Tough Interviews Questions | Why Do You Want To Work From Home?

How do you answer this question during a job interview? We have all been there before. You are interviewing for your dream job when a prospective employer asks a question that causes you to sit in an uncomfortable silence. Time is ticking by and you struggle to find the right thing to say.

So, why DO you want to work from home?

All kinds of thoughts come into your mind and you second guess every single one of them because you don’t want to say the wrong thing. It’s okay. It happens… more often than we want it to. You are not alone.

Let’s take a look at this question and sort through some of the reasons why you want to work remotely. Preparing for this question in advance will help you find the right answers that align with your reasons for wanting to work from home.

First, let’s look at some of the common perks of working from home:

Now, many of those perks are quite realistic but some of them… well… they might not be suitable to mention during an interview.

Let’s dig a little further into WHY we want to work from home…

Now, we know we want to work from home — but working from home can’t be the reason why we want to work from home.

Huh?

We want to be impressive during our interview. We want to set the stage for being hired. We want to leave our prospective employer with a great first impression.

So, how will an employer think of you if the first answer to this question is something like:

“I want to avoid working with coworkers,” or “I would like to be around my family while I work.”

An employer might think you want to avoid coworkers because you are not a team player. They might think that your family might impact the quality and quantity of work you are able to do in a given day.

Those reasons for working from home aren’t horrible reasons but they are not the best thing to say during a job interview.

With any job interview, we have to look at how the employer could benefit by hiring you.

Instead of saying you want to work from home because it can save on gas and you don’t have to travel you could say:

• I would like to work for a great company without being limited by my geographical location.

• I find that being able to work from home allows me to be more productive since I spend less time travelling to work.

Instead of saying that you want to avoid certain coworkers, you could say:

• I work best when I am alone and able to focus on the tasks at hand without distractions.

• I find that I am able to better prepare for projects and meet deadlines when I am working independently.

Instead of saying that you want to work from home to be closer to your family, you could say:

• I enjoy the work-life balance that working from home offers. I am able to focus more on my work responsibilities when I know my kids are safe. I also don’t have to worry about leaving the office to pick my kids up from school or daycare. This balance allows me to be more productive and efficient while working.

• Working from home allows me to start my day sooner. It allows me the flexibility of being available to work sooner and dedicate myself to the tasks at hand.

What Employers Want

The best way to answer this question is to look at it from the employers eyes. How can you benefit the employer by working from home? How does that positively affect your job performance?

Letting employers know how they stand to benefit from you working from home shows employers that you care about their company. It shows initiative and dedication right from the start.

Have you been asked this question during a job interview? How did you answer this question? Do you have any advice for others about how to answer this question? Leave a comment or visit us on social media and let us know!