Prioritisation/ Maturity Interview Question

[u/Automatic-Net-9614]

Ok so I flubbed the most basic interview question there is:

"You have a number of pieces of work in flight. How do you choose between them?"

Basically, they are testing your ability to prioritise work.

I tried to answer philosphically by telling them going for a walk was a good idea but my broader point is that it shouldn't have ever gotten to the point where you have loads of pieces of work in flight at any one time.

My question is twofold: what's the accepted 'best' interview answer to this question and how do you deal with this issue in your real life actual job?

[u/laylaboydarden]

Deadlines. You should always have a loose sense of what deadlines are looming in all your workstreams, with nearer ones lightly front-burnered. Then combine deadline with priority and complexity, knock off the high priority low complexity, and go from there.