How to Describe Your Typical Work Week in an Interview

How to Describe Your Typical Work Week in an InterviewHow to Describe Your Typical Work Week in an InterviewWhat do you do at work all day? This is a common question asked at job interviews, and its your chance to show that your experience matches the job requirements and that you have the personalqualities the company looks for in its employees. How to Prepare a Response Consider the position you are applying for and how your current or past positions relate to it. Make a list of some of the key tasks you do in a typical work week. Review your list and check off the tasks that match the requirements of the position youre seeking. Focus on those tasks when answering this question. Take a close look at the job description, and make a list of two or three of the qualities the employer seems to be looking for in an applicant. The company may stress organizational skills or someone who gets along well with others. Make sure that your answer to this question emphasizes how you demonst rate those key qualities regularly at your current job. The mora you can connect your past experience with the job opening, the better you will be at answering the question. Tips for Answering You dont want to recite your workday hour by hour. Focus on a few main tasks, and describe briefly how you go about them. If the new job requires someone who is extremely organized, emphasize tasks that demonstrate just how you stay organized. Make your answers as specific as possible by providing real-life examples. For instance, if you say that you work with the sales team to address pressing customer service issues, cite an issue that came up and how you addressed it. If you have a job where every day is very similar, provide a more detailed look at one day, and explain that most days follow a similar pattern. What Not to Say It should be obvious that its not a good idea to talk about non-work related activitiesthat you do on company time, but applicants have been known to chat abou t how they are often late to work or they like to take long lunch breaks to work out at the gym. Sample Answers These samples can give you an idea of the kind of information you need to convey to a job interviewer. During a typical work week, one of my biggest tasks is checking in on my staff and assessing progress on various projects. I like to meet first thing on Mondays to discuss our priorities for the week, then meet again in the middle of the week to check progress, and once at the end of the week to discuss goal setting for the next week. I meet with smaller groups of my staff in the middle of the week to troubleshoot any issues. For example, during a recent mid-week meeting, I noticed one team was a few days behind on a long-term project. I met with the team and, together, we came up with a strategy for increasing efficiency. I also attend a weekly meeting where I present my departments progress to the executive board. On Fridays, I make sure all tasks are completed and Ive sent all the necessary communications via email and in person. Finally, I create a list of priorities for next week. As an in-school social worker, my schedule varies widely every day. I spend most of my time in session with my clients. Typically these are one-on-one counseling sessions, but I also run group sessions. I also spend a few hours of everyday training, observing, and providing feedback for my social work interns. So about half of my time is spent working directly with clients, and a quarter of my time is spent working with my interns. Much of the rest of the time is spent working directly with the school administration, attending and helping run meetings related to student progress and curriculum development. I also have to complete paperwork on my clients, meet with teachers to check in on particular students needs, and set goals for the following week. Most days I get into the office early to make sure everything is ready for our first patients. That includes walki ng the doctor through his schedule and looking through the office scheduling ordnungsprinzip to check for any changes. I do a similar task at the end of the day, responding to any messages in our scheduling system and walking the doctor through the plan for the next day. My duties include assisting patients, both in person and on the phone. I schedule their appointments and help address any issues. Many of our patients call with concerns that I can deal with immediately. The pattern is similar most days of the week, though I also lead a weekly staff training seminar on a variety of topics, ranging from effective communication with patients to new health protocols. I volunteered for that responsibility as a way to improve my leadership and presentation skills.