How to stop getting interview burnout!!
Job interviews are intimidating. Most of the time, you spend hours getting ready, making sure you have all the answers to any questions they might ask. Then, they ask you a question for which you somehow don’t have the solution.
In this series, you’ll learn the real meaning behind some of the trickiest interview questions and a few different approaches to providing the best possible answers.
Make sure you take into account both your own and your team’s mental health if you’re a team leader. You must be responsible for your own mental health while making sure that you foster an environment that enables your team to work at its peak.
Here, you want to be brief but assured in your response. Make sure you have your response memorized and prepared to flow naturally because this is a question where a solid stock response will go a long way.
Despite the fact that this is a hot topic right now, you don’t want to spend a lot of time answering it. It’s best to respond to inquiries about difficult subjects (like the delicate one of burnout) quickly and effectively before moving on to a more upbeat topic of conversation.
About Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA
Dr. Cora is a board-certified psychiatrist, medical doctor, and MBA expert in leadership and wellbeing. She is the author of ExecutiveHealth. Leading Under Pressure: Techniques for Boosting Energy, Preventing Burnout, and Improving Well-Being Related Articles.
Am I part of the process?
Everyone should participate in decision-making at their workplaces to some extent. However, it can and will become very frustrating if your manager or boss consistently sets your schedule, assigns you more work, or increases your workload without consulting you. Employees may experience a great deal of stress as a result of, for instance, having their requests for time off turned down or receiving a project when they already had a full plate. Being a part of the process, however, gives employees a sense of empowerment and improves their performance. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text].
Learning How to Manage Your Energy Reservoir
This week, your main task is to increase your awareness of your emotional, mental, and physical energy levels and to commit to a regular, daily Self-Care routine that fills your tank and minimizes unneeded drains.
I recently wrote about the energy reservoir in my weekly Happier email, and a woman wrote back saying it made her realize that she only practiced self-care after she crashed and burned from endless overworking.
Wow, that hit home. My “practice” of self-care for the majority of my life consisted of getting so worn out that I couldn’t get through my day at the same frantic pace and had to get a few more hours of sleep or zone out on the couch in the evening for a few hours of watching TV. I didn’t check my energy levels throughout the day, so I didn’t slow down until I was completely exhausted. As I’ve previously mentioned, my daily burnout eventually culminated in a massive, terrifying burnout. I was too exhausted to continue functioning; I was completely out of energy.
When the car runs out of gas, it stops. When you run out of energy, you stop. I encounter a lot of people who operate on nearly depleted energy reserves and live on the brink of burnout. I spent so much time being that way that I can perceive it in others without them expressing it. Although you are aware that things cannot continue as they are, you are unsure of how to change them. It feels like a trap.
But not only does it feel terrible, but it also makes it difficult to excel at the things you care about. Just as you can’t be a great parent or friend, you also can’t be a great employee if you’re worn out and depleted. It turns out that my car fuel tank comparison is accurate: in most cars, the fuel pump has to work harder when the fuel tank is less than one-quarter full, which reduces the fuel economy of the vehicle. (Since this is almost all I know about cars, don’t expect much more. If your energy reserves are constantly nearly depleted, you must exert more effort to complete any task, which consumes more energy and sets off a negative feedback loop.
Consider the simplest scenario, such as sending a colleague an email. When you’re tired, it’s more difficult for you to focus, it takes longer, and you have trouble expressing yourself as well as when you’re energized. Numerous studies demonstrate how low energy negatively impacts our capacity to reason clearly, make wise decisions, and solve problems.
This leads me to a further justification for making self-care a daily routine as opposed to delaying it until you “really need it.” And I have to admit, I’m really excited to share this with you because I love efficiency:
Your self-care routine will take less time if you engage in it regularly and keep your energy levels high most of the time. Think about how much longer it takes to fill up your car when the tank is empty as opposed to when there is already some gas in it. Filling up your energy tank requires more time and effort when it’s empty. It took me several years to recover from my burnout, and during that time I had to put a lot of my life on hold. Several. Years.
But by replenishing your energy every day, you can fit more of it into your busy schedule because it requires less time and effort each time. Sure, sometimes you can’t help it and you’ve got to go all out, but it’s an awesome, constructive cycle: when you practice regularly, you need less time for your practice, so you’re more likely to do it even when you have a lot going on! A loved one needs your care, you have a large project at work, or the basement floods—or all three at once. (I am speaking from experience here. ) When that occurs, your energy reserve may almost run out. But if you’ve been regularly engaging in self-care, you’ll be aware of how to refuel.
By being mindful of your daily emotional, mental, and physical energy reserves and doing more of what energizes you and less of what unnecessarily depletes it, you can view yourself through the lens of self-care.
Start by performing this exercise once per day, either in the morning, noon, or evening. Make a note of it on your calendar as a reminder to do it. Once you master it, start using it throughout the day.
Here are three questions to ask yourself:
FAQ
How do you explain burnout in interview?
Frame burnout as a strength if you decide to fully disclose it as a contributing factor. Explain the steps you’ve taken to become more aware of your values and how the new position is a better fit, for instance, if your burnout was brought on by a values mismatch.
How do you answer a burnout interview question?
You should have a personal indicator for when your stress levels are just a little bit too high for comfort, even if you don’t have to express it out loud. You allocate more time for yourself outside of work if you notice that you’re feeling more stressed than usual.
How do you demonstrate burnout?
- Feeling tired or drained most of the time.
- Feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated.
- Feeling detached/alone in the world.
- Having a cynical/negative outlook.
- Self-doubt.
- Procrastinating and taking longer to get things done.
- Feeling overwhelmed.
How do you ask employees about burnout?
- Do you feel rushed to complete projects at work because you have too many on the go?
- “(Agree, disagree, or remain neutral) My team usually has enough members to handle the usual workload”
