How do you deal with stress?
I recently went for a job interview and I was asked "how do you deal with stress"? Really how do you answer such a question? I pray or meditate, I cry, I pop a pill or take a drink to relieve the stress, I take a walk, I eat, I sleep on it. What answer could he have possibly wanted? Life can be stressful; sometimes I have to deal with ongoing stress positively or it can be negatively. Now, I can say I do some of the above but not all. At one time yes. I did pop thousands of pills and at that one minute it did take me away from my stress, but in the long run it did not relieve my stress for long. It actually gave me negative consequences. Today, I take life's stresses head on and hope for the best. People are different and situations are different. So, how you deal with stress in each situations is not the same. To me that question was a bit vague.
I agree, that’s a tough question to answer without the risk of exposing something personal that could immediately draw you out of the hiring pool. These type of questions are tricky mainly because they borer on one’s personal and professional behavior. Over the years I’ve learned to try to keep my all my responses on based on my work personality within on the job experiences.
“My response would sounds something like this “I actually welcome a fast paced and challenging work environment. Meeting day to day challenges and identifying solutions keeps me engaged in department initiatives and company goals.”
I’ll close with a small personal note on relaxing activities I enjoy outside of work like working out or spending time with friends and family to make me appear more human but I typically like to stick to workplace behavior issues.