Tell me about a time you successfully worked with a difficult boss, professor or coworker. What made this person difficult to work with?
This question aims to assess your interpersonal skills. They expect all their employees to treat people fairly and with respect in all their dealings and to act with integrity, honesty and transparency. Before they even consider hiring a candidate, they need to ensure that person will complement, not clash with, their teams, which means they'll need to get along and effectively work well with each other. As they explain on their website, "Our flight attendant team is close-knit, supportive, diverse and professional. You will get the opportunity to work with many experienced flight attendants, who pride themselves in creating an inclusive culture."
"I once worked at a locally owned shop where the owner had high standards and a commanding personality. When the owner would walk into the store, employees would announce over their headset system that the owner was in the building so everyone could be prepared for his entrance into their department. He could be challenging and was rarely able to adapt, so we all had to adapt to the owner. We knew he had good intentions; however, the owner's people skills were a little rough, and he relied on us to represent the brand to our customers. I could see that he meant well and recognized that he wanted to do good things. When we interacted, I always took his feedback with the understanding that he didn't mean things as harshly as he might say them. It was just his way."
"The new VP of Sales at my previous company was brought on with no experience in our industry and seemed to have little interest in building off of what we'd built. Instead, she expected us to adapt what we'd built to her, and it was up to us to manifest her vision. To get her to understand and embrace what had come before her arrival, I invited her on a business trip for an out-of-town client. I wanted her to meet my clients and spend one-on-one time together. We bonded as humans, mothers, and sales executives. She learned a lot about the company and industry, gained an understanding of the cues she'd missed, and I learned a lot about what skills she brought from her previous roles. She was able to correct course and came back from our trip as a better leader."
When answering questions like this, it is best to convey how you got along with the people on your teams, even though everyone has differences. Contextualize what made this person 'difficult' in this situation without speaking negatively about them or their personality. You want to come across as adaptable while showcasing how you typically get along with everybody. Highlight your communication skills, particularly your nondefensive communication skills, mediation and diplomacy. Avoid speaking poorly of anyone, and finish your response on a positive note.
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