Incase asked How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

Interview Preparation
#1

If you’re applying for a high-stress job, you’re guaranteed to get asked this question.

The aim of this question is to see if you’re the type of person who’d survive working at the job, or fall through the cracks when the first signs of trouble show up.

Obviously, you wouldn’t answer with the following…

“Well, I end up having a panic attack, crying, and running away from work.”

Instead, answer as follows…

  • Say that yes, you do tend to perform well during stressful situations
  • Give 1-2 examples of a situation where you had to perform well under pressure

Now, let’s go through some real-life examples:

“Though I can’t particularly say I enjoy stressful situations, I AM very good at working under pressure.

During chaos and panic, I tend to take a step back, think, plan, and prioritize.

For example, there have been times I’ve had to juggle multiple university projects and assignments at the same time. I would break up large assignments into small, individual tasks, and prioritize based on:

How fast I could complete each task
Figuring out which task would take the longest
Which project had the earliest deadline

This way, my work became a lot more manageable. The most times I had to experience such situations, the better I performed overall.”