How To Answer: “How Do You Deal With A Stressful Situation?”
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This is a very popular question with interviewers as it helps them gauge how you have handled a stressful situation in the past. Stressful situations occur every day both in work and in life in general and stress affects people in different ways. Some people will take it out on others around them in the office and some people will bring it home with them. So to answer with the line “stress doesn’t affect me” is a lie as we all get stressed at times.
So firstly acknowledge that stress in the workplace is a reality. A certain level of stress (good stress) is productive and can help us work better but how do you prevent bad stress? It’s important for your employers to know you won’t blow up at your boss if he pushes forward your deadline or you won’t flip out when a customer is testing your patience.
The interviewer wants to hear examples of a situation where you encountered a stressful situation and dealt with it in a reasonable manner. Discuss how you used time management, problem-solving techniques or decision-making skills to reduce stress. They want to hear things like “I just take a deep breath, count to ten and deal with the situation” or “If a project is overwhelming, I break it into smaller steps and focus on each step one at a time”.
