How To Answer “How Do You Handle Stress?” [With Answers For 2024]

An interview is a set of inter-related questions that not only tests your grip on your core academic profile but also examine your body language, personality, and attitude towards different situations. Business organizations operate in a dynamic business environment wherein they have to handle the pressures of political situations, legal situations, and cut-throat competition. It is for this reason that they tend to hire a fewer number of candidates and assign them heavy workloads so as to save and cut down on their employee expenditure. This is a common interview question through which an interviewer wants to know whether or not you are willing to work in a stressful working environment wherein you would be required to deal with heavy workloads and huge volumes of work that have the possibility of causing you stress.

Five Effective Tips To Answer This Question

1) Include A Real Work Related Example In Your Answer

Everyone loves to hear stories about a person’s achievements, accomplishments, difficulties, and challenges. Stories add the required spice to an answer and not only engages but also maintains the interest of the listener. Interviewers simply want to hear a few practical stories that are related to your workplace, wherein you experienced stress and overcame it using your techniques and strategies.

2) Mention What Stress Teaches or Taught You

We all experience difficult situations in our life. Some crumble under the pressure and some just find a way to absorb the pressure and maintain supremacy. However, each and every pressure situation that we experience in our life always teaches us a few aspects of life. An interviewer wants to know, what was the teaching that you acquired while operating in a hectic working environment.

3) Never Answer In This Manner

Almost all the interview questions are designed after due deliberations and impactful discussions with the sole aim to eke out the personality of a candidate. It is one of such important questions and must not be answered in a negative or avoiding manner. The following is a list of answers that must never be extended as a reply to this question:

• Sir, I am a person with nerves of steel and hence I never experience any pressure or stress at all.
• Stress kills a person, hence I never take any stress or pressure upon me, I just execute what is confortable for me.
• Health first. Taking stress has a lot of negative impacts upon a human’s body and hence one must not take any stress rather must always remain cool.

4) Give An Optimistic Answer

An interview simply tests your personality and attitude. The way you perform and would react in a pressure situation is of prime importance to an interviewer as by using your response he or she would be able to analyze your capabilities, nerves, and capacity to handle huge volumes of work. Hence, you must never respond in a manner in which you state that stress affects your productivity or you simply could not handle pressure.

5) Mention Your Own Unique Technique Of Stress Management

This would form the core of your interview answer. An interviewer is very much interested in understanding and knowing the technique which you follow so as to overcome and manage your stress levels. The technique shared would be analyzed by an interviewer in terms of its effectiveness and impact.

Ten Sample Interview Answers

Sample Answer One

Sir, stress is a part of our lives and we experience it every now and then. Hence, it is of utmost necessity that we manage it. I have work experience of 5 years, and there have been numerous instances wherein I have experienced stress at my workplace. In order to manage it, I always follow the technique of prioritization wherein I arrange the tasks to be performed in a logical order, most preferably the time consumption. This way, the most consuming time tasks are arranged by me at the top of the order only to be followed by the tasks that are the least time-consuming, enabling me to execute all my duties well before the deadline.

Sample Answer Two

Sir, stress is simply when you are not able to execute the tasks and duties that are assigned to you in a time-bound manner. This leads to the development of a fear which steadily translates into stress. Punctuality and discipline are the two vital aspects when it comes to the management of stress. If a person takes an active interest in planning his or her workload and does not waste time in gossiping and blarney I believe he or she would be able to fulfill the obligations in a time-bound manner.

Sample Answer Three

If anyone says he or she does not feel stress, I would be forced to laugh hard at him or her. I remember a time when I was supposed to hire more than 25 candidates in a single day, for an urgent upcoming project. Initially, I was a bit skeptical about my capabilities and this developed a sense of stress in me. But, I immediately stepped up and responded to the requirement. I made a few phone calls on the basis of the relevant professional profiles of the candidates listed on the internet. I worked like a madman and made more than 250 calls in a single day, only to hire 25 employees. This took me more than one and a half-day, but the management was extremely happy with my performance.

Sample Answer Four

It is crucial for an individual to manage and control stress levels by using proper techniques and strategies. In order to do so, I always follow the technique of prioritization on the basis of difficulty level. The tasks that are assigned to me are managed and put in order on the basis of their difficulty levels and application of mind. The tasks that are tough and require too much application of mind, are always placed by me at the top of my list, only to be executed at the beginning of my shift. This way I am able to execute all my tasks and duties well within the deadline, giving a minimal opportunity for the buildup of stress.

Sample Answer Five

Sir, stress can happen with anyone and I am no exception. However, the way you manage stress matters a lot and even differentiates you from the rest of the people. In my case, I never allow stress to affect either my performance or even dominate me. I always love to take control of a pressure situation by understanding and analyzing it comprehensively using my analytical skills as well as critical thinking abilities. The best way to manage stress is by showing a higher level of application and maintaining calm and composure.

Sample Answer Six

Sir, the best way to manage and handle stress is by focusing on the pressure situation and never letting your concentration levels slip. There must not be a single strand of panic in your mind, or else it would multiply and would affect your overall mental ability and thinking. I have experienced and even handled stressful situations during the entire course of my professional career. I have done this by keeping my calm and maintaining my focus.

Sample Answer Seven

If you want to test the composure and nerves of a person, it is better to always put him or her under stress. I believe, stress is a buildup of the negligence or a careless attitude of a person towards his or her office and work. However, I believe no problem can overtake your mind leading you to lose control of the situation. I believe, the best way to manage stress is time management. If a person is able to effectively make and follow a timetable of the duties to be performed in the day, he or she would be able to finish all of them with high levels of precision and standards.

Sample Answer Eight

Sir, I would like to share with you an instance from my real work life. During my previous tenure, I experienced pressure and stressful situation, when suddenly three of the five members of my team went on leaves due to various reasons. This meant that the other two members were supposed to execute the tasks and share the workload. We used to work very hard and during those 15 days, we almost worked for 18 hours in a single day. That led to a lot of stress but in the end, we both emerged victoriously and learned a lot of skills including time management and prioritization.

Sample Answer Nine

Stress and pressure situations are normal for a person to experience while working in a corporate setup. However, one must always cope with them and must not let the pressure affect one’s personal attitude and mental health. In order to do so effectively, I always manage and handle my stress levels by engaging myself in regular meditation and physical exercises, which enable me to stay ahead of all my work schedules leading to a minimum chance for the stress to build up and rise.

Sample Answer Ten

Sir, if stress is left untamed it has the ability to affect and deteriorate the performance of an employee. Hence, I never let my stress levels as well as situations go out of control and always keep a check on them. I believe, stress is created at a workplace when an employee is not able to meet the deadlines. In case deadlines are not tough and are moderate, one must always try to achieve them using the techniques of prioritization and time management. However, if the deadlines are simply too strict or unachievable, then a proper discussion should be made with the seniors.

References

1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10538259211012714
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/smi.2680