How have you typically handled stressful situations throughout your career?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
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Even though stress differs for everyone and can be defined in different ways by different employees in the workplace, the job of a pharmaceutical sales rep comes with its fair share of common stressors. To gauge your ability to handle stress in the workplace in a healthy and productive manner, your interviewer wants to hear you talk about a time or two you handled stress on the job with ease.

First, it's important to understand the common stressors that plague pharmaceutical sales representatives. Some of these include constant rejection, lofty target sales goals, and long working hours. Knowing this, you can hopefully discuss some similar types of stressors you've faced on the job in the past. What your interviewer will be looking to hear is that you used any resources possible to work through the situation with a great result.

"As you can see from my resume, I've been in medical device sales for the last seven years and this job naturally comes with some stress. I feel so grateful for the experience I've had because it has helped me learn how to navigate difficult times with ease and I know this will benefit me greatly in pharmaceutical sales. The first stress that hit me hard was rejection and it is very common in my current job. The equipment I sell has many competitors and I really struggled with being told 'no' right away. I let it get me down and it wasn't until I received some great advice from colleagues that I put a new perspective on being turned down. Rather than being dejected and giving up on that customer, I worked harder to learn my product and its benefits to be able to meet the needs of the customer and it has worked great! Of course, I still hear no, but I don't ever let it discourage me anymore."

Anonymous Answer

"I like to meditate, so I think it is important to take a moment to breathe and reflect on the situation. Oftentimes, stressful situations are more in our head and if we face the problem head-on, the stress is immediately relieved."

Amanda's Feedback

You've answered well by sharing that you face stressful situations head-on. You can strengthen your response by providing a specific example of how you've handled stress well in the past, or telling about a time when increased pressure actually helped you work more productively. This illustrates your ability to transform stress into action, successfully turning a negative into a positive, to accomplish your goal.