How to Answer: What do you find most and least enjoyable about your work?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Department of Energy job interview.
5. What do you find most and least enjoyable about your work?
Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
The interviewer asks this question to understand what motivates you, what distracts you, and what kind of work environment might suit you best. Someone who has a lot of negative things to say about their last position might feel that way about their workplace, no matter where they are. Therefore, one's answer often stands to offer what one's general attitude towards life is.
Written by Kevin Downey on May 6th, 2022
How to Answer
Remain professional and strategic in your answers. Keep your answer focused on the positives and what you loved about your last job. With what you liked least, be honest, but stay focused on the positives. Don't hold everyone you work with to unrealistic standards or expectations. Don't bad mouth the staff or how they do things there. Instead, exhibit flexibility and a willingness to learn and grow.
Written by Kevin Downey on May 6th, 2022
Answer Example
"I loved everyone I worked with, and I enjoyed the work itself. I felt grateful that the workplace ended up adopting several of my systems to improve workflow and prevent rework. The thing I liked least was the water cooler. The cliche rang true, and everybody used it as a place to hang around with their hands in their pockets. That or they'd take smoke breaks around the clock, giving them twenty ten-minute breaks throughout the day. Not me. I get antsy when I'm not feeling productive. Also, it's an issue of integrity. I'm not a smoker, but even if I was, I'd feel guilty working the system to get paid to smoke cigarettes. I would use no such means as a vehicle to abuse the system. But that's just me."
Written by Kevin Downey on May 6th, 2022