“What would your perfect day at work look like?”
Even if you do everything you can to prepare for your interview, you might be asked hard questions. “Describe your perfect workday” is an interesting question that some employers ask. This lets them know what you’re looking for in a job. If you think about how you’ll answer this question ahead of time, you’ll seem more confident and show the interviewer that you’re qualified for the job. This article gives you instructions and examples to help you answer the interview question, “Describe your perfect day at work.” perfect day at work look like?”
Why do employers ask you to describe your perfect work day?
Employers want to know what you want to do with your career by asking you to describe your perfect day at work. Your answer will show what’s important to you and why you go to work. If a candidate talks about things that are important to the company, they may have a better chance of getting the job. Your answer gives you a chance to show what tasks you usually do, which shows employers that you are a good fit for the job.
How to answer “Describe your perfect day at work” in an interview.
To answer the interview question, “Describe your ideal day at work,” do these things:
1. Find out what is being asked of you.
Interviewers may ask this question in different ways, like “Tell me about the best day on the job you’ve ever had” or “Describe your perfect day.” Interviewers usually want to hear about your career, no matter how they ask the question. Try to answer in a professional way, even if they don’t tell you to talk about work. You can talk about your work goals and responsibilities instead of your hobbies or time with family and friends.
2. Think about your goals at work
The next thing to do is to think about your career goals. People often think about their long-term goals, such as getting a raise or a promotion. You can also keep track of smaller goals that help you finish your weekly tasks or make you feel good about your work. You could, for example, want to meet your daily quota or give great customer service.
Many people answer “Describe your perfect workday” by talking about their career goals. If you want to be as clear as possible, you can start your answer by saying what goal motivates you to do the things you have to do every day. For example, you could say, “My ideal workday is one in which I can reach my goal of providing great customer service.” Then you can talk about what you are doing to help reach this goal.
3. Read over the job description.
You might want to look at the job description as you think about your answer. You can figure out what the employer wants and answer with the main duties. For example, a job description for a marketing job might say that candidates need to know how to handle social media. You could say that your perfect day at work would involve doing research to get more people involved. This answer shows that you can do the things on the job description and that you want to get more customers for the company.
4. Learn what the company is all about.
Try to find out what the company stands for in addition to looking at the job description. You can check out the company’s website, read what people are saying about it on social media, or talk to people who already work there. You’ll probably find important values like work ethic, honesty, and a desire to make customers happy. Employers often want to hire people who have the same values as them because they are more likely to work toward the same goals.
Imagine a person who wants to run a store. In their answer, they can say that they want to work for a company that cares about the environment and shares this value. In addition to making sure the store is safe and taking care of customers, their perfect workday could include putting in place policies that help the store reduce its impact on the environment.
5. Talk about your past experience
If the interviewer asks, “Tell me about the best day you’ve ever had at work,” it’s easy to talk about your past jobs. Even if they don’t say it this way, you can talk about a perfect day at work you’ve already had. Instead of focusing on a hypothetical situation, this method lets you show employers that you are comfortable with the duties of the job. Say you are interviewing for a job in engineering and this question comes up. You can say that you had a perfect day at your last job because you worked well with your team and came up with a creative idea for a new project.
6. Go in chronological order
Try to tell the story of your perfect day at work in a logical way. This method helps you think about all the ways you can reach your goals and organize your answer in a logical way. You could say, for example, that you read your clients’ emails first thing in the morning to show that you care about them. In the later part of your perfect workday, you could say that you work alone for a couple of hours to show how hard you work to meet your quota.
Sample answers to the question, “Describe your ideal day at work.”
Here are some ways to answer this question in an interview:
Example 1: A grocery store worker
“My ideal day at work is one where I can help customers in a great way. First, the store would be set up so that all of the displays look good. I would also make sure I had enough time to help customers find the products they want and make suggestions. From my own experience, I’ve learned that these small things make customers feel appreciated and make it more likely that they’ll come back.”
Example 2: Construction manager
“I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of perfect days at work. My ideal workdays are usually pretty easy, so I can encourage teamwork and see the results of my crew’s hard work. I would start the day by giving instructions to the crew and asking if anyone has any questions or concerns. I would keep helping them all day by directly supervising them and doing office work. Even though most people don’t like to manage budgets and read contracts, I know I have to do these things to keep my crew safe and productive.”
Example 3: Business consultant
“I got into this field because I was good at doing more than one thing at a time, and I love days when I can use this skill. I remember a time when I had to meet with more than one client at the same time. Even though I had a lot on my plate, I was happy to help different businesses get better at what they did. We talked about what they needed for their project when I met with my first client. I paid attention to them the whole time. Later, I got together with a different client to make a hiring budget and plan.”
