Allstate Mock Interview
Practice 35 Allstate interview questions covering insurance knowledge, customer scenarios, and sales competencies.
Question 31 of 35
Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult coworker. What made them difficult, and what did you do to help them?
Example Answer
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Community Answers
Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
"I worked with an employee who seemed to struggle with their attention to detail. They frequently made mistakes, and their attendance was a bit spotty. I'd frequently reach out to them, trying to help with this growth opportunity. At first, they were resistant, in denial there were any issues, as they were. But eventually, they came around and freely admitted they had some obstacles to overcome. After working together for a while, I identified that their biggest struggle was their sense of time, and their time management skills were lacking.
We worked on this together, and it took some time. But as they gained a stronger sense of how to break down their goals and efficiently manage them in attainable ways with the time they had, they gradually improved in every manner. They felt more confident and comfortable with their assignments, suffered less stress, and felt less rushed, and their attention to detail improved. Now they're the rising star of the office."
Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.
This question is about what you consider the keyword 'difficult' to imply, as it could be interpreted in many ways. How you interpret this question will give your interviewer insight into your outlook on the world. It will also inform them of what you perceive as a difficult coworker and how you related with them - through avoidance, exploiting their weaknesses, or through collaboration, a sense of team, and promoting their strengths while helping mentor them to overcome the challenges they face, that which made them challenging to work with. Not only is the interviewer trying to get an idea of who you are, but also an idea of your communication skills and focus on a team mentality.
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Anonymous Answer
When I first started at _______ I was assigned a mentor for the week. She was amazing, a wealth of industry knowledge, but resisted the newer technology. I was new and only had access to the updated technology. That week was a struggle. But by the end of the week she had taught me more about the business than anyone could have and together we figured out the quirks of the new system.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! This is a solid example to cite here. It's good that you only speak positively about this mentor, as that will reflect positively on you. It's understandable that you struggled in the area of technology since you were savvier than she was. Can you give more details about the struggle? And how exactly did you both work through your incompatibility in this area? Did you teach her any of the newer technology? Did you develop a laid-back rapport that allowed you to laugh about your differences? Providing additional details will make your answer even stronger. Nice job!
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