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Great Answers to Job Interview Questions

How important to you is your work/ life balance?

The answer to this is important, as much to you as it is to them. Make sure you do know what that balance should be before you go in. Here's a way of working that out - plus some suggestions to make them love your answer.

There's no point in just being a safe pair of hands for the job. That just puts you up with the others. Add some flair and evidence to your answers and you'll stand out.

Everyone is going to say that they're indeed looking for a balance and that their partner/children/interests blah, blah, blah are important as well as their career. Here's a quick process that'll help you to know what you really want and at the same time give you an interesting way of answering the question.

WORK OUT YOUR STARTING POINT

There are 168 hours in the week, of which you spend 56 in bed. This leaves 112 for living in. Draw a three-by-three matrix of nine square boxes and write an activity heading in each of them. The headings will include some of the following: friends, relationships, family, alone time, personal development, health, hobbies, leisure, creativity, work and any other areas of life that you enjoy or endure. If you need more squares just add them. Don't forget to add areas in which at the moment you do nothing but which you wish to get involved in.

Now list the number of hours in a typical week you spend in each of these areas, convert it to a percentage of 112 and write the percentage in the appropriate box.

That's your starting point. You may wish to check what you have written with your partner and a work colleague to make sure you're not indulging in wishful thinking. If the percentages are just what you want, well done; you just have to think through how to tell the interviewer this.

One person who did this exercise decided that he was spending too many hours watching television and too many hours working. The box that suffered from this was the one marked 'wife and family'. He resolved therefore to switch the TV off between Monday and Thursday. He told his boss he was only going to work late three evenings a week and that he was leaving each Wednesday and Friday at five o'clock. He started to take his wife out for dinner once a month and told his two sons that every other weekend they could have half a day of his time to do anything they wanted to do provided it didn't cost more than twenty dollars. He actually implemented a plan that was OK with his boss and delightful for his family.

PLAN THE SITUATION FOR THE FUTURE

Now look at the areas where you want to make adjustments. For every area whose percentage you increase you have to make a choice about which area you are going to reduce. Add in any activities that currently you don't do but have resolved to get started on. Now convert the percentages into hours and see if you believe you have a feasible plan.

That's the exercise. Now turn it into a brilliant answer to the question. It's probably a good idea to suggest you've gone through such a process. Tell them what the answer is. Watch their faces, though; some of them may be workaholics and think that's the only way for an ambitious person to be. Add a safety-first rider like, 'I think that when anyone starts a new job they probably have to work a lot of hours to get it under control; if necessary during that time I'll work all the hours God sends.' You can also point out that people who achieve a good work/life balance tend to be more effective at work. It's not just the hours you work; it's your attitude to getting things done.


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