CBSA Mock Interview
Master 60 CBSA interview questions covering border security, integrity scenarios, and situational judgment.
Question 16 of 60
Canada Border Services Agency does not tolerate violence or harassment in the workplace. How often have you lost your temper or failed to control your emotions?
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Canada Border Services Agency wants to gain insight into your personality and whether you meet their standards and expectations. Talk about the professional degree of your emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is defined by one's ability to be fully self aware while controlling one's own emotions rather than letting their emotions influence their conduct. This includes being able to judiciously build stronger interpersonal relationships with empathy. Discuss your ability to adapt your communication style to others. Discuss your positive characteristics and the way in which you ensure everyone is heard and respected in the workplace. If you have an example of a time when your calm presence stood out from others, relay this brief story.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I maintain my cool and do not easily lose my temper. Naturally, I am a calm and confident person, and it's pretty hard to get me rattled emotionally. In my current role, my colleagues and supervisors know me for being even-keeled. In law enforcement, I believe it is imperative to maintain a calm, controlled presence at all times. This stable behavior ensures that my coworkers, my superiors, and the public feel that they can trust me."
Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
As with any behavioral question, it is framed in a way that asks you 'about a time' when you faced a situation in the past. Your interviewer will listen to your example and study how you responded to and handled the situation, and what you learned from it. They will take the information you share and view it as a predictor of what to expect from your performance in the future. When answering a behavioral question, the STAR method is the recommended approach to organizing your answer. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result, and is intended to help you frame and organize your response in a way that will resonate with your interviewer. So you would start by introducing the situation you faced and the task at hand. You would then present the action you took, why it was significant and how you came to deciding on this approach, and ultimately the result of your actions.
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Anonymous Answer
I'm very well mannered and calm in critical situations. If I come across such situations, I will assess them calmly and provide a sensible answer by stating that I'm doing my job and that's what I'm charged to do. I've come across these situations plenty of times as a screening officer, so I have really good experience dealing with people, whether they're good or bad.
Rachelle's Feedback
Your experience as a screening officer will certainly be helpful when working for the CBSA. It's clear that you are a well-poised and professional individual.
Anonymous Answer
i always maintain my cool even in the most heated of situations. As a screening officer, passengers would always create heated situations, but my coworkers knew me as someone who will deescalate the situation. In my opinion, it's very important for anyone in a law enforcement career to have complete control over their emotions on and off duty.
Rachelle's Feedback
This answer is good! You describe your calm personality while also supporting your reply with an example from your role as a screening officer. Well done.
Anonymous Answer
I can honestly say that I do not lose my temper often. I take pride in having control over my emotions in different situations, and naturally being calm and collected. When I am faced with a situation that would cause my temper to rise, I tend to find the reasoning behind the situation and the actions of others. Doing so allows me to calm myself and understand that there is more to the situation at hand. Having this frame of mind has proven to me that others can confide in me, trust me, and overall feel comfortable around me.
Rachelle's Feedback
Good start! The answer is a touch wordy at the end - beware of talking in circles. If you can replace some general statements with concrete examples, this may help as well. If the CBSA utilizes psychology when reviewing interview answers, I recommend avoiding a start such as 'I can honestly say...' or 'In all honesty...' as it can signal insecurity or dishonesty. I've offered a revision for you to review below.
"I take pride in maintaining control over my emotions. When I face a situation that could cause my temper to rise, I stop to find the reasoning behind my reaction. I will look at the overall situation and how I am reacting. Doing so allows me to calm myself and come to an understanding that the situation may be multi-faceted. For instance, when...(give a story-based example of your approach in action. You can form this using the STAR answer method). When I am consistent in my emotions and reactions, others can confide in me, trust me, and feel comfortable around me."
Anonymous Answer
I have grown up learning to control my temper, even in unpleasant situations. I understand that as CBSA officials, we must present a calm and collected face under the highest public scrutiny. We have a responsibility to exude respect, integrity, and professionalism as we represent Canada.
Stephanie's Feedback
This response shows a clear understanding of CSBA, as well as an understanding of strong workplace etiquette. To make your response more impactful and memorable, you may wish to include a specific example of a time when you were faced with a stressful situation at work and kept your cool. What was the situation? How did you respond calmly? Giving a specific example of how you've stayed calm and collected under stress will make your interviewers feel confident that you'll be able to handle whatever stressful situations come your way!
Anonymous Answer
I have never lost my temper or failed to control my emotions, on a few occasions I physically defended myself from individuals who had put their hands on me first, but stopped myself from being too aggressive.
Jaymie's Feedback
Possessing the ability to remain calm in tense situations is critical in this role. Good job reassuring the interviewer that you can control your emotions and reactions.
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