When asked, “Can you work under pressure?” in the interview, remember that the employer is looking to reveal your skills in a variety of areas including problem-solving, decision-making, organizational skills, time management, and your ability to work under pressure.
Can you work under pressure?
As always, have a carefully chosen example highlighting your skill in working in such an environment, making sure to convey your ability to work calmly and efficiently while achieving results.
Some other formulas
There are many versions of the question “Can you work under pressure?”, including:
- How do you deal with stress or stressful situations?
- How do you deal with stress?
Why does the interviewer ask you this question?
With the question “Can you work under pressure?” The interviewer really wants to know if you can handle job-related stress and what to do in particularly stressful situations at work.
This is especially important if you are interviewing for a position where pressure is an integral part of the job. This is because work stress can have a negative impact on performance in the workplace.
The interviewer may also wonder if stressful issues outside of work can affect your job performance. Employers look for candidates who can handle a range of stressful situations, whether personal or work-related.
How to prepare for the answer
To successfully answer this question, you will need to provide specific examples of how you have handled stress well in the past. You can also provide examples of times when stress made you work more productively.
Be careful how you respond. If you say that you get stressed when given multiple projects, and you know that the job will require you to juggle many tasks at once, it sounds like you're not a good fit for the job.
Keep in mind to mention how a little bit of stress can be a good motivator for you. Try to give an example of a time when the stress of a difficult project helped you be a more creative and productive worker.
Examples of answering the question
Examples can help you understand how to carefully answer the “Can you work under pressure?” question.
Consider these sample answers to help inspire you to prepare your own answer:
Pressure is very important to me. Good stress - like doing too many tasks or an upcoming deadline - helps me stay motivated and productive. Of course, there are times when excessive stress can lead to stress. However, I am very skilled at balancing multiple projects and meeting deadlines; This ability prevents me from feeling overly stressed. For example, I once had three big projects due in the same week, and that was a lot of pressure. However, since I created a table detailing how I could break each project down into small tasks, I was able to complete all three projects early and avoid unnecessary stress.
I try to respond to situations rather than pressure. This way, I can handle the situation without feeling overly nervous. For example, when I deal with an unsatisfied client, instead of focusing on feeling nervous, I focus on the task at hand. I believe that my ability to communicate effectively with clients during these moments helps reduce my stress. I think it also reduces any stress the customer might feel.
I actually work better under pressure, and I've found that I enjoy working in a challenging environment. As a writer and editor, I thrive on tight deadlines and multiple projects. I find that when I have to work until the deadline, I can produce some of my most creative work. For example, my last article, in which I won a regional writing award, was set just days before the due date. I used the pressure of that deadline to harness my creativity and focus.
I am very sensitive to the nuances of group dynamics. If there is an unhealthy amount of tension within the team, I can take on some of that pressure as well. So, what I do is try to proactively listen to the concerns of the people around me, and check frequently to see if they themselves are under stress. If they are, I'm thinking about how to help them with the workload so that the collective pressure of the team doesn't escalate. When the team is happy, I am happy.
Stress can be a huge motivator for me. A healthy amount of pressure helps me produce effective, quality work by giving me a picture of what my colleagues need from me and when. I've been through the stressful situations that bring my team together, and I've seen some of our best work come from the pressure.