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Do you require working under pressure skills to function well in your job role? This article provides a guide on how you can develop the skills and include them on your resume.

 

What is Working Under Pressure?

The ability to work under pressure entails being able to work in situations when you are under pressure. In the working context, pressure refers to the urgency of matters that need attention, the burden of physical and mental stress, and above all the challenges of circumstances.

The ability to work under pressure deals with encountering constraints that are out of your control- this can be time constraints or insufficient resources or sometimes unforeseen problems or challenges. Effective planning and time management counter unexpected or unforeseen problems and it also reduces the chances of some situations that may likely occur, it does not mean to say that they can be eradicated.

Everyone has to deal with pressure both in their individual and professional lives. In the work environment, this pressure can often demonstrate itself in the form of having to meet up with tight deadlines, demands from the management, employee performance issues, and other obstacles that will get in your way when performing the job. Stress is very much unavoidable and it is very much crucial to learn how to channel it in a way that the organization can remain productive. Once you can work under pressure, you will be able to survive difficult and extreme situations.

 

Importance of Working Under Pressure Skills

• Changes and unforeseen situations can spring up: you may be very much organized but it will not stop challenges from springing up. The ability to respond to this situation immediately is very much important in your workplace. How you respond differs from one person to another and people thrive to perform better when they are working under pressure while others may be panicking. It is very much important that you are aware of the situation and the effective steps you can put in place to curtail the situation.
• Timeliness: Working under pressure helps you to be time to meet up with stringent deadlines. Working under pressure is highly much beneficial because it makes sure that the organization performs a task at the appropriate time. Some tasks are time-bound and if they are not performed at the appropriate time, they can spell doom for the organization. Once they are not performed at the appropriate time, they lose their relevance. A good organization ensures that they set priority on the most important task.
• Employee performance can be easily evaluated: the best way to measure an employee’s performance is if the employee can work under pressure. Some employees panic in the face of pressure and are thereby ineffective while other employees are very much effective in the face of pressure. The best way to ascertain excellent employees is in the face of pressures at work. Some employees are very much productive in the face of pressure and as a result, they demonstrate that they are excellent employees.
• It saves the organization from disaster: working under pressure is mostly exhibited in emergencies and if the employee cannot handle it, the organization may sink deeply into the disaster which can hamper their overall productivity. Workplace pressure ensures that a company is still standing strong even amid its organizational tumults. It is very much important for large organizations so that the organization will not be short-lived. For instance, employees in an organization must have to work under pressure if the organization is short-staffed, it is very much important for them to cover areas where there are now working staff if not productivity will be hampered in the organization.

 

How to Improve Working Under Pressure Skills

• Formulate a Prioritization Strategy:  You need to make an assessment of each task on your list if it is important or not. Will it relieve you from pressure or clear space in your day? Can you delegate the task to someone else and focus on the most important task? Can the task be postponed or eliminated? These are critical questions you need to ask to map out a strategic plan. You must be very bold to say no to an incoming task that does not align with your prioritization criteria so that you can say yes to other things.
• Break Your Task Down:  any project or task can be overwhelming at first instance but if it is broken down into milestones it can be easily accomplished. When you break it into milestones, it will reduce work-related stress and you can easily meet goals and have a sense of accomplishment. You should also envisage yourself completing the project because that is the best way to build confidence.
• Change your perception about pressure:  the hardest part of working under pressure is changing your overall mentality about pressure. Most often the catastrophe or the disaster we are worried about may just be imaginary and it can render our mindset defeated. Focus on a particular task at a time, instead of looking at its completion. Make a list of every step and don’t worry about the potential steps you are yet to accomplish.
• Use pressure as an Opportunity to Advance Your Career; the more you find yourself working under intense pressure, the better you become. Giants are often birthed in the place of adversity. According to the natural human tendency, the more you push harder the more your capacity expands. Once you experience this, it will broaden your horizon,and your perception changes automatically. Working under pressure is the best way to improve your performance as an employee.
• Expect the unexpected: the last-minute task is mostly what brings out the best in us. Coaching yourself to work under pressure involves eliminating procrastination and also staying in anticipation for what so ever will spring up. Developing the mental readiness for tasks by learning the unexpected is very paramount. We need to develop the capacity to handle, manage and also control unexpected circumstances at the
• Adopt the Eisenhower Model: when trying hard to complete high-priority tasks, start by deciding which of the task needs your urgent attention and also be very much clear on the deadlines for each. Adopt the Eisenhower Model which has four steps and they are; (1) urgent and important; (2) important but not urgent; (3) urgent but not important: (4) neither urgent nor important. You should perform the urgent and immediate task first of all while a task that is not urgent and important should be removed from the list. This is one of the best methods of handling pressure.

 

Jobs that require Working Under Pressure Skills

• Clinical Psychologists: they work with mental health. They treat and diagnose mental disorders, cognitive behavioral, emotional problems, and mental disorders. They must be able to work under pressure because of the nature of their job and emergencies occur a lot in this kind of profession.
• Mid-wife: a midwife must be able to work under pressure, especially during pregnancy complications. A lot of emergencies occur in this kind of profession mostly on daily basis. They must adopt the best means possible to deal with pressure.
• Chief Executive: He or she is responsible for coming up with rules that an organization or company should follow. They must be able to adapt to working under pressure because a time will come when they have to motivate other employees to work under pressure.
• Doctors ad Surgeons; are medical professionals who treat and diagnose patients while surgeons perform surgeries. They work under pressure when an emergency occurs especially when the emergency is fatal. They work under pressure to save lives.
• Nurse: Nurses are medical personnel who work closely with medical doctors to save lives. They assist doctors in emergencies thereby working under pressure to save lives.
• Fashion Designers: they work under pressure to meet up with customers’ demands and also to meet up with the deadline that has been specified for them by customers.
• Bankers; bankers sometimes work under intense pressure when they are so many customers they have to attend to in a bank and also if they have to balance all the bank transactions before the day runs out.

 

How to Include Working Under Pressure Skills on Your Resume

Your resume serves as your first selling point to your prospective employer, here are some helpful tips on how to include working under pressure in your resume:

• Describe how worked under pressure at your Previous Workplace: Most employers are interested in your record of how you handled pressure at your past workplace. Give detailed information on how you handled pressure at your previous workplace and also the methodology you adopted to handle such pressure.
• Demonstrate how you handle high-pressure situations: you should showcase how you handle high-pressure situations; be very plain on how you reacted in the face of pressure and what gave you the boldness to face it. Discuss how you approach the business with a positive mindset.
• Highlight the Skills You Adopted to Work Under pressure: you should highlight the skills you engage to work under pressure. These skills should be presented vividly in your resume. Here are some of the skills you can highlight:
  • Planning
  • Adaptability
  • Overcoming problems
  • Reorganizing
  • Time-management
  • Teamwork
  • Flexibility
  • Confidence
  • Multi-tasking
  • Analytical mindset

 

Examples of how to include Working under Pressure Skills in Your Resume

 

Assistant Project Manager

• Manage weekly meetings and define consistent meeting planning, so all team members know what to expect each week. This increased work efficiency by 20%.
• Organize relationships and interface on daily basis with engineers, contractors, architects, and colleagues on a variety of construction projects.
• Ready contractor requests for proposals, administer bids, and  review prices
• Partake in the design process, providing budget, schedule, and construction ability

 

Medical Doctor

• Provided compassionate and empathetic treatment to 15+ patients per day, analyze lab tests and blood work to identify abnormalities, monitor blood pressure, and prescribe medication to treat chronic and non-life threatening illnesses
• Formulated individualized treatment plans for a variety of medical conditions and diseases and ensured alignment with physical, cultural, and emotional needs
• Harmonized team of 20+ nurses to enhance the delivery of patient-centered care-off

 

Clinical Research Nurse

• Empowered patients with follow-up instructions after testing was completed.
• Prepared evaluations of research subjects and trailed follow-up results.
• Guaranteed that expenses for each project stayed within the allotted budget.
• Gave support for various clinical research projects and studies.
• Assured that all project-related data was accurately recorded.
• Prepared and sterilized instruments for testing techniques.
• Collected clinical data and identified any inconsistencies.
• Accessed previously compiled data for comparisons.

 

How to Demonstrate Working Under Pressure Skills in an Interview 

• Use the STAR Method: the STAR method stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. When you are preparing to answer this question, the most effective way is to describe a situation, the role you played, and the final result you got. You need to demonstrate that you have an excellent record of working under pressure. The interviewer will finally evaluate the thought process and your previous working experience.
• Mention your ability to manage stress
• Explain how you can handle stressful related situations in a workplace. This part of your response shows the interviewer that you can be highly productive in the face of constant pressure. As a result of the fact that constant stress hampers productivity, employers value job candidates who can adapt to work-stress situations.
• Be very sincere: if you have not handled pressure in the past or you have struggled with it, be very much honest during the interview. Tell the interviewer that you are trying your best to improve in this area, this will leave a positive impression in the mind of the hiring manager. Some companies may look for an applicant with no experience at all, demonstrate that you are aware of the shortcomings, and specify how you intend to face them.
• Stay calm and collected 

 

Examples of Interview Questions to Test Working Under Pressure Skills

• Please tell us how you will handle stress.
• Do you perform well under pressure?
• Tell me about a time when you were devastated at work. How were you able to handle it?
• Describe a stressful situation you encountered in the past and how did you go about it?
• In your opinion, do you think stress is a good thing?
• How will you handle undeserved criticism from your boss?
• What will you do if a customer insulted you?

Resume Skills