6 Best Answers To “What Keeps You Up At Night?”- Interview Question

Last Updated on March 2, 2024 by Ketan

The interview questions aren’t always around your professional skills.

But, some are about testing your passion and profession. 

Well, like ‘What keeps you up at night?’ is a kind of interview question to check your ability to manage your stress and sleep.  

Either at a job interview or in formal interaction, you get this question.

At an interview for a job, with this question, they also want to know if you take work as pressure or as your passion. 

If you want to refer to some example answers, we’re sharing some good suggestions to consider. 

 

How Answer To “What Keeps You Up At Night” At Interview?

Based on the person to person, the answer may vary.

Indeed, there is no perfect answer.  

Some stay late at night, with the idea of pursuing their passion. 

Because they do the work they love. 

The idea of what to do the next day is what keeps them up at night, in a positive manner.  

While to some, work is nothing but stress. 

How Answer To What Keeps You Up At Night At Interview

So stressful that they can’t easily get sleep. 

It could be pressure at work. But it’s also their habit to think too much about the work. 

And, they see it as a burden. 

The result, negative ideas, and work pressure keep them up the whole night. 

But because you want to leave a positive impression in an interview, you better have positive answers. 

This is to prove that you know how to manage your stress. 

Here are some example answers you can give when asked ‘What keeps you up at night?’ at an interview. 

1. “Talking about the past few nights, the thought of this interview keeps me up.”

You effectively developed a connection with the interviewer. 

Also, if you feel comfortable now.

So, you can share this response. 

Such is a funny answer for the interview. 

That shows that you’re excited and also felt a bit of pressure due to this interview. 

2. “It’s my dream to work at a company like this.” 

When a company owner or employer asks you ‘What keeps you up at night?’ This one is a good answer you can share. 

It shows you have a dream to work at their company and you mean it. 

Enough response to make them feel proud of their company. 

At the time, this way you show your excitement to join their organization. 

READ NEXT: How To Respond To ‘Thank You’ Professionally?

3. “That’s the work that I am unable to complete on that day.”

It’s not a pressure but the thought that you’ve some work pending keeps you up at night. 

This answer shows your dedication to your job. 

That you don’t want your work to leave for another day. 

You’ve planned for the day and you want to get it done without any excuse. 

4. “My ideas, they don’t let me sleep any easily.”

Most passionate workers can relate to the same.

The idea regarding what to do at work and how happy you’re at work working on something, and you get more positive ideas.

So, good ideas are something that keeps you up at night.

This shows you love what you do.

Also, you got some great ideas. 

5. “The decisions and choices that I’ve to make on the next day.” 

You have some sort of trouble making tough decisions. 

Late at night, you can’t think of all the available choices you have to make in life, related to a career or anything. 

This answer shows you have some sort of doubt about your decisions. 

Or, you take time to think of making choices. 

6. “It’s my unbalanced work-life.”

You can’t be in a place where you have a hard time managing your work and life. 

You think of getting to a place where you can keep ‘your work’ at work. 

While your current job is invading your personal life, you want to leave it. 

So now, you are looking for a job where you don’t have to work on weekends or outside your work hours.

With such an answer, you also share your expectation to the interviewer that you seek a job that respects your life outside of work.  

READ NEXT: How To Say ‘Good Evening’ Over Formal Mail?

 

What Does This Question Mean?

Whether at the job interview or formal meet-up, when you are asked ‘What keeps you up at night?’, this way the interviewer tries to check if you’re motivated, managed, or stressed. 

This question talks more about how you balance your work and life. 

If your work pressure keeps you up late at night, you work under pressure. 

What Does What Keeps You Up At Night Question Mean

But even if you’ve some pressure at work, but work doesn’t affect your work quality, you know how to manage it. 

In other cases, some people stay up at night because they can’t stop thinking of their work. 

They’re excited about what they are going to do at work the next day.

Here the idea of working motivates them. 

We’ve shared some example answers for ‘What keeps you up at night?’ that leave a good impression at the interview. 

Considering your situation, you can choose to respond the way it suits you. 

Ketan

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