What would you do if your manager gives you too much work?

Four years, I was interviewed for a job. One of the interview questions was that, if your line manager gives you too much work, what would you do?

My answer was "I don't mind to work hard, even if that means I have to work overtime. There could be busy times when every member has to work hard to share the team's workload". Obvously, this answer was not good enough. At the end of the day, I did not get an offer for that job.

I asked the same question four days ago on this forum. I got answers which include:

a. Ask the manager to decide the priority.
b. Priorotise job tasks.
c. It is unfair, you should pay me more.
d. It all depends.

I felt propelled to share here when I leant the answer from a three-year-old child.

The scene: A mum and a daughter was shopping in a foodstore. The mum picked up a pack of doughnuts and handed it to the daughter, then the mum picked up a pack of breads and handed it to the daughter again.

The question: What would you do if your manager gives you too much work. Actually, this is not a question asked in a job interview, but a real problem in working situation.

The answer: "Mum, I can't carry everything."

What is the interview question about? It's not about your ability to carry out the work; it's not about how busy the team is; it's not about the priority of the tasks; it's about the communication.

The analysis: The girl was in a high morale to help her mum. However, the reality was that she could carry something, but she couldn't carry everything. Because of her close relationship with her mum, she didn't have any obstacles to communicate the situation she thought that was back to her mum. Her mum answered back:"I know.". All the problem was solved. In the whole process, I saw a pair of happy mum and daughter. I asked the girl's age later. She was three.

Suppose you want the job, answer a is better than answer b, because a communication between you and your manager has been mentioned. Sometimes, communication with other parties may become necessary. This also applies to real working situations.