How to tackle interview questions which expose your vulnerability?

[Bearcat F8F]

Anyone who is relatively experienced in interviews and pilot selection, care to shed some light on the following please?

When in an interview you are presented with a question along the lines of...

"Tell me about a situation where you feel stress"

or similar, what is the best way to tackle such a question? My guess is it's not a good idea to deflect from it but answer it regardless? But how can you come across in a positive way if you are forced to describe your weakness?

Thanks

[funkyt111]

@bearcat

There are ways to tackle such questions, however, the one you have proposed does not fall into the "weakness" category. Stress is normal and everyone has the ability to become stressed. What's important is how you deal with stress and you respond to stress. But again, just to clarify, being stressed is not a weakness.

[Bearcat F8F]

OK, I understand what you mean but regardless, what would be a good way of answering this question?

I didn't want to end up not answering this question so I gave some examples including a flying one where ATC wasn't doing a great job of a/c separation and as a result my stress levels increased. I did emphasise that when I was stressed it was not to an extend that would compromise the ability of my decisions or cause panic but on the contrary increase vigilance.

I am still not sure what to make of it though. Have I done myself more harm or good when I answered it in the way I outlined above?

[Bealzebub]

Stress isn't a bad or a negative thing, nor is it a "weakness." It is vital to our everyday welfare. Stress is a trigger for such things as adrenelin secretions which are necessary for everyday functions and sometimes for survival. It is the awarness and management of stress that is often important, so that it be can recognised and controlled. The stressors themselves can then often be managed and distributed to positive effect.

If you want to raise a smile with the interviewers, you can say that the last time you felt stress was outside sitting in the waiting room! However that stress is useful in enabling you to focus on the topics for discussion. You are much more relaxed now you can talk face to face.

It will show self awareness and a positive understanding of stress rather than suggesting it is any kind of weakness.

[funkyt111]

Bearcat, personally I do not think you have answered the answer badly but I guess it depends on who is interviewing you and the answer was interpreted. You seemed to have covered your back by saying that it had a positive effect rather than a negative one. But again, I guess it's how the interviewer interpreted your answer.

[Orangaphobia]

I think that the important thing to remember when approaching these types of questions is that the interviewers are trying to look at how you respond to certain situations.

Admitting to being stressed, or perhaps making a mistake, or discussing a weakness of any form is an opportunity to discuss and portray the following:

- self awareness
- critical self-analysis
- your ability to learn
- your ability to adapt.

This means that the best answer to a 'weakness' question is perhaps not "XYZ was difficult but because I am a superhero I managed to slay the dragon AND avoid the shark infested custard."

It is something more akin to "I struggled with this aspect, it taught me this, I went away and worked on that weakness by doing XYZ, and now have a better understanding/more positive results."

[Bearcat F8F]

Alright, thanks guys. I just wanted to make sure that admitting that you can experience stress does not necessarily come across as a negative. In future I will try to turn a question of that sort around to demonstrate that I have learned (adapted) from the experience and perhaps am better prepared for a similar situation.

Orangaphobia, I think you put it in a good format there :ok:

[aditya104]

It might sound a cliche, but remember to wear a smile to the interview. If you have an infectious smile, interviewers may even skip such questions.

[RTN11]

The key thing is to be honest, and it will show through in your answer.

I had something like "what was your worst experience while flying" or "give an example of when things went wrong while flying"

I had an example where I pushed on into bad weather, explained that I was typically low hours PPL, and that my training kicked in, and although I'd given myself a fright, I learnt a lot from it and from then on had a lot more trust in what I'd been taught.

You can then apply this to "If I'd followed the SOP this wouldn't of happened" and the fact you have first hand experience to back up the importance of SOPs or training then that goes in your favour.