How to Answer Interview Questions About Office Conflicts
Posted March 25, 2014 & filed under Interviewing, Job Search
Not every office relationship is going to be copacetic. Hiring managers know this. So, don’t be surprised when you’re asked “how did you handle an office conflict?” It’s an opportunity to make a strong pitch.
Why dredge up the past?
A good resume is saturated with your technical skills, but often falls short in depicting your soft skills and personality. That knowledge gap is filled in during the interview with questions like “how did you handle an office conflict,” or “tell me about a time when you failed.”
Hiring managers certainly want to know how you overcame conflict (they don’t want mulish employees disrupting their teams), but they also want indirect answers to these questions:
- How do you solve problems?
- Do you have a team player mentality?
- Are you a natural leader?
Actions speak louder than words and “how did you handle an office conflict” coaxes out honest responses to all three of the above questions.
How to frame a strong response
So, where do you start? Like any interview question, you should have a few prepared answers – coming up with an ad hoc response is the equivalent of walking onto a tightrope without a balancing pole.
When you choose the right example of a successfully remedied office conflict, your response should be structured like a story and address the following points:
- How you determined the root of the conflict
- What you did to understand the other person’s perspective
- How you worked out a resolution
There doesn’t have to be an instant conclusion to your conflict. It’s great if all of your problems are instantly resolved with the waving of a wand but most office conflicts take hard work to remedy. By showing that you stayed tenacious and worked toward a fix, you can even show that you’re committed to more than just an easy answer.
By James Walsh
