BP Mock Interview
Practice 25 BP interview questions covering energy transition, safety leadership, and technical competencies.
Question 4 of 25
Tell us about a time you disagreed with a coworker. Describe the situation, your approach, and the outcome.
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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.
The algorithm will also evaluate your communication skills. It will examine whether your story is linear and communicated clearly, versus rambling on in a roundabout way. So, pay attention to your speech and avoid using filler words such as "uh," "like," and "um." Record yourself answering practice questions to identify any verbal tics, so you can practice answering without using them. Also, be mindful of your choice of words and what they might suggest.
Here's some additional advice from BP, "Remember to breathe and try to keep your speaking pace steady. We'll try to make the discussion as relaxed as possible, but nerves can get the better of us all, and sometimes this can lead to speaking really quickly or sounding like you are mumbling. Try a dry run. There are so many ways to record yourself these days that it's an easy way to check how you sound to others. Ask a family member, friend or colleague to run through some questions and play your answers back to yourself."
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 can be interpreted in a variety of ways and may prove informative of your emotional intelligence and how self-aware you are, your attitude and worldview, and your experience level. How you answer may reveal whether you see a disagreement as a method of collaboration or as a conflict. One of BP's values is "Care For Others: Be kind. Get to know those you work with, show real interest, be supportive, Prioritize the team. Leave your ego at the door, be inclusive, collaborative and open to honest feedback. Put yourself in other people's shoes. Especially our partners, suppliers and customers. Ask how we can help them."
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.
On their site, BP shares that "each question will ask you to provide specific examples of how you responded to an actual situation or task, your response to the situation or the outcome of your actions." The best approach to answering scenario-based interviews such as these, is to "try to use the STAR technique when considering your answers to questions. The acronym STAR stands for: Situation Task Action Result. It is a universally recognized communication technique designed to enable you to provide a meaningful and complete answer to questions asking for examples. At the same time, it has the advantage of being simple enough to be applied easily."
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.
"Well, I see the occasional disagreement as inevitable when collaborating. I recently was working on a complicated project with a colleague, and we both preferred different methodologies for accomplishing the project. However, the methodology they were proposing wasn't going to work. So, as I was explaining this to them, they kept repeating what they were saying, and stating that what I was saying was not what they were saying. So I realized they didn't feel heard, understood, or validated. That's when I stopped and suggested we sit down. I asked them several questions, mirrored back to them what they were saying, acknowledged the merits of their approach, and started asking more questions. As I continued to ask pointed questions, they eventually realized part of their approach required tapping into resources that were not at our disposal, and that waiting for their availability would compromise our deadline, which is what I was unsuccessfully trying to communicate before. So, by adapting my communication style to theirs, and validating their points, acknowledging their merits, we came to a consensus in our approach."
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