How to Answer: What is your philosophy regarding work-life balance?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Human Rights Watch job interview.
2. What is your philosophy regarding work-life balance?
How to Answer
Nonprofit work relies on the tenacity and dedication of limited staff to accomplish big missions. The majority of staff work overtime hours if the organization allows it or take work home with them on occasion. Talk to the interviewer about how frequently you take your work home. It is important to show your willingness to take work home on occasion, but it is also important to show your personal views on maintaining a work-life balance.
Written by Isaiah Swanson on January 7th, 2022
Focus Your Answer On
The most important point to make here is that you will work as efficiently as possible to ensure that you will complete all of your required tasks within the allotted time. Highlighting your time management skills is critical in an interview for a nonprofit position.
Written by Isaiah Swanson on January 7th, 2022
1st Answer Example
"I utilize my work hours very efficiently, so the only time that I take my work home is when there is an extremely stringent deadline. In my current position, I rarely take work home except during the holidays when our large fundraising event required extra hours of preparation and travel to different locations around town procuring items for the silent auction. It's all about being diligent with your time in the office!"
Written by Isaiah Swanson on January 7th, 2022
2nd Answer Example
"I value a strong balance between work and home life. From my perspective, a healthy personal life refreshes me for the work I do during the week. If I get enough sleep, spend with family, and prepare healthy meals, I will be more focused on and attentive to the work I am doing. However, I also know that sometimes last-minute assignments are unavoidable. There have been plenty of times in the past when I had to fulfill a rush request from a supervisor needing the profile of a qualified lead to meet our fundraising goal by our quarterly deadline. With proper time management, I was able to complete all of those requests, and I communicated to my supervisor the reasons I needed a few additional hours to work on this task from home."
Written by Isaiah Swanson on January 7th, 2022