How well do you handle stressful situations?
Every profession has stressful situations, and the interviewer wants to hear how you handle stress while remaining calm under pressure. The interviewer wants to see that you can take job-related stress without it negatively affecting your performance. Give an example of how you handle stress without it impacting your job performance.
"I handle stress very well. I feel that reacting to the situation rather than to the stress helps me stay focused on the task at hand. For example, my last activity team felt stressed because of tight deadlines with a large event we had planned. I could feel the stress in the team and picked up some of that stress myself. I decided to help alleviate that stress by identifying how we could work more efficiently as a team. Each team member was delegated a certain measurable task, and we enlisted the help of some volunteers. With the extra help, the stress reduced dramatically, and we easily met our deadline."
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Anonymous Answer
I like to act on what needs to be done, rather than letting the stress freeze me up. I usually do not immediately have a strong emotional reaction to sudden stressors, but instead, move to rectify as much of the situation as possible and deal with the stress after the fact. When I do feel myself having a strong emotional response, I know to ask for help from a fellow manager or my supervisor, so that I can take care of my needs and move on to handle the situation as soon as possible.
Marcie's Feedback
Have you worked in high-stress environments before? If so, mention this and talk about how exactly you release and manage stress. Do you exercise, listen to music, take walks, or socialize on lunch breaks? Do you break down big projects into smaller, more manageable tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed? Build out your answer with additional details. Great job!
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