Surviving "Stress" Interviews

Should I be worried about "stress" interviews? Yes. You should definitely prepare yourself. The "Stress Interview" is a technique where your prospective employer INTENTIONALLY tries to stress you out during the interview. They might have many people interview you, one after the other -- or many people interview you all at the same time. Or they may intentionally interview you in a hectic, busy environment. Their goal is to "rattle your cage" and keep you off-balance to see how well you perform under stress. The interviewer may play a game where they act disinterested -- or even hostile! He or she might sigh, roll their eyes at your answers, interrupt you or ask challenging or demeaning questions. Their goal is to get an emotional response out of you to see how you react. This is a test of your maturity and ability to control your emotions and "keep your cool." Sample Stress Interview Questions: Taking the wind out of your sails: "(sigh) OK, if that's the best answer you can come up with ... (shaking head) ... Alright, how about this ...?" Difficult situation: "If you caught a colleague taking a day off when she said she was working from home, what would you do?" Making you analyze your own performance: "How do you think this interview is going so far?" Unrelated question: "About how many gas stations are there in the world?" Doubting your sincerity: "It doesn't seem to me like we're getting anywhere here. Start over and tell me what you really think."