Competency Interview Questions

Master 25 competency-based interview questions covering behavioral scenarios and skills assessment.

Question 22 of 25

How do you deal with stressful situations in the workplace?

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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.

"I tend to work best under stressful situations. For example, the pressure of deadlines from my boss often drive me to work faster and better. I am resistant to stress and able to focus on the work that needs to get accomplished."

Rachelle Enns

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.

"When stressed, I try to take a break, re-focus, and then get back to work. I also like listening to music in my office when it's appropriate. Not all businesses are OK with that, and I understand."

Rachelle Enns

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 do well under pressure or stress, within reason. I obviously need to balance myself and my workload out, as much as possible, or it can become an overwhelming workplace vibe. I know myself and my triggers pretty well, so when I feel like there's too much on my plate, I know how to center myself and just dig in and get through it, knowing I'll come out better on the other side."

Rachelle Enns

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 take stressful situations in stride, as much as possible. I'm a mom, a teacher... not a whole lot can phase me at this point, honestly."

Rachelle Enns

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.

"Stressful situations are bound to happen, and I typically take them as they come and they don't ruffle me too much. I know it's part of the creative process and it's going to pass soon enough."

Rachelle Enns

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.

"Retail can be very stressful, especially during the holiday season, Black Friday, and other major sales. I resist the stress by being prepared, taking one task at a time, and encouraging teamwork."

Christine Pasqueretta

Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.

Ah, the challenge of stress management! Your ability to manage stress will directly influence your ability to do your job successfully. Before answering this question, think of some ways you have learned to deal with stress at work. You can't always take a break when you need it, so what will you do?

Some workplace stress management strategies are:

- Track your primary stress factors and make a plan for overcoming those
- Establish boundaries with distracting coworkers
- Breathing exercises, or meditation
- Be sure to recharge your emotional batteries throughout the day
- Express your stress to your manager/supervisor
- Ask for help

Christine Pasqueretta

Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.

"I've learned some helpful breathing techniques that I can do while I'm at work. Even when I'm feeling rushed or overwhelmed by a situation, I can slow down my breathing and remain calm. Once I understood that it was okay for me to take a minute for myself, I learned to handle workplace stressors in a whole new way."

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Anonymous Answer

I confront the issue head-on.
I remain calm, prioritize my time, and focus on what needs to get done.

Rachelle's Feedback

Excellent! You show a great deal of determination in this response.

Anonymous Answer

Working in three different teams as part of one role could get overwhelming at times, especially as each team had different focuses and dynamics.
In order to deal with this, I ensured I took the time to prioritize at the start of each day, making a list of things that needed to be done and crossing them off once they were finished. This helped me visualize the workload, and it was motivating to see things crossed off. I felt it also helped me keep focused and organized.
If my mind started to get frazzled I would take a break, take some fresh air, then come back refreshed.

Stephanie's Feedback

This is a well-rounded response! You do a great job of illustrating how you navigate workplace stress, while also showing how you take care of yourself when times are stressful.

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Competency Interview Questions

How do you deal with stressful situations in the workplace?

25Competency Interview Questions & Answers

1.Tell me the ways in which you brought value to your most recent position.

2.How do you deal with conflict on your team?

3.Why are you the best candidate for this position?

4.What skills did you learn in your most recent position that will help you in this new role?

5.Give me an example of a challenge you overcame in your last position.

6.What decisions did you routinely make in your last position?

7.How do you deal in uncomfortable situations?

8.Name a few things you were asked to do in your most recent position that you weren't necessarily trained to do. How did you cope?

9.What feedback did you receive from your most recent manager?

10.How did you go about suggesting changes in your most recent company?

11.How has your current job changed over the years?

12.How do you explain complicated concepts to those who may not understand?

13.Give an example of when you used your listening skills to complete a task properly, or solve a problem.

14.Tell me about an achievement you are proud of. What skills did you use to achieve this goal?

15.Are you capable of handling disputes in a professional manner? How do you respond to customer complaints?

16.Do you have confidence in your communication skills? What is your communication style?

17.How did you maintain a good relationship with your most recent boss?

18.Tell me about a time when you took a creative approach to solving a problem.

19.When have you taken an unusual risk in the workplace? What was the outcome?

20.In your opinion, why is it important to develop relationships with coworkers?

21.How do you handle a larger than average workload?

22.How do you deal with stressful situations in the workplace?

23.Do you consider yourself a patient person? How do you increase your patience level in challenging situations?

24.Have you requested extra responsibilities in any of your previous roles?

25.With the ongoing changes in this industry, how do you keep your knowledge current?