It is incredibly difficult to define quality, but surprisingly easy to recognize it. If you experience a quality stuff–be it a product you try, service someone delivers to you, or even a person you meet, you will immediately know it. You will say: “This was amazing stuff”, or “This product has an excellent quality”. But how to elaborate on such statements?
The struggles we have with defining quality make this interview question difficult to answer for almost everyone. But luckily you landed on InterviewPenguin.com website, and I will show you 7 good answers to this tricky interview question. Once you read the answers, do not forget to check also the notes below them, because they will help you to understand how to prepare a perfect and genuine answer for your interview.
7 sample answers to “What does quality mean to you” interview question
- A quality product or service is the one that satisfies the needs of a customer, that meets their expectations or even exceeds them. When you receive quality, in whatever form, you are eager to get more. You want to come back and make another purchase, you refer the product to your friends and connections, you have a tendency to talk about it in public. Quality is what we should aim for if we want to have returning customers and a strong brand as a company.
- Quality means to me a pursuit of perfection. To always try to deliver as much as we can, to improve this and that detail, to be the best version of our selves, and to constantly evolve as people and trade professionals. It’s a journey that has no end, and one I incredibly enjoy being on. I try to give the quality to wherever I do in my life. I may succeed at times and fail at other times, but I will continue trying. Because in my opinion it makes no sense to do something without 100% effort and commitment.
- Your brand Apple is the synonym of quality to me. I cannot clearly explain why, it’s just the connection I make in my mind immediately. Maybe because your products are perfect both design wise and functionality wise, and I cannot imagine switching them for some products of your competitors. It is a actually one of the reasons why I want to work for you. I’d love to participate on creating amazing products of great quality.
- What does quality mean to me? I cannot really say, but I know when I get it. Maybe it’s the extra touch, the extra one percent some creators add to their works of arts, the one percent that distinguishes their work from anything else their competitors do and produce. Or it is in the ingredients of the food, the special touch of the experienced cook, the love they expressed in their culinary creation… Honestly, I cannot define it, but I can recognize it, and if possible I’d love to participate on creating quality stuff in my work.
- Quality is something that is missing in the local market of webdesign services. The websites local companies build are outdated, and do not follow the modern design trends. What’s more, they are hard to use for end users and load slowly on both desktop and mobile devices. Quality is missing here, and I am applying with you for a job of a web designer, to bring some quality to your customers. Let’s change the rules, let’s take things to another level, let’s become the best web design agency in the city. I am sure we can do it together.
- In my opinion, to live a quality life means to give your best in all roles you have in this world. Be it the role of a son, sister, mother, employee, business owner, believer, or any other role you may have. When you approach all your daily duties, even the seemingly insignificant one, with precision, dedication, and love, whatever arises from your activity will have attributes of quality. And people will know it, they will feel it in their interactions with you. This is actually my goal, to live a quality life. I am still far away from achieving it, but step by step I am on my way.
- Quality is in the present moment. How we experience life, people, and things around us, whether we recognize the uniqueness of each living creature and each moment, depends on our ability to live in the present. If we are slaves to our own thoughts, imprisoned by fear, anxiety, hate, doubts, and other emotions, we won’t recognize this secret quality. Only when we manage to break the chains, to liberate ourselves from all useless thoughts and formulas of thinking, we will be able to recognize quality, and also to create quality stuff. That’s why I always try to stay in the moment, to focus on the task at hand only, and not think about anything else while working. That’s my way of creating quality stuff.
Describe the quality indirectly, praise their brand
If you cannot define quality directly, you can at least explain what a quality product means for a customer, and to what actions it motivates them. In the 1st sample answer, job candidate refers to returning customers and positive reviews. Each employer will love to hear about such things in your interview answer.
In the 3rd answer, the job applicant defines quality with the help of a brand of their prospective employer, in this case Apple. Needless to say, each employer will love such comparison, because companies are proud of their products, and typically consider them superior to the products of their competitors. Of course they can be wrong with their observations, but it doesn’t matter for you in an interview. Once you praise their brand, they will be happy.
Regardless of your definition of quality, ensure your interviewers that you want to deliver it
Maybe you cannot exactly define what quality means to you–just like most people cannot. But you can certainly say whether there is quality in the local market of any given product (see sample answer no.5), and you can also always say that you want to produce some quality in your job.
Remember that your attitude is the most important thing for the hiring managers. Once they see that you try to pursue perfection with your work, that you are ready to sacrifice something for the employer, that instead of mediocrity you aim for excellence, in whatever you do, they will be more than happy with your interview answer to a question about quality.
* Special Tip: It is hard to convince them about your desire to deliver quality, unless you come up with quality answers in your interview, when facing tough questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity, and about other tricky situations that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package. Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will help you streamline your interview preparation, and show real quality in your interview. It can be the last part of the puzzle you are missing on your way to success…
Try to stand out with a philosophical answer
Job interview is not a meeting of aspiring philosophers. However, if you apply for a job for which you compete with many other people (that’s the case for almost all managerial jobs, well-paid entry level jobs in big corporations, and many other popular occupations in both public and private sector), it’s important to try to stand out with your interview answers.
If you talk about living in a present moment and dedicating 100% of your attention to a task at hand, keeping your mind quiet and letting higher intelligence to lead your hands (7th sample answer), you will certainly say something nobody else will say in the interviews.
Interviewers will remember your words, they may even touch them somehow in the depths of their being, and all of this can help you stand out from the pack of your competitors in the interviews.
Having said that, interview questions about quality are very difficult, and most people won’t have any answer ready… Sometimes just answering the question will make you stand out :).
Ready to answer this one? Check also sample answers to other tricky interview questions:
- Tell me about a time you had to comply with a policy you didn’t agree with.
- What does integrity mean to you?
- What does diversity mean to you?
