work expectation essay

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Work-Life Balance Is a Cycle, Not an Achievement

• Mayra Ruiz-Castro

A five-step approach to identify and overcome unhealthy work habits.

Research has definitively shown that overwork isn’t good for employees or their companies — and yet, in practice, it can be hard to overcome unhealthy work habits and reach a more sustainable work-life balance. To explore what it takes for busy professionals to make a change for the better, the authors conducted a series of interviews with mid- and senior-level managers at two global firms. They found that while the majority of respondents assumed working long hours was inevitable, a significant minority of them were able to resist this pressure and achieve a healthier balance through a process of increasing awareness, conscious reprioritizing, and implementation of public and private changes. The authors go on to emphasize that to achieve lasting change, you must view this process not as a one-time activity, but as a cycle in which you constantly re-evaluate your evolving feelings and priorities, and adjust your work and life choices accordingly.

Despite the resounding evidence that working long hours can be harmful to both employees and employers, many professionals still struggle to overcome their assumptions — and their deeply-ingrained habits — around work hours. What does it take to free yourself from these unhealthy patterns and reach a more sustainable, rewarding work-life balance?

• IL Ioana Lupu is an Associate Professor at ESSEC Business School France. She is interested in overwork, work-compulsion & performance measurement in knowledge-intensive settings, such as audit, consulting, and law firms. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter @lupu_io.
• MR Mayra Ruiz-Castro is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Roehampton, UK. Her research focuses on equality at work and at home. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter at @MayraRuizCastr1.

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My Expectations In Work Immersion Essay For Students

Work immersion is an essential part of the learning experience, providing students with a unique opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-world context. As I prepare for my upcoming work immersion, I am filled with anticipation and expectations. This essay outlines my personal expectations, which include gaining practical skills, understanding workplace dynamics, enhancing my interpersonal skills, and preparing for future career opportunities.

Table of Contents

Essay On My Expectations In Work Immersion

Acquiring practical skills.

One of my primary expectations during this work immersion is acquiring practical skills. While classroom learning provides a strong foundation, it often lacks the hands-on experience necessary to fully understand the nuances of our chosen field. I hope to perform tasks that allow me to practice and improve the skills I have learned in class. This could range from technical abilities specific to my field of study, to more general skills such as time management or problem-solving.

Understanding Workplace Dynamics

Workplaces have their own unique cultures and dynamics that can greatly differ from the academic environment. During my immersion, I expect to gain a deeper understanding of these dynamics. This includes learning about hierarchies, communication protocols, decision-making processes, and teamwork. By observing and participating in these dynamics, I hope to become better prepared to navigate future professional environments.

Enhancing Interpersonal Skills

Interacting with colleagues, superiors, and clients requires a different set of interpersonal skills than interacting with classmates and teachers. I anticipate that my work immersion will give me the chance to develop these skills. Through collaboration and networking, I aim to improve my communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution abilities. These skills are invaluable in any professional setting, regardless of the specific industry or job role.

Preparing for Future Career Opportunities

Finally, I view my work immersion as an opportunity to prepare for future career opportunities. This involves not only honing my practical and interpersonal skills, but also building professional relationships and gaining industry insights. I expect to meet professionals who can provide guidance, offer career advice, and potentially open doors to future job opportunities. Moreover, by observing the industry first-hand, I can better understand its trends and challenges, which will be beneficial when making my career decisions.

In conclusion, my expectations for my work immersion are centered around learning and growth. I anticipate acquiring practical skills, understanding workplace dynamics, enhancing my interpersonal skills, and preparing for future career opportunities. While I recognize that challenges may arise, I am confident that this experience will equip me with valuable tools and insights as I embark on my career journey. Ultimately, I view this work immersion not merely as a requirement to fulfill, but as a stepping stone towards my professional development and success.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Work Ethic — Importance Of Work Ethic

Importance of Work Ethic

• Categories: Work Ethic Workplace

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

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Introduction, impact on individual performance, organizational success, broader societal implications.

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How to Answer "What Were Your Job Expectations?"

What the Interviewer Wants to Know

• How to Answer the Question

Examples of the Best Answers

Tips for giving the best response, what not to say, possible follow-up questions.

In many cases, interviewers will want to know what you expected from your last job when you were hired, so be prepared to answer the interview question, “What were your expectations for your last job, and to what extent were they met?”

The interviewer is interested in learning about how good a fit your last position was. They will use the information you share to learn whether the role for which you're applying will be a good match for your qualifications and career objectives.

The sample responses below can also help inspire answers in case you're simply asked "What are your expectations from this job?"

Employers want to know about your past expectations to see if what you expected from your last employer was reasonable, how well the role worked out for you, and if your expectations match the job responsibilities for the new position.

The interviewer will be evaluating whether the job was a good fit for you and your career path in order to gauge whether you'll be a match for the role for which they are hiring.

How to Answer Questions About Expectations

While there is no  right (or wrong) answer to this question , it's important to be honest, positive, and specific. Even if your expectations were not met, try to mention something positive that you gained from the role. It's important to not be negative because that would make the interviewer wonder how you would talk about their company if you were to be hired.

To make sure your answer does not ramble on too long, focus on one specific area and your expectations there. Be prepared to share examples of how the role was a match for your career path with your previous employer.

Here are examples of interview answers that you can edit to fit your personal experiences and background.

Example Answer #1

My expectations for my previous job were that I would be teaching my students a completely new eighth-grade English curriculum that I would have to develop myself, but that I would have the support of a co-teacher in all of my classes. This blend of support and independence allowed me to successfully develop a new curriculum that is still used in the school to this day.

Why It Works: Along with clearly stating expectations, this candidate shares a big achievement he or she accomplished in the role.

Example Answer #2

In my previous job, my expectation—based on the job description and interview—was that my job would involve working primarily on team-based projects. Ultimately, many more of my projects than expected were ones I developed and completed on my own. While my expectations were not quite met, this independence allowed me to greatly strengthen my skills in all aspects of project development.

Why It Works: This answer is honest about the job not meeting expectations, without coming across as negative. The candidate is also able to deftly pivot to discussing a positive skill gained as a result of the role. 

Example Answer #3

One expectation I had for my previous job was that I would have the opportunity as an administrative assistant to step into a variety of leadership roles. This expectation was met. For example, I became the supervisor and trainer for all interns and part-time administrative employees. I also attended several seminars on leadership and management. I believe my experience and skills as a manager will serve me extremely well as a supervisor at your company.

Why It Works: This response does a nice job of connecting achievements accomplished at a prior job to what the candidate would be able to provide if given the role at hand.

Example Answer #4

I was responsible for hiring in my previous role. I expected that the position would expand to cover employee training and development, and those expectations were met. I was successfully able to coordinate hiring, onboarding new employees, and employee development programs for current staff.

Why It Works: The candidate clearly describes expectations in one specific area and then delineates accomplishments.

Be honest and positive. If the job wasn't exactly what you expected, it's fine to mention that. However, you should focus on the job itself, not the company, your boss, or your co-workers (if they were a problem).

Be specific. Pick a focus in your response. You can choose from a variety of topics when referring to “expectations,” from the office environment to your assigned duties to the support from your employer.

Once you've selected a focus for your answer, prepare some examples to share with the interviewer.

For example, if your job involved creating web applications, discuss the specific programs you developed and the responsibilities you were given.

Think about the job you're applying for. When selecting the focus of your answer, keep the job for which you are applying in mind. Think about what sorts of expectations you have for this job, and connect them back to your expectations for your previous job.

For example, perhaps you know this company provides professional development for many of its employees, and this is important to you. In that case, you might mention the training opportunities for professional development that helped you achieve your goals at your last job.

Avoid negativity. When the job you're interviewing for is very similar to your previous position, you don't want to lose consideration for the new job because you didn't like the old one. Do be careful how you answer, and don't focus too much on the negative. Instead, address the highlights of the job.

Don’t focus on money. While you can tailor your answer to a variety of topics, money is not one of them.

Whether you were satisfied or dissatisfied with your salary is not important to the interviewer.

If you focus on salary, the interviewer will worry that you care more about money than the work itself.

Don’t share unrealistic expectations. Focus on realistic expectations you had for the job. You don’t want to seem like an employee who expects too much from a position, colleagues, or a company.

• What do you expect from a supervisor? –  Best Answers
• What is your dream job? –  Best Answers
• How do you evaluate success? –  Best Answers
• More interview questions: Top 10 Interview Questions and Best Answers

Key Takeaways

Keep it positive.  Even if the previous job did not meet your expectations, avoid being negative in your response. 

Only share realistic expectations. Avoid sharing overly ambitious expectations.

Pick one big expectation to discuss. Avoid rambling by focusing on your expectations in one area (as opposed to every expectation you had when you accepted the job offer). 

More From Forbes

13 transparent ways to set expectations for employees.

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As a leader, you drive your team’s motivation and progress. It is critical for you to be able to communicate to all team members not only what your collective goals are, but also what you expect of each of them in their roles to help meet those goals.

If setting clear expectations is the key to high performance, is there a “right” way to set them? It’s not enough to simply state the words. You have to make sure that every team member fully understands the expectations so that meeting them is a reasonable challenge and not a guessing game.

To help, we asked members of Forbes Coaches Council what they believe is the best way for leaders to set expectations with their employees, and 13 of them share their best advice below.

Forbes Coaches Council members share advice to help leaders set clear expectations with their teams.

1. Develop A Role Scorecard

I prefer to use a role scorecard containing three main components: job accountabilities, core values and key performance indicators. Job accountabilities are things that happen or don’t; similar to legal compliance, it is done or it is not. There is no 90% legally compliant. Core values get rated. The behaviors are expected and reinforced. The KPIs are rated green, yellow and red. All must be agreed upon, creating clarity for all. - Sturdy McKee , SturdyMcKee.com

2. Tailor Your Process To The Employee

Be unique. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for effective goal-setting. Every organization, manager and employee must find their own process for setting objectives. However, they should be personal, challenging, written, specific, measurable, time-specific and reviewable. When expectations incorporate these characteristics, employees’ chances of success greatly increase. - Rick Gibbs , Insperity

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3. Have Conversations To Set Expectations Together

Leaders should not set expectations for employees but rather have a conversation where expectations are set together for both sides. I like to help my clients create a “user manual” where they spell out what they expect from their team as well as what their team can expect from them. The team members share their user manuals with each other and create clarity about expectations as a result. - Daphna Horowitz , Daphna Horowitz Leadership

4. Define What Success Looks Like

A key question to ask when setting expectations is, “What would success look like?” Be very explicit about the desired future state if the action is successful. Only by having that clear vision can you develop metrics to monitor progress towards your expectations. By having a shared definition of success, your team will know what success looks like and celebrate their achievements. - Charles Dormer , APEX STP, LLC

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

5. Make Expectations Explicit

The right way for leaders to set expectations for their teams is to make expectations explicit. Explicit expectations enable teams to focus their energy, attention and effort on what matters. Explicit expectations provide clarity. Clarity enables focused effort, which increases team effectiveness and efficiency. - Dennis Volpe , LRI

6. Follow Three Simple Leadership Practices

First, communicate clear expectations to help mitigate the risk of employees feeling as if they’re on a game show called “guess what’s on my mind.” Second, encourage individual and creative approaches to problem-solving to increase motivation. Third, recognize accomplishments to fuel future growth and development—individually and organizationally. - Sheila Carmichael , Transitions D2D, LLC

7. Focus On Standards, Not Rules

The key lies in the question itself. Migrate from a rules-based culture to one based on standards and expectations. Rules tend to cause people to gravitate toward and focus on the least acceptable behavior. With standards and expectations, people tend to gravitate toward aspirational behavior and objectives. Set expectations that elevate your team and those who are on it. People want to be great! - John O’Grady , O’Grady Leadership Consulting Services

8. Confirm Understanding Of Mutual Expectations

Defining expectations is a two-way street. Pick the top three expectations you have of your direct reports. Be clear. Be concise. Ask them to paraphrase the expectations back to you to determine that they understand. Then, ask for their three expectations of you. That way, you are both on the same page and supporting and collaborating with each other. - Frances McIntosh , Intentional Coaching LLC

9. Build A Business Plan For Each Employee

Expectations have to be specific and measurable. It is also important that every employee has his or her own business plan—one that is built by year, month, week and day—so that each person within the company will know exactly what they are supposed to do. These must include crystal-clear explanations and company values to keep everyone moving in the same direction. - Jon Dwoskin , The Jon Dwoskin Experience

10.  Share The ‘Why’ Behind Expectations

Setting expectations is key to hitting goals, but these days, people need more than the numbers to keep them focused and driven. Leaders need to open up about how these expectations affect the whole company and how they contribute to the collective success of every person there. Giving them a deeper meaning behind the expectations will ensure success every time! - Miranda VonFricken , Miranda VonFricken - Masterminds & Personal Growth Coaching!

11. Highlight Positive Examples At All Levels

Shine a light on examples of people at all levels of the organization who are going beyond their set job descriptions to deliver value. This gentle recognition motivates others to deliver a higher level of value. Spread the recognition around, from hourly workers to your executive team. Recognize the small gestures (not “the big sale” or “deal” but behaviors to emulate) that align with your values. - John M. O’Connor , Career Pro Inc.

12. Lead By Example

Central to a leader’s job is to translate a clear organizational strategy and vision into clear performance expectations for their people. First, you need to set the tone and model appropriate productivity and performance yourself. Second, have specific performance discussions with each member of your team. Help them to develop a stretch goal and then support them in achieving it. - Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D , Utah Valley University & Human Capital Innovations, LLC

13. Co-Create Expectations With Employees

The “right” way, if there is such a thing, is to co-create the expectations with your employees so that they are aware of exactly what you’re looking for and vice versa. This way, they are able to weigh in on what their capabilities are and where they may need support; and you can figure out how to provide that support and whether their tasks are actually aligned. This also requires a culture of open communication. - Dhru Beeharilal , Nayan Leadership, LLC

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Managing Expectations at Work: Why It's Important and How To Do It

Healthy expectations at work provide much-needed (and desired!) clarity, and in turn, this eliminates ambiguity and confusion that can lead to undue anxiety at work. In fact, if organizations could increase the number of employees who knew what was expected of them, it could reduce turnover by 22%, reduce safety incidents by 29%, and increase productivity by 10% ( Gallup ). This aligns with principles found in the Expectancy Theory of Motivation , which explores how the management of expectations impacts motivation and performance.

Unfortunately, not all expectations are created equal. If you’re currently struggling with unrealistic expectations in the workplace, whether from your boss, client, or coworker, then read on to learn more about why it’s important to stand up for yourself and manage those expectations, as well as learn a few tips on how to do so tactfully.

Why Is It Important to Manage Expectations at Work?

First, let’s define what unrealistic expectations at work can look like. The most common unrealistic expectations may not fully consider the facts, be formulated without understanding the bigger picture, or be based on a past experience that is no longer relevant. They may even be unspoken, thus creating the need to “read the other person's mind” regarding what they want, when they want it, or how they want it done.

As you can imagine, trying to meet these kinds of expectations can cause all sorts of problems, including reduced work quality, increased absenteeism, low morale, low engagement due to repeated failures, missed targets and deadlines, loss of respect , and increased turnover ( Robert Half ). For these reasons, managing expectations is an important skill one must learn, whether you are an individual contributor, frontline manager , or senior leader.

How Do You Manage Expectations at Work?

At this point, you’re probably wondering how exactly you manage expectations at work? We’ll be honest with you; it can be daunting since it is not an exact science. How you manage an executive’s expectations will differ significantly from how you manage a coworker. It all depends on your relationship with them and the circumstances. It also requires you to strike the right balance of honesty, confidence, and compromise.

However, there are a few guiding principles that you can follow to get started managing expectations.

1. Remember, You Have the Authority to Say No

Saying no at work can seem taboo. But rest assured, you have the authority to say no and manage unrealistic expectations. Moreover, you must do it regardless of how difficult it is. That’s because if you do not learn to say no, you may find yourself burning out , failing, and underperforming, which is not something you or those setting expectations of you genuinely want.

2. Ask clarifying questions

Before jumping into managing an expectation you suspect is unrealistic, ask the other person some clarifying questions such as, how much of a priority is this? If this isn’t done by a specific time, what are the consequences? Is this urgent or important or both? Once you have answers to these types of questions, you’ll be able to decide if you need to manage the expectation and compromise or if the expectation is realistic, and you can work with it.

3. Don't Rush to agree

A simple yet effective way to manage expectations is to ask the person, “Can I get back to you on this once I review all my current deliverables?” This is a much more respectful tactic to take than blindly agreeing to an expectation that you only later find out you can’t deliver on. Instead, this gives you a chance to review the expectations regarding your current workload and identify any potential consequences that need to be addressed before moving forward.

4. Propose a reasonable compromise

Once you have asked clarifying questions, reviewed your current to-do list, and weighed the potential consequences, you may conclude that the original expectation is not feasible. In which case, try not to say flat-out “no.” Instead, you might say something like, “Given my current workload, I do not feel I could meet your expectations to the best of my ability. What I can do, is…”

In fact, it was found in the global workplace communication survey that if their boss asked them to do something when dealing with an urgent matter, 77.7% of respondents said they would communicate that they're busy with an urgent matter and give a timeline for when the additional work could be completed. 

5. Explain the consequences

At this point, if the person to who you presented a reasonable compromise to is unhappy with your answer, try explaining the consequences of meeting it. For example, you might say that it would jeopardize another urgent task, require you to work overtime, or need additional budget/personnel. Using logical and factual evidence may help the person realize why their expectation is unrealistic and what they can do to make it realistic if they’re unwilling to agree to your original compromised solution.

The reality is that you will never be able to eliminate unrealistic expectations at work. They will be something you face throughout your entire career. This makes it much more critical to gain the skills, tools, and confidence as early as possible to manage expectations. Fortunately, a combination of coaching from your leaders and mentors, communication training , experience, determination, and a little trial-and-error, will get you there.

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Immerse Yourself With Intention

By  Laura N. Schram

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Most graduate students do not have the luxury of time to devote to lots of career exploration activities that aren’t directly relevant to their scholarly commitments (course work, dissertation writing, teaching and so on). The vast majority of graduate students can’t take time off to pursue an internship opportunity, and the few who are able to do so might take advantage of such an opportunity just once in their graduate careers. Yet, as Paula Di Rita Wishart noted in her previous “Carpe Careers” column on job experience , an internship is not the only way to explore your career interests in an experiential way and to make professional connections.

You can accomplish that by immersing yourself for a relatively short period of time in a new professional context. In immersives , as we call them at Rackham Graduate School, students spend a day or two learning more about the workplaces, projects, research and other opportunities involved in a specific career context. Immersives give students the chance to network with and visit an organization of interest to them, as well as to engage in its work.

For example, our immersive students conduct practice teaching for the university teaching and learning center, write short grant reviews at our state humanities council, participate in the local community foundation’s annual community meeting, or design a lesson plan for a university museum tour. Students typically participate in those experiences after they’ve narrowed their career interests a bit as a next step beyond informational interviewing. Or they use them as an opportunity to just dive in and explore something that piques their interest to see if it’s a good fit with their career values, interests and skills.

Similarly, after an exciting informational interview, you might want to engage in some kind of activity at an organization -- to participate in or even contribute to a community event, to provide advice or analysis on a specific project that intrigued you, or to attend a public advisory board meeting to see how an organization runs. You do not need a structured program to do this, and we frequently encourage students who have an organization they’ve already connected with in mind to design their own immersive.

That said, engaging in something like an immersive for several hours or even a day does not necessarily mean you’ll learn from the experience. Those of you who teach will know this from your experience as an instructor. You design a great active learning activity for your students, only to find when you assess their learning at the end of class that some of the students still didn’t get it. Maybe they didn’t do the reading, they didn’t have some essential prior knowledge, they were distracted, or they were unmotivated and passively engaged in the activity. Whatever the reason, experience doesn’t always translate to learning.

For example, after spending a half day at a museum to learn more about museum research careers, one of our earliest immersive participants confided in me that she didn’t get the most out of the time she had there and felt it was a missed opportunity. What was missing?

As someone who has been shepherding students through these experiences for several years now, I would like to share four best practices I’ve learned to immerse yourself most productively so that you leave such experiences with greater career clarity and ideas about your next steps.

Engage Actively

If you want to go beyond the information you can gain from an informational interview, you need to do more than observe passively or ask questions. Students often fall back on shadowing to learn more about a job, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But what task can you complete during a brief shadowing experience to get a firsthand sense of the skills needed for this work? You should offer to take on a concrete assignment for a specific project or activity, such as analyzing data or text, designing something, conducting topic research, or facilitating a small piece of a larger event.

Meet a Need

Of course, in your own career development, your primary goal is to gain marketable experience and clarity on your professional goals. However, a successful immersive typically results when a student thinks beyond their own professional needs and designs a mutually beneficial experience with an organization or a professional mentor. In our most impactful immersives, a student identifies a need that an organization has and contributes her expertise to meet that need. Organizations will be much more likely to let you sit in on an important meeting, volunteer at an exciting event or have access to information on an emerging project if you can contribute to their organizational goals and needs. As you think about where you might want to explore and engage in a short-term professional experience, ask yourself, “What distinct skills can I contribute that will meet this organization’s needs?”

The student I mentioned earlier who didn’t get the most out of her museum visit confessed to me that she just didn’t prepare. She didn’t research the organizational mission, she didn’t read the staff biographical profiles online, she didn’t think about whom she wanted to meet with individually while she was there and she didn’t investigate what museum research typically involves. You don’t need to invest a ton of time in preparing -- remember, the goal here is to gain a bit of experience in a field that piques your interest yet not spend significant time away from your scholarly work. But you should set aside one hour to apply your well-honed research skills to prepare for the experience so that you make the most out of the short time you have at an organization. Prepare questions, research the organization’s mission and staff, and read at least one relevant article about the field or organization.

Reflect on What You Learned

Just as preparation before an experience will help you to get the most out of immersing yourself, reflection afterward is extremely important in identifying lessons learned and next steps. Perhaps the experience crystallized an important insight for you, or you discovered an important skill that is required for the work that you need to develop further. You may even have discovered that the organization was not a good fit for some reason, in which case it is valuable to think through why and what that means for your interests going forward. Pick up your journal or open up your individual development plan -- wherever you are tracking notes or thoughts on your own career development -- and set aside time to reflect on the following questions:

• What stands out to you from your experience, and why is that important for your career clarity?
• What benefits did you gain (values engaged, skills acquired, knowledge learned) as a result of this experience?
• What do you see as your next step(s)?

Even better, I’d encourage you to process these questions together with a graduate career counselor, a professional mentor or a trusted peer to integrate the experience into your broader career development.

Immersives are an excellent way to get a taste of a career area that intrigues you. If you apply these four best practices, you will set yourself up to get the most out of the experience and make progress in your career exploration process.

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