How to Talk About Your Work Speed
Preparing for a job search is important if you want to show potential employers that you are a good candidate. Most of the time, interviewers have questions ready about how fast candidates work to see if they are a good fit for the job. You can show that you are a good fit by showing that your work speed is the same as or faster than what the employer wants. In this article, we talk about what working pace is and how to answer a question about how fast you work if it comes up in an interview.
How does work pace work?
How quickly you do the things you have to do at work is your work pace. Depending on where they work, how much their clients need them, or how many clients they serve, an employee’s pace may change.
People usually work in one of three ways:
- Steady: Working steadily at a moderate pace
- Peak is a busy time when clients or management ask you to do a lot.
- Slow: A relaxed pace where you don’t have many or any things to do.
- No matter how fast or slow you work, your boss expects you to keep track of time and meet deadlines.
Why would anyone want to know how quickly I work?
When potential employers ask you how fast you work, they want to know if you’d be a good fit for their company and how productive you are at work. For example, if a company just got new clients who want a lot of work done, it may want its new hires to work quickly or steadily.
How to talk about how fast work is done
When asked how fast you work, it’s important to show that you can meet deadlines and still do good work. Here are some things you can do to show that you can work at the right pace:
1. Put the focus on quality and consistency
How fast you work depends on two things: the quality of your work and how consistent it is. Quality work makes sure that there are no mistakes while tasks are being done, and consistency makes sure that deadlines are always met. Consider talking about how the way you like to work lets you keep quality and consistency. If the job you want involves managing a project or a team, try to show how your speed matches up with what is usually expected when working with others to reach goals.
2. Make sure it’s clear how you’ll do your work.
When answering questions about how quickly you work, it’s also important to talk about how you get good results.
- Getting help from other team members to make things better
- Having regular short meetings instead of random ones
- Putting things in order according to how important or urgent they are
- Sharing information with colleagues about quality standards
- By breaking up big projects into smaller tasks and setting daily goals to finish each one,
Getting things done quickly so they can be better
If your job has standard ways to measure success, like the number of sales you make or the number of new clients you bring in, you might want to talk about how you reach those goals. No matter what you do, you have to show how your speed fits in with the way you work and the quality of your work.
3. Be honest about your pace
Many companies have honesty as a core value, and if you’re new to the company, being honest can help you fit in with the culture. For instance, telling an interviewer the truth when you say you work quickly, even when you’re juggling multiple tasks, can show how valuable your speed is and help you get a job based on merit and honesty.
Consider showing the interviewer how your honesty affects other parts of your work, such as:
- allowing you to get to work on time and keep working during your shift
- Getting ready to deal with new problems
- Keeping what you say you’ll do
- Handling disagreements in a professional way
- Taking ownership of what you do
- Keeping rules about privacy in place
4. Show how things have worked in the past.
It can also help to give a few examples of how your work pace was important to things you’ve done in the past. You can talk about times when you were able to finish urgent projects or handle work-related emergencies quickly and before the deadline because of how fast you worked. Also, try to show how your speed helps you finish projects without making mistakes.
5. Show that you want to know more.
As an employee, you can show how much you care about your job and how quickly you can work by:
- Taking on more jobs.
- Getting interested in ordinary things
- Developing habits that help the business
- Getting excited about both small and big wins
Think about your skills and how fast you work to figure out if the work environment is right for you. To be a strong candidate, you need to know if you work well in fast-paced and demanding environments or in slower-paced jobs that give you more freedom.
Some answers about how fast work gets done
Here are some things you can say to your boss when he or she asks how fast you work:
Question about keeping a steady pace
“I work at a steady pace, which lets me finish projects early because I can make a schedule that works for me. For example, when I had a big project that would take me months to finish, I broke it down into short-term and long-term goals and then made a schedule. I kept crossing off the goals as I met them, and I was still able to do my other work. I finished the project a couple of weeks early.”
This answer shows that you can keep up a steady pace if you plan ahead and break up tasks into chunks that are easy to handle. Employers usually want to hire people who can think ahead and get things done on time.
About soft skills, answer
“I work hard and never put things off. My boss told me that as a sales representative, I had to make at least 50 calls a day and do a number of other things. I made calls in between my other tasks because I like to do a lot of things at work at once. My method helped me finish each job on time and well. I won my company’s Salesperson of the Year award four years in a row because I could do more than one thing at once and worked quickly overall.”
This answer shows that the person is hardworking and can do more than one thing at a time, which are often important soft skills for certain jobs. Other soft skills include adaptability, time management, making decisions, and creative thinking.
How to talk about a job well done
“I can get good work done on time and do it well. I’m in charge of writing our monthly newsletter, which I usually finish a week before the deadline so I can check for mistakes and make changes before it goes out. My coworkers and bosses can confirm that there are no mistakes in my periodicals.”
This answer is good because it focuses on quality and gives a concrete example of a candidate’s work. The candidate talks about how the pace of their work gives them time to check for mistakes and make sure their submissions are error-free.
Questions and answers about customer service
“I love working in a busy restaurant because it gives me a chance to learn how to manage my time and give great service. I always work at the right speed, even when the restaurant is busy. At my last job, my boss asked me and a few other coworkers to plan a corporate event where 100 people would meet and talk in the main dining room. I was also in charge of the staff and the bar on the second floor during that event. We were able to give our guests and regular customers great service by staying organized and giving tasks to other people.”
This answer shows that, even though planning a big event was hard, the candidate gave great customer service to their clients. Employers often want to know if a candidate can manage their time well and do more than one thing at once.
