How do you handle conflict with a coworker?
It is not uncommon for coworkers to have a dispute or disagreement with someone they work with. The interviewer knows this and wants to see how you have handled conflicts. How you respond gives the interviewer insight into your problem-solving, communication, and conflict-resolution skills, which are essential skills to possess in any profession.
Focus on giving a detailed explanation of how you handled a past disagreement with a 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 dealt with the conflict privately, calmly, and professionally and that there was a resolution.
"Fortunately, I have only had one dispute in my career with a coworker. I handled it by recognizing we had an issue and asking my coworker to speak privately. I calmly asked him why he 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 his position. Once we cleared up who was responsible for each job responsibility, we never had an issue again."