Interview Question: How do you alleviate stress?

Interview Stress ManagementEvery employee is guilty of being stressed out in his or her working environment, no matter what the field. People may unfortunately choose to turn to medications and other harmful substances to alleviate stress. What about you? How do you respond to stress?

Feeling overworked and stressed out is normal. You may have gotten used to it in the last few years. It may be difficult to find, but it’s important to give yourself alone time once in a while to get rid of the negative energy that’s affecting you.

But what is the best way to alleviate stress?

If the stress-handling question comes up in your interview, here’s a list of some stress busters that are found to be effective:

Learn a new hobby or activity. It’s important to get out of your normal routine and keep yourself preoccupied with other things that are not work-related. Perhaps you want to learn how to paint or learn a new sport together with a friend. What’s important is to find something that interests you. Research states that feel-good hobbies help envelop you in calm and reduce blood pressure.

Don’t overthink things. Stop being anxious about your workload. As long as you’re doing your job well, there’s no need to worry. Sometimes your way of thinking is the sole reason why you’ve been stressing out. Practice a positive state of mind to avoid injecting pessimistic thoughts during the day.

Stretch and grab a bite of your favorite snack. Sometimes, a (little) cheat on your diet can help. Then, take time to stretch to ease out knotted tension. If you need some air, feel free to go outside and meditate. This is an effective way for you to de-stress while at work.

Analyze why you’re stressed out. Is it something related to work? Are you having problems with your colleagues? Perhaps your boss or supervisor is sucking the life out of you. If you think your co-workers are being unreasonable, feel free to talk to someone to help fix the problem.

Think of a solution. Whatever is stressing you out, you need to find a concrete solution to overcome the problem. There is someone or something out there that will help you resolve the issue.

These tips should give you ideas on how to alleviate stress in a positive way. When asked this question during the interview, don’t forget to address previous stress issues and be able to cite an example. This will give the recruiter a clear picture of just how you handle pressure.

Read 9111 times Last modified on Thursday, 25 February 2016 18:22
Alan Carniol

Alan is the creator of Interview Success Formula, a training program that has helped more than 80,000 job seekers to ace their interviews and land the jobs they deserve. Interviewers love asking curveball questions to weed out job seekers. But the truth is, most of these questions are asking about a few key areas. Learn more about how to outsmart tough interviewers by watching this video.