Stressful Interview Questions

Prepare for 15 high-pressure interview questions that test composure, resilience, and emotional intelligence.

Question 1 of 15

How do you handle stress on the job?

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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.

"Stress is part of any demanding job, and I embrace it to the fullest. I take good care of myself and prioritize my workload to maintain a healthy balance in my stress levels."

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 am quite resilient to stress and believe this is because of my eight-plus years' experience being in a management role in a fast-paced environment. Under times of extreme stress, I make sure to give myself a breather whether that be a quick walk around the block or a couple of minutes on the phone with my wife who is great at bringing me back down to earth."

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.

"Stress is often one of my drivers. When facing tight deadlines, I tend to concentrate even better. It's an odd characteristic, I admit, but it works for me!"

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 have experienced high-stress level many times in a retail environment. These times of stress might be when I have an overly aggressive and angry client to deal with, or during peak times like Black Friday or holiday sales. To keep myself grounded, I ensure that I come to work well-rested. Also, I bring a book to read during my lunch breaks. It's an escape for me, to read a book, versus spending spare time on social media."

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.

"If I am stressed, I will take a look at the situation from the outside and narrow down what component of the situation is problematic. By sourcing the core of the issue, I feel much more equipped to tackle and conquer the situation."

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.

"As a seasoned educator, there are particular brands of stress that I think I am immune to by now! I can keep calm in emergency situations, for instance, and am not one to raise my voice in the classroom is someone is misbehaving. The 'count to 10' rule is simple but also useful for me."

Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.

The interviewer would like to know if you can appropriately handle the stress related to this job. Discuss how you can thrive, even during the most stressful times. You can keep your answer brief. If you can, provide an example of a time when you implemented a stress-management technique in your current role.

Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.

"I handle stress very well, and when you call my references, they will attest to this fact. When I am under pressure on the job, I focus on the task at hand and make sure not to get distracted. Staying on a deadline is very helpful, and I will delegate when necessary to alleviate some stress."

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Anonymous Answer

Whenever I am stressed, I tend to take a few moments to identify what is causing me stress. In sales, we're always going to have stress, but to understand where the stress is coming from allows me to specifically work on making the changes needed to mitigate and minimize the stressful circumstance that is affecting me.

Kevin's Feedback

Excellent start! By exhibiting a high EQ you set yourself as a desirable asset. However, don't forget to communicate what kind of changes have you made in the past to help you mitigate or minimize stress.

Stress is instinctual. The trick is having your stress rather than letting your stress having you. It’s a choice, really. What’s that expression? No one can hold over you what you already own? So, I own my stress and it doesn’t have a hold over me. This wasn’t always the case, though. But, a long time ago, I learned to take a few moments to examine the cause of my stress. In understanding the source of my stress, I am better equipped to address it appropriately. Stress is something of a fire that needs to be put out, otherwise it might interfere with your performance. So, once I identify my stress, I seek the appropriate stress reliever. Whether it is taking action, or taking a micro-break and calling my kids on the phone, or listing to that song that always turns me around. But the stress reliever I’ve found has to correlate with the cause.

Anonymous Answer

I like to take five minutes to write down everything that’s on my plate in terms of work, and determine why I’m feeling stressed. Then, I look at what actions I can take to move my work forward most effectively that day. This helps me look at the situation logically instead of getting overwhelmed. For example, in my last job, I had days when I couldn’t possibly complete every request from customers that I received. However, by identifying the most crucial tasks and doing them first, I was able to keep our customers happy and finish the secondary tasks a day or two later.”

Marcie's Feedback

Nice! It sounds like you have a good process in place for handling stress on the job. Your response shows that you are able to distance yourself so you can look at things logically instead of emotionally, which is great. You might also mention a few ways that you release stress (like working out, listening to music, taking walks at lunch, and so on) when it does arise. Excellent response!

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Stressful Interview Questions

How do you handle stress on the job?

15Stress Interview Questions & Answers

1.How do you handle stress on the job?

2.Which parts of your current position brings you the most stress?

3.What could your current employer do for you that would have prevented you from looking for a job?

4.Looking at your resume, you've had a number of job changes, what would make me think that you will stay with our company?

5.Are you applying for any other jobs?

6.Looking at your resume, I see multiple gaps between employments, what were you doing during those gaps?

7.How long have you been looking for a job?

8.What is the worst thing you have heard about our company?

9.How long will it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our team?

10.Why were you fired or let go from your last job?

11.Can you talk to me about your GPA during undergraduate/graduate school?

12.How would you rate your performance in this interview so far?

13.What advice would you give to a colleague who was stressed out?

14.How do you prevent stress from your personal life entering your professional life?

15.How did you prepare for this interview?