When Was the Last Time You Were Angry? What Happened?

This interview question must be answered with caution!!! The interviewer will pose this to you to see what gets you angry, or how easily you are angered, and what your particular method of anger management is. DO NOT give an example of being angry at a client OR employer. That will not look good, no matter how you dealt with it. Nor will it look very good if you got angry over something the interviewer may see as trivial. It should go without saying that violence as a response should never be offered, even for a role such as Door supervisor. A situation resolved with calm and fair action is the finest response you can give. Here are a few scenarios to show an example of how to answer this tricky question.

Example Answers for When Was the Last Time You Were Angry? What Happened?

1-

“I don’t get angry easily, it takes a lot to irritate me, let alone anger me. However, last winter my grandmother had been visiting an elderly relative at hospital during the blizzards. She had been waiting at a bus stop for over an hour as the snow was causing delays. A bus arrived and the resulting queue of people behind her surged forwards all wanting to get the bus as it looked unlikely that there would be another along. The driver did nothing to stop them and my grandmother was left behind as there was no more room. Another elderly man was with her at the stop who also hadn’t had chance to get on due to the surge, so they shared a taxi home. When I found this out I called the bus company as I was very angry that elderly people who had obviously been at the front were pushed past and the driver allowed it. The bus company apologised for this, and my gran reported that the following day there was an employee of the bus company at the hospital stop making sure that people got on in an orderly fashion.”

2-

“I was once very angry because I had been without electricity for several days due to a cable being cut by workmen. I had been patient for three days and then the company claimed that it would be unable to restore power for at least another week. Having a young child at the time and being unable to heat, light, or cook in my home was unacceptable, and I became angry. I went to a friend’s home and called the company and calmly and politely explained the situation, and they offered to put us in a hotel until the work was complete, which was inconvenient but I understand that was all they could really do. I was angry at the situation, not the company or its employees.”

3-

“I was once punched in the face by a drunken customer whilst working behind the bar in my last job. I didn’t get angry, In a situation like that if I had gotten angry it may have descended into further violence. Instead I just called for the door supervisor who came and removed the person responsible, and I carried on with my shift!”

photo by: jery bunkers