How do you stay organised? 7 Useful Tips

The interviewer often asks you surprising questions that do not directly connect with your job profile at all. Do you know the reason why they ask you such a question then?
This is primarily to know what personal skills you own. They want you to have some of your self-discipline routines.
Therefore it is essential for you to be prepared for such types of questions as well. The question can be asked in different forms as follows:

• How do you manage your work life?
• How well do you think you are good at balancing your work life?
• Define the word Organised/Balance in your words?
• Do you think you are an organised person or prefer to go with the flow?

These are some ways they can ask you, rest assured you can answer it all so smoothly by following these 7 tips on How to answer “how do you stay organised in an interview”?

But before that let’s understand why developing personal skills are essential?

Why is it important to build personal skills?

If you are someone who thinks that working on your academic skills would be sufficient to make a reasonable semblance of your ability to clarify the interview, good for you!. But studies have shown that people who developed personal skills are much more likely to get selected than people with just academic experience.

Developing personal skills such as being punctual, having a standard set for work, and living a balanced life shows that you are a mature adult who can also handle tasks and deadlines when situations get rough. You make a lasting experience by having such qualities. The interviewer is more likely to remember you with your ”additional” qualities than the other person with a higher GPA.

Now, the question comes, how can we look more put together and organised in an interview. Here are 7 tips that you can follow for this. Let’s understand it one by one.

7 tips to follow while answering the “How do you stay organised” question:-

1. Remember your WHY?

This is the first and foremost reason to look at. The motive you are sharing, whether you are an organised person or not, is because you genuinely function in that manner.
It shouldn’t come from a place of pretentiousness or only because you want to impress your boss.
You can personalise your why according to the way the question has been asked, but always remember to tell your story most naturally. The next point is precisely going to tell you more about this.

2. Sound natural

Sound natural means understanding yourself first. The more natural and authentic you sound the better you could answer this question. This can be done by asking yourself some basic questions like, What is your working style? How do you deal with pressure? Do you plan or make a schedule for your day?
Once you get this understanding, you don’t even have to try in order to sound natural, it will come naturally to you.

3. Stick to your job profile

The key to clearing an interview is knowing about your company to its core. This should be done before appearing for the interview. When it comes to answering the question, it should be based on your job profile.
For example; Let’s say you are going to appear for a sales company and the interviewer asks, “How do you deal when working under pressure?” for this you may answer it like that:
“In my current role as a junior sales executive, I use our company’s internal project management software to track weekly priorities and deadlines. I also create a to-do list each morning to organise the individual day tasks such as controlling sales, checking up on profits, etc,”

4. Don’t be too rigid

Sticking to your job profile doesn’t mean you cannot mention things that have no direct connection to your professional work. Be flexible.
You can mention practices that you follow for your personal growth and share how it helps you at your work.
The intention here is to make sure you don’t lose your actual track. You are talking about your working style and how you overcame a problem but you could also share the skills that you’re most proud of.

5. Share your personal experiences

Tell them about a real-life experience that has taught you something you are really grateful for. An event at your previous workplace, or it could be in your life in general, has dramatically impacted your working life.
“ I’m quite well used to working under pressure. In my previous job, for instance, I have been caught up in some really harsh situations where I had to redo a presentation for an international client overnight, with such a very narrow deadline of finishing it overnight. It has taught me to cope up with time and understand the importance of time management.”
This way you are not only sharing your experience but also proving that you are capable of dealing with the possibility of tough times and can easily handle or manage the given situation.

6. Describe a hypothetical situation as an example

This is something that the interviewer can ask you in another form of a question. They may give you a hypothetical situation where you have to tell what you would do in that situation.
There can also be a case where they don’t ask you directly. This question is somewhat hypothetical, where you must tell how you stay organised.
Either way, you can answer this question somewhat like this…
“ If I were presented with a situation like XYZ, then the first and foremost thing to do is not to lose my nerves. Despite the intensity of the pressure I’ve been under, I will make sure to stay patient and deal with it with full determination. If it’s a huge task with a short deadline that I’m unable to do single-handedly, I’ll ask my team to cooperate with me. I’m good at teamwork. We divide the task so that we can be more efficient.”

7. Show the importance of it from your pov

Similar to the first tip, you must tell your point of view. Have a clear understanding of your working style. As discussed earlier, ask yourself these questions: how do you deal with pressure, your patience level, your management style, and most importantly, how well do you adjust to the company’s culture.

Your POV also has to be in alignment with the company’s organisation. Let’s say you are the kind of person who likes to do work in a planned manner, everything pre-scheduled, However your job is a little flexible and often times there are chances of you having to deal with such unprecedented work. Therefore, a clear communication is needed and your requirements should be met.

Last but not least, time is paramount. Therefore practise your answer at least once before the interview so that you don’t get panicked during the interview. Keep in mind that this is just a question, so answer in that manner. You do not have to elaborate on everything. Keep the time limit in mind. Make a target of answering it in under 40 sec to a minute or two max.