Sometimes, a job interviewer will ask you, "What is your philosophy towards work?". What does this question mean?
The interviewer wants to know what values drive your day to day work. This is a personal "mission statement", not different from mission statements that companies have.
In a brief sentence, you should describe a work philosophy that embeds your values in a way that is related to the values of the company that is interviewing you.
Here are some examples (you can mix a few of these if you want to):
In my last job, we had one focus: making the customer happy. That rule was the center of our work philosophy, and it worked very well.
It takes months to find a customer and only a few seconds to lose one. Being friendly and attentive to customers' needs goes a long way to be successful in business.
I believe the difference between good work and great work is attention to detail. Whether I'm dealing with clients or completing projects, it's the details that make all the difference.
I'm a big believer in teamwork and collaboration. The whole is better than the sum of its parts, as they say. Working together for common goals has allowed me to be more successful.
My philosophy towards work is based on good leadership. It's my job to inspire my staff, to provide them with guidance, and to lead them by example. Only then can we reach our goals.
Starting from a young age, I've been committed to hard work. That's how my parents educated me, and it's a principle that rules my life. I believe hard work is the most important factor that leads to success.
The principle that guides my work is empathy and care for others. Being able to stand in other people's shoes is important when you need to help them.
Being accountable for one's work is the most important thing for me. I take ownership of my mistakes and like to be made accountable for my results. Accountability is my philosophy towards work.
My philosophy towards work is getting things done fast. Customers expect fast service and they want things now. I am very familiar working in fast-paced environments and think I could do a good job working for this company.
My most important quality is never giving up. Even when a job is hard, I keep going. I have good endurance and perseverance. I believe in myself and like to push towards my limits.
My number one rule in life is doing the right thing. Being ethical while getting the job done is an important value that I like to guide myself with.
Achievement is important in my personal life, but also in my career. When you get hired to do a job, you're expected to perform and to help deliver results. When I get hired, I understand my job is to help drive the company's bottom line.
I like to be efficient when doing my work. I don't waste time, money, or other resources. I approach work with a minimalist mindset. How can we do better while wasting fewer resources?
I value knowledge a lot. Keeping up to date with the latest trends is a way to make sure I get the job done well. Lifelong learning is a big part of my philosophy towards work and life.
A big part of my day-to-day work is coming up with ideas. Because of that, I value creativity a lot. It fuels innovation and prevents companies from being left behind. When you embrace creativity, you are investing in your future.
In my life, I've always taken big risks, including in my career. To do this job, you need to have audacity, to dream big, and to take risks or you'll lose the chance to win. That's my philosophy.
I value diversity in work. I have a diverse group of friends and really believe that companies become more successful when they are more diverse. This is because diverse companies can look at problems from different perspectives.
I try to be as adaptable as possible. In past jobs, I've always had to wear multiple hats and I believe the more adaptable a company is, the more likely it is to become successful in a fast-changing economy.