giving their all into a new role risks having to work harder than the upper limit they’re already operating at.

“I went with 100%, they asked for 150%, then 200% ,” they explained. “Now I’m on 14, 16 hours a day [and] doing 2 managers’ workload.”

But others disagreed, insisting that making a good impression pays off.

“When you start a new job, you are constantly under observation and this is the right time to demonstrate that you were the right person for that job,” one user wrote, while another added: “I got a promotion after 3 months by firing up straight away.”

Contrary to @badass.careers theory, another user explained that putting in the work early on generated trust with their boss and actually enabled them to dial back their efforts over time—rather than leading to the proverbial bar being set too high and eventually, burnout.

“I found the 110% effort put in the first 6 months built the equity to come and go as needed without anyone batting an eyelid,” they wrote.