What kinds of things do you like to do every day at work?

You'll never hear this in a job interview, and you're likely to never hear it from a supervisor on the job. That's a shame, because it's the single most important question you should be able to answer for yourself. Why? The reality is that careers don't happen in the scope of industry expertise, or in terms of promotions or accolades. Sure, those things are important, but they're rearward-looking measures. The sobering truth is that careers in the present are made day-by-day, hour-by-hour. It's important to see the forest for the trees and have a goal in mind for where you'd like to end up, but you must remember that if you hate your day-to-day job duties, you'll never be able to able to reach that zenith. On the other hand, when you find something where the daily grind isn't much of a grind at all, you might find the climb to the top to feel less like Mount Everest and more like a stroll through rolling foothills.