How do you handle disputes with a coworker or supervisor?

Focus on giving a detailed explanation of how you handled a past disagreement with a supervisor or coworker. You do not necessarily need to describe the reason for the dispute, just how you dealt with it. The interviewer wants to hear that you handled the conflict privately, calmly, and maturely and that there was a resolution.

You do not want to say that you avoid or ignore disagreements or get angry when a dispute arises in the workplace. The interviewer does not want to hear you lack conflict resolution and communication skills. You also want to avoid speaking poorly of the person you had the dispute with or placing the blame solely on the other individual. You need to be responsible and recognize your part in the conflict.

"Fortunately, I have only had one dispute in my career with a coworker. I handled it by recognizing we had an issue and asked my coworker to speak in private. I calmly asked her why she thought we had a conflict and what we could do to resolve the issue. It turns out there was a misunderstanding in our respective job duties, and my coworker thought I was trying to undermine her position. Once we cleared up who was responsible for each job responsibility, we never had an issue again."