What kinds of events cause you stress on the job? How do you handle stress?

Kristine's Feedback

You chose a perfect example to illustrate how you stayed cool under intense pressure. Be sure to answer the interviewer's situational questions before diving into your story. I provided an example of how you could respond before sharing your experience.

Something that causes me stress on the job is when an unexpected crisis happens that I need to handle, where a lot of people are counting on me. While these experiences feel stressful, I've proved myself as a person who remains calm under pressure.

For example, a few years ago, I was the manager on duty at the end of the day when the electricity in the entire building suddenly went out. It was my first time managing the store alone, and nobody had trained me on how to respond to this kind of situation. There were customers stranded in the dark in the fitting rooms, and several transactions at the register were suddenly stalled. I was stressed out, but I took a deep breath, checked in on my team to make sure everyone was safe and had what they needed, then gave them instructions on helping our customers while I reached out to the building manager. The electricity eventually came back on without incident, and I was really proud of the way I stayed cool under pressure. The customers all expressed appreciation for how calm I was -- they said it made them feel safe and secure, even though they didn't know when power would return."