Interview Question: Have You Ever Lost Your Temper At Work?

There are a lot of interview questions that aren’t that complicated. Have you ever lost your temper at work?

No.

Simple, yeah? Unless you were fired for losing your temper or you have a history of yelling at coworkers that may out you to the interviewer, you can pretty much claim that you have never lost your temper, and that is exactly what you should do.

Remember, though, that the goal of interview questions is not just to answer questions for the sake of answering them. The goal is to try to make yourself look like a great employee. So when you answer this question, don’t just keep it at “no” and move on. Expand by saying what you would do if it occurred.

Bad Answer

“No.”

Good Answer

“No, I have not. If I were to lose my temper, I assume it would be because someone purposely harmed the company due to theft. Still, there is no excuse for losing my temper, so I would apologize quickly and make sure it does not happen again.”

This is a company loyalty answer, combined with a level headed response. You should come up with some answer like this one. You do not have to add the part about what you would do to fix it, but it is always useful to qualify any negative statements about yourself like this.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Ideally, never just say “no.”