Working overtime has become almost a norm in the majority of big corporations. If you stand up from your desk at 4pm, ready to go home after spending eight hours at work, people will start looking at you. They will think that you are crazy, because people do not leave the workplace after eight hours in the 21st century…

Now I do not want to argue whether it is right (in my opinion it is not, but that’s not a point of this article). While interviewing you for a job, hiring managers will often inquire about your willingness to work overtime. Or they will structure it differently, asking “Your supervisor wants you to work overtime every week, but you have other commitments outside of work. What will you do?” And I will try to help you understand what you should say, both if you can and cannot stay besides typical working hours. Before we look at seven sample answers to the question, I want you to remember two crucial points.

First one, if they inquire about working overtime (or night shifts, on weekends, etc), it is almost certainly required in the job. If they did not expect you to work overtime at least sometimes, they would not ask the question. And secondly, your attitude matters more than anything else. Maybe you have a little child or another job, or some other obligations, and most of the time cannot stay at work besides the standard hours. Even in such a case you can show your willingness to sacrifice somethingfor the employer. Maybe you cannot stay overtime, but you can arrive early to handle your duties. Or you can sometimes work on Saturday, etc.