Can You Work Under Pressure? Here's How To Answer Intelligently

From our DMs

My name is James, a recent graduate who studied civil engineering. I’m in the job market and I’ve attended one or two interviews already. The question, “How well can you work under pressure?” is always asked in the interviews I attend. I feel I’m not answering this question well so I’d like some help. Is there a particular to go about answering this ‘pressure’ question?

Our Response:

Hi James, interviewers ask candidates specific questions in order to gauge different things – the candidate’s presence of mind, body language, ability to answer tricky questions, calm and composure during the interview, and most importantly, how a potential candidate would perform in the role at hand.

Do find some examples below:

Example 1

“I believe I can as it is a part of my current job. In my current position as the team lead, I can be faced with myriad stressful situations that require me to work under pressure on a daily basis and I have learned to deal with it. Once I accomplish a challenging task, I feel I have learnt something from it, which will be useful in my next project perhaps.”

Example 2

“I believe job pressure is as inevitable as life itself. So, I try to take out the emotional factors and work hard. I always prioritize and organize my work and hence that gives me an edge over pressure. Whenever time becomes a constraint, I put in some extra effort and time to meet the deadline. In a way, pressure has nothing to do with my work, it is part of my work and I have accepted it.”

Example 3

“In my job as a lifestyle editor, the pressure is omnipresent. There are strict deadlines and constant workload. But, by maintaining a calendar and planning ahead, I am now able to organise my work much better and complete my projects more efficiently.”

Example 4

“Having many different assignments to work on or an upcoming deadline is the new normal in today’s corporate world. A certain amount of pressure is required in a job as it helps me to stay motivated and productive. This also allows me to channel my energy really well into accomplishing tasks efficiently.

Here we have it guys, which of these answers have you stated in an interview session and which would you try?