Question: What kinds of stresses pressures do you feel in your current or previous job, and how do you cope with them?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

How do you feel whenever faced with a stressful situation?
What frustrates you the most?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Social – Coordination (Adjusting one’s own actions in relation to others)

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Personality-Job Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Adaptability/Flexibility,Patience,Stress Tolerance

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s professionalism in dealing with stressful situations.
The candidate’s creative thinking skills.
The candidate’s stress tolerance.

Red Flags to Watch For:

The candidate’s inability to handle stress.

Sample Answer:

Deadlines can be stressful most of the time, especially if you depend on other business units to accomplish your tasks. I manage this by making sure that I coordinate with other business units properly. If it gets really stressful I just take a breather to clear my thoughts and manage anxiety.

Question Source: Unknown