Department of Justice Mock Interview
Practice 30 Department of Justice interview questions covering legal reasoning, ethics, and public service commitment.
Question 10 of 30
If you were assigned more work than you could handle, what would you do?
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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
Your interviewers want to get a sense of the level of importance you place on communication. In a high-pressure, fast-paced environment where you might encounter a lot of demands, you might run the danger of taking on more than you can accomplish--setting yourself up for failure. This will allow your interviewer to assess how well you hold yourself accountable, as well as the scope of your project management and time management skills. It will also give them insight into your work style and how you deal with stressful situations.
Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
With the example you offer, turn your failures into success. Focus on the positives. If you grew from the experience and had positive takeaways, such as analytically examining what went wrong and learning what you could do next time to succeed, then the glass is half full. Attitude is everything.
Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"Early on, I wanted to display myself as an overachiever by taking on anything and everything on my own. But I realized this was hurting my performance more than it was helping. My supervisors were distributing the workload based on what every member of the team promised to deliver. But when one person takes on too much, the load needs to be redistributed. That hurts the big picture and sets everyone behind. Once I realized this, I took on fewer responsibilities. Then, when I'd finish early with high-quality results, I'd step up to help wherever I was needed."
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I would discuss my caseload and offer a few solutions to my supervisor. I visualize the quality of my work as a trifecta where the 1st aspect is detail orientation, 2nd is timeliness, and the 3rd is the quantity of work - Where one aspect often needs to be compromised in order to complete my tasks. My conversation with my supervisor would discuss which aspects of the work she prioritizes and I would adjust my workflow accordingly.
Jaymie's Feedback
These are great ways to deconflict your workload. It's important that you remain calm and can communicate in a professional and constructive manner, as you've demonstrated in your response.
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