Question: Describe a time when you motivated yourself to complete you work or project despite great pressures and difficulties.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Give us an example of a situation where you knew that a project or task would place you under great pressure. How did you plan your approach and remain motivated?

Follow-up questions:

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Complex Problem Solving,Systems – Judgment and Decision Making,Systems Analysis

Abilities:

Cognitive – Problem Sensitivity (Problem Recognition)

Other Factors:

Big 5 – Openness to Experience (Open Mindedness),Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Practical Intelligence (Street Smarts),Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events,Mental Processes – Developing Objectives and Strategies,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Mental Processes – Making Decisions and Solving Problems,Mental Processes – Thinking Creatively (Creativity),Mental Processes – Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Job Structure – Handling Time Pressure,Job Structure – Structured versus Unstructured Work

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Analytical Thinking,Attention to Detail,Handling Ambiguity,Initiative,Persistence/Perseverance,Self Control,Stress Tolerance

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

If the candidate has the quality of not giving up easily.
If the candidate sounds confident and perceives pressure as a positive motivator.
If the candidate has learnt from the experience and can use that well in future jobs.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate has negative opinion about this situation and doesn’t seem to have learnt from this experience.
If the candidate points difficulties and pressure as a negative characteristics and sounds less confident to handle pressure at work.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/most-common-competency-based-interview-questions