The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

A classmate just finished an interview. When we shared the interview course, he stood up and said: The interviewer asked me if I could accept overtime work. I felt that my answer was not good. What should I answer?

The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

It happened that we had a discussion on this issue on the spot - some students said, I don't want to work overtime, should I lie to please the interviewer? Some classmates said that you have to please the interviewer at this time. Don't forget to go to the interview. Others said, I think I should explain my bottom line, otherwise it is too fake and will I be forced to work overtime in the future? ?

The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

Saying that you can't accept overtime work at all is easy for young people to appear too unmotivated and hypocritical; but the real feeling is that you don't want to affect the quality of life because of work.

Therefore, in the eyes of many people, this is indeed a very tangled question [is it really so difficult? 】

As far as I know, before the college entrance examination, before graduation, before the postgraduate entrance examination for official duties... Every student has the experience of reading at night with the lights on? It's even possible to work overtime all night, isn't it? Don't we all accept the "overtime" at these times?

Therefore, I feel that this problem [dilemma] is likely to jump into the trap I dug for myself - if I say that overtime is acceptable, then I will be ordered to death by them, no matter how unreasonable, boring and shameless Overtime, I have to accept it; if I say overtime is not acceptable, then they will think that I am important, no matter how important the task or emergency situation, I am the kind of person who leaves on time.

Don't think so, don't put yourself in this dilemma, this is the real workplace, not the setting in the game! This so-called "dilemma" is to "draw a dungeon into a prison" for yourself.

The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

Second, in an interview scenario, how should we answer this question?

Going back to the core of the interview, the interview is an exchange between strangers. We get to know each other and reach agreement through face-to-face conversations. This sentence is not a meaningless empty phrase, but a consistent principle during interviews. Based on this principle, in the face of the problem of overtime, my suggestion is:

1. Think carefully about the state of overtime that you can accept, such as the rhythm of overtime, the nature of overtime, and the style of overtime?

For example, as far as I am concerned, if I can arrange it myself, I prefer to get up early to work overtime; but for planned overtime, it is acceptable to work overtime together at night. Moreover, I don’t care so much about overtime pay, and I prefer to have time off. and adjustment time. This is the real situation. If you are the interviewer, does it sound very reliable?

And a mother I tutor, she needs to get off work at 5 o'clock to pick up her child from school, so she said about overtime: I can accept overtime, but I hope to work overtime at home, I have a computer, network and printer at home, you can Use the online method to summarize the content with everyone, or print out the finished draft before going to work early. If you are the interviewer, and the job of this position can be arranged in this way, will you also think that the other party is sincere?

So, my first suggestion is - answer based on your real situation, rather than simply answer "I can work overtime or I don't want to work overtime". For example, the student Xiaohong (pseudonym) I tutored answered this way and passed the interview successfully:

In fact, I used to work overtime often in the club. I am used to preparing for overtime work in advance. For example, I will tell myself: Well, I will work hard tomorrow night. In this way, there will be mental and physical preparation for overtime work, and the efficiency will be high. Moreover, I also hope that after working overtime, I can have a little time to adjust myself, so it would be better if there is a time off.

Tips: If you haven’t figured out your own style of working overtime, you can imagine how you usually cope with the final exam, how to work overtime efficiently and in a good mood. These are not only used to answer questions in interviews, but also summarize the tips for dealing with overtime in the future. After all, it may be difficult to find a job that does not work overtime at all.

The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

2. Take the initiative to understand the status of overtime here, of course, including the rhythm of overtime, the nature of overtime, and the style of overtime.

After you answer, you can take the initiative to ask the other party, how are we working overtime here? Be careful not to show a terrible feeling when the other person introduces you. In fact, every company has people working, so most companies are reliable, and they will not deliberately let employees work overtime for no reason, and many companies will have overtime subsidies, will work according to specific tasks, and will also work overtime. Arrangements such as time off.

3. Very important: In order to communicate more smoothly, in the interview scenario, I recommend starting with "I accept overtime work", so that after the foundation of cooperation is established, it is easier to communicate more information. Don't worry, if the other party's overtime requirements are completely inconsistent with yours, both parties can refuse.

For example, the mother I just mentioned, if the other party thinks that she cannot work overtime remotely, she can reject the mother's application; if in actual work, the mother is often required to work overtime in the unit, the mother can also refuse.

The interviewer asked me if I could work overtime, can I say no?

Finally, two more reminders:

First, if you are truly unable to work overtime due to physical or family reasons, it is another matter. You don't have to think that you can't accept overtime because you're not motivated enough, and you don't have to be embarrassed. You can find a suitable position more efficiently by clarifying your demands in advance.

Second, companies that ask interviewers about their overtime attitude during interviews may not necessarily work more overtime.

Before, we did this test for the Haoyou student group, and everyone's choices were very concentrated: if the company asked me if I could work overtime during the interview, I didn't want to go here. This is the pattern Tucson broke.

According to my experience, during the interview, the companies that ask this question usually work more concentrated and regular overtime, and the management of overtime is relatively standardized. And those companies that don't ask, either really work less overtime, or have no concept of overtime or not at all, and their management is chaotic. Therefore, the specific situation can only be judged through observation and dialogue through various channels, but it must not be Pass an interview question to make a conclusion.