FAQ: What Do You Enjoy About Your Current Role? (Sample Answers)
Interviewers often ask what you enjoy about your current job to assess your personality, attitude and how you might fit into their team. This interview question can be an opportunity to highlight the favourite parts of your current job. By being honest in your answers, you can make a better impression on your hiring manager. In this article, we discuss why employers ask the question: 'What do you enjoy about your current role?' Then we'll suggest ways that you can answer the question and give you some practical examples.
Why do employers ask: 'What do you enjoy about your current role?'
The question 'What do you enjoy about your current role?' is a way for the interviewer to determine whether you might be a good fit for the job you've applied for. A positive response will leave the hiring manager with a good first impression and help them predict the attitude you might display towards the potential job.
Related: Job Interview Tips: How to Make a Great Impression
Talking about your current role
Telling a recruiter what you enjoy about your current role, helps them determine if you're a good fit for the position. Here are some of the things you might enjoy in your current job that you could mention during an interview:
Work-life balance
Prioritising your mental health can prevent burnout and result in higher productivity levels. Mentioning that you appreciate the healthy work-life balance of your job can show your values. It can also indicate your preferred work environment and help build transparency with your new employer.
Example: 'I love how my current role gives me the freedom to set my own schedule, as long as I meet my deadlines. As a graphic designer, I can prioritise my tasks, take ownership of my time and be more efficient at work.
Since I work in an agency, my project manager sends me monthly tasks with deadlines. This flexibility has helped me to develop good time management skills. It also means I can spend time with my family and work on hobbies like art, which has improved my confidence and helps me establish stronger relationships with my artist clients. Because my manager trusts me to complete my tasks on time, this ensures I stay motivated and engaged on each project.'
Read more: What Is a Work-Life Balance? (Plus Tips for Maintaining One)
Team members
Employees who enjoy working with other team members create a healthy work environment and boost employee morale. Mentioning that the best part about your current role is working with team members may indicate your collaboration skills and ability to learn through experience. You can also mention a few examples where teamwork helped you to accomplish great things.
Example: 'I started my current job six months ago and my team helped me through my first few weeks. My co-workers made sure I understood how to operate the new accounting software, which helped me to speed up my work. The genuine team spirit has helped me develop my career, ask for help and work collaboratively on projects. My manager supports me, listens to my ideas and makes me feel valued enough to openly state my opinions about daily procedures. Without a doubt, this transparency helps us stay productive and flexible in the office.'
Related: 11 Advantages of Working as a Team (An Overview of Teamwork)
Opportunities
Talking about the opportunities your current company offers can show your passion for learning and growing within a company. If your interviewer is looking for a long-term collaboration where you may have opportunities for promotion, this can be helpful to mention. If you earned any promotions in your current job, try to elaborate on them when discussing potential opportunities with your interviewer.
Example: 'I started working at my current job two years ago and my manager has promoted me five times. When I was working as an entry-level content writer the company offered me in-house training that helped me improve my research, writing, editing and marketing skills. Today, I'm a senior-level content writer and I also manage a team of four other writers and two editors. This opportunity to grow excites me to work harder and give my very best at work.'
Related: Upskilling for Career Development and Progression
Culture
Company culture refers to the way a company communicates with its employees, considers ideas, gives directions and resolves conflicts. Mentioning the culture of your current company can help the interviewer to understand the office activities that you value most and what makes you happy at work. Try to talk about how the company you're working for instils core values in their regular work procedures and the positive influence that it has on your life.
Related: 5 Examples of Conflict in the Workplace (With Solutions)
Example: 'I love our weekly pizza parties. As we follow a hybrid work method, our company funds weekly pizza parties where we gather together at the office, have lively conversations and bond. This helps us get along better with other team members, pitch ideas to anyone we want to and enjoy a chance to team build.
Another thing I appreciate about my job is how easy it is to communicate new ideas to my manager. I simply send them an email or visit them in person and within a few minutes, we're drafting action plans for my idea. The positive and healthy environment makes my current job unique and fulfilling.'
Challenge
Challenges in a workplace may include completing high priority tasks before deadlines, taking on new job roles within the organisation, taking on heavier workloads or experimenting with new software and methods. If your current manager has given you a major goal that required you to work beyond your comfort level, you can talk about this to the interviewer. Mentioning these kinds of examples gives the interviewer a chance to appreciate your ability to provide extra value and overcome challenges in the workplace.
Example: 'I'm currently working as a manager at a marketing agency where I have to work with multiple clients. Sometimes, it's challenging to provide personalised services to each client and pass clients' information on to the other team members. Fortunately, our team recently subscribed to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software program that helps me focus on individual projects, offer personalised services and transmit information to the rest of my team.
Besides that, since my position involves handling people and data simultaneously, it helps me become more flexible and use my problem-solving skills to come up with innovative solutions. The ability to grow with each project and learn new things each day makes my job incredibly interesting.'
Related: How to Respond to 'What Is Your Ideal Work Environment?'
Autonomy
Autonomy allows employees to work independently and choose their own work methods as long as projects are delivered on time. This includes setting your own schedule and deciding on the order in which you complete tasks. If you enjoy autonomy in your current role, try to talk about how you work well independently and the results your efforts have yielded. Mentioning this shows your ability to work on your own, generate new ideas and stay self-motivated in any work environment.
Example: 'In my current job, there are six people on the team and we all handle a different part of the project. This flexibility encourages me to research innovative ways to stay efficient and do a good job. What I love the most is how easy it is to talk to my manager if I get stuck. This way, I learn more about my tasks and challenge my potential by offering more value to the company.
As my manager promotes autonomy, I can work on the tasks I enjoy the most when I choose to. This boosts my morale, sharpens my skills and allows me to take full credit for the final result. It's fantastic!'
Related: How to Use the STAR Interview Response Technique
Helping others
Talking about how much you enjoy adding value to people's lives is typically an answer most interviewers would like to hear. Mentioning how you value helping others can express what motivates you and where you find purpose in your job. If your prospective manager shares the same feeling about their job, this can be a great way to connect on a deeper level and have a meaningful conversation with them.
Related: 15 Important Jobs That Help People
Examples: 'As a teacher, I love working to educate students, solve problems and see my students achieve their goals. Knowing that my teaching can have a positive impact on their future motivates me to keep working harder. I try to encourage my students to speak up for themselves, practise time management, support their peers and learn hard and soft skills.
At the end of the term, I hear many stories of about how my students have used what they've learned outside the classroom, and their achievements make me proud. It's so satisfying to see learners grow.'
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