Describe a Time When You Were Overwhelmed at Work

What it’s testing

This question is not only testing your self-awareness of pressurized moments that could make you feel overwhelmed, but also how you constructively manage these moments to ensure you complete your work to a high standard without actually becoming overwhelmed.

This isn’t so much testing your personal resilience to remain calm no matter what, but about how to manage various responsibilities.

What recruiters are looking for

This question literally invites you to explain in detail a time you became overwhelmed. The secret to answering this question isn’t to do this, but rather to describe a time that you could have become overwhelmed if it wasn’t for the fact that you prioritized and managed your tasks, and asked for help when necessary.

Recruiters will be looking for your ability to identify pressurized and stressful situations, and then the steps you took to manage your responsibilities, without actually becoming overwhelmed.

Think of how cabin crew on a long-haul international flight manage a busy meal service with lots of competing demands. Several passengers have made special requests, another passenger is raising a serious complaint with you, you have safety checks that need completing, and you are running far behind in the service. The crew will need to prioritize safety tasks and ask for help from coworkers to ensure that other passengers are served while you address the complaint.

How to structure your answer

Use SOAR:

• Situation: Set the scene, what was piling up and why. Keep it brief; this isn’t where the answer earns its marks.
• Objective: Describe how you identified that the responsibilities could become overwhelming and how you intended to manage this situation.
• Action: Describe in detail the actual steps you took to manage the situation. This is where most of your answer should live, and the specifics matter more here than anywhere else in the structure.
• Result: How it ended, and if it fits, what you proactively did to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.

What you shouldn’t say

Avoid describing a moment you actually became overwhelmed, unless you can clearly explain how you quickly identified what was happening and took immediate and concrete steps to address the situation.

Avoid painting yourself as someone who is infallible. Everyone gets stressed when work piles up. Recruiters don’t want to know that you are superhuman; they want to know that you are self-aware and can manage stressful situations when they happen.

Avoid blaming a colleague, manager, or the business for the situation happening in the first place. The answer should be focused on how you dealt with the situation.

What to do if you get stuck

If nothing comes to mind straight away, think about a time you had to ask for help or worked as a team to get a task completed. In many ways, this kind of example is exactly what this question is getting at, even if you might not immediately connect the two.