We all have preferences when it comes to our working environment. Some people thrive in the office while others are perfectly content working from home in their pajamas. Some people work great with meetings all day while others are much more comfortable with email for practically everything. That’s why one of the questions that might come up in your next interview is “what is your ideal work environment?”
In general, this interview question is designed to determine what type of work environment you thrive in, and how conducive this job role is to that vision. It can take on a few different forms, but they’re all attempting to answer the same core question.
Why Do They Ask This Question
As you progress throughout your interview, you’re going to get the opportunity to glean what the company’s work culture is like in the job role that you’re applying to. So consider how important it is to you how similar your ideal work environment is compared to the environment you’ll be expected to work in daily. If you’re a laid-back person and the thought of multitasking stresses you out, picking a job where you have to take on 30 tasks every morning is going to be a nightmare for you.
In the same way that you would benefit from having a work environment that matches your personality, the company you’re applying to benefits from having employees who thrive in their type of work environment. Taking on those 30 tasks each morning might be stressful for you, but it also will likely lead to reduced productivity on your part. That’s the primary driver behind them asking this question.
Just like you, the interviewer is extremely interested in making sure that you will be the most productive you can be in the given work environment. They want to see if your ideal work environment is the same as the work environment at this company, and more specifically, this team.
Reality vs Interview Response
Going into this job interview, you should have an understanding of your ideal work conditions. If you’ve never thought about it, take some time and really start to think about what it is you value in a working environment and what you’d consider your ideal workspace. Do you love having well-structured work days or is flexibility a priority? Are meetings your thing or should everything be done by email? Knowing what environment you truly work best in is something that everybody should have at least a few ideas about.
I’m a proponent of being honest in job interviews. You being open and honest throughout your interview is the best way for you and the interviewer to understand if you’ll actually be a good fit for the position. Incidentally, being honest is the best way to make your real personality shine throughout the interview, which is generally going to win you some points. This question is one of the exceptions to that general rule of honesty because nobody cares about your actual ideal work environment. IT’S A TRAP!
Okay more like a test, but I couldn’t resist the urge. (-10 points if you didn’t read that as Admiral Ackbar.)
The interviewer(s) are asking this question for one reason, they’re trying to figure out if their working environment is conducive to the one you see yourself in. They want to see If you’re the kind of person who would work well at this company based on their current structure.
So Whether or not you truly consider this company’s work environment “ideal”, the vibe you want to give off with this answer is that your ideal work environment aligns perfectly with this company’s work environment and that you’d be able to hit the ground running and adapt well. My overall career advice to you would be to make sure that you actually would fit in well with this company, and that you would be comfortable in the working environment of the job you’re applying to.
By the end of the interview, you should really be able to grasp what your day-to-day working environment might look like and see if it’s the kind of place you want to spend 40+ hours a week. How does this company’s work culture and environment fit what you’re looking for in a job? This should impact whether or not you’d even take the job offer if it was given to you. But here’s the thing, at the end of the day that’s a personal decision that you’ll only get to make if you’ve got the job offer! So let’s talk about how to answer this question properly in the interview so you can actually make that decision.
How To Craft Your Answer
This answer to this interview question is really going to be a little different at every interview, and that’s for two reasons:
- Everybody has different ideal work conditions.
- The general work environment of the job you’re applying to.
Sure that first one seems obvious; your ideal working conditions are going to be different than my ideal working conditions. Even if you’re planning to share what work environment you work best in, you’ll benefit from the second reason your answer is going to be different each time, and that’s because the work environment for the job you’re applying to is going to change.
This matters because the best answer to this question is going to line up with the work environment of the company you’re applying to. More specifically, your answer should line up with the specific team you’re applying to. It’s for that reason that it’s really incumbent upon you throughout your interview to be asking the right questions and gauge what that work environment is like. Sure it’s going to help you know if you’ll thrive, but arguably just as important, it’ll allow you to modify your response to this interview question on the fly. Although you’ll want to identify some of the most important parts of the work environment that you should add to your answer, there are a few good generic bullets that will be good a good place to start your answer.
For example, you should be comfortable working closely with others. You should be comfortable communicating with your manager and team. You should be comfortable learning new skills and comfortable getting things completed by their due date. These aren’t particularly difficult things to be comfortable with and are going to be pretty universal traits the interviewer would like to hear from you.
There are a dozen ways you could go about answering the question “what is your ideal work environment” but the bottom line is whatever the hiring company’s working environment is, is what your dream working environment answer should be. That is the CORRECT answer to the interview question, that their working environment is your ideal working environment.
Key Takeaways
In general, there are two things that will affect your answer to this interview question:
- Everybody has different ideal work conditions.
- The general work environment of the job you’re applying to.
At the end of the day though, what they want to hear is that your ideal work environment is very similar to the current working environment at the company you’re applying to. If you can make those two environments match up, you’re much more likely to receive a job offer than if they were very different.
Your response to this question isn’t likely to make or break your job prospects, though it’s just one of many that you’ll face at your next job interview. If you want more breakdowns on all of the most common interview questions, check out more articles under ‘Interview Prep’, or even better! Check out my YouTube Channel where I create video breakdowns of all of the most common interview questions. If you enjoy the content, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel where I’m releasing content weekly that will help you find your dream career, and help you land the job you deserve.